Sicilia es la isla más grande del mar Mediterráneo

Examples: Game Collection: Sicilian Variations

McDonnell: Game Collection: Sicilian: McDonnell Attack

Game Collection: Benko Gambit for White

* MT Facts: https://www.chessjournal.com/facts-...

¿Por qué KASPÁROV no le "comió"👉la Dama a KARPOV? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esU...

"Fischer is like Zeus; he is the God of the gods." — Nigel Short

"Books are a uniquely portable magic." ― Stephen King

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

"Pawns are the soul of chess." — François-André Danican Philidor

"To free your game, take off some of your adversary's men, if possible for nothing." — Captain Bertain, The Noble Game of Chess (1735)

"I play my king all over the board. I make him fight!" — Wilhelm Steinitz

"A righteous wife can make a poor man feel like a king." — Boonaa Mohammed

May-23-23 Rdb: Hey <fredthebear> , do you know that your buddy... everyday ?

Great ! Awesome.

You are so righteous.

Let no one say that great crusader <fredthebear> is dishonest.

* Brutal Attacking Chess: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Bishop's Opening Miniatures: https://www.chessonly.com/bishop-op...

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

* Brilliant (and mostly famous)! Game Collection: Brilliant Miniatures

* Blackburne strikes! games annotated by Blackburne

* Checkmate brevities: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate

* Glossary: https://www.peoriachess.com/Glossar...

* Starting Out book: Game Collection: Sicilian Grand Prix Attack

* 2...d6 collection: Game Collection: Grand Prix 2...d6

3.f4 article: https://chessmasterschool.com/clien...

* Opening Explorer: Opening Explorer

* McDonnell Variation: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Closed Variation: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* by Dreamcircus
Incredibly popular on the British weekend chess tournament circuit in the late eighties and early nineties due to some spectacular victories for White, the Grand Prix Attack is seen far less often these days as analysis has shown several ways for Black to achieve at least equality. It is played in response to the Sicilian Defense, and is a blatant attempt to generate a crude, but often effective, kingside attack directly from the opening. The opening moves are:

1.e4 c5
2.Nc3 (the alternative move order, 2.f4, allows Black to play 2...d5 which forces White to spend many moves trying to neutralize Black's initiative.) 2...Nc6
3.f4

With this move, White effectively renounces his usual strategy against the Sicilian Defense, which is to open up the center and aim for quick development, in favour of immediately gaining space on the kingside. The plan for development and attack is mechanical and straightforward - if Black plays the main lines with a bishop fianchetto on g7, White will continue with the following moves (usually, though not always, in this order): Nf3, Bc4, d3, o-o, Qe1, f5, Qh4, Bh6, Ng5 followed (he hopes) by a rapid checkmate. This strategy worked very well for the first few years of the Grand Prix Attack's popularity.

Unfortunately, while White is carrying out his plan, Black also has things to be doing, and the most effective and modern tactics involve controlling and opening up the center of the board, rather than grabbing material and passively allowing White's buildup:

3...g6
4.Nf3 Bg7
5.Bc4 e6
6.f5!? (A pawn sacrifice which should not be accepted. If Black plays 6...exf5 now, then White simply plays 7.d3, letting Black have an extra pawn in return for guaranteeing that the center now cannot be opened up by Black's d7-d5 pawn push. A closed center allows White to attack on the kingside with impunity, and is worth at least a pawn.) 6...Nge7
7.fxe6 fxe6
8.d3 d5!?

A complicated position is reached in which Black has as many chances as White due to the fluidity of the center and the possibilities of gaining space on the queenside by b7-b5. There are many lines possible in the Grand Prix Attack depending on the moves chosen by either player (for instance, White can play 5.Bb5 instead of 5.Bc4, or Black can play 7...dxe6 instead of 7...fxe6, each of which leads to a completely different kind of position). However, the opening has been waning in popularity as defensive ideas against White's plan become more well-known even at lower levels of chess tournament play.

One of the first books on the Grand Prix Attack was written by Grandmaster Julian Hodgson, one of its most successful exponents, but the authoritative work is generally agreed to be Gary Lane's The Grand Prix Attack. James Plaskett recently brought out a book called Sicilian Grand Prix Attack which, according to at least one reviewer, contributes little in the way of new analysis or ideas.

References:
http://www.infochess.com/Group2/Pub... http://www.chessopolis.com/br/grand...
http://www.chessopolis.com/br/sicil...

Death and the Woodman

A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load,
Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppressed, Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest,
Trudged wearily along his homeward road.
At last his wood on the ground he throws,
And sits him down to think over all his woes.
To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth,
What poorer wretch on this rolling earth?
No bread sometimes, and never a moment's rest;
Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax, All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe,
And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest.
On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grim
Appears, and asks what he should do for him.
"Not much, indeed; a little help I lack –
To put these fagots on my back."

Death ready stands all ills to cure;
But let us not his cure invite.
Than die, it's better to endure, –
Is both a manly maxim and a right.

"Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love." — Billy Graham

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

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

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

* Riddle-pappaz-scree: https://www.briddles.com/riddles/ch...

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

"Never reply to an anonymous letter." ― Yogi Berra, MLB Hall of Fame catcher

"Even Napoleon had his Watergate."
― Yogi Berra, 10-time World Series champion

The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot

An iron pot proposed
To an earthen pot a journey.
The latter was opposed,
Expressing the concern he
Had felt about the danger
Of going out a ranger.
He thought the kitchen hearth
The safest place on earth
For one so very brittle.
"For you, who art a kettle,
And have a tougher skin,
There's nothing to keep you in."
"I'll be your body-guard,"
Replied the iron pot;
"If anything that's hard
Should threaten you a jot,
Between you I will go,
And save you from the blow."
This offer him persuaded.
The iron pot paraded
Himself as guard and guide
Close at his cousin's side.
Now, in their tripod way,
They hobble as they may;
And eke together bolt
At every little jolt, –
Which gives the crockery pain;
But presently his comrade hits
So hard, he dashes him to bits,
Before he can complain.

Take care that you associate
With equals only, lest your fate
Between these pots should find its mate.

Collected by Fredthebear

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.

"A wise man will know what game to play to-day, and play it. We must not be governed by rigid rules, as by the almanac, but let the season rule us. The moods and thoughts of man are revolving just as steadily and incessantly as nature's. Nothing must be postponed. Take time by the forelock. Now or never! You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this, or the like of this. Where the good husbandman is, there is the good soil. Take any other course, and life will be a succession of regrets. Let us see vessels sailing prosperously before the wind, and not simply stranded barks. There is no world for the penitent and regretful." — Henry David Thoreau

"Zeitnot" is German for "time pressure."

"Gossip is the devil's telephone. Best to just hang up." — Moira Rose

blogger cinephilia once said: "The flawless game is impossible. Feed off your opponent's mistakes like a leech."

"There's always a hidden owl in knowledge." – E.I. Jane

"If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If you take it out, put it back. If you empty it, fill it. If you fill it, empty it." — Kathryn Malter, St. Paul, MN

"Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it." — Christopher Hitchens

A Word To Husbands by Ogden Nash

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.

"When you're lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war." ― Aristotle

"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." ― Patrick Henry

When it's your move, pretend for a moment that it's actually your opponent's move. What good moves can your opponent make right now? This makes it much easier to see your opponent's threats, IMO. FTB says "What will my opponent do next if I let him/her? What move will bother me the most?"

GM Maurice Ashley's sage advice: ‘Embrace chaos' he says, meaning that sometimes one has to accept chaos as an integral part of reality, not resisting it.

"Success is never so interesting as struggle" ― Willa Cather

"The habit of holding a Man in the hand, and moving it first to one square and then to another, in order to engage the assistance of the eye in deciding where it shall actually be placed, is not only annoying to the adversary but a practical infraction of the touch-and-move principle." ― Howard Staunton

"The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand." ― Sun Tzu

"A bad plan is better than none at all." ― Frank Marshall

"No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one." ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Alex Lenderman (GM-elect) gave the advice - "It's all about good pieces, get good pieces!" That was helpful to blogger. Of course once they're good you have to know what to do with 'em (tactics). FTB says: Make yourself a list of possible targets (seeds of destruction) and memorize it -- keep the list by your computer. You need to know what you should be looking for, and you just might find it.

"A cat, I am told, has nine lives. If that is true, I know how a cat feels." ― Caryl Chessman

Fischer supposedly said "Don't give up... even if you're in big trouble... Chess is a kaleidoscope- it's ever changing- ...and opportunities suddenly appear."

"You can't hoot with the owls and then soar with the eagles." ― Hubert H. Humphrey

"Humble and Grumble" by Eldred Herbert

Humble and Grumble were identical twins,
And Humble was ever so meek;
Grumble did nothing but grumble all day,
Some may even call him a freak.

Humble was happy and everyone's friend,
Grumble was jealous of course;
Humble was happy to follow the Lord,
But Grumble, an immoral source.

Humble was never seen wearing a frown,
And Grumble, ne'er seen with a smile;
Humble won friends by just being himself,
But, Grumble, he won them by guile.

So Grumble, please follow Humble, your twin,
And Humble, don't grumble, I pray,
For grumble will make you like Grumble, your twin, Please Grumble, be humble today.

What's a King's favorite beverage?
Royal-Tea

"Love Is A Place" by E.E. Cummings

Love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places

yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds

The Bear and the Amateur Gardener

A certain mountain bear, unlicked and rude,
By fate confined within a lonely wood,
A new Bellerophon, whose life,
Knew neither comrade, friend, nor wife, –
Became insane; for reason, as we term it,
Dwells never long with any hermit.
It's good to mix in good society,
Obeying rules of due propriety;
And better yet to be alone;
But both are ills when overdone.
No animal had business where
All grimly dwelt our hermit bear;
Hence, bearish as he was, he grew
Heart-sick, and longed for something new.
While he to sadness was addicted,
An aged man, not far from there,
Was by the same disease afflicted.
A garden was his favourite care, –
Sweet Flora's priesthood, light and fair,
And eke Pomona's – ripe and red
The presents that her fingers shed.
These two employments, true, are sweet
When made so by some friend discreet.
The gardens, gaily as they look,
Talk not, (except in this my book;)
So, tiring of the deaf and dumb,
Our man one morning left his home
Some company to seek,
That had the power to speak. –
The bear, with thoughts the same,
Down from his mountain came;
And in a solitary place,
They met each other, face to face.
It would have made the boldest tremble;
What did our man? To play the Gascon
The safest seemed. He put the mask on,
His fear contriving to dissemble.
The bear, unused to compliment,
Growled bluntly, but with good intent,
"Come home with me." The man replied:
"Sir Bear, my lodgings, nearer by,
In yonder garden you may spy,
Where, if you'll honour me the while,
We'll break our fast in rural style.
I have fruits and milk, – unworthy fare,
It may be, for a wealthy bear;
But then I offer what I have."
The bear accepts, with visage grave,
But not unpleased; and on their way,
They grow familiar, friendly, gay.
Arrived, you see them, side by side,
As if their friendship had been tried.
To a companion so absurd,
Blank solitude were well preferred,
Yet, as the bear scarce spoke a word,
The man was left quite at his leisure
To trim his garden at his pleasure.
Sir Bruin hunted – always brought
His friend whatever game he caught;
But chiefly aimed at driving flies –
Those hold and shameless parasites,
That vex us with their ceaseless bites –
From off our gardener's face and eyes.
One day, while, stretched on the ground
The old man lay, in sleep profound,
A fly that buzz'd around his nose, –
And bit it sometimes, I suppose, –
Put Bruin sadly to his trumps.
At last, determined, up he jumps;
"I'll stop your noisy buzzing now,"
Says he; "I know precisely how."
No sooner said than done.
He seized a paving-stone;
And by his modus operandi
Did both the fly and man die.

A foolish friend may cause more woe
Than could, indeed, the wisest foe.

The Cock and the Pearl

A cock scratched up, one day,
A pearl of purest ray,
Which to a jeweller he bore.
"I think it fine," he said,
"But yet a crumb of bread
To me were worth a great deal more."

So did a dunce inherit
A manuscript of merit,
Which to a publisher he bore.
"It's good," said he, "I'm told,
Yet any coin of gold
To me were worth a great deal more."

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

* One of Pandolfini's Best: Game Collection: Solitaire Chess by Bruce Pandolfini

* Two Great Attackers: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

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

* Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz): Game Collection: 0

* Glossary: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/...

* GK: Game Collection: Kasparov - The Sicilian Sheveningen

* GPA: https://chesstier.com/grand-prix-at...

* B20s: Game Collection: Grand Prix (Ginger's Models)

* How dumb is it? Game Collection: Diemer-Duhm Gambit

* King Registration: https://www.kingregistration.com/to...

* Make a Stand: https://www.history.com/topics/amer...

* MC Move-by-Move: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)

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

"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

Oct-04-23 HeMateMe: I play 3/2 blitz occasionally on Lichess. I find it an excellent site, none of the delays/cancellations that ruined chess.com (for me). Oct-04-23 Cassandro: Yes, lichess is by far the best site for online chess. And you never know, apparently you may even get to play against a living legend like the highly esteemed Leonard Barden there!

FTB plays all about but has always been happy with FICS: https://www.freechess.org/

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

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)

Connecticut: Windsor
Established in: 1633

Windsor was Connecticut's first English settlement, with a perfect location on the water. Today, the city uses its "first town" status to create a historical atmosphere ideal for tourism.

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

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

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

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.

The City Rat and the Country Rat

A city rat, one night,
Did, with a civil stoop,
A country rat invite
To end a turtle soup.

On a Turkey carpet
They found the table spread,
And sure I need not harp it
How well the fellows fed.

The entertainment was
A truly noble one;
But some unlucky cause
Disturbed it when begun.

It was a slight rat-tat,
That put their joys to rout;
Out ran the city rat;
His guest, too, scampered out.

Our rats but fairly quit,
The fearful knocking ceased.
"Return we," cried the cit,
To finish there our feast.

"No," said the rustic rat;
"Tomorrow dine with me.
I'm not offended at
Your feast so grand and free, –

"For I have no fare resembling;
But then I eat at leisure,
And would not swap, for pleasure
So mixed with fear and trembling."

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

Z is for Zipper (to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

Zipper starts with letter Z,
Letter Z, letter Z,
Zipper starts with Letter Z,
/z/, /z/, /z/, /z/!

* 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!

'A rising tide lifts all boats'

'Don't put the cart before the horse'

Create protected outposts for your knights.

"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

"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

<"Sestrilla, hafelina
Jue amourasestrilla
Awou jue selaviena
En patre jue

Translation:

Beloved one, little cat
I love you for all time
In this time
And all others"
― Christine Feehan>

"Customers don't expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong." — Donald Porter

"It is so much easier to be nice, to be respectful, to put yourself in your customer's' shoes and try to understand how you might help them before they ask for help, than it is to try to mend a broken customer relationship." — Mark Cuban

"Only once customer service has become habitual will a company realize its true potential." — Than Merrill

"Customers don't care about your policies. Find and engage the need. Tell the customer what you can do." — Alice Sesay Pope

"Always keep in mind the old retail adage: Customers remember the service a lot longer than they remember the price." — Lauren Freedman

"Here is a powerful yet simple rule. Always give people more than they expect to get." — Nelson Boswell

"Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they'll come back. We have to be great every time or we'll lose them." — Kevin Stirtz

"The customer is always right." — Harry Gordon Selfridge (Not hardly says FTB.)

"Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia." ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

"Always carry champagne! In victory You deserve it & in defeat You need it!" ― Napoléon Bonaparte

"Be your own Sunshine. Always." ― Purvi Raniga

"Most promises featuring the word 'always' are unkeepable." ― John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

"You should never say never. Just like you should never say always; because, always and never are always never true." ― J. R. Krol

"When you're lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war." ― Aristotle

"The habit of holding a Man in the hand, and moving it first to one square and then to another, in order to engage the assistance of the eye in deciding where it shall actually be placed, is not only annoying to the adversary but a practical infraction of the touch-and-move principle." ― Howard Staunton

"A bad plan is better than none at all." ― Frank Marshall

<Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" Bombardment of Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, New York, 1865

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in the middle of the Civil War, wrote this poem which has more recently been adapted as a modern Christmas classic. Longfellow wrote this on Christmas Day in 1863, after his son had enlisted in the Union's cause and had returned home, seriously wounded. The verses which he included and are still generally included, speak of the despair of hearing the promise of "peace on earth, goodwill to men" when the evidence of the world is clearly that war still exists.

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

The original also included several verses referring specifically to the Civil War. Before that cry of despair and answering cry of hope, and after verses describing the long years of hearing of "peace on earth, goodwill to men" (a phrase from the Jesus birth narratives in the Christian scriptures), Longfellow's poem includes, describing the black cannons of the war:

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!>

*At some time or other tournament player learns a few opening lines, some tactical ideas, the most basic mating patterns, and a few elementary endgames. As he gets better and more experienced, he significantly adds to this knowledge. However, the one thing that just everybody has problem is planning. From Z to class E (under 1200) D to Master, I get blank stares when asking what plan they had in mind in a particular position. Usually the choice of a plan (if they had any plan at all) is based on emotional rather than chess-specific considerations. By emotional, I mean that the typical player does what he feels like doing rather than the board "telling him what to do. This is somewhat cryptic sentence leads us to the following extremely important concept: if you want to be successful, you have to base your moves and plans on the specific imbalance-oriented criteria that exist in that given position, not your mood, taste and/or feared. Literally every non-master's games are filled with examples of "imbalance avoidance". Beginners, of course, simply don't know what imbalances are. Most experienced players have heard of the term and perhaps even tried to make use of them from time to time, however once the rush of battle takes over, isolated moves and raw aggression (or terror, if you find yourself defending) push any and all thoughts of imbalances out the door. In this case, chess becomes empty move-by-move, threat-by-threat (either making them or responding to them) affair. What is this mysterious allusion of the chessboard's desires (i.e., doing what the chess board wants you to do)? What is this "imbalance-oriented criteria? ― How To Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman

"There just isn't enough televised chess." — David Letterman

"Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don't be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they aren't paying any attention to you. It's your attention to yourself that is so stultifying. But you have to disregard yourself as completely as possible. If you fail the first time then you'll just have to try harder the second time. After all, there's no real reason why you should fail. Just stop thinking about yourself." — Eleanor Roosevelt

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

"True power is expressed in quiet confidence; it was the sea's very calmness that epitomized its mighty force." ― Emile Habiby

"Remember that there are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body. That of the soul displays its radiance in intelligence, in chastity, in good conduct, in generosity, and in good breeding, and all these qualities may exist in an ugly man. And when we focus our attention upon that beauty, not upon the physical, love generally arises with great violence and intensity. I am well aware that I am not handsome, but I also know that I am not deformed, and it is enough for a man of worth not to be a monster for him to be dearly loved, provided he has those spiritual endowments I have spoken of." ― Miguel Cervantes

4$koocie made mee farm, farm, farm upa storm it tsunk so mucho da soda govtmnt sent outta they to incriminate 15 thee buttr ran bread threw the bloodhouse off da tail pipe zandy went buck to the hotello fora margarita spa message per Joe'z office vizit zan eye didnut half two fly da rainbow afta 4all.

Q: What do you call something that goes up when the rain comes down? A: An umbrella.

Q: What do you call a doctor who fixes websites? A: A URL-ologist.

Q: What do you call a sleeping dinosaur?
A: A dinosnore.

Q: What do you call a Christmas tree that knows karate A: Spruce Lee.

Q: What does a triangle call a circle?
A: Pointless.

Q: What do you call a piece of sad cheese?
A: Blue cheese.

Q: What do you call a cow in an earthquake?
A: A milkshake.

Q: What do you call an M&M that went to college? A: A smarty.

* Alapins: Game Collection: Alapin

* Chess Records: https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/record...