Compiled by stacpoole (61 games)

"Life is like a game of chess. To win you need to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with insight and knowledge and by learning the lessons that are accumulated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called LIFE." — Alan Rufus

"No one has ever won a game of chess by taking only forward moves. (Ever heard of Scholar's Mate?) Sometimes you have to move backwards in order to be able to take better steps forward. That is life." — Anonymous

"For him chess was his life. Without the game he could not exist." — Engelina Tal (on her late husband Mikhail)

"The man who has proved that you can reach the top and remain human." — Mikhail Tal (on who his chess hero was)

"My head is full of sunshine." — Mikhail Tal

"I couldn't make myself dislike him." — Mikhail Botvinnik (on Tal)

"Fischer is like Zeus; he is the God of the gods." — Nigel Short

"Playing with less space is one of the hardest things to do in chess." – IM John Watson

* General tips have exceptions: https://academicchess.com/worksheet...

* All Openings: Game Collection: Chess Openings: Theory and Practice, Section 1

* Beat the QGD Exchange: Game Collection: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation

* QGD, Vienna: Game Collection: QGD: Vienna

* Black Victories: Game Collection: Dutch defense Hopton attack

* Beauty Prizes
Game Collection: Les Prix de Beauté aux Echecs (I)

* Chess Terms: https://chessmart.com/pages/chess-t...

* Double B sacrifices: Game Collection: Double Bishop Sacrifices (dedicated to Anatoly K

* Evolution: Game Collection: # Chess Evolution Volumes 51-100

* FIDE Laws of Chess: https://rcc.fide.com/2023-laws-of-c...

* Fine's Passion: Game Collection: Passion for Chess (Fine)

* Forney's Collection: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Fred Reinfeld could've written this if only they had cell phones back when: https://socialself.com/blog/how-to-...

* KG Video: Game Collection: Foxy Openings - King's Gambit

* Lasker's Best: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

* Lasker Matters: Game Collection: Why Lasker Matters by Andrew Soltis

* Morphy pounds Philidor's Defense: Game Collection: White - Philidor: Morphy

* Old P-K4 Miniatures: Game Collection: Games for Classes

* Play Stockfish 1-10: https://labinatorsolutions.github.i...

* Russians - Chernev: Game Collection: The Russians Play Chess by Irving Chernev

* Shirov miniatures: Game Collection: Shirov miniatures

* Smyslov Brevities: Game Collection: Smyslov brevities

* SMG Miniatures: Game Collection: Brrilant ideas

* Tactics Explained: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* ILemonT said wow! Game Collection: wow!!

* Wonders and Curiosities: Game Collection: Wonders and Curiosities of Chess (Chernev)

* GoY's 40 Favs: Game Collection: GoY's favorite games

NIÑO GENIO nos da UNO de los MEJORES MOMENTOS de la HISTORIA del AJEDREZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ps...

"Dancing Queen" by ABBA (1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFr...

New Best Game of 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Q...

"Bloody Mary": https://www.historyhit.com/facts-ab...

"I prefer to lose a really good game than to win a bad one." — David Levy

"A bad plan is better than none at all." — Frank Marshal

The Cat, the Weasel, and the Young Rabbit

John Rabbit's palace under ground
Was once by Goody Weasel found.
She, sly of heart, resolved to seize
The place, and did so at her ease.
She took possession while its lord
Was absent on the dewy sward,
Intent on his usual sport,
A courtier at Aurora's court.
When he had browsed his fill of clover
And cut his pranks all nicely over,
Home Johnny came to take his drowse,
All snug within his cellar-house.
The weasel's nose he came to see,
Outsticking through the open door.
"You gods of hospitality!"
Exclaimed the creature, vexed sore,
"Must I give up my father's lodge?
Ho! Madam Weasel, please to budge,
Or, quicker than a weasel's dodge,
I'll call the rats to pay their grudge!"
The sharp-nosed lady made reply,
That she was first to occupy.
The cause of war was surely small –
A house where one could only crawl!
And though it were a vast domain,
Said she, "I had like to know what will
Could grant to John perpetual reign, –
The son of Peter or of Bill, –
More than to Paul, or even me."
John Rabbit spoke – great lawyer he –
Of custom, usage, as the law,
Whereby the house, from sire to son,
As well as all its store of straw,
From Peter came at length to John.
Who could present a claim, so good
As he, the first possessor, could?
"Now," said the dame, "let's drop dispute,
And go before Raminagrobis, 23
Who'll judge, not only in this suit,
But tell us truly whose the globe is."
This person was a hermit cat,
A cat that played the hypocrite,
A saintly mouser, sleek and fat,
An arbiter of keenest wit.
John Rabbit in the judge concurred,
And off went both their case to broach
Before his majesty, the furred.
Said Clapperclaw, "My kits, approach,
And put your noses to my ears:
I'm deaf, almost, by weight of years."
And so they did, not fearing anything.
The good apostle, Clapperclaw,
Then laid on each a well-armed paw,
And both to an agreement brought,
By virtue of his tusked jaw.

This brings to mind the fate
Of little kings before the great.

1 Corinthians 13
King James Version

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

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.

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." — Nelson Mandela

"It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another." — George MacDonald

Canine concerns
A poodle and a collie are walking together when the poodle suddenly unloads on his friend. "My life is a mess," he says. "My owner is mean, my girlfriend ran away with a schnauzer and I'm as jittery as a cat."

"Why don't you go see a psychiatrist?" suggests the collie.

"I can't," says the poodle. "I'm not allowed on the couch."

— Submitted by L.B. Weinstein