Wine Woman and…Chess

Image: New York Times
Image here too: http://wyn.cc/1fi7e

images from the movie: The Thomas Crown Affair

Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen

We all know that alcohol inhibits the brain function under normal circumstances. For some people, wine adds some kind of majesty or splendor to a function -or even aesthetic value –  for some chess players too – to their game. I wonder what was added to Faye Dunaway’s game vs Steve McQueen? In the wine and chess scene, Faye’s Queen traps Steve McQueen’s King, and he says, ‘Let’s play something else,’ … hmm…think the wine was too much for him – or was it maybe the chess…[hehe] or was it more Faye’s clever ‘tricks’ to get him distracted from the game. Hmmm… some tips I might be thinking of next time – hehe…   of course we know Steve McQueen  had something else on his mind! Click HERE to view the clip of: The Thomas Crown Affair: – the wine and chess scene with Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen.

On the next  link, a chess-friend , blog-friend and  Sommelier ,- one who knows his onions– ‘Boer’, who is in South Korea, recently blogged about the Chilean vs South African wines – an Afrikaans entry – unfortunately. [Google might help a little bit with the translation.]  He was then informed about a few wines – which had been given as pressies –  I would like him to comment upon. I’m not a huge wine-lover, but do like a glas of sweet red wine from time to time -that is about 1 glass per month – or so. Bad, I know – some of you might say…hehe…but promise to have at least 2 glasses, if I have a special meal with you! [hehe] If you look at some chess-gifts, they even include some wine for the wine-lover! This is definitely not for the professional chess player, I guess. Ok, now the photos for our Sommelier in South Korea.

image: flower-delivery-uk.co.uk

White Chardonnay [2009]- Chile

Red Frontera -[2011] Chile

French and Italian wines – click image for a very large view

Domain Cauvard – Volnay [2000]

La Chasse: Shiraz

South Australian – Jacob’s Creek: Shiraz

Some words about wine: Plato said: ‘There is nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the gods to man.’  Thomas Jefferson: ‘good wine is a necessity of life for me.’

‘Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk about them, and Champagne makes you do them.’ Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.  Click this link for more words on wine – a PDF document.

This poem originally by Rumi caught my attention:
I Am and I Am Not

I’m drenched
in the flood
which has yet to come

I’m tied up
in the prison
which has yet to exist

Not having played
the game of chess
I’m already the checkmate

Not having tasted
a single cup of your wine
I’m already drunk

Not having entered
the battlefield
I’m already wounded and slain

I no longer
know the difference
between image and reality

Like the shadow
I am
And
I am not

From: Love Poems of Rumi – Deepak Chopra
Translated by: Fereydoun Kia
Edited: Dr Deepak Chopra
Republished with permission of: Chopra centre
Click HERE for the poem source-link.

This image is from chessgames.com. It must be  some sort of good position, but to get my pawns lined up like this, I will have to take a few  ‘reds’ to be this good. I’ve never had 4 of my pawns in a line like this. I can recall two pawns, but 4…pass me the Red please! Click this link to read about double pawns.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncle_sparkles/6233864275/
Enjoy the clip: Wine, Woman and Song – by Strauss

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Why do the movies love chess?

 I think chess is a game most people can play. If you can’t play it, it’s very easy to learn the basics. Well, the basics are the pieces, names and how they move. Also, make sure you know whenever you play chess, that there’s always a white square on your right hand side! Otherwise, your board is set up wrongly! And, the white pieces go on the rows marked 1 and 2, black on 7 and 8. In some movies, you will find the board set up wrongly and even the Queen not on the colour she should be! White Queen goes to the white square …. so the Queen goes to “her” colour. I’ve found an interesting article why they – directors – like chess in the movies! So, have you got any plans to be an actor? Then…learn to play chess…or at least know the basics…. lol!
Click HERE to play through the game from the movie: From Russia with love!

By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine

The late Ingmar Bergman’s film the Seventh Seal helped cement his reputation as a cerebral director, and might explain why chess is such an enduring theme for film makers.

In the Seventh Seal a Swedish knight returns from the crusades to find his home country ravaged by tragedy and is soon locked in a game of chess with death.

Without giving much away, it’s a fairly intense game.

Bergman’s arthouse favourite is perhaps the most notorious example of chess on celluloid, but there are hundreds and hundreds of others. From the brainiest to the schlockiest, one of the movie world’s favourite devices is chess.

And among the chess-playing fraternity there’s a whole subculture of “chess in the movies” discussion, with a number of dedicated websites, and Bob Basalla’s book Chess in the Movies, providing exhaustive lists stretching up to 2,000 titles.

Perhaps the second best known chess scene is in the Thomas Crown Affair, where Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway enjoy a romantically-charged game.

Satyajit Ray’s the Chess Players is another arthouse classic, while 2000’s Luzhin Defence had a grandmaster as its central character.

But for many chess aficionados, the best example of the game has to be in the second James Bond film, From Russia With Love, where the Spectre agent Kronsteen ruthlessly beats the Canadian master McAdams
Sometimes chess is in a movie because a star or director is a player. Humphrey Bogart was reputed to be at the top end of amateur players, and suggested a chess scene for Casablanca. And Stanley Kubrick was so taken with chess that it features in The Killing, Lolita and 2001 and alluded to the game in Paths of Glory.

“The best scenes are where there is some tension between the protagonists. Humphrey Bogart has a special place in my affections because he did love chess. The board was definitely the right way round in Casablanca,” Pein adds.

The chess authorities have tried to capitalise on the movies to recruit new players, such as when the game was heavily featured in a Harry Potter movie.

And the fans like most the movies – such as From Russia With Love – that at least attempt to use a real game. Blade Runner features a game based on Anderssen against Kieseritzky in London in 1851, known to some as the Immortal Game, and 1925’s Chess Fever which featured Cuban world champion Jose Raul Capablanca playing a champion.

Read more HERE about chess in movies.

Click HERE to see how the pieces move and if you don’t know these little funny men on the pic here, you can click
HERE to read about the Lewis Chessmen!

Another fantastic link HERE about Chess in movies.

If you click HERE you can see a list of more than 1700 movies where a chess scene can be found!

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Flying Pickets – Only You

Boer-in-Ballingskap het my op die skaakwebsite….gese van die liedjie….en hy is een van my gunstelinge…ek moes hom net gou blog! ………..ja ons twee speel nou deesdae gereeld skaak…en hy het my vandag gewen! -ek het hom die ander gewen…maar ek dink hy steek bietjie weg…hy gaan seker nou sy ware kleure begin toon!!! Hy het selfs iemand van Finland gewen…dit wys jou nou….hy het net gemaak of hy lanklaas gespeel het!!

And this one!?

And…what about this video!

Kalidasa:
Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence.
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But To-day well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!

I’d read a speech of a Director General of the Department of Internal Affairs in SA one day…and this was part of his speech!

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

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