in the two last cases, a rook must be lost, at best, for a worse piece.

11. Never let your queen stand so before your king as that your adversary, by bringing a rook or a bishop, might check your king if she were not there; nor behind him, because should the rook or bishop be well guarded, and you had no piece to interpose, you could not avoid losing the queen for a less valuable piece.

12. Do not let the adversary's king's bishop batter the line of your king's bishop's pawn; as it is the most dangerous piece to form an attack, oppose by times your queen's bishop to him, and get rid of him

as soon as you can.

13. When your bishop runs upon white, endeavour to put your pawns upon black, because your bishop then serves to prevent your adversary's king or rook getting between them; and so vice versa.

14. Strive to hinder your adversary from doubling his rooks, particularly when there is an opening in the game.

15. When you play your king, put him, if possible, always upon a rank or file which

your adversary has a pawn upon, as you are thereby better covered from the rooks' ambushes.

16. When your king finds himself behind two or three pawns, and your adversary falls upon them, in order to break them or make an irruption upon your king, do not push any of them forwards till you are forced to do it.

(H).

ON CONCLUSIONS OF GAMES.

1. At the latter end of the game, remember your king is a your king is a capital piece, and do not let him be idle; it is by his means, generally, you get the move and the victory.

2. Each party having only three or four pawns on different sides of the board, and no pieces, the kings are to endeavour to gain the move. For example: if you bring your king opposite to your adversary's king, with only one house between, you will have gained the move, as your adversary cannot approach farther.

3. If you have three pawns each upon the board, and no piece, and one of yours is on one side of the board, and two on the

other, and your adversary's three pawns are opposite to your two, march with your king as fast as possible, to take his pawns; and should his king go to support them, push on to queen with your single pawn; goes to hinder you,

the others to queen.

take his pawns,

and if he

and push

4. When you have greatly the disadvantage of the game, having only your queen and some inferior pieces left in play, and your king happens to be in the position of stale-mate, contrive to lose the pieces, and then keep giving check to your adversary's king, always taking care not to check him where he can interpose any of his pieces that make the stale: by thus playing, you will at last force him to take your queen, and then you win the game by being in a stale

mate.

5. When you have only your king left, and your adversary has a bishop and one pawn on the rook's line, and his bishop is not of the same colour as the corner house

his pawn is going to, if you can get into that corner, you cannot lose, but may win the game by a stale.

of

6. If you have only a bishop left against a rook, your way to insure a drawn game is to station your king on a corner square the board, of a different colour to what the bishop goes on.

7. If one party has only the king, and the other, in addition to the king, a knight or a bishop, it must be a drawn game; and therefore next to a queen or a rook, it is best to have a pawn, from the possibility of making him a queen.

8. If your adversary has the king and a pawn, and you have only the king, endeavour to intercept the pawn; if you fail, yet, if you can get before either to the square towards which the pawn is moving, by manoeuvering on the first square of that file, and the second of that and the adjoining files, you will either make a drawn game, or win by a stale.

CONCLUSION.

up

After all the rules that can be summed on this truly noble game, it must at last be confessed, that without long and studious practice a proficiency must not be looked

for. There have been, indeed, persons, who seem to have possesed a peculiar talent herein, as wonderful as it is uncommon, and on which, therefore, no arguments can be founded. One thing is clear, that, independent of that carelessness or abstraction of mind, which even the most sublime pursuits cannot wholly conquer, and the influence or extent of which may be considered matter of uncertainty, chance or luck has no share in the victory; skill, and a consummate knowledge of the game, will alone be uniformly victorious. We must not, however, yield entirely to the idea, that the best chess-player is of necessity one of superior intellect and capacity, since every day's experience will that persons of otherwise very moderate talents have, and that even with an equal degree of practice, excelled others either of greater genius, or more sound penetration. We may therefore conclude, as has been in another place remarked, that in this, as well as in other cases, perpetual exercise, limited in its object-mechanical recollection of similar combinations-an aptitude to seize on errors or want of skill

shew us,