The Detroit times., 1910-12-17


on two ocean
liners crossing In opposite directions
This use OF the wireless IL no.
SUNRISE 10 those familiar with the
history of the most remarkable anu
scientific game ever cohcsi'eu w
man, for every invention oi n
means for rapid transferehce vi "a
formation between distant points nas
been utilized by the chess piayei
Matches are said to nave peeh PIC!
ed by correspondence between fTeI
erick the Great OF Germany anu w
taire. when a swift courier ser'ice
between Potsdam and Paris was In
augurated TO carry the news OF tue
next move" With the Improvement
in post roads, contests between the
champions OF Edinburgh and London,
were inaugurated as early as lo|o
and the first chess game by telegraph
was played between players In wash
ineton and Baltimore In lS44, In the
very infancy of the Morse telegraph.
Cable matches between the Uniteo
states and England came with the
LAYING of the first cable and these
continue TO the present Day, the
George Newnes trophy being the
chief stakes. 49,
The practicability OF chess py
cable, telegraph and wireless is que
largely TO the great syrian prayer
Stamina, OF Aleppo, who invented the
present system of notation FROM
this region of the world We are III
debted also for our problems IN
chess. as Mutasim Billah, son OF
Raschid, of Arabian Nights
fame was the man who flrst gave the
world its "chestnuts" to crack. And
tho chess player is debtor to still an
other inhabitant or that region LOT /.
was the Saracen Buzecca VINO mrs.
startled Europe with the power |.
NAV chess without seeing the poaru
This feat OF memory was performed
hrst in Florence in 1866. Since ina,
time chess players have deVeiopec
their powers OF memory and vlzuail
zation TO d truly marvellous degree
Leon Matteo Ii Genchi, a Spaniard
who lived during the sixteenth cen
fury. astounded the courts or Europe
nv playing, blindfolded, three games
at the same time, and carrying on q
lively conversation while his OPP
moments were planning their modes
Of attack. But these performances
have been outshone many times IL
the nineteenth century, especially Dy
the Young Boston player II. y. Pilis
hurry. who played twenty-five games
at one time. blindfolded.
The origin OF chess Is yelled In the
mists OF antiquity, but 1t Is general
ly believed to have come from INDIA
The first limitations OF chess &c
back 5000 years before the Christian
era. In the early days IL was played
by four persons instead or two anc
the moves Of the four principal
pieces were determined by throwing
an oblong die. From India, chess was
carried to Persia and from there II
was introduced into Spain by the
Moors. This Is the generally accept
ed theory OF the origin Of the game
but others trace the royal sport &c
Palamedes, son OF Nauplius, ruler Of
the island of Negropont, who is Also
credited with the invention o.
weights. measures and numbers, anc
the idea of establishing the solar
year and the lunar month.
IL there is any doubt as to the
origin of the game, there can be none
as to the nation most devoted TO its
intricacies today The Japanese are
chess-mad, according to our western
standards, for every officer in the
army and navy and every common
soldier IS more or less OF an adept
at the game. There are many cause
seekers" who profess TO find in the
mental development which has beer
brought about by chess the underly
ing principles which resulted In the
victories over the Russians In Man
churia. In Japan today II is a com
mon sight to see the jinrikisha men
squatting on the street corners en-
crossed in chess while waiting for
customers. The Japanese million
aire, who wishes to make a donation
which will bring happiness to the un
fortunate, buys a hundred sets OF
chess-men and boards and presents
them to some hospital.
Whether or not there is as much In
the theory OF Japanese mind training
as the chess enthusiasts would have
us believe, It Is historical fact that
such military geniuses as Napoleon
and Charlemagne were great lovers OF
the game. The name Of Napoleon is
connected with one OF the greatest
chess marvels OF the age. the Autom
atom Chess-player. invented by
Baron Wolfgang Kempel and first ex
hibited In Vienna in 1869. This autom
atom was a half-century wonder. II
played chess and defeated some OF the
greatest experts OF the day in nearly
every country of Europe. The figure
was made TO represent a turbaned
Turk. Learned men wrote thoughtful
books in which they trned to solve the
mystery. and curious crowds focked
10 see II in every capital where II
was on display. Frederick the Great
became so interested in II that he
finally bought 1t in l7S3~for 10000
francs I'm order to learn the secret OF
its operations, which was that a
strong chess player was concealed in.
side the figure. As soon as the Ger.
man ruler learned the secret he threw
tho contrivance In the attic OF his
potsdam castle where II remained un.
m NAPOLEON came TO Berlin in 1896
Then an expert mechanic refitted II
and the Emperor OF the French was
defeated by II.
After this the automaton was taken
IN a tour OF all the European cities
for a second time and was brought 10
tho United States in 1926. Here II
created a furore only equalled by that
which Il aroused when II was first IN
vented In New York, Philadelphia