his power of stepping upon either colour, while a Bishop is confined to one. Under the guidance of skilful play a Knight frequently decides the fate of a game.

threatening his Q. P.

13. Q. takes B.

14. K. R. to Q. square,

14. Q. Kt. to K. fourth square. again threatening his Q. P. If he advance the Q. P. he loses Q. Kt. He may defend it by playing K. Kt. to K. square, but this retrograde movement is by no means desirable in the present state of the game. He therefore does well to abandon the Q. P. and advance the K. Kt. (i. e., the Knight standing at K. B. third square), to K. Kt. fifth, for if you take the Q. P. he is able to form a strong attack. 15. K. Kt. to K. Kt. fifth square. 15. Q. takes Q. P. 16. Q. to K. R. fifth square.

He thus abandons the central pawns for the sake of a position in your camp which threatens to be dangerous. You must now act on the defensive, for if you take his K. P. checking, he moves K. to the corner and rather improves his game; therefore you play,

17. Kt. takes B.

16. K. R. P. one square.
17. K. B. P. takes Kt.

He does not retreat with the Kt. but captures your Bishop, threatening your R.; you must retake with the K. B. P., and what before would have been an advantage is now the reverse: two isolated pawns at your K. third and fourth squares are by no means desirable.

18. Q. to K. Kt. sixth square.

A much better move than checking at K. B. seventh, for he now defends his Q. Kt., brings his Q. into a strong position, and his object should be to bring up other pieces to her assistance. Besides, by this move he threatens to win your Q: by checking with Kt. at your K. B. third square, to prevent which you play,

19. K. R. to K. B. seventh square.

18. K. to K. R.

If you take his K. P. checking, he will move K. to K. R.

20. Q. R. to K. B.

19. K. R. to K. Kt. square.

It is very desirable thus to unite the Rooks on the same

file.

20. Q. R. to Q. B.

Your object is to defend the Q. B. P. as you do not anticipate any immediate danger.

21. R. takes K. Kt. P.

This sacrifice is premature, and will cost him the game; because by your next move you prevent him from following up the attack which the sacrifice seemed to promise. Before a sacrifice is made, it is always necessary to observe whether the adversary has a check at command:--the power to check frequently neutralizes an attack.

21. Q. takes K. P. checking,

by which move you defend the pawn at K. R. third square, which Black seems to have calculated on taking.

22. K. to K. R. square. 23. Q. takes K. P.

22. R. takes R.

If you take his Kt. he captures your Q. R., therefore, 23. Q. R. to K. Kt. square. which is a much better move, because it unites your Rooks on the same file, and you threaten to take his K. Kt. P. Therefore, to displace this Q. R. he plays,

24. Kt. to K. B. sixth square.

threatening mate.

25. R. to K. Kt. square.

24. Q. to K. seventh square,

Your obvious move now appears to be to take the K. Kt. P. with the Rook. Should you do so you lose the game in two moves. Therefore,

26. Q. to K. R. third.

25. Kt. to Q. square.

After being worsted in the skirmish and thus compelled to retreat, his game may be considered as lost. It is necessary, however, for you to defend the K. R. P., otherwise you are mated in two moves; but you can easily do this by playing,

26. Kt. to K. B. second,

and can afford to give up your R. for his Kt.

27. Kt. takes R.

27. R. takes Kt.

We need not pursue this game further. You have the

* For example,

26. Q. takes R. checking. 27. R. takes R. checkmate.

25. R. takes K. Kt. P.
26. R. takes Q.

advantage of a Knight and must win:-that is, supposing you make no blunders: for these of course can never be foreseen or calculated by a third party, although they constitute one of the most essential differences between a bad and a good player, and ought always to form part of every individual game in which they occur.

The difficulty of solving chess problems generally increases with the number of moves in which the mate is to be effected. Those in which the mate is to be given on the second move are among the easiest, and scarcely admit of that display of brilliant ingenuity which characterizes problems where the mate is effected in a larger number of moves. Some difficult problems in two moves will, however, be given hereafter.

PROBLEM V. White to move first, and give checkmate in

three moves.

LESSON X.

QUEEN'S BISHOP'S PAWN'S GAME.

THIS opening is so called from the circumstance of Q. B. P. being moved one square at the second move. This move was censured by Philidor as being very ill played, because by advancing his Queen's Pawn two squares, your adversary regains the advantage of the move; an assertion which, as Sarratt says, it is presumed cannot be proved. Indeed it has been shown by the analysis of the two celebrated Italian players, Ercole del Rio and Ponziani, that the move may be made without danger.

The Queen's Bishop's Pawn's Game is seldom played, probably because Philidor's censure of it may yet have some influence; and also because none of our great players has condescended to patronize the game. There are, however, many striking and peculiar features about this opening: the first player may often succeed in getting an open game, and have a variety of pieces at command; while his antagonist, unless he play correctly, has no time allowed him to bring out his pieces, and although he may have a numerical advantage, it is valueless, because he cannot bring it to bear upon his adversary.

The following game is selected from a series of games played by the members of the Bristol Chess Club. It is well calculated to illustrate the opening to which the young student's attention is now directed.

QUEEN'S BISHOP'S PAWN'S Game.

WHITE.

1. K. P. two squares. 2. Q. B. P. one sq.

1. The same.

BLACK.

2. Q. P. two squares.

This is undoubtedly Black's best move; its tendency being to liberate his pieces and prevent you from establishing your pawns in the centre. You must not take the proffered pawn; you lose time by doing so, and realize the objection made by Philidor of transferring the attack into the hands of your adversary. Your best move is,

3. K. Kt. to K. B. third square. 3. P. takes P.

You may now play Q. to Q. R. fourth sq. checking, and then take the pawn which attacks your K. Kt.; or you may reserve this move, and play a bolder and more scientific one; viz.,

4. K. Kt. takes K. P.

4. K. B. to Q. third square. 5. Q. to Q. R. fourth sq., checking. 5. Q. B. P. one sq.

Black's fourth move was not good. In seeking to drive away your Kt., he probably overlooked the check at your fifth move, whereby you not only win a pawn, but also defend your Kt. from the attack of his K. B. You may not, it is true, be able to maintain the Kt. in this position; but, in expelling or winning this piece, Black gets an inferior game.

6. Q. takes K. P.

7. Q. P. two squares.

6. Q. to K. second square,
7. K. B. P. one square.

By this last move Black wins your Kt., because if you remove it you lose your Q.: but in exchange for the Kt. you get two pawns and a fine position.

8. K. B. P. two squares.

This move is better than playing Q. B. to K. B. fourth square, because you thus unite two pawns in the centre. A second defence is necessary to the Kt., because if you move away your Q. you lose a pawn.

9. K. B. P. takes P.

10. K. B. to Q. third square.

8. K. B. P. takes Kt.

9. K. B. to Q. B. second square.

This move is a very good one, but difficult for you to understand without explanation. It prevents him from playing K. Kt. to B. third square,-a very desirable move for him at the present juncture. Examine this move attentively, and notice its effect in preventing him from playing out the Kt. to K. B. third square. If you had played Q. Kt. to Q. second square, the effect on him would have been the same; but the objection to this move is, that your Q. B., now so usefully employed in commanding five squares, would have been rendered powerless.

10. Q. B. to K. third square. The object of Black is to support his K. Bishop's file, which would be commanded entirely by your K. R. on playing him to K. B. square.

11. Q. B. P. one square.

11. Q. to K. B. second square.

By this move you still further limit the range of your adversary's pieces, and tend to preserve your own centre pawns, which would be liable to be broken by the advance of the pawns on his Queen's side. Black's position is very much constrained; he therefore moves his Q. in order to give her some scope.

12 K. R. to K. B. square.

12. Q. to K. R. fourth square.

In the present position it is not legal for you to castle on