In 1781, when Ben Franklin was Ambassador to France, he found himself playing chess against the Duchess of Bourbon for reasons diplomatic and delicate. Suddenly she made an illegal move, exposing her king to check, which is against the rules. It’s also against the rules, however, for a player to capture the opponent’s king. Yet that’s exactly what Franklin did: he quickly removed her king. This startled the Duchess, who tried to keep her dignity and composure, mildly protesting: “Mr. Ambassador, you know, in France, we do not remove the king,” whereupon Franklin wittily rejoined, “Yes, but in America we do.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 22:19:52 +0000
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