Oh, to express, with worthy stress,
And real success, the heartiness
With which I bless the manliness
And charm of chess.
For who can guess what broad excess
Of steadiness and thoughtfulness
One must possess, so that success
May crown one’s chess?
And I confess that no duress,
Or dire distress, could e’er repress
The eagerness with which I press
To play at chess.
No pitiless fair sorceress,
By soft caress, or looks or dress,
Could dispossess me of my, – yes!
My love of chess.

>Chess is all about regicide, and it doesn't matter how it's done as long as it's within the rules and laws of the game. Therefore, since the clock is an integral part of the rules in all forms of chess, I will click any skull I see without hesitation or warning. (I have an itchy trigger finger!) In many sports, the clock often defeats an opponent. Chess is no different, so that no matter how one may feel about it, a win by timeout is just as honorable as a win by checkmate.

>I'm a horn player who plays not only music, but also chess; I've played the horn all over North America and parts of Europe, playing virtually everything in the orchestral and solo horn repertoire. – My chess career is somewhat less interesting! However, I teach chess classes to children in schools, which invariably means that I'm used to playing a lot of simuls with them.
>The horn player depicted in my profile picture in the upper right is purported to be Franz Strauss, 1822-1905, possibly the best horn player of his day. He was the father of the famous composer, Richard Strauss, 1864-1949.
>"I play the horn because I can't sing. If I could sing, I would not play the horn." –Ifor James, 1931-2004

>My avatar picture is my current cat, Cricket, who is a Calico. She is a tremendous cat.
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." –Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965
>No heaven will ever Heaven be,
Unless my cats are there to welcome me.