Oh, that truck done unloaded and left!

"Chess first of all teaches you to be objective." Source: "The Soviet School of Chess" Book by Alexander Kotov, p. 42, 2001.

"In chess as in life, when defending or attacking, a good chess player understands that one rash, ill-conceived, bad move can worsen the position and lose the game." ― John Bain, chess author

"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

"If you can't take (constructive) criticism, consider taking up another game, perhaps solitaire." — Jeremy Silman

"Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him." ― Napoleon Bonaparte

Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.

"A God you understood would be less than yourself." ― Flannery O'Connor

"The journey is its own reward." — Homer

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." ― George Orwell

"The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field." ― Sun Tzu, The Art Of War

"Technique has taken over the whole of civilization. Death, procreation, birth all submit to technical efficiency and systemization." ― Jacques Ellul

"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

"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

"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

"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

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

* Chess Step-by-Step: https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-...

* Best Games of 2018: Game Collection: Best Games of 2018

* Bold QGA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlL...

* Book: Game Collection: Dismantling the Sicilian (Jesus de la Villa)

* How did Spassky handle it? Game Collection: 0

* Black attack!
Game Collection: Modern Defence Reversed

* Common Checkmate Patterns:
http://gambiter.com/chess/Checkmate...

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

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

* Famous Chess Photos: https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/585256...

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

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

* Glossary: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/...

* GK Sic: Game Collection: Kasparov - The Sicilian Sheveningen

* GPA: https://chesstier.com/grand-prix-at...

* Glossary P: https://www.peoriachess.com/Glossar...

* B20s: Game Collection: Grand Prix (Ginger's Models)

* How dumb is it? Game Collection: Diemer-Duhm Gambit

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

* Make a Stand: https://www.history.com/topics/amer...

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

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

* Overloaded! Game Collection: OVERLOADED!

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

* Paradox: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

* Pawn Instruction: http://www.logicalchess.com/learn/l...

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

* Pirc Defense, Classical: Game Collection: Pirc, Classical Variation

* Passive, but playable in the Russian Game: Game Collection: Alpha Russian (White)

* Roger that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9S...

"The only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution" ― Daniil Dubov https://en.chessbase.com/post/dubov...

* tacticmania - Game Collection: tacticmania

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

* Vision, Wisdom: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

* Women: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/wom...

* Wikipedia on Computer Chess: Wikipedia article: Computer chess

* 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

Alaska: Kodiak
Established in: 1792

Kodiak is the main city in Kodiak Island and was founded in 1792 by Aleksandr Andreyevich Baranov. It was first called Pavlovsk Gavan, which is Russian for Paul's Harbor, and was the first capital of Russian Alaska. You can still find a large Russian Orthodox church there, as well as plenty of beautiful views.

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

<<<chess writer and poet <Henry Thomas Bland>

Another example of his way with words is the start of ‘Internal Fires', a poem published on page 57 of the March 1930 American Chess Bulletin:>

I used to play chess with the dearest old chap,
Whom naught could upset whatever might hap.
He'd oft lose a game he might well have won
But made no excuse for what he had done.
If a piece he o'erlooked and got it snapped up

He took it quite calmly and ne'er ‘cut up rough'.>

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." ― William Faulkner

"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.

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

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." ― Leonardo da Vinci

A SOFT STONE
by Hagar Peeters translated by Judith Wilkinson

I am the stone my parents once decided
to stumble over only once, so I'm alone.

I am the pebble-stone of contention in the gravel at the front door of their cardboard façade,
I commemorate – as a memorial stone –
the end of what was once a home,

I am the gravestone of a person without surname, the rock that Sisyphus was condemned to by the gods, the millstone round the cripple's neck.

I carve myself into a thousand toes
to stub them endlessly on the slightest things.
I am a soft stone from which no shoot springs.

Dale Jr.

<Machgielis "Max" Euwe
Fifth World Chess Champion from 1935 to 1937
Birthdate: May 20, 1901
Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died: November 26, 1981
Max Euwe scripted history when he became the first chess Grandmaster from the Netherlands. A PhD in math, he also taught both math and computer programming, apart from publishing a mathematical analysis of chess. A chess world champion, he also served as the president of FIDE.>

"You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

"Whereas Anderssen and Chigorin looked for accidental positions, Capablanca is guided by the logicality of strong positions. He values only that which is well-founded: solidity of position, pressure on a weak point, he does not trust the accidental, even if it be a problem-like mate, at the required moment he discovers and carries out subtle and far-sighted combinations..." ― Emanuel Lasker, 2nd classical official world chess champion

"I was brought up on the games of Capablanca and Nimzowitsch, and they became part of my chess flesh and blood." ― Tigran V. Petrosian, 9th classical official world chess champion

"Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with its logic." ― Garry Kasparov, 13th classical official world chess champion

"We can compare Capablanca with Mozart, whose charming music appeared to have been a smooth flow. I get the impression that Capablanca did not even know why he preferred this or that move, he just moved the pieces with his hand. If he had worked a lot on chess, he might have played worse because he would have started to try to comprehend things. But Capablanca did not have to comprehend anything, he just had to move the pieces!" ― Vladimir Kramnik, 14th classical official world chess champion

WCC: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

Unofficial: https://chessforsharks.co/history-o...

The Satyr and the Traveller

Within a savage forest grot
A satyr and his chips
Were taking down their porridge hot;
Their cups were at their lips.

You might have seen in mossy den,
Himself, his wife, and brood;
They had not tailor-clothes, like men,
But appetites as good.

In came a traveller, benighted,
All hungry, cold, and wet,
Who heard himself to eat invited
With nothing like regret.

He did not give his host the pain
His asking to repeat;
But first he blew with might and main
To give his fingers heat.

Then in his steaming porridge dish
He delicately blew.
The wondering satyr said, "I wish
The use of both I knew."

"Why, first, my blowing warms my hand,
And then it cools my porridge."
"Ah!" said his host, "then understand
I cannot give you storage.
"To sleep beneath one roof with you,
I may not be so bold.
Far be from me that mouth untrue
Which blows both hot and cold."

A chess master died – after a few days, a friend of his heard a voice; it was him!

"What's it like, where you are now," he asked.

"What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news."

"Tell me the good news first."

"Well, it's really heaven here. There are tournaments and blitz sessions going on all the time and Morphy, Alekhine, Lasker, Tal, Capablanca, Botvinnik, they're all here, and you can play them."

"Fantastic!" the friend said, "and what is the bad news?"

"You have Black against Capablanca on Saturday."

The Wolf, the Mother, And Her Child

This wolf another brings to mind,
Who found dame Fortune more unkind,
In that the greedy, pirate sinner,
Was balked of life as well as dinner.
As says our tale, a villager
Dwelt in a by, unguarded place;
There, hungry, watched our pillager
For luck and chance to mend his case.
For there his thievish eyes had seen
All sorts of game go out and in –
Nice sucking calves, and lambs and sheep;
And turkeys by the regiment,
With steps so proud, and necks so bent,
Theyed make a daintier glutton weep.
The thief at length began to tire
Of being gnawed by vain desire.
Just then a child set up a cry:
"Be still," the mother said, "or I
Will throw you to the wolf, you brat!"
"Ha, ha!" thought he, "what talk is that!
The gods be thanked for luck so good!"
And ready at the door he stood,
When soothingly the mother said,
"Now cry no more, my little dear;
That naughty wolf, if he comes here,
Your dear papa shall kill him dead."
"Humph!" cried the veteran mutton-eater.
"Now this, now that! Now hot, now cool!
Is this the way they change their metre?
And do they take me for a fool?
Someday, a nutting in the wood,
That young one yet shall be my food."
But little time has he to dote
On such a feast; the dogs rush out
And seize the caitiff by the throat;
And country ditchers, thick and stout,
With rustic spears and forks of iron,
The hapless animal environ.
"What brought you here, old head?" cried one.
He told it all, as I have done.
"Why, bless my soul!" the frantic mother said, – "You, villain, eat my little son!
And did I nurse the darling boy,
Your fiendish appetite to cloy?"
With that they knocked him on the head.
His feet and scalp they bore to town,
To grace the seigneur's hall,
Where, pinned against the wall,
This verse completed his renown:
"You honest wolves, believe not all
That mothers say, when children squall!"

Three of a kind

Chess
Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Exactly four different men have tried
to teach me how to play. I could never
tell the difference between a rook
or bishop, but I knew the horse meant

knight. And that made sense to me,
because a horse is night: soot-hoof
and nostril, dark as a sabled evening
with no stars, bats, or moon blooms.

It's a night in Ohio where a man sleeps
alone one week and the next, the woman
he will eventually marry leans her body
into his for the first time, leans a kind

of faith, too—filled with white crickets
and bouquets of wild carrot. And
the months and the honeyed years
after that will make all the light

and dark squares feel like tiles
for a kitchen they can one day build
together. Every turn, every sacrificial
move—all the decoys, the castling,

the deflections—these will be both
riotous and unruly, the exact opposite
of what she thought she ever wanted
in the endgame of her days.

blogger cinephilia once said: "The flawless game is impossible. Feed off your opponent's mistakes like a leech."

"There's always a hidden owl in knowledge." – E.I. Jane

"If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If you take it out, put it back. If you empty it, fill it. If you fill it, empty it." — Kathryn Malter, St. Paul, MN

"Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it." — Christopher Hitchens

<<<A Winter Night> by Sara Teasdale 1884-1933>

My window-pane is starred with frost,
The world is bitter cold to-night,
The moon is cruel, and the wind
Is like a two-edged sword to smite.

God pity all the homeless ones,
The beggars pacing to and fro.
God pity all the poor to-night
Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow.

My room is like a bit of June,
Warm and close-curtained fold on fold,
But somewhere, like a homeless child,
My heart is crying in the cold.>

"When you have the better of it, play simply. When the game is going against you, look for complications." — Frank J. Marshall

* Pawn Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUq...

* 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"

Cajun: Joie de vivre (Jhwa da veev) – Joy of living.

Compiled by Fredthebear

"Messy Room" by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door. His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall. Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or–
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

Oct-04-23 HeMateMe: I play 3/2 blitz occasionally on Lichess. I find it an excellent site, none of the delays/cancellations that ruined chess.com (for me). Oct-04-23 Cassandro: Yes, lichess is by far the best site for online chess. And you never know, apparently you may even get to play against a living legend like the highly esteemed Leonard Barden there!

FTB plays all about but has always been happy with FICS: https://www.freechess.org/

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Dreamers
by Siegried Sassoon

Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,
Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.
In the great hour of destiny they stand,
Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows. Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin
They think of firelit homes, clean beds and wives.

I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,
And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain, Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats, And mocked by hopeless longing to regain
Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,
And going to the office in the train.

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves"- J.M. Barrie (1860 - 1937)

A man who spent his life delighting the masses with his words, perfectly understood that you reap what you sow, and that when we make other people happy, we often find happiness ourselves.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) was the youngest president, taking office at age 42.

Riddle Question: In the battle's silent phase, I plan, I prepare; the deadly art of war is my affair. What am I?

In case of an automobile crash or an impact, airbags inflate in just 30 milliseconds.

Riddle Answer: Strategy

No president except Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897) has ever served non-consecutive terms. He defeated James G. Blaine in 1884, lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 (despite winning the popular vote), and then came back to defeat Harrison in 1892.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. You need to make your own damn decisions. And I'm not playing this game where we ignore reality and pretend to have a normal conversation for a few hours. You need to face reality and stop turning life into a movie. I'm not a puppet in your show. This is real life and you're always trying to ignore it for some cheap fantasy version where no problems exist. That's not noble of you, okay? You're not strong. You're a weak person like the rest of us. You've just learned to excel at avoiding issues. But there are issues. Life has so many freaking issues and if you can't force your own self to face life and make decisions without someone telling you what the hell to do, you're just going to end up another chess piece moved around by others." — Marilyn Grey

"De Ludo Scachorum" was first translated into French in 1347. In 1474, 2 years before it was printed in French, William Caxton translated the text from the French (of Jean de Vignay) into English and printed it under the title, "The Game of Chess." "The Game of Chess" was the second book ever printed in the English language. The first book, also printed by Claxton was "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye," also translated from French (of Raoul le Fèvre) and also in 1474. Caxton printed almost 100 books, and of these 20 were translations from French or Dutch into English. — batgirl, chess.com

1 Corinthians 13 King James Version

1 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.

<<<chess writer and poet <Henry Thomas Bland>

Another example of his way with words is the start of ‘Internal Fires', a poem published on page 57 of the March 1930 American Chess Bulletin:>

I used to play chess with the dearest old chap,
Whom naught could upset whatever might hap.
He'd oft lose a game he might well have won
But made no excuse for what he had done.
If a piece he o'erlooked and got it snapped up

He took it quite calmly and ne'er ‘cut up rough'.>

When Moses asked God, "Who shall I tell Pharaoh has sent me?" God said, "I AM THAT I AM." Jehovah or Yahweh is the most intensely sacred name to Jewish scribes and many will not even pronounce the name. When possible, they use another name." https://www.biblestudytools.com/bib...

Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.

"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

"Someday, somewhere – anywhere, unfailingly, you'll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life." ― Pablo Neruda

Philippians 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Pawn Who Had to Go

The little pawn screamed: "I cannot hold it anymore, get me a pot or I will do exactly what I did before." Everybody laughed with the exception of the opposing king who guessed what was on the mind of this filthy thing. But nobody had time to fetch a pot or even a plastic bag They were too busy to ensure that the game became a drag. The guys in white kept running back and forth but no change. The guys in black stayed also within the very same range. Suddenly the unhappy pawn who had screamed for a pot, did a weird little dance while moving up one slot. Now standing near the king he simply pulled his pants down and peed straight up against the king's beautiful crown.

"Many have become chess masters, no one has become the master of chess." ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." — Max De Pree

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ― Howard Thurman

"Pyramid of Success." These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball. Over his 29-year career Coach John Wooden's wisdom has not only been useful in basketball but in business, personal success and leadership too.

John Wooden Quotes

1. "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." – John Wooden

2. "Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you." – John Wooden

3. "If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes." – John Wooden

4. "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." – John Wooden

5. "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" – John Wooden

6. "Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts." – John Wooden

7. "The best competition I have is against myself to become better." – John Wooden

8. "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." – John Wooden

9. "You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one." – John Wooden

10. "Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then." – John Wooden

11. "Young people need models, not critics." – John Wooden

12. "Never mistake activity for achievement." – John Wooden

13. "I think you have to be what you are. Don't try to be somebody else. You have to be yourself at all times." – John Wooden

14. "Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life." – John Wooden

15. "Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability." – John Wooden

16. "Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you." – John Wooden

17. "Discipline yourself, and others won't need to." – John Wooden

18. "Well, your greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for another, especially when it was done with no thought of something in return." – John Wooden

19. "When you hurry you're more apt to make mistakes. But you have to be quick. If you're not quick you can't get things done." – John Wooden

20. "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." – John Wooden

21. "If I am through learning, I am through." – John Wooden

22. "Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove from the dictionary." – John Wooden

23. "You can do more good by being good than any other way." – John Wooden

24. "Never make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them." – John Wooden

25. "Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference." – John Wooden

26. "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." – John Wooden

27. "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." – John Wooden

28. "It is the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." – John Wooden

29. "Listen if you want to be heard." – John Wooden

30. "Nothing will work unless you do." – John Wooden

31. "If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier." – John Wooden

32. "You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes." – John Wooden

33. "Talent is god-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful." – John Wooden

34. "You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better." – John Wooden

35. "If you are afraid to fail, you will never do the things you are capable of doing." – John Wooden

36. "Don't be afraid to fail. The greatest failure of all is not to act when action is needed." – John Wooden

37. "You never fail if you know in your heart that you did the best of which you are capable. I did my best. That is all I could do. Are you going to make mistakes? Of course. But it is not failure if you make the full effort." – John Wooden

38. "The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning." – John Wooden

39. "Remember, results aren't the criteria for success — it's the effort made for achievement that is most important." – John Wooden

40. "The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success." – John Wooden

41. "Mistakes come from doing, but so does success." – John Wooden

42. "Five years from now, you're the same person except for the people you've met and the books you've read." – John Wooden

43. "Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top." – John Wooden

44. "It's always about focusing not on the mistakes but on the lessons learned from them." – John Wooden

45. "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" – John Wooden

46. "Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? That's what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way." – John Wooden

47. "Never believe you're better than anybody else, but remember that you're just as good as everybody else." – John Wooden

48. "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." – John Wooden

49. "It's important to keep trying to do what you think is right no matter how hard it is or how often you fail. You never stop trying. I'm still trying." – John Wooden

50. "Perfection is what you are striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts." – John Wooden

51. "Does worrying about it, complaining about it, change it? Nope, it just wastes your time. And if you complain about it to other people, you're also wasting their time. Nothing is gained by wasting all of that time." – John Wooden

52. "If you spend too much time learning the tricks of the trade, you may not learn the trade. There are no shortcuts. If you're working on finding a short cut, the easy way, you're not working hard enough on the fundamentals. You may get away with it for a spell, but there is no substitute for the basics. And the first basic is good, old-fashioned hard work." – John Wooden

53. "When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don't look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That's the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts." – John Wooden

54. "Early on I came to believe that you should learn as if you were going to live forever, and live as if you were going to die tomorrow. What does this mean? In the simplest way, I would explain it like this. Always be learning, acquiring knowledge, and seeking wisdom with a sense that you are immortal and that you will need much knowledge and wisdom for that long journey ahead. Know that when you are through learning, you are through. But I want to live that life as if I were going to die tomorrow: with relish, immediacy, and the right priorities. I also will not waste even a minute." – John Wooden

55. "Happiness is in many things. It's in love. It's in sharing. But most of all, it's in being at peace with yourself knowing that you are making the effort, the full effort, to do what is right." – John Wooden

56. "It's simple. Don't compare yourself to somebody else, especially materially. If I'm worrying about the other guy and what he's doing, about what he's making, about all the attention he's getting, I'm not going to be able to do what I'm capable of doing. It's a guaranteed way to make yourself miserable." – John Wooden

57. "Envy, jealousy, and criticism can become cancerous. They hurt the person who feels them rather than the person they're directed toward." – John Wooden

58. "I think that is the tendency of people who choke under pressure. They're thinking about living up to the expectations of everybody else instead of just doing their job the best they can." – John Wooden

59. "Adversity often produces the unexpected opportunity. Look for it. Appreciate and utilize it. This is difficult to do if you're feeling sorry for yourself because you're faced with adversity." – John Wooden

60. "So often we fail to acknowledge what we have because we're so concerned about what we want. We fail to give real thanks for the many blessings for which we did nothing: our life itself, the flowers, the trees, our family and friends." – John Wooden

61. "A mistake is valuable if you do four things with it: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it." – John Wooden

62. "The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition." – John Wooden

63. "If you do enough small things right, big things can happen." – John Wooden

64. "I believe one of the requirements of good leadership is the ability to listen – really listen – to those in your organization. An effective leader is very good at listening, and it's difficult to listen when you are talking." – John Wooden

65. "Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better." – John Wooden

66. "A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit." – John Wooden

67. "There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you." – John Wooden

68. "The time to prepare isn't after you have been given the opportunity. It's long before that opportunity arises. Once the opportunity arrives, it's too late to prepare." – John Wooden

69. "There is no substitute for hard work. If you're looking for the easy way, if you're looking for the trick, you might get by for a while, but you will not be developing the talents that lie within you. There is simply no substitute for work." – John Wooden

70. "Give me 100 percent. You can't make up for a poor effort today by giving 110 percent tomorrow. You don't have 110 percent. You only have 100 percent, and that's what I want from you right now." – John Wooden

71. "If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control." – John Wooden

72. "Don't permit fear of failure to prevent effort. We are all imperfect and will fail on occasions, but fear of failure is the greatest failure of all." – John Wooden

73. "There is no more powerful leadership tool than your own personal example." – John Wooden

74. "Never lie; never cheat; never steal. Don't whine; don't complain; don't make excuses." – John Wooden

75. "Be more concerned with what you can do for others than what others can do for you. You'll be surprised at the results." – John Wooden

76. "Promise yourself you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best in yourself and others. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future." – John Wooden

77. "I don't believe in looking back. If you make a decision that you think is the proper one at a time, then that's the correct decision." – John Wooden

78. "Reputation is what others perceive you as being, and their opinion may be right or wrong. Character, however, is what you really are, and nobody truly knows that but you. But you are what matters most." – John Wooden

79. "Don't think that you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren't you doing it now?" – John Wooden

80. "We're not all equal as far as intelligence is concerned. We're not equal as far as size. We're not all equal as far as appearance. We do not all have the same opportunities. We're not born in the same environments, but we're all absolutely equal in having the opportunity to make the most of what we have and not comparing or worrying about what others have." – John Wooden

81. "The individual who is mistake-free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that is a very big mistake." – John Wooden

82. "Understand there is a price to be paid for achieving anything of significance. You must be willing to pay the price." – John Wooden

83. "Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you." – John Wooden

84. "Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve." – John Wooden

85. "Remember this your lifetime through: Tomorrow there will be more to do. And failure waits for all who stay with some success made yesterday. Tomorrow you must try once more, and even harder than before." – John Wooden

86. "Hustle makes up for many a mistake." – John Wooden

87. "Opponents are working very hard to defeat us. Let's not do it for them by defeating ourselves from within." – John Wooden

88. "Let's face it, we're all imperfect and we're going to fall short on occasion. But we must learn from failure and that will enable us to avoid repeating our mistakes. Through adversity, we learn, grow stronger, and become better people." – John Wooden

89. "Make each day your masterpiece. Life is now. Life is not later on." – John Wooden

90. "Too often we get distracted by what is outside of our control. You can't do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that." – John Wooden

91. "Respect a man, and he will do all the more." – John Wooden

92. "Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special and that you value." – John Wooden

93. "Losing is only temporary and not encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it." – John Wooden

94. "We're all imperfect and we all have needs. The weak usually do not ask for help, so they stay weak. If we recognize that we are imperfect, we will ask for help and we will pray for the guidance necessary to bring positive results to whatever we are doing." – John Wooden

95. "Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you." – John Wooden

96. "There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience." – John Wooden

97. "You can always do more than you think you can." – John Wooden

98. "Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way." – John Wooden

99. "Failure is not the crime. Low aim is." – John Wooden

100. "Winning and losing aren't all they're cracked up to be, but the trip to the destination is." – John Wooden

101. "Never let your emotions overrule your head." – John Wooden

102. "All that matters is the pressure you put on yourself. External pressures cause people to choke. While you can't control what happens to you, you can control how you react." – John Wooden

103. "Success is mine when I work my hardest to become my best, and I alone determine whether I do so." – John Wooden

104. "When it's over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best you were capable of? If yes, you will probably be OK with the outcome." – John Wooden

105. "We should never let ambition cause us to sacrifice our integrity or diminish our efforts in other areas. However, we need to remember that we never reach a serious goal unless we have the intention of doing so." – John Wooden

106. "Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it." – John Wooden

107. "Make your "yes" mean yes, and your "no" mean no." – John Wooden

108. "Push yourself to keep improving or you'll stay as close to the bottom as you are to the top." – John Wooden

109. "First, do not betray yourself. Second, do not betray those you lead." – John Wooden

110. "Working with others makes us much more than we could ever become alone." – John Wooden

111. "You have to work hard, and you have to enjoy what you're doing. If you don't enjoy it, no matter how hard you seem to work, you're not going to be working as hard as you can because you're not enjoying it." – John Wooden

112. "If pursuing material things becomes your only goal, you will fail in so many ways. Besides, in time all material things go away." – John Wooden

113. "Never be disagreeable just because you disagree." – John Wooden

114. "We are all equal in that we can all strive to become the best we are capable of becoming. We can always improve but we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. We get in trouble when we start trying to measure up to someone else." – John Wooden

115. "Forget favors given; remember those received." – John Wooden

116. "Before success comes patience… when we add to our accomplishments the element of hard work over a long period of time, we'll place a far greater value on the outcome. When we are patient, we'll have a greater appreciation of our success." – John Wooden

117. "You should never try to be better than someone else, you should always be learning from others. But you should never cease trying to be the best you could be because that's under your control and the other isn't." – John Wooden