The Plattsmouth Journal Plattsmouth, Nebraska Thursday, February 02, 1956
Chess In The Cards 02 Feb 1956, Thu The Plattsmouth Journal (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) Newspapers.com
Chess In The Cards
When Mrs. H.G. Frey makes a move, someone far away is likely to furrow his brow, little drops of perspiration may break on his forehead and sometimes he “resigns”. He may look at the postcard again and frown some more. He is playing chess by postcard with a whiz-at-it from Plattsmouth — Mrs. Frey. And she wins much of the time. Mrs. Frey learned the game from her husband, H.G. Frey, retired Burlington agent at Plattsmouth, and now he plays her infrequently because she beats him handily.
She became interested in chess 15 years ago. She has studied books of great masters: Marshall, Horowitz, Reinfeld, Chernev, Fine, Reshevsky, Alekhine and others.
At present Mrs. Frey belongs to two clubs. One of these is Chess Review Club and the other Correspondence Chess League of America, having a membership of 4200 combined. She has 35 to 40 games now in progress, as most of the time, with opponents from coast to coast, including Canada. These rounds will be ending soon.
The 1956 CCLA Women's U.S. Championship Tournament will begin March 1 with two rounds of play. Plays are carried on by postcard correspondence. Mrs. Frey has entered.
One of her opponents was E.D. Mills, former resident of Ashland, now of Berkeley, California. An opponent in Peoria, Ill., resigned recently saying on the postcard “I resign, much luck to you, you are too good for me.”,, but a Major in the Air Force is still hanging on in Ohio, inquiring of Mrs. Frey if she has won many times.
To “resign” means to concede the game.
Modern chess is the lineal descendant of a game played in India in the sixth century. The trail of chess leads back to about A.D. 500. Historical research has not penetrated further. All that is known is that during the sixth century, inhabitants of India were playing chaturanga, a game substantially like modern chess.
Our present chess era is the last of a chain of five periods of chess history. These five epochs, with approximate dates, are: The Sanskrit, in India to A.D. 700; The Persian, A.D. 700 to 800; The Arabic, A.D. 800 to 1000; The Miedieval, A.D. 1000 to 1600; The Modern, since about 1600. Some historians believe that China was its original home, and at least one gives the credit to Persia.
Chess is no longer thought of as a game for old men with long white beards. It is rapidly gaining its way to the youth of America. Bobby Fischer, 12, the chess prodigy of the Manhattan Chess Club, played simultaneously 12 members of the Youth Group (age 7 to 12) of the Yorktown Chess Club. Bobby won all games, eliminating the first opponent in 50 minutes and the last one in two hours and twenty minutes.
And chess isn't checkers, only the checked board bears any resemblance.
