Games from the above book (Batsford 1986)

"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 the game." ― François-André Danican Philidor

"The king pawn and the queen pawn are the only ones to be moved in the early part of the game." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"I believe that it is best to know a 'dubious' opening really well, rather than a 'good' opening only slightly." ― Simon Williams

"There is no such thing as an absolutely freeing move. A freeing move in a position in which development has not been carried far always proves illusory, and vice versa, a move which does not come at all in the category of freeing moves can, given a surplus of tempi to our credit, lead to a very free game." ― Aron Nimzowitsch

"I always use only the openings that bring fruitful results in practice, regardless of the positions arising in the middle-game." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

"With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again." ― Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca)

"I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca! His ideal was to win by manoeuvering. 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

"Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with it's logic." ― Garry Kasparov

"You may knock your opponent down with the chessboard, but that does not prove you the better player." ― English Proverb

"I believe that true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands." ― Alexander Alekhine

"We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature." ― Rudolf Spielmann

"For a period of ten years--between 1946 and 1956--Reshevsky was probably the best chessplayer in the world. I feel sure that had he played a match with Botvinnik during that time he would have won and been World Champion." ― Bobby Fischer

"To play for a draw, at any rate with white, is to some degree a crime against chess." ― Mikhail Tal

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

"The future reshapes the memory of the past in the way it recalibrates significance: some episodes are advanced, others lose purchase." ― Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." ― Douglas MacArthur

"Old habits die hard, especially for soldiers." ― Jocelyn Murray, The Roman General: A Novel

On March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War I in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ye Jiangchuan has won the Chinese Chess Championship seven times.

Matthew 17:20
Our faith can move mountains.

Other people's wisdom prevents the king from being called a fool. ~ Nigerian Proverb

Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean Proverb

Ingratitude is sooner or later fatal to its author. ~ Twi Proverb

The laughter of a child lights up the house. ~ Swahili proverb

I have a fear of speed bumps. But I am slowly getting over it.

KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA, becomes the first radio station to offer regular broadcasts on November 2, 1920.

* One of Pandolfini's Best: Game Collection: Solitaire Chess by Bruce Pandolfini

* Two Great Attackers: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

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

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

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

* Classic games by great players: Game Collection: Guinness Book - Chess Grandmasters (Hartston)

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

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

* 50 Games to Know: https://en.chessbase.com/post/50-ga...

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

* Back rank mating tactics: Game Collection: 610_Back rank mating tactics

* Fork Overload (Remove the Defender): Game Collection: FORK-OVERLOAD OR HOOK-AND-LADDER TRICK

* Impact of Genius: 500 years of Grandmaster Chess: Game Collection: Impact of Genius : 500 years of Grandmaster Ches

* Chess Prehistory: Game Collection: Chess Prehistory

* Philidor's Legacy: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I2Xm...

* Organized Steinitz collection:
Game Collection: Steinitz Gambits

* Best (Old) Games of All Time: Game Collection: Best Games of All Time

* 'Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters' by Fred Reinfeld: Game Collection: 0

* bengalcat47's favorite games of famous masters: Game Collection: bengalcat47's favorite games

* Mil y Una Partidas 1914-1931: Game Collection: Mil y Una Partidas 1914-1931

* Fire Baptisms by Nasruddin Hodja: Game Collection: Fire Baptisms

* maxruen's favorite games III: Game Collection: maxruen's favorite games III

* Famous brilliancies: Game Collection: brilliacies

* Brilliant games by madhatter5: Game Collection: Brilliant games

* The Fireside Book of Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld: Game Collection: Fireside Book of Chess

* 'Chess Praxis' by Aron Nimzowitsch: Game Collection: Chess Praxis (Nimzowitsch)

* '500 Master Games of Chess' by Savielly Tartakower and Julius Du Mont: Game Collection: 500 Master Games of Chess

* Great Combinations by wwall: Game Collection: Combinations

* Middlegame Combinations by Peter Romanovsky: Game Collection: Middlegame Combinations by Peter Romanovsky

* Exchange sacs – 1 by obrit: Game Collection: Exchange sacs - 1

* Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume II: Game Collection: Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume II

* Russian Ruys: Game Collection: Chess in the USSR 1945 - 72, Part 2 (Leach)

* Rubinstein: Game Collection: Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces

* Variety of Traps: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/v...

Nehemiah 8:10
Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord is your strength!

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

* 'The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games' by Graham Burgess, John Nunn and John Emms. New expanded edition-now with 125 games. Game Collection: Mammoth Book-Greatest Games (Nunn/Burgess/Emms)

* Best of the British by Timothy Glenn Forney: Game Collection: Best of the British

* The Best Chess Games (part 2): Game Collection: The Best Chess Games (part 2)

* GK: Game Collection: Kasparov - The Sicilian Sheveningen

* Annotated Games: Game Collection: Annotated Games

* sapientdust's favorite games: Game Collection: sapientdust's favorite games

* shakman's favorite games – 2: Game Collection: shakman's favorite games - 2

* Reti Opening by KingG: Game Collection: Reti Opening

* Veliki majstori saha 16 RETI (Slavko Petrovic): Game Collection: Veliki majstori saha 16 RETI (Petrovic)

* Richard Réti's Best Games by Golombek: Game Collection: Richard Réti's Best Games by Golombek

* Ray Keene's favorite games: Game Collection: ray keene's favorite games

* Variety pack by Nova: Game Collection: KID games

* JonathanJ's favorite games 4: Game Collection: JonathanJ's favorite games 4

* jorundte's favorite games: Game Collection: jorundte's favorite games

* elmubarak: my fav games: Game Collection: elmubarak: my fav games

* Assorted good games by rbaglini: Game Collection: assorted Good games

* Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz): Game Collection: 0

* Last Collection by Jaredfchess: Game Collection: LAST COLLECTION

"Chess first of all teaches you to be objective." ― Alexander Alekhine

"Among a great many other things that chess teaches you is to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good. It trains you to think before grabbing and to think just as objectively when you're in trouble." ― Stanley Kubrick

"Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules, take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment." ― Garry Kasparov

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." ― Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game." ― Savielly Tartakower

"Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter." ― Winston S. Churchill

"Even though chess isn't the toughest thing that computers will tackle for centuries, it stood as a handy symbol for human intelligence. No matter what human-like feat computers perform in the future, the Deep Blue match demands an indelible dot on all timelines of AI progress." ― Steven Levy

<The ascension of the improbable new chess world champion Ding Liren (April, 2023) altered that category. Ding Liren, age 30 is the highest rated Chinese player ever and the first to play in the candidates matches. That is a story in itself.

Ding Liren was the highest rated blitz player in the world at 2875 in 2016. GM Ding's skill at speed chess served him well with a mere minute remaining in the dramatic fourth and final rapid tiebreaker when he eschewed a certain perpetual check draw to play for the win and did indeed win in dramatic fashion over Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi. GM Ding had found himself in time trouble throughout the match.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway ruled classical chess for 10 years from 2013-2023. He is a five-time world champion. Carlsen, just days before his 23rd birthday, defeated Viswanathan Anand. He defeated Anand in a rematch in 2014. Carlsen defended his title against Sergey Karjakin in 2016, Fabiano Caruana in 2018, and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2021. Carlsen declined to defend his title against Nepomniachtchi in 2023.>

Q: How do you know which cow is the best dancer? A: See which one has the best moo-ves.

Thank you, Qindarka!

Q: What does the cow band play?
A: Moo-sic!

The Use Of Knowledge

Between two citizens
A controversy grew.
The one was poor, but much he knew:
The other, rich, with little sense,
Claimed that, in point of excellence,
The merely wise should bow the knee
To all such moneyed men as he.
The merely fools, he should have said;
For why should wealth hold up its head,
When merit from its side has fled?
"My friend," said Bloated-purse,
To his reverse,
"You think yourself considerable.
Pray, tell me, do you keep a table?
What comes of this incessant reading,
In point of lodging, clothing, feeding?
It gives one, true, the highest chamber,
One coat for June and for December,
His shadow for his sole attendant,
And hunger always in the ascendant.
What profits he his country, too,
Who scarcely ever spends a sou –
Will, haply, be a public charge?
Who profits more the state at large,
Than he whose luxuries dispense
Among the people wealth immense?
We set the streams of life a-flowing;
We set all sorts of trades a-going.
The spinner, weaver, sewer, vender,
And many a wearer, fair and tender,
All live and flourish on the spender –
As do, indeed, the reverend rooks
Who waste their time in making books."
These words, so full of impudence,
Received their proper recompense.
The man of letters held his peace,
Though much he might have said with ease.
A war avenged him soon and well;
In it their common city fell.
Both fled abroad; the ignorant,
By fortune thus brought down to want,
Was treated everywhere with scorn,
And roamed about, a wretch forlorn;
Whereas the scholar, everywhere,
Was nourished by the public care.

Let fools the studious despise;
There's nothing lost by being wise.

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

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, "Don Quixote"

Old Russian Proverb: "The elbow is close but you cannot bite it. (Близок локоток, да не укусишь.)" Close is no cigar.

Ya might be ah redneck if'n ya thunk "lol" means low on liquor.

"If you ain't the lead dog, the view never changes."

Song of the Storm-Swept Plain
William D. Hodjkiss

The wind shrills forth
From the white cold North
Where the gates of the Storm-god are;
And ragged clouds,
Like mantling shrouds,
Engulf the last, dim star.

Through naked trees,
In low coulees,
The night-voice moans and sighs;
And sings of deep,
Warm cradled sleep,
With wind-crooned lullabies.

He stands alone
Where the storm's weird tone
In mocking swells;
And the snow-sharp breath
Of cruel Death
The tales of its coming tells.

The frightened plaint
Of his sheep sound faint
Then the choking wall of white—
Then is heard no more,
In the deep-toned roar,
Of the blinding, pathless night.

No light nor guide,
Save a mighty tide
Of mad fear drives him on;
‘Till his cold-numbed form
Grows strangely warm;
And the strength of his limbs is gone.

Through the storm and night
A strange, soft light
O'er the sleeping shepherd gleams;
And he hears the word
Of the Shepherd Lord
Called out from the bourne of dreams.

Come, leave the strife
Of your weary life;
Come unto Me and rest
From the night and cold,
To the sheltered fold,
By the hand of love caressed.

The storm shrieks on,
But its work is done—
A soul to its God has fled;
And the wild refrain
Of the wind-swept plain,
Sings requiem for the dead.

Riddle: What word is always pronounced wrong?

FACTRETRIEVER: There are no seagulls in Hawaii.

Riddel Answer: Wrong!

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.

"Zeitnot" is German for "time pressure."

"....his countrymen, Kolisch and Steinitz, are greatly indebted for their later success to their having enjoyed early opportunities of practicing with the departed amateur whose death is also greatly deplored amongst all who knew him personally." — Wilhelm Steinitz, regarding Karl Hamppe

The first appearance of the (John) Cochrane gambit against Petrov's defense C42 was in the year 1848 against an Indian master Mohishunder Bannerjee.

"Sorry don't get it done, Dude!" — John Wayne, Rio Bravo

"Gossip is the devil's telephone. Best to just hang up." — Moira Rose

<chess writer and poet Henry Thomas Bland.

Another example of his way with words is the start of ‘Internal Fires', a poem published on page 57 of the March 1930 American Chess Bulletin:

I used to play chess with the dearest old chap,
Whom naught could upset whatever might hap.
He'd oft lose a game he might well have won
But made no excuse for what he had done.
If a piece he o'erlooked and got it snapped up

He took it quite calmly and ne'er ‘cut up rough'.>

'Ask no questions and hear no lies

* 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

* Knight Power: https://fmochess.com/the-power-of-t...

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

The Words Of Socrates

A house was built by Socrates
That failed the public taste to please.
Some blamed the inside; some, the out; and all
Agreed that the apartments were too small.
Such rooms for him, the greatest sage of Greece!

"I ask," said he, "no greater bliss
Than real friends to fill even this."
And reason had good Socrates
To think his house too large for these.
A crowd to be your friends will claim,
Till some unhandsome test you bring.
There's nothing plentier than the name;
There's nothing rarer than the thing.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

It's no time to play chess when the house is on fire. ~ Italian Proverbs

If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time. ~ Chinese Proverb

The one who wins plays best. ~ German Proverbs

Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

"You must play boldly to win." ― Arnold Palmer

"Champions keep playing until they get it right." ― Billie Jean King

Fred Wellmuth was a strong amateur from California

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes The Great Gatsby in 1925.

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/

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." ― William Faulkner

"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.

Old Russian Proverb: "Scythe over a stone." (Нашла коса на камень.) The force came over a stronger force.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." ― Leonardo da Vinci

William Faulkner publishes The Sound and the Fury in 1929.

Charles Lindbergh lands "Spirit of St. Louis" in Paris on May 21, 1927, successfully completing the first trans-Atlantic flight.

'Ask no questions and hear no lies

* 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

* Knight Power: https://fmochess.com/the-power-of-t...

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

Tennessee schoolteacher John T. Scopes' trial for teaching Darwin's "Theory of Evolution" begins July 1925.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

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.

"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

wordzfun
3rdp A L Zaid WAIT! Holdon toyur horsz n camlz, thair Dzagnidze 4ward Steinitz pencls zewage pstr zitellone bythe Yogi zja. That wash illigl soit wasp retractor. Touch-move appliez 12% enter west rates 4a limitd tym onli. Cali perfornia xcluedd, so laym still to blaym fo shaym all th saym anything fo fayk faym.

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!

Question: What's the brightest star in the sky? Answer: Sirius – also known as the Dog Star or Sirius A, Sirius is the brightest star in Earth's night sky. The star is outshone only by several planets and the International Space Station.

Question: What's the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard? Answer: Graveyards are attached to churches while cemeteries are stand-alone.

Patty Loveless "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...

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

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 (The Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defense)

Then 3.d4 (Ponziani's Gambit) and some variation thereafter. Wikipedia shows that the following are closely related:

* 3...exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 (Center Game, by transposition)

* 3...exd4 4.Nf3 (Urusov Gambit)

o 4...Bc5 5.0-0 Nc6 (Max Lange Attack, by transposition)

o 4...Nc6 (Two Knights Defense, by transposition)

o 4...Nxe4 5.Qxd4 (Urusov Gambit Accepted)

The Triple Muzio Gambit starts with 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. O8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. d4 Qxd4+ 10. Be3 – it's a sequence that looks like you're deliberately giving up pawns, but in reality, you're setting up for a quick strike against your opponent's king while they are still trying to coordinate their forces.

The Nakmanson Gambit is as follows: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Nc3 dxc3 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qd5+

The beauty of this gambit lies in its aggression and unpredictability. It forces your opponent to think on their feet right from the get-go. By sacrificing pieces early on, it may seem like you're falling behind but don't be fooled! The goal is not necessarily material gain but rather seizing control of the board and leaving your opponent with tough decisions to make under pressure.

The Lucchini Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 f5 5. Ng5 f4 – an aggressive sequence of moves designed to unsettle any adversary right from the get-go.

But don't be fooled by its audacious start; this gambit isn't for the faint-hearted or inexperienced player! The Lucchini Gambit requires careful planning and sharp tactical vision to navigate through its complex mazes, using each piece efficiently while maintaining a strong position on the board.

The Stafford Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6. The beauty of the Stafford Gambit lies not in material gain but in seizing control over the center board swiftly and launching an unyielding attack against unsuspecting opponents. Even if they manage to cope with initial pressure, they must continuously be on guard for tactical blows throughout the middle game phase.

The Orthoschnapp Gambit: 1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3 dxe4 5. Bc4 – adding a thrilling twist to your arsenal that'll leave your opponents stunned!

The Hyper Accelerated Dragon is like stepping onto a high-speed roller coaster. It offers thrilling turns and tactical maneuvers that'll keep your opponent on their toes. It's an aggressive yet flexible opening for black. It comes into play when you make the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6. This chess opening derives its strength from its versatility in creating a solid positional game while also allowing explosive counterplay opportunities. The key to mastering this opening lies in understanding the pawn structures and knowing exactly when to strike back against your opponent.

The fianchettoed Bg7 applies pressure on the center and prepares for d7-d5 in one go if possible. This allows you to break open your opponent's central control early in the game, leading to dynamic positions that often catch them off guard. Moreover, this unique setup gives you greater flexibility with your knights. They can be developed according to how white responds.

What sets this opening apart is how quickly it drives at white's center without committing too many pieces early on. The accelerated development not only provides an element of surprise but also forces white into defensive mode right out of the gate. So next time you're looking for an adventurous ride through complex tactical terrains while maintaining a secure position, don't hesitate – hop onto the Hyper Accelerated Dragon! With practice and careful study, you'll soon become adept at navigating its twists and turns to outmaneuver your opponents.

"Happiness depends upon ourselves."
― Aristotle

Old Russian Proverb: A good laugh is sunshine in a house.

"Don't just follow your dreams; chase them down, grab hold and don't let go." ― Kellie Elmore

<In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.>

"When you have the better of it, play simply. When the game is going against you, look for complications." — Frank J. Marshall

Riddle: What invention lets you look right through a wall?

In a match between Mason-Mackenzie in London in 1882, there were 72 consecutive Queen Moves.

Riddle Answer: A window!

"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.

"Risk" by Anais Nin

And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to blossom.

French Proverb: "Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard." ― (Nothing should be left to chance.)

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

* 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

* Knight Power: https://fmochess.com/the-power-of-t...

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

Fools look to tomorrow. Wise men use tonight. ~ Scottish Proverb

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER

Be slow in choosing a friend but slower in changing him. ~ Scottish Proverb

Bobby Fischer (Andrews/Lazy Susan)
Bobby Fischer beat Spassky in Iceland in '72.
I know a girl who's better looking but who thinks like Bobby Fischer too. When Bobby Fischer was a kid they knew he was a prodigy. I know a girl who's somewhat older but no less of an authority.

I wish I had the smarts to understand her charts. If I don't concentrate she'll have me in checkmate.

In Tampa Bay and Lafayette they all know Bobby Fischer's name. I know a girl who made her mark in smaller cities but her fame's the same. When Bobby Fischer made his comeback in the '90s he was worse for wear. I know a girl who made a comeback but her mind was altogether there.

She said: "I drink chocolate milk, from a cow I built. "Doot n'doot doot doot. Doot n'doot doot doot."

They're all saying that you'll never play again. They're all saying that you're finished, that you're washed up as a friend. All my life I've 'feather-dustered' but that's not how it's going to end. Oh no.

Spies in hideouts send their secret messages.
There's a thief caught in the headlights of a car beneath a bridge. There's no lights on in the house except the lights on in the fridge. Oh yeah.

Reykjavik, no one ever says Reykjavik in a song. Reykjavik, no one ever says Reykjavik in a song.

They're all saying that you'll never play again. They're all saying that you're finished and that you're washed up as a friend. All my life I've 'feather-dustered' but that's not how I'm going to end. Oh no.

Spies in hideouts send their secret messages.
There's a thief caught in the headlights of a car beneath a bridge. There's no lights on in the house except the lights on in the fridge... Oh yeah.

Proverbs 14:29-35

29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered * exalts folly. 30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones. 31 He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him. 32 The wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies. 33 Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, But in the hearts of fools it is made known. 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people. 35 The king's favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

"God's mercy and grace give me hope - for myself, and for our world." — Billy Graham

"Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness." — Billy Graham

God Our Father, Lord, and Savior
Traditional

God our Father, Lord, and Savior

Thank you for your love and favor

Bless this food and drink we pray

And all who share with us today.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

"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."

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

"Those who play with fire will get burnt." ~ Portuguese Proverb

56xLg Opie sha na na ZshaThePriest@zshathepriest12411 subscriber142 videoo WoW RBG Disc Priest Pov! didnt Grzegorz zimpress Ziyatdinov.

"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.

If you've never lost your mind, then you've never followed your heart. ― Joker

Beautiful faces are everywhere, but Beautiful minds are hard to find. ― Joker