"May the sun bring you energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night,

May the rain wash away your worries,

May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you walk gently through the world

and know its beauty all the days of your life."

Apache Blessing

"I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive." — Goyahkla a.k.a. Geronimo (1829-1909), a POW for 23 years

Never judge a book by its cover.

"The first step is to find out what you love - and don't be practical about it. The second step is to start doing what you love immediately, in any small way possible." ― Barbara Sher

"We only really know what is new, what suddenly introduces to our sensibility a change of tone which strikes us, that for which habit has not yet substituted its pale fac-similes." ― Marcel Proust

"No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude." ― Alfred North Whitehead

"Nearly all our originality comes from the stamp that time impresses upon our sensibility." ― Charles Baudelaire

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

"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

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

"Unadaptability is often a virtue." ― Flannery O'Connor

"Giving doesn't always involve money." ― Charmaine J. Forde

"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

"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.

"Capablanca didn't make separate moves - he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"Whether this advantage is theoretically sufficient to win or not does not worry Capablanca. He simply wins the ending. That is why he is Capablanca!" ― Max Euwe

"He (Capablanca) makes the game look easy. Art lies in the concealment of art." ― Philip W. Sergeant

"It's entirely possible that Capa could not imagine that there could be a better move than one he thought was good and he was usually right." ― Mike Franett

"Capablanca's games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent's attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique." ― Aaron Nimzowitsch

"What others could not see in a month's study, he (Capablanca) saw at a glance." ― Reuben Fine

"Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position." ― Garry Kasparov.

"He (Capablanca) had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending - even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position." ― Bobby Fischer

"A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

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

The Night
BY HENRY VAUGHAN
John 3.2

Through that pure virgin shrine,
That sacred veil drawn o'er Thy glorious noon, That men might look and live, as glowworms shine, And face the moon,
Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.

Most blest believer he!
Who in that land of darkness and blind eyes
Thy long-expected healing wings could see,
When Thou didst rise!
And, what can never more be done,
Did at midnight speak with the Sun!

O who will tell me where
He found Thee at that dead and silent hour?
What hallowed solitary ground did bear
So rare a flower,
Within whose sacred leaves did lie
The fulness of the Deity?

No mercy-seat of gold,
No dead and dusty cherub, nor carved stone,
But His own living works did my Lord hold
And lodge alone;
Where trees and herbs did watch and peep
And wonder, while the Jews did sleep.

Dear night! this world's defeat;
The stop to busy fools; care's check and curb; The day of spirits; my soul's calm retreat
Which none disturb!
Christ's progress, and His prayer time;
The hours to which high heaven doth chime;

God's silent, searching flight;
When my Lord's head is filled with dew, and all His locks are wet with the clear drops of night; His still, soft call;
His knocking time; the soul's dumb watch,
When spirits their fair kindred catch.

Were all my loud, evil days
Calm and unhaunted as is thy dark tent,
Whose peace but by some angel's wing or voice
Is seldom rent,
Then I in heaven all the long year
Would keep, and never wander here.

But living where the sun
Doth all things wake, and where all mix and tire Themselves and others, I consent and run
To every mire,
And by this world's ill-guiding light,
Err more than I can do by night.

There is in God, some say,
A deep but dazzling darkness, as men here
Say it is late and dusky, because they
See not all clear.
O for that night! where I in Him
Might live invisible and dim!

* 10 Best to Watch: https://www.chessjournal.com/best-c...

* 23 Opening Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5...

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

* Adolf Anderssen miniatures: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

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

* Checkmate Art: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate

* Champion miniatures: Game Collection: Champions miniature champions

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

* Chess Step-by-Step: https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-...

* CFN: https://www.youtube.com/@CFNChannel

* Crouch's book: Game Collection: Chess Secrets - Attackers (Crouch)

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

goodevans: <whiteshark: Worst end of a WCC <<EVER>!!!!>> <Really? It's not like the President of FIDE stepped in and abandoned the match.>

When he says "ever" he means "in the last 5 years". Attention spans are very short these days.

* 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...

* Alekhine's Defense: Two Pawns, Lasker Variation, Matsukevich Gambit 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.c5 Nd5 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 d6 7.Bg5

* Alireza doesn't showboat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUB...

* Accidentally?? Take advantage of weaknesses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vv...

* Beginner's Guide: https://www.365chess.com/view/how-t...

* Brilliancies: Game Collection: Brilliancy Prizes (Reinfeld)

* 20 Avengers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFI...

* 2024 King's Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyy...

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

* 25 Best traps: https://www.chess.com/blog/ChessLor...

* 29 traps: https://www.chessonly.com/chess-ope...

* 50 classics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKF...

* 50 you should know: https://en.chessbase.com/post/50-ga...

* Center Fork Trick is very common: https://lichess.org/study/tzrisL1R

* Checkmate patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games:
Game Collection: Chessmaster '86

* Chess Links: http://www.chessdryad.com/links/ind...

Chicago Chess Center
47 West Polk Street, Chicago, IL, 60605
United Statesinfo@chichess.org

* Danish treats: Game Collection: 200 Miniature Games of Chess - Du Mont (I)

* 5 facts: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fTgG...

* Matthew 5: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PqAR...

* 6 tricks to save games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y4...

* 7 traps to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y4...

* 9 somewhat truths: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oFhy...

* 10 tricks to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxV...

* 10 positions confuse engines: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* 10 fast attacks! https://www.attackingchess.com/10-c...

* 13 tricks: https://chessdelights.com/chess-tri...

* 1.b3 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZB...

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

* 15 best traps: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

* Buddiez: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cNW5...

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

* Epic: Game Collection: Epic Battles of the CB by R.N. Coles - keypusher

* EL: https://www.emanuellasker.online/

goodevans: <whiteshark: Worst end of a WCC <<EVER>!!!!>> <Really? It's not like the President of FIDE stepped in and abandoned the match.>

When he says "ever" he means "in the last 5 years". Attention spans are very short these days.

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

* Firouzja now 2800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcD...

* Forgiveness: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FmEB...

* 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...

* Black Storms: Game Collection: Tal - The Modern Benoni

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

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

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

* A few KIAs: Game Collection: Opening Ideas

* Advance French: Game Collection: Attacking with the French

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

* Masterful: Game Collection: FRENCH DEFENSE MASTERPIECES

* KID 0-1s: Game Collection: K.I.D B wins E98

* $1 Billion isn't chump change: https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201...

* Best of 2017: Game Collection: Best Games of 2017

* 2018 Magazine: Game Collection: # American Chess Magazine 7

* 2019 Moscow: Aeroflot Open (2019)

* 2019 Women's World Team: World Team Chess Championship (Women) (2019)

* 2019 Men's World Team: World Team Chess Championship (2019)

* 2019 Prague Festival: Prague Chess Festival (Masters) (2019)

* St. Louis Spring Classic: Spring Chess Classic (A) (2019)

* My killer chess secret - it's not what you might think: https://www.loavesanddishes.net/old...

* US Championships in St. Louis: US Championship (2019)

* GRENKE Classic: GRENKE Chess Classic (2019)

* 10-player Tour: Grand Chess Tour Cote d'Ivoire (Rapid & Blitz) (2019)

* Norway Blitz: Norway Chess (Blitz) (2019)

* Women: Asian Continental (Women) (2019)

* GCT Elite Dozen: GCT Croatia (2019)

* Riga Knockout: Grand Prix Riga (2019)

* Dortmund, Germany: Dortmund Sparkassen (2019)

* Biel, Switzerland: Biel (2019)

* Hometown Winner! GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Changsha, China: Belt and Road Hunan Open (2019)

* Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Masters (2019)

* Liren 1st, Carlsen 7th?! GCT St. Louis Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* St. Louis, MO: Sinquefield Cup (2019)

* Near Moscow, Russia: Grand Prix Skolkovo (Women) (2019)

* 128-player knockout tourney: World Cup (2019)

* 11 rounds, Isle of Man: Isle of Man Grand Swiss (2019)

* 9-round Swiss: European Team Championship (2019)

* Theater chess: Grand Prix Hamburg (2019)

* Country Club chess: GCT Bucharest Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Oh dear! Poor Levon?! GCT Kolkata Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Tie-breaker: Grand Prix Monaco (Women) (2019)

* Too many rules and regulations: London Chess Classic GCT Finals (2019)

* Jerusalem, Israel: Grand Prix Jerusalem (2019)

* Magnus is on top of the world! World Rapid Championship (2019)

* Triple Crown Winner!!!
World Blitz Championship (2019)

* Ju Retains Her Reign!! Ju - Goryachkina Women's World Championship Match (2020)

* Caruana Tops the Stars! Tata Steel Masters (2020)

* Seven players tied for first place! Gibraltar Masters (2020)

* The ladies go at it in St. Louis, MO: 2nd Cairns Cup (2020)

* Prague: Prague Chess Festival (Masters) (2020)

* Aeroflot: Aeroflot Open (2020)

* Lausanne, Switzerland: Grand Prix Lausanne (Women) (2020)

* Nutcracker: Nutcracker Match of the Generations (2020)

* 2020 Candidates Tournament: World Championship Candidates (2020/21)

* Magnus hosts, wins internet tournament: Magnus Carlsen Invitational (2020)

* Online Nations Cup won by China: FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup (2020)

* Dubov comes in 2nd place to you-know-who: FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial (2020)

* Two-day Online Blitz: Chessbrah May Invitational (2020)

* 12-player Online Super-Tournament won by Nakamura: Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge (2020)

* Clutch Chess: A new knockout format: Clutch Champions Showdown (2020)

* Bill Wall should have been on beer commercials crushing empty beer cans with his bare hands: Bill Wall

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

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

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

* Read The Planet Greenpawn - https://www.redhotpawn.com/

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

* 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...

* Agadmator's analysis, Game 16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp0...

* Tournament Archive: https://live.chessbase.com/en/History

* Tournaments added by CGs:
New Tournaments

* Tactical Games: Game Collection: Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics

* It takes me back where, when and who: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh2...

* 21st Century: Game Collection: 0

* Spruce Variety: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/che...

* Wikipedia on Computer Chess: Wikipedia article: Computer chess

* Women: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/wom...

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

Place your knights in the center for greater mobility; avoid edges and the corners.

Alaska: Kodiak
Established in: 1792

Kodiak is the main city in Kodiak Island and was founded in 1792 by Aleksandr Andreyevich Baranov. It was first called Pavlovsk Gavan, which is Russian for Paul's Harbor, and was the first capital of Russian Alaska. You can still find a large Russian Orthodox church there, as well as plenty of beautiful views.

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

* Three Simple Chess Tips: https://www.premierchesscoaching.co...

* 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

"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

Golf clubs

InkHarted wrote:

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

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

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

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

Drive sober or get pulled over.

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

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

Song of the Storm-Swept Plain
William D. Hodjkiss

The wind shrills forth
From the white cold North
Where the gates of the Storm-god are;
And ragged clouds,
Like mantling shrouds,
Engulf the last, dim star.

Through naked trees,
In low coulees,
The night-voice moans and sighs;
And sings of deep,
Warm cradled sleep,
With wind-crooned lullabies.

He stands alone
Where the storm's weird tone
In mocking swells;
And the snow-sharp breath
Of cruel Death
The tales of its coming tells.

The frightened plaint
Of his sheep sound faint
Then the choking wall of white—
Then is heard no more,
In the deep-toned roar,
Of the blinding, pathless night.

No light nor guide,
Save a mighty tide
Of mad fear drives him on;
‘Till his cold-numbed form
Grows strangely warm;
And the strength of his limbs is gone.

Through the storm and night
A strange, soft light
O'er the sleeping shepherd gleams;
And he hears the word
Of the Shepherd Lord
Called out from the bourne of dreams.

Come, leave the strife
Of your weary life;
Come unto Me and rest
From the night and cold,
To the sheltered fold,
By the hand of love caressed.

The storm shrieks on,
But its work is done—
A soul to its God has fled;
And the wild refrain
Of the wind-swept plain,
Sings requiem for the dead.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never judge a book by its cover.

Herein lay the rub. The Americans, like all Western armies, defined "winning" as killing the enemy and securing control over the battlefield. Their opponents in previous conflicts had generally accepted the same definition. Not so the Moros. What was important to them was the struggle and how one conducted oneself, personally and as a people, not necessarily a measurable outcome. They knew from the beginning they were no match for American firepower. It was a one-sided contest, what today is termed "asymmetric warfare," but so what? Their measure was how well one did against the odds, the more overwhelmingly they were against one, the greater the glory. And being that life is transitory anyway, what mattered most was how much courage was shown and how well did one die. The Americans and the Moros were using different score cards for the same game. To the Moros, it was they who had "won." — Robert A. Fulton

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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.>

"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

Democritus and the People Of Abdera

How do I hate the tide of vulgar thought!
Profane, unjust, with childish folly fraught;
It breaks and bends the rays of truth divine,
And by its own conceptions measures mine.
Famed Epicurus' master tried
The power of this unstable tide.
His country said the sage was mad –
The simpletons! But why?
No prophet ever honour had
Beneath his native sky.
Democritus, in truth, was wise;
The mass were mad, with faith in lies.
So far this error went,
That all Abdera sent
To old Hippocrates
To cure the sad disease.
"Our townsman," said the messengers,
Appropriately shedding tears,
"Has lost his wits! Democritus,
By study spoiled, is lost to us.
Were he but filled with ignorance,
We should esteem him less a dunce.
He says that worlds like this exist,
An absolutely endless list, –
And peopled, even, it may be,
With countless hosts as wise as we!
But, not contented with such dreams,
His brain with viewless "atoms" teems,
Instinct with deathless life, it seems.
And, never stirring from the sod below,
He weighs and measures all the stars;
And, while he knows the universe,
Himself he does not know.
Though now his lips he strictly bars,
He once delighted to converse.
Come, godlike mortal, try your art divine
Where traits of worst insanity combine!"
Small faith the great physician lent,
But still, perhaps more readily, he went.
And mark what meetings strange
Chance causes in this world of change!
Hippocrates arrived in season,
Just as his patient (void of reason!)
Was searching whether reason's home,
In talking animals and dumb,
Be in the head, or in the heart,
Or in some other local part.
All calmly seated in the shade,
Where brooks their softest music made,
He traced, with study most insane,
The convolutions of a brain;
And at his feet lay many a scroll –
The works of sages on the soul.
Indeed, so much absorbed was he,
His friend, at first, he did not see.
A pair so admirably matched,
Their compliments erelong despatched.
In time and talk, as well as dress,
The wise are frugal, I confess.
Dismissing trifles, they began
At once with eagerness to scan
The life, and soul, and laws of man;
Nor stopped till they had travelled over all
The ground, from, physical to moral.
My time and space would fail
To give the full detail.

But I have said enough to show
How little It's the people know.
How true, then, goes the saw abroad –
Their voice is but the voice of God?

Riddle Question: The one who has it does not keep it. It is large and small. It is any shape.

Riddle Answer: A gift.

Strike while the iron is hot

Actions speak louder than words

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow". — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." — Plato

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." — Lao Tzu

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." — Albert Einstein

"You have enemies? Good; that means you have stood up for something, sometime in your life." — Winston Churchill

"Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and sits softly on your shoulder." — Henry David Thoreau

"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." — Aristotle

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." — Aristotle

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." — Ellen Goodman

"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

"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind." — Mahatma Gandhi

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." — Mahatma Gandhi

"Never be bullied into silence, never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, define yourself." — Robert Frost

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail." — Confucius

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." — Albert Einstein

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." — JK Rowling

"Not all those who wander are lost." — J. R. R. Tolkien

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." — Mark Twain

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." — John F. Kennedy

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." — Albert Einstein

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." — Socrates

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." — Mahatma Gandhi

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." — Eleanor Roosevelt

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." — Abraham Lincoln

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." — Charles Swindoll

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." — Dalai Lama

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." — John Wooden

"Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It's not how you start that matters, it's how you finish."

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1807-1882

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

"There are good ships, and there are wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, and may they always be." ― Anonymous

"A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

"Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates." ― Jean de La Bruyère

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.

"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

"mais vale um passarinho na mão do que dois a voar"

"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Place your knights in the center for greater mobility; avoid edges and the corners.

The Chess Poem by Ayaan Chettiar

8 by 8 makes 64
In the game of chess, the king shall rule
Kings and queens, and rooks and knights
Bishops and Pawns, and the use of mind

The Game goes on, the players think
Plans come together, form a link
Attacks, checks and capture
Until, of course, we reach a mate

The Pawns march forward, then the knights
Power the bishops, forward with might
Rooks come together in a line
The Game of Chess is really divine

The Rooks move straight, then take a turn
The Knights on fire, make no return
Criss-Cross, Criss-Cross, go the bishops
The Queen's the leader of the group

The King resides in the castle
While all the pawns fight with power
Heavy blows for every side
Until the crown, it is destroyed

The Brain's the head, The Brain's the King,
The Greatest one will always win,
For in the game of chess, the king shall rule,
8 by 8 makes 64!

"The open file, being cleared of pawns, offers no permanent targets. The advantage of controlling an open file consists mainly in the chance of penetrating the enemy position and switching to horizontal activity." ― Hans Kmoch

<Seven Most Important Middlegame Principles Yury Markushin

1. Centralize your pieces

2. Trade your flank pawns for the central pawns

3. Avoid pawn weaknesses

4. Avoid creating weak squares in your position

5. Always blockade your opponent's isolated pawn with a knight

6. Occupy open files with your rooks

7. Keep the bishop pair>

H.T. Bland. On page 207 of the December 1929 American Chess Bulletin he exalted the challenger in that year's world championship match:

Bravo ‘Bogol', you've shown pluck.
One and all we wish you luck.
Gee, some thought you'd barged between
Other players who'd have been
Less likely straightaway to lose
Just as friend Alekhine might choose;
Undaunted, ‘Bogol', you went in
Believing you'd a chance to win.
Or failing that, to make a fight,
Which you are doing as we write.

"Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Out of difficulties, grow miracles" ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Not to be able to bear with all bad-tempered people with whom the world is crowded, shows that a man has not a good temper himself." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that induces us to admire a fool." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." ― Will Rogers

"Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was." ― Will Rogers

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else." ― Will Rogers

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ― Will Rogers

"Show business is made up of disappointments, and it's through life's disappointments that you grow." ― Minnie Pearl

"Since religion was so much a part of my life as a child, and since my childhood was so happy and so full of laughter and joy, I associate the two. Even my concept of Jesus goes along with this association of happiness and religion." ― Minnie Pearl

"They were taking pictures and everything. When we got down off the plane, the minute Elvis made his appearance at the door of the plane, the screaming got even worse." ― Minnie Pearl

The Blossom
by William Blake

Merry, merry sparrow!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Sees you, swift as arrow,
Seek your cradle narrow,
Near my bosom.
Pretty, pretty robin!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
Pretty, pretty robin,
Near my bosom.

In Melitopol, terrible terror has been reigning for over a year. It's quiet, you can't see it on the streets - reported CNN. Anyone who has rejected a Russian passport may become a victim of repression. They can't access the hospital, can't function normally. The "incredible" occupant also takes away the land. Arrests and torture, unfortunately, are common practices.

Partisans are engaged in attacking Russian logistics and eliminating collaborators and Russian officers. They actively cooperate with Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) and are ready for sabotage activities in case the front arrives.

Before the war, Melitopol had a population of 154,000. The city, located in the southeastern part of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by the Russians on March 1, 2022 Eastern Time. Since then, it has been waiting for liberation, but that does not mean that the inhabitants are idle. From the beginning of the war, there has been a partisan movement in and around the city.

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

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

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

Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Luck never gives; it only lends. ~ Scottish Proverb

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.

French Proverb: "Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard." ― (Nothing should be left to chance.)

"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 Quotes from Garry Kasparov

Mr. Kasparov needs no introduction. He was ranked world's number one for 225 out of 228 months from 1986 to his retirement from chess in 2005. Kasparov holds a record of 15 consecutive professional tournament victories and 11 chess Oscars! He became a youngest ever world champion at the age of 22, defeating Anatoly Karpov.

Kasparov held the title for 15 years!

"Chess strength in general and chess strength in a specific match are by no means one and the same thing." ― Garry Kasparov

"This is the essential element that cannot be measured by any analysis or device, and I believe it's at the heart of success in all things: the power of intuition and the ability to harness and use it like a master." ― Garry Kasparov

"Nowadays games immediately appear on the Internet and thus the life of novelties is measured in hours. Modern professionals do not have the right to be forgetful – it is ‘life threatening'." ― Garry Kasparov

"Any experienced player knows how a change in the character of the play influences your psychological mood." ― Garry Kasparov

"By the time a player becomes a Grandmaster, almost all of his training time is dedicated to work on this first phase. The opening is the only phase that holds out the potential for true creativity and doing something entirely new." ― Garry Kasparov

"When your house is on fire, you can't be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in chess, if your King is under attack, don't worry about losing a pawn on the queen side." ― Garry Kasparov

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

"By strictly observing Botvinnik's rule regarding the thorough analysis of one's own games, with the years I have come to realize that this provides the foundation for the continues development of chess mastery." ― Garry Kasparov

"The best chess masters of every epoch have been closely linked with the values of the society in which they lived and worked. All the changes of a cultural, political, and psychological background are reflected in the style and ideas of their play." ― Garry Kasparov

"I see my own style as being a symbiosis of the styles of Alekhine, Tal and Fischer." ― Garry Kasparov

"In general there is something puzzling about the fact that the most renowned figures in chess – Morphy, Pillsbury, Capablanca and Fischer – were born in America." ― Garry Kasparov

"Who else in chess history has won so many serious games with the help of brilliant tactical strokes?" – on Alexander Alekhine ― Garry Kasparov

"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

"Excelling at chess has long been considered a symbol of more general intelligence. That is an incorrect assumption in my view, as pleasant as it might be." ― Garry Kasparov

"The ability to work hard for days on end without losing focus is a talent. The ability to keep absorbing new information after many hours of study is a talent." ― Garry Kasparov

"Brute-force programs play the best chess, so why bother with anything else? Why waste time and money experimenting with new and innovative ideas when we already know what works? Such thinking should horrify anyone worthy of the name of scientist, but it seems, tragically, to be the norm. Our best minds have gone into financial engineering instead of real engineering, with catastrophic results for both sectors." ― Garry Kasparov

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

"Chess continues to advance over time, so the players of the future will inevitably surpass me in the quality of their play, assuming the rules and regulations allow them to play serious chess. But it will likely be a long time before anyone spends 20 consecutive years as number, one as I did." ― Garry Kasparov

"I have found that after 1.d4 there are more opportunities for richer play." ― Garry Kasparov

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

"The stock market and the gridiron and the battlefield aren't as tidy as the chessboard, but in all of them, a single, simple rule holds true: make good decisions and you'll succeed; make bad ones and you'll fail." ― Garry Kasparov

"Tactics involve calculations that can tax the human brain, but when you boil them down, they are actually the simplest part of chess and are almost trivial compared to strategy." ― Garry Kasparov

"For me, chess is a language, and if it's not my native tongue, it is one I learned via the immersion method at a young age." ― Garry Kasparov

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

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

"Nervous energy is the ammunition we take into any mental battle. If you don't have enough of it, your concentration will fade. If you have a surplus, the results will explode." ― Garry Kasparov

"The biggest problem I see among people who want to excel in chess – and in business and in life in general – is not trusting their instincts enough." ― Garry Kasparov

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

"Vishy is a brilliant player. But it is very difficult to compete at 40. He is up against people half his age. I will be surprised if he can go on any longer. He can fight against anyone but time." ― Garry Kasparov

Refranes españoles / Spanish Sayings
Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando. A bird in the hand is worth more than 100 flying. (A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.)

Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente. Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel.

No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano. Not through much awaking early does the dawn come earlier.

El amor es ciego. Love is blind.

Perro que no camina, no encuentra hueso. The dog that doesn't walk doesn't find a bone. (You can't succeed if you don't try.)

Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are. (A man is known by the company he keeps.)

El diablo sabe más por viejo que por diablo. The devil knows more due to being old than by being the devil.

A la luz de la tea, no hay mujer fea. By the light of the torch there is no ugly woman.

Haz el bien, y no mires a quién. Do the good, and don't look at whom. (Do what is right, not what will gain approval.)

El que nació para tamal, del cielo le caen las hojas. The leaves fall from the sky for him who was born for the tamal (a traditional Mexican food made from corn leaves).

No hay mal que por bien no venga. There is no bad from which good doesn't come.

Quien no tiene, perder no puede. He who doesn't have is unable to lose. (You can't lose what you don't have.)

No todo lo que brilla es oro. Not all that shines is gold. (Not everything that glitters is gold.)

Perro que ladra no muerde. The dog that barks doesn't bite.

A caballo regalado no se le mira el diente. Don't look at the tooth of a horse that was given. (Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.)

A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando. To God praying and with the mallet using. (God helps those who help themselves.)

Eso es harina de otro costal. That is wheat from a different bag. (It's a bird of a different feather.)

De tal palo, tal astilla. From such a stick, such a splinter. (A chip off the old block.)

Para el hombre no hay mal pan. (O, para el hambre no hay mal pan.) There is no bad bread for man. (Or, there is no bad bread for hunger.)

Las desgracias nunca vienen solas. Misfortunes never come alone. (Bad things happen in threes.)

De buen vino, buen vinagre. From good wine, good vinegar.

El que la sigue, la consigue. He who follows it attains it. (You get what you work for.)

Saliste de Guatemala y te metiste en Guatepeor. You left Guate-bad and went to Guate-worse.

A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda. God helps the one who arises early. (God helps those who help themselves. The early bird catches the worm. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.)

Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente. The shrimp that falls asleep gets carried away by the current.

Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho. From the saying to the act, there is much distance. (Saying something and doing it are two different things.)

Si quieres el perro, acepta las pulgas. If you want the dog, accept the fleas. (If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Love me, love my faults.)

De noche todos los gatos son negros. At night all cats are black.

Lo que en los libros no está, la vida te enseñará. That which isn't in books, life will teach you. (Life is the best teacher.)

La ignorancia es atrevida. Ignorance is courageous.

Cada uno lleva su cruz. Everyone carries his cross. (We each have our own cross to bear.)

"Chess is in its essence a game, in its form an art, and in its execution a science." — Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa (known in English as Baron von der Lasa, 17 October 1818, Berlin – 27 July 1899, Storchnest near Lissa, Greater Poland, then German Empire) To the modern chess world he is known above all as the main author of the Handbuch des Schachspiels (first published in 1843), along with his friend Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, who died in 1840.

Q: What do you call a joke you make in the shower? A: A clean joke!

Q: What do you call an elephant that doesn't matter? A: An irrelephant!

Q: What do you call a pony with a cough?
A: A little horse!

Q: What do you call a farm that makes bad jokes? A: Corny!

Q: What do you call a deer that costs a dollar? A: A buck!

Q: What do you call a fake noodle?
A: Impasta!

Q: What do you call a cat on the rocks?
A: One cool cat!

Q: What do you call the fear of being trapped in a chimney? A: Claus-traphobia!

"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

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

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.

The Black Lab
By Heather, age 13, Mississippi USA

The black Lab runs gracefully,
Down the yard, looking for me.
This black lab is a special friend,
He is there for me until the end.
But the thing that matters the most to me,
This black Lab is my little Sammy.

French Proverb: "Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard." ― (Nothing should be left to chance.)

"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

Dinner Prayer Hymn
Traditional Hymn

Lord, bless this food and grant that we

May thankful for thy mercies be;

Teach us to know by whom we're fed;

Bless us with Christ, the living bread.

Lord, make us thankful for our food,

Bless us with faith in Jesus' blood;

With bread of life our souls supply,

That we may live with Christ on high.

We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus, Amen

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

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

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

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

<A wise old owl sat on an oak,

The more he saw the less he spoke,

The less he spoke the more he heard,

Why aren't we like that wise old bird?>

Give a HOOT -- don't pollute!!