Chess as a metaphor for argument

[Francis Fields]

Disraeli made a famous speech that concluded 'Life is too short for chess'. The full speech indicates that he was using chess as a metaphor for argument. (Some arguments seem to go on a long time!)

[Clive Blackburn]

Perhaps speeches by politicians should always be against the clock.... 1 minute with no increment would be good!

[David Gilbert]

Disraeli made a famous speech that concluded 'Life is too short for chess'. The full speech indicates that he was using chess as a metaphor for argument. (Some arguments seem to go on a long time!)

It's a quote from Bryon's great comedy "Our Boys", probably the most popular West End play of that time. The play (it's a farce) is about class wars between aristocrats, the wealthy (but crude) middle-class and the impoverished. And yes there's an argument that splits two families, but it's not over chess!

[David Robertson]

It's a quote from Bryon's great comedy "Our Boys"

This isn't Alan Byron, the 4NCL's e2.e4 team member, by the way. It isn't even (Lord) George Byron, the poet. It's Henry James Byron, a minor Victorian dramatist, popular in his day for lightweight stage plays. Edward Winter provides plenty of entertainment at the expense of chess writers who glean their 'knowledge' from Google, and pass on their erroneous guff to credulous readers (viz. Bruce Pandolfini)

[John McKenna]

Disraeli made a famous speech that concluded 'Life is too short for chess'. The full speech indicates that he was using chess as a metaphor for argument. (Some arguments seem to go on a long time!)

It's a quote from Bryon's great comedy "Our Boys", probably the most popular West End play of that time. The play (it's a farce) is about class wars between aristocrats, the wealthy (but crude) middle-class and the impoverished. And yes there's an argument that splits two families, but it's not over chess!

A fictional episode by the other half of the Bill Gladstone-Ben Disraeli double act shows that the above Byron quote (Henry James Byron, a minor Victorian dramatist, popular in his day for lightweight stage plays according to David Robertson) is subjective, since the time available for any activity is relative to ones' position on the class spectrum -

Lord Marney , who was fond of chess, turned out Captain Grouse, and very gallantly proposed to finish the game with Miss Poinsett, which Miss Poinsett, who understood Lord Marney as well as he understood chess, took care speedily to lose, so that his lordship might encounter a champion worthy of him.

(Sybil, or the Two Nations by Benjamin Disraeli)

This remains true today, as was just shown by the exposure of the clandestine activities of Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Jack's protracted waffle & daub defence was that he wouldn't have time to earn £5,000 a go until he stands down at the next General Election. Sir Malcolm's alacrity to go... on the attack, however, seemed to be because he was at such a loose end, with so much time on his hands, he was ready to start next week and that there was nothing wrong with that.

[John Clarke]

According to chess writer "Assiac", David Bronstein regarded chess as "just one way of carrying on an argument". His game against Olafsson at Portoroz 1958 was given as an illustration. See The Delights Of Chess, pp101-2.

[Clive Blackburn]

Who needs metaphors? There are more than enough real arguments in the chess world!