orsun who lived only two generations after the Butlenan Jihad Partial descriptions of the game exist from the third millennium and a picto disc from the eighth millennium shows a game in progress in the background of a diplomatic conference, perhaps a Landsraad meeting with Emperor Istaivan II (r 7711-7746), an aficionado of the game and no mean player himself, according to contemporaries Rodge of Narbog was the first player to gam wide recognition as a great master of the game His system of play was copied by others in the period from c 9100 to c 9700, and Nola \ard suggests in his early manual Cheops Praxis (9121 Antioch PuulvorPei), that Rodge was the first to use an undercheck The game, "Little Chess," employing only a 64-squared monoplane, has flourished as a game for children, although ddulls occasion ally engage in it as well It is now believed that Cheops developed from Little Chess Haral Khal s thesis that Little Chess is merely a simplification of Cheops is generally discredited The name "Cheops ' is not that of the inventor of the game as is sometimes supposed Molot rai Karen has suggested in his History of Architectural Form (Bolchef Collegium Tarno) that Cheops was a prehistoric builder of monumental pyramids of unknown function, although his natne planet has not, at this writing, been determined Stekko is remembered as the winner of the first tourney of consequence In 9340 he defeated all competitors and remained the greatest player until his death He is also noted as the first of many fine players who were slaves The hobby of many wealthy players has been to acquire skilled slave players and organize them into teams to compete with other such teams Modern play dates from the career of CHEOPS L60 CHOAM Engar 0 Mahl (9696 9770) In his day, rever sionary attacks, never previously employed, became a standard part of the game Thangula-tion and eclipses date from his period as well In fact, the semicheck is the only major development since his time For die past century or a little more controversy has raged over the relative merits of the old-fashioned "formauonal" play and the later "linear" play Many masters try to effect a compromise between the two, producing what diey toll the eclectic" style The real test of any style lies in the play, however, and so far linear play wins most master tourneys, while informal or casual play is usually formational Several types of erroneous play are usually found among beginners The commonest is undoubtedly excessive verticality Morogan frequently entertained onlookers with amusing demonstrations of tins weakness, and some of his traps are memorized early by every learner of the g&me Other common errors are underpostmg the Queen, premature eclipse, and allowing the opponent to control two centra-diagonals Even the great Garan Akbar committed a premature eclipse and thereby lost a Great Tourney when he was at the height of bis skill An extensive literature of the game exists, beginning with die earliest known study, Bsh Samierz Kroyd's Playing Pyramid Chess (8993 Antioch Puulvor Pei) There are numerous manuals of instruction, die most popular being Diven's Cheops How to (Dendros Cheopsium), and many intensive examinations of selected features of the game have also been published Since the rise of the Great Tourneys there has been a flood of published records of games of the master players Conventtoas for friendly games may differ from world to world, such as whether the Rook recoil counts as one move or two, but official Masters play is governed by the Interplanetary Cheops Code Its present form dates from 8342, when pawn captives en gravissant were allowed Players who have won at kast one tourney are termed1 "master players," and are enrolled as members of the Cheops Guild which conducts all tourneys and ranks the masters Areal, regional, and zonal tourneys are held fairly frequently but the Great Tourneys are held only once in every ten standard years The Great Tourneys are limited to the highest ranking Worldmasters, and all qualified players must compete Only twice in history has a qualified player failed to compete in a Great Tourney, in each case he was promptly re duced in relative standing while the best player who had failed to qualify was promot ed to take his place The winner of the Great Tourney is, Shdhmasier until the title is lost in a match or in the next Great Tourney Cheops is a game that appeals to all Every habitat has produced master players of high caliber Slaves have attained the Galactic Championship Women have likewise held the Championship, even though male mas ters outnumber female masters by about five to one Ot the Shahmistresses, the most memorable is Victoria Lad} Wong who successfully defended her tide for eleven years before losing to the incomparable York Diven in 10141 Among recent Shahmasters, some have died undefeated like Garan Akbar (10002 10031) and Hnrat Torun (10110-10123) One was stripped of his title for refusal to compete in a Great Tourney (Ah Wolewan, 10086 10090) York Diven possi bly the greatest player of all time, held the title from 10141 until 10173, when he retired and gave up the game complaining of a lack of adequate competition, he subsequently devoted his life to the contemplation of the essence of the game His conclusions al though never published, seem to indicate that the game has much in common with the three-body problem Interested readers are referred to his Twelve Steps to the Apex (Grumman Whitehead) or his Cheops Mas tery (Grumman Whitehead the edition with annotations of the games by Boreet Ryauva-wish is especially helpful) CAP CHOAM.