THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT

If you haven't watched this film on Netflix, you've missed something important, especially during this time of isolation. This film is about the game of chess and what it takes to become the best player in the world.

Who would have thought chess, of all games, could rival the Superbowl for competitive tension, a game demanding intellectual strength, not physical.

I play chess, albeit poorly, but enough to appreciate the subtlety and intellectual acumen required to play a game in complete silence, a cerebral dance, with no physical contact or verbal communication. Chess is more than a game, it's a competition between two players competing with strategy, logic, and imagination. Chess is the ultimate mind-game, it stretches the will to win, it drives the combatants to the edge of their mental and emotional capacity. Chess is a medieval war with kings, queens, castles, and knights played on a checkered battlefield.

If you've never played chess, this film may initiate you into a community of players that play online, the combatants range from beginners to Grand Masters, the ultimate level of expertise, the Ph.D.'s of the game.

The protagonist in this film is a young woman named Beth Harmon, an orphan, with a troubled past and an opioid addiction. Beth is brilliant, she possesses a unique talent but her weakness for drugs and alcohol almost derails her ambition for becoming the best chess player in the world, a game dominated by Russian men until an American woman arrived in Moscow to play for the world title.

In chess, when you have your opponent in an untenable position, unable to make the next move, he knocks his king over and declares you the winner.

I had stored my board and pieces away in the attic after our last move but this film jump-started my interest and I'm now playing on-line and watching videos on opening moves, including the Queen's Gambit.

an opening in which a player makes a sacrifice, typically of a pawn, for the sake of some compensating advantage.

Chess will help you through this Pandemic, it will strengthen your memory and satisfy your competitive spirit.

Your Move?

Comments

CHAOS REVISITED

" a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order." Isn't four years of this enough, seriously? The constant media drumbeat, TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP, dominating the headlines, the news shows, and our conversation. This did not happen by accident, this was a calculated strategy by a certified narcissist. "Narcissism: a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others." The Trump supporters say that "this is just Trump being Trump" that, my friends, is precisely the problem. Now that he's lost the election and his sycophants in Congress have replaced their horns with silence, if not acceptance, wouldn't you think the man would suck it up, acknowledge the inevitable, exhibit a modicum of humility and devise an exit strategy that would highlight his accomplishments not feed his addi...

PLEASE GOD, SAY IT ISN'T SO

Pause. Breathe. BY MARIA SHRIVER It’s okay not to be okay today. I certainly wasn’t okay when I went to bed. I hit the hay way too late. I ate way too much. I bit off my nails. I didn’t have the evening I thought I was going to have. It felt reminiscent of 2016 at times. It was a total roller coaster. (I'm writing this as the election has yet to be called.) I know most of us are waking up feeling confused, sad, angry, bewildered. Most of all just exhausted. We’ve all been through a lot, and while we have been through it together, we have also all gone through it in our own personal way. It’s brought up so much for so many, so go easy today. Put your hand over your heart. Feel it beating, close your eyes. Breathe. Honor yourself for making it to this moment. For having made the effort to make your voice heard, even if you didn’t get everything you wanted. Honor the fact that you stepped up. You were a part of history. Think about that. For me...

THE LAST HURRAH

https://youtu.be/IJthTSCYJ7g The party's over It's time to call it a day They've burst your pretty balloon And taken the moon away It's time to wind up the masquerade Just make your mind up the piper must be paid The party's over The candles flicker and dim You danced and dreamed through the night It seemed to be right just being with him Now you must wake up, all dreams must end Take off your makeup, the party's over It's all over, my friend

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