Book of Chess, Its Problems, and Its Subtleties

...not for an old enmity, but for distraction and amusement.

And furthermore, let us mention that which benefits the player regarding the set positions al-Mansubat: predetermined chess problems, puzzles, or endgames used for study which circulate among the experts due to the beauty of their solution and their obscurity to those of a lower rank. Through these, the beginner may increase his skill, as they aid him in navigating similar positions. Among the common positions played by people, through the virtue of their skill for those who observe them and it is revealed therein, the vision of those in the proximate rank and those below them becomes equal. Thus, their need to know these positions is the same; indeed, the burden of them upon the expert is more harmful, and his distance from knowing them makes him more in need of them.

It is not impossible for there to be those in the Grandee rank al-Tabaqat al-Aliya: the highest class of elite chess masters who are close to one another in skill and might win three out of ten games against each other. It is rare that three players of this highest rank meet at the same time. Indeed, al-Arithi remained for a time seeing no one of his rank, and likewise was al-Adli before him, as were Ibn al-Nadim and the two Baghdadi slave girls referring to al-Qunan, famous female chess masters in the Abbasid court.

Thus, the ranks are five:

1. The First (Grandee) Rank: It is rare to find three players of this caliber in a single era.
2. The Second Rank: These are players who win two or three matches original: "dastayn aw thalathan" out of ten against a Grandee. Depending on the difference between them and the Grandee, the handicap given is the Knight’s Pawn original: "baydaq al-faras" on the King’s side, or the Rook’s Pawn original: "al-rukh" near the King ∴. Those lower than them receive the handicap of the King’s Pawn ∴.
3. The Third Rank: The difference between them and the Grandee rank is the handicap of a Counselor original: "Farzan," the piece that preceded the modern Queen, which only moved one square diagonally.
4. The Fourth Rank: Those separated from the Grandee rank by the handicap of a Knight original: "Faras".

Thus, the Grandees...