CHESS ITEMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2397, 8 February 1900, Page 52

CHESS ITEMS.

Janowski v. Showalter. — Since the failure of arrangements for the Lasker- Janowski match, there is a talk of another match between Janowski and Showalter. The French master is willing to go over to New York whenever Showalter expresses his readiness to play, and the visitor is to receive a bonus- of 300dol from the club where the match is played. These champions have crossed swords two or three times previously, but the result has never been satisfactorily decisive.

The Cable Match. — The challenge issued by Great Britain to America for the fifth cable contest has been accepted. The proposed dates are March 9 and 10, or March 29 and 21, 1900. The Oxford and Cambiidge Universities hays accepted the challenge of the American Universities to play a. return match for Professor Rice's international trophy, and the match will probably bs played in April. The trophy has arrived in London.

The following interesting article fiom the Woman's Weekly, about " The Queen as a Chess Player," will be much appreciated: Her Majesty has, it is said, taken to chess again, one of her old and favourite lecreations. At one lime she played it very regularly, and her chief reason for giving it up was because she used to lose her temper at being beaten. The Queen is a very solid player and fairly sound. She krows the openings well, and can beat most of her kin; but the Empress ' Frederick is far and uway better than 'her mother, and is able to give her a knight now, although 20 years ago she could not. The argument is, of course, that the Queen's age has deteriorated her play, but this by no means follows. It is more probably due to the study by the Empress Frederick of the German Handbuch, which has now for years been her inseparable companion. The games of Yon der Lasa and other great players an I the various analyses of the openings with their possibilities are her Imperial Majesty's constant concern, so much so that the Kaiser, after getting a sound drubbing at the game by hio ,mother — and ho thinks he can play — remarked that it was a great pity she wasn't a man, as that would enable her to enter the lists against Dr Tarrasch and others at the public tournaments. It is the enthusiasm of the Empress for the game which has induced the Queen to take to it once more. On a recent wet day at Balmoral the chess board was brought out, and the two ladies had a long and bn'hant tussle, ending in the defeat of the Empiess. This so elated the Queen that she played three more games and drew another one. Then a recent game between Steinitz and Tchigorin, I the Russian master, was played through, after which dinner interrupted the worship of Caissa; but even then the Queen could not get the 6i squares cut of her head, and Lord Balfour of Burlcigh, the Master-in-Altendance, had quite an essay on chess to listen to through the meal. It is to be hoped that he understands the gime thoroughly, and is interested in it, for the Empress dosed him with facts about the great chess masters of the past, and the Queen incidentally mentioned that the Prince Consoit, during the Exhibition year of 1851, witnessed a game played between Anderssen and Staunlon, the English champion, and believed that the 'Englishman was beaten. Anderssen certainly yon iho to.urnaniejit pf that yeao;. Her Aljuesty/a

memory is marvellous, for she spoke of one La Bourdonnais, who came over here to play before she was Queen, and also beat our then English champion, who, upon reference to a chess history in the Balmoral library, turned out to be one M'Donnell.

The Pope and Chess. — The following paragraph appeared in the Newcastle Chronicle: — Leo XIII finds his chief amusement in chess. His regular partner is Father Giulio, a Dominican monk of great wisdom and of sunny temperament, who holds the position of master of games in the "Vatican. Father Giulio was a friend of Leo's predecessor, Pope Pio Nono, who gave him room and board in the Papal palace for life on condition that he learnt to play billiards. Pio adopted billiard playing as a means to get rid of much superfluous flesh. At the same time he gave up chess, in which Father Giulio was an expert, for chess helped to make him fat. Pope Leo has never been bothered with too much flesh, and banished his predecessor's billiard table to the servants' quarters. However, he gladly accepted Giulio' s services as a partner in chess. Pope and monk have now been playing against each other for over 21 years, yet it is undecided which of the two is the other's superior. In one respect Leo certainly is, for he never loses his temper together with the game. Father Giulio, on the other hand, is so passionate a player that he is apt to get out of patience if the Holy Father checkmates him. Then Leo has sometimes to -speak as Pope — not as a -mere friend — to bring the usually even-tempered priest to his senses. "When Leo, shortly after his enthronisation, introduced the royal game as a regular pastime in the Vatican, some ascetic cardinals raised an outcry, invoking the decision of the Council at Treve3, which forbade priests to play chesss The Pope listened to the fanatics with a superior smile on his lips. " I know all you want to say," he remarked, "and I tell you that Father Petius, who first thundered against chess, and the Treves Council, were both mistaken. The latter's decision fell into disuse, and my namesake, Leo X, openly averred that there was no harm in chess playing. Even the fact that Martin Luther, his adversary, was a passionate chess player made no difference. In fact, both the Pope and Luther thundered against games of chance while practising chess." Pope Leo has in his private library a valuable collection of books on chess, written by renowned ecclesiastics. Among them is a prayer book by Jacobus de Cassolis, published in the year 1300, containing a number of smart sermons on chess-playing. "Rules for Chess" were published by the Spanish Bishop, Ruy Lopez, in, 1561, and by the Italian priests, Pietio Carrera and Antonio Das Reves, 1617 and 1617 respectively.