"There are various excuses made by checker players as to why they were beaten. It may have been the arrival of a new baby; the unexpected arrival of his mother-in-law; it might have been the toothache the previous night; the baby may have kept him awake all night on account of its having the colic; the weather may have changed suddenly and brought on a twinge of rheumatism; he may not have had the kind of board to play on to which he is accustomed; a spectator may have smiled at a time when smiles were out of order; some one may have opened a window causing a draught; he may have used a line of play given in the book as sound and it turned out otherwise. The foregoing and many others may all be good and valid excuses, but the finest one of all is, the other fellow was a better player."

Printed more than eighty years ago as The Art of Alibi in the Seattle Times, and still relevant today.