“The path to victory is infested with thorns”

 This quote is from one of the great players, writers, and thinkers of chess history, Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935).

He wrote a remarkable book called “My System” in 1925.

This book “inspired” 2 other great chess instructional books by two world champions.

One I have mentioned a few times, in the blog, “Lasker’s Manual of Chess”, by Emanuel Lasker.

The other, was “Chess Fundamentals” by Jose Raul Capablanca.

Chess inspiration is a result of the joyous journey of chess ideas over the years.

Sadness occurs when the glorious idea is resisted, and is sometimes repulsed.

The pain that occurs in this process, is touched upon in this quote.

When I watch a student go through this it hurts, almost as much as when I go through it!