Sure. People don't usually die from playing chess.
What are the similarities and differences between chess and military strategy ?
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In real military conflict you don't throw away your whole army just to have an advantage of one pawn whom you hope will magically turn into a queen somehow.
Mobility.
Centralization.
The best defence is a good offence.
99% tactics.
Attack your opponent where he is weakest.
The only troops that matter are the ones which can reach the front lines.
Divide and conquer
Training/preparation.
Understand your units, and strive to maximize their potential.
Avoid unneccesary weaknesses.
Never tip your hand. (Okay, that's poker. Kinda applies in chess, though.)
No price is to high to pay, for victory.
Restrain your opponent, and cut off his lines of supply.
There are tons of analogies between military strategy, and chess.
There's no oil for you if you checkmate your opponent.
Chess has no camp followers :P
From The Art of War:
“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”
“If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .”
“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”
“Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
1 He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
2 He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
3 He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
4 He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5 He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”
“When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.”
Chess players don't have to worry about some stupid politicians trying to micro-manage their game. >:[
What Maxx_Dragon said.
On the other hand, I routinely use napalm in my chess games...
As Kazparov said, I love the smell of napalm in the morning
hapless_fool wrote:
On the other hand, I routinely use napalm in my chess games...
Lots of napalm can be seen in the discussion threads, unfortunately.
Chess is a WAR on a checkered board, isn't it?
I wrote a pieace about that, here is the link.
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/is-chess-a-game-or-war
No pardoning!
A nice question and many interesting answers! 
The Turks and the Vietnamese are perhaps the best warriors today. Don't mess with them on the battlefield. Just ask the Americans, (or the Chinese) to confirm this assertion.
When the Americans supported the Greek Cypriots (in 1974) a large number of Turkish (Korean War veterans) threw their American War Medals over the White House fence, and onto the White House lawn.
Chess is certainly a "war game." But its similarity with a real war ends rather quickly.
therealgame wrote:
I wonder how chess and real life wars differ from each other. Can you point that out ?
There are rules in chess and the enemy can work everything out. In war, you have the element of surprise.
baddogno wrote:
Sure. People don't usually die from playing chess.
I once knew someone who had a heart attack after he made his move. He checked his opponent and God checkmated him!
They are both oftentimes ill-advised and not well thought-out. (For evidence of this, refer to my own chess games and to my country's recent wars.)
I wonder how chess and real life wars differ from each other. Can you point that out ?