The Great Game
ALL honour to that unknown genius of Araby or Cathay who invented chess! But let us not forget another nameless bene- factor—the man who first devised a notation whereby games of chess could be written down and recorded for The astonishment of posterity. Without its written records, chess would lose half its splendour. A few notable encounters would be preserved in human memory—I dare say we should still have Anderssen's " Evergreen " or " Immortal " game (number 68a in the Minia- tures collection), because this caused a chess sensation. Never had such a sweeping back and breaking up of strong opposing forces been seen on a chessboard before. Also it was played in London. But we should hardly have had the game of Putiloff Hill (number 33 Miniatures). This game was played on the eve of the battle of the Shako in the Russo-Japanese war. One of the players was killed in the battle, the other severely wounded. The odds must have been heavily, against the preservation of this game, even after it had been written down ; but, unfortunately, we are not told all the circumstances.
The connexion between chess and war goes, of course, much deeper than this. Here are two opponents deploying their forces, conducting advances and retreats, superficially in full control of their operations, but all, even the masters, subject to contingencies which cannot possibly be foreseen. If you look from one side of the board, you will see games decided by brilliant strokes of imagination, by feats of almost superhuman prescience and tenacity. If you look from the side of the vanquished, you will see how even the great commanders are blind, timid, irresolute or complacent, and how, in that instant, defeat strikes them down. What could be mote applicable to the military art than the annotator's comments on a game lost by Euwe, who for a time held the chess championship of the world (game 74, Keres' Best Games)? "One must realise how important an element of defensive skill is comprised in will-power, in stubborn persever- ance, in unflagging concentration. Note how Euwe's slip on move 43 completely nullifies all his -previous efforts." The 200 Miniature Games are all examples of the blitzkrieg in chess. They are games in which a sudden overwhelming blow has brought victory within a limit of about 20 moves. There is the decisive break-through at the central hinge of the defence (like the German break-through at Sedan), illustrated in games 545 and others. There are games like the German conquest of Norway—for instance, Sir- George Thomas's defeat in game 172a, which is described by the annotator as "a super King hunt and a splendid combination." There is one game, played, I am proud to say, by an Englishman, in which White, although reduced to a single minor piece, contrives to defeat an opponent with two major and three minor pieces (game 65). I am sorry that as an artistic contrast, no room was found in this collection for Alelchin's extra- ordinary victory against a French Defence in Moscow, in which there were five Queens on the board when the game ended! In Keres' Best Games you will find your full-length wars. There is at least one good war of attrition—lasting to the 97th move! Keres is one of the "young masters," an Estonian 26 years of age, who is already a challenger for the world's championship. One game in this volume (76, also against Dr. Euwe) will certainly take its place beside Andersen's among the " Immortals." Mate in Two Moves is a reprint and a good collection of chess "problems." The problem has been called the " poetry " of the game. To my mind it lacks the intense human interest of the game itself, the living struggle. However, those who still have leisure to spend or a waiting ob to do-shoUld forthwith put away their crossword puzzles and buy all three of these books, and with half the mental application they will get ten times the reward in
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