Chess poetry

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BB+
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:26 am

Chess poetry

Post by BB+ » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:35 pm

Concerning the 1978 World Championship match: Scacchomachy, by Josefa Heifitz, from Chess Life & Review, March 1979 (also in The Best of Chess Life and Review, Volume II, page 388):
The world of chess, according to Garp,
Was full of draws by Korch and Karp

"But don't throw up, just yet, your borscht,
More wins are near," said Karp and Korch.
[... 2 couplets omitted]

The world of chess, according to Hoyle,
Was filled with yogurt about to spoil.

And almost as a last resort
Came Zukhar, but without his tort.
[... 3 couplets omitted]

Chess, oh chess, where is thy sting?
I wish that Bobby still were king.
Now if someone could write something similar about the cloning issue...

BB+
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Re: Chess poetry

Post by BB+ » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:33 am

OK, I've written a few couplets, here's one to end the poem:
One clone, two clone, red clone, blue clone,
I wish Zappa still owned the throne.
The meter implies an emphasis on "the", which is not necessarily optimal but probably sufficient -- also I chose Zappa (2005) rather than Junior (2006) but do intend any besmirching of the latter's reputation. Here's another couplet (in iambic, rather than trochaic, tetrameter):
Full force! Full force! for IPPOLIT!
My Rybka third he did defeat.
This is trusting that defeat and IPPOLIT really do rhyme.

Jeremy Bernstein
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Re: Chess poetry

Post by Jeremy Bernstein » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:13 am

I spent some time on a limerick based on a rhyme between "Warsaw" and "more so" but couldn't really get anything I was happy with. I'll accept the "IPPOLIT" v. "defeat" slant rhyme.

BB+
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Re: Chess poetry

Post by BB+ » Sat Mar 05, 2011 3:46 am

Another couplet:
The world of chess computer geeks
Was filled with Gnu and Crafty tweaks.

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Re: Chess poetry

Post by BB+ » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:03 am

I've had some more rhyming tries, like "Rybka queeny" with "great Houdini" -- but then realised that I'm not sure whether Vas rhymes with "alas" or "loss", or maybe "laws". Seems that http://www.forvo.com/word/vasik_rajlich can clear up the vowel sound, though any of these three could probably be used in a pinch. Hmm, I didn't know that "Vasik" means King.

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