Fredthebear is the original creator of this collection. Some have copied it. FTB has created hundreds of collections, many based upon openings, maneuvers, or players.

CHESS by Lubomir KavalekFebruary 14, 2000: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...

Border Collies need to run-Run-RUN each day, not lay around at home! Game Collection: Bark

* 1.d4: Game Collection: Winning with 1 d4!

* Black copycat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3N...

* QIDs: Game Collection: 0

* Zukes: Game Collection: 1. d4 alt

* Some Jobava Londons: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

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

* Chess in old newspapers: https://www.schach-chess.com/chess-...

"The words of truth are simple." ― Aeschylus

"It is only after our basic needs for food and shelter have been met that we can hope to enjoy the luxury of theoretical speculations." ― Aristotle.

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." — Dolly Parton

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." — Groucho Marx

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things." — Albert Einstein

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." — Babe Ruth

John 14:6
"<I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.>" ― Jesus Christ

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." ― Buddha

"No legacy is so rich as honesty." ― William Shakespeare

"Of chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess." ― William Napier / Irving Chernev

"Winning needs no explanation, losing has no alibi." ― Greg Baum.

"A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop." ― Robert Hughes

"Chess is a fairy tale of 1,001 blunders." ― Savielly Tartakower

"Pawns are the soul of the game." ― François-André Danican Philidor

"The king pawn and the queen pawn are the only ones to be moved in the early part of the game." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"I believe that it is best to know a 'dubious' opening really well, rather than a 'good' opening only slightly." ― Simon Williams

"There is no such thing as an absolutely freeing move. A freeing move in a position in which development has not been carried far always proves illusory, and vice versa, a move which does not come at all in the category of freeing moves can, given a surplus of tempi to our credit, lead to a very free game." ― Aron Nimzowitsch

"You may knock your opponent down with the chessboard, but that does not prove you the better player." ― English Proverb

"For a period of ten years--between 1946 and 1956--Reshevsky was probably the best chessplayer in the world. I feel sure that had he played a match with Botvinnik during that time he would have won and been World Champion." ― Bobby Fischer

"I believe that true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands." ― Alexander Alekhine

"We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature." ― Rudolf Spielmann

"To play for a draw, at any rate with white, is to some degree a crime against chess." ― Mikhail Tal

"Boring? Who's boring? I am Fredthebear. My mind is always active, busy. If you're bored, follow your uncle around or go ride your bike."

"Capa's games looked as though they were turned out by a lathe, while Alekhine's resembled something produced with a mallet and chisel." ― Charles Yaffe

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

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

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

"It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained." ― Queen Elizabeth II

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat. So people who don't know what they're doing, or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self." — Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), You've Got Mail

"The future reshapes the memory of the past in the way it recalibrates significance: some episodes are advanced, others lose purchase." ― Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." ― Douglas MacArthur

"Old habits die hard, especially for soldiers." ― Jocelyn Murray, The Roman General: A Novel

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

Ye Jiangchuan has won the Chinese Chess Championship seven times.

Matthew 17:20
Our faith can move mountains.

Other people's wisdom prevents the king from being called a fool. ~ Nigerian Proverb

Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean Proverb

Ingratitude is sooner or later fatal to its author. ~ Twi Proverb

The laughter of a child lights up the house. ~ Swahili proverb

"Win with grace, lose with dignity!" ― Susan Polgar

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, personal and professional discipline, focus, concentration, strong nerves, the will to win, and yes, talent!" ― Susan Polgar

"No matter how successful you are (or will be), never ever forget the people who helped you along the way, and pay it forward! Don't become arrogant and conceited just because you gained a few rating points or made a few bucks. Stay humble and be nice, especially to your fans!" ― Susan Polgar

All that glitters is not gold – this line can be found in a text from c.1220: ‘ Nis hit nower neh gold al that ter schineth.'

A friend in need is a friend indeed – a proverb from c.1035 say this: ‘Friend shall be known in time of need.'

All's well that ends well – a line from the mid-13th century is similar: ‘Wel is him te wel ende mai.' Meanwhile, Henry Knighton's Chronicle from the late 14th-century one can read: ‘ If the ende be wele, than is alle wele.'

Hay dos maneras de hermosura: una del alma y otra del cuerpo; la del alma campea y se muestra en el entendimiento, en la honestidad, en el buen proceder, en la liberalidad y en la buena crianza, y todas estas partes caben y pueden estar en un hombre feo; y cuando se pone la mira en esta hermosura, y no en la del cuerpo, suele nacer el amor con ímpetu y con ventajas. (There are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body; that of the soul shows and demonstrates itself in understanding, in honesty, in good behavior, in generosity and in good breeding, and all these things can find room and exist in an ugly man; and when one looks at this type of beauty, and not bodily beauty, love is inclined to spring up forcefully and overpoweringly.) ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Cuando una puerta se cierra, otra se abre. (When one door is closed, another is opened.) ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Dijo la sartén a la caldera, quítate allá ojinegra. (The frying pan said to the cauldron, "Get out of here, black-eyed one." This is believed to be the source of the phrase "the pot calling the kettle black.") ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

"A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference." — Eeyore

"Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom." ― Francis Bacon

"Discipline is wisdom and vice versa." ― M. Scott Peck

<Steinitz's Theory
1. At the beginning of the game, Black and White are equal.

2. The game will stay equal with correct play on both sides.

3. You can only win by your opponent's mistake.

4. Any attack launched in an equal position will not succeed, and the attacker will suffer.

5. You should not attack until an advantage is obtained.

6. When equal, do not seek to attack, but instead, try to secure an advantage.

7. Once you have an advantage, attack or you will lose it.>

Against the Hard to Suit

Were I a pet of fair Calliope,
I would devote the gifts conferred on me
To dress in verse old Aesop's lies divine;
For verse, and they, and truth, do well combine; But, not a favourite on the Muses' hill,
I dare not arrogate the magic skill,
To ornament these charming stories.
A bard might brighten up their glories,
No doubt. I try, – what one more wise must do. Thus much I have accomplished hitherto:
By help of my translation,
The beasts hold conversation,
In French, as never they did before.
Indeed, to claim a little more,
The plants and trees, with smiling features,
Are turned by me to talking creatures.
Who says, that this is not enchanting?
"Ah," says the critics, "hear what vaunting!
From one whose work, all told, no more is
Than half-a-dozen baby stories.'
Would you a theme more credible, my censors,
In graver tone, and style which now and then soars? Then list! For ten long years the men of Troy,
By means that only heroes can employ,
Had held the allied hosts of Greece at bay, –
Their minings, batterings, stormings day by day, Their hundred battles on the crimson plain,
Their blood of thousand heroes, all in vain, – When, by Minerva's art, a horse of wood,
Of lofty size before their city stood,
Whose flanks immense the sage Ulysses hold,
Brave Diomed, and Ajax fierce and bold,
Whom, with their myrmidons, the huge machine
Would bear within the fated town unseen,
To wreak on its very gods their rage –
Unheard-of stratagem, in any age.
Which well its crafty authors did repay....
"Enough, enough," our critic folks will say;
"Your period excites alarm,
Lest you should do your lungs some harm;
And then your monstrous wooden horse,
With squadrons in it at their ease,
Is even harder to endorse
Than Renard cheating Raven of his cheese.
And, more than that, it fits you ill
To wield the old heroic quill."
Well, then, a humbler tone, if such your will is: Long sighed and pined the jealous Amaryllis
For her Alcippus, in the sad belief,
None, save her sheep and dog, would know her grief. Thyrsis, who knows, among the willows slips,
And hears the gentle shepherdess's lips
Beseech the kind and gentle zephyr
To bear these accents to her lover....
"Stop!" says my censor:
"To laws of rhyme quite irreducible,
That couplet needs again the crucible;
Poetic men, sir,
Must nicely shun the shocks
Of rhymes unorthodox."
A curse on critics! hold your tongue!
Know I not how to end my song?
Of time and strength what greater waste
Than my attempt to suit your taste?

Some men, more nice than wise,
There's nothing that satisfies.

St. Jerome

There are Chess Pocket Parks throughout St. Louis, MO but I wouldn't compare it in any way to the movie "Searching fo Bobby Fischer": https://www.bing.com/images/search?...

https://saintlouischessclub.org/vis...

King Scar: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wKlD...

Unseen order and routine makes it work: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xF3g...

When you think it's not possible: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K8V5...

Survive to thrive!

And I always want to know who was doing the filming, why and what did they know ahead of time? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RS4b...

A rocket stove in the ground: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mhL3...

That's not how bears do it: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eFOV...

Intolerance does not want equal rights, the free exchange: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_l0_...

Happily ever after had some rough spots getting there: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3PaJ...

Drive thrus are a bad habit: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9EzK...

4th state of matter: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aeB4...

Forbidden: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kUVY...

Do they play chess on K2 18 B? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iBu6...

Slow but deadly: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

The Heron

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan-23-18 zanzibar: I should also mention that I like Black's knight maneuver, Nc6-d7-f5-d6-e4 (moves 46-50), transferring the knight from c6 to the very strong e4-square. Jan-24-18 Member: <zanzibar>--Your diagram of the position after move 42 is incorrect--the white knight should be on e3, not c3. According to The Computer, white's best here was 43 Ng4, with an evaluation of only -0.66, but I suspect that Capablanca would have found a way to win anyway. Lasker played 43 Nd1 in an effort to lure Capablanca into the trap described in the note after move 43 ("Not Nb4..."). Jan-26-18 zanzibar: GSM yes, my mistake, apologies. I got the move wrong I think.

Jun-12-24
Check It Out: <WannaBe> Thanks. So FIDE uses zeros 0-0 and PGN uses capital letters O-O. My wife and I are playing a game by text and today she coincidentally asked me how to notate castling. I sent O-O and she asked my why I sent eyes looking at her :D

Oct-09-11 FSR: After 1.e4 e5, 2.Ba6?? is the worst move by a country mile. After that, probably 2.b4 and 2.Ke2 are the worst. 2.Qg4 and 2.g4 are also pretty bad. White still has equality after 2.Qh5, so it's actually not a <terrible> move.

The Feeding of Four Thousand

(Matthew 15:29-39)

Mark 8:1-10
1In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. 10And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

Un baiser – Edmond Rostand
French poet Edmond Rostand wrote the following classic love poem <Un Baiser> (meaning "a kiss") in his most famous work, Cyrano de Bergerac published in 1897.

French Poem English Translation
Un baiser, mais à tout prendre,
qu'est-ce que c'est ?
Un serment fait d'un peu plus près,
une promesse plus précise,

A kiss, but all in all,
What is that ?
An oath that is closer,
a promise more precise,

Un aveu qui veut se confirmer,
un point rose qu'on met
sur l'i du verbe aimer ;
c'est un secret qui prend
la bouche pour oreille.

A confession that wants to be confirmed,
a pink dot that we put
on the i of the verb to love;
it's a secret that takes
word of mouth.

<A Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida

Mark 8:22-26
22And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. 26And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.>

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

* 3rd Rank vs 6th Rank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkA...

* The Chess Portal will broaden your horizons: http://schackportalen.nu/English/es...

* Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy by Ray Cheng

* Queen Pawn Games: Game Collection: ANIL RAJ.R'S QUEEN PAWN GAMES

Chess is often cited by psychologists as an effective way to improve memory function. Also allowing the mind to solve complex problems and work through ideas, it is no wonder that chess is recommended in the fight against Alzheimer's. Some contend that it can increase one's intelligence, though that is a more complex topic. The effects of chess on young individuals had led to chess being introduced in school districts and various countries. It has been shown to improve children's grades and other positive effects as well.

FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, which literally translates into World Chess Federation.

Chess began in India during the Gupta Empire, spreading to the Persian Sassanid Empire, and then to the Middle East after Muslims conquered Persia. From there, it spread to Europe and Russia.

Seek God's Comfort

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

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

Isaiah 66:13⁣
As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.

wordy fun:
zeruption Zatonskih and Krushr both adopted from Ukrn promotion. Karn was on brain salad surgery not Tarkus or Ed Van Halena on keyboard #2. It's all but over now in Tokyo, Jakarta. "I should have shot the horse," was his only comment.

Select a good chess move:

1. Is my king and queen safe? Am I absolutely sure?

2. Why did my opponent make that move?

3. What just changed?

4. What is now en prise / un/under-defended?

5. Any immediate risks / opportunities? (If no, go to default) - Opening: Develop
- Middle game: Improve, build attack, pawn breaks. - End game: Assure the best outcome

6. What are ALL the candidate moves?

7. For each, what is likely to happen? New risks/opportunities?

8. Which is best?

9. Does it improve my position?

10. Sanity check, sure it's not a mistake?

"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

The Heron

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

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." ― Oprah Winfrey

"Humans see what they want to see." ― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

"Songs are as sad as the listener." ― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." ― C.G. Jung

"Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her." ― Lao Tzu

<"Autumn's Embrace"
Amber leaves fall
Whispering farewells
Nature mourns
In vibrant hues it tells>

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." ― Edgar Allan Poe

"Chess makes men wiser and clear-sighted" ― Vladimir Putin

"There is no remorse like the remorse of chess" ― H. G. Wells

"Nobody ever won a chess game by resigning" ― Savielly Tartakower

Crazy Horse (1840-1877) – Oglala Lakota Sioux
The fearless Crazy Horse (1840-1877) was a great warrior against white settlers' subjugation and abuse of power. He has seen and participated in many battles such as the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868 – Fetterman Massacre and Battle of the Little Bighorn.

He was legendary within and outside the Lakota nation as a great warrior and defender of the sacred lands and native way of life. Here is the quote on suffering above suffering as well as a farewell to a friend, Sitting Bull:

"The Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness, and separations; a world longing for light again.

I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again.

In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom.

I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be one."