any number of squares, or from one end of the board to the other; always in a line and on the colour he is first placed on. The king's bishop is accounted the better one, principally because he can check the king on his original square, which the queen's bishop cannot. It must be remembered, that the king's bishops, on both sides, move on their own colours; the white bishop on white squares, and the black on black; the queen's bishops of course, therefore, vice versa; or again, that the king's bishops move on the colours their respective queens are of. This piece, like the rook and can take at any distance.

queen,

THE ROOK-moves along the files, or ranks, and not diagonally as the bishop; like him, though, he can go, or stop short of, any length, and take at any distance. He has a very considerable advantage over the bishop in this, that when on a rank or file, at the margin of the board, there is no escape for his adversary on that side, the border acting in some degree, if it may be so said, as another rook. This is evidently

not the case with the bishop, whose diagonal cannot be so flanked, and must leave two sides for his adversary to escape. He is not useful early, but is particularly so at the conclusion of a game; possessing the power of giving checkmate with the king alone, which neither the bishop nor knight can do*.

THE QUEEN-is almost unlimited in her moves, as she unites those of the bishop and the rook, and is, therefore, the most valuable piece on the board. The Russians give, as was observed in the first Chapter, the additional move of the knight, and it would seem she must then be nearly invincible.

THE KING-can move but one square at a time (except in the case of castling, as

* The rook is less useful than the bishop at the outset of the game, and the reason is easily explained: the bishop, moving diagonally on one colour only, meets with fewer impediments: the opposite bishop and his own never stand in his way, and the pawns, supporting each other, leave the diagonal lines in general free ;-on the contrary, the rook, moving over each colour, finds obstruction every where.

before described); this may be either forwards or backwards, sideways or diagonally. His walk, therefore, is more circumscribed than that of either of the other pieces, and even the exclusive privilege he has of never being taken cannot be considerd a benefit, since it only means, that he cannot move into or continue in danger. He is, however, after all, the head and main-spring of the game; since, when he is checkmated, the whole is finished, although not a piece on the board may have been lost.

The square on which a piece is placed is called its own, as the king's square, king's bishop's square, &c. the next, on which the pawn stands, is called the second square; the next two, the third and fourth. In particularizing the games, the squares, after the fourth, are called the adversary's, or black or white, according as the adversary's colour is.

OF BEGINNING THE GAME.-In

the game of Chess there are two objects in view, or two modes of winning: First, by

giving checkmate; which may be done, as before observed, though hardly a piece is lost Secondly, by such frequent captures and exchanges that the power on one side is comparatively reduced to nothing, and the mate is a necessary consequence.

The right to the first move is decided by lot thus: one of the parties takes a pawn from each side, and holds in his closed hands; the other calls his pawn, and if he guesses the hand in which it is, he has the move, otherwise not. Afterwards it goes alternately.

No move can be liable to so little exception at Chess as the pushing the king's pawn two squares, for the opening the game. The reasons for this move are principally these: First, it leaves the queen, and king's bishop at liberty to act, without exposing the king. Secondly, the rooks are useless at the beginning of the game; and therefore their pawns pushed out are not only unnecessary, but they take with them a great safe-guard which the king would find when he castles. And, thirdly, the knights, who are the most useful at this stage, can come into play with

out their pawns being moved. All Philidor's games (except the queen's gambit, expressly so called from the queen's pawn moving first) begin thus ; and no affectation of novelty should induce the learner to do otherwise. If this pawn is threatened (which it will rarely be in the first instance, nothing but the king's knight being able so to do), the queen's or bishop's pawn may support it. The future moves are not to be defined by theory. The Calabrois generally brought out his king's knight to his king's bishop's third for his second move; but this square, mode is reprobated by Philidor, as will be seen by his third party.

GENERAL REMARKS.-The mode of capture by any piece, or pawn, is the taking off the captured piece, and placing himself in his stead. Any piece may be captured that stands on any one of the squares the piece ranges over, except in the case of the knight, who can only take on the third square, and not on the one he leaps over, and of the pawn who does not take on the square