CHESS

CHESS, an ingenious game performed with different pieces of wood, on a board divided into 64 squares or houses; in which chance has so small a share, that it may be doubted whether a person ever lost a game but by his own fault.

Each gamester has eight dignified pieces, viz. a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, and two rooks, also eight pawns: all which, for distinction's sake, are painted of two different colours, as white and black.

As to their disposition on the board, the white king is to be placed on the fourth black house from the corner of the board, in the first and lower rank; and the black king is to be placed on the fourth white house on the opposite, or adversary's end of the board. The queens are to be placed next to the kings, on houses of their own colour. Next to the king and queen, on each hand, place the two bishops; next to them, the two knights; and last of all, on the corners of the board, the two rooks. As to the pawns, they are placed without distinction, on the second rank of the house, one before each of the dignified pieces.

Having thus disposed the men, the outset is commonly begun by the pawns, which march straight forward in their own file, one house at a time, except the first move, when it can advance two houses, but never moves backwards: the manner of their taking the adversary's men, is side-ways, in the next house forwards; where having captivated the enemy, they move forward as before. The rook goes forward or cross-ways through the whole file, and back again. The knight skips backward and forward to the next house, save one, of a different colour, with a sidling march, or a slope, and thus kills his enemies that fall in his way, or guards his friends that may be exposed on that side. The bishop walks always in the same colour of the field that he is placed in at first, forward and backward, aslope, or diagonally, as far as he lifts. The queen's walk is more universal, as she takes all the steps of the before mentioned pieces, excepting that of the knight; and as to the king's motion, it is one house at a time, and that, either forward, backward, sloping, or side-ways.

As to the value of the different pieces, next to the king is the queen, after her the rooks, then the bishops, and last of the dignified pieces comes the knight. The difference of the worth of pawns, is not so great as that of noblemen; only, it must be observed, that the king's bishop's pawn is the best in the field, and therefore the skilful gamester will be careful of him. It ought also to be observed, that whereas any man may be taken, when he falls within the reach of any of the adversary's pieces, it is otherwise with the king, who, in such a case, is only to be saluted with the word check, warning him of his danger, out of which it is absolutely necessary that he move; and, if it so happen that he cannot move without exposing himself to the like inconveniency, it is check-mate, and the game is lost.

Sarrafin has an express treatise on the different opi-

nions of the origin of the Latin schacechi, whence the French ethecs, and our chefs, is formed. Menage is also very full on the same head. Leunclavius takes it to come from Ufchees, famous Turkish robbers: P. Sirmond, from the German schache, "theft;" and that from calculus. He takes chefs to be the same with the ludus latrunculatorum of the Romans, but mistakenly. This opinion is countenanced by Vossius and Salmasius, who derive the word from calculus, as used for latrunculus. G. Tolofanus derives it from the Hebrew, schach, vallavit et mat mortuus; whence check and check-mate. Fabricius says, a celebrated Persian astronomer, one Schatrenseha, invented the game of chefs; and gave it his own name, which it still bears in that country. Nicod derives it from schaque, or neque, a Moorish word for lord, king, and prince. Bochart adds, that schach is originally Persian; and that schachmat, in that language, signifies the king is dead.—The opinion of Nicod and Bochart, which is likewise that of Scrivener, appears the most probable.

Donatus, on Terence's Eunuch, observes, that Pyrrhus, the most knowing and expert prince of his age at ranging a battle, made use of the men at chefs to form his designs, and to shew the secrets thereof to others. Vopiscus, in his life of Proculus, informs us, that one of the Roman emperors had the title Augustus given him, because of his gaining ten games at chefs successively. Tamerlane is recorded as a very expert gamester at chefs.—Chefs is doubtless a most ancient and universal game: the common opinion is, that it was invented by Palamedes at the siege of Troy. Others attribute the invention to Diomedes, who lived in the time of Alexander: the romance of the Rose ascribes it to one Attalus; but the truth is, the game is so very ancient, there is no tracing its author. In China, it makes a considerable part of the education of their maids; and seems to take the place of dancing among us. In Spain, whole cities challenge each other at chefs. John of Salisbury relates, that in a battle between the French and English in 1117, an English knight seizing the bridle of Louis le Gros, and crying to his comrades, The king is taken, that prince struck him to the ground with his sword, saying, Ne scis tu pas qu'aux echees on ne prend pas le roy? "Dost thou not know, that at chefs the king is never taken?" The reason is, that when the king is reduced to such a pass that there is no way for him to escape, the game ends, without exposing the royal piece to further affront.

Cardinal Cajetan, and other casuists, rank chefs in the number of prohibited games, as requiring too much application: and Montaign blames it as too serious for a game.