Posted by Farkel [Keflar] on October 26, 1999 at 09:56:19 {c/rgKhj4Ncjc7.1TE24IvhKqcjatLo}:
In Reply to: **Legalism posted by Kent on October 26, 1999 at 03:20:29:
Hey Kent! You forgot THIS little classic!
*** g73 3/22 13 Chess-What Kind of Game Is It? ***
However, there is something else regarding chess that deserves consideration.
Relation to War
This is the game's military connotations, which are obvious. The opposing forces are called "the enemy." These are "attacked" and "captured"; the purpose being to make the opposing king "surrender." Thus Horowitz and Rothenberg say in their book The Complete Book of Chess under the subheading "Chess Is War": "The functions assigned to [the chess pieces], the terms used in describing these functions, the ultimate aim, the justified brutality in gaining the objective all-add up to war, no less."
*** g73 3/22 14 Chess-What Kind of Game Is It? ***
The Need for Caution
Some chess players have recognized the harm that can result from playing the game. According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica, the religious reformer "John Huss, . . . when in prison, deplored his having played at chess, whereby he had lost time and run the risk of being subject to violent passions."
The extreme fascination of chess can result in its consuming large amounts of one's time and attention to the exclusion of more important matters, apparently a reason Huss regretted having played the game. Also, in playing it there is the danger of "stirring up competition with one another," even developing hostility toward another, something the Bible warns Christians to avoid doing.
Then, too, grown-ups may not consider it proper for children to play with war toys, or at games of a military nature. Is it consistent, then, that they play a game noted to be, in the opinion of some, an "intellectualized equivalent, of the maneuvers enacted by little boys with toy soldiers"? What effect does playing chess really have upon one? Is it a wholesome effect?
Surely chess is a fascinating game. But there are questions regarding it that are good for each one who plays chess to consider.
Farkel, who wonders if playing "hangman" requires elder approval...