100 



• KNOWLEDGE 



[Dec. 30, 1881. 



(Pur CI)f£!s Column. 



TN thn llliuslral.d London A'tiis for Nuv. 5 last, tlir following 



problem appeared 



Problem, No. 6. 



(Hy W. Crimshaw.) 



Black. 



WHITB. 



White to play and mate in throe moves. 

 The solution, which appeared on JJot.iO, is — 



White. Black. 



1. Kt. to K.B..5. 2. B. takes Kt. 



2. Q. to K.6. 3. Any move. 



3. Q. or B. mates. 



The above problem, assuming this were the only solution, would be 

 neat, bnt not particularly difficult. Its point, as thus solved, lies, 

 not in the placing of the Knight on the Black Bishop's line of action, 

 for that is an idea obvious cnoiif;h ; but in compelling the Black 

 Bishop to occupy such a position that, when the White Qneen goes 

 to K.'s 6th, she will (though putting herself en prise by going 

 there), threaten mate in two ways instead of one, as would be 

 the case if she moved there at the outset. 



There is, however, it so happens, a second solution, which in- 

 volves a very pretty stratagem, one which hitherto wo have not 

 seen embodied in a problem. Wo leave our chess readers the next 

 fortnight wherein to discover this second solution. They may sup- 

 pose the other prevented by the addition of a Black Knight at Q.'s 

 8th, or simply that a second solution is required as a condition of 

 the problem. 



We mentioned last week a case in which a problem by the Editor 

 (in chief) had been unmistakably anticipated, somewhat as a part 

 of Mr. Baxter's idea in the problem of last week (No. 5, it should 

 have been entitled) had been anticipated by the Editor. The case 

 was on this wise. In the year 1858, the Etlitor sent several 

 problems to the Chess Editor of the Illustrated London Neies, 

 among which was the three-mover No. 7. The Chess Editor 



Problem?. By the Edilo 



Problem 8. By D'Orville. 



^i^B^inini 



Whitt* to play niid mate in thn 



White to play and male in three i 



of the Ilhuitratcd remai'ked that he had seen something like this 

 problem in the collection of D'Orville and Kling, and on the 

 Editor writing that he had not seen that collection, the following 

 pleasant remark appeared in the Illustrated London News for Oct. 

 9, 1858 :— " R. A. P., St. John's College, Cambridge.— The follow- 

 ing is the position by D'Orville, to which wo referred [see Position 8 

 above] ; we leave you to judge whether the resemblance is acci- 



dental." Mr. iStaunton paid no attontion to a diaclaimer bj the 

 Editor of all knowledge of the position in qaoHtion. Wo leave both 

 problems as an eiorciso to our chess readers, leaving them to jadge 

 whether the resemblance is <|oito so close as to justify tho remark 

 above (jnotcd, which followed (be it observed) a statement that the 

 author of the later problem knew nothing of the collection by 

 D'Orvnllo and Kling. Strangely enough, the Editor's problem wa« 

 published later (in August, lh6U) in the chess column of tho /I(u«- 

 trated. The Editor considers his problem so far snperior to 

 D'Orvillo's as to have ju.stified him in claiming it as his own, even 

 if ho had known iJ'Orville's. But let others decide on that point. 

 What tho Editor would chiefly call attention to is that an experience 

 such as his in this matter, makes him far readier than he might 

 otherwise perhaps have been to see that even a close apparent 

 resemblance in chess problems docs not necessarily prove that there 

 has been any borrowing. 



The problem sent us by Mr. G. B. Stobbs is not quite up to pub- 

 lication standard. It is scarcely ever permissible for a three- 

 mover to begin with a check, or capturt (though a few instances 

 arc known of really strong problems so opening) ; but in the case of 

 a two-mover like tliat by Mr. Stubbs, a check at the first move is 

 quite inadmissible. There is a flaw still more serions in tho exis- 

 tenco of a dual solution, which, as Black has only one move, is a 

 rather more serious matter than iluals affecting only White's reply 

 to moves by Black, which are not defensive. Thus there are duals 

 in the Editor's Problem No. 4. If Black moves his Qneen to Q.R.7, 

 or S, or to Q.B.8, or makes other purposeless moves. White can 

 mate by moving his Rook from Q.5 to any free square ; bnt that 

 Black should have but one possible move, and AVhitc then be able 

 to mate in more ways than one, is, of course, a fatal flaw in a two- 

 mover. 



(0ur Qllljist Column. 



By "Five of Clubs." 



WHEN, having the original or first le.id, we arc obUged to lead 

 from a short suit, as in the case considered in No. 4, p. 83, or 

 when wc have four trumps not very strong, and three of each of 

 tho other suits, we should, in general, select that suit which is 

 least likely to injure our partner or to benefit the adversary. Of 

 course, if your best short snit is very strong, as ace, king, queen, 

 ace, queen, knave, ace, king, knave, or the like, yon lead as from^ 

 strength. Again, if you have to lead from ace. or king, or queen, and 

 two small ones, you lead the smallest, so as not to throw away the 

 command of the suit. Yon suggest, indeed, to your partner that 

 you have led from numerical strength ; bnt that is the misfortnne 

 of your position. It is better to do that than to give up the 

 command in what may be a strong suit of one of the adversaries. 

 When you have knave and two small ones, yon should load knave; 

 because tho card cannot help you against strength held by the 

 adversan,-, and if your partner is strong it may help him. 



But your best way of helping your partner, when yon arc obliged 

 to lead from a short suit originally, is to play from a suit in which 

 you have a strong sequence---such as queon, knave, ten ; or queen, 

 knave, and another ; or knave, ten, and another. By leading the 

 highest from such a sequence, you help your partner, if he is strong 

 in tho suit, without materially weakening yourself, if the enemy 

 should be strong in it. Next to such hands come hands in which 

 you have two honours and a small one. The proper leads from 

 three-card suits, as well as from long suits, ^vill be considered in 

 detail later. 



It can scarcely ever bo advisable, no matter how your hand is 

 constituted, to lead from ace, king, or queen, and one other. To 

 lead from ace king, or king queen, or queen knave, alone may, in 

 certain cases, be better than leading from a weak three-card suit. 

 But in most cases of that kind it is better to lead from your fonr- 

 card trump suit, even though it be weak. 



In considering thus far the lead from a snit of three cards, ire 

 have dealt with the original lead. If you have not the original 

 lead, then, even though only a single round has been played, you can 

 generally form some idea of the suit you should select from among 

 three weak non-trump snits. Thus, if your partner has led, and 

 you have taken the trick, you should of course retiuTi his lead. 

 Leading any other suit would imply that you had considerable 

 strength in that suit. 



If you are fonrth in hand, you know at least one suit which you 

 should not lead — viz., tho one opened by your left-haud adversary. 

 Unless, indeed, the fall of the cards in the first roimd showed that— 



