CHESS ITEMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 67

CHESS ITEMS.

. Max Harmonist, an ,old chess ' master-,' is "dead. He was'by profession a aVthe -Koyal Opera House in Berlin. 1 An .exhibition/ of simultaneous play was given by Dr Emanuel Lasker, chess champion of the world; at the Bice Chess Club recently. sThe learned doctor v contested'3o games, won 23, drew 3, and lost' 4. The time occupied in play was four"hours/ " "'. \ The * lat© Dr ' Wahltuch, chesa editor of Manchester Weekly Times, understood seven languages, and was a remarkable mathematician. He, wap the' possessor of one of the three sets of chesßmen belonging'at one tune, to Napoleon-Buonaparte. The pieces of this unique set are made from'cannon captured by the French from the Germans, the lightcoloured 1 metal representing ;the White pieces and the darker coloured, th© Black. The White King is ' a miniature statue of' the Emperor -himself, and the Queen they EmpressJosephine. -Dt Wahltuch was- one of-the founders of the. Manchester!- Crematorium. He was also ■&© founder of $Ke Manchester Ladies Chess CKibiV '^ '' "v ■„"""" -• '\ I 'Says The* Morning'Post:—"Two numbera of I*skei'ri l Magazine" have coine 1. tp -hand. The'champidnr'rema^ks- that iOb.& chess-,worlo^ -desire'sC a mateh 11- between,.,Dr, /Tarrasch -and 'myself,^ and^ further;othat'^Dr- Tarrasch ha^ expressed' determinate -views' .on "the,-matter... Though- such a' contest ,would,- of 4 cojiTße, jbe fbt great' v interesl;,; we"3oubt if the public de- " sires it with" any 'sense; of expectancy.'- After many disappointments are now inclined to-regard it as an unattainable aspiration. .As to Dr Tarrasch's ''determinate views,' they simply, amount 'to the^statemeht quoted in the same number of the Tnagazine,' that, if Lasker 'ironia accept a, chftlleng« to play within' ten days, I would ,post' lOOOdol for that purpose.' The ten days have passed long ago, but,, even if they had not, tha'jdea of a player in New York agreeing to- begin a contest'-wi-tld a'player in STir^mburg ia'_ ten days',is not to be taken too seriously." .Christmas- Strand Magazine has several items interesting'to chess -players. Mr\J. ,B>. Blackburn© writes on famous chess problems, with examples. An interview, with Mr- S. I*byd,_ U.'S4..^ the " Puzzle, King," appears, with » -photo, of the veteran, and some of his smartest tricks are described. Amongst the ■Strand's curiosities (given, ai. the end of magazine). appears an. old friend called' an " Interesting Chess* Headers are asked to VPlace "eight'"queens o» the chesa.. board so that none of them can take each other." —Those.,whof-haven't- known this, puzzle-I -before will find it not bo simple! ■ Pawns .will" do,* of course, as well as queens, and the soju^ tion m»y. be thus stated^ (in the German noia^tion):— Pawns, a*-A 5, 83, Cl, D:7. ~E % ¥8, G; 6; H 4- None of these coincides wi-th'any otheV, either diagonally,, vertically, or hojrizontftlly, and it .will be* noticed' that the, pieces form, two separate chains, the links of which, are a knight's move apart. Another curious "point is that'A, to D are odd-num-bered - squares, and^ E to H. even. The solution maybe varied positionilly.

The,. Hamburg-American Packet Company I ia reported to nave acquired' the patent '• rights of the Sohlick gyroscope, which pre-, vents the rolling ,of vessels, and on© of these ie to be filed to that company's