"Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time." - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

"There is no remorse like a remorse of chess. It is a curse upon man. There is no happiness in chess." - H.G. Wells (1886-1946)

"Chess is a good mistress but a bad master." - Gerald Abrahams (1907-1980) [This may not sound so bad, until you take the following quote (from a former world champion) into account --ed]

"Chess will always be the master of us all." - Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946)

"Life is too short for chess." - character from Henry J. Byron's play "Our Boys"

"Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

In 1093 the Eastern Orthodox church condemned chess. The Church stamped out chess in Russia as a relic of heathenism.

In 1322 the Jewish rabbi Kalonymnos Ben Kalonymous condemned chess.

Chess was still forbidden in Germany up to 1329 after the Synod of Wurzburg.

Charles V (1337-1380) of France prohibited chess, and Charles VI (1368-1422) continued to forbid chess.

In 1380 William of Wickham (1324-1404), the Bishop of Winchester and the Chancellor of England, forbade chess.

In 1549 the Protohierarch Sylvester wrote that those who play chess shall go to hell and be accursed on earth. This was documented in his work Domostroi (Household Goverment), a book of principles of family life. This was the first printed book in Moscow. [I wonder if they hold USCF tournaments in hell? --ed]

The Ayatollah Khomeini banned chess when he returned to Iran. He banned the game because he thought it hurt the memory and could cause brain damage and that it contributed to a war-mongering mentality. [Can you say "ironic"? How about "moronic"? --ed]

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