Mir Sultan-Han An outstanding Indian chess player, one of the strongest chess players in the world in the early 30s of the 20th century. Country: India

Biography of Mir Sultan Khan

Mir Sultan Khan, an outstanding Indian chess player, was one of the strongest chess players in the world in the early 1930s. He was introduced to chess by his father, and at the age of 21, Sultan Khan became the strongest player in Punjab. He caught the attention of a patron, Colonel Omar Hayat, who took him into his service as a servant.

In 1928, Sultan Khan became the champion of India, and his patron decided to bring him to London in 1929, where Sultan Khan was soon accepted as a member of the British Chess Club. His performances in international tournaments were triumphant. With only knowledge of the rules of the game and no knowledge of chess theory, Sultan Khan achieved the status of an outstanding chess player in just five years.

Sultan Khan appeared in tournament halls wearing a turban and, for many hours, sat calmly at the board, coolly winning matches and tournaments against renowned masters such as Savielly Tartakower, Ossip Bernstein, Akiba Rubinstein, Salo Flohr, the great Capablanca, and many other masters of the time. Sultan Khan became the champion of England three times (in 1929, 1932, and 1933) and played on the first board for England in the "Tournaments of Nations" (in 1930, 1931, and 1933).

He had successful performances in tournaments in Scarborough (1930, 4-5th places), Liege (1930, 2nd place), Hastings (1931/32, 3rd place), London (1932, 3-4th places), Bern (1932, 4th place), Hastings (1932/33, 3-4th places), and Cambridge (1932, 1st place). In 1931, he won a match against Savielly Tartakower (+4, -3, =5). Upon returning to his homeland in 1933, Sultan Khan became the winner of the All-India Chess Tournament and unexpectedly left chess by order of his patron.