Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/393

 CHESS 385 for the B. arvemia, the only species of brome grass at all suitable for cultivation, but which is itself now wholly displaced by more desira- ble sorts of grasses. In experiments that have been tried with the chess, cattle have been found to prefer to it almost every sort of fod- der, save oat straw and corn stalks. It is the farmer's true interest, indeed, to keep his fields as clear as possible of all the species of brome grass. Among the other species known in the United States are the upright chess (B. racemo- ), the soft chess (B. mollis), declared by some Soft Chess (Bromus mollis). authorities to be poisonous, the wild chess (B. Kalmii), the fringed brome grass (B. ciliatus), the meadow brome grass (B. pratemis), and the field brome grass (B. anensu). From this last the B. secalinus is distinguished by the spikelets of the former having fewer florets, and its outer palea being rounded at the summit. CHESS (Fr. echecs, It. scacco, Ger. Schach, from Persian shah, king, the principal piece in the game), the oldest and most scientific of sed- entary amusements, originated in India about 5,000 years ago. Its history may be divided into three periods: 1. The age of the chatu- ranga, or primeval Indian game, extending from its origin down to about the 6th century A. D. In the chaturanga the moves of the men were almost the same as in the present game, but it was played by four persons, and the combatants determined what piece to move by the throw of a die. 2. The age of the shatranj, or mediaeval game, embracing the period between the 6th and 16th centuries. In the shatranj the game was reduced to a contest between two persons, and the element of chance was discarded. Early in this stage of its his- tory the game passed eastward into China and Japan, where in the lapse of time it has been considerably modified, and westward through Persia and Byzantium into Europe, where it became during the middle ages the favorite indoor pastime of the court and the cloister. 3. Modern chess includes the period from the commencement of the 16th century to the present day. It is distinguished by some changes in the fundamental laws of the game, such as an increase in the powers of the queen and bishop, and the introduction of castling. Chess is now cultivated by all civilized nations, and its theory and practice have been investi- gated by innumerable writers of ability. The most prominent are, among Asiatics, Ali Shat- ranji, Suli, Damiri, Sokeiker, Rhazes, Ibn Sherf Mohammed, and Ghulam Kassim ; and among Europeans, Jacobus de Cessolis, Conrad von Ammenhusen, Alfonso the Wise, Lucena, and Vicent, before the close of the 15th century ; Damiano, Ruy Lopez, and Gianuzio, in the 16th century; Salvio, Carrera, Augustus duke of Brunswick, Greco, and Saul, in the 17th century; Bertin, Stamina, Philidor, Del Rio, Lolli, Ponziani, Cozio Stein, Zuylen van Nieveld, and Allgaier, in the 18th century; and Koch, Sarratt, Cochrane, Lewis, Bilguer, Von der Lasa, Bledow, Alexandre, Walker, Janisch, Calvi, and Staunton, in the 19th. The poetry of chess has been illustrated by Vida, Middle- ton, Tuccius, Kochanowski, Sir William Jones, Cerutti, M6ry, D'Arblay, Slous, Tomlinson, and others. Sarrasin, Freret, Hyde, Severino, Leib- nitz, Jones, Wahl, Twiss, Madden, Bland, and, most thoroughly of all, Forbes, have explored its history. The most famous players of the last 400 years have been Paoli Boi, Leonardo da Cutri, Salvio, Del Rio, and Dubois, of Italy; Ruy Lopez and Xerone, of Spain ; Legal, Phi- lidor, Deschapelles, and La Bourdonnais, of France; Cunningham, Stair, Janssen, Sarratt, McDonnell, and Staunton, of England ; All- gaier, Bilguer, Hansteih, Mayet, Von der Lasa, Anderssen, Lange, and Harwitz, of Germany ; Petroff and Kieseritzky, of Russia; Sz6n and Lowenthal, of Hungary; Stein, of Holland; Stamma, of Syria ; and Morphy, of the United States. During the present century the popu- larity of the game has largely increased, owing to the establishment of chess periodicals, to the interest attaching to public contests between great players or between different clubs, and to the influence of assemblies or conventions of amateurs, such as the tournament held at London in 1851, and the congress which met at New York in 1857. Chess is played by two persons on a board of 64 alternately white and black squares, each player having 16 men, 8 pieces and 8 pawns. The player, having placed the board so that he has a white corner square at his right hand, may place the white men as follows : the queen's rook in the left hand cor- ner nearest him; the queen's knight in the square next to it ; then successively the queen's bishop, the queen, the king, the king's bishop, the king's knight, and the king's rook, until he reaches the right side of the board. The white pawns are then placed on the 8 squares imme- diately in front of the pieces ; and the black pieces and pawns are to be arranged in the same manner on the opposite side of the board.