Where queens rule, kings fall, and blunders become small victories in disguise
What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?
✍️ Author’s Note
This little meditation belongs to my Letters to the Prompt series—dispatches from the battlefield of thought. Chess, in my life, has been a faithful accomplice, both noble and mischievous. As Mikhail Botvinnik wisely remarked, Chess is the art of Analysis”, though in my experience, it’s also the art of forgetting analysis at precisely the wrong moment. Win or lose, the clock keeps ticking, and so does the enjoyment.
Letters to the prompt
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.”
— Siegbert Tarrasch
Dear Prompt,
On this fine Saturday morning, there is no doubt in my mind: my favourite board game is chess. I have a long-standing, complicated, and at times obsessive relationship with the 64 squares and the endless logic they conceal.
True, I’ve been known to dabble in cards—bridge especially—but I’m far too individualistic by nature. In chess, there are no partners to blame, no unlucky draws—just you, your wits, and the merciless ticking of the clock.
I once wrote about this in Chess Through the Ages, tracing its journey through history and how it has enchanted minds for centuries.
Chess demands knowledge, rewards creativity, and punishes carelessness—a rare blend of science, art, and strategy that has evolved far beyond the gentlemen’s pastime it once was.
Why do I play? My affair with chess began at age seven, in quiet games with my father, guided by the books of the Dutch Grandmaster Max Euwe. It became the intellectual battleground where I crossed swords with my younger brother, testing wits more often than tempers. Through the shifting seasons of life, chess has remained a loyal companion—part daily ritual, part mental exercise, always a source of fascination.
Nowadays, I play online every day, a small rebellion against time, to keep the little grey cells from gathering too much dust. Occasionally I encounter dubious characters who outsource their thinking to chess engines. I pity them. A hollow draw or an empty win is no triumph—it is self-defeat dressed as victory. As Vladimir Kramnik wisely said,
“I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player’s personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.”
And so, I continue to play—not to win against others, but to win against myself.
And now, dear Prompt, I take my leave—duty calls on the chessboard, where queens seduce, knights leap into mischief, and I, self-declared emperor of blunders, attempt to rule my little kingdom of 64 squares. Win or lose, the kingdom survives—and so does the player.
Netherlands, WJJH, 19.7.2025
📌 Blog Preview
A light-hearted reflection from my Letters to the Prompt—this time on chess: a game of strategy, stubbornness, and the occasional spectacular blunder. From childhood battles with my father and brother to daily skirmishes online, chess has remained a stubborn companion, reminding me that the real opponent is rarely the person across the board… but usually the one staring back in the mirror. Featuring a touch of history, a pinch of mischief, and a salute to the timeless charm of 64 squares. “Where queens rule, kings fall, and blunders become small victories in disguise.”
In what kind of world do we wish to live 