MAIN LINE (THE KASPAROV VERSION)

MAIN LINE (THE KASPAROV VERSION)

feel i have been
here before

but after the first few moves,
main lines of the opening
all the possible
permutations of the situation
make it a mathematical
impossibility near
exactly certain

such nuance, subtlety,
precise artistry, infinte
calculation
    in this rectangular game
of squares and
wooden carvings
     from crude to most
elegant a regular
box of
  delights, of wonderful,
well, surprises

and painful defeats, failures,
steep learning curves
      things you
fail to
see (way beyond your
                   ELO rating)

but Tal saw, Fischer saw,
Magnus Carlsen sees them
with stunning
        predictability

and Capablanca, my Cuban
maestro, saw them shifting
knights and pawns
across a table
              under a palm tree

dreaming today’s moves
during yesterday’s sleep
when he
     sniffs an opening he
is in
to take advantage
         like the ocean

not
   like someone we could
not possibly name in
such chess
circles

splashing around here predictably,
ankle-deep in a derisory
                        little stream