In life, as in chess, forethought wins.
2
The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it.
By playing at chess, then, we may learn:
1. Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, and considers the consequences that may attend an action...
2. Circumspection, which surveys the whole chess-board, or scene of action, the relations of the several pieces and situations...
3. Caution, not to make our moves too hastily. This habit is best acquired by observing strictly the laws of the game, such as, "If you touch a piece, you must move it somewhere; if you set it down, you must let it stand." And it is therefore best that these rules should be observed, as the game thereby becomes more the image of human life...
And lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the habit of hoping for a favorable change, and that of persevering in the search of resources. The game is so full of events, there is such a variety of turns in it, the fortune of it is so subject to sudden vicissitudes, and one so frequently, after long contemplation, discovers the means of extricating one's self from a supposed insurmountable difficulty, that one is encouraged to continue the contest to the last, in hopes of victory by our own skill, or, at least, of giving a stale mate, by the negligence of our adversary.
reference: John McCrary: Chess and Benjamin Franklin -- His Pioneering Contributions. Includes the full text of The Morals of Chess
Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.
-- Adolf Anderssen
4
These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.
-- Kobe Bryant
You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas.
-- Stanley Kubrick
5
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
-- Emo Philips
6
Chess is life.
-- Bobby Fischer
7
Football is a chess game to me. If you move your pawn against my bishop, I'll counter that move to beat you. Football is the same way. I study so much film that I know exactly what teams are going to do. I love knowing what a offense is going to run and stuffing that play.
-- Junior Seau
1
Chess is intellectual gymnastics.
-- Wilhelm Steinitz