'Twas the Night before Sinquefield Cup

By Daniel S. Todd 12/15/2022

'Twas the night before Sinquefield Cup, in honor of Rex.

The grandmasters all prepped, so they'd do their best;

The chess pieces setup on the tables with care,

Chess clocks with new batteries and two queens for spare;

The players where are sleeping all snug in their beds;

While visions of top rankings danced in their heads;

The tournament director had planned for mis haps.

We settled our brains for a pre-tournament nap,

When on social media there arose such a chatter,

He opened his laptop to see what's the matter.

Logged into Windows, his browsers new tab,

Hoping no evildoer had text something bad.

The resolution on the screen was quite high, don’t you know,

Gave off a great luster and made all objects aglow,

When what to his wondering eyes did appear,

But a tweet from a man quite full of his beer,

It states that St. Louis is the place we should be,

For watching the masters of chess with such glee.

If 40 move in 90min is the name of your game,

Then here is your chance put forth you name:

“Now, Magnus! Now Ding! Now, Maxime and Alireza!

On, Levon! On, Fabiano! On, Wesley So!

To the top of the ratings! To the top of the list!

Now attack away! attack away! attack away all!”