Chess Items.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 40

Chess Items.

With commendable energy the Oamaru Ghees Club has followed their match with the Otago Club by a match with the Canterbury Chess Club. In last i»sue it was mentioned that the match would probably begin on the 18Ui in&t., but it was in fact begun on the llth int>t. The names and arrangements of the players and the re-ult of the first evening's play are given in the Canterbury Times as under : —

Canterbury. Oamaru. Board I—Mr1 — Mr H. Hookham v. Mr Clayton ii 2 — Mr H. Anderson v. Mr Banks 3- Mr R T. Re.rell v. Canon Gould •i 4-Mr J. J Mihier v. Mr L c ii 5- Mr A. L Smith v. Mr Skeet

it 6— Mr A. Cant v. Mr Bolton n 7— Mr J. G. L. Scott v. Mr Earl it B— Mr I. J. Mating v. Mr Jjckmau

h' 9— Mr H. Kl.K 1 . Wigranv v. Mr Donald ii 10-Mr F. Worsley v. Mr Burns

■i 11— Mr G. H. Clutten v. Mr Garland - ,i 12— MrJ Sniller v. Mr Davis ti 13-MrH. C. Lane v. Mr Mowbr»y ■t 14 -Mr W. H. Joyce v. Mr Patterson Good progress was nude in most of the games, upwards of 20 moves a side having been registered on many of the score sbeets. At board 3, Mr Hearell offered the King's Gambit, which was acc-pted, and subsequently sacrificed a piece for the attack, which he still holds. Mr Smith, at board 5, opened with the Scotch, and just before the close of play won a piece for a pawn. At board 7, Mr Scott's opponent adopted the Frenrh Defence. The Canterbury player gradually increased his attack, and has now a winning position. At board 8, Mr Maliup's opponent offered a King's Gambit, which was accepted. The Oamaru player saciiflced a piece, and played with great bkill, obtaining so strong an attack that Mr Maling was obliged to resign on the twentieth move. At board 9 a French Defence was adopted. The Oamaru player has a pawn to the good. Mr Spiller played a Two Knights' Defence at Board 12, and shortly before time was called won a pawn. At board 14 Mr Joyce has lost a pawn. At the boards unspecified the forces and positions are almoat, if not quite, equal. Play was continued ou the 18th in&t., and the match will be finished on Saturday ncxr, when the unfinished games, thould there be any, will be referred to R. A. Cleland, of the Otago Club, for adjudication.

Mr J. C. Grierson contributes to the Auckland Weekly News on the subject of the time limit, in which he advocates the retention of the present rule, which prescribes a limit of 15 moves an hour. He says :— " In conclusion, I venture to throw out the suggestion that a Recond tourney be started for those players who object to the slow and steady frame ; the time limit to be, say, 30 moves, and the winner to beav the title ' Skittles Champion ' of the club, or some similar designation. Possibly some of the so-called slow players would meet "the lightning calculators on their owu ground and break a lance with them." It seems to be forgotten or overlooked that the time limit and the use of clocks were invented expressly for the purpose of preventing slow play. The story of the invention and its cause was fir^t told in the chess columns of the Otago Witness in the issue of May 2, 1895, and has since been reproduced many times in Briti«h and colonial cheea columns. The objtct of the invention was to secure reasonably fast play and put an end to the " sedet cetermunque sedebit" tactics of certa Tbe wwtw tournamenta of tb.e OUgo Chess Club

close at the end of the month. Up to the presen time Mr .Edwards has won every game he has played and Mr R. A. Clehuid has only lost one game.

Mr Eustace King, of Christchurch, has supplied the Times Wetkly Kditiou with an eye-opener iv the Queen's Gambit Declined. It is not said whether it occurred in play or is his own invention. The score is :—

White. Black. White. BKck. 1. P-Q 4 P-Q I 5. B Xt 5 B P x P 2. P-Q B 4 P-K 3 6 Q k P Kt-B 3 3. Q Kt-B 3 X Kt-B 3 7. QQ I P-Q 5 4. Kt-B 3 P-B 4 8 Kt-K 4 Xt x Xt and win*. Whether White takes the Qor not he loses a piece without auy compensation. In the Championi>hip and Sealed Handicap Tourney of the Auckland Club tlie scores of the winners of more than half their played g<tmes are : Jowitt 4—3, A*hton 6—l, Eyre 6—2, LeliovraG— 2. There are 12 competitors, and each has to play 22 games.

The championship tourn*y of the Melbourne Chess Club has resulted in a victory for K. Esling with 16 wius ai>d 2 draws. R. Ij Hodgson was second with 16 wins, 1 draw, aud 1 lost; and G llr.gsell third, with 12 wins, 2 draws, and 4 lost. A few games are i-till to b« played, but they cannot affect the positions of .Baling and llo"gson. •he score of the summer tonrnamont at the City of London was : — Blacltburne won 4% out of 6, W. J Evans 3J out of 4, Herbert Jacobs 3£ out of 0, T. Fhysick 3J out of G, T. F. Lawrence 2$ out of 5. In the match between Messrs Bird and Lea, of London, the ecore stands :— Lee 6, Bird 4, with 2 draws. Efforts are being made iv New South Wales to anango for the playing of a City v. Country match in Sydney on Decemb-sr £6. The latest scores in ' the Championship and Soile 1 Handicap Tourney of the Wellington Club are :— Player. Won. Lost. Dr*w». Score. Ryder 0 1 . 0 IS Mason 7 1 1 15 Still 7 1 0 14 Jamos 7 1 0 14 Barnes 6 2 1 13 Brown 6 5 0 12 Allen 5 4 1 11 Matrhewß 5 4 1 11 S. Mackay ... 5 4 0 10