The gamie of Chess is the king of in-door games, and the most
scientific recreation a lady can engage in. It differs from every other
game in vogue in that the element of chance is completely eliminated
from it. In this fact, too, lies one of its greatest attractions, for a
victory won at chess is a triumph due to your skill in out-manoeu-
vering youradversary by your superior play, and not by your possession
of a full hand of trumps, as in cards, or by the lucky toss of the dice,
as in backgammon. Ladies have a prevalent idea that to learn to
play chess is an immensely difficult and fatiguing task ; whereas the
fact is that there are few games the elementary rules of which are
more easy of explanation, and not one which yields such an amount
of gratification in the mastery of its rules as chess. A drawback to
the general introduction of a knowledge of chess exists in the fact
that nearly all the books of instruction on the game are written as if
the authors regarded the game in the light of a mathematical study
rather than a mental recreation. One effect of this course has been
to frighten young students, especially ladies, at the very outset of
their attempt to learn the game, by impressing them with the idea
that quite an amount of laborious work is before them ere they
can hope to become adepts at the game. Another characteristic of
most books of instruction is the too great prominence given to the
study of the various chess openings, as if a thorough knowledge of
these would alone make one a first-class player. The study of open-
ings, as well as the playing over of games by noted masters of the
art, are well enough in their way ; but the utmost familiarity with the
SPORTS AND GAMES FOR LADIES. II5
best openings extant, or with the style of play of the greatest of
chess-masters, will not make you a chess-player unless you possess
the mental aptitude and ability to excel in the game, and by means of
which due effect is to be given your " book knowledge." This latter
aid to chess is like the use of cork floats in learning to swim — they
merely assist one to familiarize himself with certain movements prior
to his entire dependence upon his own resources. The "book"
player, in chess, goes on swimmingly while he is in the shallow water
of his knowledge of the openings ; but the moment he goes beyond
that depth, and has to depend upon his own mental powers for suc-
cess, if he lacks the nerve, the control of temper and the strategic
skill to outwit his wily adversary, all his " book-learning " goes for
naught.
An important element of chess study, after the learner has
mastered the initiatory moves, and the various powers possessed by
the six different pieces of the chess board — the king, queen, rooks,
bishops, knights and pawns — is to acquire the art of chess analysis,
which can only be attained by learning to calculate the effect of the
various moves on the board without moving the pieces, just as is
done in the effort to solve a problem by studying a printed diagram.
Without this power of mental analysis book study is comparatively
useless. The best way to learn this is to try and solve two move
chess problems.
Page 69
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The gamie of Chess is the king of in-door games, and the most scientific recreation a lady can engage in. It differs from every other game in vogue in that the element of chance is completely eliminated from it. In this fact, too, lies one of its greatest attractions, for a victory won at chess is a triumph due to your skill in out-manoeuvering your adversary by your superior play, and not by your possession of a full hand of trumps, as in cards, or by the lucky toss of the dice, as in backgammon. Ladies have a prevalent idea that to learn to play chess is an immensely difficult and fatiguing task ; whereas the fact is that there are few games the elementary rules of which are more easy of explanation, and not one which yields such an amount of gratification in the mastery of its rules as chess. A drawback to the general introduction of a knowledge of chess exists in the fact that nearly all the books of instruction on the game are written as if the authors regarded the game in the light of a mathematical study rather than a mental recreation. One effect of this course has been to frighten young students, especially ladies, at the very outset of their attempt to learn the game, by impressing them with the idea that quite an amount of laborious work is before them ere they can hope to become adepts at the game. Another characteristic of most books of instruction is the too great prominence given to the study of the various chess openings, as if a thorough knowledge of these would alone make one a first-class player. The study of openings, as well as the playing over of games by noted masters of the art, are well enough in their way ; but the utmost familiarity with the
best openings extant, or with the style of play of the greatest of chess-masters, will not make you a chess-player unless you possess the mental aptitude and ability to excel in the game, and by means of which due effect is to be given your " book knowledge." This latter aid to chess is like the use of cork floats in learning to swim — they merely assist one to familiarize himself with certain movements prior to his entire dependence upon his own resources. The "book" player, in chess, goes on swimmingly while he is in the shallow water of his knowledge of the openings ; but the moment he goes beyond that depth, and has to depend upon his own mental powers for success, if he lacks the nerve, the control of temper and the strategic skill to outwit his wily adversary, all his " book-learning " goes for naught.
An important element of chess study, after the learner has mastered the initiatory moves, and the various powers possessed by the six different pieces of the chess board — the king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights and pawns — is to acquire the art of chess analysis, which can only be attained by learning to calculate the effect of the various moves on the board without moving the pieces, just as is done in the effort to solve a problem by studying a printed diagram. Without this power of mental analysis book study is comparatively useless. The best way to learn this is to try and solve two move chess problems.