HOLIDAY DIVERSION

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 154, 27 December 1935, Page 5

HOLIDAY DIVERSION

THE CHESS TOURNAMENT

WATCHING THE PLAY

(By "Casabianca.") Stimulated by reading in "The Post" about the triumph of Dr. Euwe over Dr. Alekhine in. the world's chess championship, I thought, having an hour or. two to spare,, that I would drop in at the New Zealand chess tournament and see for myself how champions disport themselves at this redoubtable game. Also, being entirely ignorant of the game and its finer points, I thought possibly such a visit might help towards the completion of my .education and enlarge my horizon. The fact that no entrance fee was charged appealed to my Scotch instincts. My first disappointment . was that. such an important function should be held in the Gas Company's rooms. It seemed rather incongruous oOKiaftow—«•• gas and cHess. But as it was being held there, there I had.to go or else miss the excitement. "Come to see the chess?" asked a bright young man on the threshold. I hastened to assure him that I had, that I had no other purpose in view, and that it was no use trying to sell me a gas cooker or a caliphont as I was only a visitor and that my house was electrical throughout. I added that I understood admission was free. That young man looked at me in a rather funny way, I thought, but I passed upward and onward into the very holy of holies. There I met with .ray second disappointment. I had pictured seeing scried rows of strong silent men—chess champions, drawn from the remotest corners of , the ' Dominion— strong silent men. with shiny heads and corrugated brows glaring at each other across the chequered boards. But they seemed to me just like ord-. inary men that ,one meets every day; in the course of business.., Even, their clothes had nothing distinguished about them. ... And what of the play? What entertainment for the visitor: did these giants of the chess board provide? But here again I. must register another disappointment. In silence punctuated only by , the iwhispered comments of the spectators the grim, battles on the boards were fought out. There were no triumphant cries of "Check!" resounding across the room. No infuriated players smashing their opponents across the head with the board; no wild appeals to the umpire—VHow?s that?"; no use of chess men as missiles; not even muttered imprecations or expletives when a Bishop was, with, entire loss of ecclesiastical' dignity, swept off the board by, the'impetuous rush of an armed Knight. There was not«everi the tramp of armed feet as the forces moved across the boards, for green baize. on their bases acted as. crepe rubber does on the shoes of a" burglar. Grim silence pervaded the atmosphere: silent thinking, silent movement: of pieces,, and silent spectators. As an auditory, spectacle it was not exhilarating. A whispered comment in my ear suggested that if I moved on to board No. 12 I would see a very fine game. Hastily taking the tip as I did not want to miss any of the real excitements that were offering, I found a. knot of. eager spectators concentrating on this' board. In silent excitement I elbowed my way to the front, and was rewarded with an unforgettable sight. There was the White, Queen working, for all she was worth apparently the blind side, of a; scrum in' the middle of the board, and,it looked as if the Black King would be well and truly; grassed before he could get across the line. Btit why on earth" the White had not been "fcuffed": for not taking at the previous move a pawn which was apparently playing as a kind of stand-off half, I cannot imagine. Black deserved to lose for overlooking this obvious chance.of getting rid of such an offensive piece, but for Black ■to go and ■ resign -after the next ■ few; moves, when he had only lost a couple of pieces, seemed to me to be showing very poor fighting spirit. My audible comments on. the situation were met. with muttered exhortations to ba quiet. . But poor Biack, it seems to me, is always at a disadvantage in chess. Invariably it was White, who was allowed to make the first offensive and to carry the ball into the enemy territory, and I have noticed in. the only chess book I have ever looked into that in problems it is, without exception, "white to play and' win" in so many moves. The dice are obviously r loaded against Black before the game starts. When, if ever, I take 0 playing chess I shall stipulate that I am always White. Otherwise what hope, would I have in tournaments? I watched several other games with1 what I hope passed for an air of intelligent appreciation, and I heard much whispered comment in what I suppose must have been chess jargon. For instance, at one board Black was reported to ' have declined a gambol with the White Queen. That struck me as a rather uhchivalrous thing to do: a chance of a gambol with a Queen, even if she happened to be black, I would no more decline thao I would a glass of lemonade if I was engaged in playing a heated.bout in a chess tournament. - I heard, too, what sounded like intriguing scandal about someone called Roy Lupez, if I got the name right. A film star he sounds like, but whoever he is," he seems to have caused a lot of trouble at one board where one of the ladies was playing, and I mus* say I was amazed when I saw several of the fair sex apparently as expert ia the game as the men. (I don't think my wife knew that it was going to he a case of mixed bathing, so to speak.X However, to revert to Mr. Roy Lupez and his machinations.' Probably if the lady 'competitor who had experienced so much trouble with him had had. her tea-cup read before playing she would have been warned against a dark foreign man—for that is what his name sounds like—and she would have been on her guard. What actually, happened I could not gather, except that Black, as usual, lost. The lady was blushing, too, but that might have been .caused by the heat or the exertion of a strenuous game. Finally, having moved to another board, I felt constrained to warn Black that if he was not very careful he would soon have his King taken by ■White. My warning was not received in that kindly spirit in which it was given. In fact, I was made to under* stand, that my absence would be appreciated more than my presence. Sai I left; but I was going, ■ anyhow, 1 fully believe that everyone- is justified in spending the Christmas holidays just as he pleases. . Some peopla crave for excitement", and if they'lika to obtain it by playing in a.'chess tournament when they might be resting in the wide open spaces, why, shouldn't they?' But- I' can picture many of the competitors, after a week of such excitement, as nervous wrecks mumbling in their broken sleep—"Oh, partner! If you had only saved your, pawn instead of discarding the Queen, we would have had the King out lbw; and would have been dormy three:" Two hours of it was sufficient for met yesterday. Today I intend to ga for a stroll in the Botanical Gardens. It will be more soothing, and it also is, free.