* 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

* B23-B25: Game Collection: Sicilian Closed / Grand Prix Attack

* Blackburne strikes! games annotated by Blackburne

Source: page 58 of Poems and Chess Problems by J.A. Miles (Fakenham, 1882).

Blackburne our Champion's praise we sing,
Long may he reign of Chess the King;
And forth, triumphant from the fray,
Crowned with the Victor's wreath of bay,
King-like may come. On checker'd fields
Blindfold his battle-axe he wields;
Undaunted by the loss of sight,
Relentless he displays his might.
Now, covered with undying fame,
England exalts her Hero's name.

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

* Black Storms: Game Collection: Tal - The Modern Benoni

* Dubov comes in 2nd place to you-know-who: FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial (2020)

* Clutch Chess: A new knockout format: Clutch Champions Showdown (2020)

* The Chain: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

* ChessCafe.com column, The Openings Explained: Abby Marshall

* Chess Links: http://www.chessdryad.com/links/ind...

* Common Checkmate Patterns:
http://gambiter.com/chess/Checkmate...

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

* Chess Hotel: https://www.chesshotel.com/

* Cats: Game Collection: Catalan Opening I

* Double attack: Game Collection: DOUBLE ATTACK

* Dust in the Wind: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

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

* Escapes: Game Collection: Defensive Combinations (Perpetual Check)

* Aggressive Gambits: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

* Gain space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ7...

* Unleash the Knight: https://cardclashgames.com/blog/che...

* KP Beauties: Game Collection: Beautiful mates

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

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

* Neon Moon, smooth and easy: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Neon+...

* 4 Miniz: zPonziani, zKieseritzky, zPhilidor, zFrankenstein-Dracula: z https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76c...

* First one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyo...

* I'm only one: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E1nl...

* I'm the one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRS...

* One minute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3N...

* Round 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i2...

* 2...f5?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3a...

* Animal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8u...

* The Brown Bomber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPe...

* Looked harmless: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H-C2...

* Golden: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/avSA...

* Bird swoop: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2leD...

* Ponziani Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9gKN...

* Vienna Sacrifice: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jD53...

* Advantage of the 2 Bishops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dG...

* BC Dumb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2I...

* So she did this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGq...

* Kiddie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKS...

* 3 Kiddie Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jP...

* KID killer: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3Xaf...

* 3 Wise men: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws0...

* What about trams? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SzMQ...

* Circulations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTw...

* Come Jesus Come:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IcMT...

* Crazy Rook trick: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kLM3...

* Double Rook Lift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNQ...

* Jaw Dropper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0o...

* C-K in 3 EZ steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtP...

* Never say 3 things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3i...

* 3 months to live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPm...

* 3 Viral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7n...

* 3 for Black vs 1.e4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXM...

* 4 mantras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4w...

* Knightly MG: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XRP3...

* 4 seasons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kt...

* 5 Owls of NA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdE...

* Five in '25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp1...

* Let 'em have it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wi...

* Furious Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpd...

* Dominate the LS in 5 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iro...

* Do the Hustle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3k...

* 5 Rare gambits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_r...

* 5 middlegame minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLA...

* 5 embarrassments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdM...

* Endgame tactics in 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA9...

* 5 occurrences AD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eJ...

* Yes, they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mi...

* Get better in 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mc...

* Tigran's Top 5 Exch Sacs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc-...

* 6 Essential Structures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zu...

* Freedom is not Free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89P...

* Deflection on f7: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S1em...

* Punish Common Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsD...

* H2P the Delay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9a...

* Pink Elephants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVK...

* Scary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh6...

* 7 Deadliest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scz...

* 7 realities: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/20AY...

* 7 truths: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4LfX...

* 7 Endings to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrL...

* 8 Q tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amz...

* 8 min time lapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih2...

* 9 ways to defeat: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aaHZ...

* A10 Warthog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMI...

* Top 10 Dog Coms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlV...

* 10 Recent discoveries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePj...

* 10 min of Ukranian Hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l_...

* 10 Common Traps in the Sicilian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzu...

* Facts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQi...

* Fraction equation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMK...

* RP knows 'em well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZw...

* GPA short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q_...

* FM GPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Y...

* Model GPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glm...

* Win w/the GPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ae...

* Anti-GPA trap #645: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyN...

* Annoying line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_L...

* GPA refuted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqr...

* Extinguish the GPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6P...

* Agadmator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoE...

* Quick either way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z0...

* Special Pete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCi...

* Fuzzy Wuzzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scU...

* The Government forbid Church attendance during COVID-19, so we did this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krU...

* Of course, JT set our example back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmH...

* BGs sort of ran together: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JCQO...

* Before that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgv...

* C-K stabs f7: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MFoo...

* How to be brave: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cQI3...

* Get Discipline: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l3EI...

* Going out in style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMf...

* Greats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDU...

* The Lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAA...

* lIke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5W...

* Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4L...

* Now the day bleeds... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4wVC...

* Own key squares: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-...

* Promise: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u-sY...

* Prophylaxis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qj...

* 12 smells Verminters hate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Eh...

* Don't poke your eye out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkD...

* Week 13 of '67: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPJ...

* RR on King Tut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k59...

* RPO invention: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9FOb...

* Ridicule: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEH...

* F14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2d...

* 15 Home Depot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlB...

* A lot of shoveling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoO...

* Senator asks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKO...

* September: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UFmU...

* 20 Fox facts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3...

* French b3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxV...

* C00 French Defense: Horwitz Attack, Papa-Ticulat Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1...

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

* Unique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWY...

* Wooden stick: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JUQD...

* Won't ever forget: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L5...

* Caro-Kann Defense: Maroczy Variation (B12) Beauty | Reykjavik Open 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtU...

* 50-year-old tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_0...

* Owls attack! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq-...

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

* Pawn Instruction: http://www.logicalchess.com/learn/l...

* Puzzles: Tactics Archive

* Play for free: https://www.freechess.org/

* Puzzling: https://www.365chess.com/puzzles.php

* Legends of the last century: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QjUR...

* Perpetual podcast: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/n...

* Chess Puzzles: https://chesspuzzle.net/

* Prodigy Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkk...

* GK retires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1b...

* Riddle-e-dee: https://chessimprover.com/chess-rid...

* Rockets' red glare: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K88H...

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

* Rollin': https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AbIA...

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

* RL Greek gift: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AeY8...

* Rowdy Rousseau Gambit: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AqaD...

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

* No time: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UsUz...

* No Matthew Stafford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2t...

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

* Steinitz Attack: Game Collection: STEINITZ ATTACK

* Tactical Mix: Game Collection: mastering Tactical ideas by minev

* The Best of... Game Collection: World Champions' Best Games

* Fischer's Brilliance: https://www.chesspuzzler.com/Histor...

* Fischer Random: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

* FM Schiller disagrees: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Play whatever you like: Opening Explorer

* Almost like giving odds: Opening Explorer

* Jaenisch Gambit: Opening Explorer

* Jambalaya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzj...

* James' Jedi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ta...

* GM Perelshteyn teaches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq3...

* Prizes: Game Collection: Brilliancy Prizes (Reinfeld)

* QGD D06: Queen's Gambit Declined (D06)

* Reasonable book choices: https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell...

* Rubinstein: Game Collection: Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces

A is the Gambit, by Allgaier found out,
B is the Bishop, so warlike and stout;
C is our Chess – the glorious game,
D is Defeat, with its sorrow and shame;
E is the Evans, a famous attack,
F is the False-move we wish to take back;
G is a Gambit, full of startling delight,
H is the Houses of black and of white,
I is to Interpose in the midst of the fight;
J is J'adoube, which the careless must say,
K is the King, the soul of the play;
L is the López, the Gambit so old,
M is the Muzio, adventurous and bold;
N is the Notes, explaining our play,
O is the Opening, at the first of the fray;
P is a Pawn, marching boldly ahead,
Q is the Queen, mighty and dread;
R is the Rook, a warrior of weight,
S is a Stale, an unfortunate Mate;
T is a Tournay, where the weakest must yield,
U is to Unite our pawns in the field;
V is Variation, which black overlooks,
W is White, who moves first in the books;
X is Xantippe, the meanest of mates,
Y is to Yield, resigned to our fates;
Z is Zatrikiology, a game,
& an art of endurable fame.

Source: Chess Monthly, November 1860, page 348.

Axioms are the same as assumptions, or basic intuitive knowledge, which are most of the time independent from each other. In the game of chess, the moves of the pieces are independent from each other. The move of the bishops has nothing to do with the move of the rooks.

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.

"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

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

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." ― Thomas Jefferson, chess player

Ravenna
by Oscar Wilde

To my friend George Fleming author of 'The Nile Novel' and 'Mirage')

I.

A year ago I breathed the Italian air, -
And yet, methinks this northern Spring is fair,- These fields made golden with the flower of March, The throstle singing on the feathered larch,
The cawing rooks, the wood-doves fluttering by,
The little clouds that race across the sky;
And fair the violet's gentle drooping head,
The primrose, pale for love uncomforted,
The rose that burgeons on the climbing briar,
The crocus-bed, (that seems a moon of fire
Round-girdled with a purple marriage-ring);
And all the flowers of our English Spring,
Fond snowdrops, and the bright-starred daffodil.

Up starts the lark beside the murmuring mill,
And breaks the gossamer-threads of early dew;
And down the river, like a flame of blue,
Keen as an arrow flies the water-king,
While the brown linnets in the greenwood sing.

A year ago! - it seems a little time
Since last I saw that lordly southern clime,
Where flower and fruit to purple radiance blow,
And like bright lamps the fabled apples glow.

Full Spring it was - and by rich flowering vines, Dark olive-groves and noble forest-pines,
I rode at will; the moist glad air was sweet,
The white road rang beneath my horse's feet,
And musing on Ravenna's ancient name,
I watched the day till, marked with wounds of flame, The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned.

O how my heart with boyish passion burned,
When far away across the sedge and mere
I saw that Holy City rising clear,
Crowned with her crown of towers! - On and on
I galloped, racing with the setting sun,
And ere the crimson after-glow was passed,
I stood within Ravenna's walls at last!

II.

How strangely still! no sound of life or joy
Startles the air; no laughing shepherd-boy
Pipes on his reed, nor ever through the day
Comes the glad sound of children at their play:
O sad, and sweet, and silent! surely here
A man might dwell apart from troublous fear,
Watching the tide of seasons as they flow
From amorous Spring to Winter's rain and snow,
And have no thought of sorrow; - here, indeed,
Are Lethe's waters, and that fatal weed
Which makes a man forget his fatherland.

Ay! amid lotus-meadows dost thou stand,
Like Proserpine, with poppy-laden head,
Guarding the holy ashes of the dead.

For though thy brood of warrior sons hath ceased, Thy noble dead are with thee! - they at least
Are faithful to thine honour:- guard them well,
O childless city! for a mighty spell,
To wake men's hearts to dreams of things sublime, Are the lone tombs where rest the Great of Time.

III.

Yon lonely pillar, rising on the plain,
Marks where the bravest knight of France was slain, - The Prince of chivalry, the Lord of war,
Gaston de Foix: for some untimely star
Led him against thy city, and he fell,
As falls some forest-lion fighting well.

Taken from life while life and love were new,
He lies beneath God's seamless veil of blue;
Tall lance-like reeds wave sadly o'er his head,
And oleanders bloom to deeper red,
Where his bright youth flowed crimson on the ground.

Look farther north unto that broken mound, -
There, prisoned now within a lordly tomb
Raised by a daughter's hand, in lonely gloom,
Huge-limbed Theodoric, the Gothic king,
Sleeps after all his weary conquering.

Time hath not spared his ruin, - wind and rain
Have broken down his stronghold; and again
We see that Death is mighty lord of all,
And king and clown to ashen dust must fall

Mighty indeed THEIR glory! yet to me
Barbaric king, or knight of chivalry,
Or the great queen herself, were poor and vain,
Beside the grave where Dante rests from pain.

His gilded shrine lies open to the air;
And cunning sculptor's hands have carven there
The calm white brow, as calm as earliest morn,
The eyes that flashed with passionate love and scorn, The lips that sang of Heaven and of Hell,
The almond-face which Giotto drew so well,
The weary face of Dante; - to this day,
Here in his place of resting, far away
From Arno's yellow waters, rushing down
Through the wide bridges of that fairy town,
Where the tall tower of Giotto seems to rise
A marble lily under sapphire skies!

Alas! my Dante! thou hast known the pain
Of meaner lives, - the exile's galling chain,
How steep the stairs within kings' houses are,
And all the petty miseries which mar
Man's nobler nature with the sense of wrong.

Yet this dull world is grateful for thy song;
Our nations do thee homage, - even she,
That cruel queen of vine-clad Tuscany,
Who bound with crown of thorns thy living brow,
Hath decked thine empty tomb with laurels now,
And begs in vain the ashes of her son.

O mightiest exile! all thy grief is done:
Thy soul walks now beside thy Beatrice;
Ravenna guards thine ashes: sleep in peace.

IV.

How lone this palace is; how grey the walls!
No minstrel now wakes echoes in these halls.

The broken chain lies rusting on the door,
And noisome weeds have split the marble floor:
Here lurks the snake, and here the lizards run
By the stone lions blinking in the sun.

Byron dwelt here in love and revelry
For two long years - a second Anthony,
Who of the world another Actium made!
Yet suffered not his royal soul to fade,
Or lyre to break, or lance to grow less keen,
'Neath any wiles of an Egyptian queen.

For from the East there came a mighty cry,
And Greece stood up to fight for Liberty,
And called him from Ravenna: never knight
Rode forth more nobly to wild scenes of fight!
None fell more bravely on ensanguined field,
Borne like a Spartan back upon his shield!
O Hellas! Hellas! in thine hour of pride,
Thy day of might, remember him who died
To wrest from off thy limbs the trammelling chain: O Salamis! O lone Plataean plain!
O tossing waves of wild Euboean sea!
O wind-swept heights of lone Thermopylae!
He loved you well - ay, not alone in word,
Who freely gave to thee his lyre and sword,
Like AEschylos at well-fought Marathon:

And England, too, shall glory in her son,
Her warrior-poet, first in song and fight.

No longer now shall Slander's venomed spite
Crawl like a snake across his perfect name,
Or mar the lordly scutcheon of his fame.

For as the olive-garland of the race,
Which lights with joy each eager runner's face,
As the red cross which saveth men in war,
As a flame-bearded beacon seen from far
By mariners upon a storm-tossed sea, -
Such was his love for Greece and Liberty!

Byron, thy crowns are ever fresh and green:
Red leaves of rose from Sapphic Mitylene
Shall bind thy brows; the myrtle blooms for thee, In hidden glades by lonely Castaly;
The laurels wait thy coming: all are thine,
And round thy head one perfect wreath will twine.

V.

The pine-tops rocked before the evening breeze
With the hoarse murmur of the wintry seas,
And the tall stems were streaked with amber bright; - I wandered through the wood in wild delight,
Some startled bird, with fluttering wings and fleet, Made snow of all the blossoms; at my feet,
Like silver crowns, the pale narcissi lay,
And small birds sang on every twining spray.

O waving trees, O forest liberty!
Within your haunts at least a man is free,
And half forgets the weary world of strife:
The blood flows hotter, and a sense of life
Wakes i' the quickening veins, while once again
The woods are filled with gods we fancied slain.

Long time I watched, and surely hoped to see
Some goat-foot Pan make merry minstrelsy
Amid the reeds! some startled Dryad-maid
In girlish flight! or lurking in the glade,
The soft brown limbs, the wanton treacherous face Of woodland god! Queen Dian in the chase,
White-limbed and terrible, with look of pride,
And leash of boar-hounds leaping at her side!
Or Hylas mirrored in the perfect stream.

O idle heart! O fond Hellenic dream!
Ere long, with melancholy rise and swell,
The evening chimes, the convent's vesper bell,
Struck on mine ears amid the amorous flowers.

Alas! alas! these sweet and honied hours
Had whelmed my heart like some encroaching sea,
And drowned all thoughts of black Gethsemane.

VI.

O lone Ravenna! many a tale is told
Of thy great glories in the days of old:
Two thousand years have passed since thou didst see Caesar ride forth to royal victory.

Mighty thy name when Rome's lean eagles flew
From Britain's isles to far Euphrates blue;
And of the peoples thou wast noble queen,
Till in thy streets the Goth and Hun were seen.

Discrowned by man, deserted by the sea,
Thou sleepest, rocked in lonely misery!
No longer now upon thy swelling tide,
Pine-forest-like, thy myriad galleys ride!
For where the brass-beaked ships were wont to float, The weary shepherd pipes his mournful note;
And the white sheep are free to come and go
Where Adria's purple waters used to flow.

O fair! O sad! O Queen uncomforted!
In ruined loveliness thou liest dead,
Alone of all thy sisters; for at last
Italia's royal warrior hath passed
Rome's lordliest entrance, and hath worn his crown In the high temples of the Eternal Town!
The Palatine hath welcomed back her king,
And with his name the seven mountains ring!

And Naples hath outlived her dream of pain,
And mocks her tyrant! Venice lives again,
New risen from the waters! and the cry
Of Light and Truth, of Love and Liberty,
Is heard in lordly Genoa, and where
The marble spires of Milan wound the air,
Rings from the Alps to the Sicilian shore,
And Dante's dream is now a dream no more.

But thou, Ravenna, better loved than all,
Thy ruined palaces are but a pall
That hides thy fallen greatness! and thy name
Burns like a grey and flickering candle-flame
Beneath the noonday splendour of the sun
Of new Italia! for the night is done,
The night of dark oppression, and the day
Hath dawned in passionate splendour: far away
The Austrian hounds are hunted from the land,
Beyond those ice-crowned citadels which stand
Girdling the plain of royal Lombardy,
From the far West unto the Eastern sea.

I know, indeed, that sons of thine have died
In Lissa's waters, by the mountain-side
Of Aspromonte, on Novara's plain, -
Nor have thy children died for thee in vain:
And yet, methinks, thou hast not drunk this wine From grapes new-crushed of Liberty divine,
Thou hast not followed that immortal Star
Which leads the people forth to deeds of war.

Weary of life, thou liest in silent sleep,
As one who marks the lengthening shadows creep,
Careless of all the hurrying hours that run,
Mourning some day of glory, for the sun
Of Freedom hath not shewn to thee his face,
And thou hast caught no flambeau in the race.

Yet wake not from thy slumbers, - rest thee well, Amidst thy fields of amber asphodel,
Thy lily-sprinkled meadows, - rest thee there,
To mock all human greatness: who would dare
To vent the paltry sorrows of his life
Before thy ruins, or to praise the strife
Of kings' ambition, and the barren pride
Of warring nations! wert not thou the Bride
Of the wild Lord of Adria's stormy sea!
The Queen of double Empires! and to thee
Were not the nations given as thy prey!
And now - thy gates lie open night and day,
The grass grows green on every tower and hall,
The ghastly fig hath cleft thy bastioned wall;
And where thy mailed warriors stood at rest
The midnight owl hath made her secret nest.

O fallen! fallen! from thy high estate,
O city trammelled in the toils of Fate,
Doth nought remain of all thy glorious days,
But a dull shield, a crown of withered bays!

Yet who beneath this night of wars and fears,
From tranquil tower can watch the coming years;
Who can foretell what joys the day shall bring,
Or why before the dawn the linnets sing?
Thou, even thou, mayst wake, as wakes the rose
To crimson splendour from its grave of snows;
As the rich corn-fields rise to red and gold
From these brown lands, now stiff with Winter's cold; As from the storm-rack comes a perfect star!

O much-loved city! I have wandered far
From the wave-circled islands of my home;
Have seen the gloomy mystery of the Dome
Rise slowly from the drear Campagna's way,
Clothed in the royal purple of the day:
I from the city of the violet crown
Have watched the sun by Corinth's hill go down,
And marked the 'myriad laughter' of the sea
From starlit hills of flower-starred Arcady;
Yet back to thee returns my perfect love,
As to its forest-nest the evening dove.

O poet's city! one who scarce has seen
Some twenty summers cast their doublets green
For Autumn's livery, would seek in vain
To wake his lyre to sing a louder strain,
Or tell thy days of glory; - poor indeed
Is the low murmur of the shepherd's reed,
Where the loud clarion's blast should shake the sky, And flame across the heavens! and to try
Such lofty themes were folly: yet I know
That never felt my heart a nobler glow
Than when I woke the silence of thy street
With clamorous trampling of my horse's feet,
And saw the city which now I try to sing,
After long days of weary travelling.

VII.

Adieu, Ravenna! but a year ago,
I stood and watched the crimson sunset glow
From the lone chapel on thy marshy plain:
The sky was as a shield that caught the stain
Of blood and battle from the dying sun,
And in the west the circling clouds had spun
A royal robe, which some great God might wear,
While into ocean-seas of purple air
Sank the gold galley of the Lord of Light.

Yet here the gentle stillness of the night
Brings back the swelling tide of memory,
And wakes again my passionate love for thee:
Now is the Spring of Love, yet soon will come
On meadow and tree the Summer's lordly bloom;
And soon the grass with brighter flowers will blow, And send up lilies for some boy to mow.

Then before long the Summer's conqueror,
Rich Autumn-time, the season's usurer,
Will lend his hoarded gold to all the trees,
And see it scattered by the spendthrift breeze;
And after that the Winter cold and drear.

So runs the perfect cycle of the year.

And so from youth to manhood do we go,
And fall to weary days and locks of snow.

Love only knows no winter; never dies:
Nor cares for frowning storms or leaden skies
And mine for thee shall never pass away,
Though my weak lips may falter in my lay.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silent evening star,
The night's ambassador, doth gleam afar,
And bid the shepherd bring his flocks to fold.

Perchance before our inland seas of gold
Are garnered by the reapers into sheaves,
Perchance before I see the Autumn leaves,
I may behold thy city; and lay down
Low at thy feet the poet's laurel crown.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silver lamp, the moon,
Which turns our midnight into perfect noon,
Doth surely light thy towers, guarding well
Where Dante sleeps, where Byron loved to dwell.

The More You Take, The More You Leave Behind Riddle Riddle Question: The more you take, the more you leave behind. "What am I?"

Thank you Qindarka!

Riddle Answer: Footsteps.

jnpope: User: gifflefunk
Email server: yahoo.com
Just add the @ between the two

"Chess is the gymnasium of the mind." — Blasie Pascal

"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.

In God we trust; all others pay cash. ~ American Proverb

Trusting in wealth is like looking for feathers on turtles. ~ Senegalese Proverb

The Dog That Dropped The Substance For The Shadow

This world is full of shadow-chasers,
Most easily deceived.
Should I enumerate these racers,
I should not be believed.
I send them all to Aesop's dog,
Which, crossing water on a log,
Espied the meat he bore, below;
To seize its image, let it go;
Plunged in; to reach the shore was glad,
With neither what he hoped, nor what he'd had.

Drive sober or get pulled over.

"For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." — Assiac

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him. ~ Booker T. Washington

"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.

Ha! Ha! Big bad puffi's best troller doesn't bother to read puffi's fallacious posts! That tells us how old and tiresome puffi's fabricated words have become.

puffi was just braggin' as usual on himself without analyzing a thing -- but giving himself FULL credit like he's Kasparov. puffi doesn't even bother to look at games or positions, he just reads the last member post and responds with the same blathering insults he's been posting for years. This wanka kisses his own buttocks with his own worn-out rolodex compliments!

Who's boring? puffi is boring! Everyone can see it for themselves.

The Dancing Bear
by James Russell Lowell

Far over Elf-land poets stretch their sway,
And win their dearest crowns beyond the goal
Of their own conscious purpose; they control
With gossamer threads wide-flown our fancy's play, And so our action. On my walk to-day,
A wallowing bear begged clumsily his toll,
When straight a vision rose of Atta Troll,
And scenes ideal witched mine eyes away.
'Merci, Mossieu!' the astonished bear-ward cried, Grateful for thrice his hope to me, the slave
Of partial memory, seeing at his side
A bear immortal. The glad dole I gave
Was none of mine; poor Heine o'er the wide
Atlantic welter stretched it from his grave.

Riddle Q: The one who has it does not keep it. It is large and small. It is any shape. What is it?

It makes a hungry bear dance.

Answer A: A gift.

Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, approximately 3000 miles (4850 km) in diameter, hardly larger than the moon. Despite being the smallest, it's extremely dense. In fact, it's the second densest planet after Earth. It's also the closest planet to the sun, making it dangerous to explore. Mercury is 48 million miles from the earth.

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

sxp3 rby Zhu Zhao Zbigniew Doda the fly awaaaay.

Question: What is considered the first reality TV show? Answer: The Real World

Question: Who was Russia's first elected president? Answer: Boris Yeltsin

* https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KYUb...

Better to go in your pants than go in the bush?! Give the man credit for having a wad of paper in his hand.

It musta been the intimidating ponytail that saved him.

If this were a bear, give the creature your picnic basket, your keys and wallet, or tell a bunch of clean dad jokes.

Of course, prayer is always helpful.

Daniel 6
New King James Version

The Plot Against Daniel

6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; 2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, "We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God."

6 So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: "King Darius, live forever! 7 All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter." 9 Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions' Den

10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king's decree: "Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?"

The king answered and said, "The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."

13 So they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."

14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed."

16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you." 17 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

Daniel Saved from the Lions

18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"

21 Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you."

23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.

Darius Honors God

24 And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

25 Then King Darius wrote:

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:

Peace be multiplied to you.

26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.