This morning all of Rome lifted eyes to the East for the coming of the Lord… come Lord Jesus!… and the sun rose in slightly cloudy brightness at 07:21. It will set at 18:30.
The Ave Maria bell ought to ring at 18:45.
On this day in 1978, John Paul II was elected Pope.
When shall we see his like again?
Welcome new registrant:
Devinkirby08
Crossing the piazza Farnese. Yesterday it was closed up because they were filming some period piece including an execution. Actors in period costumes were about. I do like those big sideways bicorns.
This morning, back on my morning schedule. Serene.
You can never get tired of this.
I owed Pippo €8 for some flowers I picked up the other day. He didn’t have change so he said to pay him later. Debt resolved.
Yesterday: the addition of the lemon zest was very welcome.
Use FATHERZ10 at checkout
I saw Tweets this morning to pray as the morning “Walking Together about Walking Togetherity” (aka “W-T-F” – explained HERE) gets under way. Yes, let’s do that.
Let us pray that the holy angels restrain all demons who might interfere. Let us ask St. Hedwig, whose day it is, along with beloved St. John Paul, two Poles, to work in tandem to protect the magisterium of JPII. Let us as Mary, Seat of Wisdom, to keep as much stupid as possible out of the mix. To that end, here is a recording of a chaplet of the Rosary using the Joyful Mysteries. I didn’t include the “Fatima Prayer” because there seem to be different versions in Latin (it wasn’t not composed in Latin, of course).
A moment from yesterday’s Mass.
Meanwhile, in chess news, the Championship continues in St. Louis. Fabiano Caruana defeated Hans Nieman, which is great. My guy Wesley So won his game against Robson. Nice stuff at the end who was under time pressure and blundered.
White to move and mate in 2.
This is from a real game from two of the highest players in the world, Magnus and Fabi.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Help the monks. Get great beer.
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1. Rook to e,f, or h2 (not g2!) Kb2
2. R to e,f, or h8#
Avoid stalemate by unpinning black’s rook.
1. Rg2 forcing rook to move, e.g., Rh7
2. Rg8#
Loved the video from holy Mass. Especially the fade to black at the conclusion.
I was able to use Soundhound app on my phone and it identified the organ music as “Praeludium En Fuga In G Dur, BWV 541”, Evert Van De Veen. So now I will try to find it in Amazon Music and listen to it in its entirety.
Thank you Father!
And I found it! Sounds wonderful.
Super video up close. Love it!
The obvious challenge is to avoid a stalemate.
1. R-g2 (unpinning Black’s Rook).
If . . . . . . . . R-g7
2. Rxg7#
If . . . . . . . . . R–b8 or elsewhere in 7-row.
2. R-g8# (Black’s Rook cannot interpose because it is either pinned or because a double check, inter alia, preempts interposition.)
W – moving its Rook from a2 to e2
B’s only move is moving its King from a8 to b8 (the B pawns are frozen, and can’t move the B’s Rook because of the W Bishop at h1)
W – e2 to e8, checkmate.
The puzzle. Someone here in Rome asked about. He worked on it for a while and couldn’t come up with a solution… which is understandable.
Black’s king is trapped by its own pawn and rook. Black’s rook is pinned by white’s bishop. Black’s pawns can move. If white makes a move that is not a check or does not allow black to move a piece it is a stalemate.
Therefore,
1. Rg2
The rook move to g2 unpins the black rook so it can move.
1. Rg2 Rc7 (tempting the knight to capture)
2. Rg8#