The Chess Board.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7, 14 August 1912, Page 11

The Chess Board.

All communications to be addressed to Box 283, Auckland. The Auckland Chess Club meets on Monday Thursday, avd Saturday evenings, at No. 24, His Majesty’s Arcade, Queen-street (2nd floor). The Y.M.CA. Chess Club meets on Friday evenings. The Hamilton Chess Club meets in the Public Library, Hamilton, every Friday evening, at 7.30. don. Secretaries of Chess Clubs are invited to furnish items of Club news. Unpublished games, containing special features, notes of critical positions occurring in actual play, and original problems (with diagram and analysis) are always acceptable. Answers to Correspondents. '• i'.K.K.”—Thanks. Problem No. 161. By T. S. Johnston, Liverpool. (First Prize “ Bolton Football Field.”) Blaek Six Pieces.

White Eight Pieces.

Notation.—(>bq, 84p2, 8. splß, 5k2, 3P2SI, GRI, Q2B2sK, White to play and mate in two moves. C~T~f interesting game from the J I “ Chess Amateur.” It is instruc-r-1 five, also, in this way: the White Queen starts out hunting, dispenses with her escort, is allured by pleasant-looking but treacherous byways, and, when she wishes to return at nightfall, finds herself cut off by high hedges and a ditch, and her lord and master is attacked in his courtyard and done to death before she ean reach tlie scene. A game like this should teach us not to bring the Q out too early, and not to grab pieces without considering all the consequences, and all the time it says Develop, develop, develop! Some of the notes are from the “Magyar Sakkvilag.” Petroft’ Defence (in effect). White. Blaek. 71. Anglieeriu. Dr. A. Steiner. 1. P—K4 P—K4 2. B—B4 Kt—Kß3 3. Kt—Kß3 KtxP 4. KtxP “M.” mentions 4. P—Q3. 4. Kt—Qß3 makes the Boden-Kiezeritzky Gambit:—• 4. P—Q4 5. KtxßP. And here “Al.” mentions 5. B—K2, which is better than the move made. 5. . KxKt 0. Q—Rich K— K 3 If 6- . .K— -Ktl, mate in three. 7. BxPeh. If 7. P—Q4, Pxß; 8. Q—Kjeh, K B2; 9. QxKt, Q —K2, and wins. 7. Qxß 8. Q—KBeh K—B3 9. QxQB. The position here is:— rsQ2blr, ppp3pp, 5k2, 3q4, 453, 8, PPPPlppp, RSBIK2R. White’s Queen’s side is totally undeveloped. 9- Kt—Q2 Here "AL” points out 9. . .Q —K 3. It wins simply by forcing an exchange of Queens. E.g.. 10. Q- QBch, B—K2 (not K—Kt3, for then K- Bl); 11. Q—Q4e!i, Q- K 4. 10. QxK B—B4 JUQxR BxPeh (The position here is: 7Q, ppps2pp, 5k2, 3q4, 4*3, 8, PPPPIbPP, RSBIK2R.)

The choice is now between K—Bl and li.—K2. If K—Bl, there might follow

Q—KB4; 13. Q—QBeh, K—B2l; 14. P—KKt4I, QxP; 15. P—Q3, aud there is perpetual cheek. (If 13. ..B —R 5, ItJ. Qxß, etc.) If, in this, 15. Kt—B3, there is still perpetual check (or Black can play B— R 5 mote advantageously than before.) 12. K—K2 -Q —R4eh (White could now try- P—Kt4. —Seo preceding note. Then if QxPeh, 14, K—Bl.) 13. K—Q3 Kt-K4eJ» 14. KxKt. - Mate in two.

A telegraphic match between Masterton and Hamilton, with eight boards, was contested on July 27. Only' one game was finished, and that ended in a draw! Thejrest of the games are being adjudicated on by Messrs. AV. E. Mason, R. J. Barnes, and P. Still, members of the N.Z.C.A. adjudication board. This is most unsatisfactory as a trial of strength. The adjudicators may discover a line of. play that would afford a sure win for white, or black, or secure a draw, as the ease may be; and it may well bo that the player for whom they invent tliis .line of play would miss it. On the other hand, once you start making allowances for weakness, or known style of plqy, or other idiosyncrasies, you cannot tell where to draw .the line. Surely there must be a remedy. Two or three suggest themselves, but possibly they are not feasible. AA’e would say start play earlier, make a short tinieJimit, and (or) if not finished by closing-time adjourn, and continue at the first available opportunity. Another idea is to finish the adjourned games by correspondence. The best plan of all is to abandon the wire and meet at some half-way town. When we get our aeroplanes in working order these troubles will disappear. Jn a few years’ time we may expect to see an announcement on the club notice-board reading something like this:-—“Members wishing to take part in the annual picnic, and match against the Wellington C.C., to take place at Oio, on Saturday’, 27th instant, are requested to send in their names to the hon. secretary without delay, as the seating accommodation io limited. Tickets, two guineas, including hamper. The car will take off at Onetree Hill at 7 a.m. Sharp. The club will provide boards and men.” The Laws of Chess. Apropos of the remarks made by US in our issue of 17th ult., in reference to the question whether it is advisable to adopt the rule included in the new code, passed by the British Chess Federation, allowing analysis of adjourned games, we quote the following passage from the Adelaide “Observer’s” account of the finish of the recent Hungarian International Tournament, which seems very much in point:—"British and Australian ideas about the sanctity of adjourned games are shocked by Continental loose methode of treating them, for, although the last move and score are sealed up until the game is resumed, we read the following items from ‘The Field s” report from its correspondent at Postyen: ‘Buras won an ending with Rook and Bishop against Rook, which obviously should have been drawn had BalJa studied the ending during the interval. He dropped into a position (known in the theory of the endings as ‘Philidor’s position’), and lost. Rubinstein was similarly if not quite so lucky as Duras, for he won an ending of Queen and two Pawns against; Queen and Pawn. Had Salve adjourned ;he game, us he had plenty of time to spare, half an hour earlier when he had two Pawns, he would have found charitably inelined colleagues who would have coached him in the ending, and Rubin stein’s total would have been half a point lees J” • We are not in a position to state whether the new code was binding upon competitors in the tournament in question, but quite apart from that it is inconceivable that any rule exists which permits extraneous assistance. Yet it would appear that the practice is freely and uikblusbingly resorted to by continental players. Let it not be supposed that we advocate the legalisation of such methods. We despise them. We simply repeat that it is a matter fraught

with difficulty. The difficulty lies not inn dietinguishng right from wrong, bul in preventing or discovering abuses. Solution of Problem No. 159. (Cheney.) White. Black. 1. R—R2 Bxl’(a) 2. Q—RS Any 3. Q mates. (a) If 1. .. B moves elsewhere; 2KKtleh, and mates next move.