Play Chess Against Sultan Khan

Sultan Khan (1903-1966), the self-taught master from Punjab who conquered British chess in five seasons, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

Play Khan now

Portrait of Sultan Khan — Sultan Khan, 1903-1966.

Black · Sultan Khan10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Sultan Khanhistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Sultan Khan

Sultan Khan stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentSultan KhanStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Sultan Khan remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Sultan Khan1903-1966

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Khan, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

Your color

Starting position optional

All chess legends

Start game locks these settings and begins the selected clock. Change setup unlocks them for a new game.

About Sultan Khan

Sultan Khan seated at center with the 1929 British Championship group

Sultan Khan (1903-1966) traveled from a village in Punjab to the top of world chess in barely five years. Brought to England in 1929 by his patron Sir Umar Hayat Khan, he won the British championship three times, held first board for the British Empire at three Olympiads and scored a famous win over José Capablanca at Hastings 1930/31. He returned to India in 1933 and largely vanished from international play. Pakistan later embraced him as its first great chess hero.

Three-time British championWon the title in 1929, 1932 and 1933 during five seasons in England

Beat CapablancaOutplayed the former world champion in a long endgame at Hastings 1930/31

First board for the EmpireFaced the world's best at the 1930, 1931 and 1933 Olympiads

Self-taught in PunjabGrew up on the older Indian form of chess and switched codes as a young man

1903
Born in Punjab
Sultan Khan was born in 1903 in the village of Mitha Tiwana in Punjab, then British India, and learned the older Indian form of chess as a boy.
1929
British champion at once
Brought to England by his patron Sir Umar Hayat Khan, he won the British Championship at his first attempt, at Ramsgate.
1930
First board at Hamburg
Played top board for the British Empire team at the Hamburg Olympiad, the first of three straight Olympiads.
1931
Beats Capablanca
At Hastings 1930/31 he defeated former world champion José Capablanca in a celebrated endgame, a result that made headlines worldwide.
1932
Second British title
Won the British Championship again, confirming his place among the strongest players in the game.
1933
Third British title
Took his third British Championship in five seasons, at Hastings.
1933
Sails home
Returned to India with Sir Umar in December 1933 and never again played in Europe.
1966
Death in Sargodha
Died of tuberculosis in Sargodha, Pakistan, in 1966. Later generations honored him as the strongest Asian player of the prewar era.