CHESS ITEMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 71

CHESS ITEMS.

The Sydney Chess Club has unanimously decided to affiliate with the New South Wales Sports -Club (Limited).

The Shanghai Chess Club has a memberr ship of 101, and pay* a- rental of £66 for its one chess room!

Twenty-nine players recently took part in the Tomsk (Siberia) Chess Club tournament. This club is now engaged 1 in a ©able match against Semi pal atinok.

Boston Post says of the game of chess that it will never become widely popular among women. It is too much like work. While it v is being played it takes up the whole of the energy, time, and thought of the player, and does not allow of any side conversation at all.

The award of tbe adjudicator (Mr E. J. Barnes) on the two unfinished games in the recent Otago- v. Canterbury match is announced. The game a>t beard 10 between H. Armstrong (Dunedin) and W. J. Cresswell (Cbristchurch) is pronounced a win for the latter, while the game between H. Lyderg (Durjedin) and, F. J. Brook«r (Christchurch) at bciaj/d 5 is deemed drawn. The final result of the ma-teh is therefore c win for the Canterbury Cbes3 Club by the narrow margin of one game.

A capital stand was made against Dr rEn?anuel Lasker, chess champion of the | world, at The Hague, where the Dutch amateurs won seven out of tw-enty-five games, and also drew seven against the champion, Dr Lasker winning eleven games. At Rotterdam the world's champion did far greater execution, for he won twenty-two games, lost two, and drew one out of twenty-five- played.

The programme cl the British Chess Federation Congress at Tunbridge "Wells, to be held from August 10 to 22, has been i-tsued. There will be the British Championship event, also tourneys for first, second, and. third-class amateurs, and fche British Ladies' championship tourney. In addition, handicap cont&sts, " lightning " tourneys, and problem-solving contests are announced. The first prize in the British Championship is £30, and in the Ladies' Championship <£10.

Dr Emanuel L-asker, chess champion of the world, writes in. 'his own magazine : "I have received an invitation to play a rfSrtch with Dr Tarrasch. All that has been offered as a tprize is lOOOdol and &■ work of art to the winner, and 500dol to the loser. A nia-tch of this importance takes a long time for preparation and play; it is a great effort, and it is in the nature of things that only v»iy few important matches can be played by anyone. Henoe the offered remunejation is wofully inadequate. The prizes gainecf «n such matches have never been large* it is true, ye* the United States chess players spent more than 2000dol on my match with Mao-shall, which cannot approach in interest the projected match; and they « r ere prepared to spend much more than that on my match with Maa-oczy, which never came to pass, because Ifaoroczy did not fulfil his pledges. It is a strange fact that the same chess world which this year has collected about 25,000d0l for tournaments arousing little attention eeems unabLe to collect a sufficient amount for a match desired by everyone.