27 DECEMBER 1968, Page 5

Chess mates

CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS

It has been discovered that some of the chess masters in the International Tournament have been 'fixing' their games.

I've heard the politician has his price, That courtiers bow and bob and bend the knee.

The lawyer is too demanding of his fee And moneylenders' tricks are not too nice. Tycoons are known, of whom the besetting vice

Is their excessive greed for L.S.D. Tricksters revoke, gamblers notoriously Are not averse at times to load their dice.

Punters have sometimes had a dirty name.

The jockey has been known to pull his horse.

Or even to cut a corner off the course.

A footballer or two has sold a game.

But what rare joy it is, I must confess, To learn chess masters often cheat at chess!