Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1869 — The Game of Chess. [ARTICLE]

The Game of Chess.

Tub story iff the origin of the game of chess is something after this wise: An an cicnt ruler, wearied with the old, worn-otlt sports of-the period, offered a reward for the invention of a game which should *hmbine amusement and instruction. His Grand yizier thereupon, after long study, invented the game of chess, as being a ]»tstim6 - and a 9 teaching in epitome (heart of concentrating forces, attacking, defending, retreating, etc., as applied to military tootles. Tne King was so delighted with ihe game that he told the Vizier to name his own reward. The wise man replied tkat for hia reward he would- Ontyfesk foil a certain number of kernels of corn, oft the following plan;- Two kernels for thCftrst square on thoehess board, four kernels for the second square, eight for the third, and so'off itp to the sixty-fourtiu, square, the number of kernels for efich square being double that for the preceding one. The King, laughing, granted the modest request, but. upon computation, it was discovered that, not only was there not so much grain in tfnrkingdoin, but that the Wole world could hardly produce, in*lmlf a scoro of years, the grain necessary to make good the king’s promise. Allowing 1580 grains of corn to the ounce, ana 50 pounds to the bushel, tho amount required to fill the bill would lie 17,84i5,640,418,887 bushels, and some odd pounds over. The number of grains would be 9,565,810,662,84(5,881,936.