TYLOR ' S " CHESS. "
[TO THE EDITOR 'OF THE "SPECTATOR.']
Si,—Would you allow me to point out what I am sure the reviewer of Mr. Tylor's book will see on a second reading ? The apparent giving of the game to Black is not, as your reviewer thinks, a pessimistic admission of Necessity. Mr. Tylor's work is apt to be, if anything, over-subtle, and his best points are, therefore, often missed at first, even by the most intelligent readers. One of his main points is that-
" the game
Is not the one we see upon the board."
The Black King does not allow this ; he is an agnostic as regards everything off the board. Had chessmen a future life, the victory would at last fall to White, although off the board. As it is, the partial victory on the board remains with Black ; but only to suggest that the agnostic's favourite argument, obviously false in the mouth of the Black King, is equally so for us. So the adversary reproaches those who have played his game too well :— " Fools who have won me a game,
And have lost me a soul."
The wrongful victory of Black is necessary to remove the last doubt from Eric's mind.—I am, Sir, &c., M. W. MOGGRIDGE.
Woodfield Park, Mon., December 25th.
[We accept the correction, and are glad to see that what seemed to us a blemish is capable of so fair an explanation.— ED. Spectator.]
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