Astrology and Chess?
Today in reading IM Jeremey Silman's posting on "The Tango Defense" I followed the link to learn more about this defense. After reading it I saw a link there on Astrology and Chess. Scientifically I know that there is no statistical way that Astrology works, as I used to show when I taught SCI101 at University, but I still find it fun to read. As a "Scorpio" I have posted mine below. Please visit IM Silman's site to see yours.
The SCORPIO Chess Player (Oct.24-Nov.21). Ruled by the planet of power, Pluto, the Scorpio’s nickname could be "the dictator." And the chess scene presents the perfect backdrop for exercising this birthright. The Scorpion tenacity, calm and venom work together to poison an opponent’s game before the knights come off the first rank. First the Scorpio anesthetizes his quarry with slow play, employing well-analyzed lines and/or leaving the board to look at some other game in progress. Then he surgically and painfully removes whatever scintilla of self-esteem remains. By mocking his foe he causes his victim to think more about him than about the game before them. As he penetrates into enemy territory, a foe will start to see what looks like smokescreen rising from the Scorpio’s side of the board. Beware: the Scorpio’s kundalini life force coiled at the base of his spine in the serpent chakra has awakened, bringing sudden enlightenment about the current position. The opposing player should assiduously avoid making any sound or jarring the Scorpio out of his reverie for this will incite the Scorpio’s anger, which has an impossibly long half-life. The image of the phoenix rising from the dead is another emblem of the Scorpio’s invincibility. If the Scorpio gets in a tough position, he will find the one move that turns the game around. Sudden-death playoffs are his forte. Call him the comeback kid. He prefers to keep the center fluid as he gets a high from the tension of the game. Then before you know it he has blockaded an opponent’s pieces and plucks the foe’s best-placed men with laser precision. Seconds before the post-mortems begin the Scorpio starts staring at his foe’s throat. His eagle eyes notice the almost imperceptible gulps before the opponent chokes conceding the game. At that moment he is no longer the dictator, but the terminator.
