Playing chess reminds me of Ecclesiastes chapter 1, especially verses 9 & 10 ...

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, the king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; / Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

What advantage does a man have in all his work / Which he does under the sun?

A generation goes and a generation comes, / But the earth stands forever.

Also, the sun arises, and the sun sets / And hurries to its place where it rises.

Going to the south, then turning to the north, / Turning about continually, the wind goes on; / And following its circuits, the wind returns.

All the rivers run to the sea, / Yet the sea is not full; / To the place where the rivers run, / There they run again.

All things are wearisome; / No one is able to tell it; / The
eye is not satisfied with seeing, / Nor is the ear filled with
hearing.

What has been is what will be, / And what has been done is what will be done, / And there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which one can say, See, this is new? / Already it has been, in the ages that were before us.

There is no remembrance of those who were before; / And also those who will come to be afterward, for them there will be no / remembrance / With those who come to be after them.