Chess Player Pawns are the soul of chess. —Philidor, World Chess Champion, Paris 1773 I visited Estonia just after the Soviets left liberation tactile. 300,000 voices strong, a Singing Revolution, brought a quarter of all Estonians into Tallinn Arena for strictly forbidden national songs and hymns. On the street schnitzels & boiled potatoes cost a dollar, the depleted local grocery had two cabbages & a few beetroots. I found a rare and magnificent old Russian chess set in a second hand shop. After paying $100 cash to a red- bearded Goliath reclining in half- shadow behind the counter I…
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