Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-02-23
BY PAUL ]. MILLER, JR.


in the ancient world. The
- truth is that historians cam
not agree on the birthplace of Homer
any more than Psychologists can trace
the original genesis Of chess in It's
crudest form. That Homer really
lived some hundreds of years ago is
unquestionable, for the "Iliad' Is an
immortal testament to his genius.
That chess existed as o game when
the Egyptian pharoahs were engi-
neering the pyramids is not denied,
for excavations into these same
pyramids in recent years have pro-
duced chessmen. crudely fashioned
but obviously the ancestors Of the
modern game.
Travel to the ends of the earth
60 north. south, east or west-and
you will find one common tongue that
transcends speech, music. Take the
wings Of the morning and visit all
lands-and you will find chess, the
universal game that has a language
distinctly its own, understandable to
the initiates in every cline. Rules
may differ on minor points; varia-
tons of the game will occur, but still
1t Is chess though castles may be
called igloos, kings termed sea lions,
and pawns be decked in motley or
princely raiment. Down through the
centuries chess has come to us. 1t
is here. And, after all, isn't that the
vital point?
Official Rules Of Chess.
STRANGELY enough. the modern
rules of chess-the correct rules,
If you please-are not In any pub
lished chess book, any encyclopedia,
any reference work, or research guide.
Only in brochure form are the cor
rect rules of chess obtainable. In
1929 these rules became official and
were written in French. to be trans
lated into English in 1881, and pub.
licized by the Illinois State Chess AS
ISOLATION in 1885 in pamphlet edition.
That chess lovers may be thoroughly
familiar with the origin OF our pres
ent oficial rules, I am devoting this
column to a summation of important
facts.
In order to unity the chess program
among nations it has been an essential
step that some agreement be obtained
on standard rules of play which ofi-
cially are called the laws of chess.
The British Chess Federation has
been instrumental in bringing about
q uniform set of chess laws. A digest
of the British efforts taken, as out
lined in the 1928 and 1881 yearbooks
Of the British Chess Federation (B.
c. F. is given for the benefit Of all
chess players.
Existing Codes Examined.
THE B. G. P. decided that it would
be advantageous to have the sew
eral existing codes of laws examined,
amended and issued in one official set
of laws. Mr.. William Ward of London
undertook the preliminary work OF
drafting the laws and formed, with
Mr.. I. M. Brown of Leeds and Mr.. A.
J. Mackenzie Of Birmingham, a SUBJ
committee, whose work was published
in the year book for 1911, to enable
it to be examined and criticized before
final adoption. They were published
with few amendments in April
1912, and came into use at the con-
gress of that year. During the next
decade the opinion of the chess world
seemed to favor change on one or two
points and in 1922 the laws were again
considered by subcommittee COM
posed of Messrs. r. c. Griffith and
w. H. Watts (of London) and Mr.. v
L. Wahltuch (of Manchester. Their
revision was subjected to close exami.
nation and with very slight amend
ment adopted for future use.