Oh yes, Edna, they know that without you, there is no realm. No throne. No crown. Without you, their only hope is to live as servants to a feudal tenure — or as courtiers, or worse

Artwork © TAnimation777

A Crown of Wishes

The Women’s World Chess Championship 2025 will take place in 上海 (Shànghǎi) and 重庆 (Chóngqìng), China, April 3–21. Will 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) regain the crown she won in 2017? Or will 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) win the match, and her fifth consecutive world title?

Take easy, Edna! All your worshippers shall hope to see you one of these days in 静安区 (Jìng’ān) — if not at Zin’oe Zy, at least at the breakfast buffet table in the dining room

Artwork © Jose-Ramiro

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

A woman is going on a bike ride around downtown 南京 (Nánjīng), 江苏省 (Jiāngsū province), China. Photo: 王文瀾 (Wáng Wénlán).

No, Edna; no one can guess which way the answer will be blowin’ in the wind

Artwork © DobleT

A Dragon’s Witch

罗洋 (Luó Yáng), 斋藤丽罗 (Layla Saito), 2018. Photo © 罗洋 (Luó Yáng).

A Summer at Sea

Esteban Canal – Alex Crisovan
2nd International Festival; San Benedetto del Tronto, July 1953
French Defence C01

Notes by G. Z., Het Vaderland, Saturday, November 28, 1953, p. 14.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5. The Exchange French often leads to arid and dull play, and hence it is sometimes called “a draw variation”. However, it can also be lively, as this game shows.
3. ... exd5 4. Nf3. 4. Bd3 is usually played here.
4. ... Bd6. Black readily deviates from the symmetry (4. ... Nf6).
5. c4! White leaves the c3-square free for the Knight, which stands better there than on d2, and at the same time “dictates” Black’s next moves:
5. ... c6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 0-0 8. 0-0 Bf5. This offer of exchange, which deprives the d5-Pawn of a defender, does not seem advisable to us. 8. ... Be6 was preferable.
9. Bxf5 Nxf5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Qb3 Nc6 12. Qxd5 Nfxd4? The intent of Black’s manoeuvre now becomes clear: the exchange of the d5-Pawn for the d4-Pawn. However, what he has overlooked is that he will end up losing a piece.
13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Rd1. It is obvious that White cannot immediately take on d4 — 14. Qxd4 — because of 14. ...Bxh2+.
14. ... Re8? Can Black have been so naive as to rely upon the checkmate 15. Rxd4 Re1#?
15. Bg5 1–0. Black resigns. After 15. Bg5 Qc7 16. Rxd4 Black could still console himself with a Pawn (16. ...Bxh2+), but defeat would be certain in the long run.

Don’t be deceived by their tricky equivocations and linguistic lies, Edna: labyrinths are not mazes!

Artwork © Ihoi

Earth and World

Castles of Sand

After all, Edna, it comes to this: where there is a public there is a featured performer — who, as in your case, makes more public

Artwork © Alessandra Granieri (@sogni_di_fimo_art_creations)

Time and Space

罗洋 (Luó Yáng), 斋藤丽罗 (Layla Saito), 2018. Photo © 罗洋 (Luó Yáng).

It goes without saying, Edna, that if all the world’s a stage, they can’t be anything but the audience, can they?

Artwork © Gilvan Abreu

Sirens of the Lambs

No, Edna, there’s no dress code in heaven — no bouncer god not letting you in because you don’t look like a beguine

Artwork © MeJustMe

Eyes to the Sky

The Paradoxes of Freedom

Chinese national and social media influencer 刘振亚 (Liú Zhènyà) (centre), known as “亚亚在台湾” (“Yàyà in Taiwan”), is escorted by Taiwanese police officers after her press conference in Taipei. 刘振亚 (Liú Zhènyà) received a deportation notice for allegedly making several social media posts advocating cross-strait unification by force, violating regulations for Chinese residents in Taiwan, according to the National Immigration Agency. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA.

To be sure, Edna; a true champion shows fair play and respect for opponents, whether winning or losing

Artwork © tanasweet123

Time Out of Joint

Of course, Edna, a question arises spontaneously at this point. How come they waste time searching for goddesses all around the universe, when they have one right under their noses?

Artwork © Pshunya

Divinely Enough

Only a God can save us

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, March 21, 2025

Heidegger’s abrupt assertion in his 1976 interview with Der Spiegel: “Only a God can save us” has always aroused perplexity. To understand it, one must first to return it to its context. Heidegger has just spoken of the planetary dominion of technology which nothing seems capable of governing. Philosophy and other spiritual powers — poetry, religion, arts, politcs — have lost the ability to shake, or at least to orient, the life of the peoples of the West. Hence the bitter diagnosis that they “are unable to effect any immediate change in the current state of the world” and the inevitable consequence according to which “only a God can save us”. That what is at issue here is anything but a millenarian prophecy is confirmed immediately afterwards by the clarification that we must prepare ourselves not only “for the appearance of a God”, but also, and rather, “for the absence of a God in [our] decline, insofar as in view of the absent god we are in a state of decline”.
It goes without saying that up to now, Heidegger’s diagnosis has lost none of its topicality; indeed, if possible, it is even more irrefutable and true. Humanity has renounced the decisive rank of spiritual problems and has created a special sphere in which to confine them: culture. Art, poetry, philosophy and other spiritual powers, when they are not simply extinguished and exhausted, are confined to museums and cultural institutions of any kind, where they survive as more or less interesting leisures and distractions from the boredom of existence (and often no less boring).
How then should we get on with the philosopher’s bitter diagnosis? In what sense “only a God can save us”? For almost two centuries — since Hegel and Nietzsche declared its death, the West has lost its god. But what we have lost is only a god to whom it is possible to give a name and an identity. The death of God is, in truth, the loss of the divine names (“holy names are lacking”, Hölderlin lamented). Beyond the names, the most important thing remains: the divine. As long as we are able to sense a flower, a face, a bird, a gesture or a thread of grass as divine, we can do without a God that can be named. The divine is enough for us; we care more for the adjective than the noun. Not “a God” — rather: “only divine can save us”.

(Emglish translation by I, Robot)

Magnus, Marlene Dietrich & Betty Boop, 1985.

Make love, not war

陈漫 (Chén Màn), No. 10 1942 ISAAC ASIMOV WRITES THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS, 2016. Photo © 陈漫 (Chén Màn).

And thus, Edna, to each opera its own phantom

© Disney/Pixar

Sino-Indian Rivalry

朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr) – Divya Deshmukh
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024–25; 4th stage; Nicosia, March 22, 2025
French Defence C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. a3 0-0 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Bd3 f5 12. exf6 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 Bxf6 14. 0-0-0 b5 15. Ne2 Bd7 16. Bc5 $1 Rf7 17. h4 Qc7 18. Ng5 Bxg5 19. hxg5 g6 20. Be3 b4 21. a4 b3 22. Qxb3 Na5 23. Qb6 Bxa4 24. Nc3 Nc4 25. Qxc7 Rxc7 26. Bd4 Bc6 27. Rde1 Re8 28. b3 Na3 29. Be5 Rb7 30. Nd1 d4 31. Nf2 Bxg2

Black has gained a Pawn, but at the cost of conceding her opponent a dangerous initiative.
32. Ng4! Bxh1 33. Nf6+ Kf7? The losing move; she ought to play 33. ... Kf8! 34. Rxh1 Ree7 35. Bd6 Nb5! with better chances of defence.
34. Rxh1 h5 35. gxh6! Rc8 36. h7 Rxc2+ 37. Kd1 1–0. There could still follow 37. ... Rxb3 38. h8=N+! Ke7 (38. ... Kf8 39. Bd6+ Kg7 40. Rh7+ Kxf6 41. Rf7#) 39. Rh7+ Kf8 40. Nf7+ Kc8 41. Nd6+ Kb8 42. Nb5+ and mate will come in a few more moves.

Today 朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr) got the better of Divya Deshmukh. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE.

Yeah, Edna, in a big city there is always an anniversary to celebrate where to sneak in and scrounge some tiramisu dessert

Courtesy of Disneyland Treasures

Teatimes

Workers harvesting 龍井 (Lóngjǐng) tea leaves at a tea garden in 杭州 (Hángzhōu), 浙江省 (Zhèjiāng province), China. Photo: VCG/Getty Images.

Naturally, Edna: one ice cream stick never made anyone fat

Artwork © Ozma Kayt (@ozmadestudio)

3D Sweeties

Come on, Edna, take a break and eat a tiramisu the size of a dinosaur’s foot

Courtesy of Coconut Press

The Abandoned Room

“Technology is a tool, not a substitute for living”. Caption & photo: 陈漫 (Chén Màn).

Yes, Edna, that’s why one should be wary of war profiteers whose only interest is to perpetuate conflicts throughout the whole world

Artwork © Beautiful Enneagram (@beautiful_enneagram)

When the Apricots Bloom

A farmer pollinates apricot flowers in 枣庄 (Zǎozhuāng), 山东省 (Shāndōng province), eastern China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock.

No, Edna, no one can really know what anyone else is reading and thinking within one’s own four walls

Artwork © 💀alyssa💀 (@old_man_mom)

Uncle Vanya Goes East

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), the only one World Chess Champion from China, appeared as a guest of honour at the T-Bank’s seminar “One Move Ahead” in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, March 17, 2025, in which he advocated the importance of chess as a means to develop strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
In the free time, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) gave a long interview to Sport24, in which, once again, he vindicated his affection for Moscow, “where I’ve been so many times that I can’t recollect”.
The interview conveys a portrait of 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) as cultured and sensitive, questing for meanings and spiritual growth while wandering in and around the Moscow Metro stations of the Soviet era. With a thought for Boris Vasilievich Spassky, the king who did not want to become king and who was rejected as king by Caïssa. “His death deeply upset me”, said 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén). “The more I read of him, the more I recognise myself in him”.
Finally, he is an avid reader of literature, not only Chinese, but Russian as well. “I really like Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya — a masterpiece”.

On the occasion, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) was accompanied by a dedicated interpreter: Woman Grandmaster 谷笑冰 (Gǔ Xiàobīng). Photo: Chess Federation of Russia.

Blue Bleu

To be sure, Edna, life is a gift, but also a burden

AI illustration via Shutterstock

African Sky

Here is the first batch of photos from the Rocchini family trip to Kenya. More to come soon! Below, from top to bottom, are pictured some of the highlights: Maestro Geppetto, Kilimanjaro, children of Maasai Village, elephants of Amboseli (it means dust), zebras. Caption & photos: Viola Rocchini.

Still Lives

Very true, Edna, only music has the power to make the world go round

Artwork © kell (@_kellymai)

Heart and Soul

Flaounes

朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr) – Olga Sergeevna Badelka
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024–25; 4th stage; Nicosia, March 15, 2025
Spanish Game C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. 0-0 0-0 7. Nbd2 Re8!? By her own admission, 朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr)’s theoretical knowings did not include this move.
8. b4. She also considered 8. d4, but wasn’t sure it worked.
8. ... Bb6 9. Nc4 a6 10. Nxb6 cxb6 11. Ba4 d5 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. Bg5 b5 15. Bb3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 d4

According to 朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr) this was the critical moment in the game. By her next move White takes the upper hand and holds it till the end of the game.
17. c4!± h6. If 17. ... Nxb4 then 18. cxb5 axb5 19. Qg3 (Δ f2-f4) with powerful compensation for the Pawn.
18. cxb5 axb5 19. Bd2 Qe7 20. h4 Nh7 21. Rac1 Nd8 22. Qg3 Kh8 23. Rc5 Ra6 24. h5 Nf6 25. Qh3 Ne6 26. Rxb5 Rc6 27. Qf5 Nd8 28. Rc1 Rxc1+ 29. Bxc1 b6 30. Bd2 Qc7 31. f4 exf4 32. Qxf4 Qc6 33. Rf5 Nh7 34. b5 Qc8 35. Qd6 Ne6 36. Qxb6 Nhg5 37. a4 Re7 38. Qd6 Rc7 39. Rf1 Nc5 40. Bxg5 hxg5 41. Rc1 Kh7 42. Bd5 Ne6 43. Rxc7 Nxc7 44. Bxf7 g4 45. Qg6+ Kh8 46. h6 Ne8 47. hxg7+ 1–0.

A Compassionate Veil

林志鹏 (Lín Zhìpéng), Untitled, 2013. Photo © 林志鹏 (Lín Zhìpéng). Courtesy of the artist.

Whoa, Edna! You really did look like an absolute knockout!

Photo credit: T. Scott/Getty Images

Hard Rain Falling

You know, Edna, some have big burdens, others smaller, but in the end, everyone has their own burden

生命中不能承受之轻 (The Unbearable Lightness of Being)

廖逸君 (Liào Yìjūn), How to build a relationship with layered meanings, 2008. Photo © 廖逸君 (Liào Yìjūn). Courtesy of British Journal of Photography.

Don’t worry, Edna, no gentleman will ever ask a lady as to what was said in the confessional booth

Photo © Michelle Linett (@disneymichellerealtor)

Snake necklace

Avant-garde artist 陈漫 (Chén Màn) transforms a Pomellato necklace into a symbol of empowerment, positioning it along a dancer’s muscular back . Photo © 陈漫 (Chén Màn). Courtesy of the artist.

Yeah, Edna, after all he couldn’t help but buy a driverless car cuz he never passed his driving test

Photo © BlogMickey.com

Hellos and Goodbyes

Delegates leave the 人民大会堂 (Great Hall of the People) after attending the closing ceremony of the 中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会 (National People’s Congress) in 北京 (Běijīng), China. Photo: 王身敦 (Andy Wong)/AP.

You see, Edna, they are too low level to keep up with you

Courtesy of LinkedIn

Dark Red Silk

Attendants prepare for the closing session of a conference at the 人民大会堂 (Great Hall of the People) in 北京 (Běijīng), China. Photo: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images.

Come on, Edna, do not pretend to be who you are not

Courtesy of Dina Cardona