The Magician from Riga
- Attack with Mikhail Tal
In modem chess the art of defence has grown greatly, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to win a won position. But the basic principles of attack are eternal. Moreover, the assault need not necessarily resemble a meteorite, be instantaneous and be calculated from beginning to end: the king in the centre can be the target of a lengthy, multi-stage offensive, with one phase logically developing into another.
Paul van der Sterren
- Balance - FCO
The purpose of studying opening theory should not be accumulating any set amount of knowledge, but being content with whatever knowledge one has. For someone with a natural flair for study, it may be perfect to work on openings all the time. For someone who is much less scientifically minded, even the slightest attempt to study openings may well be superfluous and even detrimental to his game.
Ruskin Bond
- Forward - Roads to Mussoorie
A magical day, a magical year. And today, some forty years later, I cannot help feeling that if I go down to that stream again, I will find our footprints embedded in the sand.
Feynman
- Physicist Not For Hire
At that time nobody knew what a physicist even was, and there weren't any positions in industry for physicists. Engineers, OK; but physicists - nobody knew how to use them. It's interesting that very soon, after the war, it was the exact opposite: people wanted physicists everywhere.
Exurb1a
- Love from Afar
Let's pause for a second and acknowledge how easy it is to love from afar. One might see this person three or four times a week, and always in situations where difficulties needn't crop up. Since the two of you never face a challenge, it is possible to imagine the object of your affection to be free of pettiness, stupidity, self-obsession, and all the other frequent visitors to the human psyche.
Exurb1a
- Museum of Regrets
I fear that on my last day, on my deathbed, that is when the meaning of things will enter the room and kiss my forehead and whisper into my ear what it was I should have done with my life, and how I should've conducted myself. Hell isn't a fire pit but a museum of regrets.
