Evening star., 1949-02-16
This and That
Bu Charles z. TrGcetDeH


"Who invented chess?" the lady wanted TO
know, and nobody knew.
The truth is, that no one really does know.
It is believed now to have originated IN
India. and came into Europe by way OF
Persia.
The Arabs did lot with it, and then the
Spanish. .s-...-- u-5.
Modern chess may be said to have begun
with Ruy Lopez de Segura, in about 1861.
The name still is found in all the books.
France has its innings with the famous
Francois Philidor, in the early 1700s.
The United States came into the picture
when Paul Morphy of New Orleans, who
lived between 1887 and 1884. beat all the
English experts Of the game.
Since those days there has been q success
sion OF masters Of the game.
One of them lives right here In suburban
Washington.
There are thousands Of chess addicts. or
players, OF enthusiasts, or fans" or what
ever one calls them.
It is a game to attract intelligent people.
And there lies, alas. its weak point.
Intelligent people feel SO much upset, when
they lose, that they rapidly lose interest In
the game.
Nothing, thereafter, can prevail upon them
to play but they always keep their interest
In the game.
Real enthusiasts will declare that such
persons were never real chess players, to
begin with. and maybe they are right.
But there is something in losing chess
game that is entirely different from losing
q game of checkers, for instance.
Checkers is just game, but somehow
chess, even carelessly played. becomes test
of the mind. and to lose is to admit that one 8
mind did not function as well as the other
fellows.
Be that as it may, chess is a wonderful
game, still played in the evening in many
homes, often by spirited young persons one
might think would prefer to ride around in
cars.
1t is that sort Of game.
It's appeal Is both to the mind and the
heart, to the eye. above all else.
The latter is owing to the wonderful chess
men.
There are several patterns. all Of them with
their good points.
They come in ivory. plastic nowadays,
woods, and so on.
The boards range from cardboard af-
fairs-which may be very nice-to magnifl-
cent inlaid tables.
Set up, the chess table is sight for the
gods.
IL becomes real OTudWcnG Ol u Icdl IOOIA.
The chess men, with their air Of detachment
and glamour, intrigue even the non player.
Chess is a real hobby because it has such q
wonderful literature.
There was young man in this town who,
with his first earnings, bought up all the
chess books he could find.
He swept the local stores clean just before
World War I.
He still has the books, some of them rari-
ties.
Every now and then, ne tells us, he sees
them in his attic library. and laments in
wardly that he no longer plays the game.
TOO much for my Soul,' he says.
There are books showing how Napoleon,
at the Battle of Waterloo. really lost chess
game.
There are volumes dealing with the minor.
major and grand tactics of chess, just as If
it were real warfare.
The marvellous resemblance between war
and chess will always hold true, and that
despite airplanes, rockets and atom bombs.
because the infantry must come in, to clean
up, and when you bring in the foot troops,
you are right back on a chess board
Paul Morphy, probably the homeliest man
who ever lived, would have shone as gen.
eral II fate had been different to him. For
he who can win at chess ought to be able to
win at warfare. We would not say that he
can win, but just that he ought to be able
to win.