El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-04-08

about the age of 20 The talents, /"
more numerous, of course, and includ-
! ing such men as Steinitz Tarrasch,
Schlechter, Lasker and Rubinstein, de-
velop later.
Upsets All Theories.
To find, indeed, a parallel to Capa-
blanca's success one must go back to
the days OF Paul Morphy. who was only
20 years old when he visited England
in 1858 and vanquished all the best
players in Europe. What makes Capa-
blanca's victory especially noteworthy
however, is that it upsets most of the
theories that have come into vogue
since Morphy's day The chief charac-
teristtcs Of Morphy's play were mag
ination and daring He apparently
conceived certain positions in his mind
and then set to work to bring them
about on the board. The end he al
ways kept in view was checkmate and
to accomplish that end he never hes
itated to sacrifice pawns or even
pieces. The methods originated by
Steinitz. who held the chess cham
picnship for a quarter of a century
were directly opposed to those of
Morphy. According TO Steinitz, all
sacrifice Of material was unsound. and
could only succeed against insufficient
defence. He eschewed frontal attacks
for the more subtle strategy of what
came to be known as 1.-The accumula-
ton of minute advantages" Tt was
all very philcsophic, very theoretic,
and very German. but its weak point
was that 1t omitted the human factor
If chess could be played by machinery
the loss OF pawn would mean the
ultimate loss OF the game. As it is a
game Of chess is contest of intelligence
and personality in which theory is
apt to go by the board
steinitz and Modern Chess.
Steinitz was the founder of what is
called modern chess His long-con-
tinued success brought him a host Of
disciples, and nearly all the great mas
tiers Of the last 80 years have modelled
their style on his methods Very ac-
curate, subtle, and far-seeing, it must
be confessed that modern chess is
somewhat dull and unenterprising It
is a terrible learned affair Not mere
" are the openings studied and ana
lyzed, but whole games are committed
to memory for future exploitation
against an unwary opponent. DR..
Tarrasch, who possesses such a won
derful record in international tourna-
ments, is an encyclopedia rather than
a human chess player AS one of his
opponents once remarked, 'Tt isn't
Tarrasch you have to beat; it is the
accumulated wisdom of all the ages"
Fortunately for chess. the ponderous
booklore Of Dr. Tarrasch is not always
invulnerable. A remarkable example
of this occurred at the Hamburg tour
nament last summer.
A Scheme that Failed.
Shortly before the date Of the tour
nament various chess players Of re-
nown had been exercising their criti-
cal faculties on the familiar Max
LANCE opening. Three distinguished
foreign masters, after an exhaustive
analysis. had evolved a defence which
they contended completely broke I'D
the attack. As a practical test of the
analysis, a series Of games at this
opening was played in London between
Blackburne, Gunsberg and other ex-
perts. and in each game the attack
failed badly. The Max LANCE had been
proved an impOsture, and was prompt
" relegated to the limbo of exploded
fallacies. The Hamburg tournament
arrived, and in the first round Marshall
played the discredited Max LANCE
against Tarrasch. the master of re-
search. AS a suicidal proceeding this
seemed on a par with bowling full
pitches to Victor Trumper or leaving
the red ball over the middle pocket
for George Gray. But Marshall. who
is a player Of the Morphy school, knew
what he was about Initiative and
audacity beat caution and research and
DR.. Tarrasch lost the game.
In actual style Capablanca reminds
ne OF the early days Of DR.. Lasker.
He is, however. resourceful and in
genius enough to depend on his own
natural genius On the chess board he
is just like Charousek, quick of per
ception. never short of time and walk
ing about the rooms as soon as he has
made his move. He excels in "off
hand games.
While the general standard Of chess
in America at the present moment is
high. there is a meIan-
cho1y dearth Of players Of the first
rank. The explanation probably is
that our young players are afraid to
let themselves go or to trust their
own iniative.
Meanwhile. Capablanca has vet to
meet the worlds champion, Dr. Lasker.
for a match are already
m foot