The Chanfrughen, Shah mat
Original album cover
A popular legend tells the story of a man named Sissa ibn Dahir who invented the game for an Indian king. The king admired it so much that he had chessboards placed in all the Hindu temples. Wishing to reward Sissa, the king told him to ask for anything he desired. Sissa replied, "Then I wish that one grain of rice shall be put on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, and that the number of grains shall be doubled until the last square is reached: whatever the quantity this might be, I desire to receive it." When the king realized that all the rice in the world would not suffice, he commended Sissa for formulating such a wish and pronounced it even more clever than his invention of chess.
