The Washington times., 1901-11-03

hillSt tOitS-a look OF utter distress, self
contempt, but submiss,ion to overpower-
| ing necessity. l never liked Leschevitsky,
but sympathy for his sad fate overcame
me. 1 darted to him glance of under
standing and fellOw-feeIhg; 1 knew too
well, from my own experience, what he
must be going through at that moment to
wish to add to the natural bitterness of
defeat 1 took the Rock, and Leschevit-
sky replied with Il helpless and meaning
| less excursion of his Queen. Four or five
moves later he moved his knight so as to
! expose his King to check. "A false
move" l said.
''Ah, so it is" he responded, as if re-
| licved to find the game over. Il resign,
and beg to congratulate you. We are but
| pawns on the chessboard of destiny" he
added.
Just so" I answered. ''We are not
always masters Of ourselves"
| When the congratulations were over,
went back to my hotel in company with
my two friends They were fun of aston
! ishment at the turn of affairs.
''Leschevitsky must have been mad, >"
said one.
Never saw such play out of the nurs-
| cry" said the other.
Except Cohen's play in the first and
third games" answered his friend
Yes; and that's the extraordinary thing
about it, He might have caught your
( disease. Cohen"
! No" ! answered, "he was tired of the
match, and thought he had no chance of
| winning six games running; so he threw
! 1t away"
He didn't throw his old matches away
whatever his chances said my friend
.
games to one against him. and he went
on and never lost another"
"Ah, but he is old now" l replied
1T seemed to me more like pettshness
than age" observed my friend
No said the other, who was more
keen-sighted; 1T was more like hypnot-
ism or possession. He seemed compelled
to play that way against his will. Several
times he all but touched the proper piece,
and then. as If CONTAINED, changed his
mind and moved another. Anyhow,
there's something uncanny about it.
well. Cohen's still champion; that's
one good thing
/ did not say what passed through my
mind: But won't be long"
a complimentary dinner 10 us two mas
ters was given that evening. Leschevit-
sky, much to his honor showed no NOR
| tihcatiOn at his defeat He had, he said
in his speech. been beaten by a better
player, the MOrphy of his generation. He
| himself, he added, was satisfied with
what he had done. He should henceforth
neither challenge me for the title of
champion. nor. indeed, play chess again.
This declaration, which astounded the
rest Of the audience was no surprise to
me. Judging by my own feelings. l thor
oughly understood Leschevitsky's mo-
tives. After such a game as he had
played that day, chess had lost all charm
for him. For thirty years he had been
champion: for thirty years. in good health
or bad, in success or defeat he had alike
done his best-tilI that morning There
must be many of my readers-oarsnen
cricketers, swimmers-who will appreci-
ate to some extent his state of mind but
those who did not understand the cir
cumstances. VINO only knew that chess
was Leschevitsky's be-all and end-au.
either mutely wondered or Iaughingly OBJ
served that time would show.
Then. when | rose. and after compli-
ments to my rivel. and thanks to my
friends, announced that 1 also should
henceforth renounee the pursuit OF chess.
the amazement was far more profound
and obvious. NO, no. sounded from a
score Of throats, SeYeraI speakers. ris-
ing after / sat down. urged me to recon
slider my decision. However, 1 was firm:
it was only after mitch solicitation that
/ consented to defer the public announce
ment till my arrival in England l well
knew that nothing could alter me; l had
been through too great a change in the
last few weeks to allow of another.
As you may imagine. it had not been
without most determined effort that I
had constrained myself to give proper at
teution to the match. The effort had been
made. and successfully made: but it left
me limp and exhausted. / was well on
my way home before my mind recovered
enough Of its tone to be able even to
conjecture what precisely was the ser
vice l had so unwillingly done TO the Nj
hiiist cause, but when. on my arrival in
London, strength of body and mind did
return. the problem dominated me to the
exclusion of all others. Even Dopper's
sarcastic remarks in the Field" on my
first and third games aroused but a Ian
guid interest. l flung the paper aside,
and my brain returned of its own ac-
cord to its ceaseless surmises and
combinations. Never had a complicated
position on the chcssboard so held my
and third games. when written out in the
continental notation contained message
from the English Nihilists to their Rus
sian brethren / was practically certain
from the presidents own avowaI. and |
needed no avowal to assure me that
Leschevitsky's last game contained the
answer of the Russian society. Like me,
he had been seized and compelled against
% mi n "a. ha In,
cipher which he did not understand. but
whose general drift he too certainly
guessed. What a safe and simple device
these men had conceived! Withou. cross
ing the frontier, without even leaving the
charmed circle of London, they could by
means of their code. send instructions Of
the most deadly import to their confed-
crates within the danger-haunted walls of
Moscow. ] admired their skill, as they
had admired my chess ability. unaffected
and deeply. Published in the pages of
the "Field' and other English papers, the
secret missive would be easily accessible
TO the London organization; published in
the Russian chess columns. IT would pass
uususpected the most Argus-eyed censor.
and be read by the Moscow officials
What, then, was the message? | thought
of a hundred solutions, turned over the
games in hundred ways, combined the
symbols with the ingenuity Of a commen-
tator on Revelation endeavoring TO solve
the riddle of the Beast, but In vain. /
remembered Edgar Alan Poes dictum
that no cryptogram can rbe invented by
human ingenuity which human ingenuity
canot solve; and / was sure that no hu-
man ingenuity exceeds that of a chess
player Relying on this conviction, | spent
days and filed reams of paper in the vain
attemnt 10 hcat aensh ont OF D TO d 1.