SG 3646, 552 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY SILAS W. HOWLAND COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY EXCELSIOR PUBLISHING HOUSE. CHESS. FOR the game of Chess a chess-board and chessmen are required. The board, which is square, is made of leather or wood. The surface of the board is divided into sixty-four squares, of equal size, eight on each of the four sides. The squares are colored alternately white and black, or white and red. The men are generally made of ivory or wood, covered with baize. The men are thirty-two in number. Of these, sixteen (which belong to one player) are colored white; and sixteen (which belong to the other player) are colored black or red. Each player's men consist of eight pieces and eight pawns, thus named and figured: RELATIVE VALUES OF THE MEN. A knight is worth rather more than three pawns, a bishop rather more than a knight, but practically these minor pieces are regarded as of equal value. A rook is worth a minor piece and two pawns. If a player gains a rook for a minor piece he is said to win the exchange. Two rooks are about equal to three minor pieces. A queen slightly exceeds in value two rooks. These approximate values, though they vary with position, indicate what exchanges may, as a rule, be made with advantage (see Capturing). The king is not included, as, from the nature of the game, he cannot be captured. DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME. Chess is played by two persons, who occupy positions opposite to each other, where the words "white" and "black" occur in the diagram. The board must be placed with a white square in the right-hand corner. The players then determine by lot which of them shall have the white men and which the black. Each places the men of his own color as shown in the diagram. The rooks occupy the corner squares; the knights the next squares; the bishops the next; and the king and queen the centre, the queen being always placed on a square of her own color. The pawns occupy the row of squares immediately in front of the pieces. The game is opened by one player's moving (see Law III.) one of his men from the square on which it stands to some other square, in the manner and with the limitations to be presently described. The other player then moves one of his men, and so on alternately. When one man is placed within a certain range of an adverse man, he can be captured, as will be fully explained. The game proceeds until one of the kings occupies a position from which he cannot escape, when the game is won or drawn (see Checkmate and Drawn Games). NOMENCLATURE OF THE MEN AND SQUARES. Before describing the moves and powers of the men the notation used in printed games and problems should be explained. The pieces to the right of the white king are called the king's bishop, king's knight, and king's rook respectively; those to the left of the white queen are called the queen's bishop, queen's knight, and queen's rook respectively. The black pieces are similarly named. The king's knight and rook are usually stamped to distinguish them from the queen's. The pawns are named after the pieces in front of which they stand. Thus, the pawn in front of the king is called the king's pawn, that in front of the king's bishop is called the king's bishop's pawn; and so on. The square on which each piece stands at the commencement of a game is called his square. Thus, the king stands on the king's square, the king's rook on the king's rook's square, and so on. The rows of |
