The Evans Gambit

The Evans Gambit I am Black Death, Grandmaster of the game of chess.

Won't you sit and play with me Before beginning your eternity?

I know that gambit Was old man Evans who invented it.

I'll take B pawn, So you may dominate the center, But careful of the sacrificial vein, For I have played six hundred million games And never lost.

A nice retreat! The Bishop shrives all sin But now you wriggle in a nasty pin.

Pawn or castle you must loose So choose the obvious.

Your play is sadly forced.

All is moving toward the graveyard of a loss And even now the mating net is forming, Like Morphy's magic in Louisiana morning.

I really fancied him.

He almost beat me But for madness at the end.

They say I come in fur of filthy rats Or that I slay on wings of vampire bats But 'tis not so.

All I want is formidable defense, Positional strategies Which make insightful sense.

But I will play your level, Whether champion or learner of the moves, Your loss will be no shame.

But see, you've stumbled At the eighth row gate, You should have moved the H pawn for escape But you did not. Look at my face ­ Checkmate!

Carl Estrin