I should add that he also said the book was useless to him as he could not read it.
His problem was not that the book, The Complete Chess Guide by FJ Lee and GHD Gossip, is in English, but that the notation is descriptive rather than algebraic.
 |
| Descriptive notation was all the rage in Britain, and in Spain for that matter, when this hardback was published by John Grant of Edinburgh in 1910 |
That is not a problem for me as I was brought up on descriptive, and I get a feeling of familiarity when I flick through the pages.
The book is divided into four parts: Chess Player's Mentor, Modern Chess Brilliancies, Guide To The Openings and Games At Odds.
No doubt it will mainly be of interest for its curiosity value.
For example, on page 10 in the first section, which is largely aimed at beginners, there is the DUMMY PAWN RULE, where it is stated:
When a Pawn has reached an eighth square, its player has the option of selecting a piece, whether such piece has been previously lost or not, whose names and powers it shall then assume, or of deciding that it shall remain a Pawn. This is the new "dummy" pawn rule laid down by the British Chess Association in case of a position where a player compelled to accept a piece would thereby lose the game; whereas, by refusing promotion to his Pawn, he could draw it. It is scarcely necessary to add that such positions, although possible, are exceedingly improbable, and do not occur in the course of a lifetime to the vast majority of Chess players. The "dummy" Pawn rule was stoutly opposed by the late Mr. Staunton as contrary to the spirit of the game and denounced by him as absurd. None the less, the law exists in this country, and must therefore be laid down amongst the other laws. In Italy, a plurality of Queens, denounced by Philidor, was not permissible.
For the life of me I cannot think of a situation in which promoting a pawn would lose a game, whereas leaving it as a pawn would mean a draw. Can anyone help?
Drawing by promoting to a pawn is due to stalemate. Let's say White it's White promoting. If they promote to a piece, then they're clearly not stalemated on their next move so long as Black doesn't take the piece. A pawn on the 8th rank wouldn't be able to move again, so they could be stalemated. There's an example here - https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/variants.html (search for "Dummy pawn").
ReplyDeleteI see your point but surely it would only be stalemate if Black cooperated? I still cannot conceive how not promoting turns a loss into a draw (without extreme cooperation).
ReplyDeleteIn the example position given, after promoting to any piece, Black has checkmate in 2 moves. After 'promoting' to a pawn, if Black plays the line that was mate with a piece it's now stalemate after 1 move. If Black plays a different move it's a clearly drawn opposite colour bishops ending.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
ReplyDeleteAnd please accept my apologies - I did not scroll down your original comment far enough to see the example.