The Morals of Chess

What it is

This essay on chess was written by Benjamin Franklin and first published in the Columbian Magazine in December 1786, though he had outlined it decades earlier, around 1732. Franklin played chess from at least 1733 and was considered an above-average, though not top-level, player.

Why it matters

After a short history of the game, Franklin compares chess to life, arguing that it teaches foresight, circumspection and caution. He also lays out moral rules for players, such as not cheating and not disturbing an opponent. The essay is one of the earliest chess-related texts published in the United States and was later reproduced internationally. Franklin was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1999.

Look closer

• Why might Franklin wait more than fifty years to publish an essay he had planned so long before?
• What do his rules about honesty and courtesy in chess suggest about his values more generally?
• How does comparing a game to life help make a moral argument more memorable?