When William Quandt used the catchphrase, "It's the beginning of the end game," to describe the situation in the Middle East in 1991, it reminded William Safire of the 1812 Battle of Borodino when Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord stated, "It is the beginning of the end," (or "Viola le commencement de la fin" in French) to describe the situation in Moscow when the forces under General Mikhail Kutuzov successfully resisted Napoléon Bonaparte's army.
Either inspired by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord or Peter Quince in William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (when Quince voiced "That is the true beginning of our end"), William Safire pointed out in November 1942, after General Bernard Montgomery's forces had successfully put an end to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps at El Alamein in Egypt, Winston Churchill declared, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
William Safire observed William Quandt had "combined those allusions and added his substitution of an extended term for the word end: the end game. That's a chess term coined in 1884 by Bernard Horwitz, 'The real end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win.'" It was explained, "End game is the final stage, often after queens have been exchanged and many other pieces have been knocked off the board; one player is trying for a checkmate, and the weaker opponent is trying for a stalemate."
Reporting on chess in 1987, Robert Byrne made the comment, "If you have not won in the opening and or the middle game, it is time to serve your opponent an end game. But this logic, no matter how natural, is roundly ignored by many players. Some seem to believe that the end game is only a vehicle for finalizing decisive advantages established in the earlier stages of the game. Underlying this is the thought that the end game doesn't offer the scope for exciting, creative play, that even the best of them are dry exercises in technique. What the best players know is that this is just wrong, that the end game is a tillable field for imagination where hidden combinations abound."
Larry Eldridge made the observation in 1973, "No one can become a really good chess player without studying the basic principles but it's equally difficult to improve the opening, the middle game, and the end game without putting the principles you have learned into practice. Most authorities feel that one should really learn these 3 in reverse order (end, middle, opening), and theoretically this is undoubtedly true. In practice, however, if you don't learn something about the openings fairly quickly, you aren't likely to reach the other stages very often." In conclusion, although "overall strategy of building up a position and long-range planning (is important), but it is equally important to be skilled in the tactical motifs by which one can quickly strike to take advantage of his own strong points and exploit enemy weaknesses."
Lary Faris played shuffleboard since 1937. It was understood "there are 3 phases of a shuffleboard game (the early game, the middle game and the end game). They are distinctly different, each having its own aim and characteristics. In competition, it's essential to know which phase you are in." Back in 1995, Lary shared his thought, "The end game in shuffleboard is important, just as it is in chest. When a team hits close to 60, strategies change, risks are taken...There are many tricks and tactics in end game play...End game is often subtle, tricky and exciting.
On the other hand, fancy end game plays are often not needed. More times than not, it's best to simply score hammers and rotate on out, even if it takes a little longer."
Lary reiterated, "Taking the risks inherent in tricky end game tactics may not be needed. In fact, a few players, maybe showing off or maybe having fun or maybe not thinking, often overuse end game tactics. They want all their finishes to be fancy and take unnecessary risks." Lary believed, "End game tactics are needed. But there's a time for them and there are plenty of times not to use them. It is also very necessary to pull yourself together after a bad shot. We all make a lousy shot several times a game. But leave it there. Don't let it bother you the rest of the match."
In 1956, Samuel Beckett wrote a one-act play called 'Endgame' in which 4 characters questioned the state of affairs about the planet. At the time the world was in the midst of a Cold War. There was the Suez Canal Crisis and there was the Hungarian Uprising. Writing for The New York Times in 1958, Brooks Atkinson recognized Samuel Beckett was "painting a portrait of desolation, lovelessness, boredom, ruthlessness, sorrow, nothingness" in 'Endgame'.
"Mr. Beckett is preparing us for oblivion. Whether or not his theme is acceptable or rational, his director, Alan Schneider, has had the grace to take him at his own evaluation and stage his play seriously. Although there is not much physical movement in it, it has continuous tension and constant pressure. The words are the sounds of fluctuations in temper - from scorn and despair to sardonic humor, from hopelessness to hatred.
"In 'Endgame', as in 'Waiting for Godot', the central character is a tyrant. Here he is called Hamm. Lester Rawlins acts the part with astonishing variety and vigor. Seated on his silly throne, he gives the whole play a driving harshness that is baleful and mad, and that stings the nerves of the audience. In view of the elusiveness of the dialog, the fierce clarity of the characterization he draws is a superb stroke of theater. The part of Clov, the slave, is well played by Alvin Epstein, who is another versatile actor. As he trudges around the stage, dragging a ladder, dropping the telescope, blundering this way and that, Mr. Epstein creates another intelligible image - indecisive, drawn between duty and revulsion, between obedience and contempt. It is excellent work.
"'Comedy' may be too cheerful a word to describe the episodes in the ashcans. They are part of Mr. Beckett's grim joke on the futility of life...What Mr. Beckett has to say is contrary and nihilistic. But he is a writer. He can create a mood by using words as incantations. Although the dialog is often baffling, there is no doubt about the total impression."
Lary reiterated, "Taking the risks inherent in tricky end game tactics may not be needed. In fact, a few players, maybe showing off or maybe having fun or maybe not thinking, often overuse end game tactics. They want all their finishes to be fancy and take unnecessary risks." Lary believed, "End game tactics are needed. But there's a time for them and there are plenty of times not to use them. It is also very necessary to pull yourself together after a bad shot. We all make a lousy shot several times a game. But leave it there. Don't let it bother you the rest of the match."
In 1956, Samuel Beckett wrote a one-act play called 'Endgame' in which 4 characters questioned the state of affairs about the planet. At the time the world was in the midst of a Cold War. There was the Suez Canal Crisis and there was the Hungarian Uprising. Writing for The New York Times in 1958, Brooks Atkinson recognized Samuel Beckett was "painting a portrait of desolation, lovelessness, boredom, ruthlessness, sorrow, nothingness" in 'Endgame'.
"Mr. Beckett is preparing us for oblivion. Whether or not his theme is acceptable or rational, his director, Alan Schneider, has had the grace to take him at his own evaluation and stage his play seriously. Although there is not much physical movement in it, it has continuous tension and constant pressure. The words are the sounds of fluctuations in temper - from scorn and despair to sardonic humor, from hopelessness to hatred.
"In 'Endgame', as in 'Waiting for Godot', the central character is a tyrant. Here he is called Hamm. Lester Rawlins acts the part with astonishing variety and vigor. Seated on his silly throne, he gives the whole play a driving harshness that is baleful and mad, and that stings the nerves of the audience. In view of the elusiveness of the dialog, the fierce clarity of the characterization he draws is a superb stroke of theater. The part of Clov, the slave, is well played by Alvin Epstein, who is another versatile actor. As he trudges around the stage, dragging a ladder, dropping the telescope, blundering this way and that, Mr. Epstein creates another intelligible image - indecisive, drawn between duty and revulsion, between obedience and contempt. It is excellent work.
"'Comedy' may be too cheerful a word to describe the episodes in the ashcans. They are part of Mr. Beckett's grim joke on the futility of life...What Mr. Beckett has to say is contrary and nihilistic. But he is a writer. He can create a mood by using words as incantations. Although the dialog is often baffling, there is no doubt about the total impression."
