Let The Pundits Play Chess

Spurred on by Andrew Sprung's criticism of Tom Friedman, Jonathan Bernstein argues for another understanding of sacrifice:

[E:]veryone understands that a sacrifice in chess is self-interested.There is no moral or character component to sacrificing a piece; it's agood idea if it helps the player win, and a bad idea otherwise. No oneanalyzes a chess game by saying that the player lost, but at least shewas willing to sacrifice her rook, or that he didn't deserve to winbecause he was unwilling to...