26G 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Oct. 26, 1883. 



4Bm Cfecss Column. 



By Mephisto. 



PROBLEM TOURNAMENT 6f THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN 



CHRONICLE (ADELAIDE). 



Best Three-movee (Hesperus), J. W. Abbott (Loxdox). 



fy I ^^' 



it. f. 



First Prize "Set," 3 JIuvek. Second Prize "Set," 3 Mover. 



(Childe Harrolfl) W. J. 

 Mc Arthur. 



(Tendanda via est) L. 

 Warxeike. 



Best 2-mover. Fh'.st Prize " Set," 2-mover. 



(Emu) A. Greexway. (Childe Harrold) W.J. Mr; Akthir. 



BtACK. Black. 



White. 

 White to play and mate in ; 



White to play and mate in 2. 



[p. 235.] — I have read with great interest your pointed remarks 

 on the subject of the influence one mind can exert over another 

 when playing Chess. Some two or three years back I met a gentle- 

 man over the Chess board, who, by a certain quiet, unconcerned 

 manner of playing, and by a seemingly negligent way of making 

 his moves, e.vercised a curious fascination over me. When contest- 

 ing our first game, I felt a strange lack of power to exercise my 

 usual foresight, an aimlessness of purpose in my moves, a passive 



indifference with regard to the result, which I had never 

 experienced before. I made mistake after mistake, and wound up 

 by a blunder which at once lost the game on my twentieth move. 

 Several times after I met the same opponent and always with the 

 same lassitude and carelessness of play, and also ^vith the same 

 result. Determined to alter this phenomenon, as he was acknow- 

 ledged to be a weaker player in reality than myself, I sat down to 

 the next game with him with a firm resolve to strain my utmost 

 nerve to beat him. I struggled with the enervating influence that 

 had hitherto bound me, and bringing my whole mind to bear upon 

 the game, I at last broke the spell that enfeebled my play and 

 came out a winner. From that moment I have had little trouble 

 in defeating my formerly successful opponent, and have not once 

 experienced a return of the fascination with which he deprived me 

 of my usual powers. 



Since that time I have made it a practice to watch carefully for 

 any more examples of a similar kind, and I have detected several 

 cases in which personal influence is distinctly traceable. A player 

 of my acquaintance, highly nervous but generally outwardly com- 

 posed, has only to meet an opponent of a stolid, slow temperament, 

 who makes his moves with great deliberation and exhibits no token 

 of interest in the game, than as the game progresses, ho grows 

 more and more agitated, his fingers twitch nervously, his pieces 

 are moved with a curious indecision, and he almost 'invariably 

 terminates the game unexpectedly by making a fatal error. His 

 usual style is sharp, decisive, and telling, and the change can only 

 be explained by assuming a strong personal influence on the part of 

 his phlegmatic opponent. Although I could cite several more cases 

 in which this strange power is evident, I must conclude by stating 

 my firm belief that, in Chess at least, some minds exercise over 

 other minds a strong fascination that materially affects the playing 

 powers of the latter. Sis. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*^* Please address Chess Editor, 



Clarence. — You are quite right in the Ending on p. 250. Mephisto 

 won, playing -with the black men, hence the slight mistake in anno- 

 tation. Problem 103 is, I am sorry to say, faulty, for, in reply to 

 Kt to B8, White can also play B to B7 besides B to Q8; therefore 

 a plurality of duals would have to be remedied. Mr. P. is re- 

 sponsible. 



E. F. B.— In Problem 101 if the R plavs to Ql, the P can take 

 the R. 



F. Duplock. — Received with thanks. 

 A. A. B. — Game received with thanks. 



Correct Solutions Received. — Problem No. 101, Maillind Neets. 

 No. 102, John Watson, W., Berrow, Clarence. 



Contents op No. 103. 



PaGB 



British .Association Scraps 237 



The Birth and Growth of Myth. 



XTIII. BvEdward Clodd 239 



The Hiraalajas and the Alps. I. 



Hy Colonel Godwin Austen 240 



By W. M. WiUiams 242 Corresponds 



PAGE 



Sun- Views of the Earth. By E. A. 



Proctor 245 



Fish and Phosphorus. By W. 



Mattieu M'imams 216 



Locusts 217 



Green Sun and 



leasant Hours with the Microscope. 

 By H. J. Slack 



India — Great Sun-Spots— Moon'i 

 Surface— Small Wheels for Tri- 

 cycles — Short Answers and Letters 



Our Chess Coin 



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