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 acquired and strengthened by it.
By playing at chess, we may learn---
Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, considers the consequences that may attend an action; for it is continually occurring to the player "If I move this Piece, what will be the advantage or disadvantage of my new situation? What use can my adversary make of it to annoy me? What other moves can I make to support it and to defend myself from his attacks?"
Circumspection, which surveys the whole chessboard, or
scene of action, the relations of the several Pieces and
situations, the dangers they are respectively exposed to, the
several possibilities of their aiding each other, the probabilities
that the adversary may make this or that move, and attack this
or the other Piece, and what different means can be used to
avoid his strike, or turn its consequences against him.
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 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 the hope of victory.
This essay -- titled "The Morals of Chess" by Dr. Franklin,
is taken from the book:
Marshall's Chess Openings by Frank James Marshall, 1904,
Whitehead & Miller, 38, Park Cross Street, London, England
