1 Here the White Q. B. vaults over his own King and checks the adverse King over the adverse Bishop. In a paper on Chess, by Captain H. Cox, inserted in the "Asiatic Researches" (Vol. VII., 8vo edition, page 494), the writer says:"They (the Bishops) move diagonally in advance or retrograde, always two steps at a move, and have what Mr. Irvin calls the motion of a rocket-boy, hopping over any piece in their way except the King." Here, however, we see that there is no such exception, for the Bishop does hop over the King.

H

The following position is celebrated all over the East as Dilārām's Mate, whereby "hangs a brief tale," viz.— Two Persian princes had engaged in such deep play, that the whole fortune of one of them was gained by his opponent. He who played the White was the ruined man; and, made desperate by his loss, he at last offered his favourite wife, Dilārām, as his stake. The game was carried on until he would have been inevitably Checkmated by his adversary on the next move. The Lady, who had observed the game from behind the parda, or gauze screen, that separated the females from the male portion of the company, cried out to her husband in a voice of despair

"Ai Shah! do Rukh bidih, wa Dilārām rā madih ;
Pil wa Piyada, pesh kun, wa zi Asp Shāh-māt."

I

"O Prince, sacrifice your two Rooks, and save Dilārām ; Forward with your Bishop and Pawn, and with the Knight give Check-mate." Dilārām's problem, modified so as to suit our boards, has for some time been known in Europe. It is given in a small work entitled "An Easy Introduction to the Game of Chess," &c., published in London in 1816, but I cannot say from what source. The following example of it is taken from the Museum MS., No. 16,856. have seen several other versions both of the story and of the problem, all of which, however, agree in principle, though the non-combatant pieces on the left side of the board may be differently arranged. In a Chess article in the fourth volume of the "Chess Player's Chronicle," Mr. George Walker has given this problem along with several others "selected, (as he tells us), from an ancient Persian manuscript." The version differs from mine, and from the specimen of his Persian, I am strongly inclined to suspect the accuracy, as well as the antiquity of his manuscript.

1 The Bishop vaults over the Knight agreeably to Oriental usage. A very trifling modification will fit the position to our board, viz.-place the White Bishop on his Q. Kt. square, and put the White Knight on K. R. second square, then it makes a neat problem in which White mates in six moves.

On the Giving and Receiving of Odds.

The subject of odds is most minutely discussed by the author of the Asiatic Society's MS., of which the following is an abridged translation, viz. :-"Having now

explained the moves of the pieces, and their exchangeable value, I shall proceed, O reader! to inform you of the different degrees of odds established by the masters of old. A true Chess-player ought to play with all sorts of people, and, in order to do so, he must make himself acquainted with his adversary's strength, in order to determine what odds he may give or accept. A man who is unacquainted with the rules for giving or receiving odds is not worthy of the name of Chess-player. It is only by equalizing the strength of the combatants that both of them may reap amusement and edification; for what interest could a first-rate player, such as 'Adalī, or Sūlī, or 'Ali Shatranjī, find in playing even with a man to whom they could each give the Knight or the Rook? The smallest degree of odds, then, is to allow the adversary the first move. The second degree is to give him the Half-Pawn, which consists in taking either Knight's Pawn off his own file and placing it on the Rook's third square. The third species of odds is the giving the Rook's Pawn; the fourth, that of the Knight; the fifth, that of the Bishop; the sixth, that of the Queen. The seventh degree of odds is to give the adversary the King's Pawn, which is the best on the board. The eighth species of odds is the King's Bishop. The ninth is the Queen's Bishop. The tenth degree of odds is the Queen. The eleventh, the Queen and a Pawn; or what is equivalent, a Knight; for though the Queen and Pawn be slightly inferior to the Knight at the beginning, yet you must take into account the probability of the Pawn becoming a second Queen. The twelfth species of odds is the Knight and Pawn. The thirteenth, the Rook. To give any odds beyond the Rook can apply only to women, children, and tyros. For instance, a man to whom even a first-class player can afford to give the odds of a Rook and

a Knight has no claim to be ranked among Chess-players. In fact, the two Rooks in Chess are like the two hands in the human body, and the two Knights, are as it were, the feet. Now, that man has very little to boast of on the score of manhood and valour who tells you that he has given a sound thrashing to another man who had only one hand and one foot."

There is one point in the preceding gradation of odds which I am unable at present to explain. All the MSS. agree in considering the Queen's Bishop of greater value than that of the King. The author of the Asiatic Society's MS. appears to have given the reason, but unfortunately his account breaks off suddenly at the end of fol. 25B., and the leaf that ought to follow is missing. So far as I understand him, it would appear that the Queen and her Bishop (which is necessarily of a different colour) contribute in certain situations to make a drawn game, which game with the King's Bishop would have been lost. It is possible, however, that some explanation on this point may be found in Dr. Lee's MSS. alluded to in p. 83. It would appear, also, that the Bishop's Pawn was considered to be slightly superior to that of the Knight; though, according to the author of the Mus. MS., No. 16,856, this point is undecided among the best players.

After due consideration of what we have just stated respecting the relative value of the pieces, and the laws laid down for the giving of odds, we are forced to infer that the Arabs and Persians must have been really fine players; for it is only among such that odds so small and so minutely graduated could have been established. We may further observe, that it was much more difficult to give the odds of the Knight or of the Rook, in the mediæval game, than it is in ours, for reasons that admit