Oh, you’re right, Edna; he’s no lord!

Artwork © Sky (@skyros_creations)

Lord Voldemort

Heads of state and murderers

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, March 10, 2026

For the first time in history, we see the head of a self-proclaimed civilised state speaking openly like a murderer, saying of the religious leader of a country he assaulted: “we’re gonna kill him”, and of that country’s inhabitants: “we’ll massacre them”. Neither Hitler nor Stalin ever spoke like this. And yet, not only is this man not charged and deposed, but the heads of state of the so-called Western democracies approve of him, implicitly accepting that now politicians express themselves publicly as perhaps not even murderers dare to do among themselves.

(English translation by I, Robot)

Edvard Munch, The Murderer, 1910. Courtesy of WikiArt.

Hey, Edna, can you give us a ride?

Artwork © Sky (@skyros_creations)

E=mc²

Oh no, Edna, it is not yet clear who among Ben, Bibi and Don will turn out to be the ultimate winner

Artwork © Enya (@enya.draws4u)

On the Take

To be sure, Edna, it’s always sad to build a world no one will live in

Artwork © Kike Iturralde @kikecitox)

From Sham to Shame

Europe’s shame

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, March 5, 2026

A country was attacked without any real reason and treacherously, while a sham negotiation was going on, and its spiritual head was murdered. European Union — i.e., that illegitimate organisation which bears such name — not only failed to condemn a blatant violation of international law, committed by two countries which appear to have lost all sense of self and responsibility, but also enjoined Iranian people to cease defending themselves.

(English translation by I, Robot)

A tryst in the woods ends in shame, in Edvard Munch’s painting Ashes (1894–5, detail). Credit: Heritage.

猫城记 (City of Cats)

Love Is in the Air

An Algorithm for Peace

The Fall of the Masks

State and terror

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, March 2, 2026

What is a state that, ignoring all legality, methodically murders or kidnaps the heads of states it arbitrarily declares enemies? Yet this is what is happening with the approval or embarrassed silence of European countries. This means that we live in a time when the state threw its legal masks off and is now acting according to its true nature, which is ultimately terror. It is probable, however, that this extreme situation is literally such that the shedding of the masks coincides with that end of the state form, without which a new politics will not be possible.

(English translation by I, Robot)

James Ensor, Death and the Masks, 1897. Courtesy of WikiArt.

Lose to Win

Body and Soul

You know, Edna, when you say Bibi, you’ve said Ben, and you’ve said it all

Artwork © RM (@beccaeyesee)

Icebreaker

Timestamp

С днем ​​рождения, Хоу Ифань!

Hey, Edna, all the world’s a birthday tiramisu cake, so take a piece but not too much!

Courtesy of Versa Printing, Inc. (@versaprinting)

The Way to the Spring

Passengers head for the exit of a railway station in 南京 (Nánjīng), 江苏省 (Jiāngsū province), China, as this year’s nine-day spring festival holiday comes to an end. Photo: China News Service/Getty Images.

You know, Edna, it is like a mantra or a prayer: the higher the tariffs the faster the decline

Artwork © marco tombart (@marco.visualart)

Afloat

Alar Puhm – Roberto Cosulich
International Team Tournament Mediolanum; Milan, February 12, 1974
French Defence C08

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Qe2+ Be7 8. dxc5 0-0 9. Ne5?!

Technically a novelty, but also an incongruent one which throws away the first-move advantage, leaving Black with a symbolic initiative throughout the entire game. Best is the usual 9. Nb3 which Cosulich himself played and met with both colours: Cosulich – Paoli, 3rd International Tournament, Bari 1972, and Paoli – Cosulich, 35th Italian Chess Championship, Castelvecchio Pascoli 1974.
9. ... Re8 10. Nxd7 Nbxd7 11. 0-0 Bxc5 12. Qd1 a6 13. Bd3 Qc7 14. Nb3 Bd6 15. h3 Rad8 16. Nd4 Be5 17. Be3 Nc5 18. c3 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 Ne4 20. Nf3 Bd6 21. Rfe1 Qc6 22. Nd4 Qd7 23. f3 Nc5 24. Qd2 Bc7 25. g4 Ne6 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Bf4 Rf8 28. Bxc7 Qxc7 29. Kg2 Rf6 30. Rf1 Rdf8 31. Rae1 Qf7 32. Qd3 h6 ½–½.

It’s a Hard Life

Július Kozma – Roberto Cosulich
International Team Tournament Mediolanum; Milan, February 11, 1974
Nimzo-Indian Defence E43

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nf3 Ne4 7. 0-0 f5 8. Qc2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 0-0 10. Ne1. Or else: 10. Nd2 Qh4 11. f3 Nxd2 12. Bxd2 Nc6 13. Rab1 Ne7 14. c5 Bc6 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Rb2 Rf6 17. e4 fxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Qxe4 20. fxe4 Rxf1+ 21. Kxf1 ½–½ Trincardi – Cosulich, 13th New Year’s International Tournament, Reggio Emilia 1970/71.
10. ... c5 11. f3 Nd6 12. e4 fxe4 13. fxe4 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Qh4?! A bit too compromising. 14. ... e5! 15. Nf3 Nf7 gave Black a more than comfortable game in Muir – King, 74th British Chess Championship, Swansea 1987.
15. Nf3 Qg4 16. h3 Qg3

17. Be3?! Here and on the next few moves White might have played something like 17. d5 Nf7 18. Kg1 and consolidated his space advantage. Instead his half measures enable Cosulich to save himself in a drawn endgame.
17. ... Na6 18. Kg1 Rf8 19. Rf1 cxd4 20. Bxd4 Qg6 21. Ne5 Rxf1+ 22. Kxf1 Qh5 23. Qe2 Qxe2+ 24. Kxe2 Nxe4 25. Nxd7 Nec5 26. Nxc5 Nxc5 27. g3 Bg2 28. h4

28. ... Bf1+! 29. Kxf1 Nxd3 30. Ke2 Nc5 31. Ke3. White dares not exchange his Bishop for the Knight, as after 31. Bxc5? bxc5 32. g4 (32. Kf3 h5!) 32. ... h5! the Pawn ending would be lost for him.
31. ... Kf7 32. Be5 Nd7 33. Kd4 Nxe5 34. Kxe5 Ke7 35. g4 g6 36. g5 Kd7 37. c5! Nevertheless, White could also play 37. Kf6 Kd6 38. Kg7 e5 39. Kxh7 e4 40. h5! gxh5! 41. g6 e3 42. g7 e2 43. g8=Q e1=Q 44. Qd8+ Kc6 45. Qc8+ with a draw by perpetual check.
37. ... bxc5 38. c4! The fortress is now unbreakable.
38. ... Ke7 39. Kf4 Kd6 40. Ke4 ½–½.

The Time It Takes

The Lagoons of Venice

Jan Hendrik Timman – Roberto Cosulich
11th International Tournament; Venice, November 1974
Nimzo-Indian Defence E45

“Cosulich was the best of the Italian masters in this tournament, although many contestants were of the opinion that his youth led him to extremes. For example, look at his draw against Mariotti: 1. P-KR4 P-QR4 2. P-QR4 P-KR4, draw?! And against Timman he played clownishly and lost in six moves by overlooking a piece”, Grandmaster Pál Charles Benkö wrote in Chess Life & Review, Vol. XXX, No. 2, February 1975, p. 81.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6 6. Ng3

6. ... d5?? It’s quite paradoxical that three years before, a game Gligorić – Cosulich, 10th International Tournament, Venice 1971, continued 6. ... Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d5 8. Ba3 dxc4 9. e4 Qd7 10. Be2 Nc6 11. 0-0 0-0-0 12. Qc2 h5 13. Rfd1 Nb8!? 14. Bc1! h4 15. Nf1 Qc6 16. Bf3 Bb7 17. Bg5 Rdg8 18. d5 Qd6 19. Nd2 Qe5! 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Nxc4 Qf4 with satisfactory play for Black.
7. Qa4+ 1–0. “It is a safe bet that this has happened before. Cosulich missed the international master norm at this tournament by half a point” — Kevin John O’Connell, The Batsfod Chess Yearbook, B. T. Batsford Limited, London, 1975, p. 79.