Worthy Of Thought

In everything well known something worthy of thought still lurks.

-- Martin Heidegger (1889 - 1976), German philosopher, Nietzsche (1961) p. xxxix

Just One

There may be a hundred stances and sword positions, but you win with just one.

-- Yagyū Munenori (1571 - 1646), Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school of swordsmanship, A Hereditary Book on the Art of War (1632)

Eustress

The term eustress means "beneficial stress" -- either psychological, physical (e.g., exercise), or biochemical/radiological (hormesis).

The word was introduced by endocrinologist Hans Selye (1907-1982) in 1976; he combined the Greek prefix eu- meaning "good", and the English word stress, to give the literal meaning "good stress".  The Oxford English Dictionary traces early use of the word (in psychological usage) to 1968.

Eustress is the positive cognitive response to stress that is healthy, or gives one a feeling of fulfillment or other positive feelings.  Hans Selye created the term as a subgroup of stress to differentiate the wide variety of stressors and manifestations of stress.

-- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deception

All warfare is based on deception.  Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

-- Sun Tzu (c. 6th century BC), Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher, The Art of War, Chapter 1, Detail Assessment and Planning

Experience

Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself -- in fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience.

-- Elizabeth Bowen (1899 - 1973), Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer, The Death of the Heart (1939)

Model Chess Players

One of the most important events in chess starts today in Russia. 8 players from the US, China, France, Russia, and the Netherlands convene for a three-week chess marathon to determine who will challenge the incumbent World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. The only thing -- the tournament takes place amid the unprecedented coronavirus scare in the country where all international sporting events are put on hold.

[T]o supplement the event's coverage without putting the players at risk: Ken and Barbie-like models of the players are prepared and will be available for photography and filming while the players can be safe during the event.

5-inch players' replicas, wearing suits as ties as per FIDE regulations, sitting at the chess tables, can be photographed shaking opponents hands, while the real players will avoid doing that based on the recent health advisory.

Images will be available for all media and chess fans alike to use with Creative Commons license; the dropbox folder will be updated every round: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ehsa8fuog3sn1cr/AADeS5E-bgcLWAFQ5G4jezjPa?dl=0

-- From an email from the World Chess Press Office, 17 March 2020

Find The Punch

I wasn't in a mood to find the punch.

-- World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, explaining why he offered challenging U.S. Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana a draw in Game 12 of the World Chess Championship; the players have reached a draw in all 12 scheduled games, triggering a series of rapid games Wednesday to determine the winner, 26 November 2018