Compiled by yerom75
Enchanced by Fredthebear

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

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

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

"Pawns are the soul of 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

I have many jokes about rich kids — sadly none of them work.

When a match is over I forget it. You can only remember so many things, so it is better to forget useless things that you can't use and remember useful things that you can use. For instance, I remember and will always remember that in 1927 Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs. – Jose Raul Capablanca

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

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

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

* Capablanca's Double Attack — having the initiative is important: https://lichess.org/study/tzrisL1R

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

* Chess Aps: https://www.wired.com/story/best-ch...

* JHB's Best: Game Collection: Joseph Henry Blackburne

* Kloosterboer Gambit: http://tartajubow.blogspot.com/2020...

* Nakhmanson Gambit: https://chesstier.com/nakhmanson-ga...

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

* Paul Morphy Miniatures:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

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

* Many gambits from all openings by ECO code: https://www.jimmyvermeer.com/openin...

* 10 Crazy Gambits: https://www.chess.com/blog/yola6655...

* Lekhika Dhariyal Chess Ops: https://www.zupee.com/blog/category...

* Susan Polgar Daily: https://chessdailynews.com/

* Prep for Ivan: http://gettingto2000.blogspot.com/

* John's brother Lee: https://hotoffthechess.com/

* Children's Chess: https://chessimprover.com/category/...

* Amateur / Pins: http://amateur-chess.blogspot.com/

* Improver: https://chessimprover.com/author/br...

* Jimmy's place: http://www.jimmyvermeer.com/
Jimmy is a CGs member.

* Glossary: Wikipedia article: Glossary of chess

* Red States: https://www.redhotpawn.com/

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

* Flip the Finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH...

"Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Center in Moscow a group of masters were analyzing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always find of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to the position, said 'Si, si,' and suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side trying to win. I haven't exaggerated. Don Jose literally pushed the pieces around the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up and now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery." ― Alexander Kotov

"Capablanca had that art which hides art to an overwhelming degree." ― Harry Golombek

"I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca." ― Emanuel Lasker

"I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"Funny, funny Jude (The Man in the Red Beret). You play with little pieces all day long, and you know what? You'll live to be an old, old man someday. And here I am." — Janis Joplin

Jude Acers set a Guinness World Record for playing 117 people in simultaneous chess games on April 21, 1973 at the Lloyd Center Mall in Portland, Oregon. On July 2-3, 1976 Jude played 179 opponents at Mid Isle Plaza (Broadway Plaza) in Long Island, New York for another Guinness record.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Maximo wrote:

My Forking Knight's Mare
Gracefully over the squares, as a blonde or a brunette, she makes moves that not even a queen can imitate. Always active and taking the initiative,
she likes to fork.
She does it across the board,
taking with ease not only pawns, but also kings, and a bad bishop or two.
Sometimes she feels like making
quiet moves,
at other times, she adopts romantic moods,
and makes great sacrifices.
But, being hers a zero-sum game,
she often forks just out of spite.
An expert at prophylaxis, she can be a swindler, and utter threats,
skewering men to make some gains.
Playing with her risks a conundrum,
and also catching Kotov's syndrome.
Nonetheless, despite having been trampled
by her strutting ways
my trust in her remains,
unwavering,
until the endgame.

"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

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

"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

<The Fooles Mate
Black Kings Biſhops pawne one houſe.
White Kings pawne one houſe.
Black kings knights pawne two houſes
White Queen gives Mate at the contrary kings Rookes fourth houſe — Beale, The Royall Game of Chesse-Play

Beale's example can be paraphrased in modern terms where White always moves first, algebraic notation is used, and Black delivers the fastest possible mate after each player makes two moves: 1.f3 e6 2.g4 Qh4#

There are eight distinct ways in which Fool's Mate can be reached in two moves. White may alternate the order of f- and g-pawn moves, Black may play either e6 or e5, and White may move their f-pawn to f3 or f4.>

"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>

* 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'

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

Q: What did one math book say to the other?
A: "I've got so many problems."

FACTRETRIEVER 2020: The bird on the Twitter logo is named "Larry." He was named after the basketball player Larry Bird, who played for the Boston Celtics.

Q: What did the left eye say to the right eye?
A: Between you and me, something smells.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Isaiah 66:24
24 "And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

'Ask no questions and hear no lies

<<<Harry Golombek (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948.

* https://en.chessbase.com/post/harry...

* https://www.chesshistory.com/winter...

* https://www.goodreads.com/author/li...

* https://www.365chess.com/players/Ha...>>>

'Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer

This poem is dedicated to all
female chessplayers on Caissa's Web.

Sweet Caissa

Oh, Sweet Caissa, Goddess of chess
in the name of this holistic game
I pray Thee: bless my noble aim
to render all my opponents lame
in my holy quest for worldly fame,
to be Supreme no more no less.
In awe I heard this Sweet Caissa say
"Daughter go forth and smite them all,
stoutly charge your knight sitting tall
while flying over the castle's wall
to slay all men in your deadly call."
Now in fear I hide and will no longer play.

"One more dance along the razor's edge finished. Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today." ― Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." ― Denis Waitley

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

"The wind cannot defeat a tree with strong roots." — The Revenant

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

"A God you understood would be less than yourself." ― Flannery O'Connor

'Ashes to ashes dust to dust

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.

"Everyone should know how to play chess." — José Raúl Capablanca

<Does chess really improve thinking skills?

Chess improves the following:

The ability to focus. To study chess properly you need to set aside 3-5 hours a day and focus on learning endgames, tactics, openings.

The ability to develop real and virtual mentors. The best way to learn is to study the games of grandmasters and also get a strong coach.

The ability to understand that "chunking" is the road to mastery. A chunk is when you take many disparate concepts and form them into one unit that you understand how to deal with (e.g. a castled king as opposed to a random set of pawns with a king behind them). Grandmasters deal with a vocabulary of over 10,000 chunks in chess. Whereas masters deal with about 1000 and below that, probably zero. People just play without understanding.

The ability to push. To come up with a good move you need to find the best candidate moves, look down each one, then make a decision. THEN, you need to PUSH to come up with an even better move. I find this is true for chess, other games (poker, scrabble), and business. If you can't put in that extra energy to come up with a better move then you become too predictable, you will develop something new. This applies to writing also.

The ability to learn. It took me years to get to 2200 in chess. It probably took me one year to get to 1-dan in Go and probably one year for equivalent levels in poker and scrabble (and business). Once you learn how to learn, you can learn anything.

You understand the difference between talent and hard work. I was 1800-strength the first time I sat down at a chessboard. Maybe even 1900-2000. But it took years of work to get to 2200. People who say "talent is everything" in any endeavor in life are just using that as an excuse to not get better at something. Your brain gets more efficient. Weak players see a sexy move and spend a long time traversing the tree down that move. Strong players identify their choices first, then make careful decisions about which choice to study further. This saves enormous time in the brain. This applies to business also. And even applies to relationships. You learn which battles to fight. — James Altucher, USCF master>

Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit, an inability to learn. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. The word stupid comes from the Latin word stupere. Stupid characters are often used for comedy in fictional stories. Walter B. Pitkin called stupidity "evil", but in a more Romantic spirit William Blake and Carl Jung believed stupidity can be the mother of wisdom. — Wikipedia

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.

* Opening Tree: https://www.shredderchess.com/onlin...

Strike while the iron is hot.

The 20-40-40 rule in chess is a rule for players rated below 2000 that states 20% of your study should be dedicated to openings, 40% to the middlegame, and 40% to the endgame.

'No man is an island' was coined by the English metaphysical poet John Donne (1572-1631).

"You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs." — Robert Louis Stevenson, 1897.

"Life is what you make it: If you snooze, you lose; and if you snore, you lose more." — Phyllis George

"In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent." — Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010), 7th World Chess Champion

Galatians 6:7 in the Bible "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."

"Boring? Who's boring? I am Fredthebear. My mind is always active, busy."

* The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played: 62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy by Irving Chernev - https://lichess.org/study/KMMrJvE1

* Legendary: Game Collection: The 12 Legendary Games of the Century

Oct-18-23 stone free or die: Sorry <perf> I screwed up bad copying the data from the <Opening Tree> - mixing the frequency for 6...Qg3 instead of the scoring. Kinda stupid - my apologies.

Feb-09-12
ray keene: nimzos best endgames
v lasker zurich 1934
v spielmann carlsbad 1929
v lundin stockholm 1934
v maroczy bled 1931
v henneberger winterthur 1931
v thomas frankfurt 1930
v sultan khan liege 1930
v marshall berlin 1928
v reti berlin 1928
v alehine ny 1927
v tchigorin carlsbad 1907
and for a joke entry duras v nimzo san sebastian 1912 !!

A quote from the link: https://www.libertarianism.org/what...

"Modern day politicians on the left and right sometimes pay lip service to these ideas, but in practice they reject them. Legislation is all about imposing an order from above, rather than letting one emerge from below. And in creating their schemes, politicians all too often fail to give citizens their due as people, treating them as pawns and running roughshod over their rights to decide and plan for themselves."

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/

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Below is the acrostic poem by Mrs T.B. Rowland:

Tears now we sadly shed apart,
How keenly has death's sudden dart
E'en pierced a kingdom's loyal heart.

Dark lies the heavy gloomy pall
Upon our royal bower,
Kings, queens, and nations bow their heads,
Each mourn for England's flower.

Oh! God, to her speak peace divine,
For now no voice can soothe but thine.

Ah, why untimely snatched away,
Loved Prince – alas, we sigh –
Before thy sun its zenith reached
Athwart the noonday sky.
Noble in heart, in deed, and will,
Years hence thy name we'll cherish still.

That poem was published on pages 140-141 of Chess Fruits (Dublin, 1884)

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose." ― Indira Gandhi

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

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ― Howard Thurman

'A stitch in time saves nine'

"You can't hold with the hare and run with the hounds."

St. Marher, 1225:
"And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet."

bCIIO78 z Frigid Zedanovs spwd Zelminsky zan Zahuravliov witch pray pepprz. Wellington ov chorus eat burnz.

"Debt is dumb. Cash is king." — Dave Ramsey

A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events.

During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.

Don't give advice, unless you're asked to. ― Joker

I don't mind the crazy people. It's the normal ones that freak me out. ― Joker

.oo.