Mnemonic Chess.

Otago Witness, Issue 2086, 15 February 1894, Page 38

Mnemonic Chess.

(Translated from the French of M Alfred Binet.)

"The finest visual memory does not retain things as they are presented to the eye, but exercises an intelligent choice dependent upon the object to be served. M. Tame has noticed this with reference to the game of chess. _ Let ustake a glance at a chessboard with themenin position — what a number of insignificant details we perceive ! The odd form of the shadows cast, the reflection of light on the board, and a crowd of other things which it is by no means necessary to recall in unseeing play, because they are merely accidental. When a player, even the one who boasts of copying most truly in his imagination the spectacle presented to his eyes, is pressed on the subject, he is bound to admit that it is not a servile but an intellicent copy resting on selection. He does not mentally see the shadows of the pieces when he plays. This is the first step in abstraction. In our second category of players abstraction bears a, still more important part. The representation of the chessboard remains visual, but it is noticed that tho vision has not the distinctness of the real vision. It is an image somewhat indistinct and diffused. The colours cease to be plain They are no longer black and white, but a shade of gray, lighter for the white set of pieces and darker for the others. The same weakening of the colours of the squares. ' The board,' says M. Sittenfeld, 'in my mental vision, resembles a grayish transparency presenting points more or less dark. In the same way the edge 3of the board become effaced. The shape of the pieces becomes equally confused. It still remains perceptible to the imagination — and it is, in fact, by the shape that the player recognises the bishop and distinguishes if, for instance, from the king — but it is not plainly or distinctly caught Most frequently the perception of the form is replaced by that of tho siza of the piece.' M Fritz says that the thape of the piec s is not visible in his mental representation. The different pieces differ by their height, the pawn being smaller than the knight, and the latter smaller than the queen. M. Curnock, endeavouring to fix with precision the mental appearance of the pieces, says that to him the king is a cylinder surmounted by a crown, the queen is a cyliuder surmounted by a flit head, and so on of the other pieces. Some of our correspondents in describing with the greatest care the character of their mental vision, look upon it as defective, and think that their mistakes in play are due to their incapacity to imagiuc clearly the colour and shape of the pieces. Certainly in this they are wrong. The particular vision is not necessarily always of an inferior character, and of this we can give a striking proof, and that is that players who, like M. Fritz, play as many as 13 unseeing games, make use of no other or better kind of mental vision. They see distinctly neither shape nor colour. A third category of players would appear to be even more skilful in the art of abstraction. # Their mental images are stripped of all the material and concrete characteristics which we have mentioned. They preserve the sensation of seeing the position when they turn their backs to the chessboard, but this intellectual vision differs enormously from real vision. In the first place all colour disappears. The player cease 3to distinguish tho pieces of the two camps by their colour, lie knows that a piece belongs to him, not because he sees in his mental vision that it is white, but because of the sensation that h-: had power to dispose of it. 'The iigure3 are neither black nor white,' says M. Anosoff, ' but they dividelthem=elves into hostile and allied.'" (To be continued ) The first game in the match between Mr Borton and Mr Clelaud was played on the sth inst. Mr Borton adopted the Two Knights,' Defence. The game was drawn at the 65th move.

I N.Z. Chess Congress 1893-94 Game between Mr R. A. Cleland and Mr J. Edwards, January 2, 1891. Sicilian Defence. White. Black. (Cleland.) (Edwards.) 1 P-K 4 P-QB4 2 Kt-K B 3 P-K 3 3 Kt-Q B 3 Kt-Q B 3 4 P-Q 4 PxP 5 Xt x P B-B 4 6 X Xt-Xt 5 P-Q R 3 7 Kt-Q. 6ch Bx Xt 8 Q x B X Kt-K 2 9 B-K Xt G P-B 3 10 B-K 3 Kt-K 4 11 B-Kt 6 Kt-K B 2 12 Q-E 5-a F-Q 3 13 Q-R5 Q-Q 2 14 Xt-Xt 5-& Castles 15 Kt-Q 4 P-K 4 16 Kt-B 3 Q-Kt 5 17 Kt-Q 2 K-Rl 18 P-K B 3 Q-Kt 3 19 Castles B-K 3 20 P-K Xt 4 Q R-B 1 21 P-K R 4 Kt-Q 1 22 Xt-Xt 3 Q Kt-B 3 23 Q-Q 2 P-Q 4 24 Kt-B 5 Kt-Q5 25P-R5 Q-B2 26 B-Q 3 PxP 27 BxP BxKKtP-s 28 P x B Q x P 29 Q-Kt 4 P-R 4-d 30 Q-R 3e QxQ 31 P x Q Kt-K 7 eh 32 K-Kt 2 Xt-Xt 6 33 R-R 3 Xt x B 34 Xt x Xt R-B 5 35 R-K 3 P-R 5-/ 36 B-B 5 P-Q Xt 4 37 B x Xt X R-Q B 1 38 R-Q 8 eh R x R 39BxR P-R 3 40 B-K 7 R-Q 5 41 B-B 5 R-Q 8 42 Kt-B 3 R-K Xt 8 4} R-K 4 R-K B 8 44 Xt x P P-B 4 45 P x P R x P-flf 46 Kt-Q 6 R x P 47 Kt-B 7 eh K-R 2 48 Xt x X 1' R-B 4 49 B-Q 4 P-Kt 4 50 Xt-Xt 4 R-Kt 4 eh 51 K-B 3 P-R 4 51 Kt-B 6 eh K-Kt 3 53 Xt x P X x Xt 54 R-K 5 R-Kt 8 55 B-K 3 It-Q 11 8 56 K-Kt 4 R-R 7 57 R x P eh K-R 5 58 P-B 4 R-K 7 59 R-K 5 K-Kt 5 60 B-Q 4 Resigns. (a) 12 Bx Q, Xt xQ ; 13 BB 7, Kt-B 2 (if Xt-Xt 4, 14 Xt x Xt, P x Xt ; 15 Bx P, with a manifest advantage) ; 14 P-K 84, with the better game. It looks as if White should havo got a winning advantage out of his position after his 12th move ; but if so, the road to it ia not visible on the surface. (6) 14 Castles seems rather better. The text move leads to nothing in particular. (c) This Eacrince is hardly justifiable. It promises, however, a powerful attack. (d) X Kt-Q B 3 seems stronger, (c) There seems no objection to Q x R P. (/) This loseß at least the exchange. Black should, instead of this, provide an outlet for his king in some way. As actually played, White wins a piece, and leaves Black's game hopeless. (y) Black makes a gallant though hopeless fight.

Game between Mr A. Lelievre and Mr F. H. Smith. White. Black. (Lelievre.) (Smith.) IP-QB4 P-K 4 2 Kt-Q B 3 KtQ B 3 3 P-K3 Kt-B 3 4 B-Q 3-a B-K 2 SKKt-K2 Kt-QKt5 68-Ktl P-QKt3 7 Castles B-Kt 2 8 P-Q Xt 3 B-B 4 9 Xt-Xt 3 Castles 10 B-Kt 2 P-Q 3 11P-QR3 P-Q R 4-6 12 P x Xt P x P 13 R x R Q x R 14 Kt-Q 5 Xt x Xt 15 P x Xt BxP 16 P-Q 4 P x P 17 P x P B x Xt P 18PxB PxP 19 Q-K R 5 P-K R 3 20 Kt-B 5 B x R 2lKt-K7ch K-Rl 22 Q x P mate (a) Better B-K 2. Made apparently to prevent P-K 5, which, however, would have been harmless. (b) Must have beon played under some misapprehension. Game between Mr H. Hookham and Mr O. C. Pleasants. Ruy LorEZ. White. Black. (Hookham.) (Pleasants.) " IP-K4 P-K 4 2 Kt-KB3 Kt=3B3 3 B-Kt 5 Kt-B 3 4 Castles P-Q R 3-a 5 B-R 4 Xt x P 6 R-K 1 Kt-B 4 7 Xt x P B-K 2 BBxKt Q P x B 9 Kt-Q B 3 Kt-K 3 10 Kt-K 2 Castles 11 P-Q 4 P-B 3 12 Kt-B 3 P-Q Xt 3-b 13 P-B 3 P-Q B 4 14 Q-Kt 3 K-Rl 15 B-K 3 B-Kt2e 16 Q x Xt B x Xt 17 P x B PxP 18 Xt x P Q-K 1 19 K-R 1 R-Q 1 20 Kt-B 5 R-B 2 21 B-B 4 R-Q 2 22 Q 11 Q 1 It x R 23 Rx R Q-Q R 1 24K-Kt2 Q-KBI 25 R-Q 7 Resigns (a) Useless in this form of the opening. Xt x P is the proper move. (b) There is no time for thi», and it leads to nothing ; B-Q 3or R-K 1 would have been better. Black's position i 3 terribly cramped. (c) An oversight. White had, however, so great an advantage in position that against such an opponent as Mr Hookham Black had no chance left.