CHESS.

THE present seems to be a very favorable time for the formation here of new modes of recreation and improvement, and for reviving those which have existed in the past, as well as for imparting a new impulse to those already in existence. Within the past year cricket and football have been rescued from their seeming oblivion, and have taken their places beside our staples, baseball and boating. In a past number of the Advocate a club for conversation in German was proposed, and one was almost immediately formed. Another Advocate presents a plea for more whist-playing, and portrays the many delights of the game.

And another thing which would repay revival here is the game of chess. There are many here who play the game more or less, and some who play it well. But it is most often the case that these persons do not know each other as chess-players; and even if they do, a few desultory games are usually the sole result. Chess clubs have existed here in the past; why should they not be revived now with our other associations? It would bring together those who already play chess, and would encourage others to study the game, which is by no means such a mountain of difficulty as some imagine.

A disquisition on the benefits derived from chess need not be entered into now; we probably all know them by heart. But there are many who have never played chess who think it the very essence of stupidity for two persons to sit, one on each side of a table, looking in silence at each other and the board, and finally making a move. But chess may be played for pleasure as well as for mental exercise. We sometimes "knock up," as well as play a ball match; and it is quite as good fun for most of us.

Harvard formerly had chess matches with Yale; and if we had these now, there would be an opportunity for some persons to engage in intercollegiate rivalry who have not the muscle and endurance for rowing on the crew, nor the skill and strength requisite for playing on the nine, nor the powers of "grind" which will perhaps be essential in the future to competition for intercollegiate scholarships.

HOC.