Zaman is a cousin of Sultan Suleiman, and a player in the Invitational Chess Championship.
History[]
Early History[]
Born to a relative of the royal family ruling the Ottoman Empire, Zaman grew up at the palace in Constantinople. In his spare time he would play chess, which he supposedly excelled at, and reputedly attained the rank of aliyat - a title only granted to the best of chess players.
In 1546, Zaman's cousin, the Sultan Suleiman, decided to hold a chess tournament which would feature the best players of all of the nations of the known world. Suleiman wanted to do this in order to provide a false show of strength to his rival nations, and was also determined to make it appear that the Ottoman Empire was home to the best chess player. Along with Zaman and his inner circle, they began plans to rig the tournament so that Zaman would end up winning, and decided to place skilled players loyal to the Sultan on his private balcony which overlooked the intended stage in the Hagia Sophia, which only Zaman would be able to see as they strategised and gave him signals on how to overcome his opponents.
The Tournament[]
Zaman was present among the Sultan's retinue during the opening banquet for the Championship, and after he was introduced to the gathered delegations, Bess noted how dashing and regal he was in comparison to the peasant player from Constantinople, Ibrahim.
At the drawing for the tournament the following day, Zaman's name was the first drawn by Suleiman for the first matchup, in which he would be facing against Maximilian of Vienna. However, this was a rigged draw, since Suleiman's inner circle had determined Maximilian to be one of the weakest players in the Championship, and that Zaman could best him easily. Roger Ascham discovered this fact when he examined the stones with Zaman's and Maximilian's names and discovered that they were both warmer than the other stones.
Zaman soon had his match against Maximilian, and won the majority of the seven matches against his opponent (though whether or not he received help to do so is unknown), and was allowed to proceed to the second round of the Championship.
For the second round, Zaman was faced with Vladimir of the Muscovy duchy, and quickly encountered difficulty against the formidable Vlad, who won their first match within a few moves after taking Zaman's queen. The second and third games went just as poorly for Zaman, though by this time, his aids had developed tactics for him to defeat the Muscovite, and surprised the spectators and Vlad with his abrupt comeback. Zaman then managed to best Vladimir in all of the subsequent matches, allowing him to emerge victorious and move on to the semi-finals.
The next day, Zaman began the round in which he was facing Brother Raul, in what the bookmakers taking bets were calling "the New Crusade" since they were representing the Moslem and Catholic faiths respectively. For over several hours, Zaman and Raul played against one another, with Raul winning the first two matches before Zaman began making a comeback, winning the next three matches consecutively, before Raul claimed another victory. With each standing a three wins apiece, Zaman and Raul began the final, deciding match, which ultimately ended in Zaman's win. The exhausted Raul would later say that it had felt like he had been playing against five men at once, unaware that this was in fact the case.
Thanks to the machinations of the Sultan and his aids, Zaman was thus set to face Ibrahim in the final round, making it seem to the world that the Ottoman Empire was home to the best chess players of all. But as Ascham was giving his final report on the deaths that had taken place during the Championship, he also informed Suleiman that he was aware of the Sultan's manipulating of the tournament outcome, including Zaman's receiving of help, which he had discovered during his match against Vladimir.
Zaman took an early lead in the match against Ibrahim, but as he was taking signals from his helpers, the whoremonger Afridi spotted the aids and exposed Zaman's cheating, having been suggested to investigate the Sultan's balcony by Ascham. The gathered spectators were outraged and broke out into a riot, with Zaman being hurled into the crowd and trampled to death.
Skills[]
- Expert Chess Player: Zaman is a highly-skilled chess player, one with enough skill to best normal players, and was the youngest to achieve the rank of aliyat. However, though he was chosen to represent his homeland at the Invitational Chess Championship, Suleiman wanted to ensure a man from his own Empire to emerge victorious, and so conspired to give Zaman aid from other skilled players during his matches in case he was unable to best his rivals himself. As such, Zaman received help from these men, who were only visible to him from the Sultan's private viewing balcony bordering the Hagia Sophia, so that when he encountered difficulty during his initial rounds, his aids would analyse his opponents' tactics and then signal the best course of action to the royal player. This cheating got Zaman to the finals, only for his cheating to then be discovered.
Trivia[]
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