Says the great Frederic;
“Man hardly may eradicate in his short lifetime all the prejudices that are imbibed with his mother’s milk; and it is well nigh impossible to successfully wrestle with custom, that chief argument of fools.”
Also bearing in mind the irony of Cicero, who regarded himself fortunate in that he had not fallen victim to services rendered his countrymen, it suffices to say:
The true Chessic dictum in regard to the double evolution of the King and Rook should read:
“The King of Castling should deploy in one move to that point where, as the Base of Operations, it mathematically harmonizes with that Strategic Front, which is, or must become, established.”
The change in the present form of Castling, herein suggested, should be made in the true interests of the Royal Game.
The instant effect of such change will be:
- 1. Largely to increase the defensive resources both of White and Black;
- 2. To minimize the handicap on the second player, due to White’s advantage of first move;
- 3. To permit open play on the Queen’s side of the board and thus provide a broader and more resplendent field for Strategetic genius.
In all our modern-day mis-interpretations of the ethics of Chess and our characteristic Twentieth Century looseness of practice as applied to Chess-play, perhaps there exists no greater absurdity, than that subversion of ordinary intelligence, daily evinced by permitting a piece which cannot move, to give check.