Part 63

K and Q against K and R. Freeborough has devoted an entire volume to this ending, which may be very much prolonged by a skilful player. The object is to drive the King to the edge of the board, and then to get the Rook in such a position that it must be sacrificed to save the mate, or that the mate can be accomplished with the Rook on the board. The player with the Queen must be on his guard against stale-mate in this ending.

K and Q against K and B, K and Kt, or K and P. This is easy enough for the Queen if the player is careful to avoid stale-mate.

K and two R’s against K and R. This can be won easily by forcing an exchange of Rooks.

K and two B’s against K. In this position the King must be ruled off into a corner by getting the Bishops together, protected by their King. Start with the men in the following position:--

Black K on his own square. White King on K B 6; white Bishops on K B 4 and K B 5. White to move and win. The mate can be accomplished in six moves, as follows:--

B-B7 B-Q7 K-Kt6 1 --------- 2 -------- 3 --------- K-B sq K-Kt sq K-B sq

B-Q6 ch B-K6 ch B-K5 mate 4 --------- 5 -------- 6 --------- K-Kt sq K-R sq

K, B and Kt against K. This is one of the most difficult endings for a beginner, but is very instructive, and should be carefully studied. Set up the men as follows:--

Black King on K R sq. White King on K B 6, white Bishop on K B 5, and white Knight on K Kt 5; White to move and win. The object is to drive the King into a corner of the board which is commanded by the Bishop, as he cannot otherwise be mated.

Kt-B7 ch B-K4 B-R7 Kt-K5 1 --------- 2 -------- 3 --------- 4 -------- K-Kt sq K-B sq K-K sq K-B sq

Kt-Q7 ch K-K6 K-Q6 B-K6 ch 5 --------- 6 -------- 7 --------- 8 -------- K-K sq K-Q sq K-K sq K-Q sq

K-B6 B-B7 Kt-Kt7 ch K-B6 9 --------- 10 --------- 11 --------- 12 -------- K-B sq K-Q sq K-B sq K-Kt sq

K-Kt6 B-K6 ch Kt-B5 B-Q7 13 --------- 14 --------- 15 --------- 16 -------- K-B sq K-Kt sq K-R sq K-Kt sq

Kt-R6 ch B-B6 mate 17 --------- 18 --------- K-R sq

If, at the fourth move, the black King does not go back to the Bishop’s square, but goes on to the Queen’s square, hoping to cut across to the other black corner of the board, the continuation will be as follows, beginning at White’s fifth move:--

K-K6 Kt-Q7 B-Q3 B-Kt5 5 --------- 6 --------- 7 --------- 8 -------- K-B2 K-B3 K-B2 K-Q sq

Kt-K5 Kt-B4 K-Q6 Kt-R5 9 --------- 10 --------- 11 --------- 12 -------- K-B2 K-Q sq K-B sq K-Q sq

Kt-Kt7 ch K-B6 Kt-Q6 K-B7 13 --------- 14 --------- 15 --------- 16 -------- K-B sq K-Kt sq K-R2 K-R sq

B-B4 Kt-B8 ch B-Q5 mate 17 --------- 18 --------- 19 --------- K-R2 K-R sq

_=PAWN ENDINGS.=_ There are a great number of these, many being complicated by the addition of Pawns to other pieces. The following example, which is a position that often occurs, should be understood by the beginner:--

Put the black King on K B square; the white King on K B 6, and a white Pawn on K 6. If it is Black’s move, White can win easily; but if it is White’s move it is impossible to win, because whether he checks or not the black King gets in front of the Pawn and either wins it or secures a stale-mate.

Put the Pawn behind the King, on K B 5, and White wins, no matter which moves first, for if Black moves he allows the white King to advance to the seventh file, which will queen the Pawn. If White moves first, and the black King keeps opposite him, the Pawn advances. If Black goes in the other direction, the white King goes to the seventh file and wins by queening the Pawn.

If the white King and Pawn are both moved one square further back, the King on K B 5, and the Pawn on K B 4. the win will depend on the move. If it is White’s move he can win by advancing the King; but if it is Black’s move he can draw by keeping his King always opposite the white King. If the Pawn advances, he will get in front of it, and if the King is afterward advanced, he will get in front of it; winning the Pawn or securing a stale-mate.

_=THE KNIGHT’S TOUR.=_ Owing to the peculiarity of the Knight’s move, many persons have amused themselves in trying to cover the entire chess board with a Knight, touching the same square once only, and returning to the starting-point again. There are several ways of doing this, one of the simplest being the following:--

_=TEXT BOOKS.=_ Among the very large number of works on Chess there is abundant room for choice, but the following works are considered standard authorities on the game:--

Freeborough’s Chess Openings, 1896. Cook’s Synopsis. Minor Tactics of Chess, by Young and Howell. Modern Chess Instructor, by W. Steinitz. Common Sense in Chess, by E. Lasker. Walker’s Treatise on Chess, 1841. Handbuch des Schachspiels. Lehrbuch des Schachspiels, by J. Dufresne. Teoria e Practica del Giuoco degli Schacchi. British Chess Magazine. Chess Player’s Chronicle. Chess Monthly. _Westminster Papers_, 1868 to 1879.

Of these works, “Minor Tactics” will be found most useful to the beginner, as it simplifies the openings by grouping them, and concentrates the attention on the essential points of chess strategy.

CODE OF CHESS LAWS. ADOPTED BY THE FIFTH AMERICAN CHESS CONGRESS.

_=Definitions of Terms Used.=_ Whenever the word “_Umpire_” is used herein, it stands for any Committee having charge of Matches or Tournaments, with power to determine questions of chess-law and rules; or for any duly appointed Referee, or Umpire; for the bystanders, when properly appealed to; or for any person, present or absent, to whom may be referred any disputed questions; or for any other authority whomsoever having power to determine such questions.

When the word “_move_” is used it is understood to mean a legal move or a move to be legally made according to these laws.

When the word “_man_” or “_men_” is used, it is understood that it embraces both Pieces and Pawns.

_=The Chess-Board and Men.=_ The Chess-board must be placed with a white square at the right-hand corner.

If the Chess-board be wrongly placed, it cannot be changed during the game in progress after a move shall have been made by each player, provided the men were correctly placed upon the board at the beginning, _i.e._, the Queens upon their own colours.

A deficiency in number, or a misplacement of the men, at the beginning of the game, when discovered, annuls the game.

The field of the Standard Chess-board shall be twenty-two inches square.

The Standard Chess-men shall be of the improved Staunton Club size and pattern.

_=First Move and Colour.=_ The right of first move must be determined by lot.

The player having the first move must always play with the white men.

The right of move shall alternate, whether the game be won, lost or drawn.

The game is legally begun when each player shall have made his first move.

Whenever a game shall be annulled, the party having the move in that game shall have it in the next game. An annulled game must be considered, in every respect, the same as if it had never been begun.

_=Concessions.=_ The concession of an indulgence by one player does not give him the right of a similar, or other, indulgence from his opponent.

_=Errors.=_ If, during the course of the game, it be discovered that any error or illegality has been committed, the moves must be retraced and the necessary correction made, without penalty. If the moves cannot be correctly retraced, the game must be annulled.

If a man be dropped from the board and moves made during its absence, such moves must be retraced and the man restored. If this cannot be done, to the satisfaction of the Umpire, the game must be annulled.

_=Castling.=_ The King can be Castled only:

When neither the King nor the Castling Rook has been moved, and

When the King is not in check, and

When all the squares between the King and Rook are unoccupied, and

When no hostile man attacks the square on which the King is to be placed, or the square he crosses.

In Castling, the King must be first moved.

The penalty of moving the King prohibits Castling.

_=En Passant.=_ Taking the Pawn “_en passant_,” when the only possible move, is compulsory.

_=Queening the Pawn.=_ A pawn reaching the eighth square must be at once exchanged for any piece (except the King) that the player of the Pawn may elect.

_=Check.=_ A player falsely announcing “check,” must retract the move upon which the announcement was based and make some other move, or the move made must stand at the option of the opponent.

No penalty can be enforced for any offence committed against these rules in consequence of a false announcement of “check,” nor in consequence of the omission of such announcement, when legal “check” be given.

_=“J’adoube.”=_ “J’adoube,” “I adjust,” or words to that effect, cannot protect a player from any of the penalties imposed by these laws, unless the man or men touched, obviously _need_ adjustment, and unless such notification be distinctly uttered _before_ the man, or men, be touched, and only the player whose turn it is to move is allowed so to adjust.

The hand having once quitted the man, but for an instant, the move must stand.

Men overturned or displaced accidentally may be replaced by either player, without notice.

A wilful displacement, or overturning of any of the men, forfeits the game.

_=Penalties.=_ Penalties can be enforced only at the time an offence is committed, and before any move is made thereafter.

A player touching one of his men, when it is his turn to play, must move it. If it cannot be moved he must move his King. If the King cannot move, no penalty can be enforced.

For playing two moves in succession, the adversary may elect which move shall stand.

For touching an adversary’s man, when it cannot be captured, the offender must move his King. If the King cannot move, no other penalty can be enforced. But if the man touched can be legally taken, it must be captured.

For playing a man to a square to which it cannot be legally moved, the adversary, at his option, may require him to move the man legally, or to move the King.

For illegally capturing an adversary’s man, the offender must move his King, or legally capture the man, as his opponent may elect.

For attempting to Castle illegally, the player doing so must move either the King or Rook, as his adversary may dictate.

For touching more than one of the player’s own men, he must move either man that his opponent may name.

For touching more than one of the adversary’s men, the offender must capture the one named by his opponent, or if _either_ cannot be captured, he may be required to move the King or capture the man which can be taken, at the adversary’s option; or, if _neither_ can be captured, then the King must be moved.

A player moving into check may be required, by the opposing player, either to move the King elsewhere, or replace the King and make some other move--but such other move shall not be selected by the player imposing the penalty.

For discovering check on his own King, the player must either legally move the man touched, or move the King at his adversary’s option. In case neither move can be made, there shall be no penalty.

While in check, for touching or moving a man which does not cover the check, the player may be required to cover with another piece, or move the King, as the opposing player may elect.

_=Touching the Squares.=_ While the hand remains upon a man, it may be moved to any square that it commands, except such squares as may have been touched by it during the deliberation on the move; but if all the squares which it commands have been so touched, then the man must be played to such of the squares as the adversary may elect.

_=Counting Fifty Moves.=_ If, at any period during a game, either player persist in repeating a particular check, or series of checks, or persist in repeating any particular line of play which does not advance the game; or if “_a game-ending_” be of doubtful character as to its being a win or a draw, or if a win be possible, but the skill to force the game questionable, then either player may demand judgment of the Umpire as to its being a proper game to be determined as drawn at the end of fifty additional moves, on each side; or the question: “Is, or is not the game a draw?” may be, by mutual consent of the players, submitted to the Umpire at any time. The decision of the Umpire, in either case, to be final.

And whenever fifty moves are demanded and accorded, the party demanding it may, when the fifty moves have been made, claim the right to go on with the game, and thereupon the other party may claim the fifty move rule, at the end of which, unless mate be effected, the game shall be decided a draw.

_=Stale-Mate.=_ A stale-mate is a drawn game.

_=Time Limit.=_ The penalty for exceeding the time limit is the forfeiture of the game.

It shall be the duty of each player, as soon as his move be made, to stop his own register of time and start that of his opponent, whether the time be taken by clocks, sand-glasses, or otherwise. No complaint respecting an adversary’s time can be considered, unless this rule be strictly complied with. But nothing herein is intended to affect the penalty for exceeding the time limit as registered.

_=Abandoning the Game.=_ If either player abandon the game by quitting the table in anger, or in any otherwise offensive manner; or by momentarily resigning the game; or refuses to abide by the decision of the Umpire, the game must be scored against him.

If a player absent himself from the table, or manifestly ceases to consider his game, when it is his turn to move, the time so consumed shall, in every case, be registered against him.

_=Disturbance.=_ Any player wilfully disturbing his adversary shall be admonished; and if such disturbance be repeated, the game shall be declared lost by the player so offending, provided the player disturbed then appeals to the Umpire.

_=The Umpire.=_ It is the duty of the Umpire to determine all questions submitted to him according to these laws, when they apply, and according to his best judgment when they do not apply.

No deviation from these laws can be permitted by an Umpire, even by mutual or general consent of the players, after a match or tournament shall have been commenced.

The decision of the Umpire is final, and binds both and all the players.

RULES FOR PLAYING THE GAME AT ODDS.

I. In games where one player gives the odds of a piece, or “the exchange,” or allows his opponent to count drawn games as won, or agrees to check-mate with a particular man, or on a particular square, he has the right to choose the men, and to move first, unless an arrangement to the contrary is agreed to between the combatants.

II. When the odds of Pawn and one move, or Pawn and more than one move are given, the Pawn given must be the King’s Bishop’s Pawn when not otherwise previously agreed on.

III. When a player gives the odds of his King’s or Queen’s Rook, he must not Castle (or more properly speaking leap his King) on the side from which the Rook is removed, unless before commencing the game or match he stipulates to have the privilege of so doing.

IV. When a player undertakes to give check-mate with one of his Pawns, or with a particular Pawn, the said Pawn must not be converted into a piece.

V. When a player accepts the odds of two or more moves, he must not play any man beyond the fourth square, _i.e._, he must not cross the middle line of the board, before his adversary makes his first move. Such several moves are to be collectively considered as the first move of the player accepting the odds.

VI. In the odds of check-mating on a particular square it must be the square occupied by the King mated, not by the man giving the mate.

VII. The player who undertakes to win in a particular manner, and either draws the game, or wins in some other manner, must be adjudged to be the loser.

In all other respects, the play in games at odds must be governed by the regulations before laid down.

RULES FOR PLAYING CORRESPONDENCE AND CONSULTATION GAMES.

I. In playing a game by correspondence or in consultation, the two parties shall always agree beforehand in writing or otherwise as to the persons who are to take part in the contest, as to the time and mode of transmitting the moves, as to the penalties to be inflicted for any breach of the contract, and as to the umpire or referee.

II. In games of this description each party is bound by the move dispatched; and in this connection the word move refers to what is intelligibly written, or delivered _viva voce_.

In any game the announcement of a move which does not include the actual transfer of a man from one square to another, shall be considered as a move not intelligibly described within the meaning of this section.

III. Each party must be bound by the move communicated in writing, or by word of mouth, to the adversary whether or not it be made on the adversary’s board. If the move so communicated should prove to be different from that actually made on the party’s own board, the latter must be altered to accord with the former.

IV. If either party be detected in moving the men when it is not their turn to play, or in moving more than one man (except in castling) when it is their turn to play, they shall forfeit the game, unless they can show that the man was moved for the purpose of adjusting or replacing it.

V. If either party has, accidentally or otherwise, removed a man from the board, which has not been captured in the course of the game, and made certain moves under the impression that such man was no longer in play, the moves must stand, but the man may be replaced whenever the error is discovered.

VI. If either party permit a bystander to take part in the contest, that party shall forfeit the game.

* * * * *

The foregoing laws differ very slightly from those of the British Chess Association, and it is to be hoped that an international code will be agreed upon before a second edition of this work is issued.

CHECKERS, OR DRAUGHTS.

_=The Board.=_ Checkers is played upon a board which is not more than sixteen, nor less than fourteen inches square, and is divided into sixty-four smaller squares of equal size. These squares are of different colours, alternately light and dark, and the board must be so placed that each player shall have a light square at his right on the side nearer him.

_=The Men.=_ Each player is provided with twelve men, which are circular in form, one inch in diameter, and three eighths thick. The men on one side are red or black; those on the other white or yellow. The men must be placed on the _=black=_ squares.

_=Diagrams.=_ For convenience in illustrating games and problems the men are always shown as placed on the white squares, type made in that manner being more easily read. The following diagram will show the proper arrangement of the men at the beginning of the game, if the white squares are supposed to be black ones:--

_=Two Move Restriction.=_ It has lately become the custom in important tournaments to write an opening and second move, such as 10-14, 22-17 on a slip of paper; 10-14, 24-19 on another, and so on for all possible openings. These are placed in a hat and when the players face each other, a slip is drawn. If it is 11-15, 22-18, the game must be opened with those moves. When these players start the second game, the one who was second player on the first game begins with 11-15, and his opponent must play 22-18. The same opening is never again used by the same pair, the object being to diversify the play and drive contestants out of their favourite ruts.

_=The Players=_ are designated by the colour of the men with which they play, White or Black, and Black always has the first move. In a series of games each player in turn takes the black men and the move. It is usual to draw for the first game, one player concealing in each hand a man of different colour, and offering the choice of hands to his adversary. Whichever colour the chosen hand contains the chooser must take for the first game.

_=The Moves.=_ The men never leave the colour of the squares on which they are originally set up, so that they always move diagonally. At the beginning of the game the men move only one square at a time, and always forward, and can be placed only on squares which are unoccupied. If an adverse piece stands upon a square to which a man might be moved, and there is a vacant square beyond, the man must jump over the adverse piece to the unoccupied square, at the same time removing from the board the piece so jumped over. In the position shown in Diagram No. 1, for instance, it being White’s turn to move, he must jump over the black man, removing it from the board. Black will then have a choice of two jumps, over one man or over two, and will of course select the jump toward the right of the board first, and then over the second man, removing both from the board. A man may jump over and capture several men at one move, provided there are vacant squares between them, and beyond the last man.

_=Huffing.=_ If a player who can capture a piece neglects to do so, his adversary has the choice of three things:--To compel the player to take back his move and capture the piece; to huff (remove from the board,) the man that should have captured the piece; or to let the move stand, and go on with his own move. A huff does not constitute a move; the piece is simply removed from the board as a penalty, but the penalty must be enforced before the player exacting it makes his own move.