Page:The chess-player's text book.djvu/22
4th. The King must not pass over or on to any square attacked by an enemy ; and
5th. There must be no Piece either of his own or his adversary's between the King and the Rook he Castles with.[1]
CHECK AND CHECK-MATE.
When the King is attacked by any Piece or Pawn he is said to be in check; for it being a fundamental principle of the game that the King can never be taken, whenever any direct attack is made upon him, the player must be warned of his danger by the cry of check, whereupon he is compelled to do one of three things : viz., to remove his King out of check or parry the danger by interposing a man between his King and the attacking Piece, or capture the checking man.
When he can do none of these three things he is Check-mated, and the game is won by the other side.
If the King is directly attacked by the enemy, it is called a simple check ; when the Piece or Pawn moved does not itself attack the King, but unmasks another which does, it is called a discovered check; and when both the Piece played, and the one unmasked, attack the King, they are said to give double check. There is also a fourth description of check, known as perpetual check, which arises when a player has two or more squares on which he can check the adverse King, and his opponent can only parry one check by affording an opportunity of another. If the checking player choose to persist in a repetition of those particular checks, the game must be abandoned as drawn.
STALE-MATE.
When a player has his King so circumstanced that, not being at the moment in check, he cannot move him without
- ↑ The act of Castling, like the ordinary moves, is best learned from the practical exemplification of a player; but as young amateurs are frequently at issue as to the conditions, we have thought it better to describe this movement fully, as well as by diagrams.