WHAT IS CHESS?

Chess, catur, ajedrez, shatranj...We played it, we studied it, we are divided by it, we are united by it, we made friends from it, we made enemies from it., we loved it, we cursed it...A big question here...What is chess?

Dictionary
A board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king

Maybe...thought a bit boring.

Lets look at what did practitioner said.
Some say chess is life
“Chess is life” (Bobby Fischer)

“Chess is like life” (Boris Spassky)

“For me, Chess is life and every game is like a new life. Every
Chess player gets to live many lives in one lifetime” (Eduard Gufeld)

Though some say
“Chess is not like life... it has rules!” (Mark Pasternak)

Some say chess is a something nice
Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make man happy. - (Savielly Tartakower)

Chess, like love, is infectious at any age. - (Salo Flohr)

Though some equate chess with something...not so nice
“Chess is mental torture” (Garry Kasparov)

“Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponents mind” (Bobby Fischer)

“Chess is ruthless: you've got to be prepared to kill people” (Nigel Short)

Chess is not relaxing; it's stressful even if you win. - (Jennifer Shahade)

Gosh, this is confusing...and even more confusing to know that it is still debatable when it come to categorise chess. This is important since it will determine where chess news should be...is it together with David Beckham or is it together with David Teo, is it an Olympic game or is it an Academy Award material....

“Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic” (Mikhail Botvinnik)

Chess is a sport. A violent sport. -(Marcel Duchamp)

I consider chess an art, and accept all those responsibilities which art places upon its devotees. - (Alexander Alekhine)

A sport, a struggle for results and a fight for prizes. I think that the discussion about “chess is science or chess is art” is already inappropriate. The purpose of modern chess is to reach a result. - (Alexander Morozevich)

Karpov, being Karpov, played it flexible

“Chess is everything: art, science and sport” (Anatoly Karpov)

Some condemned chess...
It is a curse upon man. There is no happiness in chess. - (H.G. Wells)

Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time. - (George Bernard Shaw)

Some praised chess...
“Chess makes man wiser and clear-sighted” (Vladimir Putin)

Chess is a cure for headaches. - (John Maynard Keynes)

Chess is beautiful enough to waste your life for. - (Hans Ree)

To sum it up
“The battle for the ultimate truth will never be won. And that's why Chess is so fascinating” (Hans Kmoch)


Better leave it at that...