Games from the Chessbase Fritz Trainer DVD presented by GM Nigel Davies.

Sicilian 2.Na3 sure is a bit out there, but it does develop a piece for redeployment!? However, I've always had the philosophy of playing less-than-best lines at the club to camouflage my preferred, well-rehearsed repertoire for clutch tournament games. (If I should lose at the club, simply shrug off the blame on the opening, or my lack of experience/detailed knowledge of it and look forward to the next game. No obsessing over a loss when playing less familiar fringe openings.) I also like to play a whacky zinger in the first round of a rated tournament against a lower rated player, and in the last round if I'm not in the money. So, yes, I have a strong tendency to play "up" or "down" to the particular situation that fits my taste for multiple openings.

Furthermore, I generally tend to play 1.e4 during even years only (although I'll play the Four Knights against youth at anytime for their developmental benefit) and give 1.e4 a rest during odd years. For the odd years, I switch over to the English/Queen's Gambit, the Trompowsky-Hodgson, or Reti/KIA. This switch takes place in the spring, as I don't like to make the leap during the busy winter holidays, which has an important well-attended tournament scheduled for the New Year -- no time to make a change. This calendar planned change-over, like a factory shift change, allows me some controlled variety without abandoning years of preparation and pet lines which are not worn out from over exposure!

It was common for world-record holder George Koltanowski to open 1.d4, 1.e4, with a few 1.f4, and 1.g4 games during the same blindfold simultaneous exhibition. The variety helped him to recall the various positions, for too many similar positions from the same opening approach was most difficult to keep separated in his mind.

So, for me it's 1.e4 on even years (with a plethora of choices therein). Then something else (non-e4) on odd years, with the occasional maligned gambit whenever and wherever to make 'em think I'm half-crazy. Frankly, my regular sparring partners and rivals are thankful I don't always play the same worn out lines year after year after year.

"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

* 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/...

* 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...

Q: What did Blackbeard say when he turned 80?
A: "Aye, matey."

"The chess heroes nowadays should not forget that it was owing to Fischer that they are living today in four- and five-star hotels, getting appearance fees, etc." ― Lev Khariton

Q: What's the most terrifying word in nuclear physics? A: "Oops!"

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.

"....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

<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.">

Oct-27-23
TimmyDurty: Hi, I am new here. I paid for the premium subscription but am still receiving ads and pop ups every time I do something. Is there something I need to do to stop these ads??? Thank you! Best, Tim Oct-27-23
MissScarlett: Click on Prefs in the top left banner, select <Do not display 3rd party ads> and see what happens.

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

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

"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

* Riddle-xp-die: https://www.briddles.com/riddles/ch...

Ancient Sumer: The world's oldest riddle
Even 4,000 years ago, people tested one another's critical thinking skills with riddles and logic puzzles. This ancient civilization, located in what is today the country of Iraq, left us with one of the earliest known examples of a written riddle. (Ancient Sumer is also the civilization with the oldest surviving writing system that we know of!) Here is the riddle: "There is a house. One enters it blind and comes out seeing. What is it?"

Answer:
A school. The Sumerians placed a significant emphasis on the value of education and knowledge, and some of their mathematical discoveries are still in use today. Learn about some of the strangest unsolved mysteries of the ancient world.

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." ― Yogi Berra, 10-time World Series champion

Wordzy

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.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

RING AROUND THE ROSIE
Ring around the rosie
A pocket full of posies
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.

Three fish are in a tank.
One asks the others, "How do you drive this thing?"

<Principles of Chess

01. Develop your pieces quickly.
02. Control the center.
03. Try to put your pieces on squares that give them maximum space. 04. Try to develop your knights towards the center. 05. A knight on the rim is dim.
06. Don't take unnecessary chances.
07. Play aggressive.
08. Calculate forced moves first.
09. Always ask yourself, "Can he put me in check or win a piece?" 10. Have a plan. Every move should have a purpose. 11. Assume your opponent's move is his best move. 12. Ask yourself, "why did he move there?" after each opponent move. 13. Play for the initiative and contolling the board. 14. If you must lose a piece, get something for it if you can. 15. When behind, exchange pawns. When ahead, exchange pieces. 16. If you are losing, don't give up fighting. Look for counterplay. 17. Don't play unsound moves unless you are losing badly. 18. Don't sacrifice a piece without good reason. 19. If you are in doubt of an opponent's sacrifice, accept it. 20. Attack with more that just one or two pieces. 21. Do not make careless pawn moves. They cannot move back. 22. Do not block in your bishops.
23. Bishops of opposite colors have the greatest chance of drawing. 24. Try not to move the same piece twice or more times in a row. 25. Exchange pieces if it helps your development. 26. Don't bring your queen out early.
27. Castle soon to protect your king and develop your rook. 28. Develop rooks to open files.
29. Put rooks behind passed pawns.
30. Study rook endgames. They are the most common and most complicated. 31. Don't let your king get caught in the center. 32. Don't castle if it brings your king into greater danger from attack. 33. After castling, keep a good pawn formation around your king. 34. If you only have one bishop, put your pawns on its opposite color. 35. Trade pawns pieces when ahead in material or when under attack. 36. If cramped, free your game by exchanging material. 37. If your opponent is cramped, don't let him get any freeing exchanges. 38. Study openings you are comfortable with.
39. Play over entire games, not just the opening. 40. Blitz chess is helpful in recognizing chess patterns. Play often. 41. Study annotated games and try to guess each move. 42. Stick with just a few openings with White, and a few openings with Black. 43. Record your games and go over them, especially the games you lost. 44. Show your games to higher rated opponents and get feedback from them. 45. Use chess computers and databases to help you study and play more. 46. Everyone blunders. The champions just blunder less often. 47. When it is not your move, look for tactics and combinations. 48. Try to double rooks or double rook and queen on open files. 49. Always ask yourself, "Does my next move overlook something simple?" 50. Don't make your own plans without the exclusion of the opponent's threats. 51. Watch out for captures by retreat of an opponent's piece. 52. Do not focus on one sector of the board. View thw whole board. 53. Write down your move first before making that move if it helps. 54. Try to solve chess puzzles with diagrams from books and magazines. 55. It is less likely that an opponent is prepared for off-beat openings. 56. Recognize transposition of moves from main-line play. 57. Watch your time and avoid time trouble.
58. Bishops are worth more than knights except when they are pinned in. 59. A knight works better with a bishop than another knight. 60. It is usually a good idea to trade down into a pawn up endgame. 61. Have confidence in your game.
62. Play in as many rated events as you can.
63. Try not to look at your opponent's rating until after the game. 64. Always play for a win.
(If a win is no longer possible, then play for a draw.)>