Chess Snippet No.3: Mir Sultan Khan (1905-66)

From the Manchester Guardian, 13 August 1929, page 4

An interesting snippet about Mir Sultan Khan (1905-66), who had just won the 1929 British Chess Championship:

Transcription follows:

The New Chess Champion.

Hafiz Mian Sultan Khan, the new British chess champion and first Indian to win the distinction, is "the son of Mir Nizamuddin, the religious leader of Mitha Tiwana, in the Shahpur district of the Punjab. He is 24 years of age, and has spent the greater part of his youth in learning the Koran by heart, so effectively that he has earned the title of "Hafiz," accorded to one able to repeat from memory the whole of the Koran. He has nine brothers, all of whom are advanced players of chess.

Colonel Malik Nawab Sir Umar Hayat Khan Tiwana, who belongs to the same district as Sultan Khan, took a great interest in him because of the remarkable aptitude he showed whenever he played a game with the Nawab. The Nawab therefore organised a special all-India tournament, which Sultan Khan won. The new champion does not speak English, and consequently he cannot read any book written on the subject of chess. There are no chess books in the vernacular of his country. Sir Umar therefore engaged an English tutor to teach him the English moves of the game, as the Indian moves differ from the English. During the tournament at Ramsgate Sultan Khan, who contracted malaria in India, developed such a high temperature that it was considered necessary to scratch him, but he refused to submit to the ruling and persisted in continuing to play.

Miss Fatima, 1933 British Women's Chess Champion

Above is a cutting from an article which appeared in the Western Morning News on Saturday 12 August 1933, page 7. Here is the text

INDIAN GIRL OF 31
WINNER OF BRITISH WOMEN'S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
Hastings, Friday [11 August 1933] 

Miss Fatima, a young Indian woman, with faultless features and dressed in Eastern style, won to-day at Hastings, the British women's chess championship.

Her eleven opponents were mostly of many years’ experience, and included no fewer than four ex-champions, yet out of ten games played she had won nine and drawn one by really remarkable play. 

No such score has ever been made in a series of similar contests extending over nearly 30 years. 

Miss Fatima has been for five years n England in the household of Sir Umar Hayat Khan, in or near London, living a rather secluded life. She speaks only a little simple English.

Miss Fatima has been described as still in her teens, but in an interview to-day after her victory, she admitted to 21 years and one month. She learnt all her chess in England, having started playing, she said, only two years ago.

Unfortunately this is likely to be her last tournament in England, as according to present arrangements, she is returning to India shortly.

From the foregoing, it would suggest that Miss Fatima was born around June/July 1912, rather than the year 1914, as is generally given. Of course, this is not proof, merely evidence.

Wikipedia entry for Miss Fatima: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Fatima

Great Scott

Here's a little poser...

White, to play his 41st move, has a huge material advantage - queen for bishop and pawn. But he has two problems: (1) his queen is holed up in a corner; (2) his opponent's d-pawn is two squares away from queening and there's no obvious way to stop it. The e7-bishop can't get back to cover the d2-square, while the white K can't get there in time either, e.g. 1.Kf2 d2 and the K can't go to e2 because the c4-bishop covers e2.

So what to do? It turns out that White had actually gone into this position with his eyes open. In the following position...

... he had played 39.Re7+ Qxe7 40.Bxe7 d3. And, from the first diagram, he now found the killer move...

41.Bf8! and Black resigned. If 41...Kxf8 42.Qxg6 d2 43.Qc2 Bh6 44.Kf2! (Without this precise move Black might still escape) when White will play g3 and f4 and then capture the d2-pawn after which IAMOT (you can work out this abbreviated cliché from the context).

Here's the full game score. White was RHV Scott and he won the game in the penultimate round of the 1920 British Championship in Edinburgh. His opponent was JH Blake. The following day Scott went on to win his final round game against EG Sergeant to clinch the British Championship title. I am grateful to Gerard Killoran for discovering the final position and move, after which I tracked down the full game score in the Yorkshire Post for 23 August 1920.