This is a collection split of queen traps, queen sacrifices, and queen besting opposing queen by Fredthebear.

For the most part, there are no Sicilians or ECO A games in here.

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

* Simple tactics course using miniatures:
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/x/FTP...

* List of gambits: https://detailedpedia.com/wiki-List...

"Si vis pacem, para bellum" ― Cicero

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." ― Lao Tzu

"God has given you one face, and you make yourself another." ― William Shakespeare

"I started chess around the age of seven. I was inspired by the game, but soon legends like Kasparov, Karpov, Fischer, Anand and many other world champions captivated me." ― Anish Giri

"Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin." ― Hikaru Nakamura

"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

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ― Albert Einstein

"Chess is a lot of fun for me. Football is a physical game, and in chess you can just beat someone mentally - you outwit somebody, outmaneuver them, think ahead of them." ― Larry Fitzgerald

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." ― Archimedes

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

"Young men preen. Old men scheme." ― Mason Cooley

"Chess and me, it's hard to take them apart. It's like my alter ego." ― Bobby Fischer

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." ― Henry David Thoreau

"Chess is the art of analysis." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"Patience is the companion of wisdom." ― Saint Augustine

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

"There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things." ― Gerald R. Ford

"My biggest competitor was my mum. I used to try to beat her at Chinese chequers, chess, carrom, volleyball, badminton, football, wrestling." ― Sunil Chhetri

"I shall fight every game for all it is worth." — Harry Nelson Pillsbury

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances." ― Thomas Jefferson

"The human element, the human flaw and the human nobility - those are the reasons that chess matches are won or lost." ― Viktor Korchnoi

"In chess, you should be as cool as a cucumber." ― Yuliya Snigir

"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!" ― Walter Scott

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

"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift." ― Steve Prefontaine

"I love to play chess. The last time I was playing, I started to really see the board. I don't mean just seeing a few moves ahead - something else. My game started getting better. It's the patterns. The patterns are universal." ― Forest Whitaker

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you?' " ― William Arthur Ward

"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.

"You cannot say, 'Go! Go! Rah! Rah! Good move!' People want some emotion. Chess is an art and not a spectator sport." ― Garry Kasparov

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

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." ― Winston Churchill

"I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up." ― Magnus Carlsen

"Tel père, tel fils." ― (Like father like son.)

"Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"I'll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do." ― Mickey Mantle

"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

"We are like chess players who are trying to predict the opponent's future moves, but in this case, we are dealing with life itself. True masters do not play the game on a single chessboard, but on multiple chessboards at the same time. And what's the difference between grandmasters and masters? Surprises. The moves that cannot be predicted by the opponent. Life can play a simultaneous game with seven billion people at the same time and it can take each and every one of us by surprise. And we still believe we are capable of winning, because we can predict three of four moves ahead. We are insignificant." ― Jaka Tomc, 720 Heartbeats

"The cherished dream of every chessplayer is to play a match with the World Champion. But here is the paradox: the closer you come to the realization of this goal, the less you think about it." ― Mikhail Tal

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

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

<Voyage of the Heart
A voyage not just of maps and charts,
But a journey of the heart.
Where every wave and every tide,
Brings stories of the ocean wide.>

"I mean a man whose hopes and aims may sometimes lie (as most men's sometimes do, I dare say) above the ordinary level, but to whom the ordinary level will be high enough after all if it should prove to be a way of usefulness and good service leading to no other. All generous spirits are ambitious, I suppose, but the ambition that calmly trusts itself to such a road, instead of spasmodically trying to fly over it, is of the kind I care for." ― Charles Dickens, Bleak House

"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Do whatever comes your way to do as well as you can. Think as little as possible about yourself. Think as much as possible about other people. Dwell on things that are interesting. Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give." ― Eleanor Roosevelt

"In every generation, there are those who refuse to lower themselves, who refuse to compromise their character when tempted, who do the right thing no matter what. There are also those who do not care enough to stand against temptation. It is not because they can't, but they don't. And then there are the one who actively choose to be malicious, to hurt people for their own gain or just out of spite; these are the evil ones." ― Bohdi Sanders

"But I find something compelling in the game's choreography, the way one move implies the next. The kings are an apt metaphor for human beings: utterly constrained by the rules of the game, defenseless against bombardment from all sides, able only to temporarily dodge disaster by moving one step in any direction." ― Jennifer duBois, A Partial History of Lost Causes

"The move is there, but you must see it." ― Savielly Tartakower

"Akiba (Rubinstein), if you lived in the Middle Ages you would have been burned at the stake: what you do in rook endgames can only be called witchcraft!" ― Austrian master Rudolf Spielmann.

"You may delay, but time will not." ― Benjamin Franklin

"Chess is all about maintaining coherent strategies. It's about not giving up when the enemy destroys one plan but to immediately come up with the next. A game isn't won and lost at the point when the king is finally cornered. The game's sealed when a player gives up having any strategy at all. When his soldiers are all scattered, they have no common cause, and they move one piece at a time, that's when you've lost." ― Kazuo Ishiguro, A Pale View of Hills

"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

"The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds." ― Teck Foo Check, The Autobiography of Sun Tzu

"War is not just the shower of bullets and bombs from both sides, it is also the shower of blood and bones on both sides." ― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

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

Easier said than done. ~ Canadian proverb

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." ― Abraham Lincoln

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

"Time is an illusion." ― Albert Einstein

"Time isn't precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is." ― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

"It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one." ― George Harrison

"You are the biggest enemy of your own sleep." ― Pawan Mishra

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ― Mark Twain

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ― Eleanor Roosevelt

"I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be." ― Joyce Meyer

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." ― Jim Rohn

"I have a scheme for stopping war. It's this - no nation is allowed to enter a war till they have paid for the last one." ― Will Rogers

St. Ignacious

* Assorted good games: Game Collection: assorted Good games

* Brutal Attacking Chess: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Pawns Attack: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* Anna's mother Pia Cramling: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0wLw...

* Pia got GothamChess: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6J8o...

* A07, B23-B25: Game Collection: Sicilian Closed / Grand Prix Attack

* Ataman's Minis: Game Collection: Instructive Chess Miniatures (Ataman)

* 107 battles: Game Collection: 107 Great Chess Battles: 1939-45 Alekhine

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

* Bearly Thinking: https://www.etsy.com/listing/972054...

* Borg burglar: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/37Hr...

* Buddies: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y0A_...

* Checkmate patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* C53s: Game Collection: rajat21's italian game

* C-K Examples: Game Collection: Caro Kann Lines

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

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

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

* Del's: Game Collection: Del's hidden gems

* Decoy: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vi4_...

* The Donner Party of Misery: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

* Don't Steal: https://www.openbible.info/topics/s...

* Don't oblige your opponent: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Cx8R...

* Don't trick yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMI...

* CGs ignores Etiquette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92F...

* French According to... Game Collection: The French According to ...

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

* Alpha Glossary: https://www.chess-poster.com/englis...

* Common Gambits Video: https://saintlouischessclub.org/blo...

* ...h6 is bad: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4F-2...

* Hungarians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMI...

‘May your Departures equal your Landfalls!'

* Notable Games: Game Collection: List of Notable Games (wiki)

* Opening Ideas/Novelties: Game Collection: Great opening ideas

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

* Pause button upper left: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BORf...

* Prizes: Game Collection: Brilliancy Prizes (Reinfeld)

* Post-Beginners Book: Game Collection: Chess training for post-beginners

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

* RL Minis: Game Collection: Ruy Lopez Miniatures

* Rubinstein: Game Collection: Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces

* Random Zs: Game Collection: ZHVNE

* Spassky could bring the heat: Game Collection: 0

* Short history: Game Collection: A history of chess

* Sacs on f7/f2: Game Collection: Demolition of Pawn Structure: Sac on f7 (f2)

* 21st Century: Game Collection: 0

* She's a Stonewaller: Eneida Astolfi Perez

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

* Can you whip Taimanov's Sicilian? http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Bg2 vs Sicilian: Game Collection: Grand Prix Attack without early Bc4

* Extinguish the Dragon: Game Collection: 1.e4 explorations

* Six Ways: https://takelessons.com/blog/6-tips...

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

* tacticmania - Game Collection: tacticmania

* Tate lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyh...

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

* The Unthinkable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9z...

* Understanding the Chess Openings: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Bo...

* Universal studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7C...

* VP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncH...

* Wall's APCT Miniatures:
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/c...

* Will Power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9S...

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

* You should be: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zMcK...

* 960Chess: https://lichess.org/variant/chess960

* 1967: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PiFW...

* Z Vol 105: Game Collection: 0ZeR0's collected games volume 105

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Stick a fork in him. He's done." ― Leo Durocher

"The pin is mightier than the sword." ― Fred Reinfield

"A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"As day is to a sword, night is to a shield." ― Anthony Liccione

New Hampshire: Dover
Established in: 1623

Dover was originally settled in 1623 by fishermen and traders. Dover is the seventh oldest settlement in the United States. It was once known as Northam, and in 1692, Northam became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Cocheco River in Dover was the first place water power was used, when a sawmill was built in 1642.

* Short history: Game Collection: A history of chess

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

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

* Pride and Sorrow: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/hist...

* History of Chess: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

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

* World's Youngest GM: https://www.chess.com/blog/CMCoachQ...

* Magnus Carlsen's 5 tips for beginners: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

The Kings of Chess: A History of Chess, Traced Through the Lives of Its Greatest Players by William Hartston William Hartson traces the development of the game from its Oriental origins to the present day through the lives of its greatest exponents - men like Howard Staunton, who transformed what had been a genteel pastime into a competitive science; the brilliant American Paul Morphy, who once played a dozen simultaneous games blindfold; the arrogant and certified insane Wilhelm Steinitz; the philosopher and mathematician Emanual Lasker; Bobby Fischer, perhaps the most brilliant and eccentric of them all; and many other highly gifted individuals. Hartson depicts all their colorful variety with a wealth of rare illustrations.

Format: Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 006015358X
ISBN13: 9780060153588
Release Date: January 1985
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Length: 192 Pages
Weight: 1.80 lbs.

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

Кто не рискует, тот не пьет шампанского Pronunciation: KTOH ni risKUyet, tot ni pyot shamPANSkava) Translation: He who doesn't take risks doesn't drink champagne Meaning: Fortune favours the brave

"Tal has a terrifying style. Soon even grandmasters will know of this." — Vladimir Saigin (after losing to 17-year-old Tal in a qualifying match for the master title) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5S...

"I like to grasp the initiative and not give my opponent peace of mind." — Mikhail Tal

Here's a poem a dad wrote:

<ODE TO CHESS

Ten times I charged the grim, foreboding walls

and was pitched into the pit of defeat.

But, heedless of humiliating falls,

I clambered bravely back onto my feet

and charged again, again to be down thrust

onto the scrap heap of people who lose

onto the mound of mortifying dust

whilst my opponent sat without a bruise

upon his pedestal. We changed sides

and fought again, but I was defeated

whilst he with arrogant and haughty strides

took the throne upon which I had been seated.

Ha! Win or lose, it's how you play the game.

But I would like to beat him just the same.>

Abraham Lincoln: The Wrestling President
Abraham Lincoln is remembered for many things. People know him for his distinctive appearance, being shot at in Ford's Theatre, and being the president during the Civil War. However, before all this, he was actually an accomplished wrestler.

Lincoln engaged in approximately 300 matches and lost only one. His wrestling prowess — and a bet — earned him a spot in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. While working as a storekeeper, Lincoln's boss bet another man that his soon-to-be-president could beat the toughest member of a local gang, and he did!

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." — Abraham Lincoln

Don't trust the smile of your opponent. ~ Babylonian Proverbs

Trust me, but look to thyself. ~ Irish Proverbs

Trust in God, but tie your camel. ~ Saudi Arabian Proverb

Don't trust your wife until she has borne you ten sons. ~ Chinese Proverb

If someone puts their trust in you, don't sever it. ~ Lebanese Proverb

Trust your best friend as you would your worst enemy. ~ Mexican Proverbs

<<<poem by <B.H. Wood> which appeared in the following issues of the Chess Amateur: March 1930 (page 127).

The Chess Cafe III – The Spectator>

Quiet in the corner sitting, not a word
He utters, but, his eyes glued on their board,
Where in oblivion the players brood,
He spends his lifetime's dearest hours.
His food
Is cold, his lighted pipe goes slowly out ….
Yet when the game ends, when they talk about
Its ins and outs, its characteristic twist,
He's seen that winning line a master missed!
You ask him for a game – ‘I never play
Myself – hardly a game a year', he'll say.>

Cash or Credit?
John-Shepherd Barron is credited with inventing the first fully-functional ATM (Automated Teller Machine). The first ATM was installed on June 27, 1967, for Barclays Bank in Enfield Town, London. The maximum withdrawal allowed was £10. Today, ATMs are just around the corner in most modern towns.

Q: What happens when doctors get mad?
A: They lose their patients.

The Fly and the Ant

A fly and ant, on a sunny bank,
Discussed the question of their rank.
"O Jupiter!" the former said,
"Can love of self so turn the head,
That one so mean and crawling,
And of so low a calling,
To boast equality shall dare
With me, the daughter of the air?
In palaces I am a guest,
And even at your glorious feast.
Whenever the people that adore you
May immolate for you a bullock,
I'm sure to taste the meat before you.
Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock,
Is living on some bit of straw
Which she has laboured home to draw.
But tell me now, my little thing,
Do you camp ever on a king,
An emperor, or lady?
I do, and have full many a play-day
On fairest bosom of the fair,
And sport myself on her hair.
Come now, my hearty, rack your brain
To make a case about your grain."
"Well, have you done?" replied the ant.
"You enter palaces, I grant,
And for it get right soundly cursed.
Of sacrifices, rich and fat,
Your taste, quite likely, is the first; –
Are they the better off for that?
You enter with the holy train;
So enters many a wretch profane.
On heads of kings and asses you may squat;
Deny your vaunting I will not;
But well such impudence, I know,
Provokes a sometimes fatal blow.
The name in which your vanity delights
Is owned as well by parasites,
And spies that die by ropes – as you soon will By famine or by ague-chill,
When Phoebus goes to cheer
The other hemisphere, –
The very time to me most dear.
Not forced abroad to go
Through wind, and rain, and snow,
My summer's work I then enjoy,
And happily my mind employ,
From care by care exempted.
By which this truth I leave to you,
That by two sorts of glory we are tempted,
The false one and the true.
Work waits, time flies; adieu:
This gabble does not fill
My granary or till."

Hans Berliner was a trailblazer in the field of computer chess:

* https://en.chessbase.com/post/hans-...

* https://www.smh.com.au/national/han...

* https://cacmb4.acm.org/news/212263-...

* https://www.chess.com/video/player/...

* His System: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...

* Backgammon: https://bkgm.com/articles/Berliner/...

This poem is dedicated to all Caissa's members who understand that chess is but a game.

Chess is but a Game

As he secretly rode his knight out of the castle's gate, still believing that he could escape this inevitable fate, the sky broke open with an array of incredible light. and there smitten to the earth lay nova under his knight. I am who I am and always am, spoke this thundering voice and you, my friend nova, do not at all have another choice but to go forth south and north, west and east
loudly proclaiming the good Word to man and beast. Thus beset by the compelling voice from the broken sky nova set about explaining through the word the how and why. He travelled north and south, west and east never losing aim to let all Caissa's members know: chess is but a game.

<https://worldchesshof.org World Chess Hall of Fame
4652 Maryland Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63108
(314) 367-9243>

The Cloud
By Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers,
Lightning my pilot sits;
In a cavern under is fettered the thunder,
It struggles and howls at fits;
Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,
Lured by the love of the genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;
Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,
Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The Spirit he loves remains;
And I all the while bask in Heaven's blue smile, Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

The sanguine Sunrise, with his meteor eyes,
And his burning plumes outspread,
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,
When the morning star shines dead;
As on the jag of a mountain crag,
Which an earthquake rocks and swings,
An eagle alit one moment may sit
In the light of its golden wings.
And when Sunset may breathe, from the lit sea beneath, Its ardours of rest and of love,
And the crimson pall of eve may fall
From the depth of Heaven above,
With wings folded I rest, on mine aëry nest,
As still as a brooding dove.

That orbèd maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the Moon,
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof, The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till calm the rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high, Are each paved with the moon and these.

I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone,
And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl;
The volcanoes are dim, and the stars reel and swim, When the whirlwinds my banner unfurl.
From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape,
Over a torrent sea,
Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof,
The mountains its columns be.
The triumphal arch through which I march
With hurricane, fire, and snow,
When the Powers of the air are chained to my chair, Is the million-coloured bow;
The sphere-fire above its soft colours wove,
While the moist Earth was laughing below.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain when with never a stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again.

Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 15, 2024 from 2:00PM through 2:20PM (UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

The longest wedding veil was the same length as 63.5 football fields. When Maria Paraskeva, a woman from Cyprus, got married in August 2018, her goal wasn't just to say "I do." She was also determined to set a record.

"My dream as a child has always been to break the Guinness World Record title for the longest wedding veil," she explained. She fulfilled her dream by wearing a lace veil that stretched 22,843 feet and 2.11 inches, or as long as 63.5 football fields.

InkHarted wrote:

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

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

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

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

Drive sober or get pulled over.

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

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

This poem is dedicated to all members who strive to become Masters of chess.

yakisoba's combination

in the middle of a cold Canadian winter night
a phantom creature was riding a stallion knight
but lo and behold it is the man called yakisoba
together with a bishop and queen chasing nova.
though the old bishop was getting pooped out
the merry queen in her glory was bouncing about
while riding hard yakisoba grinningly thought
"I know what to do with that nova when caught."
there on top of the castle was nova in hiding
strapped to a kite for a quick get-away gliding,

then trembling he realized to his consternation: he was being killed by the bishop-queen combination.

* Weird is what you're not used to: https://chessentials.com/weird-ches...

<limerick, entitled ‘The Solver's Plight' was by ‘A.J.F.' A.J. Fink and was published on page 22 of Chess Potpourri by Alfred C. Klahre (Middletown, 1931):

There was a man from Vancouver
Who tried to solve a two-mover;
But the boob, he said, ‘"Gee",
I can't find the "Kee",
No matter HOW I manouvre.'>

"Chess is the gymnasium of the mind." — Blasie Pascal

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

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

In God we trust; all others pay cash. ~ American Proverb

Trusting in wealth is like looking for feathers on turtles. ~ Senegalese Proverb

<<<A Burnt Ship> By John Donne (1572-1631)>

Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.>

Ever wanted to be able to clean your ears with your tongue? Then you'd probably fancy being a giraffe. They're able to do this thanks to having tongues which are around 21 inches long!

Question: What is the only number spelled out in English that has the same number of letters as its value? Answer: Four

Concrete-like structures began to appear for the first time in northern Jordan and southern Syria regions around 6500 B.C.E. Comprised of rough composite mixed with fluid cement, concrete is the most widely used man-made material. The mix hardens over time, making a sturdy, strong structural foundation. However, when it's still wet, the material is very easy to manipulate into different shapes.

Question: The U.S.A. $10,000 bill was last printed in 1945 and is the largest denomination ever in public circulation; whose portrait appeared on it? Answer: Salmon P. Chase – Secretary of the Treasury

Giraffes have unique markings. They are like our own fingerprints in that no two giraffes will ever have the same markings.

The Camel and the Floating Sticks

The first who saw the humpbacked camel
Fled off for life; the next approached with care; The third with tyrant rope did boldly dare
The desert wanderer to trammel.
Such is the power of use to change
The face of objects new and strange;
Which grow, by looking at, so tame,
They do not even seem the same.
And since this theme is up for our attention,
A certain watchman I will mention,
Who, seeing something far
Away on the ocean,
Could not but speak his notion
That It was a ship of war.
Some minutes more had past, –
A bomb-ketch It was without a sail,
And then a boat, and then a bale,
And floating sticks of wood at last!

Full many things on earth, I wot,
Will claim this tale, – and well they may;
They're something dreadful far away,
But near at hand – they're not.

National Chess Day! Former U.S.A. <President Gerald Ford> announced and designated National Chess Day on October 9, 1976.

What did the roof say to the shingle? This one's on the house.

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

An Irish Blessing:

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

~

<"Every time I coach people, I <emphasize> the following key concepts:

^Develop your pieces at the beginning of the game (Extremely underrated by beginners)

^Control the center (Chess pieces control a lot more squares from the center of the board)

^Make sure your king is safer than the opponent's

Every opening in chess is based on these fundamental principles. Thus, if you can understand such concepts and put them into practice, your chess strength will skyrocket!" ― IM Luis Torres>

> Protect your pieces. Loose Pieces Drop Off. Your middlegame position generally tends to be in good standing as long as you have a grip on the center, the king is castled and rooks connected, your pieces are active, and you don't drop material. Know all the possible ways of responding to a threat of capture.<

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War. The battle took place on Friday, 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day), near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. Wikipedia article: Battle of Agincourt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Riddle Question: If you drop a yellow hat in the Red Sea, what does it become?

The Persian epic Explanation of Chatrang and the Invention of Nard tells the story of chess being introduced to the royal court by an envoy from India.

Riddle Answer: Wet, duh!

How many chess openings are there?

Well, White has 20 possible 1st moves. Black can respond with 20 of its own. That's 400, and we're ready for move 2. I don't know them, but I would not be at all surprised if there was a name for each of them. People are like that. You really, really don't need to know them all.

If you follow the rules of thumb for good opening play, I promise you that you'll be playing a named opening. Just put the 1st 3 moves in google, and you'll get the opening's name. With that information you can find other games that started the way your game started, likely by some very good players. Also, with the name you can read about it on Wikipedia, and find out what people think of it, who plays it, and its particular traps and idiosyncrasies.

Once again, The Rules of Thumb for Good Opening Play:

- Develop your pieces quickly with an eye towards controlling the center. Not necessarily occupying the center but controlling it certainly. - Castle your king just as soon as it's practical to do so. - Really try not to move a piece more than once during the opening, it's a waste of valuable time. - Connect your rooks. This marks the end of the opening. Connected rooks means that only your rooks and your castled king are on the back rank. - Respond to threats appropriately, even if you have to break the rules. They're rules of thumb, not scripture, or physical laws.

If you and your opponent follow these rules of thumb, you'll reach the middle game ready to fight. If only you follow these rules of thumb, you're already winning! Good Hunting. -- Eric H.

An Animal In The Moon

While one philosopher affirms
That by our senses we're deceived,
Another swears, in plainest terms,
The senses are to be believed.
The twain are right. Philosophy
Correctly calls us dupes whenever
On mere senses we rely.
But when we wisely rectify
The raw report of eye or ear,
By distance, medium, circumstance,
In real knowledge we advance.
These things has nature wisely planned –
Whereof the proof shall be at hand.
I see the sun: its dazzling glow
Seems but a hand-breadth here below;
But should I see it in its home,
That azure, star-besprinkled dome,
Of all the universe the eye,
Its blaze would fill one half the sky.
The powers of trigonometry
Have set my mind from blunder free.
The ignorant believe it flat;
I make it round, instead of that.
I fasten, fix, on nothing ground it,
And send the earth to travel round it.
In short, I contradict my eyes,
And sift the truth from constant lies.
The mind, not hasty at conclusion,
Resists the onset of illusion,
Forbids the sense to get the better,
And never believes it to the letter.
Between my eyes, perhaps too ready,
And ears as much or more too slow,
A judge with balance true and steady,
I come, at last, some things to know.
Thus when the water crooks a stick,
My reason straightens it as quick –
Kind Mistress Reason – foe of error,
And best of shields from needless terror!
The creed is common with our race,
The moon contains a woman's face.
True? No. Whence, then, the notion,
From mountain top to ocean?
The roughness of that satellite,
Its hills and dales, of every grade,
Effect a change of light and shade
Deceptive to our feeble sight;
So that, besides the human face,
All sorts of creatures one might trace.
Indeed, a living beast, I believe,
Has lately been by England seen.
All duly placed the telescope,
And keen observers full of hope,
An animal entirely new,
In that fair planet, came to view.
Abroad and fast the wonder flew; –
Some change had taken place on high,
Presaging earthly changes nigh;
Perhaps, indeed, it might betoken
The wars that had already broken
Out wildly over the Continent.
The king to see the wonder went:
(As patron of the sciences,
No right to go more plain than his.)
To him, in turn, distinct and clear,
This lunar monster did appear. –
A mouse, between the lenses caged,
Had caused these wars, so fiercely waged!
No doubt the happy English folks
Laughed at it as the best of jokes.
How soon will Mars afford the chance
For like amusements here in France!
He makes us reap broad fields of glory.
Our foes may fear the battle-ground;
For us, it is no sooner found,
Than Louis, with fresh laurels crowned,
Bears higher up our country's story.
The daughters, too, of Memory, –
The Pleasures and the Graces, –
Still show their cheering faces:
We wish for peace, but do not sigh.
The English Charles the secret knows
To make the most of his repose.
And more than this, he'll know the way,
By valour, working sword in hand,
To bring his sea-encircled land
To share the fight it only sees today.
Yet, could he but this quarrel quell,
What incense-clouds would grateful swell!
What deed more worthy of his fame!
Augustus, Julius – pray, which Caesar's name
Shines now on story's page with purest flame?
O people happy in your sturdy hearts!
Say, when shall Peace pack up these bloody darts, And send us all, like you, to softer arts?

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident led to a full United States intervention in Vietnam.

On August 2, 1964, the US spy ship USS Maddox sailed in the Gulf of Tonkin only to find itself attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. They fired back, damaging all three ships and forcing the attackers to retreat. On August 4, the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy detected more torpedo boats and opened fire. In hindsight, however, the second attack proved nothing more than panic, and that the USN may have detected and fired on simply flying fish. At the time, though, it led the US Congress to call on US President Lyndon B. Johnson to take the necessary measures to stop communist aggression. President Johnson responded by beginning a three-year bombing campaign over Vietnam, and later, across Indochina.

Identify knight forks.

Q: What do you call a cat that likes to eat beans? A: Puss 'n' Toots!

Q: What do you call a clown who's in jail?
A: A silicon!

Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes?
A: No eye deer!!

Q: What do you call a three-footed aardvark?
A: A yardvark!

Q: What do you call a dancing lamb?
A: A baaaaaa-llerina!

Q: What do you call a meditating wolf?
A: Aware wolf!

Q: What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A: A sand-witch!

Q: What do you call an avocado that's been blessed by the pope? A: Holy Guacamole!

Jul-05-21
Which chessgames.com users have kibitzed the most?

1. HeMateMe (72,002)
2. saffuna (52,158)
3. Jim Bartle (50,025)
4. WannaBe (45,695)
5. jessicafischerqueen (44,873)
6. OhioChessFan (44,247)
7. chancho (40,065)
8. harrylime (38,059)
9. whiteshark (37,326)
10. cormier (36,146)>

‘The Unchecked Pawn': A Chess Poem by Julian Woodruff

The Unchecked Pawn
Quickly Black castled king-side and planned his attack. White then countered with confidence, primed for a sack, with the sneakiest strategy he could contrive:
nonchalantly he pushed his f-pawn to rank 5.
I'll just nab it, thought Black, but wait … what's going on? Devil take it, I'm sure that's a poisonous pawn!

Black surveyed the board carefully. Ah, yes! I see, that white bishop is poised to attack from c3.
Black was pleased with himself: he was using his head in advancing his own pawn to g5 instead.
In response White paused briefly to stifle a yawn, then dispatched the black bishop with his cheeky pawn.

Now White's move left that pawn hanging, out on e6, over-ripe for the picking; but oh, what a fix
Black was in, with a troublingly weakened back rank, and good reason, besides, to beware his left flank. Delay now, and the chance to fight back will be gone. Black played rook to a5, disregarding White's pawn.

Well, there's pawn to b4 … White considered a while. An attack on Black's rook would be showing some style. No, it's better I simply play pawn to e7:
Remember <Alekhine> in 1911! What a nuisance! thought Black, frowning. Oh, how I long To be rid of that confounded d7 pawn!

But there's also White's queen, lurking there … what a fright! I'll block her with the bishop while threatening his knight. With a faint smile, White then replied, sealing Black's fate: pawn takes knight and promotes to queen—instant checkmate! Black stared down at the board, his face pallid and drawn; he'd been crushed through ignoring White's bantam-weight pawn.

Alekhine: Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) was a Russian and French chess World Champion.

"He who takes the Queen's Knight's pawn will sleep in the streets!" ― anonymous

Proverbs 26 Berean Standard Bible

1 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,

honor does not befit a fool.

2 Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow,

an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

and a rod for the backs of fools!

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

or you yourself will be like him.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he become wise in his own eyes.

6 Like cutting off one's own feet or drinking violence

is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7 Like lame legs hanging limp

is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

8 Like binding a stone into a sling

is the giving of honor to a fool.

9 Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard

is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

10 Like an archer who wounds at random

is he who hires a fool or passerby.

11 As a dog returns to its vomit,

so a fool repeats his folly.

12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 The slacker says, "A lion is in the road!

A fierce lion roams the public square!"

14 As a door turns on its hinges,

so the slacker turns on his bed.

15 The slacker buries his hand in the dish;

it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

16 The slacker is wiser in his own eyes

than seven men who answer discreetly.

17 Like one who grabs a dog by the ears

is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

18 Like a madman shooting firebrands

and deadly arrows,

19 so is the man who deceives his neighbor

and says, "I was only joking!"

20 Without wood, a fire goes out;

without gossip, a conflict ceases.

21 Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire,

so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels

that go down into the inmost being.

23 Like glaze covering an earthen vessel

are burning lips and a wicked heart.

24 A hateful man disguises himself with his speech,

but he lays up deceit in his heart.

25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,

for seven abominations fill his heart.

26 Though his hatred is concealed by deception,

his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

27 He who digs a pit will fall into it,

and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,

and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

"Chacun voit midi à sa porte." ― (Everyone sees noon at his own door, or Everyone sees things their own way.)

'A stitch in time saves nine'

* 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.

Ya might be ah redneck if'n ya thunk "lol" means low on liquor.

"If you ain't the lead dog, the view never changes."

"Here's a two-step formula for handling stress... Step number one: Don't sweat the small stuff. Step number two: Remember it's all small stuff." ― Tony Robbins

Zhou Youguang The Father of Pinyin:

* https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...

* https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia...

"You can't hold with the hare and run with the hounds."

An Experts Guide to Chess Strategy by Fred Reinfeld ISBN 100879802219
ISBN 139780879802219

Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) from New York city was a well-known American writer on chess and many other subjects. His first chess book, co-authored with Isaac Kashdan, was an account of the Bled 1931 master tournament. He was also a strong chess master (USCF rated 2593), often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college chess instructor.

Reinfeld twice won the New York State Championship, in 1931 and 1933. In 1933, he finished all eleven rounds undefeated, ahead of Reuben Fine, Anthony Santasiere, and Arnold Denker.

Reinfeld wrote over 100 chess books in his lifetime, and perhaps over 260 books total. His prolific writings were known for deceptive simplicity and clarity, tinged with warmth and humor. He also wrote about geology, history, numismatics, checkers, and astronomy. Like Bobby Fischer, Reinfeld was said to have a photographic memory and could remember nearly every game he played through.

Generations of chess players have grown up on Fred Reinfeld's books. He has a way of reducing the most intricate, complicated positions and ideas to their basic components. After Reinfeld explains to the reader, the game makes sense.

Reinfeld also used the pen names Robert V. Masters and Edward Young. In 1996, Reinfeld became the 26th person inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, and the first inducted primarily for his writing.

Article by <Bill Wall>: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

"Fred Reinfeld", by <Alex Dunne>, 2019, McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina, ISBN 978-1-4766-7654-8.

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.

"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

"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

"One-Two-Three-Four!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkb...

"One for the money..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6B...

A lone fool ha ha ahaus
along comes his lap dawg
barking mightily as a cricket
with its head in a fog

Sunny izn't so funny
So Sunny laughed alone
Sunny iz so use to that
E.T. never ever phoned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhG...

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

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

"Great men are ordinary men with extra ordinary determination." ― Abraham Lincoln

wordsyfun
48xp L Zaid Tacocchio peeked up eza wally's pride b4 HOCF askd CIOD to open athe zodiacaleon bad zappasta gaspd last requested Dzagnidze instead of Dzindzi's line of playday.

Psalm 96: 1-3
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

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.

HUMPTY DUMPTY
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty
Together again.

Q: What is money called in space?
A: Star bucks.

Q: Where do the stars go to get their milk?
A: The Milky Way.

Q: Why didn't the Dog Star laugh at the joke? A: It was too Sirius.

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

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

When you give up your excuses, you start finding great results. ― Joker

The problem is that people are being hated when they're real, and being loved when they're fake. ― Joker

Lichess has all the same basic offerings as Chess.com: a large community, many game types, tutorials, puzzles, and livestreams. The site has a simple appearance, and it seems built to get you where you want to go in as few clicks as possible. You can create an account, but if you're not concerned with tracking your games and finding other players at your level, there's no need to log in. Just fire up a new game, try some puzzles, or watch a chess streamer play three-minute games while listening to techno and chatting with the comments section.

FTB has a few jokes about unemployed people, but none of them work.

"There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world." ― Pierre Mac Orlan

"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." ― Bobby Fischer

"As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight." — The Revenant

<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>

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War. The battle took place on Friday, 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day), near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. Wikipedia article: Battle of Agincourt

Moravian Dinner Prayer
Traditional Moravian Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus, our guest to be

And bless these gifts

Bestowed by Thee.

And bless our loved ones everywhere,

And keep them in Your loving care.
Amen.