Can you believe that Fixies are Such itty-bitty creatures?
Even when they’re magnified It’s hard to see their features.
They’re tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
Chess
How about that?
Then I'll play... my pawn.
And I'll play my pawn.
Grandpus, we need our spool and it's missing.
Oh! Congratulations.
Professor, have you seen it anywhere?
The spool?
I haven’t seen it.
We’re playing chess, can't you see?
Do you like board games?
Like Dominoes, for instance.
Just about everybody has played it, but do you know where it came from?
Dominoes was invented by the ancient Chinese.
They made tiles and decorated them with dots like on a pair of dice.
And this a game that looks a lot like checkers,
but it's a lot more challenging.
It’s called backgammon.
Backgammon originated in Persia and from there it spread all over the world.
But the most challenging game of them all is the game of chess.
Chess was invented in India,
and today the game of chess is loved in every country.
It's played by adults, by children, and even by computers!
Chess is a real sport,
but the most important thing for playing chess is not the power in your arms,
but the power in your brain.
Hey, look! I found it!
Hey, what's going on?!
That's our spool!
Please let us take it back! There's something we have to do with it.
But we're using it!
Can't you wait?
It's a replacement for the missing pawn.
Oh! Nolik can work for a while as the pawn's replacement.
Yeah!
I could do it!
Alright, you can take it.
And you stand right over here.
One, two, three, up we go!
Class!
So how do we play?
You’re going to play for the whites.
And now I'm going to capture your knight!
And we...
We’re going to knock over yours!
Take that!
Woah-woah-woah, young man! Slow down!
It goes back here.
Nolik, get back to your square!
What for?
Pawns don’t move like that.
Then how do they move?
Only one square per move and only forward.
Of all of the pieces, the little pawn is the weakest.
What a mess!
So which one's strongest?
This! It's the queen! She's the most dangerous threat to the other king.
How come I couldn't be queen?!
Then that black king would have to deal with me.
Oh, yes!
In chess each player has a black or white army with eight pawns,
two knights, two bishops, two castles and a queen.
All of them work together for their king,
trying to protect him while attacking the enemy's king.
If the king finds himself in a position where he can be captured,
the attacking player says “check”.
And if the king finds himself with nowhere to run from the attack, it's called "checkmate".
Whoever checkmates the other player’s king first is the winner!
I'll move my queen.
Yeah!
And me…
my queen!
Then I'll just capture your queen!
Really? Then I'll just capture yours!
Granpus, should I go now?
Not yet.
So, do you feel like surrendering?
You're kidding. Do you?
Nolik, forward!
Hurrah!
We’ll step aside.
Forward!
Uh-huh! Next I'll go and capture the knight!
He got away!
Alright, Pawn, and once more - go forward!
Grand… Grandpus!
Where do I go now?
Don't you see the edge?
Don't go anywhere! Now you’re the queen!
What?!
The rules of chess say that if a pawn makes it all the way to the other side,
he can become anything that was captured earlier.
Hurrah!
Then I'll be the queen! And I'll be the strongest piece in the whole game!
Hey, queen! Get back here!
In case you don't know, this isn't over yet!
We capture the pawn with the queen.
Queen, this is your new place.
Check.
Huh! Yeah?
Now come to here.
Check mate, my colleague!
Of course it is!
Oh! It is... mate.
Yeah.
I lost.
Hurrah! Tideesh! Tideesh! Tideesh!
Professor, we found the missing pawn for you.
So that means Nolik can leave with us.
I’m not going anywhere with you!
Chess is the greatest game you'll ever play in your life!
You should have seen how I put Professor Eugenius into check mate!
Really?
Well… Grandpus helped me a little.
Actually, it was Grandpus telling me where to move.
But I'm the queen now!
Fixies have a special sign I happened to discover.
They hold three fingers in the air And flash it to each other.
They send their greetings to you, They sing them and they shout,
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don't let their secret out!
The Stain
Tom Thomas, what’s going on?
If you really want to watch TV then you have to turn it on first.
I’m not watching it, I'm looking at my reflection.
I’m working on a self-portrait.
And which shelf will you be painting in your shelf-portrait?
It's not a shelf-portrait, it’s called a self-portrait.
It’s when an artist draws or paints a picture of himself.
Of himself?!
Huh!
You think you've got muscles like this superhero I see here on this paper?
How can I see exactly what my muscles look like?
And anyway, let the artist do his work!
Tom Thomas! Your shirt! There is a spot!
Oh, no!
Wipe it off! Quickly!
It's even worse! So now what?
What we really need is Masiya.
Ordinary dirt can be cleaned off with a brush or washed off with water.
But there are stains that are not that easy to get rid of.
Stains from fruit need to be soaked in hot water first.
Blood stains, on the other hand, should never be washed in hot water.
You can clean stains from paint or rust as well.
Only for those you’ll need to use a special stain remover.
But stain removers should only be used with the help of a parent
or other adult that knows how to use them safely.
Hey, I know a great way to do it!
What do you use to get rid of pencil marks?
An eraser.
Only this shirt isn't paper.
And so what? Let’s try it! What's the harm?
Now I've got three colors to get off.
New idea!
We should paint over it with this correction pen!
With white out?
Yeah!
That was a bad idea.
Now I got it!
You have to use some water!
The washer would be better. Don't you think?
No! You can’t wash whites with colors.
And you've got a white shirt with colors all over it.
Then how about if... we try some more water?
How much more can you use?
Any more ideas?
You know what?!
It's possible we did something wrong.
Everything you did was wrong!
You should have used a spot remover to clean off that stain.
A spot remover? No way!
Take a look at it, Simka! I think it's marvelous!
They painted that white shirt so nicely!
Toola is Simka’s best friend.
She's very tall - almost as tall as Papus.
Yeah, she's the tallest one in her class.
And she's strong too!
Toola loves to laugh and she does it louder than everybody.
That’s just the way she is - cheerful and kind.
Ready to help anyone who needs it and making sure her friends are getting along.
Of course I don’t like that she treats me like a baby
especially since she's the one that's a scaredy cat.
She can even get scared of a cute little spider.
And she believes in all sorts of silly superstitions and horoscopes.
Toola will believe anything you tell her
which is really great because it makes it so easy to play tricks on her.
But she takes it all in good fun.
That's because she's Toola!
It was on purpose, wasn't it?
Well, yeah!
Tom Thomas, no! Your mom will punish you for just one of them,
and now you’re gonna make more stains?
Don't wory, Nolik.
I forgot that this is an old shirt and I'm allowed to get it all dirty if I want.
And I tried so hard to clean it!
Put another spot there.
And over here.
One in the middle,
and a line over there.
Splendid!
That looks great! And how about down there?
Wow! It's like fireworks!
Splendid!
There's a name for this style of painting, and properly speaking it's an abstract painting.
They have lots of lines and spots and every one sees whatever they want in them.
Yeah, look! A golden ball by the river!
And there's Tom Thomas with an “F” on his report card!
Tom Thomas, what did you do to your room?
And your shirt!
You know what they call it?
It's a... Abstract art!
There’s something good in it.
I like it.
Abstract art! Isn't it great?
Ah! My little artist.