"I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous ‘daring' runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

"I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca! His ideal was to win by maneuvering. Capablanca's genius reveals itself in his probing of the opponent's weak points. The slightest weakness cannot escape from his keene eye." ― Emanuel Lasker

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

"Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability." ― Raymond Chandler (on a Capablanca game)

"Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his opponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending." ― Robert Fischer

"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

The 1927 New York Yankees are often considered the greatest professional baseball team of all time. They finished the season with a record of 110-44, winning their fifth pennant and finishing 19 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics. The team was managed by Miller Huggins and played at Yankee Stadium. They won the 1927 World Series, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates with the greatest of ease. Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs for the team, while Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig hit 20 or more. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/te...

<<<"The Purple Cow" by Gelett Burgess> I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one!>

This short quatrain was a hit in 1895, when Gelett Burgess first published his now-famous poem for kids. Despite starting his career as an academic, artist and even railroad worker, he rose to fame as a humorist and author. In the 1900s, he published a handful of children's books, though he remains best known for this silly nonsense poem.>

This collection has been hacked by the underhanded Chessgames operator who has repeatedly vandalized hundreds of FTB's collections. Daniel Freeman would have immediately fired the son of a bitch.

* Here are 14 of the greatest tournaments of all time:

London 1851, Adolf Anderssen 15/21
Hastings 1895, Harry Nelson Pillsbury 16.5/21
St. Petersburg 1914, Emanuel Lasker 13.5/18
New York 1924, Emanuel Lasker 16.0/20
AVRO 1938, Paul Keres & Reuben Fine 8.5/14
FIDE World Championship 1948, Mikhail Botvinnik 14.0/20

Zurich Candidates 1953, Vasily Smyslov 18.0/28
Santa Monica 1966, Boris Spassky 11.5/18
Montreal 1979, Mikhail Tal & Anatoly Karpov 12.0/18

Linares 1994, Anatoly Karpov 11.0/13
Wijk Aan Zee 1999, Garry Kasparov 10.0/13
Mexico City FIDE World Championship 2007, Viswanathan Anand 9.0/14

London Candidates 2013, Magnus Carlsen (& Vladimir Kramnik) 8.5/14

Yektarinburg Candidates 2021, GM Ding Liren went through an entire tournament with 99% CAPS accuracy.

* Bad bishops are...bad: https://lichess1.org/game/export/gi...

* Chess in the Newspaper: https://www.schach-chess.com/chess-...

* C03-C09 miniatures: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

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

* Glossary W: Wikipedia article: Glossary of chess

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

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

https://archive.org/details/the-gol...

* Greatest Hits: Game Collection: Mammoth Book-Greatest Games (Nunn/Burgess/Emms)

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

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

* "Messi of Chess": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0w...

* Master of Pawn Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBk...

* RL Minis: Game Collection: Ruy Lopez Miniatures

* Roger that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9S...

"The only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution" ― Daniil Dubov https://en.chessbase.com/post/dubov...

* Sacs on f7/f2: Game Collection: Demolition of Pawn Structure: Sac on f7 (f2)

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

* TFD: https://chessentials.com/category/l...

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." ― Theodore Roosevelt

* Jupiter, Pluto, or Mars? https://www.urduchess.com/chess-gra...

* Magnus Carlsen's miniatures: Game Collection: Carlsen's winning miniatures

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

* This MC collection is way better than mine: Game Collection: The Carlsen Chronicles Part I - Wonderboy

* Eat like a champion: https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201...

* 2013 WCC: Game Collection: Anand-Carlsen WC November 2013

* Today's Titans: search "Sergey Karjakin vs Magnus Carlsen"

* FIDE Laws of Chess (2018): https://www.schachschiri.de/fide_18...

Carlsen is the six-time world blitz champion, a record. How many of us know that Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan is the 2023 women's blitz world champion, edging out Koneru Humpy?

This collection has been brutally hacked.

The International Space Station orbits Earth approximately every 90 minutes.

Somewhere between 50% and 80% of earth's living organisms are in the ocean.

Australia is wider than the moon.

Venus is the only planet to spin clockwise.

Allodoxaphobia is the fear of other people's opinions.

Human teeth are the only part of the body that cannot heal themselves.

Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport.

The specks on strawberries are single seeds called achenes.

Greco's mating pattern has many possible variations. Greco's Mate typically makes use of a distant bishop firing through the center into f2/f7, a knight up close, and a heavy piece on the h-file (or two if a sacrifice is necessary). Fredthebear will keep adding such mating patterns as they come along.

* http://eudesign.com/chessops/mate-g...

When the checkmate occurs on the king's side, note that the f-pawn has been advanced or removed, and a bishop or queen cuts off the diagonal, and a rook or queen comes to the h-file. The knight hits the king in the corner, often as a sacrifice to open the h-file. Or, the h-pawn is pinned and cannot capture the checking knight.

- % - % - % - %

At the top of the list is a Smothered Mate in just 13 moves by Gioachino Greco. When preceded by a queen sacrifice on the back rank to lock the king into the corner, it is known as Philidor's Legacy. Of course, the great player François-André Danican Philidor followed Greco by a more than a century, yet the pattern carries Philidor's name.

The point is that Giochino Greco performed a wide variety of checkmates, yet only some fit the pattern known as Greco's Mate using Bishop, Knight, and Queen (in most cases). Many of Greco's games were fabrication, for teaching purposes.

* Greco's variation w/out the queen: https://www.chesstactics.org/mating...

* Names and Places: Game Collection: Named Mates

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

Fredthebear is the original creator of this collection. This collection has been vandalized by the deviant Chessgames operator while the owner sleeps at the wheel pretending nothing is wrong. Your posts are censored at the whims of unethical jackasses.

Select a good chess move:

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

2. Why did my opponent make that move?

3. What just changed?

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

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

6. What are ALL the candidate moves?

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

8. Which is best?

9. Does it improve my position?

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

11 EG Strategies: https://enthu.com/blog/chess/chess-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZE...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9F...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxG...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-i...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilr...

This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmU...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gX...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8B...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxD...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVb...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2T...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu1...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sny...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2u...

https://chessdoctrine.com/chess-ope...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si5...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhd...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNE...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e95...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txF...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4E...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKN...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk7...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6o...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7i...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxD...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmO...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgx...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si5...

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess...

https://chessklub.com/30-chess-open...

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

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://chessdoctrine.com/chess-ope...

https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

Not This:

MB: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBq...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThK...

Basman's Folly: Embracing Chaos with 1.g4!? by Cyrus Lakdawala, Carsten Hansen

There is also a g-pawn push in the napoleon attack: 1. Nc3 e5 2. Nf3 nc6 3. D4 exd4 4. Nxd4 bc5 5. Nf5 Qf6 6. G4!!

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXR...

https://chesspathways.com/chess-ope...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbr...

https://www.logicalchess.com/learn/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t6...

https://ocfchess.org/chess-grob/

https://chesseasy.com/grob-opening-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efM...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/fo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oh...

https://www.reddit.com/r/chessopeni...

https://www.chess.com/blog/Land0nnn...

https://gambiter.com/chess/openings...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESt...

https://www.albertochueca.com/blog/...

https://www.365chess.com/eco/A00_Gr...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7f...

https://www.reddit.com/r/chessopeni...

https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnF...

https://ocfchess.org/grob-gambit/

http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wB...

https://www.dailychess.com/forum/on...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://www.dailychess.com/forum/on...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://books.google.com/books/abou...

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comm...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://www.logicalchess.com/learn/...

https://www.thechesswebsite.com/gro...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://chess-teacher.com/most-unde...

https://papachess.com/openings/grob...

https://chessdoctrine.com/chess-ope...

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

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCo...

https://en.chessbase.com/post/andre...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

https://masterinchess.com/grobs-att...

https://chess.stackexchange.com/que...

https://chesspublishing.com/content...

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

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.

"A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip." — Billy Graham

"Only those who want everything done for them are bored." — Billy Graham

* Riddle-pee-free: 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

This poem is dedicated to all Caissa members
who strive to checkmate their opponents.

The Aroused Bishop

Whispered the pawn to the curious knight
You jump one square up and two to the right
On the diagonal where our queen lays in wait.
I will move up from b-seven to b- eight.
On the opposite side, no, no screamed the queen
Realizing she should have been heard not seen.
Because there, only hidden partially by the walls She saw him standing juggling his little balls.
The bishop so aroused by all of this inter-play
Could not, no he could not help but howlingly say: Oh, oh sweet queen you are mine for the take
While your checkmated king will burn at the stake.

Riddle: What word is always pronounced wrong?

FACTRETRIEVER: There are no seagulls in Hawaii.

Riddel Answer: Wrong!

Q: What do you call a fat pumpkin?
A: A pumpkin!

Q: What do you call a factory that sells OK products? A: A satisfactory!

Q: What do you call a cheese that doesn't belong to you? A: Nacho cheese!

Q: What do you call a sleeping wolf?
A: An unawarewolf!

Q: What do you call a bear that never wants to grow up? A: Peter Panda!

Q: What do you call a Jedi with one arm?
A: Hand Solo!

Q: What do you call a sad cheese?
A: A Blue cheese!

Q: What do you call an argument between two electric companies? A: A power struggle!

A piece of cake: https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/che...

Dionysius1: I had basil on the pub's potage du jour yesterday. Soup herb!

'A stitch in time saves nine'

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

"Discontent is the first necessity of progress." — Thomas A. Edison

Simonides Preserved By The Gods

Three sorts there are, as Malherbe says,
Which one can never overpraise –
The gods, the ladies, and the king;
And I, for one, endorse the thing.
The heart, praise tickles and entices;
Of fair one's smile, it often the price is.
See how the gods sometimes repay it.
Simonides – the ancients say it –
Once undertook, in poem lyric,
To write a wrestler's panegyric;
Which, before he had proceeded far in,
He found his subject somewhat barren.
No ancestors of great renown;
His sire of some unnoted town;
Himself as little known to fame,
The wrestler's praise was rather tame.
The poet, having made the most of
Whatever his hero had to boast of,
Digressed, by choice that was not all luck's,
To Castor and his brother Pollux;
Whose bright career was subject ample,
For wrestlers, sure, a good example.
Our poet fattened on their story,
Gave every fight its place and glory,
Till of his panegyric words
These deities had got two-thirds.
All done, the poet's fee
A talent was to be.
But when he comes his bill to settle,
The wrestler, with a spice of mettle,
Pays down a third, and tells the poet,
"The balance they may pay who owe it.
The gods than I are rather debtors
To such a pious man of letters.
But still I shall be greatly pleased
To have your presence at my feast,
Among a knot of guests select,
My kin, and friends I most respect."
More fond of character than coffer,
Simonides accepts the offer.
While at the feast the party sit,
And wine provokes the flow of wit,
It is announced that at the gate
Two men, in haste that cannot wait,
Would see the bard. He leaves the table,
No loss at all to "ts noisy gabble.
The men were Leda's twins, who knew
What to a poet's praise was due,
And, thanking, paid him by foretelling
The downfall of the wrestler's dwelling.
From which ill-fated pile, indeed,
No sooner was the poet freed,
Than, props and pillars failing,
Which held aloft the ceiling
So splendid over them,
It downward loudly crashed,
The plates and flagons dashed,
And men who bore them;
And, what was worse,
Full vengeance for the man of verse,
A timber broke the wrestler's thighs,
And wounded many otherwise.
The gossip Fame, of course, took care
Abroad to publish this affair.
"A miracle!" the public cried, delighted.
No more could god-beloved bard be slighted.
His verse now brought him more than double,
With neither duns, nor care, nor trouble.
Whoever laid claim to noble birth
Must buy his ancestors a slice,
Resolved no nobleman on earth
Should overgo him in the price.
From which these serious lessons flow:
Fail not your praises to bestow
On gods and godlike men. Again,
To sell the product of her pain
Is not degrading to the Muse.
Indeed, her art they do abuse,
Who think her wares to use,
And yet a liberal pay refuse.
Whatever the great confer on her,
They're honoured by it while they honour.
Of old, Olympus and Parnassus
In friendship heaved their sky-crowned masses.

Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Psalm 96: 1-3
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." ― Voltaire

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

"Forget the past – the future will give you plenty to worry about." — George Allen

"Luckily, there is a way to be happy. It involves changing the emphasis of our thinking from what we want to what we have." ― Richard Carlson

from the simpleton poet:

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.

Chess is creative.
And a journey too.

Good in the morning.
Or just before bed.

Play cheater_1, with engine.
Or OTB, all in your head.

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

"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." ― Bobby Fischer

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

"It ain't over 'til it's over, no matter how over it looks." ― Yogi Berra

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." ― Frederick Douglass

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

Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.'

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

"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

"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

"Thirty Days Hath September" Lyrics

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone.
Which only has but twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

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

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord. And I'm perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir." —John Durham

Amanda Kay wrote:

Checkmate
You were my knight
Shining armor
Chess board was our home
Queen's fondness you garnered
A kiss sweeter than honeycomb

"My guiding principles in life are to be honest, genuine, thoughtful and caring." ― Prince William

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what God can do: good Christians content themselves with His will revealed in His Word." ― King James I

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

Jeff Sonas of Chessmetrics calculates that in April 1876 Wilhelm Steinitz was the top-ranked player in the world, with a rating record 199 points above that of Henry Bird, the second-ranked player.

<<John 3:16-18> King James Version>

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Vera Menchik, a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in England, was the dominant female chess player before being killed by a German air raid during the Second World War. Menchik won at least 59 games in a row at the Women's World Championship tournaments. She was the first and longest-reigning Women's World Chess Champion from 1927 to 1944, winning the championship a record eight times.

‘H.T.B.' (Henry Thomas Bland) managed to have published on page 64 of the March 1930 American Chess Bulletin:

Miss Menchik

Miss Menchik is of master rank,
It seems Maróczy she's to thank;
Still, there is little doubt of it
She owes a deal to native wit.
Much knowledge she has garnered in,
E'en 'gainst the giants she'll oft win
– No doubt sometimes to their chagrin –
Chess champion of the gentler sex
Here's luck to her! Should she annex
In her next venture some big prize
Keen critics will feel no surprise.

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.

Central Park in New York City is larger than the entire country of Monaco.

Cuvier's beaked whales can hold their breath underwater for over two hours.

The average golf ball has 336 dimples.

<<The Celestial Sphere> Around the celestial sphere, we gaze in awe,
The universe's secrets, tightly draw.
The sky, a doorway to the beyond,
Where stars and galaxies fondly respond.>

There are no snakes in Ireland, and only one species of reptile (the common lizard) is native to the island. Extinct species include the Irish elk, the great auk, brown bear and the wolf. Some previously extinct birds, such as the golden eagle, have been reintroduced after decades of extirpation.

<<Daisies and Dance>

In gardens where the daisies sway,
The butterflies come out to play.
With colors bold, they twirl and glide,
In springtime's warmth, they dance with pride.
Their graceful loops, a blissful sight,
Among the blooms, so pure and bright.>

Youngest Women's World Chess Champion: Hou Yifan; 16 years, 9 months and 27 days, title won 2010

Youngest grandmaster
The youngest player to be awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE is Abhimanyu Mishra. In 2021, he qualified for the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days. See List of youngest grandmasters for the history of this record.

Henry Ernest Atkins - Herbert Levi Jacobs 1915: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rzeg...

<<<Endgame Maxims> Collector unknown>

There is quite a difference between endgame technique and endgame strategy. In order to develop an endgame strategy I will gather all maxims I can find, put them in a blender and distill a strategy out of it. I will try to avoid double maxims around the same topic: what good is for you to strive for is automatically bad for the opponent and has to be avoided by him and vice versa.

Endgames of the 0-st order: pawn endings.
If one pawn can hold two that is favourable.
If you have two pawns on adjacent files, push the one on the free file first. To prevent the previous maxim. Have your pawn majority on the side where it is not opposed by the enemy king. Advanced pawns can lead to a favourable break because they are closer to promotion. Create a passer whenever it is safe.
Create an outside passed pawn as a decoy to help your king to penetrate in the enemy position on the other wing. Endgames of the 1st order: 1 piece+pawns vs 1 piece+pawns

The light pieces.
If you have a bishop, put your pawns on the opposite color. No matter what your opponent's piece is. The idea is twofold: it makes your bishop active, and when the opponent pushes his pawns till they are blocked against yours, they automatically become a potential target for your bishop since they are on the same color. If you have bishops of the same color the previous maxim will make his bishop bad. If you have bishops of opposite color, and you try to win, put your pawns on the opposite color as your bishop. If you are defending, put them on the same color as your bishop. A bishop is strong in an open position.
A bishop is strong when working on two wings at the same time. Especially important with bishops of opposite colors. If you have a knight, a knight is strong in closed (blocked) positions. A knight is strong with all pawns on one wing.
With knight vs knight, the penetration of the king is the main motif, plus the outside passer. A knight needs outposts.
B vs N deprive the knight from outposts, then dominate the knight. Rook vs rook.
Before anything else you must be able to play the Lucena and the Philidor position and the 3rd rank defense. Make your rook active at all costs.
Let your king help.
Try to bind the enemy rook to the defense.
Defend a passer from behind, i.e. the first rank, to leave the promotion square free. Two joined passers are often winning, so you can sacrifice a few pawns for that. A condition to play for the win is that there are pawns on both wings, which make it very difficult for the defending king to choose where to go. If the pawns are on one wing you have only a chance when you can cut of the enemy king. Rook vs bishop or knight
Keep the pawns on the board.
Attack the enemy pawns from behind (=7th or 8th rank). Create weakness which you can attack with both your rook and king. Endgames of the second order: 2 pieces+pawns vs 2 pieces+pawns. The Ohio Valley legend Fredthebear assembled this collection and borrowed these maxims.

General.
The attacker decides when to trade pieces for an endgame of the first order, since the defender doesn't want to change pieces. Two bishops vs two bishops.
After the trade you will have two bishops of the same color. So the pawn structure dictates which bishop to trade. You must be left with the good bishop. Your opponent's bishop will automatically be bad. Two bishops vs bishop and knight.
A Russian proverb says: "The advantage of the bishop pair is that you can trade it off." Beware that you keep the good bishop and avoid bishops of opposite color when the underlying pawn ending is better for you. Two bishops vs two knights.
Open up the position. Create two wings. Trade off your bad bishop. Pawns at the rim are difficult to stop by a knight. Bishop+knight vs bishop+knight.
Bishop+knight vs 2 knights.
In general a good bishop is better than a knight. The only reason to prefer a knight is when your opponent has the bad bishop and the pawns are on one wing. 2 knights vs 2 knights.
Trade of a set of knights when the underlying pawn ending is better. Remember that the remain ending with knight vs knight is about penetrating with the king and the outside passer. 2 rooks vs 2 rooks.
Trade off a set of rooks when you have winning chances. What to do with your King?
Head for the center, from where the king can intervene where needed. Walk to your passed pawns.
Walk to pawns that are susceptible of being attacked. Free a piece that is bound to defence.
Penetrate the enemy positions when you are faster than the counterattack of your opponent.

General ideas.
When you don't know what to do, try to inflict your opponent with an extra weakness. When you are worse, don't play for the win.
Only accept a draw or offer a draw when you are worse. Otherwise you will never learn to play an endgame. Worse can mean behind in time.

When to trade pieces and pawns?
When behind in material, head for a drawish endgame (bishop of opposite color or rook vs rook with pawns on one wing) When behind in material, trade pawns, not pieces. In the end you can sac your last piece for his last pawn, when you leave him with insufficient mating potential.

Middlegame techniques to get a good endgame.
Minority attack. You attack with 2 pawns 3 hostile pawns. After trading off you leave your opponent with an isolani that you can conquer. Inflict damage to the opponent's pawn structure: double pawn, isolani, backward pawn, many pawn islands. Create an (outside) passed pawn.
No open files leads to a rook ending.

One of my early instructional books that I probably gained the most from was Ludek Pachman's classic, Modern Chess Strategy. In the book's section on passed Pawns, he wrote that two united passed Pawns are a dangerous weapon, but the possessor of such Pawns must make sure that they cannot be blockaded and that, as a rule, such Pawns should advance together.

Endgame Practice
While on the website Chess Videos TV yesterday I noticed they have several "Chess Tools" like diagram generators, endgame simulator, visualization training, etc. that are worth checking out. For example, under the endgame simulator they have linked to the Crafty engine so you can play versus the computer in different situations right from your browser.>

* Crafty Endgame Trainer: https://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-...

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

* The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played: 62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy by Irving Chernev Game Collection: Instructive Games (Chernev)

* ...shortly after the Bolshevik revolution Alekhine, as a member of the old Russian nobility, was imprisoned and sentenced to death by Trotsky, then in the height of his glory … https://medium.com/@BobbyFischerTru...

<"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.>

* Old News: https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...

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

"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

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

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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.

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

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.

WISE OLD OWL
A wise old owl lived in an oak.
The more he saw the less he spoke.
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

Give a HOOT ― Don't Pollute!