The reductio ad absurdum risks an entire proof in one move

Evidence

It is a far finer gambit than any chess gambit: a chess player may offer the sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game. — G. H. Hardy, A Mathematician’s Apology, 189

Categorization

• XREF: A striking chess-to-math analogy that fits Hardy’s recurring comparison of mathematics to games, connecting to his chess passages elsewhere in the apology.
• SEED: Could anchor an essay on how mathematicians gamble with entire arguments rather than incremental steps, unlike most crafts.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — G. H. Hardy, A Mathematician’s Apology, 189