Think before you drink! Only fools text and drive! Who in their right mind would take their eyes off the road for 5-10 seconds? That's how you wake up in hell.

Thank you frank124, Johan C.

"Begin with the end in mind." ― Stephen Covey

Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves. ~ Scottish Proverb

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things." ― Albert Einstein

"One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals." ― Michael Korda

"It's important to set your own goals and work hard to achieve them." ― Yuichiro Miura

"You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for." ― Ted Turner

"If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time." ― Source unknown

"The greater danger for most of us isn't that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." ― Michelangelo

"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score." ― Bill Copeland

"In all things that you do, consider the end." ― Solon

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." ― Author Unknown

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream, precedes the goal." ― Rabindranath Tagore

"If you're bored with life – you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don't have enough goals." ― Lou Holtz

"I am always more interested in what I am about to do than what I have already done." ― Rachel Carson

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." ― Tony Robbins

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes." ― Andrew Carnegie

"It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach." ― Benjamin E. Mays

"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is nightmare." ~ Japanese Proverb

"Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement." ― Brian Tracy

"If a goal is worth having, it's worth blocking out the time in your day-to-day life necessary to achieve it." ― Jill Koenig

"In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed." ― Sid Caeser

"I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time." ― Michael Phelps

"Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you." ― Tony Hsieh

"You can always find a solution if you try hard enough." ― Lori Greiner

"A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement." ― Bo Bennett

"The going is the goal." ― Horace Kallen

"A good goal is like a strenuous exercise — it makes you stretch." ― Mary Kay Ash

"Dream don't work unless you do." ― Unknown

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite size chunks, writing them down, believing them and going full speed ahead as if they were routine." ― Don Lancaster

"There are only two rules for being successful. One, figure out exactly what you want to do, and two, do it." ― Mario Cuomo

"Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless." ― Tim Blixseth

"More laws, less justice." ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." ― Henry David Thoreau

"One part at a time, one day at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves." ― Karen Casey

"Those who think that it's easy to play chess are mistaken. During a game, a player lives on his nerves, and at the same time he must be perfectly composed." ― Victor Kortchnoi

"Chess is all about stored pattern recognition. You are asking your brain to spot a face in the crowd that it has not seen." ― Sally Simpson

"It is fatal to enter a war without the will to win it." ― Douglas MacArthur

"It's harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals." ― Pat Summitt

"I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant." ― Magnus Carlsen

* Anderssen's Assaults: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

* Ataman's Miniatures: Game Collection: Instructive Chess Miniatures (Ataman)

* Artists: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate

* A few KIAs: Game Collection: Opening Ideas

* Alekhine's French Def: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

* Advance French: Game Collection: Attacking with the French

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

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

* Charming Miniatures: Game Collection: 0

* Checkmate Patterns to Recognize Instantly: https://chessfox.com/checkmate-patt...

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

* Closed: Game Collection: Closed Sicilian Structures

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

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

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

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

* Crouch's book: Game Collection: Chess Secrets - Attackers (Crouch)

* Dr. Edmund Adam Miniatures: Edmund Adam

* Diagrammed Checkmate patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Starting Out: French Defense: Game Collection: Starting out : The French

* Gambits against the French Defense:
Game Collection: alapin gambit -alapin diemer gambit + reti gam

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

* Masterful: Game Collection: FRENCH DEFENSE MASTERPIECES

* Malaguena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxD...

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

* Merit Badge: https://saintlouischessclub.org/sco...

* Simple tactics course using miniatures:
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/x/FTP...

* 1.e4 e5 flavor flav: Game Collection: The Open Games: 1.e4 e5

* 1.e4 Bakker Attack:
https://raskerino.wordpress.com/202...

* 10 Chess Commandments:
http://www.limerickchessclub.net/

* 23 pages of King's Gambit (over 2000 games) wins by Black! http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* KID 0-1s: Game Collection: K.I.D B wins E98

* Overloaded! Game Collection: OVERLOADED!

* Passive, but playable in the Russian Game: Game Collection: Alpha Russian (White)

* Famous Chess Photos: https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/585256...

* Pie? https://www.old-mill.com/oldmill-re...

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

* Tipping the Blue Knights games:
- http://academicchess.org/learn/rich... - http://www.chessdryad.com/education... -
http://www.chessdryad.com/education...

* Three-minute pastry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIa...

* Trappy game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gC...

* tacticmania - Game Collection: tacticmania

* TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/

* Women: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/wom...

* Best Games of 2018: Game Collection: Best Games of 2018

<pages 24-25 of The Year Book of the United States Chess Federation 1944 (Chicago, 1945), which published ‘Brave Heart', Anthony Santasiere's tribute to Frank J. Marshall. Written in August 1942 for Marshall's 65th birthday, it began:

Brave Heart –
We salute you!
Knowing neither gain nor loss,
Nor fear, nor hate –;
But only this –
To fight – to fight –
And to love.

Santasiere then gushes on in a similar vein for another 40 lines or so, and we pick up the encomium for its final verse:

For this – dear Frank –
We thank you.
For this – dear Frank –
We love you!
Brave heart –
Brave heart –
We love you!>

goodevans: <whiteshark: Worst end of a WCC <<EVER>!!!!>> <Really? It's not like the President of FIDE stepped in and abandoned the match.>

When he says "ever" he means "in the last 5 years". Attention spans are very short these days.

The Old Man And His Sons

All power is feeble with dissension:
For this I quote the Phrygian slave.
If anything I add to his invention,
It is our manners to engrave,
And not from any envious wishes; –
I'm not so foolishly ambitious.
Phaedrus enriches often his story,
In quest – I doubt it not – of glory:
Such thoughts were idle in my breast.
An aged man, near going to his rest,
His gathered sons thus solemnly addressed:
"To break this bunch of arrows you may try;
And, first, the string that binds them I untie." The eldest, having tried with might and main,
Exclaimed, "This bundle I resign
To muscles sturdier than mine."
The second tried, and bowed himself in vain.
The youngest took them with the like success.
All were obliged their weakness to confess.
Unharmed the arrows passed from son to son;
Of all they did not break a single one.
"Weak fellows!" said their sire, "I now must show What in the case my feeble strength can do."
They laughed, and thought their father but in joke, Till, one by one, they saw the arrows broke.
"See, concord's power!" replied the sire; "as long As you in love agree, you will be strong.
I go, my sons, to join our fathers good;
Now promise me to live as brothers should,
And soothe by this your dying father's fears."
Each strictly promised with a flood of tears.
Their father took them by the hand, and died;
And soon the virtue of their vows was tried.
Their sire had left a large estate
Involved in lawsuits intricate;
Here seized a creditor, and there
A neighbour levied for a share.
At first the trio nobly bore
The brunt of all this legal war.
But short their friendship as It was rare.
Whom blood had joined – and small the wonder! – The force of interest drove asunder;
And, as is wont in such affairs,
Ambition, envy, were co-heirs.
In parcelling their sire's estate,
They quarrel, quibble, litigate,
Each aiming to supplant the other.
The judge, by turns, condemns each brother.
Their creditors make new assault,
Some pleading error, some default.
The sundered brothers disagree;
For counsel one, have counsels three.
All lose their wealth; and now their sorrows
Bring fresh to mind those broken arrows.

The Bird Wounded By An Arrow

A bird, with plumed arrow shot,
In dying case deplored her lot:
"Alas!" she cried, "the anguish of the thought!
This ruin partly by myself was brought!
Hard-hearted men! from us to borrow
What wings to us the fatal arrow!
But mock us not, you cruel race,
For you must often take our place."

The work of half the human brothers
Is making arms against the others.

Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one. ~ Scottish Proverb

Chessgames.com will be unavailable January 16, 2024 from 12:15PM through 12:45PM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves. ~ Scottish Proverb

<Vukovic's Guidelines for Attack:

01) If you attack the king, make sure that either your opponent cannot counterattack, or at least that your attack is more quick or more dangerous.

02) So, you must look at the whole board, and the chances for both sides, when deciding whether to attack or not.

03) Security in the centre lends support to a wing attack. A central pawn blockade prevents or limits counter-attacks, and makes a pawn attack easier.

04) This is particularly true of attacks with pawns, which must creep forward more slowly than other pieces. If you can make an attack with pieces alone, leave your pawns at home.

05) If you already have a pawn advanced, e.g. to f5, which may block your bishop on the diagonal b1-h7, then you might be better off going for a pawn storm by advancing the g-pawn. 06) As a rule, it is difficult to break through with pawns against the unweakened castled king's position. This is because the pawn wave can be blockaded.

07) So, it is usually important to weaken the castled position first (e.g. by ganging up on h7 you might force ...g6 or ...h6).

08) Pawns don't half get in the way of rooks. If you cannot open a file, you can often get your rooks into action in front of your pawns, for example, by playing them to the third rank.

09) Pawn advances loosen your position, and may be a disadvantage in the ending.

10) Although you must be careful before starting an attack, once you have started you must go in as hard and fast as you can. This is even more important if you realize you shouldn't have started the attack quite yet - if you try to back out you will only make things worse.>

The Council Held By The Rats

Old Rodilard, a certain cat,
Such havoc of the rats had made,
It was difficult to find a rat
With nature's debt unpaid.
The few that did remain,
To leave their holes afraid,
From usual food abstain,
Not eating half their fill.
And wonder no one will
That one who made of rats his revel,
With rats passed not for cat, but devil.
Now, on a day, this dread rat-eater,
Who had a wife, went out to meet her;
And while he held his caterwauling,
The unkilled rats, their chapter calling,
Discussed the point, in grave debate,
How they might shun impending fate.
Their dean, a prudent rat,
Thought best, and better soon than late,
To bell the fatal cat;
That, when he took his hunting round,
The rats, well cautioned by the sound,
Might hide in safety under ground;
Indeed he knew no other means.
And all the rest
At once confessed
Their minds were with the dean's.
No better plan, they all believed,
Could possibly have been conceived,
No doubt the thing would work right well,
If any one would hang the bell.
But, one by one, said every rat,
"I'm not so big a fool as that."
The plan, knocked up in this respect,
The council closed without effect.

And many a council I have seen,
Or reverend chapter with its dean,
That, thus resolving wisely,
Fell through like this precisely.

To argue or refute
Wise counsellors abound;
The man to execute
Is harder to be found.

'Ashes to ashes dust to dust

"Chess is life in miniature. Chess is a struggle, chess battles." — Garry Kasparov

"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess

So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.

"Don't blow your own trumpet." — Australian Proverb

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

"Continuing to play the victim is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Blaming others for your station in life will indeed make you a victim but the perpetrator will be your own self, not life or those around you." — Bobby Darnell

In 2016, a Michigan-based priest named Gerald Johnson suffered a heart attack. He says he had a near-death experience that sent him somewhere he never thought he'd visit: Hell.

Johnson says that immediately after his heart attack in February 2016, his spirit left his physical body and went down to hell, entering through "the very center of the Earth." Though he says "the things I saw there are indescribable," he did his best.

Johnson claims he saw a man walking on all fours like a dog and getting burned from head to toe:

"His eyes were bulging and worse than that: He was wearing chains on his neck. He was like a hellhound. There was a demon holding the chains."

Lichess has all the same basic offerings as Chess.com: a large community, many game types, tutorials, puzzles, and livestreams. The site has a simple appearance, and it seems built to get you where you want to go in as few clicks as possible. You can create an account, but if you're not concerned with tracking your games and finding other players at your level, there's no need to log in. Just fire up a new game, try some puzzles, or watch a chess streamer play three-minute games while listening to techno and chatting with the comments section.

The Wolf Accusing The Fox Before The Monkey

A wolf, affirming his belief
That he had suffered by a thief,
Brought up his neighbour fox –
Of whom it was by all confessed,
His character was not the best –
To fill the prisoner's box.
As judge between these vermin,
A monkey graced the ermine;
And truly other gifts of Themis
Did scarcely seem his;
For while each party plead his cause,
Appealing boldly to the laws,
And much the question vexed,
Our monkey sat perplexed.
Their words and wrath expended,
Their strife at length was ended;
When, by their malice taught,
The judge this judgment brought:
"Your characters, my friends, I long have known, As on this trial clearly shown;
And hence I fine you both – the grounds at large To state would little profit –
You wolf, in short, as bringing groundless charge, You fox, as guilty of it."

Come at it right or wrong, the judge opined
No other than a villain could be fined.

According to Chessmetrics, Lasker was #1 for longer than anyone else in history: 292 different months between June 1890 and December 1926. That's a timespan of 36 1/2 years, in which Lasker was #1 for a total of 24 years and 4 months. Lasker was 55 years old when he won New York 1924.

"Just because you know stuff doesn't mean you are smart... You have to know how to use that information." ― Josh Keller

<Alireza Firouzja (Persian: علی‌رضا فیروزجا, Persian pronunciation: æliːɾeˈzɑː fiːɾuːzˈdʒɑː; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest ever 2800-rated player, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months.

A chess prodigy, Firouzja won the Iranian Chess Championship at age 12 and earned the Grandmaster title at 14. At 16, Firouzja became the second youngest 2700-rated player and won a silver medal at the 2019 World Rapid Chess Championship. In November 2021, at 18, he won the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament and an individual gold medal at the European Team Chess Championship. He won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Blitz Chess Championship. In 2022, Firouzja won the Grand Chess Tour.

Firouzja left the Iranian Chess Federation in 2019 because of the country's longstanding policy against competing with Israeli players.4 He played under the FIDE flag until mid-2021, when he became a French citizen and began representing France, where he had already been living.> — Wikipedia

The Lion Beaten By The Man

A picture once was shown,
In which one man, alone,
On the ground had thrown
A lion fully grown.
Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
A lion thus rebuked their babble:
"That you have got the victory there,
There is no contradiction.
But, gentles, possibly you are
The dupes of easy fiction:
Had we the art of making pictures,
Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"

The first chess legend, called the wheat and chessboard problem, illustrates the power of exponential growth.

The first chess movie, called Chess Fever, was a silent comedy released in 1925 in the Soviet Union.

The word checkmate comes from the Persian phrase shah mat, meaning "the king is helpless".

This poem is dedicated to all members who strive to become Masters of chess.

yakisoba's combination

in the middle of a cold Canadian winter night
a phantom creature was riding a stallion knight
but lo and behold it is the man called yakisoba
together with a bishop and queen chasing nova.
though the old bishop was getting pooped out
the merry queen in her glory was bouncing about
while riding hard yakisoba grinningly thought
"I know what to do with that nova when caught."
there on top of the castle was nova in hiding
strapped to a kite for a quick get-away gliding,

then trembling he realized to his consternation:

he was being killed by the bishop-queen combination.

Q: What do you call a cat that likes to eat beans? A: Puss 'n' Toots!

Q: What do you call a clown who's in jail?
A: A silicon!

Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes?
A: No eye deer!!

Q: What do you call a three-footed aardvark?
A: A yardvark!

Q: What do you call a dancing lamb?
A: A baaaaaa-llerina!

Q: What do you call a meditating wolf?
A: Aware wolf!

Q: What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A: A sand-witch!

Q: What do you call an avocado that's been blessed by the pope? A: Holy Guacamole!

Jonathan Moya wrote:
The King's Rumination

Befuddled with thought
the king sought the oracle.

"Count the sands,
calculate the seas,"
she said.

Of the king's future,
she spoke nothing.

Henceforth he
contented only
in his nightmares.

Can you still daydream at night?
We know you have some great ideas for your nighttime dreaming. But if you're awake and trying to give your brain some suggestions for dream time, is it daydreaming or just backseat driving?

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

Old Russian Proverb: "Measure seven times, cut once. (Семь раз отмерь — один отрежь.)" Be careful before you do something that cannot be changed.

"I'm 58 years old and I just went through 8 back surgeries. They started cutting on me in February 2009, and I was basically bed ridden for almost two years. I got a real dose of reality that if you don't have your health, you don't have anything." — Hulk Hogan

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

Feb-02-21 fisayo123: As can be seen, the chessgames.com database is not the end all and be all database for "vs" matchups. In fact, its known for not really being as complete as some other game databases, especially for modern era games. https://2700chess.com/

Reuben Fine can show you the not-so-easy way. Sign up for free and you can read books for free: https://archive.org/details/chessea...

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.

"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows." — Ralph Marston

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

"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.

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd!"
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Riddle of the Day:
Mary's mother had four children: April, May and June.

What's the name of the fourth child?

The world's first traffic light was installed in 1868. The modern traffic light system dates back to 1868 when the world's first traffic light was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. However, it was manually operated and didn't feature the familiar red, yellow, and green signals we know today.

Answer to the Riddle of the Day above:
The name of the fourth child is Mary.

Chessgames.com will be unavailable Friday, February 17, 2023 from 11AM through 11:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Paul Revere's Ride
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1807-1882

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,— One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm."

Then he said "Good night!" and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war:
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed to the tower of the church,
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,—
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,—
A line of black, that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now gazed on the landscape far and near,
Then impetuous stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height,
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village-street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet: That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river-fog,
That rises when the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,—
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard-wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,—
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Around the World
Riddle Question: What travels around the world but stays in one spot?

FACTRETRIEVER: Even though dragonflies have six legs, they cannot walk.

Riddle Answer: A stamp.

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.

<Atterdag: Geoff - are you a descendant of Wordsworth?: There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more. :-)

Sally Simpson: Hi Atterdag,
This is my tribute to Wordsworth. (Daffodils.)

I wandered lonely as a pawn,
o'er a field coloured brown and cream,
When suddenly I ran out of squares
and discovered I was now a Queen.>

"Friend, you don't have to earn God's love or try harder. You're precious in His sight, covered by the priceless blood of Jesus, and indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Don't hide your heart or fear you're not good enough for Him to care for you. Accept His love, obey Him, and allow Him to keep you in His wonderful freedom." ― Charles F. Stanley

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Isolated pawns require a very expensive therapy, for keeping them alive.

Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

<Tips to calm down
Here are some helpful, actionable tips you can try the next time you need to calm down.

1. Breathe
"Breathing is the number one and most effective technique for reducing anger and anxiety quickly," says Scott Dehorty, LCSW-C, of Delphi Behavioral Health.

When you're anxious or angry, you tend to take quick, shallow breaths. Dehorty says this sends a message to your brain, causing a positive feedback loop reinforcing your fight-or-flight response. That's why taking long, deep calming breaths disrupts that loop and helps you calm down.

There are various breathing techniques to help you calm down. One is three-part breathing. Three-part breathing requires you to take one deep breath in and then exhale fully while paying attention to your body.

Once you get comfortable with deep breathing, you can change the ratio of inhalation and exhalation to 1:2 (you slow down your exhalation so that it's twice as long as your inhalation).

Practice these techniques while calm so you know how to do them when you're anxious.

2. Admit that you're anxious or angry
Allow yourself to say that you're anxious or angry. When you label how you're feeling and allow yourself to express it, the anxiety and anger you're experiencing may decrease.

3. Challenge your thoughts
Part of being anxious or angry is having irrational thoughts that don't necessarily make sense. These thoughts are often the "worse-case scenario." You might find yourself caught in the "what if" cycle, which can cause you to sabotage a lot of things in your life.

When you experience one of these thoughts, stop and ask yourself the following questions:

Is this likely to happen?
Is this a rational thought?
Has this ever happened to me before?
What's the worst that can happen? Can I handle that?
After you go through the questions, it's time to reframe your thinking. Instead of "I can't walk across that bridge. What if there's an earthquake, and it falls into the water?" tell yourself: "There are people that walk across that bridge every day, and it has never fallen into the water."

4. Release the anxiety or anger
Dehorty recommends getting the emotional energy out with exercise. "Go for a walk or run. Engaging in some physical activity releases serotonin to help you calm down and feel better."

However, you should avoid physical activity that includes the expression of anger, such as punching walls or screaming.

"This has been shown to increase feelings of anger, as it reinforces the emotions because you end up feeling good as the result of being angry," Dehorty explains.

5. Visualize yourself calm
This tip requires you to practice the breathing techniques you've learned. After taking a few deep breaths, close your eyes and picture yourself calm. See your body relaxed, and imagine yourself working through a stressful or anxiety-causing situation by staying calm and focused.

By creating a mental picture of what it looks like to stay calm, you can refer back to that image when you're anxious.

6. Think it through
Have a mantra to use in critical situations. Just make sure it's one that you find helpful. Dehorty says it can be, "Will this matter to me this time next week?" or "How important is this?" or "Am I going to allow this person/situation to steal my peace?"

This allows the thinking to shift focus, and you can "reality test" the situation.

"When we're anxious or angry, we become hyper-focused on the cause, and rational thoughts leave our mind. These mantras give us an opportunity to allow rational thought to come back and lead to a better outcome," Dehorty explains.

7. Change your focus
Leave the situation, look in another direction, walk out of the room, or go outside.

Dehorty recommends this exercise so you have time for better decision making. "We don't do our best thinking when anxious or angry; we engage in survival thinking. This is fine if our life is really in danger, but if it isn't life threatening, we want our best thinking, not survival instincts," he adds.

8. Have a centering object
When you're anxious or angry, so much of your energy is being spent on irrational thoughts. When you're calm, find a "centering object" such as a small stuffed animal, a polished rock you keep in your pocket, or a locket you wear around your neck.

Tell yourself that you're going to touch this object when you're experiencing anxiety or frustration. This centers you and helps calm your thoughts. For example, if you're at work and your boss is making you anxious, gently rub the locket around your neck.

9. Relax your body
When you're anxious or angry, it can feel like every muscle in your body is tense (and they probably are). Practicing progressive muscle relaxation can help you calm down and center yourself.

To do this, lie down on the floor with your arms out by your side. Make sure your feet aren't crossed and your hands aren't in fists. Start at your toes and tell yourself to release them. Slowly move up your body, telling yourself to release each part of your body until you get to your head.

10. Drop your shoulders
If your body is tense, there's a good chance your posture will suffer. Sit up tall, take a deep breath, and drop your shoulders. To do this, you can focus on bringing your shoulder blades together and then down. This pulls your shoulders down. Take a few deep breaths.

You can do this several times a day.

11. Identify pressure points to calm anger and anxiety Going for a massage or getting acupuncture is a wonderful way to manage anxiety and anger. But it's not always easy to find time in your day to make it happen. The good news is, you can do acupressure on yourself for instant anxiety relief.

This method involves putting pressure with your fingers or your hand at certain points of the body. The pressure releases the tension and relaxes your body.

One area to start with is the point where the inside of your wrist forms a crease with your hand. Press your thumb on this area for two minutes. This can help relieve tension.

12. Get some fresh air
The temperature and air circulation in a room can increase your anxiety or anger. If you're feeling tense and the space you're in is hot and stuffy, this could trigger a panic attack.

Remove yourself from that environment as soon as possible and go outside — even if it's just for a few minutes.

Not only will the fresh air help calm you down, but also the change of scenery can sometimes interrupt your anxious or angry thought process.

13. Fuel your body
Being hangry never helps. If you're hungry or not properly hydrated, many relaxation techniques won't work. That's why it's important to slow down and get something to eat — even if it's just a small snack.

Try nibbling on some dark chocolate. ResearchTrusted Source shows it can help boost brain health and reduce stress.

Wash it down with a cup of green tea and honey. Studies show green tea can help reduce the body's stress response. Research has found that honey can help relieve anxiety.

14. Chew gum
Chewing on a piece of gum can help reduce anxiety (and even boost mood and productivity). In fact, research shows people who chew gum regularly are typically less stressed than non-gum chewers.

15. Listen to music
The next time you feel your anxiety level cranking up, grab some headphones and tune in to your favorite music. Listening to music can have a very calming effect on your body and mind.

16. Dance it out
Get moving to your favorite tunes. Dancing has traditionally been used as a healing art. ResearchTrusted Source shows it's a great way to combat depression and anxiety and increase quality of life.

17. Watch funny videos
Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine. Research has found that laughing provides therapeutic benefits and can help relieve stress and improve mood and quality of life. Do a quick internet search to find funny videos for an instant mood boost.

18. Write it down
If you're too angry or anxious to talk about it, grab a journal and write out your thoughts. Don't worry about complete sentences or punctuation — just write. Writing helps you get negative thoughts out of your head.

19. Squeeze a stress ball
When you're feeling stress come on, try interacting with a stress-relief toy. Options include:

stress ball
magnetic balls
sculpting clay
puzzles
Rubik's cube
fidget spinner

20. Try aromatherapy
Aromatherapy, or the use of essential oils, may help alleviate stress and anxiety and boost mood. Those commonly used in aromatherapy include:

bergamot
cedarwood
chamomile
geranium
ginger
lavender
lemon
tea tree
Add a few drops of essential oil to a diffuser, or mix it with a carrier oil (like coconut oil) and apply to your skin for quick relief.

21. Seek social support
Venting to a trusted friend, family member, or coworker can do wonders. Even if you don't have time for a full play-by-play phone call, a quick text exchange can help you let it all out and help you feel heard.

Bonus points if you engage with a funny friend who can help you laugh for added stress relief.

22. Spend time with a pet
Interacting with your favorite furry friend can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower blood pressure. Quality time with a pet can also help you feel less alone and boost your overall mood.>

В ти́хом о́муте че́рти во́дятся Pronunciation: v TEEham Omutye CHYERtee VOdyatsya Translation: The devil lives in the still waters Meaning: Still waters run deep; beware of a silent dog and still water

"....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

The Three Kings By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Three Kings came riding from far away,
Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;
Three Wise Men out of the East were they,
And they travelled by night and they slept by day, For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,
That all the other stars of the sky
Became a white mist in the atmosphere,
And by this they knew that the coming was near
Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,
Three caskets of gold with golden keys;
Their robes were of crimson silk with rows
Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,
Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.

And so the Three Kings rode into the West,
Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell, And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast, And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,
With the people they met at some wayside well.

"Of the child that is born," said Baltasar, "Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;
For we in the East have seen his star,
And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,
To find and worship the King of the Jews."

And the people answered, "You ask in vain;
We know of no King but Herod the Great!"
They thought the Wise Men were men insane,
As they spurred their horses across the plain,
Like riders in haste, who cannot wait.

And when they came to Jerusalem,
Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,
Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;
And said, "Go down unto Bethlehem,
And bring me tidings of this new king."

So they rode away; and the star stood still,
The only one in the grey of morn;
Yes, it stopped—it stood still of its own free will, Right over Bethlehem on the hill,
The city of David, where Christ was born.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard, Through the silent street, till their horses turned And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard; But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred, And only a light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,
In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,
The little child in the manger lay,
The child, that would be king one day
Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

His mother Mary of Nazareth
Sat watching beside his place of rest,
Watching the even flow of his breath,
For the joy of life and the terror of death
Were mingled together in her breast.

They laid their offerings at his feet:
The gold was their tribute to a King,
The frankincense, with its odor sweet,
Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,
The myrrh for the body's burying.

And the mother wondered and bowed her head,
And sat as still as a statue of stone,
Her heart was troubled yet comforted,
Remembering what the Angel had said
Of an endless reign and of David's throne.

Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,
With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;
But they went not back to Herod the Great,
For they knew his malice and feared his hate,
And returned to their homes by another way.

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

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

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

Дарёному коню́ в зу́бы не смо́трят Pronunciation: DarRYOnamu kaNYU v ZUby nye SMOTryat Translation: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Meaning: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

The science of repetition is clear: consistent practice is essential to mastering any skill. The 10,000-Hour Rule, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, states that achieving world-class expertise in any field requires roughly 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. While this number may vary depending on the individual, the principle remains true: mastery requires time and effort focused on meaningful activities.

Chessgames.com will be unavailable January 16, 2024 from 12:15PM through 12:45PM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

The swastika was known across the world from ancient times. The swastika's earliest appearance in Europe was in what became Ukraine. But as a symbol of religious significance, it was known throughout Eurasia. It became a significant religious icon in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It was sacred to the Greeks and the Romans. Early Christian churches used the icon in both the Eastern and Roman branches. It can be found in floor mosaics, ceilings, friezes, stained glass windows, artwork, and altars in churches of the Gothic period. The nobility in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, used the symbol in their coats of arms and as decorative flourishes in their great houses. In the Nordic regions, the symbol was indicative of Thor's hammer. It still decorates the elephants at Carlsberg's in Copenhagen.

Ancient North American Indian tribes also used the swastika as symbol from the Passamaquoddy in Maine to the Navajo in the southwest. How the swastika spread around the world, in virtually every portion of the world, remains a mystery, as the symbol has no equivalent in nature nor the night sky. Since its use by the Nazi Party in Germany it has been banned from being displayed publicly in both Germany and Austria, and its use even for scholarly purposes is subject to restrictions. Around the world, the swastika is still displayed, sometimes as a symbol of hate, and in others, with the religious significance it has always conveyed.

The longest official chess game lasted 20 hours and included 269 moves.

Chess is a required school subject in Armenia.

The rook piece is named from the Persian word "ruhkh," meaning "chariot".

There are 400 possible moves after each move played in a single game of chess.

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd!"
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Riddle of the Day:
Mary's mother had four children: April, May and June.

What's the name of the fourth child?

Thank you, Qindarka!

Answer to the Riddle of the Day above:
The name of the fourth child is Mary.

Proof of Ratings Inflation:
A criminal named Claude Bloodgood managed to achieve the second highest rating in the USA at the time through either scamming the system or (as he states it) simply playing the only opposition he was allowed. Since he was in prison for life, the only opponents available to him were other inmates, several of whom he had taught to play. As well as playing correspondence games, he was far and away the strongest chess player within the prison system and as such his rating continued to rise.

It reached such a level that had he not been incarcerated, he would have to have been invited to the highest-level chess tournament in the country at the time. Bloodgood insisted he had not cheated his rating in any way and instead pointed out that the current system was prone to exploitation in circumstances like his own.

The ratings system was altered to account for situations like his. Bloodgood died in 2004, still behind bars.

Chessgames.com will be unavailable Friday, February 17, 2023 from 11AM through 11:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance. We apologize for this inconvenience.

The Night
BY HENRY VAUGHAN
John 3.2

Through that pure virgin shrine,
That sacred veil drawn o'er Thy glorious noon, That men might look and live, as glowworms shine, And face the moon,
Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.

Most blest believer he!
Who in that land of darkness and blind eyes
Thy long-expected healing wings could see,
When Thou didst rise!
And, what can never more be done,
Did at midnight speak with the Sun!

O who will tell me where
He found Thee at that dead and silent hour?
What hallowed solitary ground did bear
So rare a flower,
Within whose sacred leaves did lie
The fulness of the Deity?

No mercy-seat of gold,
No dead and dusty cherub, nor carved stone,
But His own living works did my Lord hold
And lodge alone;
Where trees and herbs did watch and peep
And wonder, while the Jews did sleep.

Dear night! this world's defeat;
The stop to busy fools; care's check and curb; The day of spirits; my soul's calm retreat
Which none disturb!
Christ's progress, and His prayer time;
The hours to which high heaven doth chime;

God's silent, searching flight;
When my Lord's head is filled with dew, and all His locks are wet with the clear drops of night; His still, soft call;
His knocking time; the soul's dumb watch,
When spirits their fair kindred catch.

Were all my loud, evil days
Calm and unhaunted as is thy dark tent,
Whose peace but by some angel's wing or voice
Is seldom rent,
Then I in heaven all the long year
Would keep, and never wander here.

But living where the sun
Doth all things wake, and where all mix and tire Themselves and others, I consent and run
To every mire,
And by this world's ill-guiding light,
Err more than I can do by night.

There is in God, some say,
A deep but dazzling darkness, as men here
Say it is late and dusky, because they
See not all clear.
O for that night! where I in Him
Might live invisible and dim!

Chess Question: What is the maximum number of captures that any chess unit can make in a game?

Coral reefs are called the rain forests of the sea and enjoy an extraordinarily biologically diverse ecosystem, providing food and shelter to millions of species like fish, sponges, sea anemones, bryozoans, worms, sea stars, crustaceans, and snails, to name a few. The three primary categories of coral reefs are atoll reefs in the Indo-pacific, barrier reefs that parallel land, and fringing reefs which physically attach to the shore or close to it.

Chess Answer: 15 by the K, Q, R, or N. 14 by the B. 6 by the pawn.

Dinner Prayer Hymn
Traditional Hymn

Lord, bless this food and grant that we

May thankful for thy mercies be;

Teach us to know by whom we're fed;

Bless us with Christ, the living bread.

Lord, make us thankful for our food,

Bless us with faith in Jesus' blood;

With bread of life our souls supply,

That we may live with Christ on high.
Amen.

ALFAVE: https://chessmood.com/forum/main-ch...

Australia Chess: https://theconversation.com/the-que...

Stop Blundering: https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-blu...

C.J.S. Purdy writes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...

The Grandmaster's Mind: https://www.chess.com/blog/GMBethHa...

Play now: https://lichess.org/

Tata Steel 2025: https://tatasteelchess.com/en

What does it take (Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan): https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/w3cs...

"Unlike other games in which lucre is the end and aim, chess recommends itself to the wise by the fact that its mimic battles are fought for no prize but honor. It is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game." ― Paul Morphy

"Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Out of difficulties, grow miracles" ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Not to be able to bear with all bad-tempered people with whom the world is crowded, shows that a man has not a good temper himself." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that induces us to admire a fool." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." ― Will Rogers

"Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was." ― Will Rogers

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else." ― Will Rogers

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ― Will Rogers

"The beauty of chess is it can be whatever you want it to be. It transcends language, age, race, religion, politics, gender, and socioeconomic background. Whatever your circumstances, anyone can enjoy a good fight to the death over the chess board." ― Simon Williams

<<Psalm 8 King James Version>>

8 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

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