558 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[June 26, 1885. 



White dare not venture upon 

 QKt to B7 without losing the 



(i) Black should have Castled, 

 •winning the adverse Kook with 9. 

 two Knights for the Rook. 



(c) An irretrievable blunder, which practically loses the game. 

 12. Kt to Kt5 should have been played. 



(J) 13. B to K3 would not have saved the piece, because of 

 14. B to K3, &c. 



A very instructive Ending, which occurred in a game between 

 Donnisthorpe (White) and Mortimer (Black) : — 



'''■mm ^''-WM '<:m&' ''"' 

 i i 



m 





Whitb. 



Black to move. 

 It will be seen that Black's Pawn is lost. If Black plays P to ES 

 (Kt), then K to B7 wins; or if Kt to K7 (ch). 2. E to R7, 

 K to Q6. 3. Kt X P, and White must win by bringing his Knight 

 over the Queen's side and displace the Black Knight by attacking 

 it. With careful plaj', it will be found that White wins in every 

 variation. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



#*, Please address Chess Editor. 



Stodeni.— In Problem No. 152, if 1. R to R8, K to K4. 2. R 

 to E,5 (ch), P to Q,4, and there is no mate. Both the RP and KtP 

 are necessary to effect the mate. In the Problem by E. Pradignat, 

 if 1. R to QB4, P to K5. 2. R to BG (ch), K to K4 (ch), and there 

 is no mate. 



M. T. HooTOX, RAVEXsnoE, E. Loudex, W., H. A. N. — Solutions 

 correct. 



R. P. F. — Ton are quite right, ilr. Law's Problein 158 can be 

 done by 1. Q to R8 (ch),&c. 



€>nv W^\)i&t Column. 



By Five of Clubs. 



A FINE PROBLEM. 



THE following double dummy problem, which appeared recently 

 in the New Orleans Times Democrat, is to my mind superior 

 to the great Vienna coup, inasmuch as two neat points of play are 

 involved, within the compass of six tricks : 

 Spades — 7, 6. 

 Hearts — Kn, 4. 

 Clubs— A, 3. 



Hearts-Q, 9. 

 ClabB— Kn, 8. 



Diamonds — Kn, G. 



Hearts— 10, 5, 3. 



Clubs— C. 



Diamonds — Q, 7. 



Hearts — A, K, G. 

 Clubs— 10. 

 Diamonds — 10, 9. 



Here A is to lead, and A-B are to make all the tricks. The 

 players are supposed to see all the cards, and, of course, the six 

 tricks are to be made against the best possible play. It is easy to 



make six tricks if T or Z play ill, as, for instance, if Y throws away 

 a Club, at any stage of the play ; for then, of course, A-B have two 

 certain tricks in Clubs, which, with the two in Hearts and the two 

 in trumps, make the six required. But against proper play by 

 Y-Z, the problem is not very easy. In fact, to unpractised players 

 it will appear, after a few attempts, altogether hopeless ; because, 

 on every line, it seems as though Y and Z could make sure of one 

 trick, either in Hearts, Clubs, or Diamonds, all three suits being 

 perfectly guarded. For the guidance of such players I note that the 

 success of A-B depends on their keeping open«?J three plain suits as 

 long as possible ; according to the play of Y-Z, A-B may have to 

 make, outside the two trump tricks, three tricks in Hearts and one 

 in Clubs, or two tricks in Hearts, one in Clubs, and one in Diamonds, 

 or two tricks in Hearts and fwo in Clubs. By keeping these three 

 possibilities o]iei:i as long as possible, the problem cm be solved. 



It is stated that the above position occurred in actual play with 

 four players; but that is manifestly impossible; for ten Hearts 

 remain in the four hands, and therefore not one round of hearts 

 can have been played, so that the position of the Hearts could not 

 possibly have been known, as the conditions of the problem require. 

 In actual double-dummy play, as distinguished from double-dummy 

 problems, the jjosition may have presented itself. It so, and A 

 played correctly at a minute's notice, he must have been a capital 

 player. For even an experienced double-dummy player need not 

 be ashamed at being several minutes before he sees the solution of 

 the problem. (I took more than a quarter of an hotir over the 

 problem, though I have had much practice recently over some of 

 the fine compositions of Mr. F. H. Lewis.) The first "point" in 

 the solution is indeed such as would occur to every Whist player at 

 once, — but the second is not so obvious. Yet in reality the play 

 throughout is such as true Whist principles suggest as the only 

 sound course, and though a good player might be several minutes 

 seeing the solution without the cards, with the cards he would pro- 

 bably play right throughout. The solution will be given the week 

 after next ; but solvers need not forward solutions, as every letter 

 so sent would have to travel half over the world to reach me in my 

 wanderings. 



A querist asks the proper course to pursue with such a hand as 

 the following, the holder having to lead : — 



Spades (trumps)- 

 Hearts— 10, 7, 4. 

 Diamonds — 9, 8, i 

 Clubs— 9, 3, 2. 



-A, 7, 6, 3. 



The first point to be attended to, in the case of so pleasing a hand 

 as this, is to suffer no signs of exuberant Joy '.to be expressed on 

 the countenance. This attended to, you have to decide what to 

 lead. The question asked me is whether you are justified in leading 

 trumps. There is no Whist law forbidding you to lead tramps' 

 from such a hand, or even from trump 2 single, and 2, 3, 4, 5 in 

 each of the other suits. What your partner might be justified in 

 doing if you did lead trumps, would be a question worth con- 

 sidering. I can scarcely imagine any conduct too severe for a lead 

 which distinctly implies that you hold a strong suit outside your 

 moderately strong trumps. The proper thing to do is undoubtedly to 

 lead the Heart 10, or the Diamond 9 (the two suits are equally weak), 

 in the hope that fortune which has been so severe against yon in 

 giving you so bad a hand, may have given your partner a hand which 

 will enable him at once to recognise your lead as from weakness. 



OONTENTS OP No. 190. 



PAGE 



To Strengthen the Arms. ByE. A. 



Proctor 515 



Thought and Language. XI. By 



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Great Waves. By R. A. Proctor ... 617 

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Nervous Exhaut?tion : Treatment. 



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Dickens and Thackerav. By R. A. 



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Irish Seaside Resorts. Bv Percy 



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FiGB 

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Robert's Ruling Machine. By John 



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