pieces and even his pawns with greater care. In this second stage
his strength will increase steadily, but, and this is the
drawback, only as far as his power of combination is concerned.
Unless a player be exceptionally gifted, he will only learn after
years of practice, if at all, what may be termed "positional
play." For that, it is necessary to know how to open a game so as
to lay the foundation for a favourable middle game, and how to
treat a middle game, without losing sight of the possibilities of
the end-game. It is hopeless to try to memorise the various
openings which analysis have proved correct, for this empirical
method fails as soon as the opponent swerves from the recognised
lines of play. One must learn to recognise the characteristics of
sound play. They apply to all and any position, and the
underlying principles must be propounded in a manner generally
applicable. And this brings me to the substance of my subject,
round which I will endeavour to build up a system compatible with
common sense and logic.

Before I proceed to develop my theme, I shall set down a number
of elementary rules which will facilitate the understanding of
such simple combinations as occur at every step in chess.

If we ignore the comparatively small proportion of games in which
the mating of the opponent's King is accomplished on a full
board, we can describe a normal, average game of chess in the
following way. Both sides will employ their available forces more
or less advantageously to execute attacking and defensive
manoeuvres which should gradually lead to exchanges. If one side
or the other emerges from the conflict with some material gain,
it will generally be possible to force a mate in the end-game,