Compiled by Stella Mar

* Amazing: Game Collection: Amazing Chess Moves (Emms)

* First of each ECO: Game Collection: First of Each ECO

* How to Analyze: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

* Recommendations: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/wiki...

"Above the clouds I lift my wing
To hear the bells of Heaven ring;
Some of their music, though my fights be wild,
To Earth I bring;
Then let me soar and sing!" ― Edmund Clarence Stedman

"Life has, indeed, many ills, but the mind that views every object in its most cheering aspect, and every doubtful dispensation as replete with latent good, bears within itself a powerful and perpetual antidote. The gloomy soul aggravates misfortune, while a cheerful smile often dispels those mists that portend a storm." ― Lydia Sigourney

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." ― Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States, and former Colonel in the U.S. Army

"All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either. Every single man in this Army play a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain." ― General George S. Patton, U.S. Army

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils

"Chess is life and every game is like a new life. – Eduard Gufeld

"Life is like a chess. If you lose your queen, you will probably lose the game." – Being Caballero

"It's an eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game." – Paul Morphy

"The ability to work hard for days on end without losing focus is a talent. The ability to keep absorbing new information after many hours of study is a talent."– Garry Kasparov

* Yum! http://stellamaroysters.com/

* Good Historical Links: https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/in...

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

* Glossary: Wikipedia article: Glossary of chess

Leeeena wrote:

Chess
Upon the marble foundation
stood kings of light and dark.
Each towered above their noble men,
each watched from their royal mark.

The queens faced off where they stood,
while the knights mounted their horses.
The bitter players sat on each side
considering their forces.

The bishops were positioned beside the rooks,
the pawns in a line up front.
Up there they would take the attacks,
up there they would take the brunt.

The pieces were arranged in perfect order
the match was about to begin.
The players shook hands, one stone faced
the other with a stretching grin.

The pawns of ivory made their move
while the ebony ones looked on.
And so it went, one piece at a time
until most of them were gone.

There the queens were protecting their kings
before one made a fatal mistake.
With a slash from a knight, the queen was brought down and it left the king to quiver and quake.

The pieces that were left quickly moved in
and the king was pushed to his knees
His crown fell off and rolled away
to the sounds of his dying pleas.

"Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe." ― Indian Proverb

"For beginning chess players, studying a Carlsen game is like wanting to be an electrical engineer and beginning with studying an iPhone." ― Garry Kasparov

"All warfare is based on deception." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Discord

The goddess Discord, having made, on high,
Among the gods a general grapple,
And thence a lawsuit, for an apple,
Was turned out, bag and baggage, from the sky.
The animal called man, with open arms,
Received the goddess of such naughty charms, – Herself and Whether-or-no, her brother,
With Thine-and-mine, her stingy mother.
In this, the lower universe,
Our hemisphere she chose to curse:
For reasons good she did not please
To visit our antipodes –
Folks rude and savage like the beasts,
Who, wedding-free from forms and priests,
In simple tent or leafy bower,
Make little work for such a power.
That she might know exactly where
Her direful aid was in demand,
Renown flew courier through the land,
Reporting each dispute with care;
Then she, outrunning Peace, was quickly there;
And if she found a spark of ire,
Was sure to blow it to a fire.
At length, Renown got out of patience
At random hurrying over the nations,
And, not without good reason, thought
A goddess, like her mistress, ought
To have some fixed and certain home,
To which her customers might come;
For now they often searched in vain.
With due location, it was plain
She might accomplish vastly more,
And more in season than before.
To find, however, the right facilities,
Was harder, then, than now it is;
For then there were no nunneries.

So, Hymen's inn at last assigned,
Thence lodged the goddess to her mind.

The Sun and the Frogs

Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,
The people drowned their care in drink;
While from the general joy did Aesop shrink,
And showed its folly in this way.
"The sun," said he, "once took it in his head
To have a partner for his bed.
From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,
Up rose the wailings of the frogs.
"What shall we do, should he have progeny?"
Said they to Destiny;
"One sun we scarcely can endure,
And half-a-dozen, we are sure,
Will dry the very sea.
Adieu to marsh and fen!
Our race will perish then,
Or be obliged to fix
Their dwelling in the Styx!"
For such an humble animal,
The frog, I take it, reasoned well."

Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters and assorting them for the flames? For by the cart-load they are annually burned. Sometimes from out the folded paper the pale clerk takes a ring: - the finger it was meant for, perhaps, moulders in the grave; a bank-note sent in swiftest charity: - he whom it would relieve, nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of life, these letters speed to death. Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity! — Herman Melville

What is the loudest animal on Earth?
Answer: The sperm whale

What is the tallest breed of dog?
Answer: Great Dane

How many hearts does an octopus have?
Answer: Three

What are the only two mammals that lay eggs?
Answer: Echidna and platypus

What color is a giraffe's tongue?
Answer: Black

How many bones do sharks have?
Answer: Zero!

What is the fear of spiders called?
Answer: Arachnophobia

What is the largest animal on the planet?
Answer: Antarctic Blue Whale

Which animal is the fastest on land?
Answer: Cheetah

While often confused with llamas, what breed of camelid is used for fleece production, while its cousin the llama is not? Answer: Alpaca

What creature with an equine name has no teeth or stomach, mates for life, and is the only species on Earth where the male carries the unborn offspring? Answer: Seahorse

What is the name of the second tallest (standing) bird on the planet? This animal is found only in Australia and is related to the ostrich. Answer: Emu

The largest living lizard can't breathe fire, but it does have a venomous bite that inhibits blood clotting. What creature is this? Answer: Komodo dragon

The Sumatran species of what famously horned mammal officially went extinct in Malaysia in November 2019? The animal is not yet extinct globally as a few dozen live in Indonesia. Answer: Rhino

What does the bat use to navigate and locate its prey? Answer: Echolocation

What is the fastest fish in the ocean that can reach up to 68 MPH? Answer: Sailfish

What is the color of the most poisonous frog in the world? Answer: Yellow

What are male honeybees called?
Answer: Drones

How many compartments do cows have in their stomach? Answer: Four

What are the only birds that can fly backward?
Answer: Hummingbirds

What do you call animals that eat everything (meat, plants and fish)? Answer: Omnivores

What shark is thought to be the largest to have ever lived on Earth? Answer: Megalodon

Besides elephants and rhinoceroses, what other animals are considered pachyderms? Answer: Hippopotamuses

What is the largest land predator?
Answer: Polar bear

What fish is known as a poor man's lobster?
Answer: Monkfish

What is a rhinoceros horn made of?
Answer: Hair

This is the only snake that builds a nest.
Answer: King cobra

Which bird has the largest wingspan?
Answer: Albatross

What was the first animal placed on the endangered species list? Answer: Peregrine falcon

What are rhinoceros horns made of?
Answer: Hair

The age of a lion can be determined by its?
Answer: Nose

What bird cannot move their eyeballs?
Answer: Owls

A group of crows is called what?
Answer: Murder

What kind of creature is a Portuguese Man O' War? Answer: Jellyfish