Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-05-09
An Absorbing Game.

those who give il exhaustive study
and 1t saps away the gray matter in
mans brain faster than alcohol. Will
liam Stelnitz, the great Austrian chess
champion, was arrested at his home in
New York last week and will conf
mitted second time to an insane asy-
lum. Paul Morphy. the American
chess wizard, became mental wreck,
and died at the early age of thirty-five.
Morphy was the first man to play
chess blindfolded meeting in this
darkened contest from six to eight OPP
ponents at a time. The next man to
accomplish this feat was Zuterkort, a
German player, who kept sixteen
games going while blindfolded. The
immense starin that such task i'm
poses upon the brain can be family
imagined. The blindfolded player is
not allowed to see single board, but
must carry, photographed upon his
mind, the position of every piece up
on the boards at which his opponents
are placed. He must meet move after
move, when informed of them, with
out seeing either piece or table, and
give exact instructions as to how his
counter moves are to be made.
Steintiz was recognized as the
champion chess player of the world
for 26 years. At match in Philadel-
phia he played four games of chess
and a game of whist at the same time
and was successful in each of them.
He was beaten several years ago at an
international tournament at Hastings,
England, by a Boston youth named
Pillsbury, who took the first prize
from eighteen of the greatest players
OF chess in the world. Pillsbury is
now about 80 years of age and holds
the chess championship of the world.
According to Megareee. of the Phila-
delphia Times, the greatest chess or
ganization known at the present time
is the st. Petersburg Chess Club. The
membership includes the leading no.
bles of Russia, who have plenty CT
time to devote to the game
The members of the club were in
credulous as to the American boys
ability to defeat the masters Of the
most scientific game that was ever de-
vlsed by man. They determined to
bring him into contact with the three
greatest living masters of the art who
we're then recognized in the person
ages of Iaskar, who claimed to repre-
sent England, although he was Ger
man by birth: Tschgorin, of Russia,
and Steinitz. Never in the chess his
tory of the world had four masters
We'd one with the other, and for the
first time was an opportunity given
20 determine who was the king in the
realm OF chess. Pillsbury met the is
sue manfully. 1t was arranged that
each contestant should play six games
with each of his opponents.
The contest was neld in St. Peters
burg, with the Russians naturally in
favor of Tschgorin. but when the Yam
kee demonstrated his ability to defeat
their most skillful representative
Pillsbury became the favorite of the
most important chess center in Eu-
rope. In the nine games he played in
the first half of the Russian tourna-
ment he defeated Tschgroin in all
three of their encounters; won two
and half Of the three games from
Laskar, but from Steinitz he could
net win at all. although American eX-
perts contend that in each of these he
had victory well within his grasp
Pillsbury is now in the height of his
career, and recently gave an exhi-
bition in Philadelphia of his marvel
GUS powers as a cness player.-Der-
rick.