Tuesday, February 09, 2010

There is No Substitute for Victory

The Goddess, Victoria.

Per my friend (whom I do not personally know) Mencius Moldbug:

Therefore, in many cases peace can be achieved only in the Roman way: by victory. As with all military objectives, victory is achieved by any means necessary. Including artillery. Clearly, if the enemy uses artillery and you don't, your chances of victory are greatly reduced.

Carve this on your forehead:  The only reason for a Decline and Fall, of an empire or a chess player, is erosion of the Will.

The Kinks also knew--there was no substitute for Victoria.



Ponder this lesson deeply, Grasshopper

7 comments:

Liquid Egg Product said...

Wrong.

In my last tournament game, I negotiated with my opponent to accept a UN-brokered peace deal. The UN deployed peacekeeping troops on the 4th and 5th ranks, putting both our Kings out of danger. That's what I call a win-win.

rockyrook said...

Just do it.

Signalman said...

You didn't have artillery ? Was it a game at Rook odds ?

XY said...

Aha, so that's where the term grasshopper (to mean beginner) comes from.

From the patzer said...

Even with more guns and men one would get mated in chess.

Unknown said...

I am reminded of a Conan the Barbarian quote:

"What is best in life?"

Conan: Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and then something about the women—I couldn't understand what he said about them...

Signalman said...

"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women." is the one :) A great film, and great series of books !