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Greetings! My name is Scott and I am the creator of the Sword and Shield. I created this website because, after being a
gamer all my life, I have come to the conclusion that chess is mankind's most perfect game. Why? For a variety of reasons.
1) Chess is turn-based: It saddens me to see the contemporary gaming world's obsession with Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
gaming. Sure, RTS games can be fun, and some would argue more realistic, but only a turn-based game allows the flowering
of the human intellect. With RTS games, you are often reacting to events so quickly that your mind does not have time to
plumb the depths of strategy and tactics. As a result, victory often goes to the player with the quickest reflexes ("twitch
gaming"). Not so with chess! A game of Chess is won and lost strictly upon mental agility (unless you are playing bullet
chess - something I consider an abomination to the true spirit of chess due to it's time control of game in three minutes
or less).
Another great aspect of turn-based chess is Portable Game Notation (PGN). PGN scores allow an entire chess game to be
precisely recorded. The biggest benefit of this (besides allowing a continuous record of chess games stretching back hundreds
of years) is that every game is able to be analyzed by people around the world and, in modern times, by computers. It is
for this reason that the art (science?) of chess is so far advanced vis-à-vis other forms of gaming. As such, the thrill
of chess is not just in playing the game, but also in re-playing the games of others. Few, if any, games allow such a massive
cross-fertilization of minds.
2) The rules of chess are remarkably elegant: I was a wargamer long before I was a chess player and I can assure you
that complex games become tedious fast - and quickly abandoned for that matter. After years of reading 50+ page rules sets
for many wargames, it was a sublime pleasure to play a wargame (which chess surely is) that required mere minutes to learn
but, at the same time, a lifetime to master. I guess we should not be surprised at the elegance of chess as it has been "in
development" for over 1400 years!
3) Speaking of "1400 years," chess is playable history. It has seen an enormous span of human history. Indeed,
the present configuration of medieval pieces reflects its witness to the Middle Ages. Sure, Medieval: Total War is a fine
simulation of medieval warfare, but only chess can claim to have actually been played during that actual era!
4) You can always find plenty of clubs and opponents: As a wargamer, it was always a challenge to find an opponent to
play against using your favorite wargame (which is why over 70% of wargamers play solo). After all, how many people can you
reasonably expect to find who share your enthusiasm for the naval campaigns of the Russo-Japanese War? Not so with chess!
Chess is the universal language of gaming; people play it the world over. And, in the age of the internet, there are countless
online clubs that successfully provide ethereal homes to every conceivable type of chess player.
5) Chess is in the news: Who hasn't heard of Kasparov? Fischer? Spasky? Deep Blue? Try this test with any other
parlor game you please and see if ordinary folks are as knowledgeable about its cast of characters. Enough said.
6) I could go on and on: computer science, Cold War politics, the largest printed library devoted to a single game,
massive online and computer resources, art, movies, fiction, psychology, public education...chess has touched it all and more!
So this is why I have created the Sword and Shield. Chess is the sole perfect game and richly deserves the affection
heaped upon it by countless suitors. To quote Vladimir Nabokov, chess is truly "the game of the Gods."
If you agree with these sentiments (or even disagree!), feel free to leave comments in my guestbook!
 
You can find me playing chess....
At Chessworld.net as Crusader Scott
At Red Hot Pawn as Crusader Scott
At It's Your Turn as Crusader Scott
At Pogo Chess as WargamerScott
At FICS as Wargamer
At GameKnot as Crusader Scott
Grab your sword and shield and offer me a challenge...if you dare!
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