Mir Sultan Khan
Malik Mir Sultan Khan (b. 1905 in Mittha Tawana in Punjab; † 25 April 1966 in Sargodha in Pakistan) was one of the strongest chess players in Asia in the first half of the 20th century and temporarily one of the top ten chess players in the world.
Mir Sultan Khan was born in a village located in the Sargodha district of what is now Pakistan's Punjab province. At that time Punjab belonged as a province to British India. The later chess master knew only the rules of Indian chess and could not read any European language when he came to England in 1928 as a servant of the Indian Colonel Nawab Sir Malik Umar Hayat Khan (1875-1944).
It was only here that he familiarised himself with the European rules of chess and learned the double move of the pawn. He knew nothing at all about opening theory. But he was a natural talent, his game was based only on intuition. That is why he was one of the most remarkable players in the history of chess. In England he was taught by the masters William Winter and Frederick Dewhurst Yates. Already in 1929 he won the English championship in Ramsgate at the first attempt. He was able to repeat this success in 1932 and 1933.
Between 1930 and 1933 he successfully took part in international championship tournaments. He was England's best player in the heavily contested Hastings tournaments in 1931 and 1933. With the English team he took part in the Chess Olympiads in 1930, 1931 and 1933. He beat José Raúl Capablanca, Akiba Rubinstein and Salo Flohr, among others.
Against Savielly Tartakower he won a match in 1931 with 6.5 : 5.5. Against Flohr he lost in 1932 2.5 : 3.5.
He reached his best historical Elo rating of 2699 in November 1933, at which time he was one of the top 10 players in the world.
Sultan Khan returned to India with his colonel in December 1933. He had one more match with the reigning Indian National Champion Walachmed Khadilkar, which he won convincingly (+9 =1 -0). After that he disappeared from the chess stage as quickly as he had appeared. In 1944 his patron died, leaving him a small estate in Sargodha district. His home was part of the newly formed state of Pakistan after the partition of India and the Punjab region in 1947. His later years apparently passed quietly, and at the age of 61 Mir Sultan Khan died on his estate.
Questions and Answers
Q: Who was Malik Mir Sultan Khan?
A: Malik Mir Sultan Khan was a chess master from British India who achieved international success in the 1920s and 1930s.
Q: What form of chess did he learn as a child?
A: As a child, Malik Mir Sultan Khan learned an Indian form of chess which was similar to modern chess but still had some features of the old Arabic version. Pawns did not move two squares on their first move, so opening theory was less important and games developed more slowly.
Q: How successful was he in international tournaments?
A: In his short international career (1929–33), Malik Mir Sultan Khan won the British Chess Championship three times in four tries (1929, 1932, 1933) and had tournament and match results that put him among the top ten players in the world. He also placed second to Savielly Tartakower at Liège 1930; third at Hastings International Chess Congress 1930–31 behind Max Euwe and José Raúl Capablanca; fourth at Hastings 1931–32; fourth at Bern 1932; and tied for third with Salo Flohr at London 1932 behind Alexander Alekhine.
Q: How did he fare against other leading players?
A: Malik Mir Sultan Khan defeated many of the world's leading players during his time playing internationally, including Savielly Tartakower (in 1931 with four wins, five draws, and three losses), Max Euwe (at Hastings International Chess Congress 1930–31), José Raúl Capablanca (at Hastings International Chess Congress 1930–31), Salo Flohr (tied for third place with him at London 1932), Akiba Rubinstein (at Prague 1931 Olympiad), Ernst Grünfeld (at Prague 1931 Olympiad), Gideon Ståhlberg (at Prague 1931 Olympiad) , Efim Bogolyubov(at Prague 1931 Olympiad). Alexander Alekhine(Folkestone 1933 Olympiad). Lajos Steiner(Folkestone 1933 Olympiad). V.K Khadilkar(match 1935).
Q: Why wasn't FIDE able to recognize him retrospectively?
A: FIDE took over control of chess after Malik Mir Sultan Khan retired from playing professionally in 1933. By this time he had been forgotten by most people in the chess world due to his absence from professional play for 15 years until his death in 1966. Therefore when FIDE gave retrospective titles to former players they overlooked him as they were unaware of his accomplishments prior to retirement.
Q: What is he known as today? A: Today Malik Mir Sultan Khan is generally recognised as a grandmaster and is often referred to as "perhaps the greatest natural player of modern times".
