TABLE HEPTATHLON
Shatranj
"In early Indian chaturanga (c. 500–700), the king could be captured and this ended the game. Persian shatranj (c. 700–800) introduced the idea of warning that the king was under attack (announcing check in modern terminology). This was done to avoid the early and accidental end of a game. Later the Persians added the additional rule that a king could not be moved into check or left in check. As a result, the king could not be captured, and checkmate was the only decisive way of ending a game".
-From Wikipedia
The rules
The modern chess pieces and their movements are an evolution of Shatranj's.
There is therefore an analogue piece in Shatranj for each modern piece of chess:
Chess->Shatranj
King-> King
Pawn->Soldier
Knight->Horse
Bishop->Elephant
Queen->Counselor
Rook->Chariot
The board and initial arrangement of the pieces are almost the same as in modern chess, the only difference being that the King is to be placed on the 'd' column and the Ferz (Counselor), on the 'e' column.
"The possible movements of the main shatranj pieces, excluding that of the king and pawn, are complementary to one another, and without any omission or redundancy occupy all available squares with respect to the central position of a 5x5 grid".
-From Wikipedia.
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The King (or Shah) moves and captures as in modern chess, except there is no castling.
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The Pawns (or Soldiers) cannot move two squares under any circunstance and cannot capture en-passant. They always promote to a Counselor.
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The Rook (or Chariot) moves and captures as in modern chess
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The Horse moves and captures like a Knight in chess.
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The Elephant (or Alfil) moves exactly two squares diagonally, jumping over the square in between and capturing on the square where it lands. These attributes are shared with the Elephant in xiangqi, except in the chinese game the Elephant cannot jump and is restricted to its own camp.
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The Counselor (or Ferz) moves exactly one square diagonally, analogue to the Counselors in xiangqi, except there is no palace to restrict the movement of this piece.
Winning the game.
There are three ways to win a Shatranj game:
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Checkmate, as in modern chess.
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Stalemate, where the side who cannot move loses the game.
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Baring the opponent's King, leaving him isolated with all his army captured.
Drawing.
There are several ways in which a Shatranj game can be drawn:
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Triple repetition, as in modern chess.
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Perpetual check, as in modern chess.
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Mutual agreement.
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Baring the opponent's King the move right after they have bared yours.
Outstanding Historical Players
"Shatranj players of highest class were called 'aliyat'"
Jabir al-Kufi, Rabrab and Abun-Naam
were three aliyat players during the rule of caliph al-Ma'mun (813-833).
was the strongest player during the rule of caliph al-Wathiq (842-847). At this time he was the only player in aliyat category.
in 847 won a match against an already old al-Adli in the presence of caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-861) and so became a player of aliyat category.
was the strongest player during the reign of caliph al-Muktafi (902-908).