Any child can learn its basic rules, any amateur can try his hand at it; and yet, within the inalterable confines of a chessboard, masters unlike any others evolve, people with a talent for chess and chess alone, special geniuses whose gifts of imagination, patience and skill are just as precisely apportioned as those of mathematicians, poets, and musicians, but differently arranged and combined.
Edozein haurrek ikas ditzake oinarrizko arauak, edozein lardats saia daiteke hartan fortuna bilatzen, eta, hala ere, gaitasuna du bere lauki aldaezin meharraren baitan beste edozeinekin parekatzerik ez dagoen txapeldun-mota bat sorrarazteko, xakerako trebezia berezi batez dohaturiko gizakia, jenialtasun aparteko batez, non argikusmena, egonarria eta teknika proportzio hain zehazki finkatuan konbinatzen baita, nola matematikari, poeta eta musikarientzat, bestelako eraketan eta loturan bada ere.