"Chess players mate better” is a popular chess saying that has been printed in many images. The saying—a pun on the term “checkmate”—has been put on bumper stickers and T-shirts since at least 1983.
19 August 1983, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Why, You Could Hear a Pawn Drop” by Bella Stumbo, pt. II, pg. 11, col. 2:
One boy, from Encino, had just visited the tournament bookstore, where, among other memorabilia, he had acquired two popular bumper stickers: “Pawn Power” and “Chess Players Mate Better.”
Google Books
Chess Life
United States Chess Federation
Volume 38
1983
Pg. 36:
But one day he wore a shirt he bought while at a San Antonio tournament that read: “Chessplayers Mate Better.”
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Saif Ahmed
2/7/92
(...)
Chess players mate better.
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Fwd: Today’s Joke: True Statements
Suro
9/23/05
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Chess players mate better.
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THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006
More to live and learn...
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Chess players mate better.
Chess.com
Chess players - nerds?
guitar_man 03 #12 Jan 18, 2008
well… if being a nerd is intelligent then i’m ok with it.... better to be intelligent & not a airhead. there is a saying about chess players. ´´Chess Players Mate Better´´Tongue outCool
Twitter
Dominique Burkett
@ATXCynic
Best bumper sticker of the day: “Chess players mate better”
3:14 PM - 11 Nov 2009
Rafi Chowdhury
26 Phrases Only A Chess Player Would Understand
October 20, 2014 by Rafi Chowdhury
(...)
8. Chess players mate better.
Twitter
Grean Toe
@greantoe
Replying to @ZaraDuRose
Im a chess player. Chess players mate better!!!
8:55 PM - 22 Oct 2017
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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“Never let someone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything” (6/6)
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“Fun Fact: Drinking whiskey is still healthier than being dead” (6/6)
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Entry in progress—BP (6/6)
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“Never let people who have done nothing tell you how to do anything” (6/6)
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Entry in progress—BP (6/6)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.