Ghulam Kassim (birth date unknown, died Madras 1844) was an Indian chess player and author of the early 19th century, best known today for a variation of the King's Gambit that bears his name. In colonial India, several native forms of chess were popular; Ghulam Kassim was one of the first Indian players to achieve a degree of proficiency at the western form of the game. Almost nothing is known about his life; Howard Staunton noted in the Illustrated London News of 26 April 1845 that he had died "within the last few months".

Madras vs Hyderabad correspondence chess match

Ghulam Kassim was a leading member of the Madras Chess Club. In 1828 and 1829, Madras played two correspondence games against the Hyderabad Chess Club. These are the earliest recorded games from India played according to western rules, and are among the earliest recorded correspondence games. The Hyderabad team was led by a strong player named Shah Sahib who unfortunately died soon after the match began; his replacement Row Sahib was considered much inferior.[1] Under the leadership of Ghulam Kassim, Madras won both games.

Book, and the Ghulam Kassim Gambit

abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
c4 white bishop
d4 white pawn
e4 white pawn
f4 black pawn
g4 black pawn
f3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Ghulam Kassim Gambit
Position after 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.d4!?

Another member of the Madras team was James Cochrane, a British civil servant (not to be confused with the strong Scottish player John Cochrane, who was also in India at the time). With assistance from Cochrane, Ghulam Kassim published in 1829 a short book entitled Analysis of the Muzio Gambit, and match of two games at Chess, Played between Madras and Hyderabad, with Remarks by Ghulam Kassim, of Madras, who had the Chief Directorate of the Madras Games, and James Cochrane, Esq. of the Madras Civil Service.

The first part of the book contained detailed analysis of the King's Gambit variation 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.d4!?, which he advocated as superior to the more common 5.0-0 (the Muzio Gambit). This opinion is not shared by modern opening theory; however, his analysis was well regarded and was cited by Howard Staunton as well as the German Handbuch des Schachspiels. The line is now known as the Ghulam Kassim Gambit, and is regarded as distinct from the Muzio Gambit.

The second part of the book contained analysis of the two games between the Madras and Hyderabad chess clubs; the final section contained a short analysis of the Scotch Game and of the Italian Game.

References

  1. Howard Staunton,The Chess Player's Chronicle, 1841, p73
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