"Si vis pacem, para bellum" ― Cicero
"Unfortunately, many regard the critic as an enemy, instead of seeing him as a guide to the truth." ― Wilhelm Steinitz
"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." ― Bette Davis
"Chess is a matter of vanity." ― Alexander Alekhine
"As a chess player one has to be able to control one's feelings, one has to be as cold as a machine." ― Levon Aronian
"Sometimes it happens that the computer's assessment is very abstract. It's correct, but it's not useful for a practical game. You have to prove the assessment with very strong moves and if you don't find all of these strong moves you may lose very quickly. For a computer this is not a problem, but for humans it is not so easy." ― Vassily Ivanchuk
"A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit." ― John Milton
"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe
"A sport, a struggle for results and a fight for prizes. I think that the discussion about "chess is science or chess is art" is already inappropriate. The purpose of modern chess is to reach a result." ― Alexander Morozevich
"No one man is superior to the game." ― A. Bartlett Giamatti, in reference to Pete Rose, the all-time MLB hits leader banned for gambling.
"To err is human; to forgive, divine." ― Alexander Pope
"I consider Mr. Morphy the finest chess player who ever existed. He is far superior to any now living, and would doubtless have beaten Labourdonnais himself. In all his games with me, he has not only played, in every instance, the exact move, but the most exact. He never makes a mistake; but, if his adversary commits the slightest error, he is lost." ― Adolf Anderssen
"After white's reply to 1.e4 e5 with 2.f4 the game is in its last throes"
― Howard Staunton
"I have added these principles to the law: get the Knights into action before both Bishops are developed." ― Emanuel Lasker
"With opposite coloured bishops the attacking side has in effect an extra piece in the shape of his bishop." ― Mikhail Botvinnik
"A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom or never make a fortune." ― Francois-Andre Danican Philidor
"Be warned! From Satan's viewpoint you are a pawn in his game of cosmic chess." ― Adrian Rogers
"Pawns not only create the sketch for the whole painting, they are also the soil, the foundation, of any position." ― Anatoly Karpov
"The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him." ― Max Stirner
"It is a profound mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned." ― Richard Reti
"A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover." ― Savielly Tartakower
"Everyone makes mistakes. The wise are not people who never make mistakes, but those who forgive themselves and learn from their mistakes." ― Ajahn Brahm
"As a rule, so-called "positional" sacrifices are considered more difficult, and therefore more praise-worthy, than those which are based exclusively on an exact calculation of tactical possibilities." ― Alexander Alekhine
"It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner of expressing themselves are within the reach of all." ― Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
"The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move."
― David Bronstein
"If the defender is forced to give up the center, then every possible attack follows almost of itself." ― Siegbert Tarrasch
"Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a defenseless and unerudite public." ― Agnes Repplier
"If you watch it, you should watch it with other players and try to find moves, like it was before. Now on many sites you watch together with the computer and the pleasure is gone." ― Boris Gelfand
"I believe that Chess possesses a magic that is also a help in advanced age. A rheumatic knee is forgotten during a game of chess and other events can seem quite unimportant in comparison with a catastrophe on the chessboard."
― Vlastimil Hort
"It's funny, but many people don't understand why I draw so many games nowadays. They think my style must have changed but this is not the case at all. The answer to this drawing disease is that my favorite squares are e6, f7, g7 and h7 and everyone now knows this. They protect these squares not once but four times!" ― Mikhail Tal
"Having spent alarmingly large chunks of my life studying the white side of the Open Sicilian, I find myself asking, why did I bother?" ― Daniel J. King
"Apart from direct mistakes, there is nothing more ruinous than routine play, the aim of which is mechanical development." ― Alexey Suetin
"Not infrequently ... the theoretical is a synonym of the stereotyped. For the 'theoretical' in chess is nothing more than that which can be found in the textbooks and to which players try to conform because they cannot think up anything better or equal, anything original." ― Mikhail Chigorin
"The choice of opening, whether to aim for quiet or risky play, depends not only on the style of a player, but also on the disposition with which he sits down at the board." ― Efim Geller
"Despite the development of chess theory, there is much that remains secret and unexplored in chess." ― Vasily Smyslov
"No matter how much theory progresses, how radically styles change, chess play is inconceivable without tactics." ― Samuel Reshevsky
"Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous."
― Abdelkader El Djezairi
"Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and diligence." ― Abigail Adams
"When I was preparing for one term's work in the Botvinnik school I had to spend a lot of time on king and pawn endings. So when I came to a tricky position in my own games, I knew the winning method." ― Garry Kasparov
"As a rule, pawn endings have a forced character, and they can be worked out conclusively." ― Mark Dvoretsky
"It is a gross overstatement, but in chess, it can be said I play against my opponent over the board and against myself on the clock." ― Viktor Korchnoi
"The fact that the 7 hours time control allows us to play a great deep game is not of great importance for mass-media." ― Alexei Shirov
"For me, each game is a new challenge, which has to be dealt with rationally and systematically. At that time, every other thought fades into oblivion."
― Viswanathan Anand
"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." ― Albert Einstein
"One bad move nullifies forty good ones."
― Israel Albert Horowitz
"It is a well-known phenomenon that the same amateur who can conduct the middle game quite creditably, is usually perfectly helpless in the end game. One of the principal requisites of good chess is the ability to treat both the middle and end game equally well." ― Aron Nimzowitsch
"My hard work and excellent training entitled me to be a better actress than some of my competitors." ― Pola Negri
"Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate."
― Jose Raul Capablanca
"Capablanca used to talk calmly and moderately about everything. However, when our conversation turned to the problems of the battle for the world championship, in front of me was a quite different person: an enraged lion, although with the fervour typical only of a southerner, with his temperamental patter, which made it hard to follow the torrent of his indignant exclamations and words." ― Alexander Koblencs
"A player is said to have the opposition when he can place his King directly in front of the adverse King, with only one square between them. This is often an important advantage in ending games." ― Howard Staunton
"A player can sometimes afford the luxury of an inaccurate move, or even a definite error, in the opening or middlegame without necessarily obtaining a lost position. In the endgame ... an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance." ― Paul Keres
"Never trust a government that doesn't trust its own citizens with guns."
― Benjamin Franklin
"The Soviet Union was an exception, but even there chess players were not rich. Only Fischer changed that." ― Boris Spassky
"Chess never has been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged in to the detriment of other and more serious avocations - should not absorb or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine, but should be kept in the background, and restrained within its proper province. As a mere game, a relaxation from the severe pursuits of life, it is deserving of high commendation." ― Paul Morphy
"Incidentally, when we're faced with a "prove or disprove," we're usually better off trying first to disprove with a counterexample, for two reasons: A disproof is potentially easier (we need just one counterexample); and nitpicking arouses our creative juices. Even if the given assertion is true, our search for a counterexample often leads to a proof, as soon as we see why a counterexample is impossible. Besides, it's healthy to be skeptical." ― Ronald Graham
"Attackers may sometimes regret bad movez, but it's much worse to forever regret an opportunity you allowed to pass you by." ― Garry Kasparov
"Even the laziest king flees wildly in the face of a double check."
― Aron Nimzowitzch
"When you see a good move – WAIT! – look for a better one." ― Emanuel Lasker
The Portuguese chess player and author Pedro Damiano (1480–1544) first wrote this in his book "Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti" published in Rome, Italy, in 1512.
Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
"Winning is about commitment, discipline, hard work, dedication, determination, courage and sometimes even luck!" ― Susan Polgar
"Every defeat is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes! Every victory is a confirmation of our hard work!" ― Susan Polgar
"A chess player uses his/her knowledge to prepare for next game while a passionate coach preparez for next generation!" ― Susan Polgar
French Proverb: "Ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire la grimace." ― (There's no substitute for experience.)
HACKED!
* Brilliant (and mostly famous)! Game Collection: Brilliant Miniatures
* Blackburne strikes! games annotated by Blackburne
* Brutal Attacking Chess: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess
* Bishop's Opening Miniatures: https://www.chessonly.com/bishop-op...
* Bowman's Beginner's Guide:
http://chess.jliptrap.us/BowmanBegi...
Not perfect but dedicated, passionate.
* Capablanca's Double Attack — having the initiative is important: https://lichess.org/study/tzrisL1R
* Checkmate brevities: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate
* Giannis says: https://www.suffernchessclub.com/se...
* PGN Language Conversion: http://www.code.gr/chess-converter/...
* Red States: https://www.redhotpawn.com/
* Simple tactics course using miniatures:
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/x/FTP...
* Short Match: Game Collection: Match Short-Karjakin
* Today's Titans: search "Sergey Karjakin vs Magnus Carlsen"
* Tim's list of records: https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/record...
* Loser: User: ljfyffe
* Same Loser: User: Larryfyffe
* Predator On-line: https://www.bustedmugshots.com/ohio...
* Dec-12-20 MissScarlett: My advice to <acapo> is to close the pop-up ads by clicking on the little <x> in the top right corner.
Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves.
~ Scottish Proverb
* Basic Rules: https://thechessworld.com/basic-che...
* Attack and Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-...
* 10 Tips: https://www.uschess.org/index.php/L...
* 10 Crazy Gambits: https://www.chess.com/blog/yola6655...
* 25 Opening Traps: https://www.chess.com/blog/ChessLor...
* B23-B25: Game Collection: Sicilian Closed / Grand Prix Attack
* 50 Soviet Attacks: Game Collection: Chernev: The Russians Play Chess
* 150 Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH4...
* 700+ games of QGD D06: Queen's Gambit Declined (D06)
* 2008 POTD: Game Collection: Puzzle of the Day 2008
* 2012-2015 Attacks: Game Collection: 2012-2015 Attacking Games (Naiditsch/Balogh)
* 2016 Stunners: Game Collection: 2016 Stunning Victories (Naiditsch/Balogh/Maze)
* Best Games of 2018: Game Collection: Best Games of 2018
* Be aggressive! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFl...
* Checkmate patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns
* Basics of the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8a...
* Brief Caro-Kann Defense Variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ-...
* Black stops losing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgX...
* Use the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtP...
* Three Caro-Kann Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNp...
* The Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3H...
* Beat the Caro-Kann Quickly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhj...
* Crush the Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXv...
* The Caro-Kann, Advance Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npq...
* Gokerkan vs Niemann 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gw...
* Classical Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA1...
* Main Ideas of the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pN...
* Magnus plays the Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDa...
* Karpov's Caro-Kann Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa4...
* ...c6 against all by Hansen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCZ...
* ...c6 speedrun by Hansen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDU...
* Dangerous Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI_...
* C-K Advance, Botvinnik-Carls Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWb...
* Caro-Kann, Fantasy Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4e...
* Caro-Kann, Korchnoi Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF3...
* Complete Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZ...
* Instructive Caro-Kann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLp...
* Intro to FRC: https://www.chessable.com/blog/an-i...
* Glossary: Wikipedia article: Glossary of chess
* Funny moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mx...
* Tactical Motifs: https://chesstempo.com/tactical-mot...
* Bill Wall miniatures: Bill Wall
* Puzzles: Tactics Archive
* Play for free: https://www.freechess.org/
* Short and Quick:
Game Collection: SHORT AND QUICK
* How to Play Chess! http://www.serverchess.com/play.htm...
* Capablanca's Double Attack — having the initiative is important: https://lichess.org/study/tzrisL1R
* Chess in old newspapers: https://www.schach-chess.com/chess-...
* Caviar: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
* C21-C22 miniatures: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...
* Center Fork Trick is very common: https://lichess.org/study/tzrisL1R
* Checkmate patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns
* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games:
Game Collection: Chessmaster '86
* ChessCafe.com column, The Openings Explained: Abby Marshall
* Chess Links: http://www.chessdryad.com/links/ind...
* Common Checkmate Patterns:
http://gambiter.com/chess/Checkmate...
* Chess Hotel: https://www.chesshotel.com/
* Cats: Game Collection: Catalan Opening I
* Lekhika Dhariyal Chess Ops: https://www.zupee.com/blog/category...
* Danish treats: Game Collection: 200 Miniature Games of Chess - Du Mont (I)
* Double attack: Game Collection: DOUBLE ATTACK
* 4 Miniz: zPonziani, zKieseritzky, zPhilidor, zFrankenstein-Dracula: z
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76c...
* Free play: https://poki.com/en/chess?campaign=...
* Fischer's Brilliance: https://www.chesspuzzler.com/Histor...
* Gain space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ7...
* Glossary of Chess Terms: http://www.arkangles.com/kchess/glo...
* Aggressive Gambits: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...
* Artful Mates: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate
* Arjun Awakens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toK...
* Unleash the Knight: https://cardclashgames.com/blog/che...
* KP Beauties: Game Collection: Beautiful mates
* Morphy Miniatures:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...
* MC Move-by-Move: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)
* Neon Moon, smooth and easy: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Neon+...
* Puzzling: https://www.365chess.com/puzzles.php
* Roger that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9S...
"The only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution" ― Daniil Dubov
https://en.chessbase.com/post/dubov...
* Steinitz Attack: Game Collection: STEINITZ ATTACK
* Tactical Mix: Game Collection: mastering Tactical ideas by minev
* The Best of... Game Collection: World Champions' Best Games
* Fischer Random: https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...
* FM Schiller disagrees: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
* GPA: https://chesstier.com/grand-prix-at...
* Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz):
Game Collection: Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz)
* Greatest Hits: Game Collection: Mammoth Book-Greatest Games (Nunn/Burgess/Emms)
* 62 Masterpieces: Game Collection: Instructive Games (Chernev)
* Murder by Email: Brendan Searson
* Play whatever you like: Opening Explorer
* J Gambit for Black: Opening Explorer
* Suba's book: Game Collection: The Hedgehog by Mihai Suba
* Almost like giving odds: Opening Explorer
* Jaenisch Gambit: Opening Explorer
* Jambalaya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzj...
* James' Jedi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ta...
* GM Perelshteyn teaches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq3...
* Prizes: Game Collection: Brilliancy Prizes (Reinfeld)
* Reasonable book choices: https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell...
* Rubinstein: Game Collection: Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces
* Random Zs: Game Collection: ZHVNE
* Secrets of Combination: Game Collection: Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume II
* tacticmania - Game Collection: tacticmania
* Top Chessgames by ECO Code: http://schachsinn.de/gamelist.htm
* The Unthinkable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9z...
* Will Power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9S...
* Wonders and Curiosities: Game Collection: Wonders and Curiosities of Chess (Chernev)
* 960Chess: https://lichess.org/variant/chess960
* 1967: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PiFW...
* Z Vol 105: Game Collection: 0ZeR0's collected games volume 105
* Mr. Harvey's Puzzle Challenge: https://wtharvey.com/
WTHarvey:
There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles did daily delay,
The brain-teasers so tough,
They made us all huff and puff,
But solving them brought us great satisfaction today.
There once was a website named WTHarvey
Where chess puzzles were quite aplenty
With knight and rook and pawn
You'll sharpen your brain with a yawn
And become a master of chess entry
There once was a site for chess fun,
Wtharvey.com was the chosen one,
With puzzles galore,
It'll keep you in store,
For hours of brain-teasing, none done.
There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles were posted daily,
You'd solve them with glee,
And in victory,
You'd feel like a true chess prodigy!
"Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands." ― Renaud & Kahn
"Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self-image and self-esteem." ― Saudin Robovic
"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe
"Life is like a chess. If you lose your queen, you will probably lose the game." ― Being Caballero
"If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure." — Garry Kasparov
"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some." — Dale Earnhardt
"In life, unlike chess the game continues after checkmate." ― Isaac Asimov
"Stick a fork in him. He's done." ― Leo Durocher
"The pin is mightier than the sword." ― Fred Reinfield
"A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it." ― Wilhelm Steinitz
"As day is to a sword, night is to a shield." ― Anthony Liccione
New Hampshire: Dover
Established in: 1623
Dover was originally settled in 1623 by fishermen and traders. Dover is the seventh oldest settlement in the United States. It was once known as Northam, and in 1692, Northam became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Cocheco River in Dover was the first place water power was used, when a sawmill was built in 1642.
* Chess History: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ch...
* Chess History: https://www.uschesstrust.org/chess-...
* World Chess Championship History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkO...
* Magnus Carlsen's 5 tips for beginners: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...
The Kings of Chess: A History of Chess, Traced Through the Lives of Its Greatest Players by William Hartston
William Hartson traces the development of the game from its Oriental origins to the present day through the lives of its greatest exponents - men like Howard Staunton, who transformed what had been a genteel pastime into a competitive science; the brilliant American Paul Morphy, who once played a dozen simultaneous games blindfold; the arrogant and certified insane Wilhelm Steinitz; the philosopher and mathematician Emanual Lasker; Bobby Fischer, perhaps the most brilliant and eccentric of them all; and many other highly gifted individuals. Hartson depicts all their colorful variety with a wealth of rare illustrations.
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 006015358X
ISBN13: 9780060153588
Release Date: January 1985
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Length: 192 Pages
Weight: 1.80 lbs.
Кто не рискует, тот не пьет шампанского
Pronunciation: KTOH ni risKUyet, tot ni pyot shamPANSkava)
Translation: He who doesn't take risks doesn't drink champagne
Meaning: Fortune favours the brave
"Tal has a terrifying style. Soon even grandmasters will know of this."
- Vladimir Saigin (after losing to 17-year-old Tal in a qualifying match for the master title)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5S...
"I like to grasp the initiative and not give my opponent peace of mind."
— Mikhail Tal
<poem by B.H. Wood which appeared in the following issues of the Chess Amateur: March 1930 (page 127).
The Chess Cafe III – The Spectator
Quiet in the corner sitting, not a word
He utters, but, his eyes glued on their board,
Where in oblivion the players brood,
He spends his lifetime's dearest hours.
His food
Is cold, his lighted pipe goes slowly out ….
Yet when the game ends, when they talk about
Its ins and outs, its characteristic twist,
He's seen that winning line a master missed!
You ask him for a game – ‘I never play
Myself – hardly a game a year', he'll say.>
Cash or Credit?
John-Shepherd Barron is credited with inventing the first fully-functional ATM (Automated Teller Machine). The first ATM was installed on June 27, 1967, for Barclays Bank in Enfield Town, London. The maximum withdrawal allowed was £10. Today, ATMs are just around the corner in most modern towns.
The Fly and the Ant
A fly and ant, on a sunny bank,
Discussed the question of their rank.
"O Jupiter!" the former said,
"Can love of self so turn the head,
That one so mean and crawling,
And of so low a calling,
To boast equality shall dare
With me, the daughter of the air?
In palaces I am a guest,
And even at your glorious feast.
Whenever the people that adore you
May immolate for you a bullock,
I'm sure to taste the meat before you.
Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock,
Is living on some bit of straw
Which she has laboured home to draw.
But tell me now, my little thing,
Do you camp ever on a king,
An emperor, or lady?
I do, and have full many a play-day
On fairest bosom of the fair,
And sport myself on her hair.
Come now, my hearty, rack your brain
To make a case about your grain."
"Well, have you done?" replied the ant.
"You enter palaces, I grant,
And for it get right soundly cursed.
Of sacrifices, rich and fat,
Your taste, quite likely, is the first; –
Are they the better off for that?
You enter with the holy train;
So enters many a wretch profane.
On heads of kings and asses you may squat;
Deny your vaunting I will not;
But well such impudence, I know,
Provokes a sometimes fatal blow.
The name in which your vanity delights
Is owned as well by parasites,
And spies that die by ropes – as you soon will
By famine or by ague-chill,
When Phoebus goes to cheer
The other hemisphere, –
The very time to me most dear.
Not forced abroad to go
Through wind, and rain, and snow,
My summer's work I then enjoy,
And happily my mind employ,
From care by care exempted.
By which this truth I leave to you,
That by two sorts of glory we are tempted,
The false one and the true.
Work waits, time flies; adieu:
This gabble does not fill
My granary or till."
This poem is dedicated to all Caissa's members
who understand that chess is but a game.
Chess is but a Game
As he secretly rode his knight out of the castle's gate,
still believing that he could escape this inevitable fate,
the sky broke open with an array of incredible light.
and there smitten to the earth lay nova under his knight.
I am who I am and always am, spoke this thundering voice
and you, my friend nova, do not at all have another choice
but to go forth south and north, west and east
loudly proclaiming the good Word to man and beast.
Thus beset by the compelling voice from the broken sky
nova set about explaining through the word the how and why.
He travelled north and south, west and east never losing aim
to let all Caissa's members know: chess is but a game.
The Cloud
By Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.
I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers,
Lightning my pilot sits;
In a cavern under is fettered the thunder,
It struggles and howls at fits;
Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,
Lured by the love of the genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;
Over the rills, and the crags, and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,
Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The Spirit he loves remains;
And I all the while bask in Heaven's blue smile,
Whilst he is dissolving in rains.
The sanguine Sunrise, with his meteor eyes,
And his burning plumes outspread,
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,
When the morning star shines dead;
As on the jag of a mountain crag,
Which an earthquake rocks and swings,
An eagle alit one moment may sit
In the light of its golden wings.
And when Sunset may breathe, from the lit sea beneath,
Its ardours of rest and of love,
And the crimson pall of eve may fall
From the depth of Heaven above,
With wings folded I rest, on mine aëry nest,
As still as a brooding dove.
That orbèd maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the Moon,
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof,
The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till calm the rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.
I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone,
And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl;
The volcanoes are dim, and the stars reel and swim,
When the whirlwinds my banner unfurl.
From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape,
Over a torrent sea,
Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof,
The mountains its columns be.
The triumphal arch through which I march
With hurricane, fire, and snow,
When the Powers of the air are chained to my chair,
Is the million-coloured bow;
The sphere-fire above its soft colours wove,
While the moist Earth was laughing below.
I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain when with never a stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise and unbuild it again.
The longest wedding veil was the same length as 63.5 football fields.
When Maria Paraskeva, a woman from Cyprus, got married in August 2018, her goal wasn't just to say "I do." She was also determined to set a record.
"My dream as a child has always been to break the Guinness World Record title for the longest wedding veil," she explained. She fulfilled her dream by wearing a lace veil that stretched 22,843 feet and 2.11 inches, or as long as 63.5 football fields.
InkHarted wrote:
Checkmate.
I started off as an equal
I have everything that they do
my life was one and the same as my foe
childish battles of lesser
I won baring cost of a little
but as time outgrew my conscience
I found that the pieces were moving against me
with time my company reduced
they left one by one
all in time forgetting me
my castles collapsed
my religion dissuaded
my protectors in hiding
I could not run anymore
I have been cornered to a wall
as the queen left silently
without saying goodbye
I could not live any longer
she was most precious to me
I could not win without her by my side
so the king knelt down and died.
"Everyone should know how to play chess." — José Raúl Capablanca
Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
'Finders keepers, losers weepers'
No, turn it over to Lost and Found.
Drive sober or get pulled over.
"For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." — Assiac
Once I asked Pillsbury whether he used any formula for castling. He said his rule was absolute and vital: castle because you will or because you must; but not because you can.' — W.E. Napier (1881-1952)
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.
* Weird is what you're not used to: https://chessentials.com/weird-ches...
<limerick, entitled ‘The Solver's Plight' was by ‘A.J.F.' A.J. Fink and was published on page 22 of Chess Potpourri by Alfred C. Klahre (Middletown, 1931):
There was a man from Vancouver
Who tried to solve a two-mover;
But the boob, he said, ‘"Gee",
I can't find the "Kee",
No matter HOW I manouvre.'>
"Chess is the gymnasium of the mind." — Blasie Pascal
"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess
So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.
In God we trust; all others pay cash. ~ American Proverb
Trusting in wealth is like looking for feathers on turtles. ~ Senegalese Proverb
<A Burnt Ship
By John Donne (1572-1631)
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.>
Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 28, 2023 from 1:00AM through 1:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
An Irish Blessing:
May we all feel…
happy and contented,
healthy and strong,
safe and protected
and living with ease…
~
<"Every time I coach people, I <emphasize> the following key concepts:
^Develop your pieces at the beginning of the game (Extremely underrated by beginners)
^Control the center (Chess pieces control a lot more squares from the center of the board)
^Make sure your king is safer than the opponent's
Every opening in chess is based on these fundamental principles. Thus, if you can understand such concepts and put them into practice, your chess strength will skyrocket!" ― IM Luis Torres>
> Protect your pieces. Loose Pieces Drop Off. Your middlegame position generally tends to be in good standing as long as you have a grip on the center, the king is castled and rooks connected, your pieces are active, and you don't drop material. Know all the possible ways of responding to a threat of capture.<
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER
"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'.>
"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
Q: How do poets say hello?
A: "Hey, haven't we metaphor?"
Thank you Qindarka!
Q: What do you call a cow jumping on a trampoline?
A: A milkshake.
'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
Capitonyms are words which change their meaning if the first letter is capitalized. For example: Turkey (the country) and turkey (the bird).
High Flight
BY JOHN GILLESPIE MAGEE JR.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
"No one has ever won a game of chess by taking only forward moves (What about Scholar's Mate?). Sometimes you have to move backwards in order to be able to take better steps forward. That is life." — Anonymous
Drive sober or get pulled over.
"For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." — Assiac
"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
― Thomas Jefferson, chess player
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
― Mahatma Gandhi
You can't make bricks without straw
You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
You can't take it with you when you die
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
You can't judge a book by its cover
You can't win them all
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
You pays your money and you takes your choice
You reap what you sow
You win some, you lose some
Youth is wasted on the young
The Camel and the Floating Sticks
The first who saw the humpbacked camel
Fled off for life; the next approached with care;
The third with tyrant rope did boldly dare
The desert wanderer to trammel.
Such is the power of use to change
The face of objects new and strange;
Which grow, by looking at, so tame,
They do not even seem the same.
And since this theme is up for our attention,
A certain watchman I will mention,
Who, seeing something far
Away on the ocean,
Could not but speak his notion
That It was a ship of war.
Some minutes more had past, –
A bomb-ketch It was without a sail,
And then a boat, and then a bale,
And floating sticks of wood at last!
Full many things on earth, I wot,
Will claim this tale, – and well they may;
They're something dreadful far away,
But near at hand – they're not.
"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
Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 28, 2023 from 1:00AM through 1:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
<"Sestrilla, hafelina
Jue amourasestrilla
Awou jue selaviena
En patre jue
Translation:
Beloved one, little cat
I love you for all time
In this time
And all others"
― Christine Feehan>
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
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.
"A God you understood would be less than yourself." ― Flannery O'Connor
Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
* Red States: https://www.redhotpawn.com/
* 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
FACTRETRIEVER: Even though dragonflies have six legs, they cannot walk.
'A stitch in time saves nine'
"You can't hold with the hare and run with the hounds."
The Wolf and the Hunter
You lust of gain, – foul fiend, whose evil eyes
Regard as nothing the blessings of the skies,
Must I for ever battle you in vain?
How long demandest you to gain
The meaning of my lessons plain?
Will constant getting never cloy?
Will man never slacken to enjoy?
Haste, friend; you have not long to live:
Let me the precious word repeat,
And listen to it, I entreat;
A richer lesson none can give –
The sovereign antidote for sorrow –
ENJOY! – 'I will." – But when? – 'Tomorrow. – "
Ah! death may take you on the way,
Why not enjoy, I ask, today?
Lest envious fate your hopes ingulf,
As once it served the hunter and the wolf.
The former, with his fatal bow,
A noble deer had laid full low:
A fawn approached, and quickly lay
Companion of the dead,
For side by side they bled.
Could one have wished a richer prey?
Such luck had been enough to sate
A hunter wise and moderate.
Meantime a boar, as big as ever was taken,
Our archer tempted, proud, and fond of bacon.
Another candidate for Styx,
Struck by his arrow, foams and kicks.
But strangely do the shears of Fate
To cut his cable hesitate.
Alive, yet dying, there he lies,
A glorious and a dangerous prize.
And was not this enough? Not quite,
To fill a conqueror's appetite;
For, before the boar was dead, he spied
A partridge by a furrow's side –
A trifle to his other game.
Once more his bow he drew;
The desperate boar on him came,
And in his dying vengeance slew:
The partridge thanked him as she flew.
Thus much is to the covetous addressed;
The miserly shall have the rest.
A wolf, in passing, saw that woeful sight.
"O Fortune," cried the savage, with delight,
"A fane to you I'll build outright!
"Four carcasses! how rich! But spare –
"I'll make them last – such luck is rare,"
(The miser's everlasting plea.)
"They'll last a month for – let me see –
One, two, three, four – the weeks are four
If I can count – and some days more.
Well, two days from now
And I'll commence.
Meantime, the string on this bow
I'll stint myself to eat;
For by its mutton-smell I know
It's made of entrails sweet."
His entrails rued the fatal weapon,
Which, while he heedlessly did step on,
The arrow pierced his bowels deep,
And laid him lifeless on the heap.
Hark, stingy souls! insatiate leeches!
Our text this solemn duty teaches, –
Enjoy the present; do not wait
To share the wolf's or hunter's fate.
"The wind cannot defeat a tree with strong roots." — The Revenant
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor." — Seneca
"The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back." ― Abigail Van Buren
<* Book: Game Collection: From Shenk's The Immortal Game
From Shenk's The Immortal Game
Compiled by angelbeck
--*--
The five games provided in full in David Shenk's great history and exploration of chess, including Anderssen and Kieseritzky's "Immortal Game," which is depicted move by move.
"The Immortal Game"
Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851
(C33) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0
Fischer's "Game of the Century"
D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956
(D92) Grunfeld, 5.Bf4, 41 moves, 0-1
Morphy's "Opera Game"
Morphy vs Duke Karl / Count Isouard, 1858
(C41) Philidor Defense, 17 moves, 1-0
Steinitz's "Battle of Hastings"
Steinitz vs von Bardeleben, 1895
(C54) Giuoco Piano, 25 moves, 1-0
Rubinstein's "Polish Brilliancy"
Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907
(D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 27 moves, 0-1
"One of Kasparov's Finest"
Karpov vs Kasparov, 1993
(E86) King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.Nge2 c6, 27 moves, 0-1>
Q: How do you know which cow is the best dancer?
A: See which one has the best moo-ves.
Thank you, Qinkdarka!
Q: What does the cow band play?
A: Moo-sic!
slaw1998: In my spine there sends a shiver
When a player sends his pieces up the river
Into loose en prise encapture, enrapture,
Does it to my heart receive it well
Yet other players bring me down
Their defense sends my attack the other way around
And Tal and others would be quite displeased
Like I, to have the attack no hope of being released
So I'll go on shedding pieces
With combos, like a magic stall,
And hope that some day
I can beat them all.
"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves" — J.M. Barrie (1860 - 1937)
A man who spent his life delighting the masses with his words, perfectly understood that you reap what you sow, and that when we make other people happy, we often find happiness ourselves.
"Whatever you are doing in the game of life, give it all you've got."
— Norman Vincent Peale
"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows." — Ralph Marston
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.
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.
"The great thing about chess is it's a game for oneself. You don't work on what you can't control, you just work on yourself. And I think if more people did that, we'd all be a lot better off." — Daniel Naroditsky
<Writing from his experience of the devastation of World War I, Edwardian poet Alfred Noyes' well-known "On the Western Front" speaks from the perspective of soldiers buried in graves marked by simple crosses, asking that their deaths not be in vain. Praise of the dead was not what the dead needed, but peace made by the living. An excerpt:
We, who lie here, have nothing more to pray.
To all your praises we are deaf and blind.
We may not ever know if you betray
Our hope, to make earth better for mankind.>
"Rooks need each other in the middlegame. This is why one should keep their rooks connected until the opposing queen is off the board. She'll snare 'em (usually from a centralized square on an open diagonal or perhaps a poisoned pawn approach of the unprotected b2/b7 and g2/g7 square next to the occupied corner) if the two rooks aren't protecting each other." ― Fredthebear
"In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics, you get shortsighted; if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end." ― Tom Seaver
"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
— Aristotle
"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." — Ancient Chinese Proverb
This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!
― Fort Minor
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'.
Chessgames.com will be unavailable August 28, 2023 from 1:00AM through 1:30AM(UTC/GMT) for maintenance.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.
"A God you understood would be less than yourself." ― Flannery O'Connor
Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
* Red States: https://www.redhotpawn.com/
* 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
FACTRETRIEVER: Even though dragonflies have six legs, they cannot walk.
'A stitch in time saves nine'
"You can't hold with the hare and run with the hounds."
Q: How do you know which cow is the best dancer?
A: See which one has the best moo-ves.
Thank you, Qinkdarka!
Q: What does the cow band play?
A: Moo-sic!
This poem is dedicated to all Caissa's members
who understand that chess is but a game.
Chess is but a Game
As he secretly rode his knight out of the castle's gate,
still believing that he could escape this inevitable fate,
the sky broke open with an array of incredible light.
and there smitten to the earth lay nova under his knight.
I am who I am and always am, spoke this thundering voice
and you, my friend nova, do not at all have another choice
but to go forth south and north, west and east
loudly proclaiming the good Word to man and beast.
Thus beset by the compelling voice from the broken sky
nova set about explaining through the word the how and why.
He travelled north and south, west and east never losing aim
to let all Caissa's members know: chess is but a game.
"There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world."
― Pierre Mac Orlan
"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." ― Bobby Fischer
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!
Zhavaed Haemaed wrote:
Zugzwang
My little game of Chess
That I played, with you
Making subtle moves
Hinting all too softly
Allowing impasses
Offering a pawn
Renouncing knights
Denouncing a bishop
Even giving up my Queen
That trying game of Chess
It appears, has come to a stale
Without one word spoken, without
An idea or intellect having being shared
My dear, I have not tried hard enough, and
I shall never be the wiser for not having made a move
"We do not remember days, we remember moments." ― Cesare Pavese
"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
<There are distinct situations where a bishop is preferred (over a knight). For example, two bishops are better than two knights or one of each. Steven Mayer, the author of Bishop Versus Knight, contends, "A pair of bishops is usually considered to be worth six points, but common sense suggests that a pair of active bishops (that are very involved in the formation) must be accorded a value of almost nine under some circumstances." This is especially true if the player can plant the bishops in the center of the board, as two bishops working in tandem can span up to 26 squares and have the capacity to touch every square.
Bishops are also preferable to knights when queens have been exchanged because, Grandmaster Sergey Erenburg, who is ranked 11th in the U.S., explains, "Bishops and rooks complement each other, and when well-coordinated, act as a queen." Conversely, a knight is the preferred minor piece when the queen survives until the late-middlegame or the endgame. Mayer explains, "The queen and knight are able to work together smoothly and create a greater number of threats than the queen and bishop."
When forced to say one is better than the other, most anoint the bishop. Mayer concludes, "I think it's true that the bishops are better than the knights in a wider variety of positions than the knights are better than the bishops."
He continues, "Of course, I'm not sure this does us much good, as we only get to play one position at a time.">
* 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"
Anne Boleyn Thought She Caught the Prize in King Henry the 8th
by PinkFaerie5
Anne Boleyn, you set your sights high, you deviously bold sly fox
Your interest was the end of Catherine's head and locks
Mary was declared a bastard, Henry the Eighth's wife slain.
You were singing prettily through this torment, a refrain.
Anne Boleyn, you enticed a dangerous king, indeed.
Henry the Eighth, who smashed wives like a mustard seed.
You thought you would give him sons but alas, it did not happen.
So now here you are in the tower, being visited by a chaplain.
Anne Boleyn, your three years as a queen was not a record.
Although Henry's next wife Jane will not last assured Sir Rutherford.
All of Catherine's sons died in infancy, and you were beheaded too.
Your French fashions and pretty singing voice could not save the likes of you.
* Riddle-e-dee: https://chessimprover.com/chess-rid...
"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.
Z is for Zaccheus
Zaccheus was a wee little man,
And a wee little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see.
And when the Savior passed that way
He looked up in the tree.
And he said, "Zaccheus, you come down!
For I'm going to your house today!
For I'm going to your house today!"
Zaccheus was a wee little man,
But a happy man was he.
For he had seen the Lord that day,
And a happy man was he.
And a very happy man was he!
Zirconium Zr 40 91.22 1.4