Just some short games for an introductory discussion at our local club. Perhaps what not to do in the French Defense.

ECO Codes - French Defence
* C00 - 1.e4 e6 without 2.d4 (early deviations)
* C01 - 2.d4 d5 (includes the Exchange Variation, 3.exd5) * C02 - 3.e5 (Advance Variation)
* C03 - 3.Nd2 (includes 3...Be7; C03-C09 cover the Tarrasch Variation) * C04 - 3.Nd2 Nc6 (Guimard Variation)
* C05 - 3.Nd2 Nf6
* C06 - 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3
* C07 - 3.Nd2 c5 (includes 4.exd5 Qxd5)
* C08 - 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5
* C09 - 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6
* C10 - 3.Nc3 (includes the Rubinstein Variation, 3...dxe4) * C11 - 3.Nc3 Nf6 (includes the Steinitz Variation, 4.e5; C11-C14 cover the Classical Variation) * C12 - 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 (includes the MacCutcheon Variation, 4...Bb4) * C13 - 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 (Burn Variation)
* C14 - 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7
* C15 - 3.Nc3 Bb4 (C15-C19 cover the Winawer Variation) * C16 - 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5
* C17 - 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5
* C18 - 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 (includes the Armenian Variation, 5...Ba5) * C19 - 3.Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 and 7.a4

* Starting Out: French Defense: Game Collection: Starting out : The French

* Alekhine's French Def: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

* A few KIAs: Game Collection: Opening Ideas

* Advance French: Game Collection: Attacking with the French

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

* Masterful: Game Collection: FRENCH DEFENSE MASTERPIECES

* TFD: https://chessentials.com/category/l...

* Therio what? Game Collection: Theriomorphic French Games

* How to Play Chess! http://www.serverchess.com/play.htm...

* Merit Badge Examples: Game Collection: 0

* Glossary of Chess Terms: http://www.arkangles.com/kchess/glo...

* Notable Games: Wikipedia article: List of chess games

* Garry Kasparov Teaches Chess (Batsford 1986): Game Collection: Garry Kasparov Teaches Chess

* Ideas: Game Collection: Ideas In The French Defense

* Gambits against the French: Game Collection: alapin gambit -alapin diemer gambit + reti gam

* Danger! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL2...

* Common Sense book: Game Collection: Common Sense in Chess (Lasker)

* Capa's Fundamentals: Game Collection: Chess Fundamentals (Capablanca)

* Golombek's book: Game Collection: Game of Chess (Golombek)

* Encyclopedia: https://thechesspedia.net

* For Italian Newbiez: https://chessquestions.com/the-ital...

* Chess Praxis: Game Collection: Chess Praxis (Nimzowitsch)

* Chernev's Golden Dozen: Game Collection: Golden Dozen (Chernev)

* Tartakover's 500 MGOC: Game Collection: Master Games - Chess (Tartakower/du Mont)

* Match Botvinnik: Game Collection: Match Botvinnik!

* Tiny French Def: Game Collection: French Defence repertoire

* French, Tarrasch: Game Collection: French Defense: Tarrasch Variation

* Development of Style: Game Collection: Development of Chess Style (Euwe)

* Fischer World Champion: Game Collection: Fischer World Champion (Timman/Euwe)

* How to Beat BF: Game Collection: How to Beat Bobby Fischer (Mednis)

* Seirawan's Duels: Game Collection: Chess Duels (Seirawan)

* Nunn's Chess Course: Game Collection: Lasker JNCC

* Secret Weapon: Game Collection: Lasker's Secret Weapon

* Edward's Secrets: Game Collection: Chess Secrets (Ed.Lasker)

* Street Chess - Fianchetto vs the French? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II5...

* Blowing Away the Castled King: Game Collection: Attack The King's Pocket

* Brutal Attacking Chess: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

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

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

* Cool Math/Board Games: https://www.coolmathgames.com/1-boa...

* Deadly Battery: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

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

* Fried Fox is awful: https://allchessopenings.blogspot.c...

* ICA Youth Resources: https://www.il-chess.org/index.php?...

* katar's hack attack: Game Collection: An Opium Repertoire for White

* Kingpin magazine: https://www.kingpinchess.net/

* Overloaded! Game Collection: OVERLOADED!

* Plenty to see: http://www.schackportalen.nu/Englis...

* Reasonable book choices: https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell...

* Spassky could bring the heat: Game Collection: 0

* Ten books for aspiring masters: http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2023...

* Bobby Fischer playing White against the Sicilian: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Wild: Game Collection: Wild Games!

* Wonders and Curiosities: Game Collection: Wonders and Curiosities of Chess (Chernev)

* Stunners: Game Collection: Stunners

* A great decade of chess: Game Collection: Mil y Una Partidas 1950-1959

* Great Attacks: Game Collection: great attack games

PRF

"You cannot play at chess if you are kind-hearted." ― French Proverb

"Ponder and deliberate before you make a move." ― Sun Tzu

"Concentration is the secret of strengths in politics, in war, in trade, in short in all management of human affairs." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To avoid mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess." ― Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky

"Chess is the finest mental exercise. It develops concentration and logical reasoning; and it is one of the few games in which you cannot rectify a mistake. If you make a mistake, you lose, unless your opponent makes a worse mistake." ― José Raúl Capablanca

"Few things are as psychologically brutal as chess." ― Garry Kasparov

"Inclined to simplicity, I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous "daring" runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic." ― José Raúl Capablanca

"Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against his will, whose notion of Beauty always differs from yours and whose means (strength, imagination, technique) are often too limited to help you effectively! What torment, to have your thinking and your fantasy tied down by another person!" ― Alexander Alekhine

"Independence of thought is a (most) valuable quality in a chess-player, both at the board and when preparing for a game." ― David Bronstein

"I claim that nothing else is so effective in encouraging the growth of chess strength as such independent analysis, both of the games of the great players and your own." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"Analysis is a glittering opportunity for training: it is just here that capacity for work, perseverance and stamina are cultivated, and these qualities are, in truth, as necessary to a chess player as a marathon runner." ― Lev Polugaevsky

"Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can't separate body from mind." ― Bobby Fischer

"I spend around one hour per day on physical exercise. Exercise is a must for every chess player. As the proverb says, 'A sound mind in a sound body.' " ― Humpy Koneru

"Your practical results will improve when you play what you know, like and have confidence in." ― Edmar Mednis

"Pawns: they are the soul of this game, they alone form the attack and defense." ― François-André Danican Philidor

"The most important feature of the chess position is the activity of the pieces. This is absolutely fundamental in all phases of the game: Opening, Middlegame and especially Endgame. The primary constraint on a piece's activity is the Pawn structure." ― Michael Stean

"The first principle of attack - Don't let the enemy develop!" ― Rueben Fine

"...only the player with the initiative has the right to attack." ― William Steinitz

"Weak points or holes in the opponent's position must be occupied by pieces not pawns." ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"Do you realize Fischer almost never has any bad pieces? He exchanges them, and the bad pieces remain with his opponents." ― Yuri Balashov

"Any material change in a position must come about by mate, a capture, or a Pawn promotion." ― C.J.S. Purdy (Thus, search for a mate-in-two, a beneficial capture, or the creation of a passed pawn that can be protected, pushed.)

"A Threat is more powerful than its execution." ― Savielly Tartakower or Aron Nimzowitsch?

"A chess game is a dialogue, a conversation between a player and his opponent. Each move by the opponent may contain threats or be a blunder, but a player cannot defend against threats or take advantage of blunders if he does not first ask himself: What is my opponent planning after each move?" ― Bruce A. Moon

"Examine moves that smite! A good eye for smites is far more important than a knowledge of strategical principles." ― C.J.S. Purdy

"Concentrate on material gains. Whatever your opponent gives you take, unless you see a good reason not to." ― Bobby Fischer

"The combination player thinks forward; he starts from the given position, and tries the forceful moves in his mind." ― Emanuel Lasker

"Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter." ― Rueben Fine

"It has been stated that a characteristic mark of a combination is surprise; surprise for the defender, not for the assailant, since otherwise the combination will probably be unsound." ― Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky

"The pleasure to be derived from a chess combination lie in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game, dominating the inanimate pieces ... and giving them breath of life." ― Richard Reti

"According to such great attacking players as Bronstein and Tal, most combinations are inspired by the player's memories of earlier games." ― Pal Benko

"… in chess – as in any conflict – success lies in the attack." ― Max Euwe

"A player surprised is half beaten." ― Chess Proverb

"What would chess be without silly mistakes?" ― Kurt Richter

"You need not play well - just help your opponent to play badly." ― Genrikh Chepukaitis

"The task of the positional player is systematically to accumulate slight advantages and try to convert temporary advantages into permanent ones, otherwise the player with the better position runs the risk of losing it." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"It is not a move, even the best move that you must seek, but a realizable plan." ― Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky

"A bad plan is better than none at all." ― Frank J. Marshall

"It is better to follow out a plan consistently even if it isn't the best one than to play without a plan at all. The worst thing is to wander about aimlessly." ― Alexander Kotov

"In almost any position the boundless possibilities of chess enable a new or at least a little-studied continuation to be found." ― Tigran Petrosian

"Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan." ― Alexander Alekhine

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

"Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation." ― Max Euwe

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." ― Sun Tzu

"Strategically important points should be overprotected. If the pieces are so engaged, they get their regard in the fact that they will then find themselves well posted in every respect." ― Aaron Nimzowitsch

"The best form of defense is attack." ― Karl von Clausewitz

"It is dangerous to maintain equality at the cost of placing the pieces passively." ― Anatoly Karpov

"Nothing so easily ruins a position as pawn moves." ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game." ― Savielly Tartakover

"Once we have chosen the right formation in the centre we have created opportunities for our pieces and laid the foundation of subsequent victory." ― Alexander Kotov

"Chess is a terrible game. If you have no center, your opponent has a freer position. If you do have a center, then you really have something to worry about!" ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"He who has a slight disadvantage plays more attentively, inventively and more boldly than his antagonist who either takes it easy or aspires after too much. Thus a slight disadvantage is very frequently seen to convert into a good, solid advantage." ― Emanuel Lasker

"You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances." ― Bobby Fischer

"Later, ... I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent." ― Mikhail Tal

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

"The older I grow, the more I value pawns." ― Paul Keres

"One charming characteristic of many flank attacks I could mention is that they do not very often lead to simplification: if the attack is parried, there usually are still opportunities left for initiating action in another sector." ― Bent Larsen

"… the old aphorism holds good, that after the attack has been repulsed, the counterattack is generally decisive." ― Richard Reti

"Though most people love to look at the games of the great attacking masters, some of the most successful players in history have been the quiet positional players. They slowly grind you down by taking away your space, tying up your pieces, and leaving you with virtually nothing to do!" ― Yasser Seirawan

" … a 'quiet' move is the epitome of finesse. A soft answer turns away wrath, but its subdued quality makes it no less efficient." ― Hans Kmoch

"If your opponent cannot do anything active, then don't rush the position; instead you should let him sit there, suffer, and beg you for a draw." ― Jeremy Silman

"A passed pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes." ― José Raúl Capablanca

"In the endgame, the most common errors, besides those resulting from ignorance of theory, are caused by either impatience, complacency, exhaustion, or all of the above." ― Pal Benko

"The technical phase can be boring because there is little opportunity for creativity, for art. Boredom leads to complacency and mistakes." ― Garry Kasparov

"I am trying to beat the guy sitting across from me and trying to choose the moves that are most unpleasant for him and his style." ― Magnus Carlsen

"Chess is infinite, and one has to make only one ill-considered move, and one`s opponent`s wildest dreams will become reality." ― David Bronstein

"People who want to improve should take their defeats as lessons, and endeavor to learn what to avoid in the future. You must also have the courage of your convictions. If you think your move is good, make it." ― José Raúl Capablanca

"Winning is not a secret that belongs to a very few, winning is something that we can learn by studying ourselves, studying the environment and making ourselves ready for any challenge that is in front of us." ― Garry Kasparov

"No one ever won a game by resigning." ― Savielly Tartakower

"Winning isn't everything... but losing is nothing." ― Edmar Mednis, on the importance of fighting for a draw

"All obvious moves look dubious in analysis after the game." ― Viktor Korchnoi

"It is hardly useful if you trustingly play through variation after variation from a book. It is a great deal more useful and more interesting if you take part actively in the analysis, find something yourself, and try to refute some of the author's conclusions." ― Mark Dvoretsky

"The key to ultimate success is the determination to progress day by day." ― Edmar Mednis

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

* Rules Copied Elsewhere:
#4 - 16J, "Black not present", and 16M , "Equipment needed to start the clock" support your position.

16J "If Black is not present for the start of the game, White shall start his own clock, make his move on the board, and start Black's clock."

16M "...A late opponents clock may not be started until the board and pieces are in place..."

39A "Choice of equipment" is more explicit. "...If Black does not provide standard equipment and White does, Black does not have the right to delay the start of the game to search for alternate equipment..."

- Rule 39A1. "If Black is late for the start of a round, White makes the choice of equipment."

- Rule 102: Don't feed the bears!

Oscar Chajes (pronounced "HA-yes") (December 14, 1873 – February 28, 1928) was an American chess player. Chajes was Jewish and was born in Brody, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, in what is now Ukraine. Chajes was the last person to defeat José Raúl Capablanca, at New York 1916, prior to Capablanca's eight-year undefeated stretch from 1916 to 1924.

April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici by Lauro Martines

One of the world's leading historians of Renaissance Italy brings to life here the vibrant--and violent--society of fifteenth-century Florence. His disturbing narrative opens up an entire culture, revealing the dark side of Renaissance man and politician Lorenzo de' Medici. On a Sunday in April 1478, assassins attacked Lorenzo and his brother as they attended Mass in the cathedral of Florence. Lorenzo scrambled to safety as Giuliano bled to death on the cathedral floor. April Blood moves outward in time and space from that murderous event, unfolding a story of tangled passions, ambition, treachery, and revenge. The conspiracy was led by one of the city's most noble clans, the Pazzi, financiers who feared and resented the Medici's swaggering new role as political bosses--but the web of intrigue spread through all of Italy. Bankers, mercenaries, the Duke of Urbino, the King of Naples, and Pope Sixtus IV entered secretly into the plot. Florence was plunged into a peninsular war, and Lorenzo was soon fighting for his own and his family's survival. The failed assassination doomed the Pazzi. Medici revenge was swift and brutal--plotters were hanged or beheaded, innocents were hacked to pieces, and bodies were put out to dangle from the windows of the government palace. All remaining members of the larger Pazzi clan were forced to change their surname, and every public sign or symbol of the family was expunged or destroyed. April Blood offers us a fresh portrait of Renaissance Florence, where dazzling artistic achievements went side by side with violence, craft, and bare-knuckle politics. At the center of the canvas is the figure of Lorenzo the Magnificent--poet, statesman, connoisseur, patron of the arts, and ruthless "boss of bosses." This extraordinarily vivid account of a turning point in the Italian Renaissance is bound to become a lasting work of history.

"In war, truth is the first casualty." – Aeschylus

"I start out by believing the worst." – Napoleon

"Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces." – Julius Caesar

"Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon." – Horatio Nelson

"Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination." – Clausewitz

"The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points." – Sun Tzu

"The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemy's." – Napoleon Bonaparte

"Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things." – Musashi

Rule #29: "Always make your opponent think you know more than you really know." ― General Phil Sheridan

"Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive." – Sun Tzu

"In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack — the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers." – Sun Tzu

"When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise." – Sun Tzu

"One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered." – Napoleon Bonaparte

"To ensure attaining an objective, one should have alternate objectives. An attack that converges on one point should threaten and be able to diverge against another. Only by this flexibility of aim can strategy be attuned to the uncertainty of war." ― Sir Basil H. Liddell-Hart (Strategy, 1954)

"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak." ― Sun Tzu

"Select the tactic of seeming to come from the East and attacking from the West; avoid the solid, attack the hollow; attack; withdraw; deliver a lightning blow, seek a lightning decision. When guerrillas engage a stronger enemy, they withdraw when he advances; harass him when he stops; strike him when he is weary; pursue him when he withdraws." ― Mao Tse-Tung (On Guerrilla Warfare, 1937)

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." ― Sun Tzu

"Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way." ― General George S. Patton Jr., Patton

"You're never beaten until you admit it." ― General George S. Patton, Jr.

"It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory." ― Napoleon Bonaparte

"If you want to know how the Battle of the Bulge was won, ask my G4 (Logistics) Officer..." ― Patton (A successful army needs leadership, training, timing scouting, weather, terrain, deception, etc., transportation, all kinds of equipment and re-supplies, and perhaps reinforcements.)

A is the Gambit, by Allgaier found out,
B is the Bishop, so warlike and stout;
C is our Chess – the glorious game,
D is Defeat, with its sorrow and shame;
E is the Evans, a famous attack,
F is the False-move we wish to take back;
G is a Gambit, full of startling delight,
H is the Houses of black and of white,
I is to Interpose in the midst of the fight;
J is J'adoube, which the careless must say,
K is the King, the soul of the play;
L is the López, the Gambit so old,
M is the Muzio, adventurous and bold;
N is the Notes, explaining our play,
O is the Opening, at the first of the fray;
P is a Pawn, marching boldly ahead,
Q is the Queen, mighty and dread;
R is the Rook, a warrior of weight,
S is a Stale, an unfortunate Mate;
T is a Tournay, where the weakest must yield,
U is to Unite our pawns in the field;
V is Variation, which black overlooks,
W is White, who moves first in the books;
X is Xantippe, the meanest of mates,
Y is to Yield, resigned to our fates;
Z is Zatrikiology, a game,
& an art of endurable fame.

Source: Chess Monthly, November 1860, page 348.

The Members and the Belly

Perhaps, had I but shown due loyalty,
This book would have begun with royalty,
Of which, in certain points of view,
Boss
Belly is the image true,
In whose bereavements all the members share:
Of whom the latter once so weary were,
As all due service to forbear,
On what they called his idle plan,
Resolved to play the gentleman,
And let his lordship live on air.
"Like burden-beasts," said they,
"We sweat from day to day;
And all for whom, and what?
Ourselves we profit not.
Our labour has no object but one,
That is, to feed this lazy glutton.
We'll learn the resting trade
By his example's aid."
So said, so done; all labour ceased;
The hands refused to grasp, the arms to strike;
All other members did the like.
Their boss might labour if he pleased!
It was an error which they soon repented,
With pain of languid poverty acquainted.
The heart no more the blood renewed,
And hence repair no more accrued
To ever-wasting strength;
Whereby the mutineers, at length,
Saw that the idle belly, in its way,
Did more for common benefit than they.

For royalty our fable makes,
A thing that gives as well as takes
Its power all labour to sustain,
Nor for themselves turns out their labour vain.
It gives the artist bread, the merchant riches;
Maintains the diggers in their ditches;
Pays man of war and magistrate;
Supports the swarms in place,
That live on sovereign grace;
In short, is caterer for the state.

Menenius told the story well:
When Rome, of old, in pieces fell,
The commons parting from the senate.
"The ills," said they, "that we complain at
Are, that the honours, treasures, power, and dignity, Belong to them alone; while we
Get nothing our labour for
But tributes, taxes, and fatigues of war."
Without the walls the people had their stand
Prepared to march in search of other land,
When by this noted fable
Menenius was able
To draw them, hungry, home
To duty and to Rome.

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

One mind, any weapon." ― Hunter B. Armstrong

The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn." ― Samuel Boden

I'm not a materialistic person, in that, I don't suffer the lack or loss of money. The absence of worldly goods I don't look back on. For chess is a way I can be as materialistic as I want without having to sell my soul." ― Jamie Walter Adams

Great results can be achieved with small forces." ― Sun Tzu

Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men." ― Musashi

Grandmasters
No chess grandmaster is normal; they only differ in the extent of their madness." ― Viktor Korchnoi

Just as the pianist practices the most complicated pieces to improve the technique of his fingers, so too a grandmaster must keep his vision in trim by daily analysis of positions with sharp possibilities, and this applies whether he prefers such positions in his play or not." ― Alexander Kotov

Play the move that forces the win in the simplest way. Leave the brilliancies to Alekhine, Keres and Tal." ― Irving Chernev

Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post card." ― Max Euwe

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 A. Znosko-Borovski

Truth
Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity." ― Vladimir Nabokov, Poems and Problems, 1969

Chess, like any creative activity, can exist only through the combined efforts of those who have creative talent, and those who have the ability to organize their creative work." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

I have always had a very vivid imagination, which I have, after a long struggle, partly succeeded in controlling in order to use it to better purpose, according to the requirements of the occasion." ― Capablanca

No fantasy, however rich, no technique, however masterly, no penetration into the psychology of the opponent, however deep, can make a chess game a work of art, if these qualities do not lead to the main goal - the search for truth." ― Vasily Smyslov

The process of making pieces in chess do something useful (whatever it may be) has received a special name: it is called the attack. The attack is that process by means of which you remove obstructions." ― Emanuel Lasker

On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite." ― Emanuel Lasker

Truth derives its strength not so much from itself as from the brilliant contrast it makes with what is only apparently true. This applies especially to chess, where it is often found that the profoundest moves do not much startle the imagination." ― Emanuel Lasker

Study
The concept of 'talent' is formed under completely abstract criteria, having nothing in common with reality. But the reality is such that I don't understand chess as a whole. But then again no one understands chess in its entirety. Perhaps talent is something else, in chess it is conditionality." ― Alexander Morozevich

Our knowledge of circumstances has increased, but our uncertainty, instead of having diminished, has only increased. The reason of this is, that we do not gain all our experience at once, but by degrees; so our determinations continue to be assailed incessantly by fresh experience; and the mind, if we may use the expression, must always be under arms. – Clausewitz

The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances. – Napoleon

Nothing is so healthy as a trashing at the proper time, and from few won games have I learned as muchas I have from most of my defeats. – Capablanca

Do not mind losing, for it is only by learning that you will improve, and by losing, if you use theknowledge you gained, you will improve rapidly. If you play with a much better player, so much morelikely that you will learn. Any ordinary man can learn a great deal of chess just as of music, art orscience, if he cares to devote his time and attention to study of the game. – Capablanca

In order to make progress in chess, it is necessary to pay special attention to all the general principles, spending a little less time on the openings. Play the openings on the basis of your general knowledge of how to mobilize pieces and do not become involved in technicalities about whether the books recommend this or that move; to learn the openings by heart it is necessary to study a great number of books which, moreover, are sometimes wrong. However, if you study from the point of view of the general principles you are taking a more certain path for although a player's intellect can fail at a given moment, principles well used never fail. – Capablanca

If the point of playing chess is as a battle of the intellect then most people would say that the memorization of other peoples ideas is something that is anathema to the spirit of chess. – Nigel Davies

Lead the ideas of your time and they will accompany and support you; fall behind them and they drag you along with them; oppose them and they will overwhelm you. – Napoleon

The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools. – Thucydides

It is said the warrior's is the twofold Way of pen and sword, and he should have a taste for both Ways. Even if a man has no natural ability, he can be a warrior by sticking assiduously to both divisions of the Way. – Miyamoto Musashi

You work for a long period of time and the results don't really show, but at some point everything just comes together and you start to play better, or get more confidence. – Fabiano Caruana

In all forms of strategy, it is necessary to maintain the combat stance in everyday life and to make youreveryday stance your combat stance. You must research this well. – Miyamoto Musashi

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. – George Hyman Rickover

It has been said that man is distinguished from animal in that he buys more books than he can read. I should like to suggest that the inclusion of a few chess books would help to make the distinction unmistakable. – Edward Lasker

Chess books should be used as we use glasses: to assist the sight, although some players make use of them as if they conferred sight. – Jose Capablanca

Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others' experience. – Otto von Bismark

…It is hardly useful if you trustingly play through variation after variation from a book. It is a great deal more useful and more interesting if you take part actively in the analysis, find something yourself, and try to refute some of the author's conclusions. – Mark Dvoretsky

Ninety percent of the book variations have no great value, because either they contain mistakes or they are based on fallacious assumptions; just forget about the openings and spend all that time on the endings. – Jose Capablanca

…The most intelligent inspection of any number of fine paintings will not make the observer a painter, nor will listening to a number of operas make the hearer a musician, but good judges of music and painting may so be formed. Chess differs from these. The intelligent perusal of fine games cannot fail to make the reader a better player and a better judge of the play of others. – Emanuel Lasker

The young people have read my book. Now I have no chance. – Efim Bogolubow

On Play
Act like a man of thought. Think like a man of action. – Thomas Mann

Just as one man can beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a thousand, and a thousand men can beat ten thousand. In my strategy, one man is the same as ten thousand, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft. – Miyamoto Musashi

There are two classes of men; those who are content to yield to circumstances and who play whist; those who aim to control circumstances, and who play chess. – Mortimer Collins

Whether in an advantageous position or a disadvantageous one, the opposite state should be always present to your mind. – Ts'ao Kung

Question to Rubinstein: "Who is your opponent tonight?" Answer: "Tonight I am playing against the black pieces." – Akiba Rubinstein

Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive. – Sun Tzu

Every move creates a weakness. – Siegbert Tarrasch

Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. – Sun Tzu

Chess is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game. – Paul Morphy

During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey. – Alexander Alekhine

Chess is a miniature version of life. To be successful, you need to be disciplined, assess resources, consider responsible choices and adjust when circumstances change. – Susan Polgar

For success I consider three factors are necessary: firstly, an awareness of my own strengths and weaknesses; secondly, an accurate understanding of my opponent's strengths and weaknesses; thirdly, a higher aim than momentary satisfaction. I see this aim as being scientific and artistic achievements, which place the game of chess on a par with other arts. – Alexander Alekhine

Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one's opponent will never become a good chess player. – Max Euwe

... The main thing that develops positional judgment, that perfects it and makes it many-sided, is detailed analytical work, sensible tournament practice, a self-critical attitude to your games and rooting out of all the defects in your play. – Alexander Kotov

From triumph to downfall there is but one step. I have noted that, in the most momentous occasions, mere nothings have always decided the outcome of the greatest events. – Napoleon

To lose one's objective attitude to a position, nearly always means ruining your game. – DavidBronstein

Chess teaches you to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks goodand it trains you to think objectively when in you're trouble. – Stanley Kubrick

When you see a good move, look for a better one. – Emanuel Lasker

I often play a move I know how to refute. – Bent Larsen

You need not play well - just help your opponent to play badly. – Genrikh Chepukaitis

When you have finished analyzing all the variations and gone along all the branches of the tree of analysis you must first of all write the move down on your score sheet, before you play it. – Alexander Kotov

Winning
You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what Chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other better ideas. – Stanley Kubrick

The sign of a great master is his ability to win a won game quickly and painlessly. – Irving Chernev

Under no circumstances should you play fast if you have a winning position. Forget the clock, use all your time and make good moves. – Pal Benko

Losing
However hopeless the situation appears to be there yet always exists the possibility of putting up a stubborn resistance. – Paul Keres

Don't be afraid of losing, be afraid of playing a game and not learning something. – Dan Heisman

Nothing is so healthy as a trashing at the proper time, and from few won games have I learned as much as I have from most of my defeats. – Capablanca

I prefer to lose a really good game than to win a bad one. – David Levy

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 Capablanca

Most players ... do not like losing and consider defeat as something shameful. This is a wrong attitude. Those who wish to perfect themselves must regard their losses as lessons and learn from them what sorts of things to avoid in the future. – Jose Capablanca

Setbacks and losses are both inevitable and essential if you're going to improve and become a good, even great, competitor. The art is in avoiding catastrophic losses in the key battles. – Garry Kasparov

Losing can persuade you to change what doesn't need to be changed, and winning can convince you everything is fine even if you are on the brink of disaster. – Garry Kasparov

Loss generally occurs when a player overrates his advantage or for other reasons seeks to derive from a minute advantage a great return such as a forced win. – Emanuel Lasker

Part Three: The Mental Game
Psychology
All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are. – Clausewitz

You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one. – Mikhail Tal

You must not let your opponent know how you feel. – Alexander Kotov

When your opponent can easily anticipate every move you make, your strategy deteriorates and becomes commoditized. – Garry Kasparov

You can't overestimate the importance of psychology in chess, and as much as some players try to downplay it, I believe that winning requires a constant and strong psychology not just at the board but in every aspect of your life. – Garry Kasparov

Psychology is the most important factor in chess. – Alexander Alekhine

Emotional instability can be one of the factors giving rise to a failure by chess players in important duels. Under the influence of surging emotions (and not necessarily negative ones) we sometimes lose concentration and stop objectively evaluating the events that are taking place on the board. – Mark Dvoretsky

...as man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective. – Clausewitz

My most difficult opponent is myself. When I am playing I often involuntarily make a world champion out of a candidate master. – Lev Polugaevsky

Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of the chess player. – Siegbert Tarrasch Drawing general conclusions about your main weaknesses can provide a great stimulus to further growth. – Alexander Kotov

The fear of war is worse than war itself. – Seneca

There are two classes of men; those who are content to yield to circumstances and who play whist; those who aim to control circumstances, and who play chess. – Mortimer Collins

...man is a frivolous, a specious creature, and like a chess-player cares more for the process of attaining his goal than for the goal itself. – Dostoyevsky

In life, as in chess, one's own Pawns block one's way. A man's very wealth, ease, leisure, children, books, which should help him to win, more often checkmate him. – Charles Buxton

Botvinnik tried to take the mystery out of chess, always relating it to situations in ordinary life. He used to call chess a typical inexact problem similar to those which people are always having to solve in everyday life. – Garry Kasparov

Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things. – Musashi

All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything. – Napoleon

To know ten thousand things, know one well. – Miyamoto Musashi

Optimism
As has happened so often in history, victory had bred a complacency and fostered an orthodoxy which led to defeat in the next war. – Sir Basil H. Liddell-Hart (Strategy, 1954; on the French military development between the World Wars)

I've seen - both in myself and my competitors - how satisfaction can lead to a lack of vigilance, then to mistakes and missed opportunities. – Garry Kasparov

Pessimism
All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time. – Lt Gen Lewis B. Puller, USMC

A defeatist spirit must inevitably lead to disaster. – Eugene A. Znosko-Borovski

If a mistake or an inaccuracy occurs, there is no need to assume 'all is lost' and mope - one must reorient oneself quickly and find a new plan to fit the new situation. – David Bronstein

How come the little things bother you when you are in a bad position? They don't bother you in good positions. – Yasser Seirawan

Opponents
Nowadays grandmasters no longer study their opponent's games so much, but they study his character, his behavior and his temperament in the most thorough fashion. – David Bronstein

The effect to be sought is the dislocation of the opponent's mind and dispositions -- such an effect is the true gauge of an indirect approach. – Sir Basil H. Liddell-Hart (Strategy, 1954)

When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise. – Sun Tzu

Ultimately, what separates a winner from a loser at the grandmaster level is the willingness to do the unthinkable. A brilliant strategy is, certainly, a matter of intelligence, but intelligence without audaciousness is not enough. Given the opportunity, I must have the guts to explode the game, to upend my opponent's thinking and, in so doing, unnerve him. So it is in business: One does not succeed by sticking to convention. – Garry Kasparov

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. – Sun Tzu

It is a mistake, too, to say that the face is the mirror of the soul. The truth is, men are very hard to know, and yet, not to be deceived, we must judge them by their present actions, but for the present only. – Napoleon

Some Warriors look fierce, but are mild. Some seem timid, but are vicious. Look beyond appearances; position yourself for the advantage. – Deng Ming-Dao

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. – an anonymous politician

Above all else, before playing in competitions a player must have regard to his health, for if he is suffering from ill-health he cannot hope for success. In this connection the best of all tonics is 15 to 20 days in the fresh air, in the country. – Mikhail Botvinnik

Since your mental state can have such dramatic effects on your body, obviously your physical condition can affect your mental well-being. It follows that regular physical conditioning should be part of your overall chess training. – Pal Benko

Method rules his training, which blends the physical with the mental. How many chess masters put in, prior to an important match, an allotted time daily to bicycling and shadow-boxing, followed by a cold douche and a brisk rub down? – Hans Kmoch, on Max Euwe

The stomach is an essential part of the Chess master. – Bent Larsen

Strategy vs Tactics
The laws of chess do not permit a free choice: you have to move whether you like it or not. – Emanuel Lasker

In short, the ideal way of playing a game would be rapid development of the pieces of strategic use for attack or defense, taking into account the fact that the two elements are Time and Position. Calm in defense and decisiveness in attack. – José Raúl Capablanca

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. – Sun Tzu

However, if you study from the point of view of the general principles you are taking a more certain path for although a player's intellect can fail at a given moment, principles well used never fail. – José Raúl Capablanca

The tactician must know what to do whenever something needs doing; the strategist must know what to do when nothing needs doing. – Savielly Tartakower

We often hear the terms 'positional' and 'tactical' used as opposites. But this is as wrong as to consider a painting's composition unrelated to its subject. Just as there is no such thing as 'artistic' art, so there is no such thing as 'positional' chess. – Samuel Reshevsky

In general, I consider that in chess everything rests on tactics. If one thinks of strategy as a block of marble, then tactics are the chisel with which a master operates, in creating works of chess art. – Tigran Petrosian

Tactics flow from a superior position. – Bobby Fischer

Every move creates a weakness. – Siegbert Tarrasch

Position
The criterion of real strength is a deep penetration into the secrets of a position. – Tigran Petrosian

We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country -- its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. – Sun Tzu

The laws of circumstance are abolished by new circumstances. – Napoleon

It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position. – Richard Reti

Bring all your pieces out! Give them scope! Occupy the central squares! – Siegbert Tarrasch

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

By reinforcing every part, (the opponent) weakens every part. – Sun Tzu

The winning of a pawn among good players of even strength often means the winning of the game. – José Raúl Capablanca

Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. – Henry David Thoreau

The highest art of the chess player lies in not allowing your opponent to show you what he can do. – Garry Kasparov

The aim is not so much to seek battle as to seek a strategic situation so advantageous that if it does not of itself produce the decision, its continuation by a battle is sure to achieve this. In other words, dislocation is the aim of strategy. – Sir Basil H. Liddell-Hart (Strategy)

I love all positions. Give me a difficult positional game, I will play it. Give me a bad position, I will defend it. Openings, endgames, complicated positions, dull draws, I love them and I will do my very best. But totally won positions, I cannot stand them. – Hein Donner

It is rightly said that the most difficult thing in chess is winning a won position. – Vladimir Kramnik

Plans
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory is won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. – Sun Tzu

To find the right plan is just as hard as looking for its sound justification. – Emanuel Lasker

The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan. – Clausewitz

A plan is made for a few moves only, not for the whole game. – Reuben Fine

Capture of the adverse King is the ultimate but not the first object of the game. – Wilhelm Steinitz

Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one's opponent will never become a good chess player. – Max Euwe

The study of typical plans is something that the leading grandmasters devote a great deal of time to. I would say that the most far-seeing of them devote as much time to this as to the study of openings. – Alexander Kotov

Analysis
If we wish to wrest an advantage from the enemy, we must not fix our minds on that alone, but allow for the possibility of the enemy also doing some harm to us, and let this enter as a factor into our calculations. – Sun Tzu

What is the Threat?? – Anon (a question to always ask of both your own and the opponent's moves...)

So do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat. – Sun Tzu

White lost because he failed to remember the right continuation and had to think up the moves himself. – Siegbert Tarrasch

The most difficult art is not in the choice of men, but in giving to the men chosen the highest service of which they are capable. – Napoleon

Dazzling combinations are for the many, shifting wood is for the few. – George Kieninger

Human affairs are like a chess game: only those who do not take it seriously can be called good players. – Hung Tzu Ch'eng

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. – Clausewitz

Never do an enemy a small injury. – Niccolo Machiavelli

Speed is fine but accuracy is final. – Bill Jordan

Combinations
A combination is a blend of ideas – pins, forks, discovered checks, double attacks – which endow the pieces with magical powers. – Irving Chernev

It is a profound mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned. Every player knows that all (or almost all) combinations arise from a recollection of familiar elements. – Richard Reti

A thorough understanding of the typical mating continuations makes the most complicated sacrificial combinations leading up to them not only not difficult, but almost a matter of course. – Siegbert Tarrasch

A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror. – Wilhelm Steinitz

By positional play a master tries to prove and exploit true values, whereas by combinations he seeks to refute false values ... A combination produces an unexpected re-assessment of values. – Emanuel Lasker

This high proportion of history's decisive campaigns, the significance of which is enhanced by the comparative rarity of the direct approach, enforces the conclusion that the indirect is by far the most hopeful and economic form of strategy. – Sir Basil H. Liddell-Hart (Strategy, 1954)

Half the variations which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half. – Jan Tinman

The most difficult art is not in the choice of men, but in giving to the men chosen the highest service of which they are capable. – Napoleon

Impossible is the word found only in a fool's dictionary. Wise people create opportunities for themselves and make everything possible... – Napoleon

Preponderance of Force
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak. – Sun Tzu

If in a battle, I seize a bit of debatable land with a handful of soldiers, without having done anything to prevent an enemy bombardment of the position, would it ever occur to me to speak of a conquest of the terrain in question? Obviously not. Then why should I do so in chess? – Aaron Nimzowitsch

Strategically important points should be overprotected. If the pieces are so engaged, they get their regard in the fact that they will then find themselves well posted in every respect. – Aaron Nimzowitsch

If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak. – Sun Tzu

Attacking
The process of making pieces in chess do something useful (whatever it may be) has received a special name: it is called the attack. The attack is that process by means of which you remove obstructions. – Emanuel Lasker

The most powerful weapon in Chess is to have the next move. – David Bronstein

Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him. – Sun Tzu

Logistics is the Soul of War. – Napoleon

In maneuver warfare, we attempt not to destroy the entire enemy force but to render most of it irrelevant. – Lt. Col. Robert R. Leonhard, U.S.A.

When you have an enemy in your power, deprive him of the means of ever injuring you. – Napoleon

The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions. – Musashi

The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points. – Sun Tzu

The highest generalship is to compel the enemy to disperse his army, and then to concentrate superior force against each fraction in turn. – Col. Henderson

Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war. – Clausewitz

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak. – Sun Tzu

Brilliancies
Without error there can be no brilliancy. – Emanuel Lasker

A game is always won through a mistake. – Tartakower

The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made. – Savielly Tartakower

Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. – Sun Tzu

A quiet move in the midst of an attack is the master's trademark. – Anon

Not all artists may be chess players, but all chess players are artists. – Marcel Duchamp

Confidence is very important – even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake. – Viswanathan Anand

One bad move nullifies forty good ones. – I.A. Horowitz

A descriptive justification can be given for almost every mistake. – adapted from Nigel Davies

Errors have nothing to do with luck; they are caused by time pressure, discomfort or unfamiliarity with a position, distractions, feelings of intimidation, nervous tension, overambition, excessive caution, and dozens of other psychological factors. – Pal Benko

Some things are really hard to do, almost impossible to do, like playing perfectly in extremely complicated positions. But it really bugs me when I miss things that I really shouldn't have. I am always going to make mistakes. I don't have any illusions that my understanding of chess is perfect or anything like that. It's just that I have to work on relatively simple mistakes. When I can lower the percentage of such mistakes then things are going to be much better. – Magnus Carlsen

Defense
The first order of business for a General is to secure himself against defeat. – Sun Tzu

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. – Sun Tzu

When you don't know what to play, wait for an idea to come into your opponent's mind. You may be sure that idea will be wrong. – Siegbert Tarrasch

When you defend, try not to worry or become upset. Keep your cool and trust your position - it's all you've got. – Pal Benko

Setbacks and losses are both inevitable and essential if you're going to improve and become a good, even great, competitor. The art is in avoiding catastrophic losses in the key battles. – Garry Kasparov

Every action is seen to fall into one of three main categories, guarding, hitting, or moving. Here, then, are the elements of combat, whether in war of pugilism. – B. H. Liddell-Hart

Do nothing which is of no use. – Musashi

...only the player with the initiative has the right to attack. – Wilhelm Steinitz

It's less about physical training, in the end, than it is about the mental preparation: boxing is a chess game. You have to be skilled enough and have trained hard enough to know how many different ways you can counterattack in any situation, at any moment. – Jimmy Smits

when to complicate
In modern praxis lost positions are salvaged most often when the play is highly complicated with many sharp dynamic variations to be calculated. – Leonid Shamkovich

A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused. – Rudolph Spielmann

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating. – Clausewitz

From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step. – Napoleon

There are cases in which the greatest daring is the greatest wisdom. – Clausewitz, (On War)

pages 24-25 of The Year Book of the United States Chess Federation 1944 (Chicago, 1945), which published ‘Brave Heart', Anthony Santasiere's tribute to Frank J. Marshall. Written in August 1942 for Marshall's 65th birthday, it began:

Brave Heart –
We salute you!
Knowing neither gain nor loss,
Nor fear, nor hate –;
But only this –
To fight – to fight –
And to love.

Santasiere then gushes on in a similar vein for another 40 lines or so, and we pick up the encomium for its final verse:

For this – dear Frank –
We thank you.
For this – dear Frank –
We love you!
Brave heart –
Brave heart –
We love you!

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

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

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." ― Denis Waitley

Chris Chaffin wrote:

master/piece
She moves him ‘round the chess board,
dodging bishops, pawns and rooks.
She coaxes him from square to square
without a second look.

The white knight cannot catch him.
Piece by piece, the foe now yields.
Her king is safe; the game is done.
The queen controls the field.

Rebuy

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

woordfuun:
08her Abou TZojer permafrost Z Fresca Bloody chanted good nurserey rhyemes abuve Zazoni Narkundzhiya fore zborris67 rode thru countrside attk.

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"There just isn't enough televised chess." — David Letterman

"Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don't be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they aren't paying any attention to you. It's your attention to yourself that is so stultifying. But you have to disregard yourself as completely as possible. If you fail the first time then you'll just have to try harder the second time. After all, there's no real reason why you should fail. Just stop thinking about yourself." — Eleanor Roosevelt

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

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

"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

Z is for Zipper (to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

Zipper starts with letter Z,
Letter Z, letter Z,
Zipper starts with Letter Z,
/z/, /z/, /z/, /z/!

On the river