Chess Players

"Of the plan and execution of his History we are not in a condition to speak; we have portions only of the Introduction to it. Much that in the Prolegomena is incomplete or inaccurate, crude or rash, would probably, after maturer experience and enlarged insight, have been supplied or corrected in the historical sequel."

"[C]onceding for the moment that the term civilization is sufficiently intelligible, if not very precise, Mr. Buckle's manner of handling the subject is somewhat capricious and irregular."

"The second volume is... little more than an episode of the first; with a few inconsiderable changes, it might have stood alone as a record of the effects of perverted religion in Spain or Scotland."

"He perceived that history in its best forms is but an imperfect record of the thoughts and deeds of men. ...It was Mr. Buckle's object to collect and place these phenomena upon a scientific basis, to discover the law of their growth, progress, and decline, to show why on some soils they withered, why on others they bore fruit an hundred-fold."

"How far he failed or how far he succeeded in his attempt to construct a science of history, we do not pretend to determine: we are merely pointing to the high and arduous object he set before himself."

"[H]e sinned the sin of excessive generalization. It may be true that in certain cycles or shorter periods of time the sums of human acts are strangely alike. It may be true also that statistics afford to history one of its most sure and instructive auxiliaries. But it is no less certain that such tabular records are not only in their infancy, but as regards former times, either do not exist, or are most scanty and precarious aids to truth. At the best, also, they represent a few only of the elements of social life, and probably centuries of exact observation must elapse before they can be permitted to supersede the other grounds, moral, intellectual, and religious, on which history hitherto as been constructed."

"In his anxiety, if not indeed his determination, to find a comprehensive idea, Mr. Buckle often strains, if he does not misrepresent facts. He is too prone to assume that men under similar circumstances will be similar themselves, and leaves scarcely a margin for the disturbances of passion, custom, or accident."

"His voice was unmusical and his manner rather defiant. But one could not be five minutes in a room with him without being aware that a talker unusually informed with book knowledge was present."

"The doctrines of Auguste Comte are not palatable on this side of the Channel; and although Mr. Buckle accepted M. Comte's creed with reservation, he is indebted to it for some of his theories."

"[S]ure were Mr. Buckle's strictures on the and to draw down upon him the wrath of North Britain."

"Hero-worshippers... have no reason to be pleased with his speculations, since he resolves the course of history into cycles and a system, and ascribes but little permanent influence to individual soldiers, statesmen, or saints."

"Mr. Buckle fights against ...[the ecclesiastical body] with the whole armoury of distrust and defiance. ...[S]ome of his charges were ill-considered and unfounded; but these, the faults of seclusion and inexperience, do not, in the main, affect his assertion, that no class of men is fit to be entrusted with irresponsible power, and of all classes, the clergy least."

"[W]e are not likely again to see so much learning and ability employed upon themes which remunerate the student with neither present profit nor honour. Be what they may the faults of the book, the merits of the author are sterling. He sought knowledge for its own sake: for knowledge he gave up his youth, his talents, his fortune, and possibly his life."

"s did not deter, nor shadows intimidate him; whatever, in his judgment... retarded... the progress of men, he denounced; whatever, in his opinion, was likely to accelerate or secure it, he advocated."

"If we cannot inscribe it on the roll of historians or philosophers of the highest order, yet the name of HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE merits a high place on the list of earnest seekers for Truth."

"With Comte, the people cannot move intelligently out of the leading-strings of the government; with Buckle, the sole function of a government is to express as best it may the sum of the national will. Comte... has insisted on the subjection of man to his antecedents; but he has neglected the connexion between man and natural laws."

"The recklessness of the assertion that Buckle owed everything to Comte, is obvious to whoever will consider what each has achieved in the science of history. Indeed their similarity is only incidental. ...[T]heir subjects overlapped each other: Comte in seeking for a rational form of government; and Buckle in showing how every movement of mankind is subject to law."

"There are many points upon which Comte and Buckle are one; perhaps they are even more than those in which they differ: but while the former are mostly subsidiary, the latter are mostly fundamental. Comte's laws of civilization are evolved as a necessary deduction... Buckle... proves the predictability of human actions by statistics. ...Buckle ...discovers the laws of civilization first inductively, and then ...reverses the process and proves them deductively. ...Every step Buckle takes is strictly reasoned, and his proof is more positive and verified than any Comte chooses ...Buckle's work stands on the same basis as any other scientific work, while Comte with all his positive claim ...[has] no inductive complement to his deductive proof."

"Buckle's chief merit is that he first made a science of history by connecting it with political economy and statistics, and has shown how every advance is intellectual from the people, and never in the opposite direction. Indeed, one of the truths he most insists upon, is, that it is better to make a harmful law with the concurrence of the people, than to make a good one which they do not like."

"For the Englishman there are only two available ways to deal with the genius and the “great man”: either democratically, in the style of Buckle, or religiously, in the style of Carlyle."

"The center of the chessboard is a magnet, which pulls to itself all the pieces. Therefore the most beautiful and amazing moves, for me, are those with which a piece, counteracting the gravitational force of the center, suddenly fly to the edge of the board."

"Even Ashot's mistakes contain elements of creativity."

"When he is inspired, he is capable of producing magic."

"After having been present at his amusing lessons just once, I will always feel envious of his students."

"I could keep talking about Ashot as chess player, composer, theoretician, or a trainer; however I would rather write about him as a person. If I were asked, which of my close friends is the most honest and kind, I would not hesitate to name Ashot."

"Ashot is a born trainer."

"My first teachers were street players, guys who would hustle you, get in your head, break you down mentally before they did it over the board."

"Our minds are all different and I believe cultivating a keen introspective sensitivity is absolutely essential in discovering our potential."

"Josh writes almost from a position of wonder, a person who admires thunderstorms and violent seas, he ponders the life lessons through which he has progressed, appraises, incorporates and evolves methods to deal with harsh reality and learn to use it to one’s own benefit."

"I love the play between the conscious and unconscious minds in the creative moment, and for me chess and the martial arts are both about developing a rich working relationship with your intuition."

"I think we are at our best when we work with our natural eruptions, use them as fuel for the fire."

"Chess is not Mathematics, where ten is always more than one; in chess the King with a pawn can beat opponent's King with all pieces if they are placed badly."

"Learn from each one of your defeats; your losses must be as close to you as your victories."

"I achieved more than I could dream of in chess and in chess composing."

"Going through Yochanan's studies I got the impression that he is like a music composer who creates many lovely songs with charming melodies, but rarely composes operas."

"When I am trying to understand the method of winning in the endgame with two bishops against the knight, chess is a science, when I admire a beautiful combination or study, then chess is art, and when I am complicating position in the approaching time trouble of my opponent, then chess is sport."

"Coaching secrets? I don’t think I got any. The main "secret" – love for chess."

"Don't fiddle while Byrne roams!"

"The greatest compliment one can pay a master is to compare him with Capablanca."

"Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of the Chess player."

"The rooks belong behind passed pawns, behind their own in order to support their advance, behind the enemy's in order to impede their advance."

"Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness, therein lies, its peculiar charm. Intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys -if not the greatest one- of human existence. It is not everyone who can write a play, or build a bridge, or even make a good joke. But in chess everyone can, everyone must, be intellectually productive and so can share in this select delight. I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess, just as I would pity for the man who has no knowledge of love. Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy."

"Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy."

"Up to this point White has been following well-known analysis, but now he makes a fatal error - he begins to use his own head."

"The beauty of a move lies not in its appearance but in the thought behind it."

"From Anderssen I learned the art of making combinations; from Tarrasch I learned how advantageously to avoid making them."

"In tournaments it is not enough to be a connoisseur of chess; one must also play well."

"Many have become Chess Masters, no one has become the Master of Chess."

"Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game."

"He who fears an isolated Queen's Pawn should give up Chess."