The sun., 1889-04-28
SMALL REW4RDs or CHESS pL.y,x,
Even the Beat Players Must FAN B,,S
Cpon Someth hing EI-c Tor "a Living

In the large room at Union square. whero
the chess congress Is holding It's tourpnrnon,
twenty expert chess playcrs spend from six ~
eight hours out of every twenty-iour in earnest
play Hour after hour they sit looking Stead.
| lily nj tho chess board studying in,ently thu
position ana concentrating all their intellectual
powers in each move. This they have dona
almost daily for ono month, and will continue
to do for another When 1t isull over tho Sin.
| nor OF the greatest number of games will ra.
ceivo sl,OOO and tho others proportionatelv
less. until the five or six who rank lowest will
that the same amount ot Intellectual enersv
! directed toward any other achievement wouId
| earn at least double these rewards Neynr,Hnu
! less every player in tho tournament WouiI
! rathereat SO IN game OF chess than $2O In
any other manner.
! land have G0wat!cd the iact that chess Is sUrh
| avery poor procession. Oi he mon VIII haze
| devoted ;hoir INcS To- CHESS but lew have man.
| aEed TO make u com oriaUIe living. and hone
! has yet arrived At tho degree OF prosperity on.
| joycd by professional base bail PLAYER u AM
I reputation. Mr.. charles Anthony OF HrreiorG
| England, who Is an ardent lover OF tho game
| aud who was tho promoter OF several tIurna.
mcnts. wroie letter on this subject to thp Lon.
| don Times few yoar~ jGO. lit II he said.
At present tho profcssi' nal chess player Ia
not as n rule treated with MS much c,nSnicra.
ton as his talent, perseverance, Hu so denial
ought to secure Tor him lie is .elt more 10 his
own resources than even rrckclorur clam.
/
the intellect, and not bv strength ul lung or
limb, 1t is certain that in the last low Years
thore has spruhg un throughout tho W rid a
number OF pr"fcssional chess PLAYERS who have
attained high distinction with ,ut deriving lhe
slightest material advantage them elves. 4
family may be actually suhcripE IN c,use-
aucnce. With reEard TO IL" Objection that
chess IS not sufficiently deNcioicl TO uc luoacd
upOn Us regular protest. II. y ruIi say that
this |, very mach the fault ut hoS" who tl,ink
50 mughand who nseGucntiy wi hho Il .romit
l. l,,l,f Il l. t,,t
lhe etNliehcro oi recent years thS i'rHutn, IN er.
national tournaments. he drNuipplEr' frhcss
rumtcr OF cubs thrVugl ont Gr.a' ri,ain 10
say nothing Of In" interest so widely icit and
eyrlesaeI IL mo i"rih,omin-; m@t"4 between
possible 10 deny the eNistrEac oi u NO ossson
OF che+s-h Procession. that Is 70 SLY, OF men
who prefer n certain intellectual. IN ~ IrusIye,
and unoscntntIous game 10 any otter and
"ho cAceiing in mental power or auiituuo
arc led b. tho kccn al elite ui victory +" sann
therefore. IN this not less haH in any oiuer
profession, that all wh9 cultivate til. art grs
as are it's inninstay- always ready t. p,ny. 10
instruct, to illustrate theory. or TO araiy2e a
l"sition-s hall NOT TO uniuIy hand rarpci in
our probes -ional chCsS players are compelled
TO oongace in some other caiiini, viii h distrayls
s,ram srs ina s"1 "The Tbsra n IS NO Horn c H rng
the utmost ability is scarcely rrwnrdei at all
The whole question Is whether sonnet hing can
OF the rewards to which successful players may
look forward"
Nearly all Of the foreign players in he
tournament receive small conpen-aions from
tNeir local clubs to enable them to stay here Tor
two months and perhnpS longer Otherwise
most OF them would be losers in the end.
There Is ut present but ono man who sutsle,B
entirely by chess playing; and that Is Mr.
Backhurne of London. Others there are who,
besides being professional chess players fur
nish chess articles for the ncwsrapGrs ahd
magaznos. or edit chess, periodicals. but Mr..
Black burne il tho only living player who plays
and only plays. And even. ne has not yet
anassed the fortune which the Inventor ot the
e Pigs In Clover unl plhtcdly realized from his
ingenious toy. Mr.. Blackburne possesses the
ability to play many gnm"s simultaneously.
He gives exhibitions of this sort OF playing. rs
well as of blindfoldcd playing. in III" London
chess clubs. Besi!cS tins. he is also an excel
lent tournament player. As there are over
tlily chess clubs in London and tournumcnts
are held more frequently than here Mr. Black
burne manages, with his brilliant abilities. TO
exc out an existence.
But the othor professional chess players all
must fall back upon sonnet hing else. McssrS
SIeintz. Mackenzie. Bird IchiGorin and
Weiss q brilliant chess players. devote most
Of their time to writing about chess. and even
that brings but POOR rcturn-Mr Mason said
10 the writer: " 4 man may devote his life 10
chess and if he has love for the game it Is an
easy. step 10 take. but at tle end OF his life he
Chess has only q foOthold in this country.
The number Of its devotecS Is still small. apd
hoUEh 1t may never acquire the popularity
V shich many other games have. tho chess clubs
ook forward to Il time when Il man devoted to
the Gano Will receive proper reward