Happy New Year – Gelukkige Nuwe Jaar!

This is one more of my ‘creations’ and I hope you like it – as much as I’ve enjoyed ‘creating’ it. With this image: I want to wish you a Happy New Year  and wish you lots and lots of success in everything you do. Be positive, proud and keep smiling.

Gelukkige Nuwe Jaar aan almal wat hier lees. Mag jou jaar met vrede en voorspoed gevul word!

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.— Gustave Flaubert

This was my ‘creation’ of last year!

The beauty inside the window

I couldn’t resist in going to take pictures in our town of all the beautiful Christmas lights this year. Some shops, like our local art shop, has really put themselves out to have a wonderful Christmas display in their display windows. I love this! It’s like a picture for a puzzle! You feel like standing by the window for hours and enjoy what is on display. It’s amazing, the detail – and so much effort has gone into this display to make it enjoyable to the visitor. I hope you enjoy it too.

Hierdie Kind

Kersgroete aan almal!
Seasons Greetings to all!

Thank you to Dan, my old chess friend from the USA, for this beautiful e-card he’s sent me via greetingcards.

Thank you to my blog-friend: Norrbu for this beautiful card he’s sent me with a very special message! We’ve been blog-friends for about 4 years now.

Saterdagaand herinneringe

Namibia: Goanikontes Oasis – Foto – deur my nig op FB!

Ek is gek oor windpompe – eintlik enige iets wat ‘plaas’ is. Ek is oorspronklik ‘vanaf die plaas’ en heg ek groot waarde aan dinge wat my aan die plaas-dae herinner. Ek [dis my persoonlike opinie!] glo dat mense wat op ‘n plaas groot geword het, kyk op ander maniere na dinge/lewe – dit is ook my persoonlike ervaring!  Jy waardeer dinge op maniere wat ander mense soms nie verstaan of moeilik vind om te verstaan. Dit laat my ook dink aan Langenhoven se gesegde: slegs as jy met kerslig groot geword het, weet jy wat liefde is. Natuurlik bedoel hy liefde in die ‘ander’ sin van die woord. Ons almal weet wat ‘normale’ liefde is. Ek het vandag so bietjie op FB weer gaan inloer en daar kry ek vir Johan van der Watt waar hy so pas Sypaadjiemense op sy FB bladsy geplaas het. – sien my Afrikaanse digters bladsy vir sy liedjie: Sypaadjie mense [ook 'n inskrywing iewers op my blog, waarop hy afgekom het!] Hy was die kunsonderwyser by my Hoërskool en ook in St8 my Voogonderwyser. Hy is ook ‘n spotprent-tekenaar en baie van sy spotprente verskyn in die Beeld – en verseker ander koerante ook. Ek is toevallig ook op ‘Soundcloud‘ geregistreer en kry toe sy ander baie mooi liedjies wat ek hier plaas. Windpompliedjie het my ook dadelik getrek – hoe dan anders! Die twee foto’s in die inskrywing is van ‘n niggie van my wat graag rondtoer wanneer sy die geleentheid kry. Ek weet sy sal nie omgee dat ek die foto’s by haar ‘geleen’ het nie. Die onderste foto het ek so bietjie ‘gesny’ om te fokus op dit wat ek wou hê. Op Johann se profiel was daar ook ander sangers waarna ek geluister het en die laaste liedjie is ook ‘n liedjie wat my aandag getrek het. Geniet dit saam met my!

Knysna-omgewing – B&B – foto: ook ‘n foto van my nig op FB.

Johann met My Môreland

Die liedjie is deur Emile Minnie: Sandkasteel

London Chess Classic 2011

Images: londonchessclassic: l to r: David Howell, Luke McShane, Mickey Adams, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Malcolm Pein Tournament Director, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura and Nigel Short.

Hopefully I will be able to attend this year. My plan is to go next weekend. Will keep you posted with photos etc. and hope to shake Anand’s hand this time! [hehe]

Games can be followed live from the Official website here:
http://www.londonchessclassic.com/

The players I would like to see ‘in action’. I don’t want to see Levon Aronian. He is the player that says women shouldn’t be playing chess as they can’t play chess. 

Saturday 3rd December – Round 1: Adams vs Anand

Round 1 Adams vs Anand move 21

Kasparov in South Africa

World Chess Champion, Gary Kasparov is visiting South Africa!! Kasparov was the top rated player for 21 years.  He will be playing some chess on the 12th November. Pres Zuma has recently launched the MOVES FOR LIFE Chess development programme. From the link:

Kasparov comes from Moscow to South Africa on 12 November to form a joint venture with Tshwane/Pretoria based chess educational project Moves for Life (MFL).

13th Chess World Champion, Garry Kasparov, has announced that he wishes to link his Kasparov Chess Foundation to MFL to take the successful MFL formula to other African countries.

He has added that he plans to work with MFL to make Johannesburg the chess capital of Africa

Kasparov stated:. “I was greatly inspired by the words of President Zuma last October, when he spoke so movingly on the many benefits of chess for children – and of his remarkable connection to my beloved game. I am happy to join him and the South African Moves for Life programme in a commitment to bringing chess to schools across the country and for turning Johannesburg into the continental capital for chess.”

Kasparov will be visiting South Africa as the guest of MFL from the 12th – 15th November to promote the Kasparov Chess Foundation link up with the Moves for Life programme.

The Moves for Life programme was launched by President Zuma last year and has since expanded to over 50 schools around the country, resulting in measurable improvement in maths and science performance amongst children

Watu Kobese, Moves for Life trustee and one of South Afriva’s top chess players Operations says: “The game of chess impacts positively on Maths, Science and comprehension abilities while also imparting valuable life skills to children. In learning to play chess, children are mastering a wide range of skills such as pattern recognition, classifying information, reasoning by analogy, following principles, calculating possible sequences of events and critical thinking — which in fact helps with all their academic subjects,”

President Jacob Zuma, is clear that there is a place for chess in South Africa’s education system. When President Zuma launched the MFL initiative in 2010, he highlighted the benefits of chess saying, “We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful tools available to strengthen and enhance a child’s mind.”

Moves for Life is now training over 6000 children per week and has trained more than 200 educators in 2011 both to teach chess in schools and also as an extra-curricular activity.. According to Kasparov, “The Moves for Life programme is already doing a wonderful job and we expect to cooperate and aid them in developing both their chess and sponsorship efforts. To promote our activities, chess in the media, and to inspire the grassroots, I will personally donate my time, to train South Africa’s most promising young players as well as the country’s elite teams, as I have done in the United States with great success.

The mission of the Kasparov Chess Foundation: Africa will be to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children throughout Africa by providing a complete chess curriculum with associated enrichment programs. The foundation promotes the playing of chess as a cognitive learning tool in classes and in after-school programmes for primary and high schools. The Moves for Life programme has both the South African experience as well as the material developed uniquely for the African situation. Through collaboration both KCF and MFL will be able to optimise all available resources and reach their respective goals.

“Chess is an individual sport, but promoting chess is not. With your support, Johannesburg will take a prominent place alongside New York, Brussels and Sao Paulo,” says Kasparov.

In June this year the Kasparov Chess Foundation launched its European leg, based in Brussels. The Foundation has ambitious plans to develop a programme for the entire European Union. On September 20th, the Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe presented its proposal at the Headquarters of the European Union.

Update: Saturday 12/11/2011
 Was really disappointed when reading on CHESSA’s site about MFL, Kasparov, etc. I agree, MFL is a PRIVATE company and HERE is Dr Kemm,  one of the 5 trustees of MFL and hopefully he will do something to get CHESSA also involved in this important visit – a visit our Chess players look forward to.  This is a visit that happens only ONCE in a life time and Chess South Africa is not even fully involved! MFL: You CAN do something about it.

Update [again] – Saturday 19/11/2011

If you are interested to read Mickey’s reaction as a MFL-trustee – you can read his comments in the comments box. It’s sad to know that MFL actually contacted CHESSA and that CHESSA asked MFL to cancel Kasparov’s visit. I think CHESSA needs to ‘grow up’ and show that they are there for the Chess community in South Africa and that they are serious about developing Chess in South Africa. CHESSA’s article is misleading the general public about their role in Kasparov’s visit. CHESSA is obviously not thinking about their international image.

The Lady and The Lord

Lord Nelson – Image: Wikipedia

Lady Emma Hamilton – Image: Encyclopedia.com

Lord Nelson had a love affair and he was a hero ‘at sea’, but was a really a hero in his personal life. How many people really do know about this scandal? I only got to know about it when I read about Lady Emma! Lord Nelson was – apparently – also a chess player.

Born Emma Lyon, she became the mistress of Charles Greville, then of Sir William Hamilton , ambassador to Naples, whom she married (1791). She gained enormous influence with Neapolitan Queen Marie Caroline. Her intimacy with Nelson began in 1798, and after returning to Englandwith him, she bore him a daughter, Horatia, in 1801

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar

Nelson’s affair with Emma Hamilton was the biggest scandal of the age. Their actual liaison lasted only six years, but it transformed their lives, their respective positions in society, and the public’s perception of them both.

Horatio Nelson first met Lady Hamilton on 12 September 1793. He was a 35-year-old post captain and she was the 28-year-old wife of Sir William Hamilton, the British Envoy to Naples. Emma was a great beauty and a celebrated artists’ model, and she was also famous across Europe for performing ‘attitudes’, which were performances in which she moved quickly from one dramatic pose to another.

Mired in retirement in Norfolk for the previous five years, Nelson had hardly seen a woman since he had returned to sea six months before their meeting, and he was impressed by Lady Hamilton. He wrote to his wife Fanny that Emma was a ‘young woman of amiable manners who does honour to the station to which she is raised’.

Although the newspaper-reading public savoured every detail about Nelson and Lady Hamilton, others condemned their relationship and some friends and colleagues refused to visit them. Most aristocrats and rich men kept mistresses, and many, like the Duke of Wellington, humiliated their wives by flaunting courtesans in public. Nelson, however, was the first high-profile man to actually leave his wife and many were scandalised by his actions.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/nelson_emma_01.shtml

Six Wood Relics Related to Admiral Lord Nelson – you can see a turned chess piece to the right on this photo.
Image: http://ephemera.ning.com/photo/six-wood-relics-related-to

European Team Chess Championships

I will be following some of the teams, but unfortunately time for blogging games not good now, what a shame as I would have loved to blog Ivanchuk’s games. The following link will bring you the results of the Open section as well as the Women’s section.

http://euro2011.chessdom.com/results-etcc-2011/

Beautiful

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6372332

Wow, this unusual perfume set is – oh so – beautiful! – and cute. I would love to have a set of these bottles, so please, Dan/Eugene/Awmyth, if you read here, hear my call! [hehe]

An unusual “Mary Chess” glass perfume bottle chess set is expected to sell for £2,000 – 3,000. During the 1930s Mary Chess became synonymous with fine women’s perfume, and a series of popular scents were bottled in glass chess pieces.

Read more HERE on the link which will open in a new window.

Patterns of thinking

I had to take these pictures today. I’m travelling on a small road and saw this tiny road with these beautiful Autumn colours. Children in my class are busy completing their Autumn poems. I’ve decided we have to finish our Poetry-unit with some Autumn poems – at least – as these colours are just too amazing to let it go past without ‘noticing’. Those following my class blog, will be able to read their poems too. I was searching for something on thought patterns when I came across this article. Maybe my brain preferred to ignore the irrelevant detail and wanted to focus on the relevant detail  – Autumn colours!

Eduard de Bono, an expert in creativity, says that the human brain can only deal with so much data at a time. It is constantly filtering out irrelevant information so that it can focus on what is important at the moment.

For example, he suggests to imagine yourself standing at the side of a
road waiting for the opportunity to cross. Consider the enormous amount of data that you are receiving: the smell of a nearby barbecue, the wind blowing gently from your left, the varying shades of blue in the clear sky, the sounds of birds, children, cars, trucks and music. Multiply these observations a thousandfold because when we “see” a car, our brain is actually perceiving thousands of tiny bits of information that allow us to discern shape, color, speed, etc. Had we never seen anything like a car before, we would need to study it, perhaps touch it, smell it and listen to it, to figure out what it was. If we were to take in all these tiny pieces of data without the ability to organize it into useful patterns, we would never cross the street. By the time we had recognized a lull in the traffic, so much time would have passed that it would once again be dangerous to cross. According to de Bono, our brains develop patterns of thinking that help us disregard irrelevant information and focus instead on what is important at the time. We recognize the lull in traffic because our mind is not preoccupied with the hundreds of different hues of green in the trees across the street. In fact, if asked later, we may not even remember the trees.

De Bono argues that this selectivity is both the benefit of and the downside to patterns of thinking. Our brains ignore information determined to be irrelevant when, in fact, it may be highly relevant. When this happens, we need to be jarred out of our pattern of thinking so that we can create new patterns that include additional data. So when we run into problems that require creative solutions, we are stumped. We can study the data over and over, but will not find a creative idea there. Creativity occurs when, by accident or design, we find ourselves confronting something outside of our pattern of thinking and recognize its importance to the problem at hand.

This is the “Eureka” moment of inspiration when we see something that had been there all along but was hidden by our pattern of thinking. At that point, logic helps us apply the inspiration to solve the problem. But, de Bono says, we should not conclude that logic led to the creative insight. Instead, logic helps us understand the creative insight.

Source: http://www.aca.org/fileupload/177/prasannak/commentary_dec_web.pdf

Perfection doesn’t have limits

Image:Wikimedia

‘Any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.’

Image: Wikimedia

‘Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight — how to get from shore to food and back again.’

Image: Wikimedia

‘The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly.’

It’s been awhile since thinking about things – and people. I’ve read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach three times. I’ve bought the book three times and gave it away as pressies – three times! But, this entry is not about the book. It’s more about morals, what we value in life,  what we do, believe, think,  It’s not that difficult. There are more things in life that’s a lot more complicated to understand. Yes, I’ve been thinking about these quotes of Richard Bach in his book. Why is it so difficult for many people to understand it? Are you really happy with your life the way it is? Are you really happy with: ‘can’t be bothered?‘ Are you really happy with a ‘satisfactory’ or a ‘good/OK’? Are you happy to know just what you need to know - for now? Why not be happy with ‘the best’? Why not interested in what’s going on in the whole wide world, instead of the ‘small world’ that surrounds you? [your country or your town/city/village]  Give your best when you can. Do your best in life. Strife for the best. Don’t be just happy with 2+1=3, but ask yourself why it is 3. Ask questions, get answers. Don’t just do what you need to do, why not doing a bit more than you actually should? Let’s be more than just a subsistence farmer -when it comes to doing our bit.   I will spend more time just thinking about things – and people – and these quotes.

More quotes by Bach from his book:

We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.

Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thoughts, he lived a long fine life indeed.

The gull sees farthest who flies highest.

Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding.

But the speed was power, and the speed was joy, and the speed was pure beauty.

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we’ve destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don’t you think that we might see each other once or twice?

You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

“The only true law is that which leads to freedom,” Jonathan said. “There is no other.”

“Such promises are only for the gulls that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise.”

I think only if you’ve read the book, the next video will make ‘sense’ to you.

Whilst I’m with Neil Diamond too, enjoy this next song. One of my favourites.

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man!

We had a very, very busy three weeks at school. Ofsted visited us Wednesday and Thursday – and if you know what an inspection in a school is like, well, then I don’t have to say more. Sleeping at 4am and staying at school till 10pm. I’m knackered and SO glad it is half term the same time. About an Ofsted inspection-visit at schools in the UK [my third Ofsted], I can write a 699-page best-seller. But for now, I need quiet time and my soul needs a rest! I’ve played and sung enough piano tunes/songs the past week to make other people happy and to get the ‘right ticks’ in all the tick boxes! -like we say, ‘dance to the tune..’ and in Afrikaans: na hul pype dans/ hand om die blaas -embracing them.

I am…

Eendag was daar

Eendag was daar drie baie gelukkige katte wat met Juffrou Mollie Smit gewoon het. Op ‘n dag was gryskat bitter ongelukkig. Al die glans was uit sy oë en hy het baie droewig en trietsig gevoel. Selfs die spin in sy keel het stom geword. Die swartkat en gemmerkat het baie bekommerd geraak en gewonder wat hulle kon doen om gryskat weer gelukkig te kry. Juffrou Smit het ‘n sonkol op haar bed gehad wat net skielik verdwyn het! Gryskat het daarvan gehou om in die sonkol te gaan lê. Dadelik het swartkat en gemmerkat begin om die sonkol te soek. Hulle het die huis behoorlik omgekeer, terwyl Juffrou Mollie uit was om inkopies te gaan doen. Kaste se laaie is oopgetrek, tafeldoeke is afgetrek, boekrakke is omgekeer, alles het inmekaar getuimel. Selfs ‘n glasvoël en porseleinbeeldjie van ‘n meisie het afgeval en bo-op ‘n hoop boeke op die mat beland. Hulle het later kombuistoe verskuif en daar gaan soek. Die kombuisgordyntjies was deurskynend en daardeur kon hul sien dat daar niks daaragter was nie. Later was hulle in Juffrou Mollie se slaapkamer en daar het hulle ook ‘verwoesting’ aangerig soos hul gesoek het. Toe sien hul die houtkis, waarin die nuwe teestel gepak was, reg voor die venster! Hulle het die kis bespring en probeer trek en later dit reggekry dat die kis kantel en begin val. Met ‘n gemiaau en ‘n geblaas het hul rondgespring soos hul geskrik het. Toe, met steeds verskrikte oë, sien gryskat Juffrou Mollie se bed raak! Op haar bed het die goue sonkol verskyn! Toe Juffrou Mollie tuiskom, was sy minder beindruk met al die gemors in die huis, maar besef waaroor als gegaan het. Sy het besef dat sy onnosel was om die kas voor die venster te skuif en sodoende die sonkol van gryskat te ontneem! – Die boek is een van my talle Afrikaanse kinderboeke wat ek het. Jenny Seed se boeke kan enige tyd gelees word, dit sal altyd ‘n wenner wees. Die illustrasies in die boek is ook puik, reg op die vlak van die kind wat maak dat die boek ‘n kinderboekwenner is.

Ek was getag deur Toortsie om ‘n ‘storie’ te skryf.Wel, baie stories kan ek skryf en het ek al geskryf. Al daardie stories is sommer net ‘n kort kinderstorie – wat ons almal ken – geen rêrige waarheid skuil daaragter nie en dis meer oor die verbeelding van die kleinkinderkind en om dit te prikkel. My storie gaan eintlik oor iets wat rêrig is. Dit bestaan en alle Suid-Afrikaners is daarby betrokke. Of jy in die land woon of nie. Jy is deel daarvan. Jy kan nooit jouself losmaak daarvan nie en al probeer jy, of al sê jy dat jy nie meer deel is nie, jy bluf jouself. My storie is ook ‘n gryskatstorie. My storie is ook oor ‘n sonkol wat weggeraak het. Almal is huidiglik besig om hierdie sonkol te soek, ek inkluis. Ons krap die plek erger om as wat gemmerkat en swartkat dit gedoen het. Ander katte krap dit nog meer om as onsself, maar ons is almal opsoek na daardie goue sonkol wat al byna 20 jaar weg is. Vir ons almal se onthalwe, hoop ek en glo ek dat daardie sonkol eendag weer sal verskyn. Dit gaan nie gou wees nie, want die verwoesting raak al hoe erger en dit gaan al hoe moeiliker raak om dit te kry, maar tog sal dit uiteindelik gekry word, ons moet net moed hou – soos swartkat en gemmerkat. Dit was vir my uiters hartseer om by die familie te kuier en kennis te neem van alles wat ‘ondergronds’ gebeur in my geliefde vaderland. Ek wil nie hê dat dit moet gebeur nie, maar die verwoesting moet gebeur. Anders kan daardie goue sonkol nie gevind word nie. Ons bly positief, hoop, glo en vertrou. Dis vir my wreed om te verneem wat in ons hospitale aangaan, hoe swakopgeleides pasiënte laat sterf en hoeveel die staat en hospitale moet uitbetaal as gevolg van die swak opleiding en die nalatigheid daarvan. Ek moes aanhoor hoe ongevoelig daar met pasiënte gewerk word, tydens stakings – wat als gebeur het. Ek het gevoel hoe die trane in my oë opwel en kon nie help om van dit weg te pink nie. Skade kan daar gesien word, ‘n lewe word geneem! Wat van die Onderwys, waar die skade nie so direk opsigtelik is nie? Dienste – swak opgeleide treindrywers wat daagliks ongelukke veroorsaak – weereens: mense se lewens is betrokke. Kan die aan bewind nie dink hoe Juffrou Mollie gedink het – hoe onnosel hulle is en wat hulle eintlik aan die land berokken nie? Ek sit soos gryskat met verskrikte oë. Ek kan nog baie meer by my storie aanlas, nog meer en intens hartseer, maar laat ons eerder positief dink, bly en wees. Ek sit ek met my familie hier en tuis, en hoop – vir almal se onthalwe – dat daardie goue sonkol baie vinnig gevind sal word.  Alleenlik dan sal almal – alle kleure van die reënboog ingesluit – gelukkig wees.

Die Meerkat

Ek het die boek vandag raakgeloop. Dis die mees oulikste kinderboek boek wat ek lanklaas gesien het. Die tou – wat lyk soos rêrige tou – is deel van die boekomslag. Jy kry die idee dat dit ‘n regte stukkie tou is wat om die boek gebind is as jy op ‘n afstand daarna kyk. Meerkatte is een van my gunsteling Afrika-diere…My gunsteling voël is die Tarentaal.

Voorin is allerlei humoristiese sê-goetjies en interessanthede oor die Meerkat-familie, o.a. hulle motto: Stay Safe, Stay Together.

Sunny Meerkat decided to find the perfect place to stay – and then sent postcards home about his travels and experiences. The Meerkat motto is: Stay Safe, Stay Together. [and sleep together!] Click photos for a larger view, especially the photo following the next photo, so you can read the message.

Binne in die boek is verskeie poskaarte wat deur die Meerkat – wat besluit het om te travel om die perfekte plek te soek om te bly,  huistoe gestuur is. Hier kan jy een so ‘n poskaart sien. Die volgende foto is die agterkant met die boodskap. Klik die foto sodat jy die boodskap kan lees.

Die einde van die storie. Soort van ‘n foto-album.  Sunny Meerkat het besluit om terug te keer huistoe – slegs na ‘n week!  ‘n Baie oulike idee van die skryfster, Emily Gravett. Ek kyk graag Meerkat Manor, dit word nou weer op Channel 5 uitgesaai, episode 2 was gister en jy kan die video’s op hul webbladsy kry tot ‘n maand nadat dit uitgesaai is. Wel, terwyl ek heerlik kuier, onthou die Meerkat motto: Stay Safe, Stay Together! [and sleep together!] Ek sal nou nie soos Sunny Meerkat kan belowe dat ek gaan ‘skryf’ nie, dus, hou die blink kant bo en moenie vergeet: 14 Augustus is Afrikaans-dag nie! Die dag waarop die GRA gestig is. [14/8/1875] O ja, Vrouedag is 9 Augustus.

Hierdie volgende gedig het ek op laerskool geleer [moes!] en ek kan net nie die volledige gedig onthou nie, dus enige iemand wat hier lees en kan help, ek sal dit so waardeer! Ek het hulp uit talle oorde aangevra, maar dit nog niks opgelewer nie.Die woorde in ‘n ander kleur het ek opgemaak en die digter sal ek ook graag wil weet!

Die Meerkat

Spitse snoetjie skerpe ogies
Stertjie lank en kaal
Lange naels, skerp soos naalde
en ‘n jassie vaal.

In die môre-son se strale
In die oggend dou
Penorent sien jy die meerkat
Met ‘n stukkie tou. [ek weet hierdie reël is totaal verkeerd]

Die volgende gedig het ‘n vriendin vir my aangestuur [Lianda, baie dankie!] in die soektog na die bogenoemde gedig. Dis ook ‘n gedig oor ‘n Meerkat en  sy het die gedig gevind omdat ek gedink het die gedig dalk deur CM van den Heever geskryf was. Ek waardeer haar soektog na die gedig geweldig en sy’s altyd van groot hulp ten spyte daarvan dat sy ‘n besig Ma is met jong skoolgaande kinders – wat selfs nou besig met eksamens is. Waarlik ‘n steunpilaar!

DIE MEERKAT

Regop sit die meerkat teen die bult, sy koppie roerloos,
fyn gesny en slim met die ogies soos vonke daarin;
hy staar na die verdorde velde en die slingerloop van die paaie
en hou die bosse dop van waar die dood gou kan bespring.
Maar niks lewe of roer in die rondte en die somerson is `n bol
vlammende vuur wat ver en wyd die berge laat tril in die hitte
Dan roer hy sy kop en die omgewing, verras en ontwaak, vloei na die lewe
na wat daar beweeg het, en verstol dan weer gou in die doodsheid.
En waarom hy ook moet lewe, die rooimeerkat met penregop lyf,
dit weet niemand – hy, nog die lang ketting lewe lank voor hom.

Nou spring die omgewing in aandag; geluid het gekom oor die stilte,
`n gulsige hond met hangende tong het verskyn en sy woeste geblaf, val luid teen die lug en eggo die klowe dan in.
`n Paar draaie, vervolger en vervolgde die verskroeide aarde oor,
dat die pote dreun en gehyg van `n asem gulsig bly gaan.
Dan net `n fyn, angstige skreeu en die meerkat ril nog `n keer
en sterwe met sy tandjies wit na die sonlig daarbo.
Die hond gaan dan snuffelend verder en daar hoog kras `n
kraai –
was hy nodig – die meerkat – en wie van ons sal dit raai?

CM van den Heever

Ek is uiteindelik oppad, ongelukkig slegs vir ‘n baie kort tydjie. Gelukkig kon ek die tydjie afknyp om weer bietjie in Suid-Afrika te gaan kuier, anders sou nog ‘n jaar verby gegaan het sonder dat ek die familie gesien het.

Hierdie liedjie is baie mooi – met veral die mooi tonele uit SA.

Halala Afrika

Toe die wêreld hier nog jong was en die horison wyd en oop
Was dit groen hier in die halfrond, suid van die ewenaar
En in die skemer as die son sak en die beeste huis toe loop
Klink die roepstem van die vroue oor die heuwels van die land:
Halala, ewig is ons Afrika.
Tula tula mtanami, tula tula sanaboni, tula tula mtanami,
Ubab uzobuya sihlale naye, ubab uzobuya sihlale sonke, Hmmm-Hmmm

Toe kom die skepe uit die weste, wit seile oor die see
Om te vra vir koos en water en te bly vir so veel meer.
En die land wat een tyd oop was, die land het ons verruil
Vir die ghetto’s van die stede is ons koperdraad gegee.
Halala, ewig is ons Afrika
Halala, sasiphila, kamnandi, halala, mayibuye Afrika
Tula tula mtanami, tula tula sanaboni, tula tula mtanami,
Ubab uzobuya sihlale naye, ubab uzobuya sihlale sonke, Hmmm-Hmmm

Daar was rykdom in die maag van ons moeder Afrika
Diamante en ook steenkool, goud, edel metaal
En die mense word die slawe hier want die mense word betaal
Om te tonnel in die aarde elke greintjie uit te haal
En die groot en oop grasvlaktes span dit toe met doringdraad
En van die olifant tot die gemsbok al die diere moes kom buig
Voor die mag van die grootwildjagter voor die mag van sy groot geweer
Totdat net die stilte oorbly, totdat net die stilte heers.

Halala, ewig is ons Afrika.
Halala, sasiphila, kamnandi, halala, mayibuye Afrika
Sasidjapolutjoloythina
Halala, sasiphila, kamnandi, halala, mayibuye Afrika
Source: southafrica.com/forums/language/5041-zulu-translation-request.html  Krediet vir foto met Tafelberg: Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens

Visually Impaired Chess Players

Through a search engine term about Visual Impaired chess players, I’ve decided [back in 2009!] to create an entry about Chess for Visually Impaired Chess players. You can also read about Cecil Vosloo, South Africa’s champion.

How Visually Impaired Play Chess The Chess Board of 64 squares has the following modifications:

• All the Black squares are raised about 3-4 mm above the white squares. By feeling the squares, the player is able to determine whether the square is a black or a white one.
• Each of the squares on the Board has a hole in the centre so that the pieces can be fixed in these holes.
• Each of the pieces has a downward projection (nail) at the base, which fits into the hole in the squares on the Board, thereby fixing the piece securely on the board.
• All the Black pieces have a pin fixed on their heads helping the player distinguish between a white and a black piece.

The players therefore, by feeling the raised or the lowered squares can figure out whether the piece is on a black or a white square. By feeling the shape of the piece, they can determine whether the piece is a Pawn, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen or King. The touch of the pin on the pieces helps the player from distinguishing a white piece from a black one. The player is therefore able to have a clear picture in his mind of the position on the Board. He is now ready to take on any opponent, sighted or otherwise. After making every move, the visually impaired person is required to announce the move aloud, so that his opponent comes to know of the move. Instead of writing the moves on a Score Sheet, the visually impaired player writes the moves in Braille or records the moves on a tape recorder.

A little while ago, – in 2009 to be honest! -I did a search on visually impaired chess players on the web, as someone found my blog through a search engine term linked to visually impaired chess players. I came across Cecil Vosloo, a visually impaired chess player from South Africa on a site where he left some details about himself. I contacted him and he’s sent me some more info about himself. Visually impaired people have always been closed to my heart. As a student, and later as a teacher, I worked with visually impaired children and met Mariette, a High School student, who loved chess. We played many games – during the evenings when I did study duty in their hostel and I was always amazed by her bubbly personality, despite her visual disability. She tried to remember the layout of the chess board and where every chess piece was after each move. She had to observe the board from my point of view and from hers! That must be quite difficult, as you need to remember where both players pieces are and what your opponent tries to do and what you want to do!

On the site where I found Cicel, this was his personal message: My name is Cicel Vosloo. Born and bred on a farm, my dream was to become a farmer. This wasn’t to be though, because, whilst fighting a neighbour’s fire, my face was was terribly burnt, resulting in the loss of my sight. My initial anger gave way to the realisation that God provided me with a challenge, that, with His support I would be able to meet. Whilst attending a college for the blind, I started playing chess. In 2007 I won the national chess competition, which gave me a new lease on life.Currently I am ranked the number two South African Braille Chess Player and am honoured to be invited to represent South Africa in the Braille Chess Olympiad, an international event, in Greece in October 2008.

Via email Cecil sent me the following in October 2009:

Well, where do I start? I like the outdoors, BBQ’s and South Africa’s sunny weather. For me personally, I enjoy chess very much. I had been playing blind cricket for about three years, for the Gauteng club, but due to all sorts of interests, I’ve decided to quit. I had been playing chess since the beginning of the 2000′s and it came as an amazing surprise as how much you can actually learn from chess, how many friends you make and the respect you are treated with. It is not always easy to get around to get to clubs, and then of course the transport problem when you need to play tournaments far from home. It was my first time at an Olympiad in 2008, it was mind blowing -the tricks the guys pull for a win, amazing, but of course all in the rules. South Africa is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to blind chess.

Since Greece I played in 6 tournaments: January – Piet Roberts Open – 3.5/6 sighted March – Gauteng Open – second April – Top Eight – forth June – Kolonade – first June – Louis Braille Open – second August – SA Nationals – third.

I did contact Cecil again, as this entry got ‘lost’ as one of my 100+ drafts! So Cecil has now updated me with more info about him and his chess whereabouts.

July 2011 update: In 2010 I played in the sighted S.A. Open, got four wins, two draws out of nine games. In 2011 I won our blind Top Eight tournament. I won the Gauteng Open and also took part in the Commonwealth Chess Tournament which was recently held in South Africa. I got 5 points out of 11, it was a very tough tournament, 699 players took part. It was a great experience and I’m now working on getting into the team for next years Braille Olympiad. Next month is our blind S.A. tournament and I’m aiming to do well there too.

Update 27/7/2011 from Rista: Chess South Africa: SA Open 2010 4 wins, 2 draws out of 9 rounds, which was stunning. He was the only blind player in this tournament. SA Braille Closed – [Top 8] 2011 – Cicel scored 6 out of 7, he won 5 games, 2 draws. Gauteng Braille Open – Again Champion! Commonwealth and SA Open 2011 – Cicel was awesome in this tough tourney. He won the first prize for Visually Impaired players. The Braille SA Championship is 13 – 14 Aug. Cicel is a favourite to win. The Top 8 will get invited next year April to the closed championship where a decision will be made about who to present South Africa internationally and they will get to go to India. Click HERE for the results of the Braille tournament where you can see Cecil’s photo as the Champion.

Chess games I played recently [not Cecil!]. These chess games are really nothing to get excited about. The only reason why I get excited about it is because it is  of my less good games – especially the game on the first link- and I also put in a lot of conditional moves in this game as my opponent was one of those very slow movers, whilst I wanted to finish the game in real time…very impatient me. [lol] I got near to the end very excited, as I put 6 complete moves in as conditional moves [just out of frustration to get the game done!] and when I logged back on, it was all done. You will see how many pieces I offered and also how unnecessary I lost my one knight! I played black and the Philidors defence as opening in this game. I offered many pieces near to the end as I knew it would be a win for me. Have fun playing through it! Click HERE to play through the second game I played. Click HERE to play through the first game against this same player [links will open in a new window]. In this game I was more focused too and played – as in many other games – the Kings Pawn opening. The last move – Qb7+ isn’t active in the pgn-viewer, although you will see the move [for some reason it prefers to stay inactive].

Fine Art

The pianist in this youtube video is brilliant. Enjoy one of my favourite pieces of music: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no 1. The Chess art is by:
redbubble.com/people/plunder/

Biel International Chess Festival 2011

IT is time for the 2011 Biel Chess Festival! I would like to follow it this year for Italy’s national nr 1 player. I haven’t followed any Italian player before and Shirov is also one of my favourites. Click HERE to read more about the players, which is also the link of the Official site.

Schedule: Grandmaster Tournament – Pairings
July 18th: 1st round -2pm
July 19th: 2nd round -2pm
July 20th: 3rd round -2pm
July 21st: rest day
July 22nd: 4th round -2pm
July 23rd: 5th round -2pm
July 24th: rest day
July 25th: 6th round -2pm
July 26th: 7th round -2pm
July 27th: 8th round -2pm
July 28th: 9th round -2pm
July 29th: 10th round -2pm

On the map you can look at the red marker [A] to see where Biel is and currently, Magnus is at Zermatt [the yellow marker], with his family to prepare himself for Biel, as he said on Twitter.

Sien jy wat ek sien? Beautiful

Music: Jim Brickman: Dream comes true

Elizabethan Serenade

The Wind beneath my Wings
Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly

5th Kings Tournament

It’s time for another big tournament – starting on a very special day! If you’re not sure who these ‘Kings’ are, click the Official site-link here. I might not have time blogging their games, but will follow the results of the rounds. This tournament takes place in Medias, Romania from 11-22 June.

Click HERE to go to their games – live.

Round 1
Click HERE to play through the games of round 1.

You can also the results HERE on the site of chessbase follow. There are links to play through the games played too. [All links in this post will open in a new window.]

The schedule of the tournament is the following:
- 11th of June 15:30 1st Round
– 12th of June 15:30 2nd Round
– 13th of June 15:30 3rd Round
– 14th of June 15:30 4th Round
– 15th of June 15:30 5th Round
– 16th of June Free day
– 17th of June 15:30 6th Round
– 18st of June 15:30 7th Round
– 19nd of June 15:30 8th Round
– 20th of June 15:30 9th Round
– 21st of June 13:30 10th Round
– 22nd of June Free day

León Chess 2011

Please click HERE for the official website.

Vishy Anand, current World Champion and seven times winner of the Magistral, comes back to Leon to face the strongest Spanish player, Alexei Shirov, on the 24th edition. This tournament is already a classic, one of the most prestigious in the chess calendar.

Anand and Shirov will play in Leon with a large audio-visual setting that will allow the public to “see the chess stars thinking”, thanks to big screens and live audio comments (by GM Illescas, eight times Spanish champion) and IM Michael Rahal.

The rules, written by the prestigious arbiter Joaquin Espejo, indicate that Anand and Shirov will play six games (Friday to Sunday, two per day) with 45 minutes per side plus Thirty seconds increment after each move in the magnificent León Auditorium. If needed, there will eventually be a tie-break of several five minute games.

SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 2nd
PLAYERS ARRIVAL – 20.00 Drawing of lots, CONDE LUNA HOTEL.
Friday, June 3rd
GAMES 1 AND 2 (16.30), LEON AUDITORIUM.
Saturday, June 4th
GAMES 3 AND 4 (16.30), LEON AUDITORIUM.
Sunday, June 5th
GAMES 5 and 6 (16.30) and, eventually, tie-breaks, LEON AUDITORIUM.
Monday, June 6th – Prize giving 14:30
Simuls (17.30), LEON UNIVERSITY.

Game 1 Anand vs Shirov:1/2

Game 2- Anand vs Shirov : 1-0
Click HERE to play through their games.

Game 3 – Anand vs Shirov 1-0

Game 4 Anand vs Shirov – 1/2

Game 5- Anand vs Shirov

Game 5 – Anand vs Shirov 1/2

I love this next picture which I put together in Fireworks – it is a combination of about 10 different images.

Knights at the Opera

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1233404

On one of the chess sites, I’m busy playing a tournament and this particular player sent me the above link on chessgames, to highlight a ‘better’ move for one of the moves I’ve made. When looking at the game, I realised that our game was almost this game, in particular the first few moves. I felt sort of ‘thrilled’ by the idea of playing the start of Morphy’s famous game called: ‘Night at the Opera’. The moves in blue are the first moves of our game -I played white- and you can compare it with Morphy’s game in this entry.[maybe, if I didn't castle, I could have had move 9 with move 7 - which was Morphy's move - he castled move 12.] I hope you like Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly, you can listen to it at the bottom of this post.

1. e4 e 5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 f6 7. 0-0 Ne7
8. Rd1 Qc8 9. Qb3 c6

In 1858 the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard invited the American master Paul Morphy to the Paris Opera to watch The Barber of Serville, then asked their guest to play chess with them. Morphy was more interested in watching the opera, but could not courteously refuse.

Morphy played white, while Brunswick and Isouard consulted on black. He took his opponents apart in 17 moves, enabling him to watch the rest of the show without distraction, and incidentally proving that teaming two mediocre players does not double their talents.

This game is one of the best known in chess, exemplifying as it does the advantages of quick development over the pursuit of minor advantages. The game features a queen sacrifice that leads directly to mate.

The score of the game follows:

Paul Morphy vs Duke of Brunswick & Count Isouard, Paris Opera House, 1858. Philidor’s Defense.

Paul Morphy “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess,” was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.

The “Opera game” – a casual game against inexperienced opponents, but at the same time one of the clearest and most beautiful attacking games ever. Often used by chess teachers to demonstrate how to use time, develop pieces and generate threats.

While most of the audience was following the performance of The Barber of Seville, Paul Morphy was busy at the chessboard, facing noble opposition. His opponents, working together, played well enough for a while, but they allowed Morphy to set two deadly pins.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. d x e5 B x f3 5. Q x f3 d x e5 6. Bc4 Nf6
7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. N x b5 c x b5 11. B x b5 + Nbd7
12. O-O-O Rd8 13. R x d7 R x d7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. B x d7 + N x d7
16. Qb8 + N x b8 17. Rd8 mate

These two images found on google and edited it slightly – beautiful poster – the second image.

I spoilt myself the last few days with a few chess games and even a few tournaments, but work is calling again! The following two games were played against the same opponent – you will notice in both games, my Knights were used – in conjunction with the Queen – to checkmate my opponent. I always prefer to save my Knights – I will even sacrifice my Bishops in order to keep my Knights for the reason as in these games and also for their tricky moves.

1. e4 e5 2. d4 Bd6 3. d5 h6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. Be3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 a6 11. f4 Nxe4 12. c4 f5 13. Rb1 Nc3 14. Qh5+ Ke7 15. Rxb7 Qc8 16. Rb3 Ne4 17. Qh4+ Nf6 18. Rg1 Rg8 19. f3 Kf8 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Bc5+ Kf7 22. Bd3 Nbd7 23. Bb4 c5 24. Bxf5 cxb4 25. Bg6+ Kf8 26. Rxb4 a5 27. Rb3 Nc5 28. Re3 Qb8 29. Kf2 Ra7 30. f4 e4 31. Kg2 Qb2 32. Qf2 Qa2 33. d6 Qxc4 34. c3 Rb7 35. f5 Nd3 36. Qe2 Rb2 37. Kf1 Rxe2 38. Kxe2 Nf4+ 39. Kf2 Nd3+ 40. Ke2 Qxc3 41. Rxe4 Nxe4 42. d7 Qd2+ 43. Kf3 Ng5+ 44. Kg3 Qe3+ 45. Kg2 Ke7 46. Rb1 Qxh3+ 47. Kg1 Nf3+

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6  3. Bf4 Na6  4. Be5 Bf5  5. Bxf6 exf6  6. e3 Qd7  7. Bxa6 b6
8. Bb7 Rb8  9. Ba6 Bd6  10. a3 O-O  11. h3 h6  12. Nge2 Rfe8  13. Bd3 g6  14. Bxf5 Qxf5  15. O-O Rxe3  16. fxe3 Qe6  17. Qd2 Re8  18. Rf3 c6  19. Raf1 c5 20. Rxf6 Qd7  21. Rxf7 Qxf7  22. Rxf7 Kxf7  23. e4 dxe4  24. d5 e3  25. Qe1 a6 26. Qh4 h5  27. Qg5 Re5  28. Qh6 b5  29. Qh7+ Kf8  30. Qxg6 Be7  31. d6 Bd8 32. d7 Bc7  33. Qf6+ Kg8  34. d8=Q+ Bxd8  35. Qxd8+ Kg7  36. Qc7+ Kf6
37. Qd6+ Kf5  38. Qxa6 b4  39. axb4 cxb4  40. Nb5 Ke4  41. Nd6+ Kd5                42. b3 Re6  43. Qd3+ Ke5  44. Qd4+
Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly

And for the record: It was Republic Day

ex-unitate-vires

This entry is more about a new Afrikaans song by Steve Hofmeyr – he sings in English too, and if you like the voice of Neil Diamond, then you will surely like his music too. Anyway, this new Afrikaans song is a protest song and I was reading on the link, in this post, about protest songs. Afrikaans is a young language and since the start Afrikaans struggled to survive. The British settled in South Africa in 1820 and then after the South African-British War – Boer War – Afrikaans was also ‘banned’. In primary schools, if you dared to speak your mother tongue [Afrikaans], you got a board around your neck stated ‘Donkey’ on it. At the moment, Afrikaners [not Africans] again, have to fight to survive. Not just to survive as a human race, but also the language as such. Farmers get murdered on a weekly basis [don't forget the murders in the towns and cities too.] The world is IGNORANT!
Goethe said, “There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.”
I’ve found the lyrics to the song and also some English words to it [to part of it], but you will get the ‘message’. ‘Apartheid’ was nothing comparing to what happens now in our beautiful country. And if you really think you know everything about Apartheid, then I think you know just a tiny drop in the ocean of what it really was. Being in the UK now for long enough to know what they ‘know’ about ‘Apartheid’, is enough to tell me that they believed anything that was dished up to them as ‘Apartheid’. We all know what the ANC tried to achieve with their ‘campaigns’ and with a world full of narrow-minded people, they achieved what they wanted  including the toi-toi on Trafalgar Square in the 1980′s and their sad sing-songs in America.  Also, I think some of us know WHY things happened as it happened – like the Zimbabwean-ordeal – and it is just a matter of ‘time’ and South Africa will be there  too – then those ‘waiting’ will ‘close in’.[and I'm not referring here to 'those' as the Afrikaners]. During the Boer War the British found it hard to win the war… we are a nation made up from different nations. We will fight and stand up again. Ex Unitate Vires= Unity is Strength

Read more about us here:

THE BOER NATIONS

Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended
themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time
when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a
strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and
fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most
rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth.  Take this
formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant
warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances
under which no weakling could survive, place them so that they acquire
exceptional skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a
country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the
marksman, and the rider.  Then, finally, put a finer temper upon their
military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an
ardent and consuming patriotism.  Combine all these qualities and all
these impulses in one individual, and you have the modern Boer — the
most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial
Britain.  Our military history has largely consisted in our conflicts
with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have never treated us
so roughly as these hard-bitten farmers with their ancient theology
and their inconveniently modern rifles. —Arthur Conan Doyle

Click THIS link to read the entire article by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Scottish author and creator of the oft-quoted detective-hero Sherlock Holmes wrote The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891)

On THIS LINK link, – on my blog – I said in 2007 that I hope we as a nation will – again – rise and stand together one day. Eventhough we are scattered all over the planet at the moment, I do look forward to that day when things will ’come together’ for all of us.

What is protest music? In April 1966, Bob Dylan arrived in Stockholm as part of his controversial “electric” world tour, and a local interviewer asked him why he was no longer writing and performing protest songs. Dylan, irritated and more than a little out of it, objected to the question’s premise and called one of his new rock ’n’ roll compositions the very height of protest music: “Very, very protesty. And, uh, one of the protestiest of all things I ever protested against in my protest years.”

Please click HERE to read the entire article.

Ons Sal Dit Orleef

Ons sal dit oorleef – Steve Hofmeyr
“Daar’s ‘n land en ‘n volk in een taal gedoop
Met gebede en buskruit en bloed gekoop
Wat weer en weer van sy knie af moet streef
Ons sal dit oorleef…

Uit die kake van oormag deur die vuur op ons werf
Staan die engele by ons vroue en die kinders wat sterf
Elke grafsteen een standbeeld vir die wat bly leef
Ons sal dit oorleef…

My hart klop toktokkie waar hy breek vir my volk
Voor die kakie kanon of die k****r se dolk
Dit maak nie meer saak nie waar ons ons begeef
Ons sal dit oorleef…

Ek lig my oë tot die berge op
Waar sal my hulp tog vandaan kan kom
Ag my God jou woorde lê deur my geweef
Ons sal dit oorleef…

Ek staan vandag op jou plaas ou vriend
Daar hang stof oor die stilte sovêr ek kan sien
Maar die geeste van gister sal more herleef
Ons sal dit oorleef

Some of the words in English.

My heart beats toktokkie where it breaks for my people
against the English (Khaki) canons or the Kaffir’s dagger
It matters none where we now are heading
We will survive this ordeal …

I raise my eyes to the mountains
ask where will my help arrive from?
Oh my Lord your words are woven within me…
We will survive this ordeal…
English lyrics: whatishappeninginsouthafrica.blogspot

Conversation between Theodore A… and Steve on Twitter [you might want to click the image for a clear view]

You’ve taken the King!

Click HERE to view more chess art from the site of Echecs.

I’m not a huge fan of the Royal family, but must admit, I did watch 95% of the wedding yesterday. It’s only because of William. He reminds me alot about his mum. He’s a very down-to-earth  and caring person and I do hope he stays like that. I liked Kate’s dress as it’s typical my style/taste. I couldn’t let the opportunity go by to link them to chess! [of course!] My original draft-entry was about the chess players in the above painting. Well, I’m quite sure William will have a game of chess with Kate at some point, I’m sure it’s a game royals do like to play from time to time – even just for the fun of it. [as the link stated]

I have two music videos for Kate and William to wish them a happy marriage: Hold on tight -to your dream and…

…my old time favourite, Elvis! Suspicious minds…which I do hope they do not have!

Letter of a world chess champion to his son

Image: chessgames

J R Capablanca was a world chess champion in the 1920′s. He wrote this letter to his son, age 10 by the time. This letter is a very inspirational one, as his advice is so true to many of us. I wonder how many parents – in today’s life – do give such advice to their children? For more about Chess history….follow this link.

From Wikipedia:
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Due to his achievements in the chess world, mastery over the board and his relatively simple style of play he was nicknamed the “Human Chess Machine”.

The envelope was marked as follows:
‘For my son José Raúl

When he reaches ten years old and afterwards for therest of his life –
J.R. Capablanca.’

My dearest son,
You must keep this letter to read it again when you are 21 because things that you do not know and understand now you will know and understand then. First of all, you must always respect and love your mother above all else. Try never to tell her lies; always tell her the truth. Your father, writing these lines, has a reputation throughout the whole world for being a very honest man – very truthful and honourable. Try to imitate me in all this. Be studious and strong so that you can defend your mother and your sister with your head as well as with your hands. Whatever wishes you may have to study a particular thing, remember that in any case you must become a lawyer before anything else, so that you can defend your own interests and those of your family.

After you have become a lawyer you can, if you prefer something else, concentrate on whatever you like. Don’t forget that the best period of a man’s life is when he is a student. As a boy this will not seem so to you, but when you have gone through that stage and reached the age of 40 you will see the truth of what I am telling you. On the physical side, there are two things you must know how to do well – swim and box, so that you can defend yourself at sea as well as on land. This does not mean that you should often fight, but that you must be prepared to do so if necessary.Try to be a man of wide culture. There is nothing in the world as entertaining as books. It is also necessary to be useful to humanity. If you can avoid it, never play cards, smoke or drink alcohol of any kind. These are bad habits which greatly shorten life and weaken men physically as well as intellectually and morally.

Be an honest and good man.
Your father embraces you with all his love.
J.R. Capablanca.’

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Family Coat of Arms

I think we all know by now about Kate’s new family coat of arms. It was when I came across the article on the Daily Mail’s site, that I thought to have a look again at our families’ coat of arms. The second one is from my dad’s family [and his ancestors arrived in South Africa in the 160o's from
France]   and the third one is from my mum’s side.  I must add that I’m not sure about my mum’s as my grandad left Holland at a young age. I know, till quite recently, there wasn’t a family coat of arms available and only found this one via a search. So I guess it’s still ‘new’ and I will have to find out more about it. According to South Africa’s Roman-Dutch law, everyone
enjoys the right to bear a personal coat of arms. This is in contrast to English and Scottish laws, which restrict arms to ‘eminent’ or ‘virtuous and well-deserving’ ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’, and require arms to be officially granted or recognised.  You can read the meaning of Kate’s coat of arms on the site of the Daily Mail. The link will open in a new window. I’m not sure if I quite ‘like’ Kate’s. Maybe the idea of the oak tree as I grew up with huge oak trees in front of our house. [hehe] Also, I would like to see a mantle around the shield  from my mum’s family, as it looks ‘incomplete’ without the mantle. I have a short description of the coat of arms from the two families, but would like to add the descriptions if I have all the available information.

Chess Music Maths and the Arts

Digital Time – Boldriaan [schaakkunst.nl]

Ballet dancers – Irma Stern

Flowerseller – Irma Stern

 

The Hunt – Irma Stern

Chess is an art. Chess is a science. Chess is music.  Chess is a game. Chess is cool. Chess is fun. Chess is Chess! There are always people ‘arguing’ about what Chess actually is and I really find these ‘conversations’ [if you can call it a conversation] really boring. I think it’s mainly bored people on chess sites just wasting time around topics like these. The same with ‘men are better than women’ – also one of the most boring topics. Can Chess players not have more intelligent conversations in the Chess forums than these boring topics? – or is it just me in a ‘mood’.[haha]

Here’s some musical fun!  Click on this link for the  FUN  and enjoy! The link will open in a new window and you need to use your mouse to click the rain drops and you create your own melody too.

From a document found on the US Chess_trust site, I’ve copied a few paragraphs, but once again, this is just another ‘confirmation’ of what I’ve said in many entries on my blog before. So much evidence is available – research done by many people in the past and you will find plenty of documents on my blog to support it – to prove the benefits of chess for children and their learning. These quoted paragraphs are just a tiny drop in the bucket of all the evidence available. Whilst it’s Easter Holiday, I feel to take time out to enjoy a ‘trip’ to some fine ’art galleries’ and fine  ’music theatres’ of the ‘world’ and would like to share with you Irma Stern’s art. I’ve found you some info about Irma Stern on Wikipedia and her house [now an art gallery-museum]-link can be found near the bottom of this entry too. The three music files are some of my favourite music and it’s by Waldo de los Rios [and his orchestra] and you can read about the Toy Symphony on my blog on the link at the bottom of the entry. [copy/paste the link in your browser]. These files are not complete files – as you will notice. I hope you can hear the clock – at the start of the first file. Haydn’s ‘Clock’. [Turn the volume up if you don't hear the clock] Lastly, I had to add a file from Mantovani and his orchestra: Elizabeth Serenade

She was born in Schweitzer-Renecke, a small town in the Transvaal, of German-Jewish parents. Her father was interned in a concentration camp by the British during the South African War because of his pro-Boer leanings.[1] Irma and her younger brother, Rudi, were thus taken to Cape Town by their mother. After the war, the family returned to Germany and constant travel. This travel would influence Irma’s work.

In 1913 Stern studied art in Germany at the Weimar Academy, in 1914 at the Levin-Funcke Studio and notably from 1917 with Max Pechstein, a founder of the Novembergruppe. Stern was associated with the German Expressionist painters of this period. She held her first exhibition in Berlin in 1919. In 1920 Stern returned to Cape Town with her family where she was first derided and dismissed as an artist before becoming an established artist by the 1940s.

In 1926 she married Dr Johannes Prinz her former tutor, who subsequently became professor of German at the University of Cape Town. They were divorced in 1934.

Irma Stern travelled extensively in Europe and explored Southern Africa, Zanzibar and the Congo region. These trips provided a wide range of subject matter for her paintings and gave her opportunities to acquire and assemble an eclectic collection of artifacts for her home. Stern was to travel extensively in her lifetime: in 1930 to Madeira, in 1937 and 1938 to Dakar, Senegal, 1939 Zanzibar, 1942 Congo, 1945 Zanzibar, 1946 Central Africa, 1952 Madeira, 1955 Congo, 1960 Spain and 1963 France. Stern travelled extensively in South Africa, for example in 1926 to Swaziland and Pondoland, in 1933 to Namaqaland, in 1936 generally, and in 1941 to the Eastern Cape. In 1931 she visited Madeira and Dakar, Senegal, in 1937 and 1938. Irma Stern refused to either travel or exhibit in Germany during the period 1933 – 1945. Instead, she undertook several exotic journeys into Africa; going to Zanzibar twice in 1939 and 1945 and then planned three trips to the Congo region in 1942, 1946 and 1955. These expeditions resulted in a wealth of artistic creativity and energy as well as the publication of two illustrated journals; Congo published in 1943 and Zanzibar in 1948.

Almost one hundred solo exhibitions were held during her lifetime both in South Africa and Europe: including Germany, France, Italy and England. Although accepted in Europe, her work was unappreciated at first in South Africa where critics derided her early exhibitionsin the 1920s with reviews titled “Art of Miss Irma Stern – Ugliness as a cult”.

The Irma Stern Museum was established in 1971 and is the house the artist lived in for almost four decades. She moved into The Firs in Rondebosch in 1927 and lived there until her death. Several of the rooms are furnished as she arranged them while upstairs there is a commercial gallery used by contemporary South African artists.

On the 8th of May 2000, one of her works sold at Sotheby’s South Africa in Johannesburg for an all time record of R1.7 million.[2] This record was soon broken, however, and in March 2007 Stern’s work was sold for R6.6 million.[3] Stern’s Gladioli was sold for an all-time high of R13.3 million in October 2010[4], but was then followed by the sale of Bahora Girl for R26.7 million later that month[5] – both were also records for sales of South African art at the time.

Quote from the Chess document, you can find it at the end of the entry. It is a PDF document and will open in a new window.

Chess clearly is a problem-solving tool, an “ideal way to study decision-making and problemsolving because it is a closed system with clearly defined rules” (Horgan, 1988). When faced with a problem, the first step is to “analyze [it] in a preliminary and impressionistic way: sizing up the problem” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), possibly looking for patterns or similarity to
previous experiences. “Similarity judgements may involve high levels of abstract reasoning” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3)

When faced with a problem, the first step is to “analyze [it] in a preliminary and impressionistic way: sizing up the problem” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), possibly looking for patterns or similarity to previous experiences. “Similarity judgements may involve high levels of abstract reasoning”
(Horgan, 1988, p. 3). As in mathematics, which might be defined as the study of patterns, pattern recognition in chess is of prime importance in problem solving. After recognizing similarity and pattern, a global strategy can be developed to solve the problem. This involves generating alternatives, a creative process. A good chess player, like a good problem solver, has “acquired a vast number of interrelated schemata” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), allowing for good alternatives to quickly and easily come to mind. These alternatives must then be evaluated, using a process of calculation known
as decision tree analysis, where the chess player/problem solver is calculating the desirability of future events based on the alternative being analyzed. Horgan (1988) found that “the calculation may go several to eight or ten moves ahead. This stage requires serious concentration and
memory abilities…[or]…visual imagery” (p.4).

The mathematics curriculum in New Brunswick, Canada, is a text series called “Challenging Mathematics” which uses chess to teach logic from grades 2 to 7. Using this curriculum, the average problem-solving score of pupils in the province increased from 62% to 81%.

Click on the following link Why Chess to read more to convince yourself why Chess is so important for children to develop their thinking/reasoning skills at a young age.

http://www.irmasternmuseum.com/artist.htm

http://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/waldo-de-los-rios/

Anand a dad!

Congratulations to Anand!

Aruna Anand wife of Grandmaster Vishy Anand delivered a healthy baby boy this morning. The child and mother are doing fine.  AICF Congratulates Anand & Aruna – source: allindiachessfed.org

Commonwealth Chess 2011

http://commonwealthchess.com

If you’re a chess player still wanting to take part in the Commonwealth Chess Tournament, in South Africa, then you are lucky as you still have time to enroll till April, 8. The tournament takes place from 25th June 2011 – 3rd July 2011. If you click HERE you will find an online entry form to complete. A PDF document with all the details is linked here too. Links will open in new windows. I do hope to have time to follow this tournament and have a few entries about it- so, keep watching this space! There are about 7 Grandmasters and IM’s also taking part and these articles can also be read on the official South African site: chessa.co.za  On the following link you can see more photos and details from other GM’s and IM’s from other countries who have entered for the CC2011.

http://www.chessa.co.za/tournament_websites/CWCC2011/player_profile.html

We are delighted to announce that top English Grandmaster Nigel Short (MBE) has confirmed his participation in the 2011 Commonwealth & South African Open Championships!

Nigel is a three times past champion and will be bidding to become the first player to win the title on 4 separate occasions. He has previously won the tournament in 2004, 2006 and 2008!

Having first attracted media attention by defeating GM Viktor Korchnoi as a 10-year-old, Nigel went on to become (at the time) the you8ngest International Master in chess history. In the process he broke the record previously held by no less than Bobby Fischer! He earned the Grandmaster title in 1984 (age nineteen), to become the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time.

Nigel is a former world number 3 and is possibly best known for his World Chess Championship match against Garry Kasparov in London 1993. He has been a chess professional for more than 25 years and yet continues to enjoy international success as a player. Still ranked in the top 100 players in the world, he is a highly regarded chess columnist and commentator.

He has also coached a number of the world’s best known players including GM Pentala Harikrishna, GM Sergey Karjakin, GM David Howell and GM Parimarjan Negi.

Nigel, we look forward to hosting you at the tournament.

English Grandmaster Gawain Jones has become the second British based Grandmaster to confirm his entry to the tournament. Gawain began playing chess at the age of four, and hit the headlines in 1997 when he became the youngest player in the world ever to beat an International Master in an official tournament game. He has represented England at the World Junior and World Youth Championships on many occasions and also represented England at the Chess Olympiads of 2008 (Dresden) and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk).

Gawain has lived in Italy, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, but now lives in London, where he is focusing on his chess career and related projects. An active player on the tournament circuit, he secured his grandmaster title in 2006. He helped make history in 2009 when he competed in the South African Open from Australia, using the online chess servers of ChessCube.com. He eventually placed second in this event, behind IM (now GM) Amon Simutowe.

Gawain has published a book on The Grand Prix Attack and is recognised as one of the world’s leading experts on the The Benoni and The Benko Gambit. He publishes blogs of his travels on his website http://gawainjones.co.uk/wp/?page_id=2

Results – Female section – Anzel Solomons in 2nd position

Results: Open Section- Deon Solomons in 4th Position

On the next image: RESULTS of the Open Section of the Commonwealth Chess Games 2011 – Top 20

Chess as a Slow Dance of Seduction

It’s a long time since I’ve blogged something chessy – so here goes… time is tight! I don’t even have enough time to play a proper chess game. Luckily, it’s almost Easter Hols and then I might have a few spare hours to play a game or two. I do miss playing chess though! I’ve come across this movie-article and thought to share it with you. The movies can’t go without chess! It’s Spring and trees around us are almost covered in blossoms. This flower-pic was taken in August last year. I hate these bees we have here, they are surely not friendly and look quite scary.

In ‘Queen to Play’ Sandrine Bonnaire plays a chambermaid empowered by playing chess.

Chess as a Slow Dance of Seduction

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Published: March 31, 2011

Caroline Bottaro’s tangy comic bonbon, “Queen to Play,” plucks the game of chess out of the metaphorical realm of spy thrillers and reimagines it as a fable about relationships and upward mobility. Adapted from Bertina Henrichs’s novel “The Chess Player,” this slight but captivating movie (Ms. Bottaro’s directorial debut) compares the strategies of chess to the erotic maneuvers in a flirtatious pas de deux that may be more satisfying than actual sex. At the same time, a woman’s winning the game symbolizes female empowerment in a man’s world and ascent from working-class drudgery to the bourgeoisie.

Hélène (Sandrine Bonnaire), the movie’s sly, middle-aged Cinderella, is an attractive chambermaid at a luxury hotel in Corsica. While going about her chores, she observes a chess game being played by a sexy American couple (Jennifer Beals and Dominic Gould) on the balcony of their suite. Stealthy moves accompanied by insinuating eye contact culminate with the woman’s defeating the man and flashing Hélène a smile of conspiratorial glee.

Hélène takes the hint, and at a birthday party for her husband, a handsome dockworker named Ange (Francis Renaud), she presents him with an electronic chess set in the hopes of reigniting the spark in their marriage. Ange is mystified and vaguely annoyed by the gift. When he expresses no interest in learning the game, Hélène begins teaching herself to play and quickly becomes obsessed.

“Queen to Play” is a lighthearted, grown-up fairy tale in which chess consumes Hélène’s imagination and transforms her life. As she mops a black-and-white checkered floor, it becomes a surreal dreamscape. At a restaurant she makes chess pieces out of crumbled bread and pushes them around the squares of the red-and-white tablecloth.

The intimate looks exchanged by the characters as they compete for advantage in a game in which the queen is the most powerful piece tell us as much about them as anything they say. Sometimes chess even suggests a mental striptease in which the players shed their defenses as they exchange glances and dare each other to go forward. At other times it conjures a war between the sexes, with Hélène the feminist upstart challenging male dominance.

Avid to learn more, she discovers a chess set in the house of Dr. Kröger (Kevin Kline, in his first entirely French-speaking role), a widowed American professor for whom she works as a part-time housecleaner. She volunteers to clean his place in exchange for weekly chess lessons. A mysterious figure suffering from an unidentified lung ailment, Kröger agrees. When, after only a few lessons, she is regularly beating him, he urges her to enter a local tournament.

In small but significant ways, “Queen to Play” defies expectations. It dangles the possibility of an affair between Hélène and Kröger in games that the film likens to courtship rituals in a classic screwball comedy. But their flirtation is never physically consummated.

Hélène’s relationships with her husband and rebellious teenage daughter, Lisa (Alexandra Gentil), undergo surprising transformations. Ange, initially threatened by Hélène’s passion, which keeps her out late and distracts her from housework, is initially so suspicious that he follows her to a lesson and spies on her. But once he realizes that she has a gift, his jealousy turns to admiration, and the flame of desire is rekindled. Lisa, who is so ashamed and contemptuous of her parents for being “poor” that she refuses to invite boyfriends to the house, becomes her mother’s fervent champion.

Ms. Bonnaire’s Hélène subtly evolves from a harried, resentful domestic wearing a perpetually hurt expression into a woman who discovers her power. Mr. Kline, as the haughty, secretive professor with a kind heart under a prickly exterior gives one of his finest screen performances, executed with minute fluctuations in his body language.

In their most delicious scene Hélène and Kröger play an imaginary game of chess away from the board. Gazing into each other’s eyes, they engage in what has the ring of intellectual pillow talk. Although the conversation is entirely chaste, in the intensity with which they study each other’s signals, they might as well be newlyweds.

QUEEN TO PLAY

Opens on Friday in Manhattan.

Directed by Caroline Bottaro; written by Ms. Bottaro and Caroline Maly, based on the novel “The Chess Player,” by Bertina Henrichs; director of photography, Jean-Claude Larrieu; edited by Tina Baz Le Gal; music by Nicola Piovani; set design by Emmanuel de Chauvigny; costumes by Dorothée Guiraud; produced by Dominique Besneard and Michel Feller; released by Zeitgeist Films. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Sandrine Bonnaire (Hélène), Kevin Kline (Dr. Kröger), Francis Renaud (Ange), Jennifer Beals (the American Woman), Dominic Gould (the American Man), Valérie Lagrange (Maria) and Alexandra Gentil (Lisa).

A version of this review appeared in print on April 1, 2011, on page C8 of the New York edition..

Source: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/movies/kevin-kline-in-caroline-bottaros-queen-to-play-review.html

Time is tight – enjoy!

I lived in your chess game but you changed the rules every day

You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain, and I lived in your chess game but you changed the rules every day.