Lasker's quotation.

Lately I came across a saying by Lasker which goes like this, "On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of lies; the merciless fact, culmination in checkmate, contradicts the hypocrites.".

Do you have any idea what does it even mean in general? And only then:
1. What are the "lies"?
2. What is the "presumption of lies"?
3. What is "the merciless fact" and why does it "contradict the hypocrites"?

Thank you in advance for your answers!

Simon Marek : please : where did you read this quote ? In which book or article ? What is the date, approx. ?  And is it original in English or do you have it translated ? Better, if possible :  do you have a German text ?

I do have some info on Emanuel Lasker, but could not find this quote yet, and we need to read the "whole", as you know, the meaning of words depends on the context in which it is used.

( ... a nice example : try to translate and to understand the title of one of his books : "The Philosophie des Unvollendbar"... ; it takes half a page to explain it, e.g. in Dutch it is like : het niet volmaakt zijn, het onvolkomen zijn , or roughly : not perfect, incomplete, and it (also) means that we always will look for new ways and facts e.g. in science )

Apparently both our mother languages are not German or English, and I am very interested in translations of notions and concepts, ( firstly into Dutch of course...).   I hope others will help translate !    Regards, Ger.

I've seen that quote several places although I can't think where just now. There's probably a reference to it in Chernev's "The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" because I went through that book a couple times last winter and I seem to remember it from then. It could be from a couple other books I've been through recently. I'll try remember to check.

My take is this: Lies and hypocrisy are weak moves or positions that appear strong but don't stand up to extended scrutiny. The presumption of lies is that they are good when in fact they are not. The merciless facts are the moves that refute weak moves, gambits, sacrifices, etc. The best moves prove that weak moves and positions are not as good as they seem or as good as they think they are and therefore lay bare the hypocrisy. Sort of like how truth proves lies and hypocrisy are shams. The best moves prove that weak moves are shams.

Or I could be completely wrong.

@Gomer_Pyle, that's quite logical what you're writing! Thanks for the explanation.
@RomyGer, Fischer in his book, "My 60 Memorable Games" quotes Lasker without any further context.

• ‘Nun, auf dem Schachbrett der Meister gilt Lüge und Heuchelei nicht lange.’

Lehrbuch des Schachspiels by E. Lasker (Berlin, 1926), page 201.

• ‘On the Chess-board lie and hypocrisy do not survive long.’

Lasker’s Manual of Chess by E. Lasker (New York, 1927), page 262.

"On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of lies; the merciless fact, culmination in checkmate, contradicts the hypocrites.".


I think he wanted to say that on chess is a strict game where there is no room for swindles (hypocrisy) or bad moves which seem to be good (lies) - that bad moves will eventually be sweeped off by a combination that finds its way through the false variations and weaknesses (all lies have weaknesses). When checkmated, the side that loses cannot do anything but accept that his lies on the board and bad moves are finally defeated...

And yes, it's in "My 60 memorable games".

Umm.....The people who say they are better than they really are are proven to be weaker by a stronger, more creative player? Lies I presume are bluffs. Presumption of lies refer to the player's bluffs, merciless fact- no mercy will be shown. Contradicts the hypocrites-the people who inflate their skill level are given perspective after being checkmated. I think that's what it says.

"Auf dem Schachbrett der Meister gilt Lüge und Heuchelei nicht lange. Sie werden vom Wetterstahl der schöpferischen Kombination getroffen irgendwann einmal, und können die Tatsache nicht wegdeuteln, wenigstens nicht für lange, und die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit leuchtet hell in den Kämpfen der Schachmeister."

We all know you speak german batgirl, no need to flaunt it.

Then you know something I don't.

Lasker was right, until internet chess started.

Wow, that's some bloated language. But times were different back then.

Lasker also had a flowery way of speaking - at least in the English translations.

"Wetterstahl", for example, a word that probably didn't exist until Lasker decided to create a poetic variation of "Stahlgewitter", which would roughly translate to "thunderstorm of steel", as if that wasn't bloated enough.

I was curious why he capitalized it.

He capitalized it completely? Like "WETTERSTAHL"?

No, just the W.

Well, that's normal. German nouns are always capitalized.

Well, I've learned something new!  thanks.