The Forgotten Book That Connects India's Chess Traditions

After having introduced you to Mahesh Chandra and Shyamcharan Ghatak, let's go to another personality whose brilliance inspired me to write the second part of this series: Pandit Trivengadacharya Shastri. His Sanskrit text, Vilasmanimanjiri, serves as a historical bridge between India's classical and modern chess traditions.

• Vilas Muni Munjuri
• What's So Special About This Book?
• Interview with Aniruddha Deshpande
• Velammal School

Vilas Muni Munjuri

While working on this subject, I came across an article by Uddalak Mukherjee in The Telegraph, where he highlights how the history of chess, especially in Bengal, has been poorly documented. Pioneers such as Moheschunder Bannerjee, Babu Ishwarchandra Gosain, Mahadev Choubey, Shyamacharan Ghatak, Rammohun Chakraborty, and Pitambar Mukhopadhyay played a key role in shaping Indian chess, yet their contributions remain largely forgotten. Uddalak's article calls for deeper research to uncover their legacy and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution of chess in India.

I also found myself wondering about the broader chess scene during that era while working on this piece. What was it like in other parts of the world or India at the time? In pursuit of answers, I came across a book online titled A History of Chess by H.J.R. Murray, published in 1913 and now in the public domain. One particular paragraph piqued my interest:

To my pleasant surprise, I learned that one of my friends, FM Aniruddha Deshpande, had translated Pandit Trivengadacharya Shastri's 1814 Sanskrit book into English. The book consists of 25 chapters and spans 100 pages. Tiruvengadacharya Shastri, Tiruvēṅgaḍāchārya Śāstrī, Trivenkatacharya Shastri, and Trivengadacharya Shastri are different ways to write its author's name. Considering that he was originally from Tirupati, it makes good sense to call him Trivenkatacharya Shastri, as Venkateshwara is the main deity in the holy temple of Tirupati. He was a resident of Pune. For the sake of convenience, I will refer to him as TS from now on.

Vilas Muni Munjuri, or "Diamond Flower Bud of Amusement", has been translated by Aniruddha and published through Snehabandh Prakashan. 

What's So Special About This Book?

The book was published during the time of Peshwa Bajirao II, before 1814. He was the last ruler of the Peshwa dynasty. The writer introduces various kinds of victories in the game. While the current generation is familiar with checkmate, there were many other types of wins as well. 

Burji: A situation in traditional chess variants where one side has a king and a few pieces, while the opponent is left with only a king (with or without pawns). In such a case, the side with only the king is said to have lost by burji. It is considered the smallest form of victory. This concept does not exist in modern standard chess. (Source: Jewels of Chess 21st Century Edition - Pandit Trivengadacharya Shastri | Translated and Edited by FM Aniruddha Deshpande.)

Capture Mate: When one side delivers a checkmate by capturing the opponent's last piece, it is called a Capture Mate. This victory is considered to be superior to Burji. 

Mate: Delivering a checkmate while the opponent retains at least one piece. This is considered to be more prestigious than the earlier two victories. 

Pawn Mate: Delivering a checkmate by using a pawn is considered the highest form of checkmate. There are many variations of pawn checkmate, all falling under the category called Malli. 

The book is filled with excellent puzzles, with checkmates ranging from mate-in-one to mate-in-81. It also mentions another chess variant called Mahavilas, played on a 10-by-10 chessboard.

Interview with Aniruddha Deshpande

I had a quick chat with the translator of the book to understand his motivation and the process behind translating it.

Aniruddha: When I first saw the original book, I was expecting something simple. But as I started solving the puzzles, I realized they were just amazing! The puzzles were highly imaginative, with precise answers, and the complexity kept increasing. After studying the book for a few months, I felt that this lost knowledge had to be brought back. So far, we have sold around 400 copies.

Niranjan: Amazing. How did this all begin?

Aniruddha: I received the book as a PDF from a friend. It was in Marathi. After going through a few pages, I was intrigued. I’ve shortened some of the stories in the translated version. But when I reached the chess section, it became even more fascinating. The idea of checkmates with pawns and their significance was entirely new to me. Mr. Shastri had a unique format for the puzzles, the first puzzle would be a checkmate in one move, followed by two puzzles with checkmates in two moves, then three, and so on.

Niranjan: And it went on until?

Aniruddha: It went until move six. Then, there were some random puzzles like Mate in 12, 15, 20, 50 and so on.

Niranjan: I have a question here. In today's times, we have a lot of reference materials to explore. For example, if I want to play the Caro Kann tomorrow, I can study both old and recent games. But people like Mr. Shastri and Mahesh Chandra Bannerjee did not have access to such resources. How were they able to come up with such ideas?

Aniruddha: It is definitely true that they had something magical. For instance, the original manuscript mentions a chess book written by Lakshman Pandit from the 10th century. There was another book whose title translates to "Why chess should be taught to children." The origin is traced to the 10th century because of the ancient form of Sanskrit used in the text. Composing a puzzle with a mate in 10 moves is incredibly difficult, and yet we see the author presenting brilliant and imaginative positions.

Niranjan: Are you planning to write something more in the future?

Aniruddha: There is another chess book that has come to me. It was written in 1893, and I may work on that next. It has an interesting premise and a backstory as well. I should also mention that the book features variants like four-player chess. One particularly fascinating topic is how two-player chess eventually overtook the popularity of four-player chess, also known as Chaturanga. In the four-player version, there were four kings, and each side had an elephant, a horse, a boat, and four pawns. A dice was used, and luck played a major role. Indian kings later felt that the dice element should be removed, so they shifted to two-player chess, which emphasized skill over chance. Another variant that was popular in those times was called support chess.

In his writings, Shastri mentions that if a player performs a simul and wins all the games, he should be rewarded. If he plays a blindfold simul and wins, he should be honored with a palki procession.

Niranjan: That is lovely. Thanks for your time, and congratulations on the translation!

Aniruddha: Thank you!

Velammal School

It is amazing that the Velammal School has carried forward this tradition of procession as a way to felicitate the players for their accomplishments. 

TS was a brilliant chess player himself and was known to have played blindfold games as well. Murali Ranganathan, in his fantastic article, shares a note from Frazer's Magazine (March 1840), which reviewed TS's book. The review states, "Many of its positions are exquisitely beautiful, and in fact, of first-rate merit and science."

It turned out that a prolific chess writer named William Lewis plagiarized TS's book. TS was horrified to know about it and felt helpless since copyright laws did not exist. Walker George touches upon this episode in his book Chess and chess-players:

In the Marathi translation of TS's book, there is a segment that talks about the history of chess. It says that one of the articles pointed out that chess seems to have originated in Ganges Valley around AD 570. 

It is a wonderful feeling to know that TS existed and that he was able to create such a beautiful book in Sanskrit. I encourage you to buy Aniruddha's English translation, available on Amazon.

Conclusion

Vilasamanimanjari is a timeless gift from India! A celebration of the country's deep-rooted love for chess, captured with poetic flair by Pandit Trivengadacharya. In a way, it feels only fitting that in the same land where such literary devotion to the game once bloomed, we now witness GM Gukesh Dommaraju crowned as World Champion. My heartfelt thanks to Aniruddha Deshpande for translating this gem and bringing it to a wider audience.

Stay tuned for the third part of this series, where I’ll introduce you to a true blindfold king of India!