"Si vis pacem, para bellum" ― Cicero

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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 preparez for next generation!" ― Susan Polgar

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

"He examined the chess problem and set out the pieces. It was a tricky ending, involving a couple of knights. 'White to play and mate in two moves.'
Winston looked up at the portrait of Big Brother. White always mates, he thought with a sort of cloudy mysticism. Always, without exception, it is so arranged. In no chess problem since the beginning of the world has black ever won. Did it not symbolize the eternal, unvarying triumph of Good over Evil? The huge face gazed back at him, full of calm power. White always mates." ― George Orwell, 1984

* Feeling Punny? Don't tell Fredthebear. Use the Submission Page: Pun Submission Page

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

* Gambits by ECO code: https://www.jimmyvermeer.com/openin...

* GoY's 40 Favs: Game Collection: GoY's favorite games

* Good Historical Links:
https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/in...

* Hastings 1895: Hastings (1895)

* Oskar plays 1e4: Oskar Oglaza

* Opening Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJS...

* Opening Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZm...

* Old P-K4 Miniatures: Game Collection: Games for Classes

* Pins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjp...

* Push against the Ponziani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBz...

* Psychology: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lwvC...

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

* Petrosian's Best: Game Collection: P.H.Clarke: Petrosian's Best games

* Pawn specials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m1...

* Pawn structures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPr...

* Pawn storms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skh...

* Pawn vs Rook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yno...

* Queen vs 2 Rooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftl...

* Queen endings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mK...

* Tricks to Win a Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfS...

* Must-know Rook endings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL4...

* Rook endings: Game Collection: Rook endgames, collected in July-Oct 2023

* Riddles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be9...

* She broke the rules (chess guidelines): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDw...

* Ragger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsp...

* Ring tone matters: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZJFX...

* River of life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu9...

* Rollin' w/TT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj5...

* Ruined: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-H81...

* Rubinstein: Game Collection: Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces

* Ruy Lopez traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG_...

<I'd rather have Clawz than Toez, I'd rather have Earz than a Noze.
And as for my Hair,
I'm glad it's all there,
I'll be awfully sad, when it goez.>

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

* Stalemates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs6...

* Sacrificial Greek gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30k...

* 'Sesame Street' Answers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc2...

* Stafford Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRv...

* Songs from '65: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fF...

* Spilling Secrets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tac...

* Scrabble, write, and exercise to 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69H...

* Streamers explain: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5ZXi...

* Swap as needed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpj...

* Q Traps in the Scandinavian D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syr...

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

* Solitaire: Game Collection: Solitaire Chess by I. A. Horowitz

* Stunners: Game Collection: Stunners

* Tactics on the f-pawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAM...

* tacticmania - Game Collection: tacticmania

* Tension: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZK...

* Tilburg, Netherlands 1985: Game Collection: Tilburg Interpolis 1985

* Ties in chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xb...

* Titles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTQ...

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

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

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

* Tournaments added by Chessgames staff:
New Tournaments

* Trap the Sicilian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jf...

* Cultural Traditions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xer...

* Tsunami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64F...

* Texas is for cattle, cotton, and chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaM...

* Triangulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH3...

* The shortest distance between two points: Game Collection: Zig-zags, Pendulums, & other Curious Manoeuvers

* Underpromotion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvW...

* Vienna bullet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eof...

* Weird to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcV...

* Wedge Pawns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNG...

* When to trade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGa...

* When not to castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cto...

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

* Weather or not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU5...

Whispering Winds
Whispering winds, a sailor's friend,
Guiding home, around the bend.
The canvas full, the journey's end,
In every port, a newfound friend.

* Winning closed positions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6L...

* What to do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X3...

* What's the UK difference? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/e4wj...

* What if? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Z...

* Wild horse: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/feSl...

* Wrong board set-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxu...

* "You can't be somebody else. You gotta be yourself." ― Rafael the genius https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7...

* Y U shouldn't trust the evaluation bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bR...

* Youtubers: https://maroonchess.com/best-chess-...

* 0ZeR0's Favs Vol 149: Game Collection: 0ZeR0's collected games volume 149

* Scripps finale 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP3...

* 2022 game of the year? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObF...

* 90m+30spm(1): Chennai Grand Masters (2023)

<Harbor Light
Harbor lights, a guiding glow,
Through peaceful bays and currents slow.
A sailor's journey, a tale to tell,
Of seas conquered and storms quelled.>

* 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!

"Grandmaster games are said to begin with novelty, which is the first move of the game that exits the book. It could be the fifth, it could be the thirty-fifth. We think about a chess game as beginning with move one and ending with checkmate. But this is not the case. The games begins when it gets out of book, and it end when it goes into book. And this is why Game 6 between Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue didn't count...Tripping and falling into a well on your way to the field of battle is not the same thing as dying in it...Deep Blue is only itself out of book; prior to that it is nothing. Just the ghosts of the game itself." ― Brian Christian, The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive

Fromper said:
<When my sister and I were kids, chess was one of several board games that our parents gave us. The set we had was one of those cheapy plastic sets with the instructions in the box top that didn't cover everything. That's how I learned how to move the pieces and what checkmate is, but it didn't cover things like castling, pawn promotion, en pessant, etc. I played a couple of times with that over the years, but never really seriously.

I became somewhat of a "gamer" in high school, back when D&D was big in the 80's. The concept that there were books on chess strategy and people took it so seriously always fascinated me, but I didn't know where to start in looking into it, so it was a little intimidating, too. So I never got around to looking into it seriously until I was an adult. One day, I played a casual game of chess against a friend, and it reminded me of my earlier curiousity. Wanting to make sure I knew all the rules of the game and learn something about the strategy, I checked a local used bookstore and found an old copy of "An Invitation to Chess" by Chernev and Harkness for under $2, which is pretty much the 1948 version of Chess for Dummies. I started playing on the internet, eventually joined USCF, and the rest is history. --Fromper >

"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

Our Heavenly Father, Kind and Good
Traditional

Our Heavenly Father, kind and good,

We thank Thee for our daily food.

We thank Thee for Thy love and care.

Be with us Lord, and hear our prayer.
Amen.

<<Chris Chaffin wrote:>

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

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

Watch your step!
Riddle Question: What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?

FACTRETRIEVER: Monarch caterpillars breathe through holes in the sides of their bodies.

Riddle Answer: Day, and night

Ravenna
by Oscar Wilde

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

I.

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

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

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

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

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

II.

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

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

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

III.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IV.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

V.

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

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

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

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

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

VI.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VII.

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

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

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

So runs the perfect cycle of the year.

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

* Tic-Tac-Toe is Easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNF...

* A Brief History of Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeB...

* A Brief History of the Game of Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2a...

* Chess for Beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU6...

* Learn Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adY...

* Learn Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGu...

* Learn ALL the Rules of the Royal Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej_...

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

* Checkmate with King and Rook vs lone King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yf...

* Checkmate with Two Bishops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN7...

* Chess Equipment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLA...

* The Opposition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52y...

* King and Pawn vs King (both kings want to be in front of the pawn to affect it's progress): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvB...

* Three Dog Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52...

* Son of Three Dog Knight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4N...

* Arabian Checkmate Pattern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejh...

* Basic Checkmates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y-...

* Most Common Opening Mistake (Four Knights, Italian Variation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrp...

* Scotch Game, Four Knights Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcn...

* Top 4 Traps in the Center Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8f...

* Top 4 Vienna Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb7...

* Top 4 Scholar's Mates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr4...

* More Scholar's Mates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUN...

* Top 4 Fishing Pole Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11N...

* Top 4 Excellent Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTS...

* 1.d4 Response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-...

* Top 3 Versions of the Italian Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CP...

* Top 5 Versions of the Italian Game Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-2...

* Top 4 Aggressive 1.e4 e5 Openings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tm...

* Top 5 Traps after 1.e4 e5 for White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YW...

* 5 Chess traps in Giuoco Piano Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny7...

* Italian Game Variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xh...

* Garry Kasparov's Checkmate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuP...

* 5 Best Traps for White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5t...

* Max Lange Attack instead of the Fried Liver Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI7...

* Top 5 Traps in the Bishop's Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9l...

* Top 5 King Pawn Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS2...

* King's Gambit critique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrW...

* Top 5 More Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar9...

* Top 5 Famous Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJU...

* Top 5 Fastest Traps to Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veZ...

* Top 5 Underrated Openings Against the Sicilian Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsh...

* 1.d4 d5 Ryder Gambit, Halosar Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZq...

* Top 6 Opening Checkmates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRu...

* Top 7 Aggressive Chess Openings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib8...

* Wing Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODK...

* Mengarini Gambit?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecd...

* MC plays the Mengarini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XH...

* Top 8 Versions of the Scotch Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbu...

* Underrated Scotch Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8n...

* Scotch Gambit for White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYP...

* Scotch Gambit Trap for White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC-...

* Learn the Scotch Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nr...

* Scotch, Goring Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0F...

* Haxo Gambit vs Nge7?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgm...

* Haxo Gambit hammer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3om...

* Top 10 Fastest Checkmates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctP...

* Find Mate-in-One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOa...

* 10 Well-Known Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8...

* 10 Most Deadly Opening Traps to Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyE...

* 10 Ruy Lopez Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztm...

* Common Mistakes in the Ruy Lopez Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y96...

* You are going to lose a lot of chess games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W4...

* Don't Hang Your Piece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hz...

* DGT North American Chess Clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkh...

* Electronic chessboard isn't necessary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOn...

* Elements of Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2C...

* Easy to Learn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--D...

* No such thing as "Best Opening": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agU...

* Endgame Fundamentals: King & Pawn vs King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLy...

* Types of Opposition of the Kings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3o...

* Pillsbury's Greek Gift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNC...

* Punish Opening Errors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkL...

* A Thought Process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZ...

* A Practical Thought: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ-...

* Quick Smothered Mate in the Budapest Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpe...

* Tips for Knights & More: http://www.chesssets.co.uk/blog/tip...

* Beautiful Knight Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3...

* Knight's Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab_...

* Knight vs Pawn Endgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4f...

* Trompowsky Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrK...

* Trompowsky vs Naroditsky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILY...

* Top 10 Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpl...

* Rajnish Das Tips: https://enthu.com/blog/chess/chess-...

* Removing the Defender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Y...

* Decoy onto the square for ambush there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdI...

* All 54 Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY8...

* Alapin Sicilian for Beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY-...

* Alapin Sicilian Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezy...

* Alapin Sicilian Never Disappoints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzd...

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

* Chess Clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a10...

* Crazy Ending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM_...

* Cultural History of Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWN...

* First Chess Game Ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC4...

* Nelson explains his thought process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KN...

* How the Chess Clock Works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgg...

* How to Handle Losing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrg...

* His First OTB Chess Tournament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUi...

* How Not to Blunder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Y...

* A Thought Process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZ...

* Analysis Made Easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y4...

* Attack the Fianchetto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF6...

* Destroy g6, Bg7 Modern Robatsch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv_...

* The Modern Defense: Wikipedia article: Modern Defense

* Attack w/the London System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmq...

* London System vs KID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU2...

* Rosen's London System vs KID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W2...

* Anti-London System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUB...

* Beat the London System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U-...

* Crush the London System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qg...

* London System Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTu...

* Beginner Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR-...

* Don't Blunder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jO...

* Blunder Less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYy...

* Nimzo-Larsen Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwC...

* 1.b3: Game Collection: Nimzo Larsen attack (1. b3!) - Opening Ideas

* Black against 1.b3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpw...

* Owen's Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkf...

* Owen's Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF7...

* Queen's Fianchetto for White and Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O24...

* IM Lawrence Trent (not speaking) advocates 1...b6 against ALL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlW...

* More ...b6 against ALL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKn...

* Naselwaus Gambit vs Owen's Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBv...

* Botvinnik System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmi...

* Basics of the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8a...

* Brief Caro-Kann Defense Variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ-...

* Black stops losing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgX...

* Use the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtP...

* Three Caro-Kann Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNp...

* The Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3H...

* Beat the Caro-Kann Quickly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhj...

* Crush the Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXv...

* The Caro-Kann, Advance Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npq...

* Gokerkan vs Niemann 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gw...

* Classical Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA1...

* Main Ideas of the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pN...

* Magnus plays the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDa...

* Karpov's Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa4...

* ...c6 against all by Hansen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCZ...

* ...c6 speedrun by Hansen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDU...

* Instructive Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLp...

* Dangerous Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI_...

* C-K Advance, Botvinnik-Carls Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWb...

* Caro-Kann, Fantasy Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4e...

* Caro-Kann, Korchnoi Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF3...

* Complete Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZ...

* Chessbase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZl...

* Chessbase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS_...

* Chess Evolution: Game Collection: # Chess Evolution Volumes 1-50

* Chess Mafia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLa...

* Faster Learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClS...

* Flashcards Fix Your Failures by reminding you of the right way to go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvH...

* Flashcard Converter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B4...

* Flashcard Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isy...

* Free Tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-n...

* French Defense, Rubinstein Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jR...

* Five Gambits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48W...

* King's Gambit, Queen's Gambit in Style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-w...

* Halloween Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XK...

* Icelandic Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gj...

* Improvement is COMMITTMENT, DEDICATION, DESIRE, and PERSEVERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCB...

* Improvement Book Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Up... This book appears to be for advanced players who already know the material listed above.

* Solve Puzzles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWz...

* How to Solve (Don't immediately look for your next move -- survey the board instead!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUr...

* Save the Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGz...

* Magnus sees a way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkq...

* Amazing Stafford Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uh...

* Killer Stafford Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUL...

* Stafford Gambit Tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q2...

* Stafford Gambit lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFb...

* Best Stafford Gambit Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIe...

* Improved Stafford Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_p...

* The Bob Ross of Chess: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag0...

* The Pride of the Yankees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPy...

* The detailed history of chess: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...

* Englund Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSh...

* Crush the Englund Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABg...

* Crush the Englund Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5q...

* Englund Gambit Queen Sacrifice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcM...

* Englund Gambit Famous? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXX...

* Englund Gambit Stockholm Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx2...

* Oh no, my knight! Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oks...

* One Year 0-1700: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYC...

* Find the Best Move: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmF...

* Three Most Common: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6x...

* d4 Disclaimer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z...

* Fundamentals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSv...

* Alireza Firouzja Attacks with the Jobava London System! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wG...

* Facing ...Bf5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6p...

* Learn Danya's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLb...

* Magnus sends g4 early: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNE...

* Hansen has a go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTG...

* Roswell, GA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgE...

* Sidelines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-T...

* Slav Lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3s...

* 3...a6 Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFS...

* 3...g6 Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3S...

* Naroditsky's Lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN8...

* New JLo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnG...

* Rapport System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBj...

* Nutty Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAF...

* No such thing as Free ELO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMt...

* Rapport Speedrun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGb...

* Run to 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBn...

* Romanian Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8p...

* Benoni Indian ...c5, ...Qb6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2P...

* KID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy...

* KID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4O...

* Na6 Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhF...

* Middlegame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=261...

* Jim's Middlegame Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vC...

* What happens if...? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnS...

* Queen Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxG...

* Hubner vs Kasparov 1992: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwR...

* Karpov's Immortal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUd...

* Queen's Gambit Complete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfO...

* Queen's Gambit Fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEm...

* Queen's Gambit According to BoJanglles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXM...

* Top 5 Queen's Gambit Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqI...

* Queen's Gambit Accepted Tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx2...

* Magnus opens classically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbs...

* Kostya's QGD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie_...

* Queen's Gambit Concepts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYB...

* Queen's Gambit Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAt...

* QGD, Slav D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HT...

* The Slav D in 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs5...

* Slav Main Line dxc4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnH...

* 4...Bf5? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDY...

* 4...a6 Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcp...

* Beginner Mistakes in the Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTL...

* Cheery Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq-...

* Chessbase Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suk...

* Chameleon Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rW...

* ...a6 Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsD...

* Beat the Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeY...

* MC plays the Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAT...

* Defeat the Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQX...

* Lifetime Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGD...

* Unbreakable Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBN...

* Ben's QGD lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOW...

* Fundamentals of the Semi-Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFc...

* Kevin's Semi-Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ll...

* Kostya's Semi-Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgy...

* MC plays the Semi-Slav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqT...

* Semi-Slav Pathways: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB7...

* Semi-Slav, Meran Action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykn...

* Last Play of Every Super Bowl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9J...

* Learn the Stonewall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_b...

* Pillsbury's Stonewall Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR5...

* The Stonewall Sucks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwv...

* Stonewall Alteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzI...

* Against the Stonewall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33M...

* Black Stonewall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeW...

* Simon's Classical Dutch w/d6, not d5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt8...

* 2.Bg5 Hopton Attack vs the Dutch Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dr...

* Another 2.Bg5 destroys the Dutch Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvo...

* Crush 2.Bg5 with the Dutch Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeK...

* Prep for a Tournament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpv...

* Never Do This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b1...

* Unnecessary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz0...

* IM Rosen Stalemate Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_...

* How to Sicilian Taimanov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiv...

* MC goes nuclear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLo...

* Regrettable Pawn Moves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI0...

* Shortcuts: Game Collection: 21+ Too Fast French Kisses

* She's right, but there are plenty of others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw5...

* Space Advantages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLL...

* Time Controls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljp...

* Tricks to Turn It Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxV...

* Trading Pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wg...

* Trade Queens? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIG...

* Evaluate Exchanges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNG...

* When to Exchange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D2...

* What is YOUR study plan? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Y...

* Wild Africa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlk...

* The Opposition and Outflanking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1...

* King and Pawn vs King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52...

* Knight and Pawn Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHW...

* Queen vs Knight Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1...

* Principles of Rook and Pawn Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXl...

* Unusual Openings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJQ...

* A trap in Grob's Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50...

* Pulverize Grob's Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTs...

* Tricks in Grob's Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESt...

* The Grob is TERRIBLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wB...

* Basman's / Borg's Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThK...

* Mike explains Borg's Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Res...

* Last Play of the World Series 1943-1973: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzt...

* Last Play of Every Modern World Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkD...

* Tricks to Trap the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmU...

* Tricks to Win a Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfS...

* Queen Traps in the Scandinavian D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syr...

* Trap the Queen in the Tennison Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZt...

* Top 10 Traps of the Queens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZh...

* White, Black Trap the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olz...

* Win the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ8...

* More Tricks to Trap the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd0...

* Qxb2 Poisoned Pawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74h...

* Levy shows us more traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fot...

* Richard Reti Does It Again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9z...

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

* 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.'>

Proverbs 14:29-35
29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered * exalts folly.

30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

31 He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.

32 The wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.

33 Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, But in the hearts of fools it is made known.

34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

35 The king's favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

64All Zajogin cldnt login but sumhou managd tosign outr space, force, time, android K safety b4 Zamikhovsky started the clock o' time: https://24timezones.com/#/map

Z is for Zaccheus

Zaccheus was a wee little man,
And a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see.

And when the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree.
And he said, "Zaccheus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today!
For I'm going to your house today!"

Zaccheus was a wee little man,
But a happy man was he.
For he had seen the Lord that day,
And a happy man was he.
And a very happy man was he!

Zirconium Zr 40 91.22 1.4

Chess Squares Riddle
Riddle Question: How many squares are in a chessboard?

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

"It ain't over 'til it's over, no matter how over it looks." ― Yogi Berra

Riddle Answer: 204 squares: 64 one-by-one squares, 49 two-by-two, 36 three-by-three, 25 four-by-four, 16 five-by-five, 9 six-by-six, 4 seven-by-seven, and 1 eight-by-eight