CHESS ITEMS.
A match by telegraph between the Otago and Timaru Chess Clubs is likely to take place shortly. Thirteen players have entered the competition at the Otago Chess Club for the prize of £3 3s offered by Mi- P. K. Kelling, chess champion of New ZeaJand. The participants in the tourn«y ■will be Messrs D. A. Smeaton, J, H. Hunter, R. H. Osten, J. Dunlop, J. E. Hale. E. Fi-aer, A. E. Wolstenholme, W. J. Smart, A. L. Scott, D. Brodie, R. W. Brickell, H. Smith, and T. J. Rossbotham. The competitors havebeen handicapped and subdivided into four classes. The winner ol most games will be given £1 lla. 6d, and three prizes of 10s 6d each will foe *w«.rded to the highest scorers in the remaining sections. The Manchester Weekly Times remarks: — We hear that Dr Lasker, the world's champion, cabled "to ' the Johannesburg 'Chess Club abandoning at the test moment his projected tour in South Africa; Apparently no specific reason has been given for his action, and . the chess clubs in South Africa who were to have received visits from the champion are naturally disappointed and /annoyed' at this .eleventh hour withdrawal, every preparation having been made for his Deception. Dr Lasker has been elected by the committee ol -St. Petersburg Chess Club to edit the bcok of the recent International Chess Masters' Congress held in the Russian capital. The book is to be printed in German as well as Russian.
San* Loyd, the " Puzzle King," is well known *s r chess problem composer of renown. One of the most irritating puzzlea invented by the redoubtable Lovd was that in which the nine integers had to be arranged in such a manner that they would add up to 100. It may interest readers to know the solution. Here it is: — 17 35 46 93 100 Chess players, of course, are by no means unacquainted with puzzles in their royal game, and another, recently cited in the Norwich Mercury from the Chess Amateur, is heie recorded: — Place the Black King on one of the four central squares Now take from the chess box two Whit© Rooks and one White Knight, and arrange the threeWhite pieces on the board so that the Black lung shall stand mated. No moves are to 'bs made; simph place the pieces in such a manner that the condition is fulfilled. The p-6blem editor of the Chess Amateur added: "If you do it in 15 minutes you will be smarter than I was." The puzzle pr«ve«l too much for a correspondent of the Norwich Mercury, and at the end of a fortnight ho sent the following amusing record of his troubles : — " Oh, Mr Editor !
What shall 1 do 0 My hair is turning hoary, And all because of you. You quote a ' simple ' problem — ■
A 'fifteen-minute' study — Enough to put my hair on end
And make my language ruddy. The terms. — Just put the sable King
Upon a centre square. With two White Rooks and one White' Knight
Stand 1 him checkmated there, I tried it in the early dawn,
Again at morning meal ; Had it served up for lunch, and then
Consigned it to the de'il, But early in the afternoon
Chess instincts got -the upper; I worked a-t it till dusk came on,
Then warmed it up for supper. But still I find myself at fault,
And question if I'm sane; Lloyd George has taxed mj pocket,
Now you have taxed my brain. Just publish the solution soon,
Though such may be chess treason, Though not in time to save my hair,
Pray God you spare my reason." | To which appeal the chess editor of the Norwich Mercury promptly responded as follows- — "The solution of the puzzle is a simple affair, but not serious chess. Place the four pieces in one straight line, and en adjacent squares, with the Black King sandwiched between the two Rooks — thus S R k R. Readers may say — How did the Black King get between the Rooks? Well, one explanation may be that Black had conceded to White the odds and privilege of making two moves in succession."- ' i
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Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 67
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693CHESS ITEMS. Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 67
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