Everything/Anything and…Chess…"Despite the documented evidence by chess historian HJR Murray, I've always thought that chess was invented by a goddess"–George Koltanowski: from the foreword to:"Women in chess, players of the Modern Age"
After the Cold War, chess is once again emerging as a point of controversy as we move toward what some fear could degenerate into yet another Cold War. In fact, anti-Russian Cold Warriors in the United States have already nailed the scalp of a chess-playing “desperado” to their trophy wall. His arsenal reportedly features such deadly devices as the Yugoslav Attack, the Queen’s Gambit, and the dreaded Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation — all weapons of “chess distraction.”
August – Last month, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a Russian and president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), was barred from boarding a plane from Moscow to New York because he had been put on the sanctions list by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for allegedly “materially assisting and acting for or on behalf of the Government of Syria” and related entities. Mr. Ilyumzhinov had hoped to take part in preparations for a match between Russian Sergey Karjakin and Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov had written to OFAC offering to come to Washington to hand-deliver documentation refuting the claims against him, but the office rejected his offer to deliver such evidence, suggesting instead that he mail them as part of his request for reconsideration of the decision to sanction him. Friends of Mr. Ilyumzhinov in Russia, Europe and even the United States suspect the decision to sanction him in the first place was based on politics rather than evidence.
Continue reading more on this link of the Washington Times.
For English readers: This is a poem by someone who is totally frustrated – and fed-up – by what is going on in South Africa. Watch this video and you will understand. For us who know why these things are happening, we feel the same and we all know who actually to blame for what is going on in this beautiful country we all love to bits! For those who are disrespectful towards other people and their native language, we do excuse you for being uneducated – as we guess it’s again Apartheid that gets the blame, even after more than 20 years, but we have a clear message: #Afrikaanswilnotfall
I enjoy true stories. I am not a really big fan of science fiction stories or movies. If you want to treat me, give me a good cowboy book or movie, a real life story or a true story. This movie is about a true story of a Chess Champion. African true stories, and from some other places in the world, are inspiring, as the struggle to reach for dreams is so much more intense due to so many problems and issues people from developing countries need to deal with on a daily basis -things people from developed countries take for granted. Today, some of those problems and issues are because of certain countries in the West who tried to gain, only for themselves and who put leaders in place just to shush their conscience. They think they get things right, but they are totally wrong. I’m glad that there is, once again, a movie about chess, to show the power of this game in real life and to highlight the struggles of some people in this world.
True Story of a Chess Champion Walt Disney Pictures has revealed the colourful first Queen of Katwe poster. The true story of an inspiring chess champion stars Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo (Selma, Interstellar), Oscar winner and Tony Award nominee Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and newcomer Madina Nalwanga.
For 10-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Nalwanga) and her family, life in the impoverished slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle. Her mother, Harriet (Nyong’o), is fiercely determined to take care of her family and works tirelessly selling vegetables in the market to make sure her children are fed and have a roof over their heads. When Phiona meets Robert Katende (Oyelowo), a soccer player turned missionary who teaches local children chess, she is captivated. Chess requires a good deal of concentration, strategic thinking and risk taking, all skills which are applicable in everyday life, and Katende hopes to empower youth with the game. Phiona is impressed by the intelligence and wit the game requires and immediately shows potential. Recognizing Phiona’s natural aptitude for chess and the fighting spirit she’s inherited from her mother, Katende begins to mentor her, but Harriet is reluctant to provide any encouragement, not wanting to see her daughter disappointed. As Phiona begins to succeed in local chess competitions, Katende teaches her to read and write in order to pursue schooling. She quickly advances through the ranks in tournaments, but breaks away from her family to focus on her own life. Her mother eventually realizes that Phiona has a chance to excel and teams up with Katende to help her fulfill her extraordinary potential, escape a life of poverty and save her family.
Directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) from a screenplay by William Wheeler (The Hoax) based on the book by Tim Crothers, Queen of Katwe is produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher (The Darjeeling Limited) and John Carls (Where the Wild Things Are) with Will Weiske and Troy Buder serving as executive producers. Disney’s Queen of Katwe opened in U.S. theaters on September 23, 2016. Resource: commingsoon.net
The 42nd Baku Chess Olympiad starts today in Baku. Please click HERE for the official web link. Sadly, I won’t be able to follow the complete tournament this year!
Azerbaijan parks – photo credit: official site of Baku Chess Olympiad
Olympiad Schedule
Date
Time
Event
1 Sept
18:30/20:30
Opening, Captains meet
2 Sept
15:00
Round 1
3 Sept
15:00
Round 2
4 Sept
15:00
Round 3
5 Sept
15:00
Round 4
6 Sept
15:00/22:00
Round 5/Bermuda Party
7 Sept
–
Day Off
8 Sept
15:00
Round 6
9 Sept
15:00
Round 7
10 Sept
15:00
Round 8
11 Sept
15:00
Round 9
12 Sept
15:00
Round 10
13 Sept
11:00
19:30
Round 11
Closing Ceremony
14 Sept
All day
Departure day
The top seeds at the Olympiad
Russia Players: Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi
USA Players: Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Ray Robson, Sam Shankland
China Players: Wang Yue, Li Chao, Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi
Ukraine Players: Pavel Eljanov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Yury Kryvoruchko, Anton Korobov, Andrei Volokitin
South African players in the Women’s team: Captain: Dalpat Winston WIM Frick Denise WIM Laubscher Anzel WIM February Jesse Nikki WCM Fisher Michelle M WFM Van Niekerk Lauren
Players in the Open section Captain: CM Bouah Lyndon 2115 GM Solomon Kenny 2380 IM Cawdery Daniel 2416 IM Kobese Watu 2350 IM Van den Heever Donovan 2247 FM Klaasen Calvin Jong 2177
Opening – photo: David Llada, the official photographer of the Olympiad.
A video about the history of South African Airways
Image: Planespotters
I’m on my way to South Africa for a 3-week holiday and yes, I’m travelling SAA – one of the best airlines – rated the highest on Expedia when a booking was made, so well done to SAA! It’s great to know you’re still the ‘Springbok in the sky“. For part of the three weeks, I’ll be on the beach – so looking forward to sandy beeches. As we will be about 4 hours drive from Cape Town, we might just pay a quick visit to the Mother City. Photo below: This is where I’ll be for a whole week.
An amazing instagram photo of Cape Town with Table Mountain covered in its cloth!
It is again time for the British Chess Championships and it’s taking place at the Bournemouth Pavilion from the 23rd July 2016- 6th August 2016. The official opening ceremony is on Monday, 25th July.
Please click HERE to access all the necessary information regarding the championship. This is a PDF document from the site of the British Chess Championships.
Fatherless and raised by his grandmother, thirteen year old Ricardo Galam lives in South Africa’s Cape Flats, a unique and volatile sub culture dominated by two Number gangs, the 26 and 28. Ricardo’s future as a chess prodigy is threatened by his growing interest in the 26 whose local leader is grooming him as a potential member. Unknown to Ricardo, the father he’s never known has been released from prison. Farakhan, a reformed general in the 28, is back in his old neighbourhood, an intruder in 26 territory. In a story that is at times raw and violent at other times touching and true. FOUR CORNERS is a gripping drama set against the backdrop of a gang war in Cape Town which has been raging for a 100 years; a little known fact.
(Quote from youtube)
By watching this trailer, I don’t think I ever want to be in an area where any gangs are roaming and scavenging for anyone they can manipulate to their needs. It must be scary and you must feel intimidating to live in places like these, but the same time you feel sorry to know that there are people who only know one life and that’s this kind of life. Then the same time I wonder if you could change any adult who only knows this kind of life?
This movie has received 13 Golden Horn nominations at the SAFTAs – South African Film and Television Awards March 2015.
From The Tempest: Miranda and Ferdinand playing chess
Image: Wikipedia The Chess Players attributed to Karel van Mander. This was identified in 1916 as an image of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare playing chess. Most scholars consider this to be pure speculation, but the claim was revived in 2004 by Jeffrey Netto, who argued that the chess game symbolises “the well known professional rivalry between these figures in terms of a battle of wits”.
Update: 2016 – Shakespeare died 400 years ago and today is Shakespeare day! I’ve decided to repost an entry of 4 years ago. Please enjoy my ‘contribution’ to Shakespeare day. The following is my entry of 2012.
I’ve written another cento – I had to, because it’s a chess one! I’ve taken again Shakespeare lines – like my Moonrider-cento , where I also used Shakespeare. A cento is a form of poetry, where you use lines of different poems. In this case [like Moonrider], I’ve used lines of Shakespeare’s works – and not different poems. This cento was much easier to put together than Moonrider, as they are shorter lines and I didn’t really spent that much time thinking how to merge it into a poem that makes sense. I couldn’t give it a title other than ‘A Game of Chess’. I have made minor changes here and there – to the word order or adding of an exclamation mark – just for effect. This ‘poem‘ is almost like a dialogue – as it’s various characters speaking in role from Shakespeare’s plays.
A Game of Chess Sweet lord, you play me false For a score of kingdoms you should wrangle and I would call it fair play How fares the king? His hour is almost past
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! And I have horse – will follow where the game makes way. I have his horse! Give me another horse! So, the good horse is mine. My day’s delight is past, my horse is gone. The rascal hath removed my horse.
Are the knights ready to begin their triumph? A wandering knight? I am undone! The knight is here! Great shouts within all cry ‘the mean knight!’ Great is the humour of this dreadful knight.
I dare thereupon pawn My life I never held but as a pawn I have not pawn’d to you my majesty? I pawn’d thee none! I’ll send some bishop to entreat The bishop will be overborne by thee Wat says my bully rook?
There stands my castle! His queen, it was his queen! Queen of queens, how far dost thou excel? Come hither, come! Come, come, and take a queen Sir your queen must overboard! Will take your queen Farewell sweet queen!
I’ll move the king. The skipping king, he ambles up and down This may gall him for some check No mates for you! We’ll draw! My lord, your son drew my master Where’s the master? Play the men! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
[Shakespeare-lines -] Click on this link to read more about the Cento and to read what Folger Education think about my cento. I feel humble – you can view their comments in their comments box. Thank you!
–Click on this link to see the complete list of chess quotes with the references to the works of Shakespeare.
The World Chess Championship is coming to New York.
The WCC, a one-on-one match administered by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), will be played in New York City this upcoming November, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Magnus Carlsen, the highest ranked player in history who defended his title against India’s Viswanathan Anand in 2014, will play against a to-be-determined challenger from November 10 to November 30.
As for finding the challenger, eight of the world’s best players (excluding Carlsen) will meet in Moscow to compete in the forthcoming Candidates Tournament, a double round robin bracket, to determine who will play against the 25-year-old Norwegian.
Wikimedia
Among the eight are US Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. If either of them win in Moscow, they’ll have the chance to become the first American world champion since Bobby Fischer in the 1970s.
The other six Grandmasters in this year’s Candidates Tournament are Peter Svidler and Sergey Karjiakin of Russia, Anand from India, Veselin Topalov from Bulgaria, Anish Giri from the Netherlands and Levon Aronian from Armenia,according to Chess News.
This is the first time in 21 years that the world champion in chess will be crowned on American soil.
Back in 1995, Garry Kasparvov beat Anand in a 20-game match on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center.
As for where exactly in New York the event will be held, the CEO of Agon, the commercial partner of FIDE and organizer of the WCC, told the WSJ that he is in discussions with several NY venues, including the World Trade Center.
The World Chess Candidates that takes place on March 10 – 30, 2016, is a dramatic tournament which determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner will play a match for the title against reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen in November in the US.
Candidates Chess 2016 participants 1. Vishwanathan Anand (India) – The player who lost the 2014 World Championship Match 2. Sergey Karjakin (Russia) – as winner of the FIDE World Cup in Baku 3. Peter Svidler (Russia) – as the silver medalist of the FIDE World Cup in Baku 4. Fabiano Caruana (USA/Italy) – from FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 5. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) – from FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 6. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) – By rating 7. Anish Giri (Netherlands) – By rating 8. Levon Aronian (Armenia) – organizers nominee of rating higher than 2725 ELO Candidates 2016 details Details of the Tournament: Dates: March 8 – 29, 2016 Number of players: 8 Format: Double round robin tournament (14 rounds) Length: 22 days including arrivals, departures, opening and closing ceremonies Prize fund: EUR 561,000
Sergey Karjakin is going to the FIDE World Chess Championship Final 2016 in New York after winning the Candidates Chess 2016 tournament with 8,5/14. In the decisive round 14 Karjakin won the final game against Fabiano Caruana and surged a full point ahead in the standings. The Russian player is going to face the defending champion Magnus Carlsen.
This is precious. This male person pretends to speak a foreign language and the lady doesn’t understand him. She keeps on trying to figure out what he wants. So she asks him to speak Afrikaans – or… okay, I won’t repeat her words at the end… Afrikaans speaking people will really love this video. In South Africa, there’s more than 6 million people speaking Afrikaans – and they are from difference races.
This is again one of my most favourite pieces of the Opera. It’s been raining the whole evening, which is just the right mood for music like this. I’ve also been reading on the link in this entry – all about the morals of chess. Interesting that already in the 1700s people tried to annoy their opponents and were these ‘rules‘ probably put in place.
If your adversary is long in playing, you ought not to hurry him, or express any uneasiness at his delay. You should not sing, nor whistle, nor look at your watch, nor take up a book to read, nor make a tapping with your feet on the floor, or with your fingers on the table, nor do anything that may disturb his attention. For all these things displease. And they do not show your skill in playing, but your craftiness or your rudeness.
Follow this link to read more about the Morals of Chess as by Benjamin Franklin – dated: June 1732 – June 1779
At random times, I get asked by friends what cities in South Africa are like. They usually want to know if they are ‘big and busy‘ – similar to London. On Instagram, I saw these lovely photos and thought to put together this collage to share on the blog. These pictures are from two accounts: ‘SouthAfrica‘ and ‘CityofPretoria‘. From the Pretoria account, I’ve chosen six pictures as they are all amazing pictures and I couldn’t resist them. If you look at the ‘SouthAfrica‘ account, you will agree with me that there’s only one beautiful country in the world and not just a country with random beautiful places. #SouthAfrica
Happy New Year Everyone! May 2016 be a fabulous year filled with tons of happiness. Let’s all save the world from all bad things – including the animals.
Fly, thought, on wings of gold, go settle upon the slopes and the hills where the sweet airs of our native soil smell soft and mild! Greet the banks of the river Jordan and Zion’s tumbled towers. Oh, my country, so lovely and lost! Oh remembrance so dear yet unhappy!
Golden harp of the prophetic wise men, why hang so silently from the willows? Rekindle the memories in our hearts, tell us about the times gone by! Remembering the fate of Jerusalem play us a sad lament or else be inspired by the Lord to fortify us to endure our suffering!
I think the chorus of the Hebrew slave from the Italian opera, Nabucco, is many people’s favourite. These words are beautiful and leaves me in a sad mood if I think about South Africa and how it’s getting destroyed by Zuma.
Chess pieces from elephant tusk carved in China – Nottingham Castle Museum
Read about Watu Kobese, a South African chess champion and Fide trainer and now also author of chess books. Kobese is taking the game and his book on a roadshow to promote chess. Click on the image for a larger view in order to read the complete article.
Source: Please click here to read the article on the site of ‘Business Insider.’
The Sinquefield Cup Chess Tournament is on at the moment in St Louis and I’ve been following some of the games and thought it was high time to blog about a ‘big’ tournament again. The images above are from twitter The link below is game 7 where Anand is playing against Wesley So. You can see the moves up to move 11 by Anand. Please click HERE to follow the game live. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 d3 Bc5 5 Bxc6 dxc6 6 Nbd2 O-O 7 O-O Re8 8 Nc4 Nd7 9 b3 a5 10 a4 f6 11 Be3 Bb4 12 Rc1 b5
Chess Sinquefield Cup round 7 Anand vs Wesley So
Round 7 – Aronian and Nakamura
Round 7 – Magnus vs Grischuk
Round 7 – Caruana vs Vachier Lagrave
Magnus Carlsen on his way to the playing venue – photo: @CCSCSL SaintLouisChessClub
This is one of my own poems. It is a cento. A cento is a poem written using other author’s lines or passages. This ‘cento’ though has been written using my own poems. The poems I used are all from my Afrikaans poems. I do write English too, but as I said before, it’s just playing with words. I don’t try to be professional. I decided a few years ago to do my ‘bit’ for Afrikaans on the 14th August every year. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen last year and I couldn’t let another year go by without having one on this day! This is the history behind the 14th August.
The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Afrikaans for “Society of Real Afrikaners”) was formed on 14 August 1875 in the town of Paarl by a group of Afrikaans speakers from the current Western Cape region. From 15 January 1876 the society published a journal in Afrikaans called Die Afrikaanse Patriot (“The Afrikaans Patriot”) as well as a number of books, including grammars, dictionaries, religious material and histories. Die Afrikaanse Patriot was succeeded in 1905 by today’s Paarl newspaper. You can read more about this Society on this link on the site of Wikipedia.
If you are Afrikaans, I hope you enjoy these couple of lines.
My siel op haelwit wolke
In gietende reën sypel my gedagtes: eindloos! Ek stuur vir jou die goud van sondeurdrenkte landskappe in die galery van my stille gemoed. My opgevoude gedagtes steek vas en onderhou my geheue wat onvermydelik verstrengel is en soos gister vind jy my siel op haelwit wolke; my gedagtes wentel om die aura van my taal en rol ragfyn ligstraaltjies voor my uit: wat die tuimelende bergstilte laat rol oor die dansende blou waters na die holtes van my gedagtes.
==Nikita 14/08/2015
Mantovani is one of my real big favourites. On this video you’ll find a whole library of his music to keep you company. I hope you enjoy!
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I do play chess myself too. I’ve blogged quite a few chess games in the past. This is one of my most recent chess games on chess.com Time is little to play rated chess games and I was tricked into this game, but managed to escape the worst. Rated games involve more concentration and I tend to play friendlies just for fun and I feel I can ‘escape’ or shut down from normal work and enjoy the game.
I like how I managed to checkmate my opponent, though he was very close to checkmate me! I played white in this game – not my favourite colour, as I discovered I play better games when I play black. If you are interested, please click here to play through the game. If you are a chess player yourself, please feel free to leave a comment and Dan, if you read here, you might want to analyse my game…hehe.
The 2015 South African Open Chess Festival incorporates the SA Schools Individual Chess Championship and SA Open Chess Championship SA Open Chess Championship runs from Fri 03 July to Sat 11 July 2015 (entire day over weekends and evenings during week days) SA Schools Individual Chess Championship runs from Mon 06 July to Thu 09 July 2015 (mornings and afternoons) SA Schools Individual Chess Championship players may choose to participate additionally in the SA Open. For more details, click this link. Click on the image for a larger view.
It is the World Women’s Chess Championships 2015 in Sochi. Follow this link to play through the games. The final battle is between Russia and Ukraine – how ironic. All images are from the official site – from the games link.
Muzychuk vs Pogonina
Final pairings / results – game 4 will be played on Sunday 5th April 2015 local time: 3pm
There stands my castle! His queen, it was his queen! Queen of queens, how far dost thou excel? Come hither, come! Come, come, and take a queen Sir your queen must overboard! Will take your queen Farewell sweet queen!
I was in a mood to blog a chess game, this is one of my very old games – about 8 years ago! I played black and like how I trapped my opponent. I love Shakespeare’s works and these lines are from Shakespeare. This title of the post doesn’t fit the writing, don’t worry, it’s meant not to fit. I need to play more chess so my brain can get organised in boxes. I like that guy’s video on youtube about the male and female brain. I need a male brain, so I can organised everything in boxes. I try too many things in one go. Here is the game link.
Please click HERE to play through the game.
The World Chess Championship Match between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Challenger Vishy Anand is taking place in Sochi, Russia on November 7–28, 2014.It’s the first time that Magnus will defend his title. [Images:Twitter & Official site]
5-time World Chess Champion, Vishy Anand is considered one of the most versatile chess players in the world. He is the only world champion who won titles playing in all different formats (match, tournament and knockout). He is the first Indian grandmaster.
It’s been a year since my entry about the game in Chennai, where Magnus walked off as the World Champion
Please click HERE for the official site. You can also follow the game on twitter – on the bottom photo you will find the official twitter account of Carlsen and Anand. Sochi temperatures average 24° C – 27° C between June and October/November. Who are you supporting?
The Chess set
I hope you like this card-image – I was in a mood to play around with the two chess kings!
As Carlsen is called the ‘Mozart of Chess’ – I have some Mozart for you to listen to. One of my favourite pieces – though only part of the composition.
This is the hotel where Anand and Carlsen will be playing.
This is the Instagram link for you to follow, should you wish to do so.
On the map I’ve highlighted for you where Sochi is.
Norwegian camera teams may have been swarming around Magnus Carlsen before his meeting with world number two Levon Aronian, but the serious chess spectators had eyes firmly fixed on the start of Kramnik-Topalov, where the feud that began in their acrimonious 2006 world title match has resulted in permanently frosty relations.
by GM Jonathan Tisdall
Some of the games played today round 5. On this link you can follow the live games or play through games already played in previous rounds.
Tromso round 5: Topalov vs Kramnik
Round 5: Kramnik vs Topalov 1-0
Round 5: Ivan Cheparinov vs Peter Svidler 1/2-1/2 Round 5: Aronian vs Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Round 5: Barileng Gaealafshwe vs Kenny Solomon 0-1 On this youtube.com/watch?v=-xABHJdf31o link you can see Kenny as South Africa’s Chess Grandmaster and it’s strange that Fide still has him as an IM on his profile here: ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=14300192 Melissa Greeff is South Africa’s first Women Chess Grandmaster.
Chess art at Tromso
I was super excited when Gert – also a chess enthusiast, who mainly blogs about great South African Afrikaans writers and poets and writes about movies, musicians, componists, etc. in general- informed me about the win of Henry Steel vs Gata Kamsky. I have been following this particular group of South African champs for the past few years in the ‘big‘ tournaments like these and they are a strong team of chess players and South Africa can be proud of them. Congratulations to Henry, we hope that your game against Kamsky will inspire the team to do even better. The following images are from Tromso, tweeted out to the twitter community by Susan Polgar.
The South African Women’s Chess Championships will be held at ‘The Atrium’, The Woodlands, Johannesburg and starts on the 8th August 2014 – 10th August 2014. That’s a serious killer with 3 games per day! There is also a B-section. You can click on this PDF for all the necessary info and a link to the venue. 2014_SA_Womens_Open_CC
The FIDE World Youth Chess Championships 2014 will be held in Durban, South Africa from 18th September to 30th September 2014 organized by the South African Chess Federation under the auspices of FIDE. All FIDE members and chess academies are cordially invited to participate in the 2014 World Youth Chess Championships. The Local Organizing Committee is honoured to host this prestigious event and we sincerely hope that you will enjoy your visit in Africa.
Please click HERE to visit the Official site of the World Youth Chess Championship.
The Championships will be hosted at the International Convention Centre, Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The ICC Durban is one of the most advanced conference facilities in the world. The ICC Durban is purpose-built, fully air-conditioned and comprises six convention halls that are interlinked, but separate. Halls 4-6 double as convention and meetings spaces and the flat floor space for the ICC Arena makes it the leading indoor sports and entertainment venue in Durban which accommodates up to 10 000 spectators. The latest FIDE Rules and Regulations will apply Age Groups : u/8, u/10, u/12, u14, u/16, u/18 Format: Swiss System Rounds: 11 rounds Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves; Followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game; 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Each National Federation can register a total of twelve (12) Official Players, that is, one official player in each category (under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 years old; open and girls) plus one accompanying official, provided he/she holds a valid licence and title as a FIDE Trainer. The players placed 1st to 3rd in the previous FIDE World Youth Championships, and the respective Champions of the 2014 Continental Youth Championships, shall have the personal rights to participate in the World Youth Championships of the corresponding age-category or a higher age category if the age stipulation is met. Such players shall also be classified as Official Players and have to be registered by their respective National Federations.
Other than Official Players, all other players shall be classified as Additional Players. All other persons other than players or the Accompanying Official shall be classified as Accompanying Persons. A Federation may register any number of Additional Players and Accompanying Persons but they shall be responsible for their own costs. In order to provide appropriate tournament conditions, the Federations must complete the official online registration form, in full, and submit to the organising committee by no later than 17 July 2014. FIDE endorsed Chess Academies may register not more than one player per age group per gender per event. The deadline for the reservation and payment of a 50% deposit on the accommodation is 17 July 2014. Any accommodation payment made after the deadline, will incur a surcharge of 10%. Once the payment has been made, proof of payment must be sent to the Treasurer at treasurer [at]2014wycc.co.za
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, also known as the Zulu Kingdom. Durban is also the major centre of tourism in South Africa because of the city’s warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Resource: Chessdom.com
Tromso 2014 starts Friday 1st August – Thursday 14th August
Click HERE for the schedule. These are some of the open teams that take part in this chess olympiad.
South Africa Captain: CM Lyndon Bouah Average Rating: 2327 1. IM Steel Henry Robert – 2399 2. IM Solomon Kenny – 2376 3. IM Kobese Watu – 2341 4. FM Van den Heever Donovan – 2277 5. IM Gluckman David – 2241
Norway 1 Captain: Ole Christian Moen Average Rating: 2639 1. GM Carlsen Magnus – 2881 2. GM Agdestein Simen – 2628 3. GM Hammer Jon Ludvig – 2628 4. GM Johannessen Leif Erlend – 2528 5. GM Lie Kjetil A. – 2528
Netherlands Captain: GM Vladimir B. Tukmakov Average Rating: 2668 1. GM Giri Anish – 2752 2. GM Tiviakov Sergei – 2656 3. GM Van Wely Loek – 2654 4. GM L’Ami Erwin – 2647 5. GM Van Kampen Robin – 2631 Israel Captain: IM Alexander Kaspi Average Rating: 2670 1. GM Gelfand Boris – 2753 2. GM Rodshtein Maxim – 2672 3. GM Smirin Ilia – 2660 4. GM Postny Evgeny – 2641 5. GM Sutovsky Emil – 2625
England Captain: GM Peter K Wells Average Rating: 2673 1. GM Adams Michael – 2743 2. GM Short Nigel D – 2665 3. GM Jones Gawain – 2654 4. GM Sadler Matthew – 2653 5. GM Howell David – 2650
China Captain: GM Jun Xu Average Rating: 2679 1. GM Ding Liren – 2714 2. GM Wang Yue – 2713 3. GM Yu Yangyi – 2675 4. GM Ni Hua – 2653 5. GM Wei Yi – 2634
United States of America Captain: IM John W. Donaldson Average Rating: 2686 1. GM Nakamura Hikaru – 2775 2. GM Kamsky Gata – 2712 3. GM Onischuk Alexander – 2659 4. GM Akobian Varuzhan – 2653 5. GM Shankland Samuel L – 2632
Hungary Captain: IM Tamas Horvath Average Rating: 2693 1. GM Leko Peter – 2737 2. GM Rapport Richard – 2701 3. GM Almasi Zoltan – 2692 4. GM Polgar Judit – 2685 5. GM Balogh Csaba – 2648
I had been on a course and it was held at this beautiful place in Lincolnshire. It was a residential course and I couldn’t help to immerse myself completely into this historical swamp. When I looked at the mansion and the structure of the building, I found myself in a game of chess, moving turrets and spikes around, wondering about the conversations that took place at this place by noble men and women, throughout the centuries. I also wondered about the Romans who roamed the area and the meetings during WW2, when the Second Battalion of the Parachute Regiment used it. In the late 40’s teachers got trained here till the late 1970’s and today it belongs to one of the largest Teacher Unions for training sessions and conferences.
The obelisk was erected by Charles Turnor, 1847, in honour of Isaac Newton, who acquired his basic education in the area of Stoke, the area where this mansion-hotel is. The Turnor family owned the original property from as early as the 1700’s till 1940.
Excavations at a burial site in south-east Turkey have revealed a set of 49 sculpted pieces that may once have been used in board games. They are among the oldest evidence of such games ever found.
Sağlamtimur, from Ege university in Izmir, Turkey discussed the finds at the annual International Symposium of Excavations, Surveys and Archaeometry in the Turkish city of Muğla. He thinks the pieces belong to some complicated chess-like game. His team now hopes to work out the strategies that the game must have involved.
Not so fast, says Ulrich Schädler, director of the Swiss Museum of Games in La Tour-de-Peilz. “Do the objects really all belong to one game? I would answer no,” he told New Scientist. “We don’t have the slightest trace of a board game using more than two different kinds of pieces before chess.” Early forms of chess were not played until about 1500 years ago. Read the entire article here.
Chess is believed to have first originated in Eastern India known as Chaturanga. The game spread from India to Persia and after the Islamic conquering of the Persian empire it was adopted by them and spread even further afield with it’s name changed to shatranj. The Islamic world then spread chess throughout Europe and then to Russia. On this link you can read more about the history of ancient games relating to chess.
Image: Wikipedia – Shatranj
Senet was played between 1550-1069 BC in Egypt. In the next image you can see a painting on the wall of Queen Nefertari’s tomb depicting her playing the game in the afterlife.
This is all about a beautiful style of art called: ‘Fore-Edge painting’. I didn’t know about this kind of art. What you see in this above image, is the edges of the pages of this chess book. It’s amazing! See also the video clip.
Resource: Please click here to view the resource on the site of Boston’s Public Library.
Masterminds seek to master both their own emotions and to impose their reality on the chessboard. A Mastermind always seeks the right move, and believes that attacking is the right way. Typically choosing sharp openings, Masterminds win with fantastically deep calculations, producing combinations which are deeply hidden in correctly built-up positions. Masterminds thrive in complicated positions, where their accurate calculating ability and iron nerves give them the advantage.
Alexander Alekhine is a Mastermind
Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), the fourth world champion, was a true Mastermind. One of the greatest attacking players ever, Alekhine could produce spectacular combinations from positions which seemed to promise no such thing. His calculation ability was phenomenal, and his combinations often included deadly and unexpected surprises at the end of a series of obvious moves: the famous “sting of the scorpion’s tail”. Most important was his ability to build up an attacking position and create complications without taking undue risks himself. Alekhine held the world championship from 1927 until 1935, when he lost a match to Max Euwe, and then from 1937 (after beating Euwe in the return match) until his death in 1946.
I was intrigued when I was sent this link on Twitter. I quite liked the questions, as there are a few chess problems to look at and to work through, not the normal options where you choose either a, b or c. According to the link, my play is similar to Alekhine’s play. Hmmmm… what do you think of the test? Take the test and let me know. Do you trust it? Some of my chess opponents had said to me that I’m an aggressive player, but not really sure if I am that kind of player. I know I like to attack, whenever I can, but only if I know I can benefit from it, depending on my position and I do like complicated positions. The scale on the above image was different. I navigated away from the link and when I returned, aggressive and calm was also on the end of the scale. My original setting was slightly to the right, more to ‘solid‘ and the same for ‘calm’. I wonder what my chess friend in South Korea is thinking, or Dan, my other chess friend? Eugene doesn’t want to play me, he is scared of me… hehe
I’ve been playing around – as you can see. Happy New Year to you all! May 2014 be the best year ever. I do pray for peace all over the world and for those with evil minds – to poach more rhinos – will come to their senses – and all other evil-minded people too. I wish for a ‘fresh start’ for all countries and people and to bury their differences and live in peace and harmony.
Click on the poster for a large view Mr Cameron/Mr ObamaYOU are part of the poaching and the killing of rhinos! You are also fueling this horrible slaughtering that’s going on! You feel nothing for these animals. You turn a blind eye and look the other way! WHY? Because of GREED – money! Mr Cameron, why do you make it EASIER for the Chinese to come to Britain if you KNOW this is what they DO? I will answer your question for you, it’s simple. GREED. MONEY. Is that what matters to you? Yes, it is, simple. Common sense. You will never make a move to protect these animals. What can I do? – you are asking. Why don’t you ask the Chinese to stop the killing and poaching, before you relax the rules for them to come to Britain? Simple answer, you will not do it, simple reason: GREED. The same with Mr Obama. Our leaders DO NOT care. The rhino has only us as humans as its enemy. What do we do? Answer the question to yourself. Simple, easy. Poach them! All for GREED. You also don’t have the guts to tell the Chinese, in their faces! – that the rhino horn is like your finger nails, made of keratin, and has NO medicine-value for anything. Are you too scared to tell them, what kind of ‘leader’ are you? Within 5 days the statistics: 825 – 850 rhinos poached in South Africa – ONLY – this is nearly 100 more than 2012. We have 1 month left. It is going to be 940 for 2013 – my prediction – or even more.
All five kinds of rhino species alive today face some kind of threat, whether from poaching, loss of habitat through deforestation or human settlements encroaching on their land. Demand for rhino horn is driven by lucrative criminal trafficking and the belief in some Asian countries that it can cure cancer and other ailments, though experts say the horn has no special powers and is made of the same material as fingernails. “Despite the crisis, there is hope for rhinos,” Ms Ellis said. “We believe that the situation can be turned around. The sticking point is whether rhino countries like South Africa and consumer countries like Vietnam and China will enforce their laws and whether countries like Indonesia will take the bold actions needed to save Sumatran and Javan rhinos.” As few as 100 Sumatran rhinos are left, and there are around 44 Javan rhinos. Both are critically endangered and considered on the brink of extinction. The State of the Rhino report also warned of “recent increases in poaching activity in northeastern India,” home to the greater one-horned rhino of which about 3,300 remain in the world. Detailing steps forward in the worldwide effort to save the ancient creatures, it touted some successes in Botswana, Zimbabwe, India and Indonesia, and urged officials to ramp up their efforts to protect rhinos and their habitat. Source: http://www.news.com.au/world/rhino-killings-nearly-outnumber-births-international-rhino-foundation-says/story-fndir2ev-1226766652314
Game 6 move 32 – I feel Anand could have made a better move with his pawn on d, which he ‘gave’ away. Game 6 move 33 – game looks like a draw to me – Anand not sure what to do? Bet you they are going to draw this one! Game 6 still going – move 41
You believe that a rhino horn is not made of the same substance as your finger nails and that it is able to cure any diseases like cancer. So start chewing your finger nail if you are a Chinese – you don’t need a rhino horn!
You do to rhinos what the Chinese and their poachers do.
You are the head of the Chinese Government and refuse to get rid of your ancient beliefs and you refuse to admit those beliefs are rubbish.
You are from Vietnam and use the horn as medicine. How insane.
You are one of the following and do this!
In the Middle Eastern country of Yemen, the horn continues to be coveted by Muslim men, although imports were banned in 1982. The material, whose luster increases with age, is used for the handles of curved daggers called “jambiya,” which are presented to Yemeni boys at age 12. Jambiya are considered a sign of manhood and devotion to the Muslim religion, and are used for personal defense. Yemeni men place great value on the dagger handles, which are commonly studded with jewels. In China, the ornamental use of rhino horn dates back to at least the 7th century AD. Over the centuries, rhino horns have been carved into ceremonial cups, as well as buttons, belt buckles, hair pins, and paperweights.
You feel absolutely nothing for an animal, and allow them to suffer in any way.
You are the President of South Africa and you feel nothing and don’t want to do anything, as you have a hand in the pie with the Chinese! You’re laughing your way to the bank. Your wives are more important to you, you have recently married another one!
You, as the President, allow these poachers and you are not moving a finger to do more than what you can do. We all know you can do more! Much more…. e.g. Ban those Chinese companies, popping up – suddenly – like mushrooms all over the country! Send them all home! Tell them in their faces what you think of them… Uhm, sorry forgot what this entry is all about…so you can’t do it…. Shame on you!
The art of Dolfi Stoki – this is what the R10 note should be looking like.
God will not forgive anyone for what you do to these animals, whatever the reason behind your motive. The rhinos do not deserve to suffer like they do! If you want to see HOW these rhinos really suffer, visit this link on youtube, warning!! It is a grossly upsetting to look at, but that is REALITY!!! (youtube.com/watch?v=6MIbJR4b7UY)
Latest statistics: 11/10/2013 – 746 rhinos poached, 16 more after 5/10/2013: 730 – Rate of poaching: 2-5 per day.
One of many posters for my class assembly that was yesterday. We had a mini-campaign about the rhinos. If you have my class blog link, you can read more and see a video clip as well. We are taking part in the travelling rhinos project.
Nabokov in Montreux, Switzerland – image: Wikipedia
Nabokov was a Russian Novelist, but also a chess composer. I was reading about ‘reading’ and ‘readers’ when I came across him – see the section about Jose’s blog where everything started this morning. I found his background very interesting -he was a chess composer, but not a chess player himself. I didn’t know about chess composers and found it quite odd that he actually never played. If he’s a composer of chess, then he must have been a good player as well. It’s interesting to see a writer turning game play into narratives. Even in his book Lolita, he uses chess as part of his narrative.
This was his 3rd novel he wrote, turned into a movie. From google-books the review: The Defense, is a chilling story of obsession and madness. As a young boy, Luzhin was unattractive, distracted, withdrawn, sullen–an enigma to his parents and an object of ridicule to his classmates. He takes up chess as a refuge from the anxiety of his everyday life. His talent is prodigious and he rises to the rank of grandmaster–but at a cost: in Luzhin’ s obsessive mind, the game of chess gradually supplants the world of reality. His own world falls apart during a crucial championship match, when the intricate defense he has devised withers under his opponent’s unexpected and unpredictabke lines of assault.[note to self: must try and read some of his books one day]
This is a quote from Wikipedia, and it’s worth reading more on Wikipedia about him: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov; 22 April 1899 – 2 July 1977- was a Russian-born novelist. Nabokov’s first nine novels were in Russian. He then rose to international prominence as a writer of English prose. He also made serious contributions as a lepidopterist and chess composer. Nabokov’s Lolita (1955) is his most famous novel, and often considered his finest work in English. It exhibits the love of intricate word play and synesthetic detail that characterised all his works. The novel was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels; Pale Fire (1962) was ranked at 53rd on the same list, and his memoir, Speak, Memory, was listed eighth on the Modern Library nonfiction list. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times, but never won it.
After the 1917 February Revolution, Nabokov’s father became a secretary of the Russian Provisional Government, and the family was forced to flee the city – after the Bolshevik Revolution – for Crimea, not expecting to be away for very long. They lived at a friend’s estate and in September 1918 moved to Livadiya; Nabokov’s father was a minister of justice of the Crimean provisional government. After the withdrawal of the German Army (November 1918) and the defeat of the White Army in early 1919, the Nabokovs sought exile in western Europe. On 2 April 1919, the family left Sevastopol on the last ship, then settled briefly in England. Vladimir enrolled in Trinity College, Cambridge, studying zoology at first, and then Slavic and Romance languages. He later drew on his Cambridge experiences to write the novel Glory. In 1920, his family moved to Berlin, where his father set up the émigré newspaper Rul’ (Rudder). Nabokov would follow to Berlin after his studies at Cambridge two years later.In March 1922, Nabokov’s father was assassinated in Berlin by Russian monarchist Piotr Shabelsky-Bork as he was trying to shield the real target, Pavel Milyukov, a leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party-in-exile. This mistaken, violent death would echo again and again in Nabokov’s fiction, where characters would meet their deaths under accidental terms. (In Pale Fire, for example, one interpretation of the novel has an assassin mistakenly kill the poet John Shade, when his actual target is a fugitive European monarch.) Shortly after his father’s death, Nabokov’s mother and sister moved to Prague.
I was reading Jose-English102’s blog about Nabokov about reading and I quote from his blog what Nabokov says: ‘According to Nabokov, a good reader should ‘ notice and fondle details.’ He believes that a good reader should use their imagination to visualize the story and try to understand it from the writers point of view, instead of making assumptions. He says that a good reader must re-read to be able to fully understand what the author is trying to say and to paint a better picture in their mind of the story. Nabokov also mentioned that a good reader should have a good imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense.’
From ‘Brainpickings’ I found this interview: In the fall of 1969, British broadcaster and journalist James Mossman submitted 58 questions on literature and life for celebrated author Vladimir Nabokov — butterfly-lover, master of melancholy, frequenter of ideal bookshelves — for an episode of BBC-2′s Review. Nabokov ended up answering 40 of them in what is best described as part interview, part performance art, eventually published in Strong Opinions (UK; public library) — a 1973 collection of Nabokov’s finest interviews, articles and editorials. Some of the conversation is preserved in this rare original audio, with highlights transcribed below:
Sharlto Copley – as Kruger
Alice Braga as Frey
Jodie Foster – an Official – Secretary Delacourt I’ve been ‘treated’ to see this movie, Elysium. I’ve read a couple of reviews about the movie afterwards, to see if others agree with what I thought about it. Firstly, this type of movie is really not my cuppa tea, but I’ve decided to enjoy the evening, despite the type of movie. I prefer movies that’s about reality, or reality mixed with adventure orsome action – only some action– and I love any cowboy-type of movies or westerns. When I left school, I was into action/thrillers/and Jackie Chan-type of movies. I still enjoy Jackie Chan from time to time. What I really don’t like, is fighting scenes one after the other or brutality and in Elysium, you get too much of the fighting at one stage – for too long. I get bored and I don’t like the fighting, it’s not nice. I switch off and want the ‘show to move on’, though I like the idea of Blomkamp, to have a world where everything is ‘beautiful’ or ‘perfect’. Also, Jodie Foster didn’t have much of a role in this movie, I was a bit disappointed, as she is a great actress. I enjoyed most of the movie, but I felt at points the viewer is not really sure what is happening and you guess a little bit. I love the few Afrikaans and South African English slang in the movie – ‘Ouk, It’s lekka man, you’ll dig it!’ – and smiled big time when Copley sang ‘Jan Pierewiet’. The South African flag on his ship immediately caught my eye and also the Gemsbok painted on the front left! I will definitely recommend this movie, but don’t expect it to be a 9 or a 10. Here’s some good reviews to read: Click HEREto read some reviews on ‘Rottentomatoes‘. You can also watch some clips of the actors and what they say about the movie on this link. Edit: This movie is also classified as a ‘thriller’, which I disagree. I’ve seen a couple of thrillers and this was nothing like a thriller to me. I would say it’s more an ‘action’ film, rather than a ‘thriller’. About Blomkamp and the movie I would like to say this: As he is only 32, I think this movie is actually a brilliant movie for a director of his age. If this is what he produces at the age of 32, then I can only predict ‘big time movies‘ from him over the next 10 years – and more.
How cheeky can one get? I found this on Facebook! This is not me, but how cheeky to nick my blog’s header for her FB-account, plus to use my blog’s name. My question: does she pretend to be ‘me’?
Picture from FB: Mother with her dead child – Boer War: Concentration camps. I was so shocked when I saw this picture. How this mother must have felt and the poor little kids. This is what went through my mind:
The camp White tents like white ant hills. Strange, awkward stenches fill the war-torn air Weak, though proud, with no disinfectant Sitting around in poverty: deprived! Waiting for food. Waiting for water. Humiliation. Disgrace. Filth. Dead bodies carried along white rows They don’t care, they don’t think! They can’t think. They just kill! The pain inside: it cuts deep, very deep. No sound. No breath. No life. No words. No food. Only thoughts. Only thoughts. Only Blue vitriol. Children crying, children dying
Hunger screams, hunger wails Endless waiting. Timeless prayers. Shock. Horror. Pain. Forgotten lives. Panic. Fright. Terror. God! My child is dead! Footsteps. No words. Empty arms. Eyes watching. Not my child! Patience because: ‘Another seepkissie will arrive soon.’ Silence.
Die beklemmende gedagte: onbewustelik ‘n verbintenis stigmatisering, diskriminered, wraaksugtig, miskennend onbeskermd…
‘n Lewe verkort
In die binneste van jou siel: jou fisieke, jou psige vasgevang – die vrees vasgeknoop – die woede
Ingelaat en toegelaat, onbeplan, ongenaakbaar grusaam en gruwelooslik deurboor dit jou vlees.
Sirkelend alom jou siel: geregtigheid, regverdigheid melaatsheid en dilemmas lugleegtes van pleidooie.
Slagoffer van die dood.
++Nikita++ 18/8/2013
Nadat ‘n blogleser, Azile, op hierdie link ‘n versoek gerig het in die kommentaarboksie, het ek ‘gehoor’ gegee. Sy het gevra vir ‘n gedig oor ‘Vigs’, in Afriaans. Wel, soos almal teen hierdie tyd weet – dat ek nie ‘n professionele digter is nie, en ek wou my ook nie laat afsit deur Amanda Lourens ‘n‘ doktor‘ – sien die link na die paragraaf. Ek die geskribbel maak vir jou sin. Dus, as jy iemand soos Amanda is – of kenner van Afrikaans – lees asseblief met ‘ander‘ ogies na hierdie ‘geskribbel’. Vir die doktors wil ek graag sê: Spandeer jul etenstye deur Opperman se Groot Verseboek en Verswêreld te lees. Ek persoonlik dink daar is ‘n paar ‘moderne‘ byvoegings in Verswêreld wat ek nie dink daar behoort te wees nie – my opinie. ‘n Ander vraag: Hoe word ‘n Eugene Marais prys toegeken aan ‘n digter wat sy taal meng, dan nog ook erg onsmaaklike Afrikaanse woorde in sy gedigte inwerk? Wat sou Marais daarvan gedink het? En, moenie na my kom met die verskoning van: dis modern. <sug, watter tipe beoordeelaars het ons in Afrikaans vandag? Red Afrikaans….iemand, asseblief>
Ook aan Amanda Lourens: Waarom, as die internet gedigte op ‘social media’ so erg vir jou is, waarom doen jy nie iets daaraan om Onderwysers beter opgelei te kry in die onderrig van hoe om gedigte te skryf! Ek was in ‘n baie goeie laer- en ho-erskool en sal met trots my eie kinders daarheen kon stuur, maar die gebrekkige leiding wat Onderwysers gehad het om kinders gedigte te laat skryf. Selfs met my eie opleiding as Onderwyser kan ek daarvan getuig. Toe, maak dit jou passie, Amanda! Nie om ander af te breek wat ‘probeer’ nie!
reading, reading, reading, reading reading, writing, writing, reading more reading, more writing and even more reading reading books, reading journals, reading bits, reading blobs reading reading reading reading writing writing writing writing and more, and more, more, more and more I can’t stop reading, writing and reading I’m going mad, I’m going crazy I love the reading, but not the writing Finally, I’m finished, finished, finished with my assignment, assignment, assignment off to hand, hand, hand it in! enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the music! I need to get back to normal enjoy the music! off to hand in my assignment I am finally finished I can stop myself now from reading I can stop myself now from writing I think I’m back to normal Back to my old self and ready to relax! Enjoy the music F is for… Friday!
@TarjeiJS Tweeted this: ‘Article of the dn.no announcing his new sponsorship deal with Nordic Semiconductor’
The view from Tromso, as tweeted by Svensen: ‘The view from my room is acceptable!’ – he is also tweeting about the Tromso Chess World Cup tournament
‘Millions flowing in for chess ace’
Magnus and the article as translated by ‘google-translate’ The article can be read in the Norwegian language from the link at the bottom of the entry. To all those little 10 year old boys always saying, ‘ I want to be a footballer’ – what about: ‘I want to be a Magnus Carlsen’ [hehe]
Norwegian sponsors will use the world’s best chess player opener with large customers, writing Todays Market.
On Saturday puts Magnus Carlsen heading to Chennai in India to prepare for the World Cup tournament pending against Viswanathan Anand in November.
On Monday techno now Nordic Semiconductor Carlsen fifth main, next to the law firm Simonsen, brokerage Arctic, newspaper VG house and software company Parallels.
Will he win the World Cup waiting nine million kroner in prize money. In addition, there are about six million in sponsorship revenue and miscellaneous other income.
Thankful After the DN understand the young chess player will stand to gain a gross turnover of between 15 and 20 million years.
The money goes through the company Magnus Chess, which since 2007 has had a total turnover of 27 million. The profit before tax amounts to 15 million dollars, and Carlsen had at the end of 2012, built up a solid equity of nearly 12 million.
‘ I am very grateful that I can live on something I think is so fun. Beyond that I’m not thinking so much about it’, says Magnus Carlsen about their financial chess moves.
It is time for the Chess World Cup 2013 – in Norway Please click here for the official site.
Photo and message from Europe-Echecs Twitter account See the official video to know who is taking part. My favourite this time? I think Etienne Bacrot.
Chess Players arriving at the university of Tromso for the opening ceremony – photo SPolgar [twitter]
Susan Polgar doing exactly what she says on these tweets
Susan interviews her ‘baby’ sister, Judit on 13/8/2013
NO Susan, he is NOT funny and insightful, read HERE why I don’t think he is and make sure you read the first 10 lines carefully. [hmf]
Tromso – image: Barents Observer
Lovely colourful houses in Tromso [image:getintotravel]
It was just me, playing around with Adobe Fireworks – the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ – I’m actually busy with my 5000-word assignment, therefore the ‘silence’ – but one needs a ‘break’, so it’s my excuse to do something else, other than reading and writing. My brain feels like a sieve.
Read here more about the ‘online rumor’ of the Pirates in the dungeons. On the link you will find a series of images taken over seven years about this chess ‘game’.
Royal game: The chess board believed to have been owned by King Charles I, which has been sold for a record breaking £600,000 at an auction.
An amber chess board taken by King Charles 1 to his execution has been sold for a record £600,000. The board was owned by the controversial King, who was such an enthusiast for chess he was engrossed in a game when a messenger told him he had been betrayed by the Scots to the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. The news sealed the royal’s fate and he was executed on January 30, 1649. It is known the King took with him two precious possessions to the scaffold where he was beheaded: a Bible and an amber games board, believed to be the one that has now sold for £601,250. Erik Bijzet, an expert in European sculpture at auctioneers Sotherby’s, said: ‘This board was made by Georg Schreiber who was known as the “King of the Gamesboards”. ‘He was an amber worker in Koeningsberg, the capital of Prussia, where amber washed up on the shores of the East Sea in small amounts.
Chess enthusiast: Charles, pictured with what is believed to be a chess piece around his neck, was an avid fan of the ‘King’s Game’, known to have been used to teach war strategy‘The board is dated 1607 and was given to either James I or Henry Frederick as Charles was only seven-years-old then. ‘When at the height of the Civil War a messenger arrived to inform Charles that he had been betrayed by the Scots he didn’t rise from his game of chess, even though his fate had effectively been sealed. ‘Charles took a Bible and a games board with him to the scaffold where he was beheaded.’ Following his death the items were passed on to his personal chaplain, Bishop William Juxon, who read Charles his last rites. The board then remained in his family until the 18th century before it was acquired by British peer Sir Robert Hesketh. It has now been sold by the Second Baron Hesketh’s Will Trust. The board was bought at auction in London by a private collector, following a dramatic bidding war, for £601,250, the highest amount ever paid for an amber games board. Mr Bijzet said: ‘It entered into the ownership of the Hesketh family and an inventory of their possessions is the earliest record that mentions that the board belonged to Charles.
‘Besides the provenance, this board is a tour-de-force of amber working, is of superb quality and was made by the maker of Royal chess sets. ‘We only know of four comparable boards, none of which have seemed to survive in good condition.’ The board, which measures 27ins by 13ins, opens into two halves, allowing it to be used for different games including chess, backgammon, draughts and Nine Men’s Morris, a strategy board game which emerged from the Roman Empire. The board would have been extremely sought after and expensive during the 17th century due to amber being found only in small quantities. Source: Follow THIS LINK for more images as well.
Since our topic is WW2 in school, I was looking for something for the children to do, which is more fun than the usual writing or ‘normal’ art. The idea of transferring WW2 images and newspaper clippings came to my mind and I immediately performed a search with the phrase: ‘how to transfer images to fabric‘ and voila! The first link was from the blog: ‘A beautiful mess‘, which was easy to follow and fun to do. As always, I was too curious and couldn’t wait for the results, though I thought my first try wasn’t too bad. [first image]. Immediately after the first try, I started the second, still very excited and inspired. You can see my second try, looking a bit more ‘faded’ than the first one. I quite like it, as it gives you the impression of a very old piece dated from the war, but my two clear words at the bottom don’t serve it any good. Also, I covered with mod podge, which gives the glossy look, also not really what I originally planned or will do again. So, third try next – the Queen with princess Margaret, broadcasting a message during WW2 to the children, plus some other children – stamp images mixed with news headline bits. This time I applied more of the liquidtex and waited patiently till the following morning. Well, I was impressed. You can see it on the display image, but it’s there temporally, as I’m waiting for the school’s order to go through, so my children can do their own. On the display you can also see their collages, which they put together with paint.net. Some used a single picture and applied the ‘effects’-tool to enhance their pictures. The transferring was really fun and I can’t wait for the children to do theirs, so I can have fun again! Click HERE for full instructions , step-by-step explained by the blog of ‘A beautiful mess’.
I had a free visit to Bletchley Park today. The reason: I’m taking our Y5-children on a trip to Bletchley Park this year, as the Imperial War Museum in London is busy undergoing renovations and will open only partially in July and I had to do my ‘pre-visit‘, which is free for teachers to complete the risk assessment before the trip. I’m overexcited about this trip as I wanted to take my class to Bletchley Park two years ago. I have blogged before about Bletchley Park on this link, if you have time to go and read about MI5, chess, the cold war and the link to Bletchley Park. There are lots to see at Bletchley Park, and I particularly enjoyed the Churchill collection today. Churchill used a little teddy as a place holder when he removed a book from his shelf and I’ve thought it was a ‘cool‘ idea. Bletchley Park is also undergoing a big change after campaigns to save this interesting and special place, though they need more money to save it for future generations. A few years ago, it was discovered that the buildings started crumbling down and few people started campaigning. Today, after my visit of two years ago, I could already see a major change and I can honestly recommend a visit to Bletchley Park [in Milton Keynes] if you are near enough to visit. The train station is about 5 min walk from it, which makes it even more accessible for non-drivers. Bletchley Park is where the WW2 Code breakers worked in secrecy and WW2 could have lasted about two more years, if it wasn’t for them! Just think how many more people could have died as well. Feel free to click on photos for a larger view.
New Delhi: Viswanathan Anand will defend his World Chess Championship title against world number one Magnus Carlsen in his home city as FIDE today chose Chennai as the venue for the prestigious match.
Even as it has been reported that Carlsen was not keen to play in Chennai and instead preferred Paris as the venue, the FIDE Presidential Board confirmed Chennai as the venue during a meeting at Baku, Azerbaijan today.
The match between the Indian and his Norwegian opponent will be played from November 6 to 26.
“The agreement was signed today at Baku by Bharat Singh, Hony Secretary All India Chess Federation and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,” a press released stated.
Anand had defeated Boris Gelfand of Israel to retain his title in 2012. Source: Zeenews.india
Farewell Farewell
A variation on the Cento – used Shakespeare-lines about Chess
There stands the castle! My day’s delight is past great shouts within and all cry
A horse! A horse! I have a horse and a wandering knight. My skipping king ambles up and down
A wandering knight? The knight is here … a mean knight
A striking song by Laurika. How many places and people can we add for a second song?
London Paris Rome Berlin Barcelona Washington Moscow Beijing Tokyo Jerusalem Jericho Waco Waco Bethlehem Srebrenica Sebokeng Sarajevo O Saigon Hiroshima Rubicon CHORUS: I can see a fiery, fiery glow Even as the sun is sinking low I can see a horseman on the run Oh my daughter, oh my son
Dunkirk Dover Normandy Frankfurt New York Lockerbie Amajuba Bellevue Chappaquiddick Waterloo
Bucharest St Petersburg Heilbron Hobhouse Gettysburg Belfast Budapest Baghdad Berchtesgaden Stalingrad
CHORUS
Carthage Dresden Babylon Sharpeville My Lai Boipatong Delville Wood El Alamein St Helena Mitchell’s Plain
Balaklava Austerlitz Belsen Buchenwald Auschwitz Nagasaki o Versailles Armageddon Thermopylae
CHORUS
REPEAT CHORUS: There’s another song that will be sung There’s another bell that must be rung There’s another city I’ve been told Where the streets are paved with gold
There’s another city I’ve been told Where the streets are paved with gold
Have you read The Hot Gates? The author of ‘Lord of the Flies‘ – which I had as a prescribed book at the age of 14 and found the story very upsetting at the time.
This painting is a great painting, read the explanation of Wikipedia. Click HERE to play through the chess games of Di Bona on the site of chessgames.com. Di Bona was called ‘the wandering knight’. Giovanni Leonardo di Bona or Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri (both given names can be seen also in the reversed order Leonardo Giovanni), known as Il Puttino (Italian Small Child) (1542–1587) was an early Italian chess master. Giovanni Leonardo was born in Cutro, Calabria. He studied law in Rome. In 1560, he lost a match to Ruy López in Rome. In 1566–1572, he travelled and played chess in Rome, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona. He had played many times against Paolo Boi in Italy and they were regarded as being equal in their chess strength. Giovanni Leonardo di Bona won the first known international master tournament in the history of chess in Madrid in 1575, therefore becoming the strongest chess master of the time. After their success at the Court of Spain, Leonardo and Paolo Boi, both travelled, although separately, to Lisbon, where they tested their chess skill against Il Moro, the eminent chess champion of King Don Sebastian, of Portugal. Again, they both succeeded, first Leonardo, soon followed by Paolo Boi, in defeating Il Moro. And again the King was generous with his rewards. After this triumph, Giovanni Leonardo di Bona, having been called the wandering knight (Il Cavaliere errante) by King Don Sebastian, left Portugal to return to Italy and settle in Naples where he became the chess master for the Prince of Bisignano.
Source: Wikipedia
This game on the following link,[where I played black] is a more recent game, which I played in 2011. I usually like Knights more than Bishops and in this game you can see why. I would like to call this Knight ‘the wandering Knight‘ [as well] I love my Pawns too, they can be very powerful pieces on the board. Click HERE to play through the game.
I’ve been looking at some of my games played a few years ago and just to post a game to go with these two games from chessgames, I’ve decided on this game HERE – for no particular reason. You can play through the game on the link. I played black.
End position of my game
One of my very old games, played in 2006- I was black and you can see my rating – not that I was really bothered to improve my rating, time to really think about moves, doesn’t exist in my life of full time teaching. [hehe] I liked how I was chasing my fellow countryman around on the board, whilst he was in a really strong position early on in the game.
A game played in 2005 – and I like how I used my bishops here. My opponent resigned on this point.
In this game – where I played black – I was lucky. My comments on this game: a very interesting game I’d played in a long time – well, that was in 2006. I like the checkmate in this game.
Click HERE to play through the chess games of Cheparinov on chessgames.com
Some of the players: David Navara, Anish Giri, Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, Svetoslav Mihajlov, Ivan Cheparinov, Claude Hoegener, Sebastian Mihajlov, Gawain Jones and Per Isaksson
The tournament are held in Harpa, Reykjavik´s spectacular new music hall on the harbour : 19th – 27th February 2013
The City of Reykjavík has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12½ points out of 13. The tournament was initially held every two years, but has since 2008 taken place every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s. Throughout its history the Reykjavik Open has featured many of the strongest chess players in the world at the time, including Mikhail Tal, Nona Gaprindashvili, David Bronstein, Vasili Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Friðrik Ólafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Jan Timman, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Hikaru Nakamura, Judit Polgar, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana and Hou Yifan. Official site: reykjavikopen.com
Games can be followed live HERE on livestream or on the Chessbomb site. Click HERE to view the chess results of the various rounds of the tournament and rankings/pairings on the site of chess-results.com. Round 1 – Anish Giri
Picture taken in Osterley Park. Sê nou die afgevalde blare waai dartellend en vul heimlik my blootgestelde verlange? Nikita 29 Sept 2008
Opdatering: 8/3/2013 – Ek lees so pas hierdie gedeelte van Barend Toerien en kon nie glo wat ek lees nie… jy sal verstaan as jy die inskrywing oor hom op my blog lees. Barend Toerien is ‘n klein neef van my – wat ek slegs onlangs ‘ontdek’ het!
++++
Barend J. Toerien
Uit: Momente (herfs)
XV Sê nou die koue maan ruk hom los en tuimel agter die trekganse aan?
Update: 2021
Doodgaan
Om dood te gaan is seker soos ‘n valskermsprongdie eerste keer; jy breek in koue sweet uit na gelangdie oomblik nader, sluit jou oë, laat los en val -!Die skerm gaan tog ope, jy was verniet zo bang.
Barend J. Toerien
Spleen
Ek dra die swartgal in my bloedstroom rond;daarom ontwaak ek traag en kom ek swaar orent. Hoe word mens aan die bitter wakkerlangesmaak wat klewe in jou mond gewend?
B.J. TOERIEN
Vinknessies
Eens het ek in my hande gehouvinkeiers, hul was hemelblou,en kaal kleintjies voor hul gesmyt word teendie wal probeer nog aan my vingers klou.- B.J.Toerien
Playing chess with Queen Victoria is Paul Kruger (1825-1904) a.k.a. Uncle Paul (Dutch: “Oom Paul”), President of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the face of Boer resistance against the British in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The general looking over Victoria’s shoulder could be Baden-Powell. Sad face, Queen Victoria ‘s – uhm…wonder why…?
Die Beiteltjie Ek kry ’n klein klein beiteltjie, ek tik hom en hy klink; toe slyp ek en ek slyp hom totdat hy klink en blink. Ek sit ’n klippie op ’n rots: – mens moet jou vergewis: ’n beitel moet kan klip breek as hy ’n beitel is – ek slaat hom met my beiteltjie en dié was sterk genoeg: daar spring die klippie stukkend so skoon soos langs ’n voeg: toe, onder my tien vingers bars die grys rots middeldeur en langs my voete voel ek die sagte aarde skeur, die donker naat loop deur my land en kloof hom wortel toe – só moet ’n beitel slaan wat beitel is, of hoé? Dan, met twee goue afgronde val die planeet aan twee en oor die kranse, kokend, verdwyn die vlak groen see …from the day I see the night far beyond opening up within a crack that from my chisel runs through to the stars en op die dag sien ek die nag daar anderkant gaan oop met ’n bars wat van my beitel af dwarsdeur die sterre loop Klik die link vir NP van Wyk Louwhuldeblyk-dokument.
Van Wyk Louw – one of the most distinguised Afrikaans poets– I agree with Breyten Breytenbach. ‘The chisel, a metaphor for the poetic word – splits a stone, then the rock under the stone, then the earth beneath the rock, then the poet’s country, then the planet, until…
…from the day I see the night
far beyond opening up
within a crack that from my chisel
runs through to the stars [Breytenbach]
Lees HIER ‘n breedvoerige verduidelik oor DieBeiteltjie op Oulitnet.
‘n Pragtige gedig – In die dokument verskyn heelwat feite en inligting oor van Wyk Louw. Ek het ook Cecile Cilliers se artikel raakgelees op die internet en kan met haar en van Wyk Louw saamstem met: ‘n Donker naat loop deur my land.
Verward deur die donker naat van ons geweld
2013-02-18 22:52
Cecile Cilliers
Die donker naat loop deur my land / en kloof hom wortel toe – Dít is die eerste twee versreëls van die vierde strofe van N.P. van Wyk Louw se “Die Beiteltjie”, waarskynlik een van die bekendste gedigte in die Afrikaanse letterkunde. Dit word vertel, of miskien het hy dit self in Rondom eie werk vertel, dat die gedig volledig een Kaapse oggend na hom gekom het. Hy was te voet op pad universiteit toe, toe die woorde plotseling in sy kop verskyn. Agter sy lessenaar het hy dit heel en in sy geheel neergeskryf.
Die eenvoud van die gedig ten spyt, laat hy hom nie maklik verklaar nie. Die beiteltjie dui glo op die woord en die mag van taal – meer as wat dit vir die swaard moontlik is, kan dit wêrelde verander. Maar die gevare wat taal inhou, bly nie uit nie.
Daardie versreël, die eerste reël van die rubriek, bly die hele week in my kop dreun: die donker naat loop deur my land…
Ek raak stram om te lag, staan verward, verneder en gedeprimeer deur die donker naat van geweld wat deur my land loop, en wat besig is om gesinne, families, gemeenskappe, uit mekaar te ruk. Is dít wat van ons geword het?
Amalie bel uit Amerika: Mamma, wat gaan aan? Op elke voorblad, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, USA TODAY, word die gewelddadigheid van Suid-Afrika uitgebasuin.
In 1994 nog die liefling van die wêreld, 20 jaar later opnuut die muishond. Natuurlik is daar ’n yslike hap leedvermaak. Net soos ons leedvermakerig vertel het van die bloeddorstige skietery in die VSA, van die verskrikking van die busverkragting in Indië.
Maar met of sonder die veroordelende woorde van die buitelandse verslaggewers – tot van Fidji het hulle glo gekom – het dit tyd geword dat ons lank en eerlik en ondersoekend na onsself en na ons gemeenskappe kyk. Sonder die gewone skindernuus. Want elkeen het ’n eiertjie te lê, ’n stuiwer in die armbeurs te gooi, of dit nou die dood an Anene of van Reeva is, ons práát daaroor. Ons praat ja, blý praat, maar wat dóén ons?
Hoeveel sulke berigte, hoeveel sulke stories kan ’n volk se psige verduur voordat dit gewoon aan die werklikheid onttrek? Of erger nog, mettertyd alles gewoond word, hoe grusaam ook al? Is ons dan nie bereid om verantwoordelikheid vir ons land te aanvaar nie?
Tydens die apartheidsjare is daar groepe gevorm – Vroue vir Vrede, Kontak, Black Sash, Vroue vir Geregtigheid – wat daadwerklik vir ’n nuwe, beter Suid-Afrika gewerk het. Moet dit nie maar weer gebeur nie? Kán dit weer gebeur?
Soms vrees ek geweld het in ons bloed kom sit, eie geword aan ons mense en ons land. En dit kloof hom wortel toe.
In die wit nag bid ek saam met Dawid: Laat my weer blydskap en vreugde belewe…
This poem is about the night mail train that delivered post in Scotland – it left London at night and travelled through all the small towns and villages in Scotland – at night. A service that stopped by Royal Mail a couple of years ago – not very long ago though! Night Mail by W H Auden
This is the night mail crossing the Border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner, the girl next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb: The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,
Snorting noisily as she passes Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she approaches, Stare from bushes at her blank-faced coaches.
Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course; They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes, But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.
Dawn freshens, Her climb is done. Down towards Glasgow she descends, Towards the steam tugs yelping down a glade of cranes Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen. All Scotland waits for her: In dark glens, beside pale-green lochs Men long for news.
Letters of thanks, letters from banks, Letters of joy from girl and boy, Receipted bills and invitations To inspect new stock or to visit relations, And applications for situations, And timid lovers’ declarations, And gossip, gossip from all the nations, News circumstantial, news financial, Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in, Letters with faces scrawled on the margin, Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts, Letters to Scotland from the South of France, Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands Written on paper of every hue, The pink, the violet, the white and the blue, The chatty, the catty, the boring, the adoring, The cold and official and the heart’s outpouring, Clever, stupid, short and long, The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.
Thousands are still asleep, Dreaming of terrifying monsters Or of friendly tea beside the band in Cranston’s or Crawford’s:
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh, Asleep in granite Aberdeen, They continue their dreams, But shall wake soon and hope for letters, And none will hear the postman’s knock Without a quickening of the heart, For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
Spoken by great men:"Give me 20 divisions of American soldiers and I will breach Europe. Give me 15 consisting of Englishmen and I will advance to the borders of Berlin. Give me two divisions of those marvellous fighting Boers and I will remove Germany from the face of the earth." - Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied Forces during WW2.
"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honour, glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight, the Russians have no choice. The Germans for their Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of Bitches fight for the hell of it." American General, George 'Guts and Glory' Patton.
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