Sultan Khan: The Most Naturally Talented Chess Player in History!

In the span of four years Sultan Khan established himself as one of the world's best. Such a meteoric rise has not been seen before or since!
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[@kaewonf8]

When you have a name like Sultan Khan, you don't need no stinkin' titles

[@antoniovaccaro2160]

You may think so, but I think Sultan Khan was a servanr, if not slave, of some feudal master in Colonial India without any agency for himself.

[@tigerdalandan]

​@@antoniovaccaro2160 Aw man. :c

[@user-cp3zm8em8n]

Sultan actually means a “king” in Arabic

[@McLKeith]

I am not sure what the tradition for awarding posthumous titles, but I think Sultan Khan deserves one.

[@rainingglass5554]

Sultan means king and Khan is the elder (another name for a leader type position) So he's already named king of kings 😊

[@gxtmfa]

Thanks for covering Sultan Khan! He’s got to be one of chess’s biggest “what ifs”

[@euclideszoto997]

I always believed he was a GM! He won the British Championship. He beat Capablanca.

[@gerrymanuel7640]

He also beat Alekhine, in another occasion

[@nazlone]

Fully agree for GM title for Sultan Khan and please add Najmatdinov of the former USSR.

[@Jm65796]

The Paul Morphy of Asia

[@christianfthomsen]

Surely he should be awarded a posthumous GM title! Nice game!👍🏻😄

[@heeroyuy298]

Fantastic choice for a video! Sultan Khan is such a fascinating figure. And yeah he should be awarded a grandmaster title. At least if Morphy should, he should too.

[@LawrencRJUTube]

Hi, for a while I was supporting Agedmater's Chess Channel but I had to stop for a while due budget problems, I believe all of the folks who prepare for their commentaries more than earn their money for the time they must spend -- not just in the analysis but for creating the video. I am a weak player but I LOVE the game of Chess. I would like to support them all. I just recently come across your channel for the first time in your commentary on the 1918 game between Capablanca and Marshall, and I like your style better than the others and I was surprised that Chessdawg was NOT listed among "The 10 best Chess Channels". It should be. When I get back to where I am able to support a chess channel I plan to support your channel. Keep up the good work. I really like the style of your commentaries and especially your choice of games. You really move along and I am sure a stronger player than myself could keep up with you, but as with the other channels I have to pause and do replays to fully appreciate your presentation. One thing you could do to improve is have some way of signaling that the speculative lines of play and pause before the actual move that was played. To make it possible for me to skip ahead initially skipping over the alternatives to see the actaul moves without the sidelines. And then go back afterwards and check out the sidelines. Maybe a red boarder or a green boarder around the board could signal main line and "excursions". I have been thinkign a lot about what you call "machine" moves that an engine has determined is the "best" move. However, it would seem to me that what is the "best move" might only be best if the machine were playing against another machine. I can imagine that in many cases the "best" move is often the "best" only if the opponent is able to explore the alternatives X moves ahead, where X is the largest "look head" than a human can muster in the time available. Also what is the best move in a regular game might NOT be the best move in a Blitz game where the opponent has to move based on position rather than on "look ahead" levels. For example, if a "smart" chess engine is playing a "dumb" chess engine that is moving almost at random following some very simplistic strategy and never making sacrifices and playing to draw rather than to win, it could checkmate in fewer moves by choosing moves that were NOT the "best " moves for a situation where if was playing with a grand master or another chess engine. I think of the best move (from the point of view of a machine) is one that will absolutely guarantee a win or a draw no matter what the opponents next move happens to be even if it is a very unlikely move where the opponent makes a master move out of dumb luck rather than skill. And I imagine there is often more than one move that will guarantee this outcome, but one will likely lead to a mate more quickly than the other. A weak player might make the best move but for the wrong reason. And someone might accuse him of cheating somehow because he made a "non-human" move. Like a person might hang his queen in inadvertently but it turned out to be a powerful queen sacrifice. I once made a blunder when playing someone much stronger than me. I hung my queen and when I discovered it, I wondered why my superior opponent took almost five minutes to move and then did NOT take my Queen, I am sure he saw my queen was hung if I saw it, and at first I though he was just being nice -- but is like there is "No crying in baseball" there is no "being nice" in Chess. When the game was over and he won, he set the board up the way it had been after my fortuitous blunder and showed me the danger he was in by taking my queen. He would have been perfectly safe to take my queen, because I was not a strong enough player to take advantage of danger I put him in. But he believed in playing the board NOT the person, and there was a chance I could make the right moves out of dumb luck and win. Also, It was too early in the game for him to ascertain my weakness.

[@davidjames149]

never heard of Sultan Khan before this but he definitely seems to have had great intuition and understanding of the game. GM worthy for sure considering the era he played in

[@fethikhalfallah8658]

You should see his game against Capablanca.

[@davidjames149]

@@fethikhalfallah8658 thanks i'll check it out

[@prabirbhowmick8788]

There are a few games on KZbin against legends like Marshall, capablanka. You will feel proud to watch what is called chess defence.

[@MuhammadKhan-nj8qq]

Thank you for covering Mir Sultan Khan's games with giving him so much respect that he truly deserves.

[@Grandcapi]

One of the most underrated chess channels around. Your videos are awesome! Classic chess at its best!

[@Willtolov]

I totally agree with your idea of awarding Mr. Khan the award,m no doubt.

[@Shazali-ke4sd]

Just heard only his name before... Very obscure...

[@andress4780]

what an absolute genius def grandmaster level

[@rickdynes]

Your allegiance to IDEAS AND CONCEPTS AND EVALUATION serve you WELL This Channel has ALWAYS been VALUABLE and NOW THIS PARTICULAR Video has pushed YOUR VALUE to an HISTORIC LEVEL it doesn't take very long for a Great Thinker to RECOGNIZE a Great Thinker!! please keep putting out Critical/GREAT Content. HISTORY WILL SMILE on Your DEEPLY INSIGHTFUL Efforts 😊

[@MySquash1]

You are the best commentator, with great comments and personality, No big ego trip. Thanks.

[@kingscrusher]

Very good video - nice commentary. FIDE has now awarded him the Grandmaster title. Cheers, K

[@chessdawg]

Thank you for the update, Kingscrusher! Enjoy your videos.

[@maribozu]

Hi John, thank you very much for your content and videos, I enjoy them a lot! Soultanbeieff is a Dutch transcription of a Russian last name with Turkish/Arabic/Turkic roots. A more accurate spelling and pronunciation, from a modern Russian perspective, would be Sultanbeyev or Sultanbeiev, where: 'Sultan' (in Arabic) means 'lord/master', 'bey' is a Turkic term used to address a gentleman or sir, 'ev' - a suffix of a possessive adjective, surnames with these suffixes are derived from patronymics, overall implying one of the grandparents of this family was a highly titled Muslim citizen. I, however, have no idea how his last name was correctly pronounced back in the 1920s in Belgium, and it could be that the change in spelling/pronunciation was intentional.

[@chessdawg]

Thanks for the information!

[@ManoleitorArg]

Love your videos, i start playing again after 25 years, i have almost none knowledge about the game but still find the videos really entreteined and video after video i'm starting to understand the game ina deeper way (thanks to you i learned the Indian King opening!) Thanks for everything ! See you in the next video, much love from Argentina ♥️

[@TheThinkersBible]

Probably the best chess video I've ever seen. Strong YES on GM for Sultan Khan.

[@SwaniZubayeer22]

Thank you ChessDawg för this beautiful game. I think Sultan deserves a GM title.

[@rogermartin8435]

Nice analysis. I have a booklet of his games. They are pearls to understand the patterns and underlying principles. Sits alongside Nimzo's My sysem and Capa's Fundamentals. Yes he should be a GM.

[@stevemalbasa3301]

Hey, just wanted to say I really enjoy your channel and your analysis! Keep at it, and one day you can make Agadmator make room at the top for the best chess channels on the KZbin

[@venkateshas1381]

Yes, I agree with your idea of giving GM title to Sultan Khan.

[@csca555]

Crazy talent, why did he stop playing?

[@joseperez8774]

To learn and show up and beat world champions was super impressive amazing... A force of nature... Like a lightning desapearance.. YES a GM for sure

[@SoimulPatriei]

Sultan Khan plays a perfectly strategical game.

[@Mick04157]

yes ,i agree with you ,him and rashid najimidinov

[@Edmonddantes123]

Incredible talent!!!

[@drmumtazalikhan]

A player who beats some of the greatest players ever like capablanca, Marshall is a genius... Gm or not... He will continue to amaze generations to come...

[@denisrho1019]

Indeed, I enjoyed it \

[@familyprasad1079]

Top player! PM GM title is Deserving for sure. Will be interesting to know his rating..

[@ManuelAlfredo-np7ou]

Of course he should.🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@jaafars.mahdawi6911]

How much is natural talent highlighted and enough appreciated in any field or endeavour, i wonder and wonder and wonder...

[@rankit20]

Please, more of tals😢

[@kiyarashreza3654]

Alireza did not live up to expectations last year, but it seems like he has been back in good form in the past couple of months. Keep an eye on Tata Steel and cherry-pick and cover some of his games as he plays in the tournament, and of course, in the upcoming Candidates. Thank you

[@ganeshpillai7545]

Sultan Khan . The name itself speaks. His name is not less than a GM title. His name is sufficient. He was a gem.

[@HollyMartins]

A well played game

[@krishrao2778]

I wonder what Petrosian would have said about this style.

[@wjobrazenjeniebianjski223]

Hey, do you think that you can make a profile playlist of Paul Charles Morphy games that he WON; the greatest by a long way.

[@franktaggart-qs5ff]

He was a head of every one and not read? Well done that’s a hurdle yes GM

[@farzein4002]

6- There is a BBC documentary about Sultan Khan. Interviews of his friends, his son and of Fatima, present in that documentary.

[@davidc5191]

He should get an honorary GM title, as should Vera Menchik who beat, among others, Sultan Khan and Max Euwe.

[@familyprasad1079]

Please commentate on Casablanca versus Sultan Khan.

[@midnighttrain-jz2my]

GM !

[@elvinyeo7230]

Sultan Khan's pawn moves are almost like AI.

[@TruthSurge]

If he meets ALL of the qualifications of a GM, then why not? If not, then no. I mean, GM didn't exist before 1950 my net search said so people before then probably should just be referred to with adjectives. Great. Masterful. Genius. whatever like that. Shouldn't be about doing something nice for someone after death. Should be about whether they meet the qualifications, I'd say.

[@fethikhalfallah8658]

Salt and beef, wish I had such a beautiful name.

[@VivaRafaafaRaviV]

Hello, about the ending position, is queen d1 losing too for white ?

[@chessdawg]

I am not sure if you mean e1 after black plays Rf3. He can't move to d1 after that. If e1 then Rc3 still wins for black. If the knight takes the rook then Nf3 forks the king and queen. If the queen takes then Ne2 as in the variation I showed. If you mean Qd1 after black takes the rook, that would just leave black up a whole piece with a dominant position. Hopefully, that answers the question.

[@VivaRafaafaRaviV]

Yes black would be up material thank you

[@LawrencRJUTube]

Your showing the world his game was better than the posthumous title!

[@Eleuthero5]

I think Khan's opponent's name is pronounced sool-tahn-BAY-eff.

[@chessmate7368]

GM Sultan Khan sounds alright, when you know how little he was given theoretically in term of chess and how much he gave in return. Imagine him being trained like Magnus Carlsen and others that receive formal chess-educations from their infancy onwards. He did all that being almost a slave. That is quite impressive!

[@zainquadri1206]

There are hundreds if not thousands of Grand Masters who have vanished into the annals oblivion... The only reason Sultan Khan and Rashid Gibyatovich Nezhmetdinov get so much coverage is solely because they played like modern day machines WITHOUT getting the elusive GM title... I think their memory is best served by simply showing their games without bias of trying to have the GM title awarded to these two greats of the game posthumously... Let it just remain...

[@ArrosticiniVore]

Vote in favor of a GM title? Yes

[@bestosensei]

How did he learn to play?

[@muhammadshabbir4994]

Pakistan Chess genius.mir sultan khan Great complement sir❤

[@trulyfacts2857]

Indian chess genius,no pakistan at that time,lol,your ancestors also indian.

[@yonahngambi29]

Yup he deserves to be a GM

[@LawrencRJUTube]

You said "B6 on Khan's second move when it was actually B7" just a slight flaw.

[@LawrencRJUTube]

My Error ... I was confused by your suggestion of the potential Bishop move. My error!! :-(

[@farzein4002]

7- He didn't like the climate of Britain and also he didn't have money to challenge the title match ( at that time, you needed money to challenge).

[@Rizzycat1]

Yes, give him the GM title

[@farzein4002]

1- Sultan Khan defeated Capa and that's in end game.

[@Amer1kop]

Chess DAWWWWWWGGG

[@tommynilsson2022]

Yes he definetly should.

[@farzein4002]

5- Fatima won British women chess championship in first try. She also played with Queen.

[@user-bi2lx6il4r]

Give him the title.

[@user-pt8qp4ws7n]

Khan for GM!!!

[@alcaylan2523]

This are for the underdogs! Titles are only titles! A non rated chess player who beats Grandmasters is worthy of a movie! A movie that will somewhat immortalize his name and to the world!

[@farzein4002]

2- He won two back to back British championships and then he returned back to India ( now Pakistan).

[@narasidinivahi]

1929 to 1933 means Sutan Khan was from India

[@muhammadshabbir4994]

He lived in sergodha Regen district in Pakistan .sultan khan is not indion citizen..his birth place Regen in pakistan and also pakistani citizen.

[@manuelgarrido5602]

He got a win over Capablanca and not a insignificant one!

[@robertdavis4386]

The man should absolutely be awarded the title. He suffers the same " disrespect Shoeless Joe " Jackson got because of the 1919 World series scandal. Jackson batted over 400 for the series and yet somehow helped lose the championship. Yeah right!!

[@LawrencRJUTube]

Please excuse me for all my comments, sir, but I have gone through this game four times trying to get a better appreciation of your comments. I notice that some of the actual moves (as opposed to potential moves) you have indicated with YELLOW arrows. But you have not been consistent with this convention and had you been consistent with always shewing actual moves with a yellow arrow, it would have been easier to follow your commentary on the game. Again, whenever you show the board as it actually was played, by utilizing some convention (like a yellow boarder) where a person could follow the game with the sound muted and fast forward past the points where the board is not "real" -- to get a "birds eye view" of the actual game, would be VERY helpful for weaker players like myself who cannot listen as fast as you can talk and so sometimes "can't see the forest for the trees".

[@hugovaz777]

Im assuming he created the caro khan opening?

[@christianfthomsen]

😂

[@ishaanvkumar1576]

The opening is called caro kann, and no he did not create it

[@timmarshall4881]

Certainly.

[@farzein4002]

8- He didn't allow his son to play chess as to him it was a futile hobby.

[@franktaggart-qs5ff]

Yes, you should be a grandmaster. If you beat everybody you’re ahead of everybody they wanna beat you.

[@beepboop204]

[@paulbloemen7256]

I’m not sure I like the word “natural” when it comes to games like chess. In recent comments I often hear it, only to hear too that a move is tempting because it looks natural, but is not good because of so-and-so. I think the really useful adjective is “good”. I guess Sultan Khan was quite a good player, but I don’t see a point to award a really old fashioned and for top level rather meaningless title like “grandmaster” posthumously. As for this nice and well played game here, I have to assume that his unknown opponent really wasn’t that strong: we are talking top level, isn’t it?

[@chad0x]

at 4:17, why not play Nb4? hit the queen, take away a defender of e4.

[@chessdawg]

White can play Qb1, then kick the knight with a3. Also, that knight really wants to land on d4. That is a permanent weak square since no pawn can eject a piece from it.

[@user-xh8mp9vl4r]

1903- khan born 1947- 🇵🇰 born 😂

[@skl5532]

He was named a Sultan - not for no reason man

[@1satyaghosal]

Sultan Khan was a genius. And here the debate is about Pakistan, India, British colonial blah blah... how stupid can we get

[@Anti-Chess]

Wonderful comment. People prefer to troll than to think and respond objectively.

[@farzein4002]

3- He was able to read, but only Urdu.

[@chiroo2]

well, if queen goes to c1 tactics doesn't w.... shit

[@user80204]

Yes, he deserved to be titled GM if the FIFA respected cowardice

[@yogi9631]

For someone who is not well educated n read. Definitely deserves all Respect. And without formal training and the luxury of a white man. He was indeed a natural in Chess. Just like those that are a natural in drawing or music…

[@bring-out]

@RaniaIsAwesome The "white privilege" narrative is rampant these days.

[@HD-pe8lv]

Probably pronounced Sultan Baayof

[@ancientwarrior777]

Well if he beat Capablanca then yes he should be a Grandmaster! 🤷

[@trulyfacts2857]

Pakistan was not yet that time.

[@ElliotAlderson835]

Pakistan didn't existed in 1929 it was British colonial India

[@farzein4002]

4- Interestingly, he didn't arrive to Britain alone. There was a female servant (Fatima) also came with him.

[@ujjwalprakash3170]

There was no Pakistan back then there was only india 🇮🇳 and later divided into pakistan and india

[@kazirahman-bw7cn]

there was no pakistan in 1930 , so sultan khan was not from pakistan in 1930 he was from india

[@kanwarpuri6525]

In 1929 there was no Pakistan.

[@choudharyrahul722]

Get your facts right brother! In 1920 there was no Pakistan. He was from India.

[@Rat.s]

He came from India Not Pakistan Pakistan didn't existed back then

[@Jranjan21]

There was no Pakistan in 1929....

[@kazirahman-bw7cn]

there was no pakistan in 1930