STREET DOGS

From Daily Speculations: Walking in Central Park one sunny day, Victor Niederhoffer spotted a man playing checkers under the trees. Their meeting resulted in one of the most remarkable collections of proverbs yet assembled.

The man under the trees was checkers champion Tom Wiswell. He began to make weekly visits to Vic’s trading offices in Manhattan.

Every time, he wrote down a dozen or so proverbs applicable to winning in markets and life as well as board games.

By the time he died, he had left about 10,000 or 15,000 proverbs in Vic’s keeping. Here are a few:

We suffer defeat gladly as we know that is the only way to learn and improve and ultimately to win.

The world can’t guarantee you wins. You must depend only on your own good moves for success.

Look twice before you move once, and do it every game.

The board supplies no easy answers. Therefore, it is necessary to take a calculated risk: that is not the same as gambling.

Good players seldom hover over the board. After you have decided on your move, take a firm hold of the piece and move it to the right square. Hovering shows you are nervous, undecided and in doubt about your game.

No victor depends on chance; instead skill, science and study are the winning watch words.

Common sense, of course, wins many games, but there are positions where it would actually lose and it will take uncommon sense to win.

Good players do not complain about their lack of opportunities: they are good, in most cases, because they go out and make their opportunities.

Use your eyes when playing a master, use your ears when a champion is talking and be careful which piece you touch when playing anyone, good or bad.