"Si vis pacem, para bellum" ― Cicero

"Unfortunately, many regard the critic as an enemy, instead of seeing him as a guide to the truth." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." ― Bette Davis

"Chess is a matter of vanity." ― Alexander Alekhine

"As a chess player one has to be able to control one's feelings, one has to be as cold as a machine." ― Levon Aronian

"Sometimes it happens that the computer's assessment is very abstract. It's correct, but it's not useful for a practical game. You have to prove the assessment with very strong moves and if you don't find all of these strong moves you may lose very quickly. For a computer this is not a problem, but for humans it is not so easy." ― Vassily Ivanchuk

"A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit." ― John Milton

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"A sport, a struggle for results and a fight for prizes. I think that the discussion about "chess is science or chess is art" is already inappropriate. The purpose of modern chess is to reach a result." ― Alexander Morozevich

"No one man is superior to the game." ― A. Bartlett Giamatti, in reference to Pete Rose, the all-time MLB hits leader banned for gambling.

"To err is human; to forgive, divine." ― Alexander Pope

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." — Albert Einstein

"I consider Mr. Morphy the finest chess player who ever existed. He is far superior to any now living, and would doubtless have beaten Labourdonnais himself. In all his games with me, he has not only played, in every instance, the exact move, but the most exact. He never makes a mistake; but, if his adversary commits the slightest error, he is lost." ― Adolf Anderssen

"After white's reply to 1.e4 e5 with 2.f4 the game is in its last throes" ― Howard Staunton

"I have added these principles to the law: get the Knights into action before both Bishops are developed." ― Emanuel Lasker

"With opposite coloured bishops the attacking side has in effect an extra piece in the shape of his bishop." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom or never make a fortune." ― Francois-Andre Danican Philidor

"Be warned! From Satan's viewpoint you are a pawn in his game of cosmic chess." ― Adrian Rogers

"Pawns not only create the sketch for the whole painting, they are also the soil, the foundation, of any position." ― Anatoly Karpov

"Pawns are such fascinating pieces, too...So small, almost insignificant, and yet--they can depose kings." ― Lavie Tidhar, The Bookman

"The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him." ― Max Stirner

"It is a profound mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned." ― Richard Reti

"A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover." ― Savielly Tartakower

"Everyone makes mistakes. The wise are not people who never make mistakes, but those who forgive themselves and learn from their mistakes." ― Ajahn Brahm

"As a rule, so-called "positional" sacrifices are considered more difficult, and therefore more praise-worthy, than those which are based exclusively on an exact calculation of tactical possibilities." ― Alexander Alekhine

"It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner of expressing themselves are within the reach of all." ― Eugene Znosko-Borovsky

"The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move." ― David Bronstein

"If the defender is forced to give up the center, then every possible attack follows almost of itself." ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a defenseless and unerudite public." ― Agnes Repplier

"If you watch it, you should watch it with other players and try to find moves, like it was before. Now on many sites you watch together with the computer and the pleasure is gone." ― Boris Gelfand

"I believe that Chess possesses a magic that is also a help in advanced age. A rheumatic knee is forgotten during a game of chess and other events can seem quite unimportant in comparison with a catastrophe on the chessboard." ― Vlastimil Hort

"It's funny, but many people don't understand why I draw so many games nowadays. They think my style must have changed but this is not the case at all. The answer to this drawing disease is that my favorite squares are e6, f7, g7 and h7 and everyone now knows this. They protect these squares not once but four times!" ― Mikhail Tal

"Having spent alarmingly large chunks of my life studying the white side of the Open Sicilian, I find myself asking, why did I bother?" ― Daniel J. King

"Apart from direct mistakes, there is nothing more ruinous than routine play, the aim of which is mechanical development." ― Alexey Suetin

"Not infrequently ... the theoretical is a synonym of the stereotyped. For the 'theoretical' in chess is nothing more than that which can be found in the textbooks and to which players try to conform because they cannot think up anything better or equal, anything original." ― Mikhail Chigorin

"The choice of opening, whether to aim for quiet or risky play, depends not only on the style of a player, but also on the disposition with which he sits down at the board." ― Efim Geller

"Despite the development of chess theory, there is much that remains secret and unexplored in chess." ― Vasily Smyslov

"No matter how much theory progresses, how radically styles change, chess play is inconceivable without tactics." ― Samuel Reshevsky

"Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous." ― Abdelkader El Djezairi

"Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and diligence." ― Abigail Adams

"When I was preparing for one term's work in the Botvinnik school I had to spend a lot of time on king and pawn endings. So when I came to a tricky position in my own games, I knew the winning method." ― Garry Kasparov

"As a rule, pawn endings have a forced character, and they can be worked out conclusively." ― Mark Dvoretsky

"It is a gross overstatement, but in chess, it can be said I play against my opponent over the board and against myself on the clock." ― Viktor Korchnoi

"The fact that the 7 hours time control allows us to play a great deep game is not of great importance for mass-media." ― Alexei Shirov

"For me, each game is a new challenge, which has to be dealt with rationally and systematically. At that time, every other thought fades into oblivion." ― Viswanathan Anand

Ne kadar bilirsen bil, o kadar azdır.

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." ― Albert Einstein

"One bad move nullifies forty good ones." ― Israel Albert Horowitz

"It is a well-known phenomenon that the same amateur who can conduct the middle game quite creditably, is usually perfectly helpless in the end game. One of the principal requisites of good chess is the ability to treat both the middle and end game equally well." ― Aron Nimzowitsch

"My hard work and excellent training entitled me to be a better actress than some of my competitors." ― Pola Negri

"Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

"Capablanca used to talk calmly and moderately about everything. However, when our conversation turned to the problems of the battle for the world championship, in front of me was a quite different person: an enraged lion, although with the fervour typical only of a southerner, with his temperamental patter, which made it hard to follow the torrent of his indignant exclamations and words." ― Alexander Koblencs

"A player is said to have the opposition when he can place his King directly in front of the adverse King, with only one square between them. This is often an important advantage in ending games." ― Howard Staunton

"A player can sometimes afford the luxury of an inaccurate move, or even a definite error, in the opening or middlegame without necessarily obtaining a lost position. In the endgame ... an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance." ― Paul Keres

"Never trust a government that doesn't trust its own citizens with guns." ― Benjamin Franklin

"The Soviet Union was an exception, but even there chess players were not rich. Only Fischer changed that." ― Boris Spassky

"Chess never has been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged in to the detriment of other and more serious avocations - should not absorb or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine, but should be kept in the background, and restrained within its proper province. As a mere game, a relaxation from the severe pursuits of life, it is deserving of high commendation." ― Paul Morphy

"Incidentally, when we're faced with a "prove or disprove," we're usually better off trying first to disprove with a counterexample, for two reasons: A disproof is potentially easier (we need just one counterexample); and nitpicking arouses our creative juices. Even if the given assertion is true, our search for a counterexample often leads to a proof, as soon as we see why a counterexample is impossible. Besides, it's healthy to be skeptical." ― Ronald Graham

"Attackers may sometimes regret bad movez, but it's much worse to forever regret an opportunity you allowed to pass you by." ― Garry Kasparov

"Even the laziest king flees wildly in the face of a double check." ― Aron Nimzowitzch

"When you see a good move – WAIT! – look for a better one." ― Emanuel Lasker The Portuguese chess player and author Pedro Damiano (1480–1544) first wrote this in his book "Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti" published in Rome, Italy, in 1512.

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

French Proverb: "Ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire la grimace." ― (There's no substitute for experience.)

"Win with grace, lose with dignity!" ― Susan Polgar

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, personal and professional discipline, focus, concentration, strong nerves, the will to win, and yes, talent!" ― Susan Polgar

"No matter how successful you are (or will be), never ever forget the people who helped you along the way, and pay it forward! Don't become arrogant and conceited just because you gained a few rating points or made a few bucks. Stay humble and be nice, especially to your fans!" ― Susan Polgar

"To find something, anything, a great truth or a lost pair of glasses, you must first believe there will be some advantage in finding it." — Jack Burden, All The King's Men

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." — Jimmy Dean

"Chess is above all, a fight!" — Emanuel Lasker

"In chess, at least, the brave inherit the earth." — Edmar Mednis

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts." ― Dan Gable, all-time winningest wrestler

"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some." — Dale Earnhardt

"In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent." — Vasily Smyslov

"The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal." — Criss Jami

Fools look to tomorrow. Wise men use tonight. ~ Scottish Proverb

prime rib says EG a blitz opening tried by Black: White should take on d5 and play Qe2, Nc3 winning e4 pawn. Qd1 backward move and d3 are fine.

King's Pawn Opening
Chicago Gambit – C44 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 Nxe5 4.d4

Latvian Gambit
Latvian Gambit (Greco Countergambit) – C40 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 Latvian Gambit (Lobster Gambit) – C40 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.g42 Svendenborg's Variation – C40 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Nf6 4.Bc4 fxe4 5.Nf7 Qe7 6.Nxh8 d5

Petrov's Defence
Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit – C42 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 f6 Cochrane Gambit – C42 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Urusov Gambit – C43 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4

Philidor Defence
Locock Gambit – C41 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Ng5 h6 5.Nxf7 Lopez Countergambit – C41 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 Philidor Countergambit – C41 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5

Ponziani Opening
Ponziani Countergambit – C44 – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 f5

* Brilliancies: Game Collection: Brilliancy Prizes (Reinfeld)

* B23-B25: Game Collection: Sicilian Closed / Grand Prix Attack

* Black ...d6 Resources: Game Collection: 1...d6. A very interesting opening with no name

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games:
Game Collection: Chessmaster '86

* Chess Links: http://www.chessdryad.com/links/ind...

* Arranged? Game Collection: Arranged draws

* Greatest? Game Collection: The Greatest Draws Ever Played

* "202 Checkmates: https://electricliterature.com/202-...

* 1927 World Championship: Game Collection: 1927 Alekhine-Capablanca WC match

* Diagrammed Checkmate Patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Didn't stand a chance: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QPMj...

* En passant: Wikipedia article: En passant

* Epic: Game Collection: Epic Battles of the CB by R.N. Coles - keypusher

* Famous players and their chess quotes: https://www.azquotes.com/author/310...

* Free Chess Curriculum: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Films: https://www.smarthousecreative.com/...

* Greats: Game Collection: These were the greatest...

* Karpov - Kasparov: Game Collection: Karpov - Kasparov WCC Draws

* Kramnik: Game Collection: Kramnik Draw Champion

* Kramnik: Game Collection: Draw with each Opening (Kramnik)

* Kyrgyzstan: https://www.thechessschach.com/2021...

* Morphy Miniatures:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* "Match of the Century" 1970: https://www.chess.com/blog/Makeev_K...

* MC Move-by-Move: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)

* Mechanics' Institute: https://www.milibrary.org/content/s...

* Perpetuals: Game Collection: Defensive Combinations (Perpetual Check)

* Dr. Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910, Dubrovnik - 8 December 1980, Belgrade) was an International Grandmaster and five-times Yugoslav Champion of chess. https://gambiter.com/chess/players/...

* So True: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/gre...

* Random: Game Collection: Random Stuff

* Washington Square Park: https://greenwichvillagehistory.wor...

* Read The Planet Greenpawn - https://www.redhotpawn.com/

* Sports Clichés: http://www.sportscliche.com/

* Top Chessgames by ECO Code: http://schachsinn.de/gamelist.htm

* Top Games by Year: Wikipedia article: List of chess games

* Terminology: https://www.angelfire.com/games5/ch...

* That's a lot of counting: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/st...

* Underpromotion to B or Hyena? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2JA5...

* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games: Game Collection: Chessmaster '86

* Chess in old newspapers: https://www.schach-chess.com/chess-...

* Cambridge Springs: Game Collection: CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS VARIATION

* Diagrammed Checkmate Patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Dvoretsky: Game Collection: For Friends and Colleagues 1 (Dvoretsky)

* Caviar: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Fischer Wins: Game Collection: Bobby Fischer Wins With The King's Indian Attack

* Forney's Collection: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz): Game Collection: Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz)

* King Registration: https://www.kingregistration.com/to...

* Karpov's book: Game Collection: Karpov Right Plan

* Lasker's Defense: Game Collection: Lasker's Defense to the Queen's Gambit

* Logical: Game Collection: Logical Chess: Move By Move

* S-S Meran: Game Collection: SEMI-SLAV MERAN

* Malaguena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxD...

* MC Move-by-Move: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)

* The Manhattan Defense: Opening Explorer

* Minority Attacks: Game Collection: Minority attack

Game Collection: Anti-minority attack capturing with the Knight.

* Names and Places: Game Collection: Named Mates

* Online safety: https://www.entrepreneur.com/scienc...

* Opening Ideas: Game Collection: Greatest Opening Ideas (Scheerer)

* Pawn Structures: Game Collection: Chess Structures: A Grandmaster Guide

* Pawn themes: Game Collection: Aurora

* Philidor's Legacy: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I2Xm...

* Interesting QP games:
Game Collection: Queen's Pawn

* QG exchange: Game Collection: Queen's Gambit Exchange

* QG register: Game Collection: Gerareis' repertoire for white

* Rip 'em to shreds! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/m...

* Starting Out 1d4: Game Collection: Starting Out: 1 d4!

* Secrets of Combination: Game Collection: Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume II

* Semi-Tarrasch: Game Collection: Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch Defence

* Smyslov's Best: Game Collection: Smyslov's Best Games of chess 1935-1957

* Spassky had a universal style: Game Collection: Spassky's Best Games (Cafferty)

* Shirov miniatures: Game Collection: Shirov miniatures

* Sports Clichés: http://www.sportscliche.com/

* Tactical Games: Game Collection: Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics

* Tarrasch playing his Tarrasch Defense!
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Random Zs: Game Collection: ZHVNE

* Mr. Harvey's Puzzle Challenge: https://wtharvey.com/

WTHarvey:
There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles did daily delay,
The brain-teasers so tough,
They made us all huff and puff,
But solving them brought us great satisfaction today.

There once was a website named WTHarvey
Where chess puzzles were quite aplenty
With knight and rook and pawn
You'll sharpen your brain with a yawn
And become a master of chess entry

There once was a site for chess fun,
Wtharvey.com was the chosen one,
With puzzles galore,
It'll keep you in store,
For hours of brain-teasing, none done.

There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles were posted daily,
You'd solve them with glee,
And in victory,
You'd feel like a true chess prodigy!

"Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands." ― Renaud & Kahn

"Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self-image and self-esteem." ― Saudin Robovic

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"Life is like a chess. If you lose your queen, you will probably lose the game." ― Being Caballero

"If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure." — Garry Kasparov

"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some." — Dale Earnhardt

"In life, unlike chess the game continues after checkmate." ― Isaac Asimov

Sleeper straddle "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." ― Samuel Beckett

Idaho: Franklin
Established in: 1860

Franklin was founded in the spring of 1860 by a small group of Mormon pioneers and was named for Apostle Franklin D. Richards. As early settlers began building cabins and farming, they believed they were still in Utah. It wasn't until 1872 that an official boundary survey placed a border between the two states.

* Chess History: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ch...

* Chess History: https://www.uschesstrust.org/chess-...

* World Chess Championship History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkO...

* Chess Timeline: https://wegochess.com/an-easy-to-re...

Picture History of Chess
by Fred Wilson

This classic photo-history offers up hundreds of photos of all the great players along with many outstanding adversaries who helped fashion the immortals. Excellent captions throughout. Hours of fascinating reading and a book I return to again and again. Many of these photos are quite old and hard to find, but collected here under one cover, in an oversized (10x12") format, printed on high-quality glossy paper.

Publisher‏: ‎ Dover Pubns; First Edition (January 1, 1981) Language: ‎ English
Paperback: ‎ 182 pages
ISBN-10: ‎ 0486238563
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0486238562
Item Weight: ‎ 1.23 pounds
Dimensions: ‎ 8.75 x 0.5 x 11.5 inches

Eilfan ywmodryb dda
Meaning: A good aunt is a second mother

<A lone lion wanders afar in the wilderness, no longer part of the pride
Once gleaming, accepted, a beautiful beast,
now having been cast aside
No chance for part in coordinated hunt,
this one can't run very fast
Nature holds no place, and faltering,
it seems this beast just won't last
— Emory Andrew Tate, Jr.>

The former European country of <Yugoslavia> existed after World War I from 1918 to 1992, yet for decades it was one of world's major chess nations. Yugoslavia won the 1950 Olympiad, took 2nd-4th in twelve consecutive Olympiads 1952-1974. Svetoza Gligorić https://en.chessbase.com/post/remem... qualified for the Candidates in 1953 and 1959 as well as Borislav Ivkov in 1965.

"The Yugoslav Chess Championship Wikipedia article: Yugoslav Chess Championship was an annual chess tournament held to determine the Yugoslav national champion and Yugoslavia's candidates for the World Chess Championship. It was first played won by Vasja ♙irc and ♗orislav ♔ostić in 1935 in Belgrade, the capital of Kingdom of Yugoslavia and ended with its 46th iteration after the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia."

Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav and Serbian chess player: Wikipedia article: Petar Trifunovi%C4%87 His writings: https://thechesspedia.net/trifunovi...

"In 1963, the country was renamed for the final time, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The six constituent republics that made up the SFRY were the socialist republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Within Serbia were the two socialist autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina..."

"After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism and ethnic conflicts, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics' borders, at first into five countries, leading to the Yugoslav Wars. From 1993 to 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia tried political and military leaders from the former Yugoslavia for war crimes, genocide, and other crimes committed during those wars." Source: Wikipedia

"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." ― Satchel Paige

4 in 5 older adults will battle at least one chronic condition or illness.

Certain parts of the body age faster than others.

Age is just a number, and your brain can get sharper as you age.

You become more financially stable.

Your taste buds change.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run—
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Zippa's bad at chess

And horrible at checkers too

В ти́хом о́муте че́рти во́дятся Pronunciation: v TEEham Omutye CHYERtee VOdyatsya Translation: The devil lives in the still waters Meaning: Still waters run deep; beware of a silent dog and still water

"You must play boldly to win." ― Arnold Palmer

"Champions keep playing until they get it right." ― Billie Jean King

Fred Wellmuth was a strong amateur from California

<There are distinct situations where a bishop is preferred (over a knight). For example, two bishops are better than two knights or one of each. Steven Mayer, the author of Bishop Versus Knight, contends, "A pair of bishops is usually considered to be worth six points, but common sense suggests that a pair of active bishops (that are very involved in the formation) must be accorded a value of almost nine under some circumstances." This is especially true if the player can plant the bishops in the center of the board, as two bishops working in tandem can span up to 26 squares and have the capacity to touch every square.

Bishops are also preferable to knights when queens have been exchanged because, Grandmaster Sergey Erenburg, who is ranked 11th in the U.S., explains, "Bishops and rooks complement each other, and when well-coordinated, act as a queen." Conversely, a knight is the preferred minor piece when the queen survives until the late-middlegame or the endgame. Mayer explains, "The queen and knight are able to work together smoothly and create a greater number of threats than the queen and bishop."

When forced to say one is better than the other, most anoint the bishop. Mayer concludes, "I think it's true that the bishops are better than the knights in a wider variety of positions than the knights are better than the bishops."

He continues, "Of course, I'm not sure this does us much good, as we only get to play one position at a time.">

"Chess is life in miniature. Chess is a struggle, chess battles." — Garry Kasparov

"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess

So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.

"Don't blow your own trumpet." — Australian Proverb

Old Russian Proverb: "Scythe over a stone." (Нашла коса на камень.) The force came over a stronger force.

"Continuing to play the victim is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Blaming others for your station in life will indeed make you a victim but the perpetrator will be your own self, not life or those around you." — Bobby Darnell

Q: What do you call something that goes up when the rain comes down? A: An umbrella.

Q: What do you call a doctor who fixes websites? A: A URL-ologist.

Q: What do you call a sleeping dinosaur?
A: A dinosnore.

Q: What do you call a Christmas tree that knows karate A: Spruce Lee.

Q: What does a triangle call a circle?
A: Pointless.

Q: What do you call a piece of sad cheese?
A: Blue cheese.

Q: What do you call a cow in an earthquake?
A: A milkshake.

Q: What do you call an M&M that went to college? A: A smarty.

The Man And His Image
To M. The Duke De La Rochefoucauld.

A man, who had no rivals in the love
Which to himself he bore,
Esteemed his own dear beauty far above
What earth had seen before.
More than contented in his error,
He lived the foe of every mirror.
Officious fate, resolved our lover
From such an illness should recover,
Presented always to his eyes
The mute advisers which the ladies prize; –
Mirrors in parlours, inns, and shops, –
Mirrors the pocket furniture of fops, –
Mirrors on every lady's zone,13
From which his face reflected shone.
What could our dear Narcissus do?
From haunts of men he now withdrew,
On purpose that his precious shape
From every mirror might escape.
But in his forest glen alone,
Apart from human trace,
A watercourse,
Of purest source,
While with unconscious gaze
He pierced its waveless face,
Reflected back his own.
Incensed with mingled rage and fright,
He seeks to shun the odious sight;
But yet that mirror sheet, so clear and still,
He cannot leave, do what he will.

Before this, my story's drift you plainly see.
From such mistake there is no mortal free.
That obstinate self-lover
The human soul does cover;
The mirrors follies are of others,
In which, as all are genuine brothers,
Each soul may see to life depicted
Itself with just such faults afflicted;
And by that charming placid brook,
Needless to say, I mean your Maxim Book.

This is one of La Fontaine's most admired fables, and is one of the few for which he did not go for the groundwork to some older fabulist. The Duke de la Rochefoucauld, to whom it was dedicated, was the author of the famous "Reflexions et Maximes Morales," which La Fontaine praises in the last lines of his fable. La Rochefoucauld was La Fontaine's friend and patron. The "Maximes" had achieved a second edition just prior to La Fontaine's publication of this first series of his Fables, in 1668. "The Rabbits" (Book 10, Fable 15.), published in the second collection, in 1678-9, is also dedicated to the Duke, who died the following year, 1680.

Engineer Ralph Baer is often held to be the "father of video games." His "Brown Box" video game system, designed in 1967, paved the way for all future consoles.

"mãos frias, coração quente". In English, it means "a cold hand, a warm heart"

Drive sober or get pulled over.

"For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." — Assiac

"mais vale um passarinho na mão do que dois a voar"

Contrary to popular belief, the first video game was not Pong. It was preceded by Tennis for Two in 1958 and Spacewar! in 1962.

An Irish Blessing:

May we all feel…
happy and contented,
healthy and strong,
safe and protected
and living with ease…

~

Question: What language has the most words?
Answer: English

Gorillas can catch human colds and other illnesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has really underscored this point: Scientists have documented multiple instances of human pathogens including rhinoviruses and coronaviruses finding their way into gorillas and other great apes.

Question: In terms of production volume, what is the most popular fruit in the world? Answer: Tomato – yes, tomato is a fruit.

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." ― Nora Ephr

The Seven Social Sins are:

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.

From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925." ― Frederick Lewis Donaldson

Your feet contain a quarter of your bones.
Human feet contain 52 bones (26 for each foot). That's nearly a quarter of all the bones in your whole body! Each also contains 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Are your dogs barking?

Je ne suis pas d'accord avec ce que vous dites, mais je d‚fendrai jusqu'... la mort le droit que vous avez de le dire/ I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire

The smallest bone in your body is in your ear.
No named bone in your body is smaller (or lighter) than the stapes, a bone in the middle ear that's actually shaped like a stirrup. It's complete with a base and an oval window, which is covered with a membrane that measures sound vibrations.

* Crafty Endgame Trainer: https://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-...

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, "Don Quixote"

Old Russian Proverb: "Measure seven times, cut once. (Семь раз отмерь — один отрежь.)" Be careful before you do something that cannot be changed.

"I'm 58 years old and I just went through 8 back surgeries. They started cutting on me in February 2009, and I was basically bed ridden for almost two years. I got a real dose of reality that if you don't have your health, you don't have anything." — Hulk Hogan

Ravenna
by Oscar Wilde

To my friend George Fleming author of 'The Nile Novel' and 'Mirage')

I.

A year ago I breathed the Italian air, -
And yet, methinks this northern Spring is fair,- These fields made golden with the flower of March, The throstle singing on the feathered larch,
The cawing rooks, the wood-doves fluttering by,
The little clouds that race across the sky;
And fair the violet's gentle drooping head,
The primrose, pale for love uncomforted,
The rose that burgeons on the climbing briar,
The crocus-bed, (that seems a moon of fire
Round-girdled with a purple marriage-ring);
And all the flowers of our English Spring,
Fond snowdrops, and the bright-starred daffodil.

Up starts the lark beside the murmuring mill,
And breaks the gossamer-threads of early dew;
And down the river, like a flame of blue,
Keen as an arrow flies the water-king,
While the brown linnets in the greenwood sing.

A year ago! - it seems a little time
Since last I saw that lordly southern clime,
Where flower and fruit to purple radiance blow,
And like bright lamps the fabled apples glow.

Full Spring it was - and by rich flowering vines, Dark olive-groves and noble forest-pines,
I rode at will; the moist glad air was sweet,
The white road rang beneath my horse's feet,
And musing on Ravenna's ancient name,
I watched the day till, marked with wounds of flame, The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned.

O how my heart with boyish passion burned,
When far away across the sedge and mere
I saw that Holy City rising clear,
Crowned with her crown of towers! - On and on
I galloped, racing with the setting sun,
And ere the crimson after-glow was passed,
I stood within Ravenna's walls at last!

II.

How strangely still! no sound of life or joy
Startles the air; no laughing shepherd-boy
Pipes on his reed, nor ever through the day
Comes the glad sound of children at their play:
O sad, and sweet, and silent! surely here
A man might dwell apart from troublous fear,
Watching the tide of seasons as they flow
From amorous Spring to Winter's rain and snow,
And have no thought of sorrow; - here, indeed,
Are Lethe's waters, and that fatal weed
Which makes a man forget his fatherland.

Ay! amid lotus-meadows dost thou stand,
Like Proserpine, with poppy-laden head,
Guarding the holy ashes of the dead.

For though thy brood of warrior sons hath ceased, Thy noble dead are with thee! - they at least
Are faithful to thine honour:- guard them well,
O childless city! for a mighty spell,
To wake men's hearts to dreams of things sublime, Are the lone tombs where rest the Great of Time.

III.

Yon lonely pillar, rising on the plain,
Marks where the bravest knight of France was slain, - The Prince of chivalry, the Lord of war,
Gaston de Foix: for some untimely star
Led him against thy city, and he fell,
As falls some forest-lion fighting well.

Taken from life while life and love were new,
He lies beneath God's seamless veil of blue;
Tall lance-like reeds wave sadly o'er his head,
And oleanders bloom to deeper red,
Where his bright youth flowed crimson on the ground.

Look farther north unto that broken mound, -
There, prisoned now within a lordly tomb
Raised by a daughter's hand, in lonely gloom,
Huge-limbed Theodoric, the Gothic king,
Sleeps after all his weary conquering.

Time hath not spared his ruin, - wind and rain
Have broken down his stronghold; and again
We see that Death is mighty lord of all,
And king and clown to ashen dust must fall

Mighty indeed THEIR glory! yet to me
Barbaric king, or knight of chivalry,
Or the great queen herself, were poor and vain,
Beside the grave where Dante rests from pain.

His gilded shrine lies open to the air;
And cunning sculptor's hands have carven there
The calm white brow, as calm as earliest morn,
The eyes that flashed with passionate love and scorn, The lips that sang of Heaven and of Hell,
The almond-face which Giotto drew so well,
The weary face of Dante; - to this day,
Here in his place of resting, far away
From Arno's yellow waters, rushing down
Through the wide bridges of that fairy town,
Where the tall tower of Giotto seems to rise
A marble lily under sapphire skies!

Alas! my Dante! thou hast known the pain
Of meaner lives, - the exile's galling chain,
How steep the stairs within kings' houses are,
And all the petty miseries which mar
Man's nobler nature with the sense of wrong.

Yet this dull world is grateful for thy song;
Our nations do thee homage, - even she,
That cruel queen of vine-clad Tuscany,
Who bound with crown of thorns thy living brow,
Hath decked thine empty tomb with laurels now,
And begs in vain the ashes of her son.

O mightiest exile! all thy grief is done:
Thy soul walks now beside thy Beatrice;
Ravenna guards thine ashes: sleep in peace.

IV.

How lone this palace is; how grey the walls!
No minstrel now wakes echoes in these halls.

The broken chain lies rusting on the door,
And noisome weeds have split the marble floor:
Here lurks the snake, and here the lizards run
By the stone lions blinking in the sun.

Byron dwelt here in love and revelry
For two long years - a second Anthony,
Who of the world another Actium made!
Yet suffered not his royal soul to fade,
Or lyre to break, or lance to grow less keen,
'Neath any wiles of an Egyptian queen.

For from the East there came a mighty cry,
And Greece stood up to fight for Liberty,
And called him from Ravenna: never knight
Rode forth more nobly to wild scenes of fight!
None fell more bravely on ensanguined field,
Borne like a Spartan back upon his shield!
O Hellas! Hellas! in thine hour of pride,
Thy day of might, remember him who died
To wrest from off thy limbs the trammelling chain: O Salamis! O lone Plataean plain!
O tossing waves of wild Euboean sea!
O wind-swept heights of lone Thermopylae!
He loved you well - ay, not alone in word,
Who freely gave to thee his lyre and sword,
Like AEschylos at well-fought Marathon:

And England, too, shall glory in her son,
Her warrior-poet, first in song and fight.

No longer now shall Slander's venomed spite
Crawl like a snake across his perfect name,
Or mar the lordly scutcheon of his fame.

For as the olive-garland of the race,
Which lights with joy each eager runner's face,
As the red cross which saveth men in war,
As a flame-bearded beacon seen from far
By mariners upon a storm-tossed sea, -
Such was his love for Greece and Liberty!

Byron, thy crowns are ever fresh and green:
Red leaves of rose from Sapphic Mitylene
Shall bind thy brows; the myrtle blooms for thee, In hidden glades by lonely Castaly;
The laurels wait thy coming: all are thine,
And round thy head one perfect wreath will twine.

V.

The pine-tops rocked before the evening breeze
With the hoarse murmur of the wintry seas,
And the tall stems were streaked with amber bright; - I wandered through the wood in wild delight,
Some startled bird, with fluttering wings and fleet, Made snow of all the blossoms; at my feet,
Like silver crowns, the pale narcissi lay,
And small birds sang on every twining spray.

O waving trees, O forest liberty!
Within your haunts at least a man is free,
And half forgets the weary world of strife:
The blood flows hotter, and a sense of life
Wakes i' the quickening veins, while once again
The woods are filled with gods we fancied slain.

Long time I watched, and surely hoped to see
Some goat-foot Pan make merry minstrelsy
Amid the reeds! some startled Dryad-maid
In girlish flight! or lurking in the glade,
The soft brown limbs, the wanton treacherous face Of woodland god! Queen Dian in the chase,
White-limbed and terrible, with look of pride,
And leash of boar-hounds leaping at her side!
Or Hylas mirrored in the perfect stream.

O idle heart! O fond Hellenic dream!
Ere long, with melancholy rise and swell,
The evening chimes, the convent's vesper bell,
Struck on mine ears amid the amorous flowers.

Alas! alas! these sweet and honied hours
Had whelmed my heart like some encroaching sea,
And drowned all thoughts of black Gethsemane.

VI.

O lone Ravenna! many a tale is told
Of thy great glories in the days of old:
Two thousand years have passed since thou didst see Caesar ride forth to royal victory.

Mighty thy name when Rome's lean eagles flew
From Britain's isles to far Euphrates blue;
And of the peoples thou wast noble queen,
Till in thy streets the Goth and Hun were seen.

Discrowned by man, deserted by the sea,
Thou sleepest, rocked in lonely misery!
No longer now upon thy swelling tide,
Pine-forest-like, thy myriad galleys ride!
For where the brass-beaked ships were wont to float, The weary shepherd pipes his mournful note;
And the white sheep are free to come and go
Where Adria's purple waters used to flow.

O fair! O sad! O Queen uncomforted!
In ruined loveliness thou liest dead,
Alone of all thy sisters; for at last
Italia's royal warrior hath passed
Rome's lordliest entrance, and hath worn his crown In the high temples of the Eternal Town!
The Palatine hath welcomed back her king,
And with his name the seven mountains ring!

And Naples hath outlived her dream of pain,
And mocks her tyrant! Venice lives again,
New risen from the waters! and the cry
Of Light and Truth, of Love and Liberty,
Is heard in lordly Genoa, and where
The marble spires of Milan wound the air,
Rings from the Alps to the Sicilian shore,
And Dante's dream is now a dream no more.

But thou, Ravenna, better loved than all,
Thy ruined palaces are but a pall
That hides thy fallen greatness! and thy name
Burns like a grey and flickering candle-flame
Beneath the noonday splendour of the sun
Of new Italia! for the night is done,
The night of dark oppression, and the day
Hath dawned in passionate splendour: far away
The Austrian hounds are hunted from the land,
Beyond those ice-crowned citadels which stand
Girdling the plain of royal Lombardy,
From the far West unto the Eastern sea.

I know, indeed, that sons of thine have died
In Lissa's waters, by the mountain-side
Of Aspromonte, on Novara's plain, -
Nor have thy children died for thee in vain:
And yet, methinks, thou hast not drunk this wine From grapes new-crushed of Liberty divine,
Thou hast not followed that immortal Star
Which leads the people forth to deeds of war.

Weary of life, thou liest in silent sleep,
As one who marks the lengthening shadows creep,
Careless of all the hurrying hours that run,
Mourning some day of glory, for the sun
Of Freedom hath not shewn to thee his face,
And thou hast caught no flambeau in the race.

Yet wake not from thy slumbers, - rest thee well, Amidst thy fields of amber asphodel,
Thy lily-sprinkled meadows, - rest thee there,
To mock all human greatness: who would dare
To vent the paltry sorrows of his life
Before thy ruins, or to praise the strife
Of kings' ambition, and the barren pride
Of warring nations! wert not thou the Bride
Of the wild Lord of Adria's stormy sea!
The Queen of double Empires! and to thee
Were not the nations given as thy prey!
And now - thy gates lie open night and day,
The grass grows green on every tower and hall,
The ghastly fig hath cleft thy bastioned wall;
And where thy mailed warriors stood at rest
The midnight owl hath made her secret nest.

O fallen! fallen! from thy high estate,
O city trammelled in the toils of Fate,
Doth nought remain of all thy glorious days,
But a dull shield, a crown of withered bays!

Yet who beneath this night of wars and fears,
From tranquil tower can watch the coming years;
Who can foretell what joys the day shall bring,
Or why before the dawn the linnets sing?
Thou, even thou, mayst wake, as wakes the rose
To crimson splendour from its grave of snows;
As the rich corn-fields rise to red and gold
From these brown lands, now stiff with Winter's cold; As from the storm-rack comes a perfect star!

O much-loved city! I have wandered far
From the wave-circled islands of my home;
Have seen the gloomy mystery of the Dome
Rise slowly from the drear Campagna's way,
Clothed in the royal purple of the day:
I from the city of the violet crown
Have watched the sun by Corinth's hill go down,
And marked the 'myriad laughter' of the sea
From starlit hills of flower-starred Arcady;
Yet back to thee returns my perfect love,
As to its forest-nest the evening dove.

O poet's city! one who scarce has seen
Some twenty summers cast their doublets green
For Autumn's livery, would seek in vain
To wake his lyre to sing a louder strain,
Or tell thy days of glory; - poor indeed
Is the low murmur of the shepherd's reed,
Where the loud clarion's blast should shake the sky, And flame across the heavens! and to try
Such lofty themes were folly: yet I know
That never felt my heart a nobler glow
Than when I woke the silence of thy street
With clamorous trampling of my horse's feet,
And saw the city which now I try to sing,
After long days of weary travelling.

VII.

Adieu, Ravenna! but a year ago,
I stood and watched the crimson sunset glow
From the lone chapel on thy marshy plain:
The sky was as a shield that caught the stain
Of blood and battle from the dying sun,
And in the west the circling clouds had spun
A royal robe, which some great God might wear,
While into ocean-seas of purple air
Sank the gold galley of the Lord of Light.

Yet here the gentle stillness of the night
Brings back the swelling tide of memory,
And wakes again my passionate love for thee:
Now is the Spring of Love, yet soon will come
On meadow and tree the Summer's lordly bloom;
And soon the grass with brighter flowers will blow, And send up lilies for some boy to mow.

Then before long the Summer's conqueror,
Rich Autumn-time, the season's usurer,
Will lend his hoarded gold to all the trees,
And see it scattered by the spendthrift breeze;
And after that the Winter cold and drear.

So runs the perfect cycle of the year.

And so from youth to manhood do we go,
And fall to weary days and locks of snow.

Love only knows no winter; never dies:
Nor cares for frowning storms or leaden skies
And mine for thee shall never pass away,
Though my weak lips may falter in my lay.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silent evening star,
The night's ambassador, doth gleam afar,
And bid the shepherd bring his flocks to fold.

Perchance before our inland seas of gold
Are garnered by the reapers into sheaves,
Perchance before I see the Autumn leaves,
I may behold thy city; and lay down
Low at thy feet the poet's laurel crown.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silver lamp, the moon,
Which turns our midnight into perfect noon,
Doth surely light thy towers, guarding well
Where Dante sleeps, where Byron loved to dwell.

'Don't let the cat out of the bag'

'Don't shut the stable door after the horse has bolted'

'Don't throw good money after bad'

'Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater'

InkHarted wrote:

Checkmate.
I started off as an equal
I have everything that they do
my life was one and the same as my foe
childish battles of lesser
I won baring cost of a little
but as time outgrew my conscience
I found that the pieces were moving against me
with time my company reduced
they left one by one
all in time forgetting me
my castles collapsed
my religion dissuaded
my protectors in hiding
I could not run anymore
I have been cornered to a wall
as the queen left silently
without saying goodbye
I could not live any longer
she was most precious to me
I could not win without her by my side
so the king knelt down and died.

"Everyone should know how to play chess." — José Raúl Capablanca

Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

'Finders keepers, losers weepers'
No, turn it over to Lost and Found.

Drive sober or get pulled over.

"For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." — Assiac

Once I asked Pillsbury whether he used any formula for castling. He said his rule was absolute and vital: castle because you will or because you must; but not because you can.' — W.E. Napier (1881-1952)

The Two Friends

Two friends, in Monomotapa,
Had all their interests combined.
Their friendship, faithful and refined,
Our country can't exceed, do what it may.
One night, when potent Sleep had laid
All still within our planet's shade,
One of the two gets up alarmed,
Runs over to the other's palace,
And hastily the servants rallies.
His startled friend, quick armed,
With purse and sword his comrade meets,
And thus right kindly greets:
"You seldom com'st at such an hour;
I take you for a man of sounder mind
Than to abuse the time for sleep designed.
Have lost your purse, by Fortune's power?
Here's mine. Have suffered insult, or a blow,
I have here my sword – to avenge it let us go." "No," said his friend, "no need I feel
Of either silver, gold, or steel;
I thank you for your friendly zeal.
In sleep I saw you rather sad,
And thought the truth might be as bad.
Unable to endure the fear,
That cursed dream has brought me here."

Which think you, reader, loved the most!
If doubtful this, one truth may be proposed:
There's nothing sweeter than a real friend:
Not only is he prompt to lend –
An angler delicate, he fishes
The very deepest of your wishes,
And spares your modesty the task
His friendly aid to ask.
A dream, a shadow, wakes his fear,
When pointing at the object dear.

"We do not remember days, we remember moments." ― Cesare Pavese

"Remember that there are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body. That of the soul displays its radiance in intelligence, in chastity, in good conduct, in generosity, and in good breeding, and all these qualities may exist in an ugly man. And when we focus our attention upon that beauty, not upon the physical, love generally arises with great violence and intensity. I am well aware that I am not handsome, but I also know that I am not deformed, and it is enough for a man of worth not to be a monster for him to be dearly loved, provided he has those spiritual endowments I have spoken of." ― Miguel Cervantes

The 20-40-40 rule in chess is a rule for players rated below 2000 that states 20% of your study should be dedicated to openings, 40% to the middlegame, and 40% to the endgame.

1 Corinthians 13 King James Version

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

"Prepare for the worst but hope for the best." -- The Wondrous Tale of Alroy by Benjamin Disraeli, published in 1833

Galatians 6:7 in the Bible "Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

"those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" is often cited as originating in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde written in 1385.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." – Ancient Chinese Proverb

"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind." — Mahatma Gandhi

God Is Great (Extended Version)
Traditional

God is great and God is good,

Let us thank Him for our food;

By His blessings, we are fed,

Give us Lord, our daily bread.
Amen.

This poem is dedicated to PhillA, who sparked off the seed for this poem.

The Stark Naked King

When the challenge arrived from the ax wielding Philla "I must hurry and offer a bribe to his queen, thought nova, to avoid a merciless onslaught ending in bloody gore". Alas, the challenge had been secretly sent the day before. There he stood with ax and all at the castle's gate, While teasingly sending in a not-so-holy bishop as bait. High on the castle's wall nova bellowed: dump the boiling oil, To force the ax-man with his troops to screamingly recoil. To no avail, Philla hurled his castle straight upon the king, Who standing stark naked, tried to hide his private thing. So nova quickly conceded out of shameful desperation and Philla gently lowering the ax accepted nova's resignation.

"The first instance of this opening Grünfeld Defence is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing Black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Be2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.0-0 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Bb2 Bg4 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.Ba3 Qa5 14.Qb3 Rfe8 15.Rc5 Qb6 16.Rb5 Qd8 17.Ng5 Bxe2 18.Nxf7 Na5 and White mates in three (19.Nh6+ double check Kh8 20.Qg8+ Rxg8 21.Nf7#). Cochrane published a book reporting his games with Moheshchunder and other Indians in 1864." -- Wikipedia * Wikipedia article: Moheschunder Bannerjee

The Memory Pillow

Those We Love
Don't Go Away
They Walk Beside Us
Everday Unseen
Unheard,
But Always Near,
Still Loved, Still Missed
And Very Dear
Thinking of You Always
Great Grandma Simultaneous

Come, Lord Jesus, our guest to be

And bless these gifts

Bestowed by Thee.

And bless our loved ones everywhere,

And keep them in Your loving care.
Amen.

Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

According to Chessmetrics, Lasker was #1 for longer than anyone else in history: 292 different months between June 1890 and December 1926. That's a timespan of 36 1/2 years, in which Lasker was #1 for a total of 24 years and 4 months. Lasker was 55 years old when he won New York 1924.

"Just because you know stuff doesn't mean you are smart... You have to know how to use that information." ― Josh Keller

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

This poem is dedicated to Harris my chessplayer friend and literary commentator.

Chess The Final Metaphor

It was in a cesspool behind the place of his cousin Nick

That in this pool of sewage, was born the freak called frick.

On dark nights he hysterically wailed in his pool of slimy mess:

"Oh why oh why, can't I play the game that humans call chess"?

As the morning sun rose, begged the queen of the mighty king:

Sire, can you not order the death of this awful filthy thing"?

Wisely he replied: "no, I'll let frick live forever in distress

While he must watch others enjoy themselves playing chess."

Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

"Friend, you don't have to earn God's love or try harder. You're precious in His sight, covered by the priceless blood of Jesus, and indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Don't hide your heart or fear you're not good enough for Him to care for you. Accept His love, obey Him, and allow Him to keep you in His wonderful freedom." — Charles F. Stanley

"True power is expressed in quiet confidence; it was the sea's very calmness that epitomized its mighty force." ― Emile Habiby

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1807-1882

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

"There are good ships, and there are wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, and may they always be." – Anonymous

"It's not how you start that matters, it's how you finish."

"Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read." — Francis Bacon

The cat's play is the mouse's death. ~ German Proverb

"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." ― Theodore Roosevelt

Ah, St. Marher, 1225:
"And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet."

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"Debt is dumb. Cash is king." — Dave Ramsey

A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events.

During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.

If hard work pays, show me a rich donkey. ― Joker

Life has no remote. You have to get up and change it yourself. ― Joker