George Duke wrote on Wed, Dec 11, 2013 05:30 PM UTC:
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." The only 100-year
Official Rules -- limited to one fixed form not altogether arbitrary -- are
become fringe sport riddled with Draws of under-50% Decisiveness. All the
broadening humanistic Proverbs in the world belong now to, let's call it,
"Chess variant pluralism." This readily tolerant CV ethos of imaginative
inclusiveness and diversity addresses EVERYTHING important (see all current
comments). In contrast, the narrow dogmatic my-way-or-the-highway mindset
of stasis in f.i.d.e. OrthoChess has NOTHING to say -- except in warning
hoi polloi masses never to think for themselves.
Today mature audiences understand well-defined Rules undergo change at
times for good purpose: (1) intellectual stimulation in exploration of
culture and language, (2) whimsical entertainment tried out,
(3) mathematical discovery and proof, (4) geometric art and edification, (5) commemoration or commercialization, (6) more correct, complete utmost
mental challenge effecting Draw reduction, (7) true historic evolution.
German: You can't hang people before you've caught them: http://www.chessvariants.org/dpieces.dir/berlin.html (are one-trick ponies the likes of Carlsen, Kasparov, Karpov ignorant even of classy Berolinas?)
French: Don't sell the bearskin before you kill the bear: http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/bilateral-chess.html.
Spanish: Don't eat the sausages before you kill the pig: http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/sissa.html.
Japanese: Don't count the badger skins before you kill the badger: http://www.chessvariants.org/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSminishogisetup.
Russian: You can't count chickens before autumn comes: http://www.chessvariants.org/difftaking.dir/russianchess.html.
Swahili: Don't curse the crocodile before you have crossed the river: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senterej (regional).
Jamaican: Don't curse the crocodile's mother until you have crossed the river: http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/modern.html (regional, Hispaniola separating Jamaica and Puerto Rico). That makes 8 ways to say Don't Count Your Chickens Before They're Hatched.