_CHESS_
This game differs very much from the one played in Europe, and which is
the delight of the _habitués_ of the European chess clubs. In our game
there are three hundred and sixty-one pawns, divided into two camps, one
white and the other black. These pawns are like round draughts. The game
is played on a square chess-board which has nineteen squares on each
side. The players set down pawn after pawn, and the one who succeeds in
closing his adversary in, so that there is no possible issue for him,
wins the game. The skill in this game consists in closing your adversary
in, and in taking as many of his pawns as possible—advancing wedge-like
into his territory, without losing any of your own forces. It has been
said that this game—the board of which represented the firmament, the
stars being represented by the three hundred and sixty-one pawns—was
invented by Emperor Yao, and used by him to instruct his children
and teach them to think. It is, at the same time, a military game,
representing a battle-field and two hostile camps, each doing its best to
conquer the other. In short, it is rather a game of patience, for each
game lasts a very long time, the reflection of a quarter or half-an-hour
being sometimes needed before playing a pawn. On this account it is
called “game of conversation,” for the player who is waiting for his
adversary to play has plenty of leisure to talk. It is also known by
another name, that of “meditation in solitude,” which seems a very good
name for it. It is the favourite pastime of literary men, ladies, and
especially of people who have retired from business. The noise of the
pawns as they are placed down on the different squares of the board,
which is often engraved on a marble bench, under the shade of leafy
trees, is considered a very poetical noise. The three things that one
loves to hear, when one wishes to turn one’s thoughts towards what is
pure and delicate, are the sounds of water falling, the wind among the
trees, and the rattle of this game of chess. It has been said that under
the reign of the Tching dynasty a woodcutter met two young men who were
playing at chess at the top of a mountain. He watched them, and one of
them gave him a kind of candied fruit which he swallowed. Before the game
had been finished, he noticed that the handle of his axe had rotted away.
He made haste back to his village, and could recognise none of the people
he met, for several centuries had passed away since he had gone out.
History also tells us that a statesman named Li-No was a very impatient
man. But once seated at the chess-board his character completely changed;
so that each time he felt that he was going to fly into a rage, his
friends used to suggest a game of chess, and at once his good humour
returned to him. One day the Emperor asked why he wasted at chess time
which might be so much more profitably employed. He said that the moments
during which a man forgets his worries are the most precious of all.
I read a very amusing little story in the “Memoirs of Sou-Toung-Pao.”
Emperor Tai-Tsung used to play chess with one of his ministers. The
sovereign used to give him three pawns; but the minister always managed
to lose one at the end of each game. The Emperor, noticing that he was
being allowed to win, said at last, “If you lose this one more game I
shall have you revoked.” The game was played and ended in a draw. “One
more game,” said the Emperor. “If you win it I will grant you the honour
of wearing a red robe, but if you lose it I will have you dragged in the
mud.” The game again ended in a draw. His Majesty, in a great rage, was
pushing his minister towards the pond to throw him into the mud, when the
minister cried out, “Softly, softly, your Majesty, I have got one pawn
left over in my hand.” The sovereign smiled, and gave him the red robe
that he had promised. The game is usually played in daytime in the summer
and at night in the winter. Do not think that chess is played on any kind
of table. The game demands a much more poetical setting, either trees
or rocks, or a daintily furnished drawing-room, with tea and wine to be
served between the games. It is considered a pleasure to watch the games,
and it is etiquette never to give any advice to the players. Besides this
game of chess we have another variety, which resembles the one played
in Europe more closely. It is played on a draught-board which has nine
squares one way and ten the other, with two sets of pieces, which are
arranged in three rows, five pawns in the front row and behind them two
cannons. Three rows further back is the king, having on one side and the
other two councillors, two elephants, two horses, and two carriages.
The two camps, which cover each a space of nine squares, are separated
one from the other by a single row of squares. The rules of this game
are almost the same as in the European game. The pawns can only advance
straight forward, and on only one square at a time; the cannons must
always pass over a piece in a straight line; the carriages go straight
ahead; the councillors go diagonally, and may not leave their camps; the
elephants go straight ahead, backways or sideways—like the castles in the
European game; the horses are moved like your knights; and, finally, the
chief is played just like the king in the game here, and equally when
the king is placed so that he is in check from one of the pieces of his
adversary, without being able to get away or to take the piece, he is
check-mated, and the game is lost. The pieces are not represented by
figures, but have their designations written on them. Our industry, so
profoundly artistic, has neglected to occupy itself with this game. On
the other hand, we manufacture figures of carved ivory for export sets of
chess.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]