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"
ACP Women Cup in the Land of the World Champions – Georgia
The ACP Women’s Cup starts tomorrow – 18th February 2012 – in Tbilisi. On the link – which will open in a new window – you can follow the games.
Tbilisi – on the map – very close to Azerbaijan, where my favourite Chess City – Baku is, which I would love to visit one day – especially the old city. If you remember my Baku-Chess entry, you will remember the beautiful pics of the old city too – where one of my favourite blogreaders is ‘hiding’ too. [hehe]
Tbilisi Schedule
Ana Zatonskih
Some of the players at the ACP Women Cup: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Tatiana Kosinteva, Ana Zatonskih and Antoaneta Stefanova – see more players on the given link.
Tbilisi – pic from the gallery I’ve just discovered on the official site!
If you go to the ‘gallery’ link on the official site, you will find more beautiful pictures of Tbilisi
Image: Wikimedia
I think Tbilisi will also be on my list of cities I would like to visit one day!
Rkinis Rigi – in Old Tbilisi – image: Wikimedia
Tbilisi – Church at night
According to Wikipedia: Tbilisi is the largest city in Georgia with a population of 1,152,500.
Results: ACP-Round 1
For more results, please click HERE . The link will open in a new window.
Alexandra Kosteniuk: The current Woman’s World Chess Champion – see her blog-link on my blog’s sidebar.
A nurse playing chess with a patient – WWI
Women at Chess in London London, June 24 – The fourth round of the International Women’s Chess Tournament, played in this city this evening, was finished with the following results:
Stevenson beat Thomas in a Giuoco Piano after twenty-nine moves. Gooding beat Muller-Hartung in a French defense after fifty-three moves. Bonnefin beat Hooke in a Ruy Lopez after forty-eight moves. Fagan beat Watson in a French defense after seventy-four moves. Finn beat Forbes-Sharpe in a two-knight defense after forty-three moves. Rudge beat Field in a Giuoco Piano after twenty-nine moves. Fox beat De La Vigne in an irregular opening after thirty-one moves.
Appended are the scores up to date: 1897
*Games left unfinished
The New York Times
Published June 25, 1897
Click HERE to read the news article in PDF-format. Links will open in a new window.
Giuoco Piano – Chess Opening – image: Wikipedia
I’m not familiar with this name as a chess opening, I’ve heard/read about many chess openings, but this one was new to me.
The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening characterized by the moves
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5
Instead of 3. … Bc5 it is possible for Black to play 3… Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 ( Two knights defence ) or 3. … Ne7 4.d4 d6 5. h3 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 exd4 ( Hungarian defence )
The Giuoco Piano (Italian: “quiet game”) is the oldest recorded opening. The Portuguese Damiano played it at the beginning of the 16th century and the Italian Greco played it at the beginning of the 17th century. The opening is also known as the Italian Game, although that term is sometimes used more generally to describe the position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. The Giuoco Piano was popular through the 19th century, but modern refinements in defensive play have led most chess masters towards openings like the Ruy Lopez that offer White greater chances for long term initiative.
White’s “Italian bishop” at c4 prevents Black from advancing in the center with …d5 and attacks the vulnerable f7 square. White plans to dominate the center with d2-d4 and to attack the Black king. Black aims to free his game by exchanging pieces and playing the pawn break …d5, or to hold his center pawn at e5.
Source: Wikipedia
Another champ…
MRS. HARRISON TRIUMPHS
February 27, 1938, Sunday
Defeats Miss Lesley in Women’s Title Chess Tourney. Mrs. Edna Harrison continued her winning streak in the preliminaries for the Hazel Allen championship trophy at the Marshall Chess Club yesterday, defeating Miss Dora Lesley in the seventh round. Mrs. Harrison now has scored 6 1/2 points.
Mar 5, 1986 – Lyudmila Rudenko, the first women’s world chess champion, has died at age 81, the official Soviet news agency Tass reported Tuesday. The news agency said she died Sunday in Leningrad. A native of the Ukraine, she won the first world chess competition for women in 1950, …
was a Soviet chess player and the second Women’s World Chess Champion from 1950 until 1953. Rudenko held the FIDE International Master and Woman International Master titles.
Born in Lubny in the Poltava region of Ukraine, in the Russian Empire, her father taught her to play chess at age 10 although at first she was more serious about swimming. After grammar school, she moved to Odessa and took a degree in economics. Rudenko became the Odessa swimming champion in the 400m breaststroke. Her professional career would be as an economic planner for the Soviet Union, and chess would remain a hobby.
She began playing tournament chess in 1925 after a move to Moscow. She then moved to Leningrad where she met and married scientist Lev Davidovich Goldstein; in 1931 they had a son. In Leningrad in 1929 she began training with chess master Peter Romanowski. She would not reach the peak of international women’s chess until she was about 40 years old.
Source: Wikipedia – Vera Menchik died during a German air raid in Kent.
Lasker and Women …
Among the women fond of chess of this country, mrs J W Showalter has long been considered the champion chess player. At present she is engaged in a little match with Lasker who has to concede to her the odds of a knight. Mrs Showalter has so far won two games, while her opponent has registered an equal number of wins.
On this Google-link you will find more links about the history of women in chess to follow up.
To explore some chess openings, click on this link from the site of chessgames. To enjoy your chess openings, I have three music files to share with you which you might want to listen while exploring some chess openings. Choose the music to open your chess dance floor and have a ball! The first song is a famous song – Zorba’s Dance. The second, a South African golden oldie – Helloh-A and Strauss – The Skaters Waltz. I will of course choose the music of Strauss to open my chess dance floor. On rainy days like today, Amazon can be sure of making their money out of me when it comes to music!
Image:chess.com
Zorba’s Dance by Mikis Theodorakis
from the CD: Memories from Greece – see the youtube-link for the dance.
It’s not Christmas yet! But maybe an early Christmas present for Alexandra with the World Women’s Chess Championship’s final starting this coming Sunday between Alexandra and 14 year-old Hou Yifan of China! Saturday 13 Sept is a free day. The finals start on Sunday…see schedule:
Please click HERE to play through the games of Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan’s games in round 5. The link will open in a new window. Please click here for the Official site that will open in a new separate window.
Schedule — all games start at 15.00 (GMT +3) Sunday 14 September Round 6, game 1, Yifan vs Kosteniuk–0-1
Monday 15 September Round 6, game 2, Kosteniuk vs Yifan–1/2
Tuesday 16 September Round 6, game 3, Yifan vs Kosteniuk–1/2
Wednesday 17 September Round 6, game 4, Kosteniuk vs Yifan–1/2
Thursday 18 September Tiebreaks/Closing Ceremony
So the Women’s World Chess Championship Final will be between 24 year-old Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and 14 year-old Hou Yifan of China (pictured).
Image: chess.com
Hou Yifan earned her place in the final the hard way by beating favourite Humpy Koneru of India in a blitz tie-break playoff.
Yifan won the first rapid game only to be pagged back by Koneru in the second. Yifan again took the lead by winning the first blitz game and this time Koneru failed to stage another comeback and was finally eliminated.
So it’s Russia versus China in a 4-game final for the World Chess Championship. In the red corner it’s GM Alexandra Kosteniuk – a former Women’s World Championship finalist from 7 years ago, she’s now practically a veteran compared to her opponent. In the errr…other red corner , a full 10 years younger, is Hou Yifan who has also qualified as a GM and is a remarkable chess phenomenon.
Saturday is a rest day, so the final starts on 14 Sept (Sunday) and finishes on 17 Sept (Wednesday). If the scores are level there will be tiebreaks on the 18 Sept to determine the winner.
So what story will be written? Is it to be the tale of Kosteniuk returning after many years to go one better and finally win the title she covets? Or is to be Hou Yifan, a world champion at just 14 years of age?
I am Alexandra Kosteniuk, an International Woman Grandmaster (WGM) –1998– and an International Master among men (IM) –2000–. During the FIDE Congress in Calvia –2004–I was awarded the title of Grandmaster (Men), thus I became 10th woman in the whole history of chess who got this title. I am the Women’s Vice Champion of the World, a title I got at the World Championships in Moscow in December 2001. I am the European Champion 2004 and Russian Champion 2005.
I was born in the Russian city of Perm on April 23, 1984. I have been living in Moscow since I was one year old. I graduated from the Russian State Academy of Physical Education in July 2003 and am now a certified professional chess trainer. It’s my dad, Konstantin Vladimirovich – who taught me to play chess when I was 5 years old and I am very grateful to him for that.
I improved in chess rapidly. My first great achievements came in Junior tournaments. In 1994 I became the European Champion among girls under the age of 10, and a month later shared first and second places at the World Championship under the age of 10. Later, I had the same major achievements in other age categories, for example I became World Champion of girls under 12, in 1996.
In 1997, I became a Woman International Master (WIM) at the age of 13, they say that I reached this mark slightly quicker than Maya Chiburdanidze, but I don’t give much significance to that. I scored all necessary WGM norms in February of 1998 that is at the age of 13 years and 10 months but the GrandMaster title was officially given to me in November 1998 at the 33rd World Olympiad in Kalmykia.
My current ELO rating as of July 1, 2005 is 2516, which makes me now the fifth strongest woman in the world. My official rating in the USCF Rating list of August 2005 is 2565 and so I am the highest rated woman on the USCF Rating List at this moment.
I also have many other interests but chess, I write poems (some of them are published in my book), and I like sport in all its forms. I also love to do fashion modelling, and I even played a part in a movie, which by far was the most fun thing I have ever done in my life.
My first book How I became Grandmaster at age 14 has been published already in three languages (Russian, English and Spanish). My dad and I have worked on it for almost two years, and I feel that its genre is very original. It is a manual in which I teach to play chess and at the same time I tell how I learned to play chess starting from the age of 5. The book contains many annotated games and pictures, including color ones. I hope that it won’t disappoint you. I think that many parents could purchase it as a present for their children. Perhaps not everyone who reads it will become a Grandmaster at the age of 14, but many readers will learn to play this most intelligent and most beautiful game in the world.
Alexandra Kosteniuk is one of the beauties in the world of Chess! In this video you can see the game she played against GM Zoltan Almasi. It’s a blitz. Fast chess, also known as, blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60-150 minutes (1-2½ hours) per player. Read HEREmore about blitz chess.
Please click HERE for the official site of Alexandra Kosteniuk. Alexandra Kosteniuk comments in detail her blitz game played in Moscow at the World Blitz Championships Qualifiers against one of the world’s top experts on the Berlin Wall defence.
Image…NYtimes
The model Carmen Kass in a five-minute blitz match against Viswanathan Anand in 2004.
Image:chessbase Read the review of this book here at the link at the bottom of this post….or click on the image to order the book.
Many of us, even those of us who don’t play either well or often, are familiar with chess. Some of us will be aware that some pieces are differently represented in different parts of the world, but I wonder how many of us are aware of the comparatively recent introduction of the queen?
Marilyn Yalom attempts three objectives in this interesting book. Firstly, and of most interest to me, she outlines a history of the game of chess and its likely spread across the world. Secondly, Dr Yalom explains the development of the piece currently known as the queen in most European chess play both in terms of its replacement of earlier pieces, and its emerging power. Finally, Dr Yalom makes a case for parallels between the emergence of the power of the chess queen and the rise of powerful female sovereigns in Europe.
While I am attracted to the notion of the role of the chess queen as a reflection of the rise of strong queens (such as Isabella of Castile), and a possible association with the cult of the Virgin Mary, this is of peripheral interest to me. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. Dr Yalom advises that the chess queen did not appear on the board until about 1000: some 200 years after the game had been introduced to southern Europe. Yet, by 1497, the queen had developed from a weak piece (moving one square at a time on the diagonal) to the more formidable force that she is today.
Dr Yalom presents a wealth of information in this book. Whether you share her conclusions, her enthusiasm for the subject combined with her capacity to present a variety of interesting data in a readable and accessible way will make this an enjoyable read.
Those who are serious chess players may find some of the facts interesting. Those of us interested in the evolution of institutions of power and who choose to explore parallels between games of strategy and political realities should also enjoy this book.
On this link- on my blog – you can follow her games of round 5 and round 6…against Yifan of China and see more pics of her too. https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/alexandra-kosteniuk-winner-of-nalchik/ To be honest, I haven’t known of the existence of Alexandra before, I think there are so many Chess Grandmasters that we don’t know of, but I want to blog her, as she is a female player! and I think more should be done to attract girls to play chess. Too many girls are still thinking chess is a boy’s game. Why do you think that is? If you go to my chess links, you will find a link saying… “Tube Chess”…follow that link for some good movies about her playing chess, but also about other chess players!
Alexandra Kosteniuk is the 10th woman in the world to have ever achieved the Grandmaster (men) title. She’s rated sixth woman in the world, and #1 woman in Russia. She has a FIDE ELO of 2515. Alexandra had a great success at the annual New Year Blitz tournament organized by the Deputy Economy Minister Arkady Dvorkovich in Moscow. After qualifying in the semifinals, she won convincingly the final with 8 points out of 9 ahead of GM Najer –2635–7, GM Dlugy –2518– 6.5, GM Alekseev –2716– 6, GM Bareev –2653– 4.5, GM Vasiukov –2492– 4, etc.
I took the road less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
No man ever steps in the same river twice-
Heraclitus
There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance. - Goethe
Churchill described his impressions of the Boer army when he first saw it, as a recently taken captive: 'What men they were, these Boers! I thought of them as I had seen them in the morning riding forward through the rain--thousands of independent riflemen, thinking for themselves, possessed of beautiful weapons, led with skill, living as they rode without commissariat or transport or ammunition column, moving like the wind, and supported by iron constitutions'.
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.-Abraham Lincoln
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.
A nation that forgets its past has no future - Winston Churchill
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child. Teach him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him. He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a leader. Follow him.
If Education is the key, school is the lock.
Education is either to calm the disturbed or disturb the calm.
He who opens a school door, closes a prison-Victor Hugo
Docendo discimus [by teaching we learn]
Gary Player: 'I am a South African, a nation which is the result of an African graft on European stock and which is the product of its instinct and ability to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the aliens'.
Above all shadows rides the sun- Tolkien
In Renaissance Europe chess was part of the education of the nobility and was proclaimed the “Royal Game.” In 1732 Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay, The Morals Of Chess, in which he said “The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualties of the mind useful in the course of human life are to be acquired and strengthened by it....”
'Rebranding the Afrikaner: World Cup watershed?' [CNN] A good link: read all of Jabulani74's comments on this link.
on THIS LINK you can read the truth - Sharpeville [or the lies, whichever way you want to see it-see the 2nd image too]
The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis. Dante Aligheri
Sow the wind - Reap the hurricane
"Mag aldus die Afrikaner stam, van wie die toekoms altyd vol hoop was, in die einde opgroei tot 'n kragtige boom, en ons dade toon dat ons waardig is om 'n plek in te neem in die ry van die volke..." Paul Kruger
Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass... It's about learning how to dance in the rain-Vivian Greene
No one can know or appreciate the Boer who does not know his past, for he is what his past has made him- Conan Doyle - Click HERE to read more by Doyle.
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.
South Africa. Other than Germany probably the most misunderstood White country in the world. A country that has now degenerated into anarchy.Let’s take an unbiased look at their noble history.[click for the link]
He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. Thomas Jefferson
Any dead thing can go with the stream; it takes something ALIVE to swim against it.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
T.S. Eliot Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different
The man who does not know who his great-grandfather was, naturally enough would not care what he was...the man who fears to disgrace his ancestor is certainly less likely to disgrace himself. Charles Major, When Knighthood was in Flower
Die grootheid van die mens kan gesien word in hoe hy teenoor sy minderheid optree.
Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.-Confucius
Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words. ~Robert G.Ingersoll
'And lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs; the habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of preserving in the search of resources.' -Benjamin Franklin, 'The Morals of Chess'
The hardest game to win is a won game --Emmanuel LaskerAvoid the crowd. Think independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece- Rumi It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. -Herman Melville While one should always study the method of a great artist, one should never imitate his manner. The manner of an artist is essentially individual, the method of an artist is absolutely universal. The first is personality, which no one should copy.
Did you know: Chess has the most extensive literature of any game, sport or pastime.
Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe –Indian proverb
Chess is the touchstone of the human intellect.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us--Thomas Huxley.
God created the world just like a knife and left it up to us to take it by the handle or the blade--C J Langenhoven
Jou persepsie hang waarskynlik alles af van hóé wyd jou opvatting van die poësie is-Joan Hambidge.
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.- Proverb. I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am.-Rene Descartes-
Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.- Paul Tillich
He who knows nothing, doubts nothing. Spanish proverb. Wisdom begins in wonder.- Socrates
Val eerder in my sop as in my rede--Langenhoven
Seek in the past everything that is good and clean and build thereon your future.
Vriende moet soos boeke wees, min, maar goed uitgesoek --Langenhoven
Friends should be like books, few, but hand-selected --Langenhoven
Goeie boeke en musiek verryk jou siel --Langenhoven
Good books and music enrich your soul --Langenhoven
Let those love now who never loved before. Let those who always loved now love the more. --Thomas Parnell
Love is like quicksand--the deeper you fall in, the harder it is to get out.
Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.
There is no failure except in no longer trying--Elbert Hubbard.
The secret of success is the ability to survive failure --Noel Coward.
You cannot step twice in the same river, for other waters are continually flowing in--Knowing not how to listen is knowing not how to speak--Heraclitus, Fragments. Vuil wasgoed is om te was!-- Langenhoven
'I think one move ahead - but it is always the best move'-Reti
Some part of a mistake is always correct. - Savielly Tartakover
Chess teaches you to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good and it trains you to think objectively when you're in trouble.--Stanley Kubrick A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
Leo Tolstoy
Love is like a knife, it can stab the heart or it can carve wonderful images into the soul that will last a lifetime.
A rising tide raises all boats! - JFKennedy
The artist creates in order to free himself, only to find himself again in the end-Irma Stern
And think not you can guide the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, shall guide your course.Kahlil Gibran
Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.Tarrasch
Chess is a beautiful mistress.Larsen
Chess is as much a mystery as women.Purdy
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.Benjamin Franklin
Love is like a Game of Chess: One False Move and You're Mated ~ Anonymous~
Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic.Mikhail Botvinnik
The pawns are the soul of chess.Philidor~~Play to win, if not, be an artist and draw~~
Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach. Aristotle
By learning we teach and by teaching we learn
Men Top Ten chess players
Women Top Ten chess players
Education is the apprenticeship of life -Robert Willmot
Chess Grandmaster -Vassily Ivanchuk says:
"And do you like playing chess against women?
I wouldn’t say I do particularly, but I also wouldn’t say I don’t like it. In general, I try not to make an exception out of games against women. In chess, female logic differs little from male logic, which you can see just by analysing games. After all, the strongest female players work with men in one way or another. I don’t know what the female style of play is. Or more precisely, I don’t see any difference when compared to male play. In everyday life I also don’t divide people into men and women. For me, personal qualities, mentality and upbringing are the important things when spending time with people."
Everyone is a genius.But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.― Benjamin Franklin
The real challenges on the way to become a master test your strength of character more than they test your chess skill!-Kevin Spraggett A people are what its women are. The woman is the conscience of her nation as well as the measure of its values. The moral life of a nation is controlled by the women and by the women can we measure the moral condition of the people. - Postma
Descartes: cogito ergo sum (ek dink, daarom is ek)
==The stupid neither forgive nor forget, the naive forgive and forget,the wise forgive but do not forget--Thomas Szasz
Wanneer jy groot dinge dink, groot dinge glo en groot dinge bid, gebeur groot dinge - N V Peale
Mense sonder boeke, is soos arende sonder vlerke-G.D.Labuschagne A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great. -Joshua Reynolds
~~~
Jou beeld is 'n verflenterde foto in 'n skewe, versplinterde raam en 'n sestal geskommelde letters spel jou tweelettergrepige naam Jou woorde is dor manuskripte vir die motte bewaar op die rak en ons dae 'n kralesnoer syfers op 'n outydse muuralmanak. - Koos du Plessis
Love means nothing in tennis, but it's everything in life.
Einstein:Chess grips its exponent, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom and independence of even the strongest character cannot remain unaffected.
Die woord 'skaak' kom van die Persiese woord 'sjah', wat koning beteken. Ook die woord 'mat' is Persies en beteken 'dood'.
~~~ 2010!
If chess is a science, it's a most inexact one. If chess is an art, it's too exacting to be seen as one. If chess is a sport, it's too esoteric. If chess is a game, it's too demanding to be just a game. If chess is a mistress, she's a demanding one. If chess is a passion, it's a rewarding one.
If chess is life, it's a sad one-Unknown Anand vs Topalov 21 April 2010
Book of the moment: In Search of South Africa by H V Morton
Don't Quit
by: Unknown Author
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit.
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out:
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far:
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
"Vrome vaa'dre,fier en groot!
Deur vervolging, ramp en nood
was hul leuse, tot die dood:
Vrijheid, Vrijheid!
Op dan broers, en druk hul spoor,
voorwaarts, broers, die Vierkleur voor
laat die veld ons krijgsroep hoor:
Vrijheid, Vrijheid!"
Jan FE Celliers
'He who knows not and knows not he knows not, is a fool, shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not, is simple, teach him. He who knows and knows not that he knows, is asleep, wake him. He who knows and knows that he knows, is a leader/wise - follow him.' -
Anand vs Topalov 21 April 2010
Chess Queen Alexandra
Posted in Chess, chess books, chess games, Chess Grandmasters, GM Almasi, GM Kosteniuk, Hungary, Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk comments on her chess game, Marilyn Yalom, Russia, Viswanathan Anand, tagged Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk images, Anand, Birth of the Chess Queen, Blitz Chess, Carmen Kass, Chess, Chess Blitz, chess books, chess games, Chess games of Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Grandmasters, GM Almasi, GM Kosteniuk, Grandmasters, Hungary, interactive chess games, Interactive chess games of Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk comments on her chess game, Marilyn Yalom, Russia, Viswanathan Anand, Zoltan Almasi on 16/05/2008| 12 Comments »
Click on the images for a larger view.
Please click HERE to play through chess games of Alexandra. The link will open in a new window.
10 January 2009: News article about Alexandra…the link will open in a new window.
http://www.miamiherald.com/277/story/847451.html
On this link on my blog, http://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/alexandra-kosteniuk-winner-of-nalchik/ you can follow the games played in the World Women’s Chess Championships in between Kosteniuk and Yifan. There’s also more pictures of her to see.
Alexandra Kosteniuk is one of the beauties in the world of Chess! In this video you can see the game she played against GM Zoltan Almasi. It’s a blitz. Fast chess, also known as, blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60-150 minutes (1-2½ hours) per player.
Read HERE more about blitz chess.
Please click HERE for the official site of Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Alexandra Kosteniuk comments in detail her blitz game played in Moscow at the World Blitz Championships Qualifiers against one of the world’s top experts on the Berlin Wall defence.
Image…NYtimes
The model Carmen Kass in a five-minute blitz match against Viswanathan Anand in 2004.
Image:chessbase
Read the review of this book here at the link at the bottom of this post….or click on the image to order the book.
Many of us, even those of us who don’t play either well or often, are familiar with chess. Some of us will be aware that some pieces are differently represented in different parts of the world, but I wonder how many of us are aware of the comparatively recent introduction of the queen?
Marilyn Yalom attempts three objectives in this interesting book. Firstly, and of most interest to me, she outlines a history of the game of chess and its likely spread across the world. Secondly, Dr Yalom explains the development of the piece currently known as the queen in most European chess play both in terms of its replacement of earlier pieces, and its emerging power. Finally, Dr Yalom makes a case for parallels between the emergence of the power of the chess queen and the rise of powerful female sovereigns in Europe.
While I am attracted to the notion of the role of the chess queen as a reflection of the rise of strong queens (such as Isabella of Castile), and a possible association with the cult of the Virgin Mary, this is of peripheral interest to me. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. Dr Yalom advises that the chess queen did not appear on the board until about 1000: some 200 years after the game had been introduced to southern Europe. Yet, by 1497, the queen had developed from a weak piece (moving one square at a time on the diagonal) to the more formidable force that she is today.
Dr Yalom presents a wealth of information in this book. Whether you share her conclusions, her enthusiasm for the subject combined with her capacity to present a variety of interesting data in a readable and accessible way will make this an enjoyable read.
Those who are serious chess players may find some of the facts interesting. Those of us interested in the evolution of institutions of power and who choose to explore parallels between games of strategy and political realities should also enjoy this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060090650/ref=cm_rdp_product
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