CHESS

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11705, 18 December 1923, Page 2

CHESS

NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIP A well-attended; meeting of the Congress Committee was held on Wednesday, Mr W. McKay occupying the chair. Messrs S. Faulknor end W. Toomath, Dm joint bon. secretaries, presented reports regarding a number of preliminaries that are inseparable from, a contest of this kind. The various sub-oommit-tees are working hard, and are making very complete arrangements for the aucoess of the tournament. It is understood that the services of Mr G. A. Jones, the erstwhile Masterton champion, will be available as umpire. The congress is to be opened by His Worship the Mayor, Mr R. A. Wright M.P., who is president of the New Zealand Chess Association. The formal opening is scheduled to take plaoe at the Education Board room, in Mercer street, at 10 a.m. on Boxing Day. I A review of the 21 competitors appeared in our last week’s notes. If they all turn up the entry list will be a New Zealand record. At present the Christ- , ohuroh Exhibition tourney (1906) holds i the record, with 20 entries. On this occasion the faster time-limit of 20 moves per hour will operate for the first time in the history of New Zealand congresses. In order to get the tourney completed in | tihlft time, it has been decided ■ that section play is to be resorted to if the niumber of starters exceeds 16. Every care will be taken to make the two sections as equal in strength as possible. The four highest scorers in each section will, it is understood, play off in a final tourney of eight, the section-play automatically providing the results of three of the seven rounds comprising the 1 finals. I For the benefit of the uninitiated who • will be following the tourney reports I from day to day we may briefly explain a few of the more commonly used technical terms. The player mentioned first in each pairing handles the white pieces, and has the first move. His opponent, with the black forces, strives to avoid tho role ' of conducting a defence, and seeks to reach the middle g-ame, with at least as good a chance as his opponent. When your opponent says "check, your king is under the direct attack of one of bio pieces If your king cannot escapo from chock either by moving away, by interposing a piece, or by capturing the attacking piece, he is "check-mated,* and the game is ended If a player with the superior force ("Force Majeure”) is eo caivsless as to- allow a stalemate, the game is treated as drawn. This, of course, happens very rarely. A "Gambit” is the giving up of a pawn, or a minor piece, to gain positional advantage. The named openings (such ns Ruv Lopez, Giuooo Piano, etc., etc.) are well-defined linos of "book" play, the object of which is to enable both players

to reach a mid-game position of equality. They are then thrown on their own resources Players who shine in attack seek to avoid the "close" openings that are favoured) by the defensive player. To "gain thi exchange" (or "win the exchange") is a chess term that means that a player has won a superior piece for an inferior one, a gain in material that, of oourse, very often leads to victory. To supplement this statement we should perhaps here say a few words about the relative values of the pieces. To endeavour to arrive at an exact mathematical appraisement is to strive after the unattainable. Different positions, of course, lend different values to the various pieoes. In the following rough estimates from various books the pawn, which is treated as the unit, is, of course, a pawn in the early stages, i.e , before it has become dangerous:—

. The king only figures as a fighting force in the end-game, when the board is almost empty, and he is consequently not liable to attack. He is then of about the same value as a minor piece (knight or a bishop). The queen and rook are known as "major" pieces. As a general rule a queen is of more use than two rooks, especially in the earlier stages ot a game, but she is hardly equal to three minor pieces. A knight is preferred to a bishop if the board is full of pawns, the blocking of diagonals interfering with the mobility of the bishops. Some writers, speaking generally, regard & knight and two pawns (or a bishop and two pawns) as about the equal of a rook. When a piece, or pawn, attacks two pieces at once it is said to "fork" them. A piece is "pinned” when it cannot be moved without either exposing its king to check or allowing the capture of a man of more value than itself. As already stated in an earlier report, exceptional interest is being taken in the forthcoming tourney, owing to the fact that Mr S. Crakanthorp, the brilliant New South Wales champion, is taking part. It is hoped thar some of our leading New Zealand experts will make a good run with the distinguished oversea visitor in the ten days* classic race that starts on Boxing Day.

Staunton. Mason. German* Borovski. Pawn ... 1.00 1,0 1.0 1.0 Knight... . 3.05 3.5 3.0 2.25 .Bishop... 3.50 3.5 3.0 2.85 Book ... 5.48 5.5 4.5 4.0 Queen... 9.95 10.0 9.0 8.0