No. 640

8 February 2025

Feb 07, 2025

Editorial

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the February 2025 ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. More tournament reports will always be welcome.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Notices

ACF Medal Winners

2025 Koshnitsky Medal: Patrick Byrom
2025 Purdy Medal: Jack Rodgers
2024 Steiner Medal: James Morris
2024 Arlauskas Medal: Reyaansh Chakrabarty

2024 Viner Medal: Julia Ryjanova

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh, at selections_director@auschess.org.au.

ACF POSITIONS

The following ACF Council-appointed positions are vacant. Councillors and others wishing to inquire or register interest in appointment to one or more of these positions are welcome to email executive@auschess.org.au or phone 0409 525 963 at any time.

Advertising Manager. It has been suggested that, ideally, the appointee would be a person with an interest in coordinating advertising in both the ACF newsletter and website, and at or in connection with ACF championships, the Grand Prix and other major ACF events.

Assistant Secretary. This position and the currently filled position of Assistant Treasurer were created to provide opportunities for younger administrators to experience the joys of chess administration at national level.

Archives Director. Generally, the Archives Director would be expected to gather, maintain and build a repository of records and documents that might be of historical interest or value, or which might help in confirming the organisation’s status or credibility for a variety of purposes.

Trophies Officer. Responsibilities relating to trophies and other mementos to be presented in connection with ACF Championships and other events.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 September 2025 and 28 February 2026 is 30 June 2025. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

2025 ACT Lightning Championship

CM Hui Li is the 2025 ACT Lightning Champion, winning the 41 player event with a score of 7.5/9. A final round draw against closest rival FM Michael Kethro secured him the title, and left Kethro tied for 2nd on 7/9, alongside Khoi Hoang.

Upcoming Events

2025 Doeberl Cup

17-21 April, Canberra Southern Cross Club, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden ACT 2606 Information here

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic.

More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

2025 NSWCA Australia Day Weekender

=1st George Xie, =2nd Oliver Cheok, Tri Kien Le, Tomek Rej, Jeffrey Xu
Under 2000 – 1800: 1st Rupert Coy, =2nd Heath Brown, Ertan John Huseyin, Ashvini Pavalachandran, Anand Munkhbat and Edward Rust
Under 1800 – 1600: =1st Alexander Cantafio, Jonluke Corona, Taifeng (Matt) Lyu and Dominic Ou
Under 1600 - 1400: 1st Yuan Huang, =2nd Callan Arav and Kamal Jain
Under 1400: 1st Harvey Kuncoro, =2nd Marcus Ni, Jesus Jr Sermonia and Gabriel Pires da Silva

Upcoming Events

2025 Summer Gosford Blitz Open Tournament

Saturday 22nd of February 2025. Registration Opens - 9:30 am. Central Coast Leagues Club, Dane Drive Gosford. Parkview Room.

Enquiries: secretary.gosfordchess@gmail.com Payment: https://www.trybooking.com/CYAZE

2025 Sydney International Open

23-27 April, Novotel West HQ, Conference Rooms 5 & 6, see NSWCA site

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Upcoming Events

2025 Queensland Reserves and Tin Cup

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February, Nerang Bicentennial Community Centre Auditorium. 833 Southport Nerang Road, Nerang.

For players rated under 1700 ACF. More information here

2025 Gold Cup FIDE Open

Starts: March 14, 2025, Ends: March 16, 2025. Location: Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie), Oaklands Parade, East Brisbane QLD 4169, Australia.

Details here

Churchie International

1st to 5th of May 2025 at Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie), Oaklands Parade, East Brisbane QLD 4169, Australia.

Premier Division (1800 FIDE or ACF and above) - a 9-round event from Thursday night on the 1st of May to the 5th of May.
Major Division (Under 2000 FIDE or ACF) - a 7-round event from the Friday night on the 2nd of May to the 5th of May.

More information

2025 Wendy Terry Memorial

9-10 August, Redcliffe Chess Club. Enquiries: Text / phone / email Gail YOUNG on 0411 704 815 / qwclqwcl@gmail.com

2025 Christmas Special

13-14 December., Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell. Enquiries: Text / phone / email Gail YOUNG on 0411 704 815 / qwclqwcl@gmail.com

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

Pennant Teams Competition 2024 Results
A Grade: 1st UniChesslife, 32, 2nd Unicorns A, 27.5, 3rd West Torrens Mavericks, 25.5
10 teams
B Grade: 1st Unicorns B, 33.5, 2nd Unimash, 28.5, 3rd Unibeans, 27, 10 teams

Pennant Teams Allegro 2024 Results
1st West Torrens Mavericks, 11, 2nd Unicorns, 10, 3rd West Torrens Synergy, 8.5
10 teams

Lidums Australian Allegro Championship 2024 Results
1st Kyle Leaver, 6.5/7, 2nd Jamie Charters, 6, =3rd CM Li Hui (Macau), IM Mark Chapman, Song Yang & George Bartley, 5.5, 100 players

December Classical Results 2024
1st CM Henry Slater-Jones (Qld), 4.5/5, =2nd FM Bill Jordan, Ethan Retnaraja, Jamie Charters & James Boyd-Norman, 4, 38 players

Australia Day Weekend Blitz 2025

1st Place: James Boyd-Norman, 2nd Place: Aiden Brady, 3rd Place: Edgar Mdinaradze & Andrew Phillips
Best U1500: Ruhan Bulchandani, =Best Junior: Hariharan Ayyar & Hanyue Li
=Best Unrated: Vir Nagpal & Reza Tahmasebi Jaroubi

Australia Day Weekender 2025

1st Place: James Boyd-Norman, 2nd Place: Jamie Charters & Ethan Retnaraja
=Best Female: Athena-Malar Retnaraja & Tamsin Savery
Best U1500: Peter Dreyer, =Best U1100: Oliver Cirami & Nicky Wang
=Best Junior/U1500: Ruhan Bulchandani & Jacob Rowberry
Best Junior U12: Xuan Phuc Lam Nguyen, Best Unrated: Amos Pearce

Upcoming Events

Thursday 13 Feb, 7pm, February Rapid
Thursday 20 Feb, 7pm, February Allegro #2

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Recent Events

2025 Australia Day Weekender

Classical: 1st = Carl Gorka, Zach L 4.im 5/6, 3rd = Adrian Flitney, John Patrick 4.5, 5th Fabian Ivancic 4. Best Junior - Eric Foster 3.5. 2nd Best Junior = Yusuf Khodjaev, Jethro Sih, 3. U1650 - Tan Than Nguyen. U1400 - Hayden Shaw. Best Female = Sarah Anton, Rosalia Miller

Blitz: 1st Fabian Ivancic 8/9, 2nd = Michael D’Arcy, Addison Djatschenko / Mary Khodjaeva, 6.

Full results here

Upcoming Events

Tasmanian Championships

1.30pm Saturday March 8, to 6pm Monday March 10. Deloraine High School, 24 Lansdowne Place, Deloraine, TAS, 7304. Information here

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

MCC Australia Day Weekender

=1st Open - Colin Savige, Abraham Pitono (6/7)
=3rd Open/1st Rating Group 1 - Gary Bekker (5.5/7)
=3rd Open/1st Rating Group 2 - Lok Lan Yu (5.5/7)
=5th Open - Cunmeng Wang, Samuel Shepherd (5/7)
=5th Open/=2nd Rating Group 1 - Maanas Neela, Rowan Ennis-King, Lucas Zhao (5/7)
=5th Open/=2nd Rating Group 2 - John-Paul Cauchi, Matthew Zheng (5/7)
=1st Rating Group 3 - Tanya Kolak, Jonty Oud, Todd Fisher (3.5/7)
1st Unrated Group - Vince Quach (3.5/7)

2025 Australian Open Championships

By Shaun Press (chessexpress)

The 2025 Australian Open has finished in a tie for 1st between IM Mihalo Radovanovic (SRB) and CM Tri Kien Le (VIE). They finished on 7.5/9 after recording wins in the final round. Le went through the event undefeated (6 wins, 3 draws), while Radovanovic lost to Le (in round 8), but won 7 games (also drawing with IM James Morris). Ryder Testolin finished in outright 3rd on 7 points, after beating Morris in a wild final round game. The loss by Morris pushed him back to a tie for 4th, alongside GM Daryl Johansen, Harvey Zhu, Sam Asaka, and FM Daniel Chan (SGP)

The title of Australian Women's Champion was awarded to WIM heather Richards, who finished on 5.5. A total of 91 players took part in the Open, while a further 129 players played in the 7-round Minor. Daniil Yelkhovsky won this event on 6.5, ahead of a group of four players on 6.

Game between the co-winners (from reporting by Paul Power)

In round 8, Vietnam Candidate Master Kien Tri Le, 19, challenged tournament leader Serbia's Radovanovic, 23, after holding Morris to a draw in the previous round. After Le’s Sicilian Najdorf Defence reached 11…Qc7

as in Alexey Shirov vs Leinier Dominguez Perez, Wijk aan Zee, 2010, where Shirov continued 12. Kb1; Radovanovic 12. g4. The contention between the two sides revolves around the pawn storm attacks against the opposite Kings. Black continued with 12... b5 13. a3 Rb8 14. Ba2 Bd7 15. Kb1 (the pre-emptive 15. b4 is better.) 15... a5

There continued 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 Na4 18. Nxa4 bxa4

a critical position. Consistent with the theme would be 19. h4. But, instead, White played 19. c3. Le spent 12 minutes on the next winning move 19... Nxe4

There followed 20. fxe4 Bxg5 21. Qxg5 (Loses but the alternatives, Queen moves, lose more slowly.) Then 21... Qxc3 22. b5 Bxb5 23. Nxb5

23…h6 0-1

2025 MCC Australia Day Weekender

Upcoming Events

Begonia Open Chess Tournament

In Ballarat over the Victorian Labour Day long weekend from 8^th to 10^th March 2025. Details at the tournament website

Melbourne International Open

7-14 April 2025, at the Melbourne Chess Club. Information here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Recent Events

2025 Australian Junior Chess Championships

Under 18 Open Chess Champion: FM Rui Gen Teh (WA)
Under 18 Girls' Chess Champion: Athena-Malar Retnaraja (SA)
Under 16 Open Chess Champion: Lucas Ni (NSW)
Under 16 Girls' Chess Champion: Joy Liu (NSW)
Under 14 Open Chess Champion: Daniel Wang (NSW)
Under 14 Girls' Chess Champion: Deethya Sai Katakam (VIC)
Under 12 Open Chess Champion: Zeqi Xing (QLD)
Under 12 Girls' Chess Champion: Cindy Chen (SA)
Under 10 Open Chess Champion: Terrence Li (QLD)
Under 10 Girls' Chess Champion: Adelyn Wang (VIC)
Under 8 Open Chess Champion: Nicholas Yuileng Chen (QLD)
Under 8 Girls' Chess Champion: Eleanor Wu (QLD)

Full details and comprehensive results of this event are available on the official website:2025 Australian Junior Chess Championships

Upcoming Events

2025 WA Allegro Chess Championship

Sunday the 16th of February at North Woodvale Primary School.

Full details are available from the information sheet: 2025 WA Allegro Championship Information Sheet

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

2-12 January NZ Chess Congress 2025

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

NZ Championship
1st equal: GM Gabor Nagy.
1st equal: FM Felix Xie (NZ Champion).

NZ Major Open
1st equal: Alexander Hanrui Pan (Joint NZ Major Open Champion).
1st equal: Ceferino Isaac (Joint NZ Major Open Champion).

NZ Junior and Age Group Championships
1st: Kayden Loke (NZ Junior Champion).

NZ Junior Under 1000 Championships
1st: Junhao Wang.

NZ Blitz Championship
1st: GM Gabor Nagy.
2nd equal: IM Sravan Renjith (Joint NZ Blitz Champion).
2nd equal: FM Yining Chen
2nd equal: FM Felix Xie (Joint NZ Blitz Champion).

NZ Rapid Championship
1st: GM Gabor Nagy.
2nd equal: FM Alphaeus Wei Ern Ang (Joint NZ Rapid Champion)
2nd equal: IM Russell J Dive (Joint NZ Rapid Champion)
2nd equal: Daqi Mao (Joint NZ Rapid Champion)
2nd equal: IM Herman C Van Riemsdijk

13-19 January Bob Wade Masters 2025

2025 Bob Wade Memorial Masters

By Shaun Press

The 2025 Bob Wade Memorial Masters, and associated events, was organised by the New Zealand Chess Federation, with the assistance of the Middle Game Chess Foundation, and the FIDE Development Commission. There were three 10-player round-robins – the Bob Wade Memorial, the Hilton Bennett Memorial and the Middle Game Challengers – held from the 13^th to the 19^th of January. The venue was the Waipuna Resort in Auckland, which had just hosted the 2025 New Zealand Championship earlier in the month.

The Bob Wade Memorial brought together a strong field, consisting GM Gabor Nagy (HUN), GM Zong Yuan Zhao (AUS), GM Raymond Song (TPE), IM Herman Van Riemsdijk (BRA), IM Sravan Renjith (NZL), IM Tom Middelburg (NZL) plus four young challengers, FM Felix Xie (NZL), FM Daniel Gong (NZL), FM Nic Croad (NZL) and FM Yining Chen (CHN). While the organisers hoped to see a local player score an IM norm, providing a set of tough opponents for their future stars was also important.

In the end the GM contingent occupied the top three places in the tournament. They drew against each other, and set about scoring points against the rest of the field. One particular example was the win by GM Zong Yaun Zhao against IM Tom Middelburg in round 6. After a seemingly obvious recapture (12 … cxd5) Black is almost positionally lost, with Zhao finishing the game with GM efficiency.

Zhao,Zong-Yuan (2458) - Middelburg,Tom (2348) [B12]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.0-0 Nbc6 9.Bb5 a6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.c4 Qd7 12.cxd5

12 … cxd5 [12...Nxd5 was better] 13.Nc3 Rc8 14.Qe2 Qb7 15.Rac1 Bg6 16.Na4 Nc6 17.Nb6 Nxd4 18.Rxc8+ Qxc8 19.Bxd4 Qb7 20.Rc1 Be7 21.Rc8+ Bd8 22.Bc5 h5 23.Qd2 Rg8 24.b4 f6 25.Nc4 Qxc8 26.Nd6+ Kd7 27.Nxc8 Kxc8 28.Qe2 Kb7 29.b5 a5 30.exf6 Bf7 31.fxg7 Rxg7 32.Qe5 1-0

It wasn’t all one way traffic though, with FM Nic Croad turning the tables in a losing position against GM Raymond Song to record a win.

Croad,Nicolas (2175) - Song,Raymond (2505) [D31]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bd6 7.Bg3 Ne7 8.Bd3 Bf5 9.Nf3 0-0 10.Qc2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Re8 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.0-0 Nd7 14.e4 Bxg3 15.fxg3 h6 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Nh4 Qc4 19.Qf3 Nf6 20.Nf5 Re6 21.b3 Qc2 22.Rf2 Qc7 23.Qd3 Rc8 24.Rdf1 Ne4 25.Rf4 Qc2 26.Qf3 Rc7 27.Rg4 g5 28.h4

28 … Qd2? [28...Nd2 29.Nxh6+ Rxh6 30.Rxg5+ Rg6 31.Qxd5 Nxf1 32.Rxg6+ Qxg6 33.Qd8+ Kg7 34.Qxc7 Nxg3 wins for Black] 29.Kh2 Qc3?? 30.Qf4 White is now winning 30...Kf8 31.hxg5 hxg5 32.Rxg5 Qd2 33.Rh5 1-0

Of the non-GMs, IM Sravan Renjith performed the best, scoring 6/9 and tying for third. The two young New Zealand FMs Felix Xie and Daniel Gong finished on 4.5/9, alongside IM Tom Middelburg. Bob Wade Memorial Masters Results: =1st GM Gabor Nagy, GM Zong Yuan Zhao 6.5/9, =3rd GM Raymond Song, IM Sravan Renjith 6/9

The Hilton Bennett Memorial was held to recognise the enormous contributions made to New Zealand Chess by the late Hilton Bennett. The field mainly consisted of senior players, including many who were personal friends of Hilton. The addition of two young New Zealand players (Oscar Qin and Aaron Wang) served to keep the rest of the field on their toes, resulting in a challenging event for all.

Oscar Qin set the pace early, beating FM Shaun Press (PNG) in the first round. After a 4^th round draw with top seed John Stark (NZL) he finished with 4.5/5 to end up on 7.5/9. He was joined on this score by John Stark, who finished the event with three straight wins. Aaron Wang finished in outright 3^rd on 5.5/9, losing only to Stark.

Metge,J. Nigel (1885) - Qin,Oscar Shu Xuan (1907) [E73]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 Qe8 9.h4 h5 10.f3 Bd7 11.Nh3 Nc5 12.Nf2 a5 13.g4 Nh7 14.gxh5 gxh5 15.Bh6 f6 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Rg1+ Kh8 18.Qh6 Qf7 19.0-0-0 Rg8 20.f4 Rxg1 21.Rxg1 Rg8 22.Rxg8+ Qxg8 23.Bxh5 Qg1+ 24.Ncd1 Qg3 25.fxe5 fxe5 26.Bg6 Qf4+ 27.Qxf4 exf4 28.Kd2 Nf6 29.Ke2 Kg7 30.h5 Kh6 31.Kf3 Kg5 32.Nc3 Bg4+ 33.Nxg4 Nxg4 34.Nb5 Ne5+ 35.Kg2 f3+ 36.Kf1 [36.Kg3 holds] Ncd3 37.Nd4 f2 38.b3 Ng4 39.Nf3+ Kf4 40.Nd2 Ke3 41.Bf5 Nh2+ 42.Kg2 Kxd2 0-1

The Middle Game Challengers was the third event, designed for young New Zealand players, plus a few overseas visitors. CM Zachary Yu dominated the event, scoring an unbeaten 8/9. Two points back in 2^nd place was William Liu, while Yanbo Jin was 3^rd on 5.5. A special mention should be made of veteran player Nigel Cooper, who came is as a last-minute replacement, and faced up to the challenge of playing 9 games against promising youngsters with a mix of cheerfulness and determination.

The events were well organised by the Middle Game Chess Foundation and well run by the arbiting team of IA Ying Wang and FA Richard Christie. The Middle Game Foundation is looking to run this event annually, bringing overseas GMs and IMs to New Zealand, to help improve the standard of their local (and promising) players.

Upcoming Events

22 February 19th Bay of Plenty Rapid 2025
8-9, 22-23 March Auckland Double Weekends March 2025
15 March Latvian Rapid 2025
25-27 April Auckland Anzac Weekender 2025
10-11, 17-18 May Auckland Double Weekends May 2025

International News

Recent Events

Oceania Zone 3.6 Men's and Women's Zonals

By Shaun Press (chessexpress)

GM Temur Kuybokarov has won the 2025 Oceania Zonal, with a final score of 8/9. After dropping his 4th round game, he finished with 5 straight wins, beating FM Chris Wallis in the final round. Tied for 2nd were IM Rishi Sardana, IM James Morris and FM Stirling Bayaca on 7/9. Both Sardana and Morris went through the event undefeated, as did IM Gary Lane (6/9), who curiously drew every game he started with the white pieces.

WGM Julia Ryjanova was the clear winner of the Women's Zonal, scoring 8.5/9. She only conceded a draw to WFM Shiyuan Shen, who finished 2nd on 8/9. In third place was WCM Chao Xin Cheng who scored 7/9.

Both events saw a number of players earn direct titles. A few have already earned their FM/WFM/CM/WCM titles (based on career ratings), while for others, the titles will be awarded based on achieving the minimum required rating.

Full results and links to tournament games can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/2025oceaniazonals/home

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

50 Mistakes You Should Know

by Jesus De La Villa, published by New In Chess, Softback, 352 pages.

An insightful look at typical mistakes and how to prevent them happening in your games. The title sounds catchy which should be no surprise as the author wrote the bestselling tome 100 Endgames You Must Know, so you can’t blame him for carrying on the marketing strategy.

There are 12 chapters with discussions on typical middlegame themes such as ‘The Calculation of variations’, ‘Attacking the king’, Basic tactics and ‘Paying Attention to the opponent’. There is always some chat about the theme, a host of interesting illustrative games and finally a stack of puzzles to remind you of the lessons learned.

I think the 50 errors are presented in a logical way, so a keen reader will be able to eliminate at least a few in their online or over the board games quite quickly. Of course, others might be harder to eradicate but it does no harm having lots of examples of how players have gone wrong, to remind yourself how to instinctively avoid such positions in the future. A great way to boost your chess rating.

Looking Back

100 Years Ago - The Brisbane Telegraph 16 February 1925

PUZZLES - widespread popularity. (extract)

Worry is said to be the universal and ubiquitous disease of modern life, and we are all seeking a specific antidote. That is why the puzzle – some problem capable of infinite variety which has no scientific significance to worry over - has such a devastating popularity. It must be difficult enough to be mind-engrossing, be capable of the "neat solution"' that gives a glisk* of artistic pleasure, and should, if possible, arouse the competitive instinct in a mild. way. Whether or not such momentous trifles as chess problems come into the category is a matter of controversy (observes the London ‘Morning Post’). In the mediaeval castles, when the dark and dreary winter put an end to the principal pursuits of the nobly born, war and the chase, and both lords and ladies suffered from a chronic, ingrowing boredom, unknown in these latter days of many diversions, the chess problem was the most popular cure for worry in its blackest form, called by mediaeval theologians accidie or the "roten sinne," and by Mr. Rudyard Kipling "the cammelious hump." It has a wide vogue to-day and those whose leisure is devoted to its composition, according to definite artistic rules, will indignantly deny that it is a mere puzzle. To them it is a tiny Sardouesque drama of chessboard warfare, and as much a work of art in its mode as a cameo or piece of Limoges enamel.

*Scottish – glimpse, moment