"Improvisations on Chess" "The rules of the game are fixed, the pieces arranged by file and by rank." "Eight lines... eight times eight squared, solidly framed on a board and set on a table." "The way each piece may be moved is approved by traditions... already obscure in East... before the game began to be played for a thousand years in the West." "And yet, if everything, even what's fixed... will, sometime or other, start moving... then why should the humble be patient forever?" "Never shake up his position... shake off his occupation... shake off his followers... shake the pieces... shape them for a new game... to bring into play your own imagination... to transform into human beings... the wooden knights and queens." "Eight by Eight" "A Chess-Sonata in eight movements" "Black Schemes" "All wisdom man can parade love... is crushed beneath the waves of... her marble, antique loins." "Her marble, antique loins." "She won't be wooed by pleasures... by diamonds... or treasures... or a clink of gold in coins." "Gold in coins." "A pair d'amours must learn of... her changes all eternal... while they are transient dust." "While they are transient dust." "Why all her charms and rapture... her whisker, pray, has captured... with litany... of lust." "Of lust." "Her modus operandi... with beggar, king, or dandy... no logic can unmesh." "No logic can unmesh." "You'll find that underneath... all her softness she is lethal... an abattoir of flesh." "Of flesh." "Not soldier, priest, or lawyer... there's no man who can destroy her... her frailty must endure." "Her frailty must endure." "Nor can a man bide fixed... shun this velvet-cut affliction... at deck, alone and pure." "And pure." "So lack a day... my cony... stay at the ceremony... sing out.... with faultry... breath." "Oldest eternal daughter... though you're the lamb she'll slaughter... twil be... a lively... death." "Lively death." "And so she's still evading... in endless masquerading... through every shifting theme." "Through every shifting theme." "We lost within the mazes... of all her lunar phases... a harlot, dame, and queen." "And queen." "(reversed singing)" "Venetian Episode" "She divided to make him the man of her dreams..." ""King"" "The Self-Imposed Obstacle" "You want to go ahead... but there are times when only the muse herself... can free and inspire you... to do just the simplest little thing... that solves everything." "One, one, one... one, two, two... two, three... three, three... four, five, five, five... five, five... six... five, five, five, five... six, six, six, six..." "seven." "Seven, six, six... seven, seven, eigth, nine... seven, eight, nine, nine, nine, nine... nine, nine... nine, nine, nine, eight, eight... seven, six, six... seven, seven, eight, eight, eight... nine, nine, nine." "Nine, nine... nine, nine, nine, nine." " I can't move..." " I must move..." " I can't..." " I must move." " No!" " I can't move..." " I must move!" " No." " I must move!" " I can't move." " Can't, can't, can't move." " I must move." " No!" " Can't, can't, can't..." " I must move!" " Can't move." " No!" " I must move!" " I must!" " I can't." " No." " I can't." " I must move!" "Obstacle." "Take" "Obstacle, take" "(laughing)" "Middle Game" "The queen is glamorous... and willful in her ways." "She moves in all directions... and turneth about her." "Her evolutions are wonderful... her arder untiring." "How beautiful Ara skips across the plain." "And when she passes the king... his eyes are upon her." "Instead of considering his own moves... he keeps gazing at her fair mouth." "O my lady... how should one play with one like thee... and avoid losing?" "And when the chess men were made ready... the king said," ""Lady... now what game will you play at?"" "Then quoeth she," ""At the usual game:" "to be naked in the corner."" "And then the king began to study... his first move." "And yet... after all these fancies and contrivances... he still may be kept in check." "Hoping for a favorable chance... he has now to wait for her move... patiently... while she, without effort... with the merriest smile... picks up the lead... paying no heed to his suffering." "But lo, O Queen... not yet is the time of victory." "The fortunes of love... are subject to vicissitudes." "Do not hurry... or press him hard... or sing, whistle, or make tapping sounds with your feet... or with your fingers against the stone." "The king... clad in dark dungs... stood at the forefront... at the fifth... the sixth... and so forth." "He dreweth nigh and from the thick darkness... and his eye was upon her all the time... and he had regained all his strength." "(backwards French)" "The Queening of the Pawn" "For the white... the beginning, for the black." "It could happen to you." "That is to say, an advance directly... or prenominally, is the ticket... one time, or sometimes in the case of promotion." "Each pawn can be exchanged into a queen... on the eigth square." "Both players may have several queens on the board." "(backwards English)" "(Italian)" "(German)" "Both players may have several queens on the board." "The possibilities of queening a pawn... have to be seriously considered... because they may change the physiognomy of the game completely." "(interchange between German, English, Italian, and French)" "The Fatal Move" "Listen, Larry, listen." "Come back..." "Sorry, wrong number." "Achmed!" "Achmed." "Eight by Eight"