Struggle (1907) By Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker
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| Struggle (1907) By Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker |
Struggle – Emanuel Lasker (1907)
A rare, fascinating little philosophical work from the legendary chess champion Emanuel Lasker. Lasker takes the lessons he learned from chess competition and builds a universal theory of struggle, what he called “Machology”, applying those strategic principles across chess, business, war, games, and human conflict in general. He examines strategy, chance, advantage, economy of effort, justice, and the rules that govern every competitive struggle. Long before formal game theory was developed, Lasker was exploring how opponents interact, weigh risk, and fight for an edge.
💡 Reader note:
This is NOT a chess‑play manual. It is Lasker’s abstract philosophical system. Some of his theories were speculative for his time; later thinkers refined many of these ideas. Also important ethical note: Lasker’s theory of struggle is an analytical framework for understanding competition, not a guide for ruthless, harmful conduct toward others. Best enjoyed by readers who like strategy, philosophy, and intellectual history.
An excerpt from the Author's introduction:
This book, though it deals with laws governing struggles in general, is the outcome of reflections upon the meaning of the approved principles of the struggle on even terms between two brains called chess. The result of contests is on the chessboard much more clearly discernible than in other combats, on account of the checkmate that admits of no obscuration. And chess offers so many opportunities for study, its theory is so well tested, that it is an unrivaled educator in strategy. Hence, my activity in chess during the last eighteen years has been a not inconsiderable advantage in my endeavor, extending nearly as long, to ex¬ press the strategic rules valid on the chessboard in terms so general as to apply to any of the combats in nature.
Contents of the book:
The problem.--Strategy.--The principle of work.--The principle of economy.--Balance and advantage.--Chance.--The principle of logic and of justice.--Sufficiency of the laws
The Problem. 5 Strategy ..13 The Principle of Work.29 The Principle of Economy.35 Balance and Advantage.41 Chance .58 The Principle of Logic and of Justice.69 Sufficiency of the Laws.94 APPLICATIONS. Province of Faith in Struggle. 8 Mere Maneuvring, Rococo.31 Economy the Guide of the Defense.36 Lack of Economy is Ugly.39 Simplicity is Economy. 40 Superiority the Condition for Attack.45 Brain and Idea.51 Justice in Chance.60 The Gambler. 66 The Attack Must be Logical and Just.79 The Orator, the Physician, the Teacher.85 Music .. .91
Lasker has an approach to rules the natural laws of struggle (in business, chess, box, arts, music and so on)
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognized World Chess Champion in history.
Author: Emanuel Laske
Publication Date: 1907