The seventeenth annual intercollegiate chess tournament between Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia will commence this afternoon and continue tomorrow and Wednesday, at the West Side Republican Club, New York. The matches will be played from 1 to 6 o'clock in the afternoon and from 8 to 10 o'clock in the evening. All unfinished games will be decided by H. Helms, referee, and J. Finn, adjudicator. The play will be directed by A. W. Fox of the Manhattan Chess Club.

The intercollegiate cup will be held one year by the winning team. In order to gain permanent possession, however, a team must win it for ten successive years. In scoring, each individual match counts one, the championship being awarded to the team winning the greatest number of points.

The University team is composed of the following men who will play in the order named: E. H. Gruening 2M., K. S. Johnson 1G., W. W. Parshley '09, F. P. Byerly '11, and D. B. Childs '10, substitute. Johnson has had the most experience of the men on the University team, having played in the last two intercollegiate tournaments. Gruening played the year before last, but was unable to play last year on account of a conflicting examination. Parshley played last year, winning two out of his three matches. Both Columbia and Princeton also have good teams, each having three men who played last year. Of the previous tournaments Harvard has won eight, Columbia six, and Yale one.

The order of the other teams in as follows:

Yale--E. B. Burgess '09, G. Burgess '11, C. F. Jefferson '10, J. R. Chandler '11.

Princeton--J. W. Alexander, Jr., '08, L. W. Stephens '10, J. L. Tiemann '10, A. R. Ferger '11.

Columbia--H. Blumberg G.s., H. C. Ramsdell '10, G. F. Comstock '09s., E. T. Gluck '12s.

Schedule of Play.

The schedule of playing follows:

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

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

December 23--Harvard vs. Princeton, Yale vs. Columbia.

The drawings are as follows:

Monday--Gruening, H., vs. E. B. Burgess, Y.; Johnson, H., vs. G. Burgess, Y.; Parshley, H., vs. Jefferson, Y.; Byerly, H., vs. Chandler, Y.; Blumberg, C., vs. Alexander, P.; Ramsdell, C., vs. Stephens, P.; Comstock, C., vs. Tiemann, P.; Gluck, C., vs. Ferger, P.

Tuesday--Gruening, H., vs. Blumberg, C.; Johnson, H., vs. Ramsdell, C.; Parshley, H., vs. Comstock, C.; Byerly, H., vs. Gluck, C.; E. B. Burgess, Y., vs. Alexander, P.; G. Burgess, Y., vs. Stephens, P.; Jefferson Y., vs. Tiemann, P.; Chandler, Y., vs. Ferger, P.

Wednesday--Gruening, H., vs. Alexander, P.; Johnson, H., vs. Stephens, P.; Parshley, H., vs. Tiemann, P.; Byerly, H., vs. Ferger, P.; E. B. Burgess, Y., vs. Blumberg, C.; G. Burgess, Y., vs. Ramsdell, C.; Jefferson, Y., vs. Comstock, C.; Chandler, Y., vs. Gluck, C.