Chess Is War

There are a few popular threads out there right now with this motiff. While I do agree, these threads are plentiful with posts like, "Throw the King in your opponent's face. Never accept a draw. Never lay down your King."

For this, I beg to differ. First, war or not, there is still sportsmanship. Competition or not, there is still that time when fighting the losing battle becomes pointless.

Place your King and 2 pawns (in the center of the board) then give me a King and a Queen. Checkmate is inevitable. You will not win. If I am foolish enough to accept the draw, take it. Otherwise, the only good move is to lay down your King. There are times when the only good moves are repetitive moves. Draws are inevitable. Just end it; then come back and kick your opponent's butt in the next game.

Chess is war. Sun Tzu, Joshua, Abraham, Rommell, Patton, Caesar, Hannipbal, Scipio, Xerxes -- all of our world's greatest generals throughout history knew that it was sometimes necessary to retreat and that sometimes, even surrender was the only logical alternative.