<"The Google Books database continues to grow. For users outside the United States, though, Google must be sure that the work in question is indeed out of copyright under local laws. According to a member of the Google Books Support Team, "Since whether a book is in the public domain can often be a tricky legal question, we err on the side of caution and display at most a few snippets until we have determined that the book has entered the public domain." Users outside the United States can however access a large number of public domain books scanned by Google using copies stored on the Internet Archive.">

I'm not aware of all the legal details, just that I've had several other kibitzers outside the United States tell me they are unable to access Google Books. You're from Brazil, right? I looked at a few articles online which indicate that Brazil has very restrictive copyright laws, but wouldn't presume to take it any further than that.

<"Aaron Hill hit for the cycle for the second time this season in the Diamondbacks' win in Milwaukee Friday night. Hill also hit for the cycle on June 18 against Seattle. Hill is only the fourth player in major-league history to hit for the cycle twice in the same season and only the second to do it twice in a calendar month. Cincinnati's John Reilly had two in September of 1883, St. Louis' Tip O'Neill had two in 1887 and Brooklyn's Babe Herman had two in 1931.

Prior to this month only three teams in major league history had two cycles in one calendar month: Cincinnati in September 1883 (both by John Reilly), Pittsburgh in June 1925 (Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey) and the Philadelphia A's in August 1933 (three, Mickey Cochrane, Pinky Higgins and Jimmie Foxx).">

Aaaaghhh! All I know about soccer is, it's a bunch of guys running back and forth in the sun and hardly ever scoring. I know you can do a systems analysis of the World Cup--but not from scratch, in one cotton-pickin' week!

Soccer, I think, suffers more than any other sport from the U.S. fan's narrow focus on the ball. To fully appreciate it, you have to be able to see the entire field, to watch the entire team maneuver for position.

Every sport has this, of course, but soccer also suffers as a televised sport because the action is so continuous. There is simply no time for detailed analysis to take place, especially when so much is needed for the US viewer.

At the 1976 US Open in Fairfax, Virginia, I stayed at a hotel about a mile from the playing site and ate most of my meals at a little diner across the street. One day a waitress mentioned that another chess player had left a book behind, and asked if I'd like to have it. When I saw the book was <Winning Chess Traps> by Irving Chernev, it was "Finders-Keepers" time.

I spent a pleasant afternoon browsing through the book, eventually reaching Trap #260 which I later learned was called "The Monticelli Trap":

<1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 b6 6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Nxc3 10.Ng5!>

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And White wins material. Never having played 1.d4, I was unfamiliar with this chestnut and totally impressed. So impressed, in fact, that I resolved to actually play 1.d4 in my game that night against a player rated 300 points above me.

And he fell for it! At least I thought so...

<1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 b6 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.g3 0-0 8.Bg2 d6 9.0-0 Ne4 10.Qc2 Nxc3 11.Ng5>

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I sat back, giving praise to Irving Chernev and 1.d4 in general. My opponent replied 11...Nxe2+, winning a piece for Black after either 12.Qxe2 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Qxg5, or 12.Kh1 Bxg2+ 13.Kxg2 Qxg5.

Stunned, I resigned and hustled back to the hotel to figure out what had happened. I grabbed the book, and it opened to Trap #265.