On Chess - Ernst Jünger

“The virtue of chess is that it is a more irrefutable demonstration of intellectual power than any other field, and this through a series of demonstrations that can only be challenged by other demonstrations – it is thus halfway between argumentation and strategic action. It differs from argument in that there is an unmistakable reality in every movement. There is, even if one fails to find it, a better rejoinder which, like a judicial decision, does not require the consent of the other side. However, this reality is far removed from the material difficulties and contingencies with which the strategist has to reckon. One would like to believe that it is impossible for man to imagine such a game and that it originated in the times when the gods kept us company and visited us. Somewhere in the universe it could play for empires and countries or stars, numbers could stand for armies – but there would only be the main thing left, the train of fate in its weightless shift, unwavering, whether it be peanuts or kingdoms. The game gives an insight into what is possible in very different places, what is possible among spirits and even what is possible in alien worlds.”