Chess

a game of skill played on a checkered board of sixty-four squares. The game is said to be of Hindu origin. It was played in Hindustan 5,000 years ago. The Arabs learned the game from the Persians and introduced it into Spain and western Europe. The board resembles a checkerboard; all the squares are used. Each player has sixteen men, consisting of eight pawns and eight pieces, known as the whites and blacks. The pieces are the king, the queen, two bishops, two knights, and two castles, or rooks. They are arranged as shown on the following page.

The pieces on the queen's side are known as the queen's bishop, queen's knight, and queen's rook; those on the other side bear the king's name. The pawns are named by the pieces in front of which they stand. Thus we have the king's pawn, the queen's pawn, the king's rook's pawn, the queen's bishop's pawn, etc. The white queen stands at the left of her king; the black queen at the right of her king; so that corresponding pieces are opposed to each other. In chess, men may be taken, not by leaping over them, as in checkers, but by occupying the space in which they stand. The intricacy of the game is increased greatly by the varying powers possessed by the different men.

A pawn moves forward only. The first move may be for one or two squares; subsequent moves for one square only. A pawn may take any man belonging to the enemy by moving one space diagonally to the square occupied by that man. A knight has eight moves,--two squares forward, and one square sideways in either direction; two squares backward and one square sideways in either direction; two squares to the left and one square either forward or backward; and two squares to the right and one square either forward or backward. As a knight may leap over any intervening man it is evident that he can remove a man of the enemy from any one of eight spaces.

A bishop moves angularly any number of spaces forward or backward on the color on which it was originally placed.

The rooks move any number of spaces, as far as the line is clear, either forward, backward, or sideways.

The queen has the moves both of bishops and of rooks.

The king may move in any direction, one square at a time (except in castling). Each king is permitted to castle once during the game. The player moves his rook to the square next the king, then leaps his king over the rook to the square on the other side.

A player is not compelled, as in checkers, to take a man within reach; but may refuse, if to his own advantage. When the king is situated so that he can be taken at the next move by an adversary's man, he is said to be in check. If the player be unable to avoid the attack by taking the attacking man, interposing one of his own men, or retiring the king to a place of safety, he is checkmated, and loses the game. Any man properly situated may attack the opposing king. The king is also able to take any man of the enemy. If neither player is able to checkmate his opponent's king, the game is drawn.

It is not practicable to explain the rules of chess in a brief article, but the powers of the different men may be understood by playing the following illustrative game, taken from Hoyle: White moves first.

9. W. The king's pawn one move.

B. The king's knight at his king's square.

39. W. The knight gives check at the 4th square of his king's bishop. B. The king at his knight's 2d square.

See Games