--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That image of a chessboard — an epic…" description: "\"“That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two giant players, carefully nudging their pieces around the globe as part of a grand strategy — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/sam-tanenhaus-39078_cold-war_that-image-of-a-chessboard-an-epic-conte_622660.jpg" --- # That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two… ![“That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two giant players, carefully nudging their pieces around the globe as part of a grand strategy — has indeed become a familiar metaphor for the Cold War. But it is misleading. Many decisions remembered today for their farsighted, tactical…” quote by Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/sam-tanenhaus-39078_cold-war_that-image-of-a-chessboard-an-epic-conte_622660.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/sam-tanenhaus-39078_cold-war_that-image-of-a-chessboard-an-epic-conte_622660.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/sam-tanenhaus-39078_cold-war_that-image-of-a-chessboard-an-epic-conte_622660.jpg) > ““That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two giant players, carefully nudging their pieces around the globe as part of a grand strategy — has indeed become a familiar metaphor for the Cold War. But it is misleading. Many decisions remembered today for their farsighted, tactical brilliance were denounced in their day as weak-willed. And big, public gestures often made less difference than the small, hidden ones.”” [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Cold War is often likened to a chess game, but this metaphor overstates visible moves and understates subtle, behind‑the‑scenes actions that truly shaped history. **In simple terms:** Cold War isn’t just big moves; hidden actions mattered more. Key Takeaway Pay attention to subtle influences. Themes history politics strategy perception Mood reflective analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - diplomatic negotiations - intelligence work - propaganda campaigns - economic policies Key Concepts geopolitics power dynamics decision making Questions to Reflect On - What unseen actions have shaped your field? - How do you evaluate hidden influence versus public displays? A Different Perspective Visible gestures can be symbolic but may not change outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Compromise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [ The higher level of grand strategy \[is\] that of conducting war with a far-sighted regard to the state of the peace that will follow. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-higher-level-of-grand-strategy-is-that-of-conducting-war-with-a/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [There is no single grand strategy. Just as the New Left abandoned an overarching program and became a series of like-minded groups advancing area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/there-is-no-single-grand-strategy-just-as-the-new-left-abandoned-an/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [“Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about doing what you can, consistent with the nation's capabilities and resources.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/grand-strategy-is-about-marrying-ends-to-means-about-doing-what-you/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [There is no grand strategy. My sensibilities push me in a certain direction. Other actors have different sensibilities. That's all. I think it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/there-is-no-grand-strategy-my-sensibilities-push-me-in-a-certain/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [Grand strategy is the art of looking beyond the present battle and calculating ahead. Focus on your ultimate goal and plot to reach it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/grand-strategy-is-the-art-of-looking-beyond-the-present-battle-and/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“12--Lose Battles, But Win The War: Grand Strategy Grand strategy is the art of looking beyond the present battle and calculating ahead. Focus on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/12-lose-battles-but-win-the-war-grand-strategy-grand-strategy-is-the/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [It should be the aim of grand strategy to discover and pierce the Achilles' heel of the opposing government's power to make war. Strategy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/it-should-be-the-aim-of-grand-strategy-to-discover-and-pierce-the/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The military weapon is but one of the means that serve the purposes of war: one out of the assortment which grand strategy can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-military-weapon-is-but-one-of-the-means-that-serve-the-purposes/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [Remember, the American grand strategy works when other countries feel secure. But it doesn't work if we acquiesce in the aggression of other countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-fried/remember-the-american-grand-strategy-works-when-other-countries-feel/) [Daniel Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-fried/) > [George W. Bush has much to evaluate: he has presided over the most sweeping redesign of U.S. grand strategy since the presidency of Franklin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/george-w-bush-has-much-to-evaluate-he-has-presided-over-the-most/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“In September 2002 the Bush administration announced its National Security Strategy, which declared the right to resort to force to eliminate any perceived challenge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-september-2002-the-bush-administration-announced-its-national/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“We do have a grand strategy,” says Zeese, who was the spokesman for Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign. “Nonviolent movements shift power by attacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/we-do-have-a-grand-strategy-says-zeese-who-was-the-spokesman-for/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [If we do not appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the human heart, how can we appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/if-we-do-not-appreciate-the-sensitivity-and-subtlety-of-the-human/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I’m I really working on the right thing, or once I put the solution in place I’m I going to get the benefit out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-evans/i-m-i-really-working-on-the-right-thing-or-once-i-put-the-solution-in/) [Dave Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-evans/) ## More by Sam Tanenhaus > [In literature and in life we ultimately pursue, not conclusions, but beginnings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/in-literature-and-in-life-we-ultimately-pursue-not-conclusions-but/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Our nemesis is time, against which we have a single ally, memory, and even it betrays us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/our-nemesis-is-time-against-which-we-have-a-single-ally-memory-and/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Paul Ryan and his allies, who include Mike Pence, are congressional conservative Republicans, they have a very clear conservative agenda. The question will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/paul-ryan-and-his-allies-who-include-mike-pence-are-congressional/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Donald Trump very clearly said America first. That is a traditional right wing, but also very isolationist. That takes us back to the era…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/donald-trump-very-clearly-said-america-first-that-is-a-traditional/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [The Republican - conservative Republican answer has always been when we lose it's because we're not ideological enough. If they lose midterm elections, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/the-republican-conservative-republican-answer-has-always-been-when-we/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Donald Trump enters office with historically low approval ratings, that's where the battle could get fought. If the country turns against him, his Republican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/donald-trump-enters-office-with-historically-low-approval-ratings/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [We all nurture impulses which promise freedom from the demands of others, even if that freedom means death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/we-all-nurture-impulses-which-promise-freedom-from-the-demands-of/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Donald Trump descends in a very powerful way from longstanding tenets of American conservatism, they're just not the movement conservatism we associate with Reagan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/donald-trump-descends-in-a-very-powerful-way-from-longstanding-tenets/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [The Electroshock Novelist: The Alluring Bad Boy of Literary England Has Always Been Fascinated by Britain's Dustbin Empire. Now Martin Amis Takes On American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/the-electroshock-novelist-the-alluring-bad-boy-of-literary-england/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Pat Buchanan has emerged as the prophet and forerunner of a real economic nationalism on the right, and Donald Trump is now its tribune.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/pat-buchanan-has-emerged-as-the-prophet-and-forerunner-of-a-real/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) [Explore all 11 Sam Tanenhaus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) ## More Cold war quotes > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [“The low point occurred in July, during Romney’s junior week abroad, in which the press became increasingly frustrated over Romney’s refusal to talk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/the-low-point-occurred-in-july-during-romney-s-junior-week-abroad-in/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [We do not have the right to forget that reactionary imperialism exists and its forces actively operate in the world, that they encourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-grechko/we-do-not-have-the-right-to-forget-that-reactionary-imperialism/) Andrei Grechko > [If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/if-you-don-t-like-us-don-t-accept-our-invitations-and-don-t-invite-us/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [Ever since the end of the Cold War, it has been our paramount interest in Europe to strengthen NATO and to extend it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/ever-since-the-end-of-the-cold-war-it-has-been-our-paramount-interest/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-gates/and-so-the-greatest-of-american-triumphs-became-a-peculiarly-joyless/) [Robert M. Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-gates/) > [Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/socialism-would-gather-all-power-to-the-supreme-party-and-party/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [“Stellar Wind resurrected Cold War tactics with twenty-first-century technology. It let the FBI work with the NSA outside of the limits of the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-weiner/stellar-wind-resurrected-cold-war-tactics-with-twenty-first-century/) [Tim Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-weiner/) > [TICAD is a conference Japan launched in 1993 to assist self-supporting development in Africa against the backdrop of the declining international interest in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fumio-kishida/ticad-is-a-conference-japan-launched-in-1993-to-assist-self/) [Fumio Kishida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fumio-kishida/) > [I have seen the rise and fall of Nazi tyranny, the subsequent cold war and the nuclear nightmare that for fifty years haunted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-have-seen-the-rise-and-fall-of-nazi-tyranny-the-subsequent-cold-war/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/the-cold-war-philosophy-of-mutual-assured-destruction-mad-which/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) [Browse all 906 Cold war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two giant players, carefully nudging their pieces around the globe as part of a grand strategy — has indeed become a familiar metaphor for the Cold War. 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