“Chess players mate better”

“Chess players mate better” is a popular chess saying that has been printed in many images. The saying—a pun on the term “checkmate”—has been put on bumper stickers and T-shirts since at least 1983.
 
     
19 August 1983, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Why, You Could Hear a Pawn Drop” by Bella Stumbo, pt. II, pg. 11, col. 2:
One boy, from Encino, had just visited the tournament bookstore, where, among other memorabilia, he had acquired two popular bumper stickers: “Pawn Power” and “Chess Players Mate Better.”
 
Google Books
Chess Life
United States Chess Federation
Volume 38
1983
Pg. 36:
But one day he wore a shirt he bought while at a San Antonio tournament that read: “Chessplayers Mate Better.”
 
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Saif Ahmed
2/7/92
(...)
Chess players mate better. 
 
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Fwd: Today’s Joke: True Statements
Suro
9/23/05
(...)
Chess players mate better.
 
Jokes, Quips and Funstuff
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006
More to live and learn…
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Chess players mate better. 
     
Chess.com
Chess players - nerds?
guitar_man 03 #12 Jan 18, 2008
well… if being a nerd is intelligent then i’m ok with it…. better to be intelligent & not a airhead. there is a saying about chess players. ´´Chess Players Mate Better´´Tongue outCool
 
Twitter
Dominique Burkett‏
@ATXCynic
Best bumper sticker of the day: “Chess players mate better”
3:14 PM - 11 Nov 2009
     
Rafi Chowdhury
26 Phrases Only A Chess Player Would Understand
October 20, 2014 by Rafi Chowdhury
(...)
8. Chess players mate better.
 
Twitter
Grean Toe‏
@greantoe
Replying to @ZaraDuRose
Im a chess player. Chess players mate better!!!
8:55 PM - 22 Oct 2017