A Game of Chess -
by T. S. Eliot
II. A GAME OF CHESS

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes, Unguent, powdered, or liquid — troubled, confused And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone, In which sad light a carved dolphin swam.
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues, " Jug Jug " to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.
Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still. " My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me. " Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.
— " What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? " I never know what you are thinking. Think. "

I think we are in rats' alley
Where the dead men lost their bones.

" What is that noise? "
The wind under the door.
" What is that noise now? What is the wind doing? " Nothing again nothing.
" Do
" You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember " Nothing? "

— I remember
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
" Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head? " But
O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag —
It's so elegant
So intelligent
" What shall I do now? What shall I do? "
" I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street
" With my hair down, so. What shall we do to-morrow? " What shall we ever do? "
The hot water at ten.
And if it rains, a closed car at four.
And we shall play a game of chess,
Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said —
I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself,
H URRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Now Albert's coming back, make yourself a bit smart. He'll want to know what you done with that money he gave you To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there. You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,
He said, I swear, I can't bear to look at you.
And no more can't I, I said, and think of poor Albert, He's been in the army four years, he wants a good time, And if you don't give it him, there's others will, I said. Oh is there, she said. Something o' that, I said. Then I'll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look. H URRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
If you don't like it you can get on with it, I said. Others can pick and choose if you can't.
But if Albert makes off, it won't be for lack of telling. You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique. (And her only thirty-one.)
I can't help it, she said, pulling a long face,
It's them pills I took, to bring it off, she said. (She's had five already, and nearly died of young George.) The chemist said it would be all right, but I've never been the same. You are a proper fool, I said.
Well, if Albert won't leave you alone, there it is, I said, What you get married for if you don't want children? H URRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon, And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot — H URRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
H URRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME
Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight. Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.
Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

"Problems are only opportunities in disguise." ― Alfred North Whitehead

"The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it." ― William Osler

"The first step is to believe that it's possible. Once I had a taste of success, you start to believe in it a little more." ― Jarome Iginla

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." ― Tony Robbins

"The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen." ― Lee Iacocca

"Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away." ― Indira Gandhi

"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell." ― William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891)

"Winning is about commitment, discipline, hard work, dedication, determination, courage and sometimes even luck!" ― Susan Polgar

"Every defeat is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes! Every victory is a confirmation of our hard work!" ― Susan Polgar

"A chess player uses his/her knowledge to prepare for next game while a passionate coach prepares for next generation!" ― Susan Polgar

"Chess is a thinking person's game. But you don't have to be smart to know what's funny! Lots of check, mate!" ― Steve Breen

"With chess it was almost this palpable electricity that I felt. You're totally in control of your own fate. There's no luck factor. It's you and the pieces." ― Daniel Naroditsky

"If you never give up and you strive hard and focus on every move like a chess game, you will make it. I believe that wholeheartedly." ― Coy Bowles

"Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance." ― Plato

"To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge." ― Nicolaus Copernicus

"Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge." ― Dante Alighieri

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." ― Marcus Garvey

"There's a popular concept of 'intelligence' as book smarts, like calculus or chess, as opposed to, say, social skills. So people say that 'it takes more than intelligence to succeed in human society.' But social skills reside in the brain, not the kidneys." ― Eliezer Yudkowsky

"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." ― Marilyn vos Savant

"Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile." ― Abu Bakr

"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." ― Warren Buffett

"Chess is intellectual gymnastics." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"The very idea of how chess players manipulate their game excites me." ― Kay Kay Menon

"As a chess player I learn to adapt to new situations and always try to make the best move without looking back or asking why and how I ended up in a situation I ended up in." ― Anish Giri

"It's easy to reach a certain level with chess, but it's very hard to reach the next level." ― Jan Vertonghen

"I play golf, and I play chess, and sometimes I go to the gym. On the airplane or between acts when I do the performance, I play Candy Crush to forget what happens around me, just to be alone, not thinking... You need to clear your brain." ― Ildar Abdrazakov

"I like all sorts of games that make you think. Chess is one of the games I play a lot, read a lot of books." ― Ricky Rubio

"Crossword puzzles, Sudoku... I'm good at all those things. It's not daily, but I'll do stuff on the airplane. I love playing chess. It's my favorite game." ― Larry Fitzgerald

"Football is a bit like chess: it's not just the piece being moved that matters; it's also the effect that move has on all the other pieces." ― Mal Peet

"The most dangerous area is the centre, which has to be either attacked or defended in football, and it's the same in chess." ― Henrikh Mkhitaryan

"You can't win the chess match if you don't have enough pieces." ― Stephon Marbury

"I learned to play chess at a young age, and I think that's where learning to plan things out and put things in position, that was the best thing for me." ―Jaylen Brown

"Chess can open up a kid's brain, and develop it in a playful creative way. They can learn playfully about creative, strategic, and logical thinking, and quick problem-solving." ― Judit Polgar

"Chess taught me patience." ― Yuzvendra Chahal

"When I was about six, I saw my elder siblings play chess and pestered my mother into teaching me. Very soon, I was beating everyone at home, and they thought it would be good to join a club. So my sister would take me to the Tal chess club on Thursdays and weekends." ― Viswanathan Anand

"In Gujarat, we had the world record of largest number of chess games in a single venue - 20,500 - and in Tamil Nadu, I have been emphasizing on the positives of chess to the authorities." ― Viswanathan Anand

"My grandfather, or Nana Ji, as we called him, was a family legend. Amarnath Vidyalankar spent his life fighting for India's independence, which included spending four years in prison in Mahatma Gandhi's movement. I still remember the conversations we had together, many of them while playing chess." ― Ro Khanna

"My mother and father met while playing chess, so I've always had a fondness for the game. If it weren't for chess, I might not be here." ― Dorothy Dunnett

"My dad sacrificed many things in life for me. He abandoned a very promising and lucrative career of an army officer just so that he could continue helping me with my chess and accompanying me to tournaments." ― Alexandra Kosteniuk

"I was a terrible father. The most I ever did for my children was to teach them chess. At least they got that." ― David Bailey

"I play chess badly and I've been beaten by my 10-year old son." ― John Turturro

"I live in Ireland near the sea, only one mile from where I grew up - that's good, since I've known many of my neighbours for between 50-60 years. Gordon and I play chess every day, and we are both equally bad. We play chatty, over-talkative bad bridge with friends every week." ― Maeve Binchy

"There is nothing that disgusts a man like getting beaten at chess by a woman." ― Charles Dudley Warner

"A woman can beat any man; it's difficult to imagine another kind of sport where a woman can beat a man. That's why I like chess." ― Alexandra Kosteniuk

"It was not until I got my first job, at the University of Washington in Seattle, and began playing chess with Don Gordon, a brilliant young theorist, that I learned economic theory." ― Douglass North

"In my country, at that time, being a champion of chess was like being a King. At that time I was a King - and when you are King you feel a lot of responsibility, but there is nobody there to help you." ― Boris Spassky

"Nowadays the dynamic element is more important in chess - players more often sacrifice material to obtain dynamic compensation." ― Boris Spassky

"Every time I win a tournament I have to think that there is something wrong with modern chess." ― Viktor Korchnoi

"If, in our first match for the world champion's title, I had managed to make the score 6-0, there would have been no Kasparov as a good chess player at all." ― Anatoly Karpov

"The development of beauty in chess never depends on you alone. No matter how much imagination and creativity you invest, you still do not create beauty. Your opponent must react at the same highest level." ― Vladimir Kramnik

"It's quite difficult for me to imagine my life without chess." ― Garry Kasparov

"I was highly attracted to chess for forty or forty-five years; then, little by little, my enthusiasm lessened." ― Marcel Duchamp

"Comedy has sort of been my life-long obsession. I literally obsessed over comedy. I really didn't play sports - for me it was just comedy, computers and chess club; those were my big things." ― Chris Hardwick

"Chess: It's like alcohol. It's a drug. I have to control it, or it could overwhelm me. I have a regular Monday night game at my home, and I do play a little online." ― Charles Krauthammer

"Making the AI better in a video game is not like making the AI better in, say, a chess game. Making it better in terms of acting ability - we're basically improving its acting so that the user can have more fun." ― Hideaki Itsuno

"You fight technology with technology, so you have to stay one step ahead of the criminal. It's very much a chess game - they make a move, you have to make a move." ― Frank Abagnale

"For me, MMA is like speed chess. It's like I'm herding a person into a certain position. Say my endgame is an arm bar. I'm not gonna actually take you and put you there. What I'm going to do is convince you that it's a good idea to move in the direction I want you to go." ― Ronda Rousey

"Life is not always like chess. Just because you have the king surrounded, don't think he is not capable of hurting you." ― Ron Livingston

"The truth of the matter is that chess is not the game of life because life does not ever happen the way you strategize and plan." ― Jason Reynolds

"In chess, you gotta come up with a strategy. I made a lot of plans in my life. 'I'ma do this, I'ma do that, this is gonna happen, that's gonna happen.' And a lot of stuff don't go as planned. You really gotta act on events as they unfold. That's how I compare chess to life." ― Tee Grizzley

"Some people see life as a game of chess, while others prefer to see it as a game of cricket; but the longer I live, the more I think of it as a game of Consequences." ― Craig Brown

"In a crazy way, writing is a lot like any kind of very complex game - like chess, where you have the knowledge as you're composing all of the ramifications of each move, of each choice you make." ― Adam Ross

"Anti-submarine warfare is the military version of chess. You must work out what the enemy is going to do before they even think of it." ― Sarah West

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing." ― Warren Buffett

"I look at improvising as a prolonged game of chess. There's an opening gambit with your pawn in a complex game I have with one character, and lots of side games with other characters, and another game with myself - and in each game you make all these tiny, tiny moves that get you to the endgame." ― Steve Carell

"Online chess is very popular and cool, don't get me wrong, but it is a different discipline." ― Anish Giri

"When you watch chess, you don't see the four hours that the player spends preparing for a match ahead of time." ― Hikaru Nakamura

"In chess, computers show that what we call 'strategy' is reducible to tactics, ultimately. It only looks creative to us. They are still just glorified cash registers. This should make us feel uncomfortable, whether or not we think computers will ever be good composers of music or artistic painters." ― Tyler Cowen

"I've never been much of a computer guy at least in terms of playing with computers. Actually until I was about 11 I didn't use a computer for preparing for games at all. I was playing a bit online, was using the chess club mainly. Now, obviously, the computer is an important tool for me preparing for my games." ― Magnus Carlsen

"Being a professional chess player is not very family-friendly and I am away quite often playing tournaments, sometimes for 12 days at a time. I catch up with Gusztav every day on Skype and email but even though I miss them, I don't make a point of ringing the children every night." ― Judit Polgar

"The truth is that throughout my careers in both chess and the martial arts, I often knew that my rivals were more naturally gifted than me - either with their mental machines or their bodies. But I have believed in my training, my approach to learning, and my ability to rise to the challenge under pressure." ― Joshua Waitzkin

"I'd like to go away for six months and learn to kiteboard and windsurf. I love pinochle, I love chess and I love windsurfing." ― Christopher Meloni

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." ― George Eliot

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

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

* h-pawn lever, exchange sacrifice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8t...

* 2 Knts vs Fried Liver: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* Beginner 4B: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* Beginner 4W: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* 5 Italian Traps: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* 6 Well-Known Traps: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* Is he related to Rooster Cogburn? http://studimonetari.org/edg/latex/...

* Slow down w/the Petroff: Game Collection: 0

* Tromp: Game Collection: 0

* London Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMk...

* Against the LS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH0...

* Video: "Flagged for fair play violation." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urS...

* Old Benoni A43 (12 games): Game Collection: 0

* Old Benoni A43: Game Collection: A43 Old Benoni (Black)

* Old Benoni A44: Game Collection: A44 Old Benoni (Black)

* Old, but still sharp: Opening Explorer

* Go through these games for San Antonio: Game Collection: magnus carlsen

* D02 Explorer: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Tackling the English: Game Collection: Black Rep. Sicilian, Benoni/KID, etc.

* Short and Sweet ideas: Game Collection: Repertoires

* Scandi 2...Nf6 Game Collection: Scandinavian games

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

* The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played: 62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy by Irving Chernev - https://lichess.org/study/KMMrJvE1

* Legendary: Game Collection: The 12 Legendary Games of the Century

"Even though chess isn't the toughest thing that computers will tackle for centuries, it stood as a handy symbol for human intelligence. No matter what human-like feat computers perform in the future, the Deep Blue match demands an indelible dot on all timelines of AI progress." ― Steven Levy

The Sofia Rules forbid agreed draws before 30 moves. The "Bilbao" scoring system awards 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.

Q: What do you call a fat pumpkin?
A: A pumpkin!

Q: What do you call a factory that sells OK products? A: A satisfactory!

Q: What do you call a cheese that doesn't belong to you? A: Nacho cheese!

Q: What do you call a sleeping wolf?
A: An unawarewolf!

Q: What do you call a bear that never wants to grow up? A: Peter Panda!

Q: What do you call a Jedi with one arm?
A: Hand Solo!

Q: What do you call a sad cheese?
A: A Blue cheese!

Q: What do you call an argument between two electric companies? A: A power struggle!

<<"From this day to the ending of the world,>

But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."> ― William Shakespeare, Henry V

"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress." — Joseph Joubert

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name! ― Fort Minor

"In chess, you have to bring all the pieces into the game. It is about development. In writing, you have to develop the story." — Gza

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

"The great thing about chess is it's a game for oneself. You don't work on what you can't control, you just work on yourself. And I think if more people did that, we'd all be a lot better off." — Daniel Naroditsky

"Chess taught me patience." — Yuzvendra Chahal

"Chess demolishes differences. It's a language of different generations." — Judit Polgar

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

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

Old Russian Proverb: "The elbow is close but you cannot bite it. (Близок локоток, да не укусишь.)" Close is no cigar.

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." ― Frederick Douglass

<....Here is an excerpt from Sergeant's book Championship Chess, with Alekhine's view of Fine, as early as 1933:

'Before (Alekhine) left the States the Champion was induced to say whom he thought likely challengers for his title in the future. He named two Americans, Kashdan, who was favourably known in Europe already, and R Fine, whose achievements so far were mainly in his own country, and the Czecho-Slovakian, Flohr.'>

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

"The most interesting thing to me in chess are not the gambits. Or the moves. It's the mental toughness." ― Edward Zwick

'A poor workman always blames his tools'

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

Sailing to Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

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

"Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people." ― Elizabeth Green

"Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." ― Andy (Tim Robbins), "The Shawshank Redemption"

"You made a decision. You did what you thought was decent... You made a decision. Now stand by it. Right or wrong, you stand by it." ― Sam Elliott, 1883

1.Nf3 is the third most popular of the twenty legal opening moves White has, behind only 1.e4 and 1.d4.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"Win any way as long as you can get away with it. Nice guys finish last." ― Leo Durocher

"Never chase love, affection, or attention. If it isn't given freely by another person, it isn't worth having." ― Unknown

'A problem shared is a problem halved'

'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'

<< 'A place for everything and everything in its place'

'A poor workman always blames his tools'

'A problem shared is a problem halved'>>

"If you are not taking care of your customers, your competitor will." ― Bob Hooey

"Chess is all about stored pattern recognition. You are asking your brain to spot a face in the crowd that it has not seen." ― Sally Simpson

Fred Wilson explains in "303 Tricky Chess Tactics": "A combination is a tactical maneuver in which you sacrifice material to obtain an advantage, or at least to improve your position. So, strategy then, is your general plan, while tactics are your specific means of carrying it out."

"For me the starting point for everything - before strategy, tactics, theories, managing, organizing, philosophy, methodology, talent, or experience - is work ethic. Without one of significant magnitude, you're dead in the water." ― Bill Walsh

"Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. Persistence is having the same goal over and over." ― Seth Godin

"If you don't play to win don't play at all." ― Tom Brady

"Every time you win, you're reborn; when you lose, you die a little." — George Allen

"Winning is the science of being totally prepared." — George Allen

"What you do in the off season determines what you do in the regular season." — George Allen

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit." — George Allen

"Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want, the number one thing today and tomorrow. Persevere and get it done." — George Allen

"Forget the past – the future will give you plenty to worry about." — George Allen

"We learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the habit of hoping for a favorable change, and that of persevering in the search for resources." ― Benjamin Franklin

"When a player keeps a calm demeanor on the court, it's easier for his ability to shine. The best response to an opposing player's physical or psychological tactics is to keep cool and come right back at him with the force of your game, not your fists. Revenge is always sweeter if your team wins the game." ― Walt Frazier

"Why must I lose to this idiot?" — Aaron Nimzowitsch

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment." ― Napoleon Bonaparte

"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended." ― Nelson Mandela

"Chess teaches you to think critically and make decisions under pressure. These skills are valuable in all aspects of life." ― Magnus Carlsen

"We were promised a society of philosophers. But the Blogosphere is looking more and more like a nation of ankle-biters." ― Steven Levy

* Random Zs: Game Collection: ZHVNE

"There is a part of me that will forever want to be walking under autumn leaves, carrying a briefcase containing the works of Shakespeare and Yeats and a portable chess set. I will pass an old tree under which once on a summer night I lay on the grass with a fragrant young woman and we quoted E.E. Cummings back and forth." ― Roger Ebert

"Without error there can be no brilliancy." ― Emanuel Lasker

* Checkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ry...

* How to Play Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-u...

* How to Move the Knight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsW...

* The Arabian Mate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZr...

* All units can FORK two opposing units: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgA...

* How to Win Fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpB...

* Check! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6b...

* Fool's Mate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oR...

* Rook Roller for Checkmate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lym...

* Scholar's Mate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzY...

* Castling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dL...

* Punish the Wayward Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haO...

* How to Open the Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7C...

* Chess Rules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1...

* Principles of Attack and Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrL...

* Fast Checkmates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrU...

* Powerful X-Ray for Checkmate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWt...

* Smash the Castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZR...

* Common Beginner Mistakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cz...

* The Punisher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0...

* Checkers & Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXa...

* The Damiano Defense is not very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3n...

* Center Fork Trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAz...

* Checkmate with K & Q: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3S...

* Smothered Checkmate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpe...

* Checkmate with K & R: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yf...

* How to Defend Against Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzY...

* Traps with the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAS...

* Checkmate with K & 2 Bishops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJj...

* Smothered Checkmates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbA...

* Checkmate with K & 2 Rooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK1...

* Legall's Mate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEu...

* Hanging Pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaT...

* Draws: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-i...

* Quick Fried Liver Attacks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbd...

* Ladder Checkmate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaQ...

* Avoid Stalemate if you have an advantage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbC...

* Unbeatable Fried Liver Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5...

* Chess Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yw...

* Mark Twain's Life Lessons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3l...

* Quick trap to beat the C-K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucr...

* Queenside trap to beat the C-K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8...

* Basic EG Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_D...

* Main Ideas of the Italian Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w5...

* How to limit the damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_x...

* The Hungarian Defense Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUj...

* Common Opening Traps (some Smothered Checkmates): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a47...

* Trapping Pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaz...

* Evans Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZj...

The Winds of Fate
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through the life:
Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

FACTRETRIEVER: Gummy bears were originally called "dancing bears." Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal, at 1 million hairs per square inch.

Golf clubs

InkHarted wrote:

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

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind. ― Scottish Proverb

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

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

Drive sober or get pulled over.

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

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

Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 28, 2023 from 1:00AM through 1:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Chess Life is an active monthly magazine and is the official publication of the United States Chess Federation. <Chess Life> is advertised as the "most widely read chess magazine in the world," and reaches more than a quarter of a million readers each month.

Chess Life focuses on American chess players and tournaments, instruction, human interest, and US Chess governance matters. The United States Chess Federation also publishes Chess Life Kids, a bimonthly publication covering the same subjects aimed at a younger audience.

Publication of <Chess Life> started in 1946 as a bi-weekly newspaper, usually eight or twelve pages long. In 1961, Frank Brady converted Chess Life to a monthly magazine. In 1969, <Chess Life> merged with Chess Review, the other leading U.S. chess magazine. The magazine was published under the title Chess Life & Review starting with the November 1969 issue until 1980 when it returned to its original title <Chess Life>.

https://www.chessjournal.com/best-f...

<<<<3-Step Thought Process In Bad Situations>

Whenever I/GM Noel Studer end up in a position that sucks, I try to get into action mode as quickly as possible. After all, thinking, "Why did I mess this position up" does not help. One must quickly focus on what you can do and spend your energy wisely. Otherwise, your time runs out, and you decide on a move just out of intuition and emotions, not rational thought. What does this action mode look like? It is a simple three-step plan:>

- Analyze the position: what are the issues at hand? - Come up with possible solutions.
- Compare the solutions and choose the best one.>

I use this approach with simple daily stuff like my car breaking down or me destroying a water bottle at home. Some years ago, I would spend a lot of time whining about my being so unlucky, why this always happens to me, and how much this really sucks. Sometimes, to my surprise, in most cases, I skip this step now. The light for a motor problem goes on in my car, and I immediately think: What could be the issue?

When I understand the problem, I can make a qualified decision. If it seems decently safe to drive until the next garage, that's the best option. If not, I have to call a friend or a tow truck. Does it suck to pay a @#$%load of money to get my car towed? Absolutely. Do I have any alternatives? Sometimes no. So there is no merit in feeling bad, slurring, or wishing this did not happen.

The only thing that helps is gathering information and trying to make the best decision for my next action. Just like in chess, it might be that the decision I took at this moment was not the best in hindsight. Again, that sucks, but as long as I did things to the best of my abilities, I have nothing to be upset about.> — GM Noel Studer's blog

Last Night As I Was Sleeping
by Antonio Machado 1875-1939

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

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

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

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

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

"Love all, trust a few,
Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life's key: be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech."
― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

<Riddle Question: What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?

FACTRETRIEVER: Dolphins usually breathe through their blowhole, but, in 2016, scientists discovered a dolphin with a damaged blowhole that could breath through its mouth.

Riddle Answer: Day, and night>

Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 28, 2023 from 1:00AM through 1:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

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

Homework

Humdrum

Oh, why do I have to do so much?

Meet my friend, Boredom

Evil way to torture children

Wearisome

Opposite of fun

Reports consume too much time

Kids should protest against this.

After reading the above poem, my teacher commented on how positive my poems were.

School

Tedious Despicable

Working Testing Studying

Horrible waste of time

Yawning Learning Thinking

Dull Wearisome

Academy

After reading the above, my teacher was shocked at my opinion. I told her that just because I am a good student does not mean I like school.

CHESS

Meet me then, within this grid,
this little wooden battlefield as equals,
as we forget our bodies to inhabit these pieces, control these spaces, trade threats and responses, send our thoughts out into possible positions, our eyes imagining nothing but sweet forks and lancing fianchettoes. We chessplayers, pretend enemies, bound to our miniature war inexplicably & inescapably: when did we find ourselves so obsessed, insidiously seduced to advances and exchanges, lost inside this abyss of infinite moves, willing servants of it's rules? - Rael

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." ― Corrie ten Boom

"Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous & varied ways." — Vladimir Kramnik

"I've come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists." — Marcel Duchamp

"The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them" ― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

HACKED!

"You win some, you lose some, and you keep it to yourself." — Mike Caro

Nakamura didn't handle this well. Instead of bragging on himself and insulting the others like pervhidious so often does, Nakamura should have simply, graciously given his congratulations to GothamChess and moved on.

"This is an important lesson to remember when you're having a bad day, a bad month, or a shiffy year. Things will change: you won't feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most. I believe you can't feel real joy unless you've felt heartache. You can't have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can't know what it's like to feel holy until you know what it's like to feel really @#$%* evil. And you can't be birthed again until you've died." ― Kelly Cutrone, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

Scottish Proverbs

"Better bend than break." ~ Scottish Proverb

Never let your feet run faster than your shoes. ~ Scottish Proverb

Be happy while you're living, For you're a long time dead. ~ Scottish Proverb

What may be done at any time will be done at no time. ~ Scottish Proverb

Learn young, learn fair; learn old, learn more. ~ Scottish Proverb

Get what you can and keep what you have; that's the way to get rich. ~ Scottish Proverb

Willful waste makes woeful want. ~ Scottish Proverb

When the heart is full the tongue will speak. ~ Scottish Proverb

Be slow in choosing a friend but slower in changing him. ~ Scottish Proverb

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

Confessed faults are half mended. ~ Scottish Proverb

They that will not be counselled cannot be helped. ~ Scottish Proverb

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind. ~ Scottish Proverb

Luck never gives; it only lends. ~ Scottish Proverb

Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one. ~ Scottish Proverb

Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves. ~ Scottish Proverb

Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves. ~ Scottish Proverb

Visualize...
Visualizing success in chess can be a powerful tool to help you stay calm and focused during a game. Here are some tips to help you visualize your success:

Create an imaginary chessboard: Visualize the board in your mind and try to imagine the pieces moving around the board. You can also try to memorize the position of each piece on the board.

Play many games of chess: The more you play, the better you will become at visualizing the board and predicting your opponent's moves.

Learn chess notations: Chess notation is a way of recording moves on the board. By learning chess notation, you can become better at visualizing the board and predicting your opponent's moves.

Visualize with a personalized piece or pieces: You can use a specific piece or pieces to help you visualize the board. For example, you can imagine yourself as the queen or king, and visualize how you would move around the board.

Learn chess openings: By learning chess openings, you can become better at visualizing the board and predicting your opponent's moves.

Play blindfold chess: Blindfold chess is a great way to improve your visualization skills. In blindfold chess, you play without looking at the board, relying solely on your memory and visualization skills.

Remember that visualization is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. By incorporating these tips into your practice routine, you can improve your visualization skills and become a better chess player.

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

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

"Encouragement is like water to the soul, it makes everything grow." ― Chris Burkmenn

Be slow in choosing a friend but slower in changing him. ~ Scottish Proverb

Q. How can you tell when Bill Clinton is lying? A. His lips are moving

Q. What's the difference between Bill Clinton and a dog? A. A dog chases his own tail.

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." ― Epictetus

"I think a gentleman is someone who holds the comfort of other people above their own. The instinct to do that is inside every good man, I believe. The rules about opening doors and buying dinner and all of that other 'gentleman' stuff is a chess game, especially these days." ― Anna Kendrick

Never judge a book by its cover.

* Dover publishers: https://store.doverpublications.com...

Dover publishers have downsized their chess book offerings as decades have passed, but many of the all-time classics written in English descriptive notation remain available at affordable prices: https://doverpublications.ecomm-sea... Those who pitch their tent on the Rogoff page having no use for classic chess books can find adult coloring books at Dover publishers. It's a great, versatile publishing company!

For club players, I would recommend "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur" by Max Euwe and Walter Meiden (as well as Max Euwe's "The Logical Approach to Chess," "Strategy & Tactics in Chess," and "The Road to Chess Mastery" from other book dealers, likely used) before reading James Mason's "The Art of Chess" which is 340 pages! Mason does not spoon-feed the reader as much as Euwe does IMHO.

Those readers demanding an algebraic notation offering from Dover Publishers would do well to buy any book by Tim Harding. Also, if memory serves correctly, there are two tournament books published in algebraic notation: Carlsbad International Chess Tournament 1929 by Aron Nimzovich, translated by Jim Marfia (30 games) and Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 by David Bronstein (210 games).

The sign says "free shipping" on orders over $25.00. Several chess offerings are available as e-books. You can bundle -- get both versions and save a bunch. For those wondering about adult coloring e-books, well... I'll have to get back to you on that one, the pace of new technology being what it is.

The Heron

One day, – no matter when or where, –
A long-legged heron chanced to fare
By a certain river's brink,
With his long, sharp beak
Helved on his slender neck;
It was a fish-spear, you might think.
The water was clear and still,
The carp and the pike there at will
Pursued their silent fun,
Turning up, ever and anon,
A golden side to the sun.
With ease might the heron have made
Great profits in his fishing trade.
So near came the scaly fry,
They might be caught by the passer-by.
But he thought he better might
Wait for a better appetite –
For he lived by rule, and could not eat,
Except at his hours, the best of meat.
Anon his appetite returned once more;
So, approaching again the shore,
He saw some tench taking their leaps,
Now and then, from their lowest deeps.
With as dainty a taste as Horace's rat,
He turned away from such food as that.
"What, tench for a heron! poh!
I scorn the thought, and let them go."
The tench refused, there came a gudgeon;
"For all that," said the bird, "I budge on.
I'll never open my beak, if the gods please,
For such mean little fishes as these."
He did it for less;
For it came to pass,
That not another fish could he see;
And, at last, so hungry was he,
That he thought it of some avail
To find on the bank a single snail.
Such is the sure result
Of being too difficult.
Would you be strong and great,
Learn to accommodate.
Get what you can, and trust for the rest;
The whole is often lost by seeking the best.
Above all things beware of disdain;
Where, at most, you have little to gain.
The people are many that make
Every day this sad mistake.
It's not for the herons I put this case,
You featherless people, of human race.
– List to another tale as true,
And you'll hear the lesson brought home to you.+

"Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. Without humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy." ― Norman Vincent Peale

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

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

"To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?" — Queen Elizabeth II

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." ― Benjamin Franklin

<<<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.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." ― Corrie ten Boom

"Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous & varied ways." — Vladimir Kramnik

"I've come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists." — Marcel Duchamp

"The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them" ― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

1 Corinthians 13 King James Version

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<"Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life's key: be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech.">
― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

"God's mercy and grace give me hope - for myself, and for our world." — Billy Graham

"Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness." — Billy Graham

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

* Riddle-soap stone-walleye: https://www.briddles.com/riddles/ch...

"Whatever you are doing in the game of life, give it all you've got." — Norman Vincent Peale

"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows." — Ralph Marston

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." ― Yogi Berra, 10-time World Series champion

Zeitnot or yea?

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." — Calvin Coolidge

Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

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

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

WISE OLD OWL
A wise old owl lived in an oak.
The more he saw the less he spoke.
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

Q: What do you call a magic owl?
A: Whooo-dini!