Show YM V 1 4 I 1 it 5 I 1 chellis taught in schools of prepared by NaL national lonal soo society lety D C Q anu sor borvice vice ai C the chess town Is in the harz mountains near halberstadt alberstadt II only n step oft off your route from berlin to weimar says the german guide at dusk four hours after you leave leava leipzig you are deposited somewhat bewildered at a little brick station surrounded by yellow stubble fields and in a few old elms not a sign of a town can be seen wheres you yon ask the agent with some co concern cobern ns as the train disappears around a bend and ant leaion you in the shadows over yonder where you see the gray ray church spire among the green trees its only a b liala lit hour away by foot he replies with a quizzical smile with no taxis or other oilier means of transportation in slant you leave your bags at tile the station and start oft off toward the town own finally you land breathless in front of the village inn the garshof tenberg on oil the edge of a public square you are arc in beek the only place in ill all germany if not all europe where the royal art of chess Is taught year after year in the school adjoining your simple quarters in the inn Is the huge entertainment liall hall devoted to chess the best room in tile the house the walls are decorated with paintings and mottos on the tables are the chessboards chess boards ivory pieces and pawns and other precious sets hand carved and by local artists you aly may be shown one old fashioned chessboard not exhibited to everybody it illustrates the character of the village age and on it Is the inscription that it was given to beek by the Ul alector ector of brandenburg on slay ilay 13 IVA leek must be a quiet place in which to sleep after the seething capitals of europe you dare to lo hope as you retire between feather beds to roast in august F false alse hope across the cobblestone why way Is a tiny bakery shop with a bell on the door every time a child Is sent for a loaf of bread or a cookie tile the be bell tinkles merrily becks innumerable do dog population barks most of the night ramble through the town at 5 a in the wagons clatter over tile the cobblestones to the fields tor for becks 1400 Mba inhabitants bRints are not only chess minded but agriculturally minded as well esery driver entertains himself by cracking his whip over the brawny backs of his oxen the geese gapse be begin in to gabble gabble here and gabble gabble there and the hens begin to cluck cluck clack to tile the chicks and tile the cows low all over the town Is up and doing you breakfast on bread chocolate and a dash of golden marmalade then a guide takes you in tow tor for a sightseeing sight heeln seeing ramble of the he red tiled houses of the ined medieval levill i village remind you of the pictures picturesque que cottages of old england on some of them are are black and white targets and others suggest the influence of chess in their style of architecture tec ture on the fringe of the village are found men and women in a cloud of dust threshing rye from which the everyday bread of St Is made the fertile fields surrounding the v village il age have been swept clean aud and tile the crops of rye oats wheat barley potatoes and beets are being stored finally you arrive at school where your gulde guide introduces you and explains your mission to the master ue ile in turn introduces you to ills his flock dock of boys and girls ranging in age from tin to fourteen these children carry their chessboards chess boards to school as naturally as american school children carry their books this Is tile the only grade in which we teach the children how to play chess says tile the master here we teach the game ciery week during tile last three nion llis of the school year january february and march the children attend school however eiery month in the year from 7 to noon lit summer and 8 to noon and I 1 to 3 p in irv in winter in summer everybody works in the felds for becks beeks only business Is ug agriculture ri culture chess in the school room like the royal children odthe king loni lom of 0 cyrus who had to learn the laws ot of chess almost with their mothers milk so the children of learn early with their to master the ules iules and regulations of the came anie mow how many rooms have hare you hero here you ask of the master we live in 12 and all 12 are in th chool schoolhouse house he replies returning to the classroom you fin I 1 the jle children ready with 10 chess chessboards boards soon you yon are forgotten as the master explains the laws of the game and th functions of the chessmen the chil dren set up their black and white pieces in formal array on the check ered battlefields players with the white pieces make the first move announces announce the schoolmaster slowly and carefully the young enthusiasts make their moves and it Is with keen interest that you watch tin uniform courtesy that they display to their opponents their quiet an and d 13 undemonstrative a behavior in times of 0 defeat or victory the fast thinkers win in their games imes in five to ten moves while the slow slow thinkers look long at their men and move slowly the average player wins or loses his game in 40 K to 50 moves some are badly beaten and some soon resign and start all over again while the games arp being won or lost there is no talking or whispering Strobe cl Is the home ot of chess the master reminds you as he sends the children back to their lessons dont fall to see the historical chess tower or ensile castle where the chess champions of the town held their first contests a halt half century before william the conqueror landed in england regretfully you leave the kindly schoolmaster and proceed to the tower of class in the heart of the village you see the balcony says the gulde guide when lie he succeeds in ca jolln the key from the keeper and opens tho the heavy door the tower since the year 1011 lias has entertained two groups of players one on the balcony and one on the ground floor story of the chess tower that tills this tower should have played a part in the legendary origin 0 of the royal game in Is most natural when henry the second of germany decreed that the Wendl sh count of Gungel ln be delivered to the bishop of to be kept in solitary confinement the prisoner was straightway whisked oft off to this stronghold the royal captive soon learned how to beguile the lonely hours by playing chess a game in which lie he was passionately siona slona tely interested lie ile chalked out a chessboard on ills his dungeon floor and carved two sets of chessmen out of wood then being doomed to play alone this ingenious prisoner made his right hand the opponent of his left and the game went on in due time the Strobe cb peasants who took turns in guarding the door of his big cell became interested in the counts silent maneuvers on the checkered floor and were initiated into the mysteries of the game they in turn taught the rules to their waves wives an and children this legend of the orl orlin origin in of chess in was perpetuated perpetuate on the towns choss inspired paper money even rambling gambling on chiess chess once knocked at the X door or of but only for a brief interval after which the game was never again played for money the story goes that one day a student of human nature dalure as well as a master at chess gave at a lesson which it never forgot ile he played for the high stakes which the villagers villagers proposed and won from froin their champion j the villagers were willing to pay for their losses hut but they were most unwilling to grant schmIdt a certificate of defeat take the gold they implored but leave us its our glory good people of returned the stranger the money I 1 have won from you I 1 give to your poor and to your school but on one condition you must swear you never play for money the noble science ot of chess carries its interest in itself a single game won Is a treasure of satisfaction I 1 the villagers took the oath gave his certificate buted his money as directed and so far as records show dever again did did they play for aught but honor yearly tournament held i rn in this atmosphere atao sphere of legendary chess enjoys a quiet bucolic life once a year a chess tournament la Is held in the village school usually with as contestants taking active part in the tourney the victors carry oft off the trophies trop liles which are always new chess boards and ore are escorted home in honor then the village Is alive gay banners and bad badges bades es and living chessmen I 1 lings langs find and queens kens bishops and knights and pawns parade the streets visitors interested in chess nock flock into from many points while a village merchant wa waits its f for or customers he entertains himself with tile lie exciting problems of or chess and when business knocks lie he lays his chessboard aside only while the purchaser Is served so his father has done before him so his son will do after ho he la Is gone |