FIVES RACKETS-TENNIS. The sport of striking a soft ball covered with leather against a wall, or throwing it upwards and catching it with the hand, seems to be of great antiquity, and in progress of time was regulated into the character of certain games. One of these, the most simple of the whole, is the striking of a ball against a wall, rebounding from which it falls with force on the ground, and in the rise is again struck in the same manner. The sustaining of this action for a specified number of times constitutes the game. In England it has been customary to call a game of this kind fives, from the ball being struck with the five fingers and palm of the hand. In Scotland it has for ages been called cage or caitch ball. James I., in his quaint production descriptive of what should constitute the education and recreations of a prince, refers to caitch ball. He remarks "The exercises I would have you to use, although but moderately, not making a craft of them, are running, leaping, wrestling, fencing, dancing, and playing at the caitch or tennise, archerie, palle-malle, and such like other fair and pleasant field sports." Rackets is the same game as fives; but instead of striking the ball with the open hand it is struck by a racket, which is an implement held in the hand formed of a frame and catgut. It is played against a high and broad wall, even in surface, with a smooth stone or earthen ground, from which the ball will rise evenly to the hand. Two persons play the match, each striking the ball alteruately, and each strikes it in such a way as that his adversary may not be able to return it. But the adversary is supple of limb and quick of eye, and darting to the spot on which the ball is about to fall, endeavours to strike it with his racket, and preserve it from rolling on the ground. He who does not return the ball, either loses a point (or, as it is termed, an ace) or has his hand out, that is, forfeits the situation in which he would be able to add to his score of the game. Neither fives nor rackets are now played to the extent that they formerly were. There are still, however, several courts laid out for these games in the metropolis; and nowhere are they played so well as in the courtyards of the Queen's Bench and Fleet prisons, where inauy of the inmates endeavour to kill time by this species of amusement. Tennis is a game similar with ball; it is played with a racket, but instead of striking the ball against a wall, it is struck over a central net, on each side of which the players stand. The game, which was once fashionable, we believe, is now scarcely ever practised. TRAP-BALL. This game, which is traceable as far back as the commencement of the fourteenth century, is played chiefly by boys. A wooden object, called a trap, resembling a shoe in shape, with a spring slip or tongue fastened in it by a joint, is laid on the ground. The ball is laid on one end of the spring; the other end is struck with a bat, and the ball rising is to be smartly struck. "It is usual," says Strutt, "in the present game of trap-ball, when properly played, to place two boundaries at a given distance from the trap, between which it is necessary for the ball to pass when it is struck by the batsman, for if it falls withoutside of either, he gives up his bat and is out; he is also out if he strikes the ball into the air and it is caught by one of his adversaries before it grounds; and again, if the ball, when returned by the opposing party, touches the trap, or rests within one bat's length of it; on the contrary, if none of these things happen, every stroke tells for one towards the striker's game." In some country parts of England trap-ball is a favourite sport of the rustic population. FOOT-BALL.. Foot-ball is an old English sport, now little known in some parts of the country, but keenly played in others. It is played by means of a distended oxbladder, tightly covered with dressed leather, and sewed up in a strong and secure way, so as to retain its full elasticity. This ball is thrown aloft in the air betwixt two parties of players, equidistant from each other; on one side and the other there is a fixed point or line, called, as in the preceding case, the hail or hailing spot. The object, then, of each party is, by vigorous kicks to propel the ball to the hailing place behind their adversaries, on the attainment of which object the game is won. This game is less hazardous than shinty, and exercises fully both the strength and speed of the players. It is amazing how dexterous even very young boys become by continual practice at foot-ball; and skill in the application of a slight degree of force avails much more at this sport than greater strength unskilfully directed. The young men of the Scottish Border yet practise this game annually is various places; and few sights can be more exhilarating than to behold a strong body of them so employe when the fleet foot of the shepherd vies for conquest with the vigour of the ploughman, and health and e joyment beam unequivocally from every countenance. QUOITS. Contests in throwing or pitching heavy pieces of metal were practised by the ancient Greeks at their great pe riodical assemblages for athletic exercises. The pi of metal thrown was called the discus, from its round form. The main object in these contests was the cutvation of strength of arm, and victory was gained more from the ability of throwing heavy weights to a distanes than from skill in attaining a particular mark. From these ancient practices, first pursued by the Greeks and then by the Romans, the game of quos, @ coits, appears to have been derived. The quoit is a div cular plate of iron perforated in the middle, or, murs properly, a flattish iron ring, concave on one side and convex on the other, the concave or hollow side being undermost in throwing; and a notch being in the elți for the finger to press upon in delivering the thr Quoits are of different sizes, to suit the different tasks and powers of players. "To play at this game," sți Strutt, "an iron pin, called a hob, is driven into ground within a few inches of the top; and at the de tance of eighteen, twenty, or more yards (for the d tance is optional), a second pin of iron is also made falt in a similar manner; two or MET persons, as four, six, eight, or mar at pleasure-who, divided into tw equal parties, are to contend fort victory-stand at one of the i marks and throw an equal number of quoits at the other [the q being delivered from the hand an upward and forward pitch with a steady aim at the pin, near wh it should sink with its sharp elg in the turf]; the nearest of the to the hob are reckoned towards the game. Bet t determination is discriminately made: for instance, if quoit belonging to A lies nearest to the hob, aud a q belonging to B the second, A can claim but one towar the game, though all his other quoits lie nearer to the mark than all the other quoits of B; because one queë. of B being the second nearest to the hob, culs out, as t is called, all behind it; if no such quoit had interfere, then A would have reckoned all his as one each. Hav ing cast all their quoits, the candidates walk to the e site end and determine the state of the play; then, taking their stand there, throw their quoits back at and continue to do so alternately as long as the g remains undecided." The dress in quoiting should be loose and easy, with no restraint from braces. In some of the rural districts of England bere shoes used to be employed as quoits; and in some para of Scotland the quoits consist of round flat stones, games with which are called the " penny-states." Printed and published by W, and R. Crannens, Edinburgh CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF CHAMBERS'S NUMBER 85. CHESS. NEW AND IMPROVED SERIES. IN-DOOR AMUSEMENTS. Ir has been justly observed, that among all the in-door amusements invented by man for the employment of the idle or the relief of the studious, chess stands preeminent. It is the most refined and ingenious of all games, and possesses a charm which has rendered it a favourite of the greatest characters, whether kings, warriors, or philosophers. As an amusement, it possesses an advantage as great as it is singular: being highly interesting in itself, and played with leisure, it requires no inducement of gain, and in consequence is rarely played for money. The glory of conquest is allowed to form a sufficient attraction. Chess is of unknown origin and antiquity. Some writers have ascribed its invention to the Greeks, some to the Hindoos, others to the Chinese, and a fourth class to the Persians. There can be little doubt that it originated in the east, and at a very remote period of hislory; and it is certain that it has been known in Hindostan and adjacent regions for at least two thousand years. From the Persians it was introduced by the Arabians into Spain; thence it found its way to France; and was made known in England during the reign of William the Conqueror. The name of the game, and also the names of the pieces with which it is played, have undergone many mutations in travelling from country to country; nevertheless, in the present terms which we employ, the semblance of the original eastern appellations may be seen. In Hindostan it possesses the Sanscrit name of Chaturanga, which imports the four members of an army-elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers; the game being a scene of mimic warfare, in which these elements respectively act a peculiar part. The Persians corrupted the Sanscrit word into chatrang, which the Arabians softened into shatranj; from that appellation it passed into scacchi, echecs, and finally ebess. By the French it is called echecs, and a chess board they term echiquier. According to the modern European arrangement, the idea of elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers has been abandoned, and there have been substituted a king, queen, bishops, knights, castles or rooks, and pawns, forming six distinct classes of pieces. The term shop is only English, being a substitution for elephant. The knights represent the horse-soldiers. The term rook is from the eastern word rokh, a hero, and represents an armed chariot or fortification; the English give the piece the form of a castle. The pawns are the footaudiers, the name being from peon, an attendant. PRICE 1d. The game is played on a square board, divided into sixty-four squares, chequered black and white, as represented in the above figure. The numbers which are here shown on the squares do not exist on the chessboard; we have only marked them thus in order to illustrate the subjoined explanations of the method of playing the game. The chess pieces made in India or China for sale to wealthy Europeans are sometimes made of solid ivory, five or six inches high, and are exceedingly beautiful, no degree of labour being spared in the carving. The king and queen are seated on elephants, under a canopy; the bishops are camels, with archers as their riders; In beginning to play the game, the first thing is to the knights are on horseback; the castles are elephants, set the board. This is done by placing it before you, with a white square in the right hand corner. As the players sit opposite each other at a table on which the board is placed, each has a white square on his right. Next, place the men in their appointed places. Let us suppose it is the white set of men. On the white corner square marked 64 place a rook or castle, and on the black corner, 57, place the other rook; on the black square, 63, place a knight, and on the white square, 58, place the other knight; on the white square, 62, place a bishop, and on the black square, 59, place the other bishop; on the black square, 61, place the king, and on the white square, 60, place the queen. This completes the first row, in which the king and queen stand supported on each side by their officers. The second row, marked 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, is filled entirely with the eight pawns, which thus form a front guard to the pieces behind. The red or dark set of pieces are placed in precisely the same order a castle on 1 and 8, a knight on 2 and 7, a bishop on 3 and 6, the queen on 4, and the king on 5. It is a rule of the game that the queen must be placed at first on a square of her own colour-the white queen on a white square, and the dark queen on a dark square. The pieces and pawns on the side and front of each king and queen take their names from them; as king's bishop, king's knight; queen's bishop, queen's knight; king's pawn, &c. When properly placed, four rows of squares are left unoccupied in the middle of the board, and these form a space on which the early evolutions of the men take place. The Moves. It is a leading peculiarity of chess that each class of pieces has its own peculiar value and style of moving; some can move one way and some another, a system very different from that of the ordinary movements on a draught board. A pawn moves only one square at a time, in a straight line forward, and takes the enemy diagonally. On being first moved, however, a pawn has the power of advancing either one square or two, as the player thinks fit, unless the square over which he leaps is commanded by a hostile pawn; so that if he were to rest on that square instead of leaping over it, he might be captured. In such a case, the adverse pawn has the option of taking him, and placing himself on the square leaped over. A pawn cannot move backwards; but on getting to the further side of the board, upon the first line of the enemy, which is styled going to queen, he may be changed for any one of the pieces lost in the course of the game, and the piece chosen must be placed on the square at which the pawn has arrived. If not exchanged, he remains idle. The power of taking diagonally, possessed by a pawn, differs from that of all other pieces, who take in the direction in which they move after every capture he continues to go forward as before. The king's bishop's pawn is reckoned the most valuable. A knight moves obliquely, either backward or forward, upon every third square, including the square on which he stood; from black to white, or white to black, over the heads of the men, which no other piece is permitted to do. For example, a knight may leap from 36 to 19, 21, 26, 30, 42, 46, 51, or 53, passing over pieces in the intermediate squares. This property of leaping renders the knight particularly useful at the beginning of a game, as he can be brought into the enemy's ranks, and retire, notwithstanding any blockade; and should he check a king, without being himself liable to be taken, the king must remove, and can not afterwards castle. The bishop moves only diagonally over any number of squares as far as they are open, forward or backward, but always on the colour he is first placed on. He can take at any distance when the road is open. For example, the bishop may move from 29 to 2, 8, 56, or 57. The king's bishop is usually considered the better one, as he can check the king on his original re, which the queen's bishop cannot. The rook moves backward, forward, or sidevise, and as far as the squares are open. He is viewed as not very useful at the beginning of a game, but a particularly so towards the conclusion, by possessing the power of giving checkmate with the king alons, which neither the bishop nor knight can do. The queen is the best piece on the board. She unites the powers of the bishop and rook, and her moves are therefore unlimited, provided the squares are open in her line of motion. As an example, she may be moved from 37 to 1, 5, 16, 23, 40, 58, 61, 64, any other number in the direction of these, so that the squares are not blocked up. The preservation of the queen is always a matter of great importance in the game. The king moves only one square at a time, but any direction, either forward or backward, sideways a diagonally. But once in a game, he can move to squares to the right or left, which is termed casting He can take any of the enemy's men in any squa adjoining to him, provided he does not place himse check. This check is a peculiarity in his condition. hə has the privilege of never being taken; but this scarcely be considered a benefit, since it only mes that he must not move into or continue in a situat of danger. To be in such a situation, and liable to captured if he were an ordinary piece, is called ben; in check. On the avoidance of this perilous situat the whole game depends; for the instant the kinga checkmated, without the means of moving into a pr of safety, the game is at an end. The adversary the victory.* To the foregoing account of the moves and pow of the respective pieces, may be added the follow explanation of terms : Castling. This, as above hinted at, is allowed c in the course of a game: it consists in moving the k to the second square to the right or left of that wh he originally stood, and placing the castle or ro the square over which he leaped. Castling is a m adopted to secure the king from attack; but it is allowable-1. When the king or the rook with wh you would castle has already been moved; 2. W: the king is in check; 3. When the king would reqza" to pass over a square in which he would be check and 4. When the king has a piece between him and the rook. Check. When the king is in a situation that, we an inferior piece, he would be taken, notice is give the adversary, by saying the word “check," and player must adopt some means of removing him ire this position. Double check is when the king is in check by t pieces at once. He may emancipate himself fre single or double check-1. By capturing the p which is attacking him, either by himself or ons of t party-and this is only available in double check, if a of the pieces does not guard the other; 2. By posing a piece between him and the attacking po and 3. By removing to another square, of which = hostile piece has the command. Checkmate is when no means of escape or em is available; the king is then said to be checkmas and the game terminates. One king cannot give et n to another, as it would place him in a similar situata The term checkmate is said to be a corruption of t eastern words chah-mat (the king is dead). Stale-mate (from stall, a place of fixture) is app to the condition of the king when he is compelled remain in his place, by being surrounded in su * In a battle between the French and English, in the year an English knight seizing the bridle of Louis le Gros, and to his comrades, "The king is taken!" the prince struri the ground with his sword, saying, "Ne sçais tu pas echecs on ne prend pas le roi?" (Dost thou not kn La chess the king is never taken?) The meaning of which b. at the game of chess, when the king is reduced to that par royal piece is not to be exposed to an imaginary affrontthere is no way for him to escape, the game ends; beco on Chess. manner by his own or his adversary's pieces that he could not move without going into check, and has at he same time no means of moving other pieces. The ame is then considered drawn, that is, not won by Either party. Laws of Chess. The game commences by the two parties determining by lot, or concession, which shall have the first move. After this, the moves are taken alternately, one piece at a time. The principle of advance is to push forward he men gradually against those of the enemy, each arty calculating beforehand what will be the effect of uy particular move. The following are old-established aws in reference to playing : 1. If you touch your man you must play it, except it would exse your king to check, in which case you can only move the ng, if it be practicable. 2. As long as you retain a hold of your man, you are at liberty place him where you think proper, though you may have him et down on a square. 3. If you have removed your hand from a man, he must remain here he is. If you touch one of your adversary's men, he may insist on our taking it, if you can; and when you cannot, then you must ove your king, provided the move do not put him in check. 5. If you make a false move, by accident or otherwise, your iversary can oblige you to move the king; but if he plays withat having noticed the false move, it cannot be recalled. & If your adversary challenge you with a check, while in reality e king is not in check, and you move your king or any other an in consequence, you may retract it if you discover the error fore he has made his next move. 7. You are not to give check to your adversary's king, when, by ing so, you would expose your own king to check. & If your adversary give check, but without giving the usual aning of "check," you are not obliged to notice it till he does; it if he discover that he should have done so on his next move, d then warn you, each must retract his move, and the king be moved out of check or protected. & After your king or rook has moved, you cannot castle. In each fresh game the players have the first move alterstely; but if a player give the advantage of a piece, that is, Tees to start with one piece less than his antagonist, he who yes the advantage has the first move. Do not therefore play out any of your pieces early in the me, because you thereby lose moves, in case your adversary an, by playing a pawn, make them retire, and he also opens his are at the same time; especially avoid playing your queen out, your game is tolerably well opened. A Avoid giving useless checks, and never give any unless to 4. Never crowd your game by having too many pieces together, If your game should be crowded, endeavour to free it by changes of pieces or pawns, and castle your king as soon as nvenient; afterwards bring out your pieces, and attack the alversary where weakest. When the adversary plays out his pieces before his pawns, Stack them as soon as you can with your pawns, by which you may crowd his game, and make him lose moves. 7. Never attack the adversary's king without a sufficient force; d if he attack yours, and you cannot retaliate, offer exchanges; Gud should he retire when you present a piece to exchange, he Gay lose a move. It may also be sometimes expedient to act in manner, in case of other attacks. & Play your men in guard of one another, so that if any be aken, the enemy may also be captured by that which guarded rs, and endeavour to have as many guards to your piece as adversary advances others upon; and, if possible, let them of less value than those he assails with. When you cannot well support your piece, see if by attacking one of his that is better, or as good, you may not thereby save yours. Never attack but when well prepared, for thereby you open your adversary's game, and prepare him to pour in a strong attack upon you, as soon as your weaker one is over. Never play till you have examined whether you are free danger by your adversary's last move; nor offer to attack All you have considered what harm he would be able to do you by his next moves, in consequence of yours. 11. When your attack is in a prosperous way, never be diverted *Hoyle is a very old author, and his works on chess and other res are well known; they are now found in all forms, abridged altered to suit modern players. | from it by taking any piece, or other seeming advantage, your adversary may purposely throw in your way, with the intent that, by your taking the bait, he might gain a move which would make your design miscarry. 12. When, in pursuing a well-laid attack, you find it necessary to force your adversary's defence, with the loss of some pieces, if, upon counting as many moves forward as you can, you find a prospect of success, sacrifice a piece or two to gain your end: these bold attempts make the finest games. adversary, by bringing forward a rook or a bishop, might check 13. Never let your queen stand so before the king as that your your king if she were not there; for you could hardly save her, or perhaps at best must sacrifice her for an inferior piece; as, for example, place the white king on 61, the queen on 53; the black be taken by the white queen, who in return would be taken by king on 4, and the rook on 16; which last, if moved to 13, must the black king, because the white queen could not otherwise be moved without putting the king on check to the black rook. 14. Let not your adversary's knight fork your king and queen, or king and rook, or queen and rook, or your two rooks, at the same time; for in the two first cases, the king being forced to go out of check, the queen or the rook must be lost; and in the two last, a rook must be lost, at best, for a worse piece. Place the white queen on 5, the rook on 7, and a black knight on 37. The latter piece, if moved to 22, will fork both the queen and rook, and consequently one of them must be lost for the knight. 15. Take care that no guarded pawn of your adversary's fork two of your pieces; knights and rooks are particularly liable to this mode of attack; also guard against either a check by discovery or a stale-mate. 16. When the kings have castled on different sides of the board, attack with the pawn you have on that side where the adversary to support them; and if the adversary's king have three pawns has castled, advancing the pieces, especially the queen and rooks, on a line in front, he should not stir them till forced to it. 17. Endeavour to have a move in ambuscade; that is, place the queen, bishop, or rook, behind a pawn or a piece in such a månner as that, upon playing that pawn or piece, you discover a check upon your adversary's king, and consequently may often get a piece or some other advantage by it. Suppose the black king on 6, a white bishop on 41, and a pawn on 34, by moving the pawn to 26, a check by the white bishop is discovered upon the black king. 18. Never guard an inferior piece or pawn with a better, if you can do it with a pawn, because that better piece may in such a case be, as it were, out of play. 19. A pawn pushed on and well supported often costs the adversary a piece; but one separated from the others is seldom of any value. And whenever you have gained a pawn or other advantage, and are not in danger of losing the move thereby, make as frequent exchanges as you can. 20. If each player have three pawns upon the board, and no piece, and you have a pawn on one side of the board, and the other two on the other side, and your adversary's three are opposite to your two, march with your king to take his pawns; and if he move to support them, go on to queen with your single pawn; and if he attempt to hinder it, take his pawns, and push yours to queen; that is, to move a pawn into the adversary's back row, in order to make a queen. 21. At the latter end of the game, each party having only three or four pawns on different sides of the board, the kings are to endeavour to gain the move, in order to win the game: for example, the white king placed on 54, and the black king on 37, white would gain the move by playing to 53, or black to 38, and in both cases the adverse king would be prevented from advancing. 22. When the adversary has no more than his king and one pawn on the board, and you a king only, you can never lose that game if you bring and keep your king opposite to your adversary's, when he is immediately either before or on one side of his pawn, and only one square between the kings. This must, then, be a stalemate or drawn game. 23. Never cover a check with a piece that a pawn pushed upon it may take, for fear of only getting that pawn for it; put a black rook on 7, and a pawn on 40; the white king on 63, and a knight on 61: the white king being on a check to the rook, if the check be covered by moving the white knight to 56, the black pawn could then be moved to 48, and take the knight. 24. Do not crowd your adversary's king with your pieces, lest you inadvertently give a stale-mate, which is a drawn game. 25. Do not be too much afraid of losing a rook for an inferior piece; though a rook is better than any other except the queen, yet it seldom comes into play, so as to operate, until the end of the game; and it is generally better to have a worse piece in play than a superior out. 26. When you have moved a piece which your adversary drives away with a pawn, that is a bad move, your enemy gaining a double advantage. At this nice game no move can be indifferent. Though the first move may not be much between equally good players, yet the loss of one or two more, after the first, makes the game almost irretrievable; but if you can recover the move or the attack (for they both go together), you are in a fair way of winning. 27. If ever your game be such that you have scarce any thing to play, you have either brought out your piece wrong, or, what is worse, not at all; for if you have brought them out right, you must have variety enough. |