Every fan of the Kung Fu television series will remember Master Po (actor Keye Luke) and the aphorisms with which he instructed his "favourite student", Grasshopper—the youthful Kwai Chang Caine.

Watching a replay of the original Kung Fu movie recently it seemed that in those aphorisms there had to be an element of truth for the chess player as well.

Some were catchy but had little chess relevance, or, indeed, any relevance at all, as: No man can step on the same piece of water twice, or The sword cannot cut itself.   Others didn't lend themselves to chess at all: The courageous fighter shuns violence; the skillful soldier avoids anger; a mighty warrior will not fight for petty conquests. Others seemed more appropriate and a few appear below with their chess equivalents.

Had Po been a chess trainer Caine would probably have become an IM instead of a kung fu master, and Po's wisdom would have found parallels on the chequered dojo.

Master Po:   Sometimes, Grasshopper, one must cut off a finger to save the hand.
Chess Master:   Even faced with dire threats look for the saving move.

In this position Minic is threatening 1. Qh1+ Qh4, 2. Qxh4#.
Savic could have resigned but that would have been premature capitulation.
Instead he found an ingenious counter.

1… Rc6! 2. Qxc6 Qd5 3. Qxd5 b3+ stalemate.
If 2. Bf7 Rxg6 3. Bxg6 Qd5 =
If 2. Qf7 3. Rxe6 Qxe6 Qd5 =

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Master Po:   If you are firmly rooted in the Tao, Grasshopper, all the forces of the earth may pull at you but you will remain at rest.
Chess Master:   Understand your opening and you won't be pushed about by pawns

In this Bird's Opening position Yuri Gusev over-extended his attack against a stronger opponent. After Ilia Smirin's 6 …Ke7 Gusev is lost. He can save his knight by playing 7. Ne2 but then his bishop falls to 7. . . a6 and 8. . . b5.

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Master Po:   Tie two birds together, Grasshopper, and even though they have four wings they cannot fly.
Chess Master:   Overworked pieces are unhappy pieces.

In the diagrammed position white seems to have everything covered but Benko's electrifying Qf4+ reveals that the knight is badly overworked. It must not only defend f4 but in blocking the light square bishop provides the king with some badly needed lebensraum on h3. Alas! It can not do both.

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Master Po:   A Shaolin priest does not sell himself for a handful of rice.
Chess Master:   Patzers pinch pawns—masters mustn't.

We often fall into the trap of pawn pinching and sometimes get away with it. Even the masters indulge—and sometimes they get away with it. Bobby Fischer was willing to endure defensive positions if he could win a pawn and hold it, but even at the height of his powers he stumbled.
In Game 7 at Rekjavik he played the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf and managed a draw.
He tried the same opening in Game 11 but Spassky had found an improvement.

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Master Po:   The way of the monkey is to play the fool. While you laugh at his antics he bites you from behind.
Chess Master:   Just because your opponent opens with the Orang Utan it doesn't mean he can't play chess.

The Sokolsky works for some and Rindansholt had no trouble making a monkey out of Dusan in this brevity. Personally I'd rather stick with something that lives a little closer to the centre.

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Master Po:   When your opponent is strong, make him weak. If he is determined, make him pause.
Chess Master:   If your opponent wants to attack there's no need to be too co-operative.

In this position white sacrificed his knight on f7. It would have been sound had black accepted it.

For instance, 21. Nxf7 Rxf7, 22. Rxf7 Kxf7, 23. Qxe6+ Kf8, 24. Rf1+ and white wins.

Instead black played Rf8 and suddenly the whole attack was reversed.

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Master Po:   All is not what it pretends to be, but once in a while you will find that the pretence may be the truth.
Chess Master:   Play the board, not your opponent.

In the NSW Women's Championship, 2004, Slavica Sarai (2126) was defeated by young Deborah Ng (1068). How could it happen? Who can say! Perhaps Slavica assumed she would simply have to push the pieces around to beat a player rated 1056 points below her. Perhaps Deborah found a resource that gave her winning chances. Whatever happened Slavica was still puzzling over the position when her time ran out.

We can't bring you a copy of that game, but here's one from the 2005 Lidums Australian Open where Rengan Vijayakumar (1239) gave Max Illingworth (1839) a chess lesson. Max has claimed some pretty good scalps, but in this game his moves lacked purpose. He seemed to think any move would do and the game would win itself. More often than not he'd have been right.

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Master Po:   It is said, Grasshopper, that a moth that lives too close to the flame has a short life.
Chess Master:   Always remember to check the security of your own position.

I'm not sure who was living too close to the flame in this one.

In a recent Internet rapid game I made a meal of the opening, lost two pawns, and managed to obtain a totally lost position. In the circumstances there was little to lose by sacrificing a piece to create some holes in my opponent's position.

Nothing eventuated until we eventually arrived at the diagrammed position by which time black had regained his two pawns, still held a knight advantage, and was keen to exchange queens. Of course, his king did have limited mobility . . .

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Master Po:   When one eye is fixed on the destination, Grasshopper, you have only one eye to search for the way.
Chess Master:   It only takes one lapse of concentration to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

In this position black was under attack but seemed to have everything covered. He is a pawn up, has the two bishops, has an open file to develop an attack on white's king when he gets out from under. Of course, white has the rooks doubled on the c-file but black's knight, rook and queen appear to be holding everything together.

Then, out of a clear, blue sky, white pounced.

Use Chess Genie to play through the attack:

1. Nc6 bxc6 [if 1. . .Nc6, 2. bc6; 1. . . Ka8 2. Nxe7]
2. bxc6 Kc7
3. Qb8! resigned [if 3. . . Kxb8, 4. c7#]