' Exemplary virtue is not, however, claimed for chess-players, as
in the former instance, for some are said to be continually 'swearing
false oaths, and making many vain excuses;' and again, 'You never see
a chess-player rich, who is not a sordid miser, nor hear a squabbling
that is not a question of the chess-board.' On the other hand, there
were 'rules of politeness in chess,' which it behoved all persons to
follow:--'He who is lowest in rank is to spread the board, and pour
out the men on it, and then wait patiently till his superior has made
his choice; then he who is inferior may take his own men, and place
all of them except the king, and when the senior in rank has placed
his own king, he may also place his opposite to it.' During the game,
'all foolish talk and ribaldry' is to be avoided, and onlookers are
'to keep silence, and to abstain from remarks and advice to the
players;' and an inferior, when playing with a superior, is enjoined
to exert his utmost skill, and not 'underplay himself that his senior
may win'--an observation which what is called the 'flunkey class'
might remember with advantage. And further, chess is not to be played
'when the mind is engaged with other objects, nor when the stomach is
full after a meal, neither when overcome by hunger, nor on the day of
taking a bath; nor, in general, while suffering under any pain, bodily
or mental.
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