The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations. The least satisfying of desires. A nameless excrescence upon life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist that you wish to destroy. Dagger or bomb are archaic and unreliable – but teach him, inoculate him with chess.

“Schach ist eine schreckliche Passion. Willst Du jemanden zerstören, so lehre ihn Schach. Politiker regieren nicht mehr, Väter kümmern sich nicht mehr um die Familie” (H.G. Wells)