Ala ad-Din at-Tabrizi

Ala ad-Din at-Tabrizi ( Arabic علاء الدين التبريزي, DMG ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn at-Tabrīzī ; * 1369 ; † 1405 ) was a chess player from the Middle East . According to the addition of his name, he probably grew up or worked in the Iranian city of Tabriz . He was considered the best player of his time and claimed to be able to play four blind simultaneous games and a normal game victoriously while he was talking to friends. The military leader and conqueror Timur is said to have praised him once with the following words: “You have no rival in the kingdom of chess.” At-Tabrizi also published a chess book, which has not survived, but which later authors refer to.

Little is known about his life. He was probably a soldier, but went blind (although he was considered a chess luminary both before and after) and then worked as a legal scholar.

Individual evidence

↑ Entry on wcfchess.org ( Memento from May 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved July 30, 2016.
↑ Eliot Hearst, John Knott: Blindfold Chess. History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games , McFarland, Jefferson / London 2009, p. 18.
↑ Hearst, Eliot; Knott, John: Blindfold Chess. History, psychology, techniques, champions, world records, and important games . Jefferson (2009), 16.

personal data
SURNAME	at-Tabrizi, Ala ad-Din
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	arab chess player
DATE OF BIRTH	1369
DATE OF DEATH	1405

[1] Entry on wcfchess.org ( Memento from May 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved July 30, 2016.

[2] Eliot Hearst, John Knott: Blindfold Chess. History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games , McFarland, Jefferson / London 2009, p. 18.

[3] Hearst, Eliot; Knott, John: Blindfold Chess. History, psychology, techniques, champions, world records, and important games . Jefferson (2009), 16.