2–4 games out of 10 in the match against grandee. They received odds of a pawn from grandee (better players g-, a- or h-pawn, weaker ones d- or e-pawn). Third class – players who received odds of a ferz from grandee. Fourth class – received odds of a knight. Fifth class – received odds of a rook. To determine a player's class, a series or match would be undertaken with a player of a known class without odds. If the player won 7 or more games out of 10, he belonged to a higher class. Notable players During the reign of the Arab caliphs, shatranj players of highest class were called aliyat or grandees. There were only a few players in this category including: Jabir al-Kufi, Rabrab and Abun-Naam were three aliyat players during the rule of caliph al-Ma'mun. Al-Adli was the strongest player during the rule of caliph al-Wathiq. At this time he was the only player in aliyat category. Al-Razi (Persian polymath) in 847 won a match against an already old al-Adli in the presence of caliph al-Mutawakkil and so become a player of aliyat category. As-Suli was the strongest player during the reign of caliph al-Muktafi. Ar-Razi was already dead and there were no players of comparable strength before as-Suli appeared on the scene. In the presence of al-Muktafi he easily won a match against a certain al-Mawardi and thus proved that he was the best player of that time. As-Suli considered Rabrab and ar-Razi as the greatest of his predecessors. Al-Lajlaj was a pupil of as-Suli and also a great shatranj master of his time. Gameplay Openings Openings in shatranj were usually called taʿbīya (pl. taʿbīyāt), in Arabic, which can be translated as "battle array". Due to slow piece development in shatranj, the exact sequence of moves was relatively unimportant. Instead players aimed to reach a specific position, tabiya, mostly ignoring the play of their opponent. The works of al-Adli and as-Suli contain collections of tabiyat. Tabiyat were usually given as position on a half-board with some comments about them. The concrete sequence of moves to reach them was not specified. In his book Al-Lajlaj analyzed some tabiya in detail. He started his analysis from some given opening, for example "Double Mujannah" or "Mujannah–Mashaikhi", and then continued up to move 40, giving numerous variations. Piece values Both al-Adli and as-Suli provided estimation of piece values in