Horse - Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory - Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Horse > Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory

Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory

by: Rick Chapo

Russians have a thing for chess and, frankly, are very good at it. Being from San Diego, I thought chess was something you put photo albums in.

Playing Chess

Playing chess requires thinking ten or twelve steps ahead. If I wanted to understand the Russian mind, I had to learn to play chess. If nothing else, it would be a good way to pass the time. This I was told by Robert, an American living in the same town as me.

I wasn?t particularly excited about learning, but gave in one day after growing tired of staring out the window. I had seen the movie, ?Searching for Bobby Fisher?. What more could I possibly need? How hard could it be?

After beginning the game, Robert took pity on me after I apparently made some moves that were questionable. He explained why he was making particular moves and the resulting implications for my king. The game proceeded slowly while he explained strategies to his inattentive student. Then the magic moment occurred.

I imagine every teacher suffers from the occasional embarrassment of being outdone by a student. I like to call it beginner?s luck and invoke the empirical evidence at horse racing tracks and Las Vegas casinos. If you?re a first timer, you will always win. It doesn?t matter if you?re betting on a horse because of the color scheme or hitting on black jack while already holding 19 in your hand. It just happens.

With our chess game, Robert had made a particular move and was in the process of explaining it. I sat staring at the board and thinking deep thoughts, which is to say I was wondering what was for dinner, etc. Just then, I noticed something on the board, moved my rook and declared, ?Checkmate!?

Robert stared at the board. Then he started laughing. Then he wanted to play again. Being a good sport, I immediately announced my retirement as a chess player.

Unfortunately, I couldn?t leave my victory alone and gloated to a few people about it. Make no mistake, Robert would beat me a million times if we played a million games, but you have to live in the moment!

Within a few days, karma struck and I began to pay for my gloating. People would start showing up at my apartment with chessboards and, of course, vodka. The games were so laughably one-sided it was ridiculous. Typically, I would make two moves and then hear
?Sah!? which I believe meant ?check!? in Russian.

My humiliation occurred more or less every day for roughly a month. Some of the victorious would even come back for a second pounding. Finally, I had to take the dramatic step of refusing to answer the door.

In the end, I set the game of chess back a few hundred years and Robert had his vengeance.

About The Author

Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of writing journals. Travel journals are great travel accessories and travel gifts for student travel, family vacations and adventure travel. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com for more travel articles.

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

by: John Lenaghan

If you?ve got a special little girl between the ages of about 3 & 7, then a princess birthday party could be the big social event of the year!

When looking for princess party ideas, it?s obvious to think of pink but don?t limit your imagination to pink fluffy dresses and pink frosting for birthday cakes. With some imagination, your ideas can create a very special party!

Let?s start with decorations. Helium balloons can create a stunning castle arch and once your guests are indoors then have them sit on a princess throne for a souvenir photo in an overstuffed chair which has been decorated with floral garlands, crepe paper or shiny fabric.

Activities for Princess Parties

Princesses love to wear crowns. You can buy inexpensive plastic crowns as well as fake "jewels" for each princess to make a birthday party hat. Inexpensive beading sets can...

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Horse > Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

How To Care For Your New Foal

How To Care For Your New Foal

by: Mark Andrews

You have waited eleven months for your foal to arrive. Now he is here what can you do to ensure he gets off to the best possible start in life?

Make sure that the foal sucks. A normal foal should stand and drink from the mare within two hours. If the foal is having difficulty sucking, or is not interested, he may have serious problems. Call an experienced horse vet sooner rather than later.

Colostrum, the first milk, is very important. It contains all the antibodies your foal needs to protect him from infectious disease. A foal needs between 1.5 - 2 litres of good quality colostrum. It is most important to make sure he gets enough.

If the foal won't suck you can collect some colostrum from the mare and give it by bottle. Or the vet can put it directly into the foal's stomach using a tube. Colostrum substitutes are available if the mare doesn't have any milk.

The foal's intestines...

How To Care For Your New Foal

Horse > How To Care For Your New Foal

Learn Chinese Pronunciation: the 80/20 Guide, Part 1

by: Kah Joon Liow

"I want to learn Chinese but just give me the basics!"

That?s what this Chinese pronunciation guide is all about. It?s all that you need to know about the pinyin system of Chinese pronunciation to get by.

The 80% that?s important. (Spend 20% of time to learn the 80% that's important.)

To speak Mandarin, the first thing is to learn Chinese pronunciation of words using the system known as pinyin.

Pinyin is the Romanized Chinese phonetic system and is the most effective aid to learn Chinese pronunciation today. (Romanized means using English alphabets.) Pinyin was invented in the 1950?s so that anyone, especially English speaking people, could learn Chinese pronunciation easily.

Most of the letters in pinyin have the same sounds as letters of the alphabet ? with only a few exceptions. It?s really a very practical system
that reduces the time...

Learn Chinese Pronunciation: the 80/20 Guide, Part 1

Horse > Learn Chinese Pronunciation: the 80/20 Guide, Part 1

Spyware IS Good

Spyware IS Good

by: Andrew Wroblewski

How many times per week do you run your antivirus protection or anti-spyware or adware programs to ensure that your paranoia about having an infected machine is just that, paranoia?
With so many problems in the computer infection world, one cannot really blame themselves for checking up on their system on a routine basis.
However, do you ever really think about where all these programs come from because someone out there must be sending them out, they don?t just appear through spontaneous generation.
This makes one ponder the question as to who is sending these things?

There are thousands of spyware, adware, and Trojan horse programs that are running rampant throughout cyber space as you read this article.
But if you really think about it, just as war might be considered good for the economy, these computer infestation programs are good for the economy.
If you...

Spyware IS Good

Horse > Spyware IS Good

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

by: John Lenaghan

If you?ve got a special little girl between the ages of about 3 & 7, then a princess birthday party could be the big social event of the year!

Activities for Princess Parties

Princesses love to wear crowns. You can buy inexpensive plastic crowns as well as fake "jewels" for each princess to make a birthday party hat. Inexpensive beading sets can...

Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Horse > Princess Party Ideas - Give Your Little Girl the Royal Treatment

Successful Network Marketing Requires Effective Team Leadership

Successful Network Marketing Requires Effective Team Leadership

by: Kirk Bannerman

Many people who work at home participate in businesses that

involve teamwork and network marketing.

I am often contacted by members of my business team with

complaints regarding a lack of response or lack of action on the

part of their affiliates.
Their complaints typically go

something like..."I send out lots of emails to all of them and I

very rarely get any response and it seems like very few of them

are taking any action.
What am I doing wrong?".

There are many types of internet-based home businesses where

feedback and interaction are quite important and getting an

affiliate or business team member to communicate with you is a

definite objective.
It's not at all surprising that this can be

a challenge when you stop to think that what you are trying to do

is initiate a dialog between...

Successful Network Marketing Requires Effective Team Leadership

Horse > Successful Network Marketing Requires Effective Team Leadership

Read Your Cat's Body Language - Know Your Pet More

by: John E. Miller

Read Your Cat's Body Language - Know Your Pet More

Meow! That is the sound you hear when you meet your cat walking down the doorway. It will move with his head and tail held high, looking directly at your eyes and emitting a faint sound summoning you to follow wherever it goes. That is your cat? Right? The fluffy little mass, whose behavior seems quite odd at times, and leaves you baffling with a variety of questions.

Have you ever thought that your cat is an aloof creature to you? Then it is because you do not understand it. Your cat is always trying to communicate to you through its gestures and body language, so to know your cat more, you need to know more about the cat?s body language. The sweeping of the tail or rubbing of the cheeks, pricking of the ears or purring under breath - each has a significance of its own. Your cat will often rub its cheeks against you...

Read Your Cat's Body Language - Know Your Pet More

Horse > Read Your Cat's Body Language - Know Your Pet More

Wooden Toys Are The Perfect Toys

Wooden Toys Are The Perfect Toys

by: Stefan Driess

With two young children, we found it difficult to find toys that were built to last, stood the test of time and maintained the interest of our children. Wooden Toys do just that, and because our children like them so much we set up a business selling wooden toys and gifts.

At Wooden Choice we believe wooden toys are an excellent choice and the advantages mentioned will hopefully highlight the benefits of purchasing toys made of wood.

Durability

Wooden toys are built to stand continuous and prolonged use, not like some plastic toys which only seem to last five minutes before one bit or another gets damaged and then they are resigned to the bin.

Traditional

Wooden toys have been around for years and continue to stand the test of time. Whilst other games come and go, the dolls house, rocking horse or wooden toy-shop will always remain a firm favourite with children offering...

Wooden Toys Are The Perfect Toys

Horse > Wooden Toys Are The Perfect Toys

Travel Credit Cards

by: Steve Gillman

Why bring travel credit cards instead of traveler's checks? Convenience, safety and savings. The first time I had to exchange $200 of travelers checks overseas, the bank charged me $8. Later, during the same trip, I used my debit card at an ATM to get $200 from my checking account. The charge was one dollar, and that was the last time I used traveler's checks.

Travel Credit Cards And Debit Cards

It is best to...

Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory

Horse > Travel Credit Cards

Buying A Car ? What Is The Best Finance?

by: Joseph Kenny

Your car is one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make. Probably the only thing you will buy that costs more than your car is your house. You wouldn?t just accept the first mortgage you came across, and likewise you shouldn?t just accept the first vehicle financing option that comes your way. You will have a lot of options in how to finance your car.

You can buy the car outright. If you...

Buying A Car ? What Is The Best Finance? Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory

Horse > Buying A Car ? What Is The Best Finance?

7 Things to Know when Renting a Car

by: John Mancini

In today's society, there are a number of reasons why people rent a car. Some of the top reasons are vacations, a car they own is in the shop and renting a nicer car for a special occasion. Whatever the reason that you are considering renting a car; there are some things that you should know first.

1- It is wise to shop around when looking for to rent a car. Always find at least three rental car companies...

car

Horse > 7 Things to Know when Renting a Car

How To Choose Perfect Christmas Gifts For Boys

by: Janice Wee

What do boys want for Christmas?

Every year, there would be one particular item that every child must have. That would probably be the gift the kid would pester mom or grandma for. If the little boy in question tells you what he wants for Christmas and it is within your budget, then problem solved. That is the ideal gift for him.. that is, if it is not something that is potentially dangerous...

How To Choose Perfect Christmas Gifts For Boys

Horse > How To Choose Perfect Christmas Gifts For Boys

How To Choose The Right Affiliate Program

by: Zamri Nanyan

Being an affiliate or a partner to promote an online program can be as easy as a 1-2-3. You fill up a form and a second later, an affiliate code is generated and you are ready to go. But, not all affiliate programs are the same. Therefore, you have to ask questions first before you join any program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Get some answers because...

Playing Chess in Russia ? The Agony of Victory

Horse > How To Choose The Right Affiliate Program