The fifteenth annual intercollegiate chess tournament between Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia will begin this afternoon and continue tomorrow and Saturday at the West Side Republican Club, Broadway and 83d street, New York City. On the first two days the play will be from 1 to 6 o'clock and from 8 to 10 o'clock. On Saturday, play will be from 12 to 5 o'clock and from 6 to 8 o'clock. All games unfinished within the time limit will be adjudicated. A. W. Fox, of the Manhattan Chess Club, will direct the play.

The University team is composed of Q. A. Brackett '07, G. T. McClure '07, E. H. Gruening 1G., K. S. Johnson '07, and F. D. Utley '08, substitute. Gruening and Johnson play their first intercollegiate games today. Columbia appears to have the strongest team in the league this year. J. R. Capablanca, Columbia's first board man, is in a class by himself among collegiate chess players, and should win easily all three matches. Of the previous tournaments, Harvard has won eight, Columbia four and Yale one.

The order of the other teams is as follows:

Yale--E. B. Burgess, C. P. Kimball, F. T. Kelsey, C. H. Thurston; substitute, G. H. Rosenn.

Princeton--M. McDermott, L. W. Stephens, W. M. Ward, C. Williams; substitute, H. C. Richard.

Columbia--H. Blumberg, O. Brown, J. R. Capablanca, L. J. Wolff; substitute, H. C. Ramsdell.

The Schedule of Play.

The schedule of playing follows:

December 20--Harvard vs. Columbia, Yale vs. Princeton.

December 21--Harvard vs. Princeton, Yale vs. Columbia.

December 22--Harvard vs. Yale, Columbia vs. Princeton.

The drawings are as follows:

Thursday--Brackett, H. vs. Capablanca, C.; McClure, H. vs. Wolff, C.; Gruening, H. vs. Blumberg, C.; Johnson, H. vs. Brown, C.; Burgess, Y. vs. Ward, P.; Kimball, Y. vs. Stephens, P.; Kelsey, Y. vs. Williams, P.; Thurston, Y. vs. McDermott, P.

Friday--Brackett, H. vs. Ward, P.; McClure, H. vs. Stephens, P.; Gruening, H. vs. Williams, P.; Johnson, H. vs. McDermott, P.; Burgess, Y. vs. Capablanca, C.; Kimball, Y. vs. Wolff, C.; Kelsey, Y. vs. Blumberg, C.; Thurston, Y. vs. Brown C.

Saturday--Brackett, H. vs., Burgess Y.; McClure, H. vs. Kimball, Y.; Gruening, H. vs. Kelsey, Y.; Johnson, H. vs. Thurston, Y.; Capablanca, C. vs. Ward, P.; Wolff, C. vs. Stephens, P.; Blumberg, C. vs. Williams, P.; Brown, C. vs. McDermott, P.

The intercollegiate cup will be held for one year by the winning team, every member of which will receive a silver medal. To gain permanent possession of the cup, a team must win the championship for ten successive years. The University team has won the last three tournaments. Whether they win or lose, the Harvard players will be awarded medals through the fund established by Mr. A. C. White '02.