I love Chaturanga !

Oh-oh Jonathan Hilton making a mistake in Shatranj... Ahahah, believe me ladies and gentlemen, this doesn't happen often!!

However it is all good because it shows how complex this game is (Shatranj/Chaturanga) already from the opening phase that someone considers 'slow and boring'. It's like every position deserves to be analysed in deep because small details can change the outcome.

image for reference

After further analysis (and Jonathan's confirm) I'm convinced 1.exd5 is the best move for White from that position, but if you ask me what is the best sequence of moves, for both White and Black, then I have some doubts because there are several options. The solution given above I think it's just the most linear and simple.

@Aaneliia I'm sorry, Jonathan Hilton confirmed, Af5 is good, exd5 is best..

@jonathanhilton, the funny fact is that it is taken from a game of yours: https://www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/19366220

Oh from the Alpha tournament--yes, this was a tense game.  Funny enough, I seem to have analyzed all the relevant lines in that game, given my comments afterward!  I spent exactly 45 seconds on move 12, which goes to show that a minute or so of hyper-focused work is far better than five minutes of leisurely typing.

i like bullet

hi. great conversation 

Interesting position, I think that the only line where black has some chances, is:

1...Ac4+ 2.R7xc4 b5 3.R4c2 bxa4

but then a6 is very weak and the h8 rook is difficult to activate, so white seems at least fine, maybe even better.

I'm curious how black is already down a ferz, though. My only idea is that they willingly walked it up to d5 to get captured.

Well, ummh... I think the only option is 1*...Nc6, trapping the white Rook. Not sure how it leads to a win after the exchange 2* dxc6 Kxc7 ... (?)

May I ask what's your line after 2.R7xc6 dxc6 3.Rxc6?

To me it feels like white just gains too much activity – bde6 is all hanging and white knight is coming to b6 (possibly with Ac5 as a follow-up), and you still only have a rook for a knight and a ferz.

Aahh yes! I missed the fork in b5. Marek I think the move you suggested is right... Maybe Jonathan forgot to place Black's Farzin in the diagram ??

That's probably what happened, it could also be an odds game (don't know how strong shatranj engines are), but then it doesn't seem winable for black.

Tomorrow, 25th September 2021, the great blitz tournament of Ancient Chess on www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga, will be attended by the best players of the site. Among the favorites the Peruvian reigning champion Ricard Cuadra and the U.S. American Jonathan Hilton; Russia is also present with very competitive players such as Arseny Vasily. Between 14:00 and 16:00 GMT (10-12 in NYC, 15-17 in London, 17-19 in Moscow, 19:30-21:30 in New Delhi). I am the organizer and will update the results HERE >> https://score7.io/lmm8udtzys

All tournament games here:

Round 1
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907439 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907509 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907476 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907451 

Round 2
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907706 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907716 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907708 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907704 

Round 3
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907892 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907899 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907915 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21907938 

Rounds 4-5-6
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908088 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908144 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908357 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908358 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908620 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908671 

Rounds 7-8-9
cwww.hess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908856  www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908905  www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21908929 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21909016  www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21909151 
www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21909146  www.chess.com/variants/chaturanga/game/21909358

Just for the record @riccuadra won the 2nd edition of the Alpha Tournament, followed by 2nd and 3rd place @jonathanhilton and @Arseny_Vasily respectively.

Some curiosities, maybe trivial maybe not...

Both players can choose between 16 moves to start with.

Fastest checkmates for White: 4 moves; and for Black: 3 moves.

20 pieces controlling the same square!! (impossible by modern Chess pieces).

I call this image "The CMYK (four colour printing technique) of Ancient Chess" as it shows how the basic movements in Shatranj/Chaturanga are 4 (those of Farzin, Alfil, Horse and Rook) and not just 3 as in modern Chess (Bishop, Knight and Rook).

Note: none of the 4 ancient pieces can perform a move that can also be performed by another one. All piece movements are unique (excluding those of King and pawns clearly).

16  tabiyat  (opening systems)

Source: "A History of Chess" by H.J.R. Murray, published in 1913.

Great 👍 you should post on YouTube

Jonathan Hilton knows Ancient Chess more than me (and plays it much better) and he's making great videos on Youtube about openings analysis and also commenting games played here at Chess-dot-com.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqybLkh4b6lRKve99bdnp5w

I could add about the opening what I wrote to a friend of mine in a private message:

<< As most sound and solid openings I suggest 4 tabiyat: - Mujannah, - Mashaikhi, - Muaqrab and - Sayyal. The fact is when you try to build a tabiya you have to chose the best move order and also react properly to your opponent's moves. Really all tabiyat are very interesting, however from my experience in 95% of cases you have to arrange or modify the tabiya to adapt it to the game you are in. It's rare to build the exact system showed in the diagram.

Mujannah and Sayyal are the 2 easiest to build because they only require 12 moves and you can - almost - ignore what your opponent does. In both of them the aim is a King-side attack with pawns supported by Rooks. The Mujannah actually can be used to attack on either sides.

Mashaikhi and Muaqrab are slower and lead to a more positional play, mostly focused on the centre of the board. I see the best players here at Chess-dot-com often play Mashaikhi-like systems. >>