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Games from the book <Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence>, by <John Cox>, published in 2005.

"Chess is a fighting game which is purely intellectual and excludes chance." ― Richard Reti

"I've never met a checkers player I didn't like; they're all even-tempered. Chess players are egotistical. They think they're intellectuals and that everyone else is beneath them." ― Don Lafferty, draughts grandmaster

"If you can't take (constructive) criticism, consider taking up another game, perhaps solitaire." — Jeremy Silman

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

"An isolated Pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard." ― Savielly Tartakover

"In my opinion, the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force." ― Bobby Fischer, A bust to the King's Gambit (1960)

Zwickmuhle: to be in a quandry/predicament/ double bind/catch-22 situation, to be in a dilemma

Eyes trust themselves, ears trust others. ~ German Proverb

Ye Jiangchuan has won the Chinese Chess Championship seven times.

"Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious." ― Zhuangzi

"Touch the pawns before your king with only infinite delicacy." ― Anthony Santasiere

"A wood-pusher overlooks the ranks." ― Old Russian saying

"When your house is on fire, you can't be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in chess, if your King is under attack, don't worry about losing a pawn on the queen side." ― Garry Kasparov

"Have a good reason/explanation for each move, and know what will happen next before you make the move. <When in doubt, don't move a pawn.> A pawn move is a permanent commitment easily restricted (no retreat to safety, no capturing, jumping or side-step around an obstruction in its path) and should be made for a useful, lasting reason. A settling pawn move turns over the initiative. Play with your pieces! It's far better to play with your active pieces off the back rank, as pieces have superior mobility to escape, threaten, or defend more squares in more directions." ― Fredthebear

"You can retreat pieces… but not pawns. So always think twice about pawn moves." ― Michael Stean

"The passed pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient." ― Aron Nimzowitsch

"Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf." ― Cecil Purdy

"In the ending the king is a powerful piece for assisting his own pawns, or stopping the adverse pawns." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"The eighth square at last! Oh how glad I am to get here. And what is this on my head?" ― Alice (in Through The Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll)

"A woman can beat any man; it's difficult to imagine another kind of sport where a woman can beat a man. That's why I like chess." ― Alexandra Kosteniuk

"During the course of many years I have observed that a great number of doctors, lawyers, and important businessmen make a habit of visiting a chess club during the late afternoon or evening to relax and find relief from the preoccupations of their work." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

Maximo wrote:

My Forking Knight's Mare
Gracefully over the squares, as a blonde or a brunette, she makes moves that not even a queen can imitate. Always active and taking the initiative,
she likes to fork.
She does it across the board,
taking with ease not only pawns, but also kings, and a bad bishop or two.
Sometimes she feels like making
quiet moves,
at other times, she adopts romantic moods,
and makes great sacrifices.
But, being hers a zero-sum game,
she often forks just out of spite.
An expert at prophylaxis, she can be a swindler, and utter threats,
skewering men to make some gains.
Playing with her risks a conundrum,
and also catching Kotov's syndrome.
Nonetheless, despite having been trampled
by her strutting ways
my trust in her remains,
unwavering,
until the endgame.

"When you're lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war." ― Aristotle

"The habit of holding a Man in the hand, and moving it first to one square and then to another, in order to engage the assistance of the eye in deciding where it shall actually be placed, is not only annoying to the adversary but a practical infraction of the touch-and-move principle." ― Howard Staunton

"A bad plan is better than none at all." ― Frank Marshall

The Dog That Dropped The Substance For The Shadow

This world is full of shadow-chasers,
Most easily deceived.
Should I enumerate these racers,
I should not be believed.
I send them all to Aesop's dog,
Which, crossing water on a log,
Espied the meat he bore, below;
To seize its image, let it go;
Plunged in; to reach the shore was glad,
With neither what he hoped, nor what he'd had.

Isaiah 66:24
24 "And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

"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

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

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ― Howard Thurman

"Thirty Days Hath September" Lyrics

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone.
Which only has but twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

"I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous ‘daring' runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic." — Jose Raul Capablanca

"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 trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar." — Unknown

Steinitz's Theory

1. At the beginning of the game, Black and White are equal.

2. The game will stay equal with correct play on both sides.

3. You can only win by your opponent's mistake.

4. Any attack launched in an equal position will not succeed, and the attacker will suffer.

5. You should not attack until an advantage is obtained.

6. When equal, do not seek to attack, but instead, try to secure an advantage.

7. Once you have an advantage, attack or you will lose it.

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." ― Voltaire

"Many have become chess masters, no one has become the master of chess." ― Siegbert Tarrasch

"In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." — Max De Pree

"In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else. For whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and opening must be studied in relation to the end game." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

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.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

JACK AND JILL
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

^^