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- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 3
I actually did learn how to play a version of 3D chess- taught to me in Hyde Park, Chicago by one of the bartenders at the Woodlawn Tap- almost fifty years ago. The guy was also a PhD in linguistics from the university of Chicago, one of three bartenders there with PhD’s ( shows the value of a PhD in linguistics)
Anyway, it’s played on a regular 2D chessboard, projected in the mind’s eye as a continuous 3D surface. Picture a rolled up cylinder formed by bringing two edges of the board together, then folding the cylinder into a doughnut. There are no edges now and it makes for some really wild moves.
But beware of playing the game with a PhD bartender while drunk. Having done so, I can only imagine the trouble Trump had playing the game with Putin and Xi.
No. of Recommendations: 3
I can only imagine the trouble Trump had playing the game with Putin and Xi.
I hope Putin and Xi stopped Trump from eating too many of the pieces....
No. of Recommendations: 2
I can only imagine the trouble Trump had playing the game with Putin and Xi.Hey, how about a check in on that?
Let's first stop off in Italy.
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/analysis...You can tell why they’re so angry. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has flown to Washington to negotiate a tariff deal with the United States on Italy’s terms. Her April 17th meeting with President Donald Trump, the first by a European leader since his administration’s sweeping tariff announcements, marks a pivotal moment not just for Italy but for a continent shackled and immobilised by Brussels’ bureaucratic yoke. Meloni’s audacious move—officially ‘coordinated’ with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen but unmistakably her own—signals a path forward for Italy and Europe: one of national sovereignty, pragmatic diplomacy, and liberation from the suffocating tutelage of the European Union’s unelected elites.
Meloni’s decision to engage Trump directly is a masterstroke for Italy. Facing a 20% U.S. tariff on European exports, Italy’s economy—heavily reliant on luxury goods, wine, and machinery—stands to lose billions. By securing a foothold in negotiations, Meloni aims to shield key actors while multiplying her international influence. Her rapport with Trump, who lauded her as a “fantastic leader,” gives Italy a diplomatic edge. Unlike von der Leyen’s abstract calls for a “zero-for-zero” deal, Meloni’s approach is grounded in realpolitik and the conditions of the new geopolitical cycle: she seeks concrete exemptions, perhaps trading increased defence spending or tougher EU stances on China for tariff relief. This not only bolsters Italy’s economic resilience but also elevates its stature within Europe, proving that a nation can act decisively without asking Brussels for permission.I believe it was somebody here who mentioned that part of the tariff negotiating would be to form a bloc against China. :)
Tee, hee.
Say, how about China? They're totally kicking our behinds right? We're the only ones feeling any pain at all, right?
https://nypost.com/2025/04/25/business/china-drops...China has quietly exempted some semiconductors from tariffs, and is considering more exclusions for certain US industries, as the world’s two largest economies attempt to navigate a trade war with potentially devastating effects, according to reports.
Taxes on at least eight classifications of US microchips have been lowered to zero, a huge drop from China’s 125% retaliatory tariff on all other US goods, Caijing, a Chinese financial magazine, reported on Friday.
Though the article was later deleted, two importers confirmed that certain semiconductors have been spared from the hefty duties, according to The Washington Post. The only people who seem to be okay with the current status quo are...leftists.
Now let's visit India.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/modi-and-vance-tou...India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Monday hailed the “significant” progress made in trade talks between the two sides during Vance’s visit to India.
Vance, who was in India on a mostly personal trip with second lady Usha Vance and his family, met Modi in New Delhi.
A statement from Modi’s office said the two leaders “welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement.“Hmm.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/one-of-fir..."I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign," Bessent told CNBC, adding that the U.S. had also held very substantial negotiations with Japan and discussions with other Asian trading partners were going well.and then
Bessent told CNBC that China's recent moves to exempt certain U.S. goods from its retaliatory tariffs showed that it wanted to de-escalate trade tensions with the United States, and noted that the U.S. had refrained from escalating by embargoing those goods.These things take time.
One more time - would I have done it this way? No. But did a strategic decoupling from China have to take place? 100%.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Anyway, it’s played on a regular 2D chessboard, projected in the mind’s eye as a continuous 3D surface. Picture a rolled up cylinder formed by bringing two edges of the board together, then folding the cylinder into a doughnut. There are no edges now and it makes for some really wild moves.
Sounds wild.
My first move is a1-a8 taking your rook. 😁
No. of Recommendations: 6
"3D chess"
I used to like playing chess, but my playing partners gave it up, so haven't played in years.
In college, as part of math requirements, took Calculus 1,2, and 3. Calc 3 was supposed to be three dimensional calc ( X,Y, and Z axis ). The professor teaching it didn't even understand
it, so learned very little in that class. That was the consensus from everybody in the class.
The thought of Trump being on some higher level, playing 3-d chess against the world, is
about the most laughable, implausible fake news I've ever heard. It cracks me up every time
I hear it. There is of course a reason why Trump hides his school transcripts from the world.
He is the biggest fraud in the world, until I see actual proof of something different, I'll believe that Trump was just a dunce in school.
No. of Recommendations: 1
My first move is a1-a8 taking your rook. 😁
Not sure that move would work…. But you get the picture!
It really gets wild when you move off the 2-D board (let’s say, moving diagonally with a bishop) and magically re-appear, still moving diagonally- on the other side of the board, and if your move was initiated deep in the defender’s territory, you may not only appear on the other side of the board ( because the board is wrapped into a cylinder) but also moving in the opposite direction (because the cylinder is further wrapped into a donut)!
No. of Recommendations: 0
My first move is a1-a8 taking your rook. 😁
Not sure that move would work…. But you get the picture!
The problem is that unless there are rules in place to prevent it, both kings are immediately in simultaneous check by the other side's queen, bishop and knight!
No. of Recommendations: 1
The problem is that unless there are rules in place to prevent it, both kings are immediately in simultaneous check by the other side's queen, bishop and knight!
There are rules. Unfortunately, after almost fifty years, I don’t remember them.
And the cloud of inebriation floated heavily over the chessboard whenever I played- so there’s that.
But through the haze of remembrance, I don’t recall that being a problem, so yes, there were a few rules.
Looking back, my memory of the game is similar to the feeling I had when I first read Hesse’s “Magister Ludi”, also titled “The Glass Bead Game”. ….. a wonderfully intricate game as described in his book, but lacking the detail that would enable someone to actually play it.
