Compiled by whiteshark

* First of each ECO: Game Collection: First of Each ECO

"Life has, indeed, many ills, but the mind that views every object in its most cheering aspect, and every doubtful dispensation as replete with latent good, bears within itself a powerful and perpetual antidote. The gloomy soul aggravates misfortune, while a cheerful smile often dispels those mists that portend a storm." ― Lydia Sigourney

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." ― Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States, and former Colonel in the U.S. Army

"All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either. Every single man in this Army play a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain." ― General George S. Patton, U.S. Army

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils

"Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe." ― Indian Proverb

Logical Chess: Game Collection: Logical Chess: Move By Move (Chernev) - COMPLETE

Logical Thinking: Game Collection: Logical Thinking (McDonald)

Art of Planning: Game Collection: The Art of Planning in Chess: Move by Move

POTD: Game Collection: POTD French 2

US CC: https://www.uschess.org/index.php/P...

World CC: Wikipedia article: List of World Chess Championships

Best Tactics: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

The Most Important Idea: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Go Forward: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Pawn Basics: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Know King & Pawn endings: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

Two Ps vs None Endgames: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

General chess advice from Joe Brooks: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comm...

"On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culmination in checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite." — Emanuel Lasker

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

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

"Age brings wisdom to some men, and to others chess." — Evan Esar

"Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life." ― John F. Kennedy

"Methodical thinking is of more use in chess than inspiration." ― C.J.S. Purdy

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." ― Maya Angelou

"Insufficient facts always invite danger." — Spock

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." ― Sun Tzu

"I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves." ― Bobby Fischer

"I think Capablanca was one of the most important world champions for me. I studied his games, and a good book about Capablanca's games was written by International Master Vasily Panov, a Russian master. There was quite a strong influence of Capablanca's style." ― Anatoly Karpov

"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 continuous development of chess mastery." ― Garry Kasparov

Magnus Carlsen, who has been ranked the No. 1 chess player in the world since 2011, announced he will not defend his world championship title.

"The conclusion is very simple that I am not motivated to play another match," the five-time world champion said on his podcast, The Magnus Effect. The championship matches are held every two years and the next is scheduled for 2023.

"I simply feel that I don't have a lot to gain," Carlsen added. "I don't particularly like it, and although I'm sure a match would be interesting for historical reasons and all of that, I don't have any inclinations to play and I will simply not play the match."

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

* NY 1880: Game Collection: New York 1880

* Informant Golden Games: Game Collection: Chess Informant Golden Games

* Best of 2019: Game Collection: Best Games of 2019

* 101 Greatest Moves: Game Collection: 101 greatest moves ever played(by krabbe)

* Petrov's Defense: Game Collection: The Cutthroat Petrov

* John Hall's Opening System: Game Collection: Opening Systems For Competive Chess Players

* Play the C-K: Game Collection: Play The Caro-Kann : Varnusz

* GM Lars Schandorff C-K Repertoire: Game Collection: Grandmaster Repertoire: The Caro-Kann

* GK vs Deep Blue: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Miscellaneous: Game Collection: ! Miscellaneous games

* Internet tracking: https://www.studysmarter.us/magazin...

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." ― General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur

All The World's A Stage
William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

"Compassion: that's the one thing no machine ever had. Maybe it's the one thing that keeps men ahead of them." — Dr. McCoy

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name! ― Fort Minor

poem by B.H. Wood, entitled ‘The Drowser':

Ah, reverie! Ten thousand heads I see
Bent over chess-boards, an infinity
Of minds engaged in battle, fiendishly,
Keenly, or calmly, as the case may be:
World-wide, the neophyte, the veteran,
The studious problemist, the fairy fan ...
"What's that? – I'm nearly sending you to sleep? Sorry! – but this position's rather deep."

Source: Chess Amateur, September 1929, page 268.

"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

The Ass and the Little Dog

One's native talent from its course
Cannot be turned aside by force;
But poorly apes the country clown
The polished manners of the town.
Their Maker chooses but a few
With power of pleasing to imbue;
Where wisely leave it we, the mass,
Unlike a certain fabled ass,
That thought to gain his master's blessing
By jumping on him and caressing.
"What!" said the donkey in his heart;
"Ought it to be that puppy's part
To lead his useless life
In full companionship
With master and his wife,
While I must bear the whip?
What does the cur a kiss to draw?
Forsooth, he only gives his paw!
If that is all there needs to please,
I'll do the thing myself, with ease."
Possessed with this bright notion, –
His master sitting on his chair,
At leisure in the open air, –
He ambled up, with awkward motion,
And put his talents to the proof;
Upraised his bruised and battered hoof,
And, with an amiable mien,
His master patted on the chin,
The action gracing with a word –
The fondest bray that ever was heard!
O, such caressing was there ever?
Or melody with such a quaver?
"Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!"
Out cried the master, sore offended.
So Martin gave the ass a drubbing, –
And so the comedy was ended.

"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

The Sun and the Frogs

Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,
The people drowned their care in drink;
While from the general joy did Aesop shrink,
And showed its folly in this way.
"The sun," said he, "once took it in his head
To have a partner for his bed.
From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,
Up rose the wailings of the frogs.
"What shall we do, should he have progeny?"
Said they to Destiny;
"One sun we scarcely can endure,
And half-a-dozen, we are sure,
Will dry the very sea.
Adieu to marsh and fen!
Our race will perish then,
Or be obliged to fix
Their dwelling in the Styx!"
For such an humble animal,
The frog, I take it, reasoned well."

A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

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