Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1929, Page 107

- 1929, THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER VR. 11 T T AR R S MRS S e SRR I Mathematical Mind Best in Chess Game Once an Art, Now a Science, Alzays a Battle Calling for Military Strategy, Says Dr. Norbert L. Lederer, Tournament Director, National Chess Federation, as He Dis- cusses Chess Masters, Past and Present. BY ARRETTA L. WATTS. HAT chess is a means of revealing per- sonal traits of character, which neither self-control nor even life-long effort can modify or disguise, is gener- ally agreed upon by those who have made a serious study of this ancient and cos- mopolitan game and its players. Furihermore, that many chess madsters show certain eccen- tricities of judgment and behavior is quite ap- parent, according to Dr. Norbert L. Lederer, director and chairman of the tournament com- mittee of the National Chess Federation of the United States, an internationally known scien- tific chemist, authority on criminology and an intensive student of psychoanalysis. There are, however, some notable exceptions Dr. Lederer would make to the above statement which he has arrived at after long, careful study and observation of chess players. Jose R. Capablanca, for instance—the Cuban chess master, who held the world championship title for seven years, until it was wrested from him in 1927 by the present world champion, Dr. Alexander Alekhine, in the match in Buenos Aires—is an exceedingly competent business man and an all-round sportsman. The same is true of Dr. Milan Vidmar, professor of elec- trical engineering in the University of Laibach in Jugoslavia, and an eminent authority on high-voltage transformers. This great chess master and non-professional player, who re- cently refused a fabulous sum offered for his services by an electrical concern in America, and the Cuban master Dr. Lederer considers absolutely normal in so far as may be judged by the present-day standards of human be- havior. “CHESS has become almost an exact science. It has been boiled down to a mathemati- cal analysis, and for many of its devotees does not hold the glamour that it had in the days when it was more of an art,” said Dr. Lederer, who has done more than any other one person in furthering interest in the game in America during the last decade. This chess enthusiast is imterested primarily, he says, from the point of view of a psychological study of the players. He believes that chess develops the mind and promotes logical thinking, and should, there- fore, be encouraged in the young, but within reason. “In the days of Paul lMorphy, who is still the patron saint of chess the world over, the game was an art rather than a science,” declared .Dr. Lederer. “But even then it was becoming more scientific. It was that distinguished and aristocratic gentleman of New Orleans who sald: ‘Chess is a great game, but the chess players have spoiled it.’” There are very few really great active chess players in the world today, according to this chess authority, who- lists in his “Who's Who" among the great in the game today the already mentioned Dr. Alekhine, who recently success- fully defended his world title against E. D. Bogoljubow; Capablanca and Dr. Vidmar. To these he would add the present American champion, Frank J. Marshall, who has held the American championship for 18 years; Ru- dolph Spielman of Austria, Aaron Nimzowitsch, one of the most original of the chess masters, and Akiba Rubinstein, the Polish champion. All of these players are grand masters, and, with the exception of Dr. Vidmar, they are all professionals. Dr. Emanuel Lasker of Berlin, doctor of philosophy, formerly professor of mathematics at Manchester and The Hague and interna- tionally known through his profound books on philosophy, is the deepest chess thinker who has ever lived, according to Dr. Lederer. “Besides Morphy and Marshall, America has produced only one other great chess player,” said Dr. Lederer, “and that was Harry Pills- bury, the first of the great blindfold players. His limit of 22 blindfold games, which he played about 1900, has since been raised by Dr. Alekhine to 30 blindfold games played simultaneously. “It was the immortal chess master Philidor who added to his glory by reviving the blind- fold play, which had been practiced first by the Persians and Arabs. This French master, when exiled during the French revolution, did much to revive interest in the game. “It is interesting to study the approach ot four great players like Morphy, Dr. Lasker, Capablanca and Dr. Alekhine. The approach of Morphy was from the purely artistic stand- point, and some of his most famous games were played when he was able to give free rein to his esthetic sense against inferior opponents. “Dr. Lasker attempts to realize in the game the philosophy of his book, ‘Der Kampf’ (‘The Battle’), which is based on the Liological neces- sity of fighting in the human race. He believes that chess is neither an art nor a science, but truly a battle; that from beginning to end it is a fighting game. There is more psychology in his playing than in that of any of the others, and in actual results he is the greatest player of all time. “Capablanca is what one might call an effi- ciency expert. He rarely takes chances and always ‘plays the board’ and never his oppo- nent. His great strength is his uncanny posi- tion judgment and marvelous accuracy. His main weakness is a certain lack of combative- ness, which often results in drawn games even against weaker players. “Dr. Alekhine is probably thz greatest con- noisseur and analyst in the game. His wonder- ful imagination has not only carried him to the world title, but has made some of his games imperishable gems. ¢ VHESS strategy bears a certain resemblance to military strategy. The same psychic mechanism is found in both. Napoleon gave much of his time to chess. It is said that when the ‘Little Corporal’ was exiled on St. Helena Dr. Norbert L. Lederer, famous chess authority, is also a chemist and a stu- dent of criminology and psychoanalysis. he passed much of his time playing the game. Moltke, the great German military leader, was also a noted devotee of the game. “According to leading psychologists, success in chess depends upon the conjunction of cer- tain well developed faculties; a tendency to abstract, formal and objective thinking in which the general predominates over the par- ticular. - This fact makes chess players and mathematicians much in common. In fact, many of our best chess players have been out- Dr. Alexander Alekhine, world chess champion, who is probably the greatest analyst in the game. standing in methematics. The important dif- ference between the two is that the pure mathe- matician directs his efforts toward abstract probfems, while the chess player works with concrete situations. “Chess is a game in which one’s aptitude shows itself very early. Virtually no great players started later than 10 years of age. Morphy’s great successes were all achieved be- fore he was 20. This youthful master visited the continent and had beaten in brilliant style all the European masters he met. He gave up the game at the-age of 28. “Capablanca began his chess playing at the age of 5, having learned the game by watching his father play it. The story goes that one day, after watching his father play a game with a friend, the boy said: ‘Father, I could beat you myself.” The father accepted the challenge and was beaten in the game by his 5-year-old child. At the age of 12 the boy was champion of Cuba and at 16 he had beaten Marshall, the American champion. “Sammy Rzeszewski, the Polish ‘wonder boy,’ who seemed on the verge of astounding the chess world when he came to America several years ago, was only 12 years of age when he performed his skillful chess exhibitions.” NO one knows just when chess originated and authorities differ as to the place of its birth. However, it seems fairly certain that India was the land of its origin. A game simi- Jose R. Capablanca, Cuban chess wizard and former world champion, playing a group of opponents simultaneously. lar to chess was played in Egypt 5,000 years ago. But it is known that chess was played in India before the days of Buddha, 400 B.C. The game spread from India to Persia, Arabia and other Moslem countries and was introduced into Europe at the time of the Moorish ine vasion of Spain. From Spain it spread northe ward into France, England, Germany and into the Scandinavian countries. Although the game spread rapidly, it was at first confined to the upper classes and the royal courts. From chess literature, which includes more than 5,000 volumes and treatises, a library more extensive than that of all other games com- bined, and from every country in the world, we learn that the game has always been the most popular of all games among thinkers. Sir Walter Raleigh declared he would like to die on the day he was unable to play chess. Goethe referred to it as the “touchstone of the human ‘brain.” Voltaire, Ibsen, Benjamin Franklin, Bulwer-Lytton and Tennyson were all lovers of the game. One of the loveliest scenes in the great poem by Bishop Tegner, “Frithiofssaga,” contains the description of a chess game, as does the famous scene in Goethe's drama, “Gotz von Berlichingen.” Even detective and crime fice tion has made use of the royal and ancient game, as one notes in S. S. Van Dine’s “The Bishop Ifurder Case,” Jacques Futrelle's “The Thinking Machine,” Raymond Allen’s “A Happy Solution” and others. Literary chess players include also Robert Louis Stevenson, who played the game daily, and Cooper, in whose “Deerslayer” we recall that Natty Bumpo thought the carved chess- men used for barter with the Indians were idols. Bacon had no use for chess and sar- castically declared that it was “too wise a game,” a curious remark from the author of “Advancement of Learning.” Shakespeare re- fers to the game only once, and that in “The Tempest.” The chess game in “Through a Looking-Glass” is, of course, immortal, al- though somewhat difficult to follow. Then there are the famous lines in the “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam: "Tis all a checquered board of nights and days, Where Destiny with man for pieces plays. LTHOUGH chess was formerly a royal or aristocratic game, it has come to be the most gosmopolitan and mgst democratic of all games. Today it is played all over the globe, from China to Peru and from Iceland to the South Seas. It is played on land, at sea and in the air, on trains, ships and airplanes, and even by telephone and cable. A cable match was recently held between Washington and London. As one writer expressed it: ‘“Chess is the relaxation of the business man, the anodyne of hospitals and the solace of jails.” For the business man, chess affords an ine tellectual form of relaxation and recreation, a refined form of mental gymnastics, and there are some very good players among them, Charles M. Schwab and Samuel Insull are both players of chess, as are ex-President Coolidge and Chief Justice Taft. In England the game numbers among its devotees the Prince of Wales, Balfour, Shaw and Kipling. Chess is a far superior game to bridge in some respects, and, contrary to popular belfef, it has far more followers. One can alwaye prove his superiority in chess, whereas he cane- not in bridge. The element of chance or luck does not arise in chess as it does in card games. (Copyright, 1929.)