HISTORY OF CHESS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14142, 12 June 1920, Page 5

HISTORY OF CHESS.

(To the Editor.! Sir, —Those who have taken the trouble to read my two former letters have no doubt correctly anticipated the import of my third —a plea for the wider knowledge of chess. I have already endeavoured to emphasise two important necessary' factors; first the time, secondly the game, now for the third and last, the man. Recreation is a necessary' component part of every worker’s life. The form Of’ recre'ation is most often a habit shaped early in life] Of the active principles of the game or chess itself I intend to say very little. A small sum invested in the nearest booksellers shop, or better still, half an hour over the board with a player will convince the most sceptical of the fascination, of the possibilities of chess. No other game offers the same success-, fill antidote to the drudgery of the daily routine, no other pastime presents such a logical change to the deadening monotony of the eternal struggle for existence, and just because one and ali take the greatest delight tu outwitting some other individual in a battle of wits, whether in a business deal, or a matter of sport, chess stands pre-eminent as a mode par excellence of discomfiting an opponent. The idea that • chess needs some special amount of mental, capacity is rubbish. Schoolboys, if given the instruction and opportunity,' take to the pastime with zest exhibited in no other game. Herein lies the privilege and duty of parents. Teach,your boy to occupy some of his leisure with a form of entertainment that not only develops but .refines, and you have the assurance that for the time being, at any rate, he is precluded from doing something worse. Let me conclude with an invitation. The local club is not founded for gain, so does not tout for subscriptions, and whether one joins tho club or not is a matter for their own free will and choice, but the elub is founded for

the extension of a wider knowledge of the game, and a rendezvous for all who desire to learn and practice its neverending variations, and who desire to enjoy” something of its freemasonry. The elub extends a hearty invitation to residents and visitors alike to visit its rooms, assuring one and all that whether your wealth is measured by the amount you jingle in your pocket, or is “long”’enough to need a special ledger at your bankers, the welcome to each anil all is the same, for in the chess room youy standing is according to the “ladder,” and the top rung is available to all. I am, etc., A. CLEMAS, Hon. Secretary, Masterton Chess Club. Masterton, .June 12th, 1920.