Cannot get much older than this

Introduction

Our composer, al-‘Adlī, was a noted player of Shatranj, an ancient Persian ancestor of chess. He published this problem in a manual, Kitab ash-shatranj, that collected much information about the game. It is not the kind of problem that would be highly valued these days on account of the forcing quality of its solution and the simplicity of its idea. But it has provoked many a rabbit hole down which chess historians have traveled! For instance, it was mentioned by F. Reinfeld and I. Chernev in their Fireside Book of Chess (1949) as having been a position that had recently appeared in an actual game. But which game? Edward Winter's journey down the hole can be followed here.

The Problem

al-‘Adlī, 9th Century

White to mate in three.

(Solution appears below.)

The Solution

Outro

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