Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/676

CHESS. still earlier into Constantinople and probably some other cities of eastern Europe. An interesting reference to it occurs in the French poem of “Huon de Bordeaux” (c.1450), which supplied Shakespeare with some of the dramatis personæ of his Midsummer Night's Dream. This connection is especially noteworthy because of the probability that it also suggested to him the introduction of Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess in the Tempest; although it is likely that he was acquainted with the fact that during his own lifetime Naples, the country of Ferdinand, was the centre of European chess-playing, and skill in the game temporarily reached a height which it never attained again until the middle of the Eighteenth Century, when Philidor (F. A. Danican) became famous all over Europe.

Benjamin Franklin was the first American to bring the game into prominence, both as a player and a writer; but its practice was confined to a few until the early part of the Nineteenth Century. By 1857 there were sufficient chess clubs to justify a national congress, at which Paul Morphy of New Orleans won the championship. He was such a phenomenal player that next year he was sent to Europe, and there he carried off all the honors. From that time chess has had a settled place among our pastimes, and Americans, in all the phases of the game, in international contests, have held a high place.

The original Hindu game was played on a board of sixty-four squares, as now, but by four persons, two being allied against two, as in whist. Hence the name chaturanga, from chatur, ‘four,’ and anga, ‘a member’ or ‘component part.’ The name shatranj, used by the Persians and Arabs, is a corruption of the Sanskrit. The English, French, and other European names are derived from the Persian term shah, ‘king.’ Check, the warning when the king is in danger, is but another form of shah; in fact, ‘king’ is sometimes used for ‘check,’ and in German schach is both the name of the game and the term of warning. The term rook is from the

Sanskrit roka, Persian rukh, meaning a ship or chariot; pawn is said to be from peon, an attendant or foot soldier.



The chess-board is marked out into sixty-four square divisions, which are colored alternately black and white, in order the more clearly to determine and denote the respective movements of the several pieces. In placing the thirty-two pieces with which the game is played upon the board, each player must always have a white corner square at his right hand. There are two sets of pieces, of opposite colors, of sixteen men each, and of various powers according to their rank. These sets of men are arrayed opposite to each other and attack, defend, and capture like hostile armies. The accompanying diagram will best explain the name, form, and place of each man at the commencement of the game.

The superior officers occupying the first row on each side are called pieces; the inferior men, all alike, standing on the row immediately in front of the pieces, are called pawns. Their moves and powers, along with the peculiar terms used in chess, may be briefly described as follows:

A pawn, at his first move, may advance either one or two squares, straightforward; but after having once moved, he can only advance a single square at a time. In capturing an adverse piece, however, a pawn moves one square diagonally, either right or left; but the pawn never moves backward. On arriving at an eighth square, or the extreme line of the board, a pawn may be exchanged for any piece his owner chooses to call for, except a king, so that a player may have several queens on the board at once. If, on moving two squares, a pawn pass by an adverse pawn which has arrived at the fifth line, the advanced adverse pawn may take the other in passing in exactly the same manner as if the latter had moved but one square.

A bishop moves any number of squares diagonally, but diagonally only; therefore a bishop can never change the color of his square.

A knight moves two squares, so as always to change color—that is, he moves one square forward or backward and one diagonally. On account of this crooked movement, he can leap over or between any surrounding pieces; and therefore a knight's check—unless he can be taken—always compels the king to move.

The rook, or castle, moves any number of squares forward, backward, or sidewise, but not diagonally.

The queen is by far the most powerful of the pieces, and moves over any number of squares, either in straight lines or diagonals, forward, backward, or sidewise; so that her action is a union of that of the rook and bishop. At starting the queen always stands on a square of her own color.

The king is the most important piece on the board, as the game depends upon his safety. He moves only one square at once, in any direction, except when he castles—a term to be explained presently. The king cannot be taken; but when any other piece attacks him, he is said to be in check, and must either move out of check or interpose some one of his subjects, unless the checking piece can be captured. When there is no means of rescuing the king from check, he is said to be checkmated, and the game is over. Of course, the two kings can never meet, as they