The Principles Of Chess In Theory And Practice

THE PRINCIPLES OF CHESS . IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. BY JAMES M-ASON. - PREFACE. - HARMONIOU u S n L iti Y n g in itself the curious, the beautiful, and the true, Chess appears to hold a permanent relation to the innate susceptibilities of intelligence and there is now little question of its increasing value as a mental recreation, or of its fitness for use b j al l sorts and conditions of men. As the struggle to be shifts more and more from hand to brain, the need of a rational exhaust-a thinking change in t h u h t l b e c o m emso re and more imperative, and will not be denied. There is a mischievous imagination abroad that it is a difficult game. It takes time. Its intricacies and profundities are not rightly within mastery of the average human intellect. This, in a sense, is true enough, else Chess would not be Chess. That it cannot be all known and mastered by anybody is truly its chiefest, crowning merit. It is an instrument all may play, no two precisely alike, and yet everyone his best. Too much time may be devoted to it. But everything under the sun is vanity if pushed to extremes. The argument from abuse, if valid, leaves nothing nncondemned. Chess is a science as well as an art. In its exercise the tendency is to premature mechanical facility, rather than to a clear perception of principles though upon this, of course, all true and lasting faculty necessarily depends. In the present treatise this tendency is taken into account. As a consequence, the method pursued conforms as much as possible to the logical requirements of the subject, and therein differs materially from any hitherto employed. The description of the Elements, Section I., may seem emphatically diffuse-at allevents, to the practised player. But tothe uninitiated it will not be so. In Chess, even more than in most other things, it is the first step that counts. The definitions of ternis, the rules, considerations respecting the various forces, individually and generally, with such like matter, should be accepted as indispensable, and worthy of the very best attention. The exposition of Pawn play should be fully examined and the observations on Resistance, Obstrucition, Restraint, C., are of much importance. The chapter on Combination, and the final study of the whole game, should not be seriously undertaken until previous topics have been fairly entertained. Perfect acquaintance with the rudiments is a sine pud non, if the first principles of any art or science are to be firmly fixed in the mind, and their application in varying circumstances to become easy, pleasant, and obvious. This wanting, doubt and uncertainty must prevail at every step with confusion, obscurity, fresh difficulties, and endless perplexity. If the method or plan of arrangement of the work be mainly if not precisely followed there should be no serious disappointment. In this belief it is confidently and respectfully submitted. JAMES M ASON., S The added games selected and annotated by Amos Burn are marked thus . SYNOPSIS. ELEMENTS OF CHESS. Page, , Essential Representation . 5 FORCES-Specified . . 6-9 Castling . 10 Capturing . . 11-15 En Passant. . . 15-16 Check . . 17 Stalemate-Perpetual Check . . 17-18 N TATION-V sOysUteSm s . . 19-22 TERMS, c . . 23-25 LAWB O F CHESSRULES OF THE CAME . . 26-28 THE F ORCE G S E NERALLYResistance . 28 Obstruction . . 29 1 Restraint-Knights Move . . 30-35 The Opposition . . 36 Exchanging. 37 v1 yno ksis. --p. - - p - - - THE FORCE G S E NERALLY-c r tinued. Pnge Winning-Examples . ...