Mir Sultan Khan has been posthumously awarded by FIDE the title of Grand Master.

Mir Sultan Khan was India’s top and the best known Chess player in British India.
Born in 1903 in Sargodha (now in Pakistan) and died in 1966 in Punjab province of Pakistan he spent most of his playing years in England.
Chess Grand Master title is not given posthumously. The title came into existence in 1959. Many old great players haven’t been given the title because they were dead or had stopped playing before 1950.
A book on Sultan Khan mentioned him as an Indian player. The book also has a foreward by GM Vishwanathan Anand.

Interestingly, Vishy is currently Vice President of FIDE when the decision to award GM title to Sultan Khan has been taken.
Interesting discussions are happening about (1) the decision to give away the award, maybe as a political one to promote chess
(2) whether he should be considered an Indian player or a Pakistani player.




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