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DIAMONDS TO SIT ON

The fair man in the third row blushed scarlet there. Let us suppose that he plays badly- ’ The audience craned their necks and stared at the dark man. What do we see ? We see that the fair-haired man plays well and the dark-haired man plays badly and no amount of lectures will alter those facts unless each separate individual has constant practice in draughts—er—I mean in chess. And now, comrades, I will give you a few helpful stories from the experiences of our respected hyper-moderns Capablanca, Lasker, and Doctor Grigoriev.’ Bender told the audience a few very well-known anecdotes and then concluded his speech, XV slightly surprised at the brevity of the lectur^ and the one-eyed head of the chess section looked at Bender suspiciously. The chess display began. Thirty amateur players sat down to play and faced the champion. Many of them were very nervous and kept diving into xK ^he aid of which they hoped that the champion would not beat them before the twentysecond move. Bender glanced at the players, went up to the first board and moved the king’s pawn P—K4. The P immediately clapped his hands over his ears and began to concentrate, while the row of amateurs whi^ered along the line that the champion had moved r K4. Bender did not favour his opponents with a vanety of moves, but made the same move on each of the twenty-nine other boards. One after another the plunged into deep thought and the spectators watched the champion with ^“^teur photographer in the town had clambered on to a chair, and was about to set light to furiously, and, interruptmg his play, shouted in a loud