What's In the Water in Bulgaria?

Well, I needed a good laugh after working my butt off today and I got it tonight reading this article:

From Novinite.com
Mayor Hijacks Bulgaria's Top Archaeology Treasure
Archaeology | October 9, 2010, Saturday



Photo by BGNES - the Treasure. What is that round board on the right? Is it a game?

 A real war is on the way between the Mayor of Bulgaria's Plovdiv Slavcho Atanasov and the central government for the rights on the country's most impressive archaeological gold treasure from Ancient Thrace.

On Friday, under strict security measures, the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure arrived to be placed on display in the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum.

"That's it, now that it is in, we are not letting it go. We will guard it with human chains," vowed Atanasov who claims that the treasure found in the town of Panagyurishte, which is technically in the Plovdiv District, belongs to the Plovdiv Museum, and not to the National History Museum in Sofia.

Bozhidar Dimitrov, Bulgaria's current Diaspora Minister and former head of the National History Museum, has slammed the agreement between the national museum and the museum in Plovdiv, under which the people of Plovdiv should be able to enjoy the treasure for 2 months.

"I would never give the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure to a regional museum. It is Bulgaria's greatest asset as far as its cultural heritage is concerned," Dimitrov said.

The agreement, however, has been approved by Bulgaria's Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov, who is in charge of the museums.

"Who is the Minister of Culture – Bozhidar Dimitrov or I?" Rashidov has told the media, who also said that in two months the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure is going to be put on display in the USA.

Yet, Plovdiv Mayor Atanasov has sworn to never let the original treasure go out of Plovdiv, and offered to give the National History Museum its replicas that are kept in Plovdiv instead.

"I will refer Atanasov to the Prosecutor's Office if he hijacks the treasure," Culture Minister Rashidov declared on Saturday.

"He can refer me to whoever he wishes. I am protecting Plovdiv's interests. We have no right to prevent the treasure from going on displays abroad. But when it is in Bulgaria, it should be in Plovdiv," Atanasov told the Cross news agency.

He said the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure is formally part of the inventory of the Plovdiv Museum, and that the Plovdiv Museum's claims on it are further boosted by the fact that it has been receiving allowances from the state revenues from the treasure's displays abroad.

"The gold treasure was seized from Plovdiv in 1974 with the argument that our museum did not have sufficient security. Well, now with the improvements of the museum we have better security than the National History Museum in Sofia," the mayor said.

The treasure has not been shown in Plovdiv in 36 years during which it toured the world going as far away as Japan.

On December 8, 2009, Bulgaria marked 60 years since the discovery of its most famous archaeological treasure from Ancient Thrace – the so called Panagyurishte Gold Treasure.

The Panagyurishte Treasure was found on December 8, 1949, by three brothers – Pavel, Petko and Michail Deikovi, who worked together at the region of "Merul" tile factory near the town of Panagyurishte, Bulgaria.

It consists of a phial, an amphora and seven rhytons with total weight of 6.164 kg of 23-karat gold. All of the objects are richly and skilfully decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology, customs and life.

It is dated to the 4th-3rd centuries BC, and is thought to have been used as a royal ceremonial set by the Thracian king Seuthes III.

Plovdiv Mayor Slavcho Atanasov is from the nationalist party VMRO but was elected in 2007 largely with thanks to the backing of the now ruling center-right party GERB. Over the past few months he has been at odds with Prime Minister Borisov and the government over the depositing of household waste from the capital Sofia to the Tsalapitsa landfill near Plovdiv.

If You're In Mystic, New York...

Where, exactly, is Mystic, New York? Anyway, it sounds like a cool place to grab a cup'a and play a game of chess, and maybe a bite of the Goddess (*ouch! You ***) - if you dare!

Quick Bite | Mystic
Coffee, Tea and a Goddess
By CHRISTOPHER BROOKS
Published: October 8, 2010

[Excerpted] The teapot silhouette on a peach-colored inset just outside Bartleby’s Cafe seems incongruous for a place that prides itself on freshly roasted, hand-ground coffee. Yet Bartleby’s, which opened in 1999, is as much a fine teahouse as it is a coffee shop.

Light meals are also offered at Bartleby’s. Sandwiches (from $3.75 to $9, including a bag of chips) are served on focaccia and rye, and as wraps, and range from classics like grilled cheese and B.L.T. to the Goddess, a feta, tahini and veggie burger wrap.

Bartleby’s yellow and white walls showcase prints and paintings by local artists, with the selection changing monthly. Patrons are further enticed to linger by the fair selection of newspapers scattered among the many two-seat Formica-topped tables, a number of novels in the bookshelves by the windows, and a stack of games (Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Easy Money, mancala, chess) under the creamer and sugar stand. Free Wi-Fi access is also provided.

Bartleby’s Cafe, 46 West Main Street, Mystic; (860) 245-0017 or bartlebysmystic.com. Open Monday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

National G/60 and G/30 Chess Championships

G/60 just means a player has to finish her game within 60 minutes - done!  Total game time is 2 hours - or less, if you're a pazter like yours truly and won't need an entire hour to lose.  G/30 means a player must finish her game in 30 minutes - done!  Total game time is 1 hour.  So, while the other player is thinking, you're also thinking (at least, you'd better be) on her time about how you're going to move 12 moves from when she hits the clock and your time starts.  Oy! 

It's not rapid chess, it's certainly not blitz, but it's damn fast nonetheless to folks who are used to playing with no clock at all (like yours truly). 

The North American Chess Association is hosting the Championships again this year.  You can find all of the details here. 

Saturday October 23, 2010.

US G/60 National Chess Championships.

Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900.

$4,000 Guaranteed. Prizes – in 3 sections

Open: $500-375-250; Top 2299-2200, U2199-2000, 1900-1899 - $150 each;

Reserve Section (U1800): $450-325-200; Top 1699-1600, 1599-1500,1499-1400 - $125 each;

Booster (U1400): $400-275-150; Top 1399-1300, 1299-1200, 1199-1000 - $100 each.

Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com

EF: $60 by 6pm 10/22, $80 onsite; $100 Combined EF with US G/30 by 6pm 10/22, $160 Combined EF with US G/30 onsite. Play Up - $10 more. $50 Re-entry (per event).
No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only).
GM/IM/WGM/WIM/FM/WFM free entry with nothing deducted from winnings. Cannot withdraw. Must play all rounds.
Onsite Registration: 8:30-9:30am Rds: 10am-12:30pm-3pm-5:30pm.
Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.
Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com
Questions via email only: sevan@nachess.org.
No smoking.
Boards, sets, clocks provided. Tournament provided equipment must be used. No exceptions. USCF membership required.

Sunday October 24, 2010.

US G/30 National Chess Championships.

Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900.

$4,000 Guaranteed. Prizes – in 3 sections

Open: $500-375-250; Top 2299-2200, U2199-2000, 1900-1899 - $150 each;

Reserve Section (U1800): $450-325-200; Top 1699-1600, 1599-1500,1499-1400 - $125 each;

Booster (U1400): $400-275-150; Top 1399-1300, 1299-1200, 1199-1000 - $100 each.

Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com

EF: $60 by 6pm 10/22, $80 onsite; $100 Combined EF with US G/60 by 6pm 10/22, $160 Combined EF with US G/60 onsite. Play Up - $10 more. $50 Re-entry (per event).
No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only).
GM/IM/WGM/WIM/FM/WFM free entry with nothing deducted from winnings. Cannot withdraw. Must play all rounds.
Onsite Registration: 8:30-9:30am Rds: 10am-11:30am-1pm-2:30pm-4pm.
Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.
Register online at:   http://usg60g30.eventbrite.com
Questions via email only: sevan@nachess.org.
No smoking.
Boards, sets, clocks provided. Tournament provided equipment must be used. No exceptions.  USCF membership required.

New Chess Center Opens in Skokie, Illinois

Today is National Chess Day. Unfortunately, it didn't get much publicity, but hopefully that will change as time goes by :)

From The Chicago Tribune
Chess center makes opening moves in Skokie
Game of kings offers something for everyone, from kindergartners to grandmasters
By Lisa Black, Tribune reporter
6:55 p.m. CDT, October 9, 2010

GM Mesgen Amanov (in black, on the left). Why can't GMs
who look like this play in my neighborhood???

The grandmaster passed quietly from one chessboard to the next, nearly 20 in all, spending less than five seconds to face each player and make his move. Observers spoke in hushed tones as Mesgen Amanov took on all comers all at once during a "simul" — or simultaneous exhibition — at the newly opened North Shore Chess Center in Skokie.

While Saturday's summery weather beckoned others outdoors, these players, from schoolchildren to senior citizens, were prepared to concentrate on their game for hours at the center's grand opening, timed to coincide with National Chess Day. While chess clubs have organized throughout the Chicago area, there are few facilities like the one in Skokie dedicated solely to the board game, said Sevan Muradian, the center's founder and president of the North American Chess Association.

"It's a great mind sport," Muradian said. "There is something for everyone."

After Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen participated in a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, entire families arrived to participate in Saturday's event at the center, located at 5500 W. Touhy Ave., Suite A.

Jonathan Hrach, 12, a 7th-grader from Highland Park, regularly competes in tournaments and ranks within the top 15 nationally among his age group, his father, Oskar Hrach, said.

"You get to use your head a lot," Jonathan said. Being good at math helps too, because "you calculate the moves and variations and openings."

Minutes later, he was among a steadily growing group of players ready to take on the grandmaster behind boards lined up along two narrow tables. Each waited for Amanov to appear before them before moving a chess piece and watching his response. They then scribbled the moves down in a notepad to examine later.

Amanov, 24, travels the world playing chess, having earned the esteemed "grandmaster" title three years ago. He lives in Northbrook but hails from Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic, where he started playing the game at age 5, he said.

He coaches students, speaks on chess and plays professionally. Earlier last week, he returned from the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

He encourages children to play because "it develops the brain. You think fast and make very good decisions. You have to be strong."

Shiva Maharaj, a coach for Chicago Chess Kids, emphasized that the skills needed for the game — concentration, patience and problem-solving — can be incorporated into every child's education and applied to daily life.

"You teach them to reflect," he said. "All of life is the experience of reflection, really. When you make mistakes, you learn from them."

The game has traditionally attracted more male than female players. But that is changing, Muradian said. In January, an all-girls chess tournament for kindergartners through 12th-graders is scheduled at Niles North High School, according to the Illinois Chess Association.

Muradian, an information technologist, foresees new computer software applications that will make the game easier and more fun for the youngest players, including his 3-year-old daughter.

"This is not just for the grandmasters," he said. "It's a self-improvement type of activity."

For more information, go to nachess.org/

1,000 Year Old Graveyard (?) Discovered in Siberian Region

Archeologists discover ancient tombs in Siberia
Marina Domnitskaya Oct 6, 2010 16:58 Moscow Time

Archeology. Photo: EPA
Siberian archeologists have discovered an ancient tomb belonging to unknown people in the Krasnoyarsk region where the construction of the Boguchanskaya hydropower station is now underway. They made the discovery while they were studying the territory that will come under the reservoir.

This unknown group of people lived along the River Angara about one thousand years ago, before the arrival of the Tungus, the ancestors of the present Evenks. All 31 graves of the medieval cemetery were dug according to a single ritual. The body was cremated and the remains were buried. Archeologists discovered weapons, belts, various jewellery, pots for food and tools. Several graves belonged to distinguished people, and over a hundred items, which were buried with their remains, were discovered.

The overall number of items discovered exceeds 10 thousand, says the head of a group of searchers Pavel Mandryka, who head the archeology and ethnography laboratory of the Siberian Federal University.

“The significance of the discovery is that this is a complex of graves rather than individual graves that were discovered earlier,” says Pavel Mandryka. “This is an entire cemetery, either clan or patrimonial. It shows how cultural ties and contacts changed,” Pavel Mandryka said.

Archeologist will determine who those people were only after studying the materials thoroughly. However, one thing is clear. The local people had close contacts with other peoples in the Urals and the Kyrgyz.

The expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been doing excavations at the site in the past three years. This year, over one thousand archeologists studied three cultural layers belong to the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Middle Age. The artifacts discovered will be taken to Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk. They will be stored in a special warehouse.

Scientists plan to end their research early next year. This will help identifying the ancient people who lived in the Krasnoyarsk region and disclose another secret in Siberia.

Pristine Yup'ik Finds in Southwestern Alaska Exposed by Climate Warming

Archaeologists in Alaska are doing "triage," trying to save what they can of artifacts of cultures (Yup'ik, Aleut, etc.) that are rapidly being exposed as the tundra melts and the water of the Bering Sea rises, washing away countless artifacts every day.

Southwest Alaska dig gives scientists rare window into Yup'ik culture
Published on October 7th, 2010
By ALEX DEMARBAN

What's being called the first large-scale excavation in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has yielded a treasure trove of ancient Eskimo objects, and sparked a race against global warming along the eroding Bering Sea coast.

"In the time I'm giving this talk hundreds of artifacts are washing out to sea all over the delta region," said Rick Knecht, a longtime Alaska archaeologist now employed by the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

At the 700-year-old site near the village of Quinhagak -- called Nunalleq or Yup'ik for "old village site" -- workers have discovered dozens of sod homes just under the tundra.

They've recovered thousands of objects that had long been locked in ice. The list includes "miraculously preserved" bentwood bowls, knives with handles, whole clay pots, and carved figures, or "dolls," some with expressive faces caught in a smile or frown.

Sometimes, they pulled items from puddles of melted permafrost.

"It was melting as fast as we dug," Knecht said.

The items are placed in a waxy chemical immediately to protect them because they can crumble in minutes if they dry out.

The find includes what my have been a men's house, or qasgiq, a school where boys learned survival skills from men. Wood shavings lined the floor, perhaps dropped from carving lessons, a common guy activity.

"Boy toys" littered the large house -- model kayaks of wood, slate arrow blades still attached to shafts, harpoon points.

The women's tools, such as moon-shaped ulu knives for cutting through fish and bone-needles for sewing, were found elsewhere.

The excavators, including villagers and college students who raised money to make the trip, feel like they're up against global warming.

With the sea melting the coast and protective ice from artifacts, Quinhagak's village corporation, Qanirtuuq, with help from the Alaska Marine Grant Sea Advisory Program, called on Knecht for help. Kanektok River Adventures, a subsidiary of the corporation, also supported the project.

Knecht, known for helping build Native museums in Kodiak and Unalaska, said he and others found the buried village by beachcombing for prehistoric artifacts in 2009 and following the trail of objects.

That was the first day. Amazing discoveries came quickly, he said.

The site, two miles south of Quinhagak and 450 miles west of Anchorage, isn't the only one in danger of vanishing from the delta.

"These layers in the ground that are pages in your history book are being torn out by this sea level rise," Knecht told a room of villagers from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. More than 200 villagers gathered this week for the annual convention of the Association of Village Council Presidents, which provides social services in the region.

The vast delta, with more than 50 communities scattered along the sea and rivers, is one of the world's largest areas unexplored by archaeologists, he said.

The Yup'ik artifacts known to man were collected recently, within 150 years, often by explorers gathering items for museum archives, Knecht said.

Nunalleq is already providing clues into Yup'ik pre-history and the broader Eskimo culture that includes Aleuts and Inupiat, such as where they originated. More will be discovered.

"We need to know how deeply rooted this culture is," Knecht said.

An analysis of hair strands -- apparently the remains of haircuts in the possible men's house -- showed that people ate caribou and salmon year-round.

"They had a steady supply, from drying and storing," he said.

Leadership in the village of Quinhagak agreed today to let Knecht do DNA analyses of the hair, which might tell if the piles of locks came only from males. If so, it could be a good sampling of the village's male population.

Teams of diggers also found many big animal shoulder bones that may have been used as snow shovels. Woven reed mats were found in house walls, helping keep out the sod. What Knect called "wooden tally sticks" probably kept scores in games.

One treasure included a small ivory carving of a head that may have been lashed to a kayak or some other object, judging from a series of holes in the back. The face contains a smaller face below it, the inua or yua, the Eskimo motif representing the spirit of all things, Knecht said.

There were signs the residents had contact with other cultures, including polished coal beads that may have followed trade routes from the Gulf of Alaska, and calcite lip plugs, or labrets, found in the Aleutian Chain.

The items are being analyzed at labs in Scotland, but they belong to the Yup'ik people, he said. They will return to Quinhagak, a village of 700.

AVCP hopes to build a repository and a museum to store artifacts in Bethel, said Myron Naneng, president.

The repository will give young people the chance to see the richness of their culture.

"By having a repository, you'll be in control of your own cultural heritage. That's a basic human right that you need to have," Knecht said.

Other villages aware of sites that may be disappearing should contact Knecht or Steve Street, AVCP archaeologist, at (907) 543-7355. Knecht's email address is r.knecht@abdn.ac.uk.

The archaeologists are working on a plan to "triage the sites," Knecht said. That includes training villagers as local archaeologists.

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XII!

Next Saturday, October 16, 2010.

SITE: Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport Hotel—6401 S. 13th Street—414-764-5300
I94 to College Avenue East exit, College to 13th (one block), turn right on 13th to hotel (two blocks on right)
Mention Southwest Chess Club for discounted room rates by September 16

Information and registration form.   Four rounds, G/60:  10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m. Two section Swiss, Open and Reserve (U1600).

ENTRY FEE: $35 – Open; $25 – Reserve

(both sections $5 more after October 13, 2010)

Comp Entry Fee for USCF 2200+: Entry fee subtracted from any prizes won

Prizes:

OPEN      RESERVE

1st—$325* 1st—$100

2nd—$175* 2nd—$75

A—$100 D—$50

B & Below—$75 E & Below—$40

* guaranteed

Goddesschess Prizes for Female Players in the Open Section:

W 150 ELO or higher = $30

D 150 ELO or higher = $15

W 100 ELO or higher = $20

D 100 ELO or higher = $10

W = $10

D = $5

Goddesschess Prizes for Female Players in Reserve Section:

W 150 ELO or higher = $15

D 150 ELO or higher = $7.50

W 100 ELO or higher = $10

D 100 ELO or higher = $5

W = $5

D = $2.50

My chessplaying friend and founder of Computer Labs 4 Kids, Shira Evans, with a rating over 1700, will be playing in the Open Section. I will be playing in the Reserve Section with - UNRATED - after my name.  LOL!

Shira is very familiar with tournament play although she hasn't played in any OTB tournaments in recent years.  Me - not at all.  I've never played a game with a clock.  I will most likely be playing against people much younger than I am who are trained in chess openings, middle game and even end game technique.  I expect it won't take me an hour on my clock to lose each game, but my goal is to have one draw.  Ambitious!  I will consider that a triumph!  Maybe there will be a two year old I can fool with a Scholar's Mate - if I can remember the moves....

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XII!

I am absolutely, totally, out of my frigging mind.

I am - at least at this moment - going to play in the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XII.  I have friends, a couple, who will be visiting me over the weekend of the HCCC XII and suggested to them, somewhat off the cuff, that we all play in the tournament.  Never dreamed in a million years they might actually go for it.  Eek!

Guess what - THEY WANT TO.  What is that ancient saying about being hoisted by one's own petard?  OHMYGODDESS!

My first - and probably last - ever - official chess tournament.  Hmmm, unless I decide to play in the 2011 City of Montreal Chess Championships...  Ach!  What am I writing? 

Stay tuned...

Significant Neolithic Tomb Uncovered in Orkney!

Like - wow!

Neolithic tomb found in garden 'extremely significant'
Date: 02 October 2010
By CLAIRE SMTIH

WHEN Hamish Mowatt decided to investigate a mysterious mound as he tidied an Orkney garden, he had little idea he would uncover a hoard of bodies that had lain untouched for around 5,000 years.

Archeologists believe the tomb he discovered under a boulder outside a bistro in South Ronaldsay could lead to new insights into how our neolithic ancestors lived and died.

But they could face a race against time as water washing in and out of the newly uncovered tomb could wash away its contents and dissolve any pottery and human remains inside.

Rest of article.

More 9 Queens: Special Philadelphia, PA Event for National Chess Day!

Posted at 9 Queens on October 5, 2010 - I just saw it, sorry for the late notice:

9 Queens & ASAP Debut Philly Class on October 9th, National Chess Day

Posted by jshahade on October 5th, 2010

For the third year in a row, 9 Queens has teamed up with ASAP (After School Activities Partnership) in Philadelphia to host all-female chess classes. This year’s instructors will include 9 Queens co-founder WGM Jennifer Shahade, WIM Alisa Melekhina and Masterminds Coach Leteef Street.

The first session will be held on Saturday, October 9th, 2010 (also National Chess Day!) at the Parkway Central Library Branch (1901 Vine Street) from 2 PM to 4 PM. It will feature a Jeopardy game to test beginning and intermediate players’ chess skills.

Contact Windsor Jordan at wjordan@phillyasap.org or 215-545-2727 (ext 18) if you are interested in attending. Also mark your calender for the second session on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

9 Queens Action October 9, 2010 - Tucson, Arizona

National Chess Day in the United States is October 9, 2010.  Please support 9 Queens and its programs by coming out and participating!

A full day of fun events is planned for the community on the Second Annual All Queens Chess Day:

All Queens Tournament
Hey ladies- from 1-4 pm play in Tucson's only chess tournament exclusively for women and girls. There will be great prizes including custom Queen trophies and gift certificates from Bookmans! For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org.
Community Chess Experience
Calling all wannabe chess players- have you always wanted to play chess but never had the chance to learn the rules? The Community Chess Experience is just for you. From 2-4 pm, 9 Queens will offer free beginner chess lessons to anyone (male or female) interested in learning how to play chess. In order to promote chess literacy, Bookmans is giving out $5 gift certificates to everyone who learns how to play in the chess experience.

Queen for a Day
From 2-4 pm, come by to make your own chess crown at the chess arts and crafts station. Attention girl scouts: there will be chess activity patches available for all girl scouts who participate in any of the day's activities.

Visit 9 Queens website.

A Chess Scene from "The Queen's Gambit" by Walter Tevis

Thirteen year old Beth Harmon, recently adopted from an orphanage in rural Kentucky where she had lived since the age of 8 after her mother was killed in a car accident, is playing in her very first chess tournament.  It happens to be the Kentucky State Championship.  Beth learned how to play chess at the orphanage, taughter by the janitor, Mr. Schaibel. 

She wins her first three games, finishing at 3:30 p.m. the first day.  An evening round is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., with three more the following day:

That evening Beth was on Board Six opposite a homely young man named Klein.  His rating was 1794.  Some of the games printed in Chess Review were from players with lower ratings than that.

Beth was White, and she played pawn to king four, hoping for the Sicilian.  she knew the Sicilian better than anything else.  But Klein played pawn to king four and then fianchettoed his king's bishop, setting it over in the corner above his castled king.  She wasn't quite sure but thought this was the kind of opening called "Irregular."

In the middle game, things got complex.  Beth was unsure what to do and decided to retreat a bishop.  Se set her index finger on the piece and immediately saw she had better move pawn to queen four.  She reached over to the queen pawn.

"Sorry," Klein said.  "Touch move."

She looked at him.

"You have to move the bishop," he said.

She could see in his face he was glad to say it.  He had probably seen what she could do if she moved the pawn.

She shrugged and tried to act unconcerned, but inside she was feeling something she hadn't felt before in a chess game.  She was frightened.  She moved the bishop to bishop four, sat back and folded her hands in her lap.  Her stomach was in a knot.  She should have moved the pawn.

She looked at Klein's face as he studied the board.  After a moment she saw a little malicious grin.  He pushed his queen's pawn to the fifth square, punched his clock smartly and folded his arms across his chest.

He was going to get one of her bishops.  And abruptly her fear was replaced by anger.  She leaned over the board and placed her cheeks against her palms, studying intently.

It took her almost ten minutes, but she found it. She moved and sat back.

Klein hardly seemed to notice.  He took the bishop as she hoped he would.  Beth advanced her queen rook pawn, way over on the other side of the board, and Klein grunted slightly but moved quickly, pushing the queen pawn forward again.  Beth brought her knight over, covering the pawn's next step, and more importantly, attacking Klein's rook;  He moved the rook.  Inside Beth's stomach something was beginning to uncoil.  Her vision seemed extremely sharp, as though she could read the finest print from across the room.  She moved the knight, attacking the rook again.

Klein  looked at her, annoyed.  He studied the board and moved the rook, to the very square Beth had known, two moves ago, that he would move to.  She brought her queen out to bishop five, right above Klein's castled king.

Still looking annoyed and sure of himself, Klein brought a knight over to defend.  Beth picked up her queen, her face flushing, and took the pawn in front of the king, sacrificing her queen.

He stared and took the queen.  There was nothing else he could do to get out of check.

Beth brought her bishop out for another check.  Klein interposed the pawn, as she knew he would.  "That's mate in two," Beth said quietly.

Klein stared at her, his face furious.  "What do you mean?" he said.

Beth's voice was still quiet.  "The rook comes over for the next check and then the knight mates."

He scowled.  "My queen - "

"Your queen'll be pinned," she said, "After the king moves."

He looked back to the board and stared at the position.  Then he said, "Shit!"  He did not turn over his king or offer to shake Beth's hand.  He got up from the table and walked away, jamming his hands into his pockets.

Beth took her pencil and circled HARMON on her score sheet.


That's what he gets for that nasty little smirk of a smile...

Chess Femme News

Several photos taken by IM Irina Krush during the Chess Olympiad in Mansky Kamsky were published at Chess Life Online:

Irina Krush's Siberia Photo Gallery
By IM Irina Krush
September 28, 2010

Irina also made the cover of the October, 2010 Chess Life Magazine.  I've got to say, I thought the cover looked - well - strange.  But then I don't know diddly sqat about yoga.  Featuring Krush as the benign(?) aspect of Kali - but with eight arms rather than four...hmmm...  Photo of cover from ebookee.com


At the Huffingtonpost.com (Huffington carries GM Lubomir Kavalek's excellent chess column) Claire Wasserman did an interesting short blog about her involvement in Chess in Schools:

Claire Wasserman
Development Associate at Chess-in-the-Schools
Posted: October 5, 2010 01:47 PM
How to Make Chess Cool (and Other Marketing Conundrums)


The press in Malayasia loves young WIM Irene Kharisma Sukandar - check out the list of articles on WIM Sukandar at the end of the linked article

From the Jakarta Post: SPORTS
Irene closes on men’s chess title, RI team rank plunges

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 10/05/2010 1:18 PM | Sports

Indonesian Woman Grandmaster Irene Kharisma Sukandar edged closer on Sunday to her goal to win a men’s International Master title, as the 18-year-old university student collected significant points to add to her current 2372 rating at the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia...

The individual Gold Medal won in the Olympiad by a female Cuban chessplayer, along with the excellent results of the Cuban Women's Chess Team is also big news in her home country.  I don't understand not dating an important article like this but here it is - with no date on it:

Cuba's Yaniet Marrero won Gold Medal at World Chess Olympiad 2010 

WGM Yaniet Marrero

Cuban Women’s Squad: an historic forth place
Las Tunas, Cuba, Oct 4, (P26).- Cuban Grandmaster Yaniet Marrero won Gold Medal in the third board in the World Chess Olympiad 2010, which ended in the Russian city of Khanty-Mansysk.  Marrero gave an excellent performance in the defense of the third board to take first place with 87.5 percent of effectiveness with seven of eight possible points. 

Cuban Women’s Chess Squad Excelled at Chess Olympiad The Cuban women’s squad achieved the forth spot on Sunday at the Chess Olympiad, described by Caribbean specialists as a historic feat, taking into account their 25th place achieved  in the competition  held in Dresden 2008. 

Evidence of Spiral-Formed Settlements - Oldest in the World?

From The Australian
Unearthed Aryan cities rewrite history
From: The Sunday Times October 04, 2010 12:00AM



Map of Chelyabinskaya region (red arrow is the city of Chelyabinsk,
Russia), showing also Iran, Pakistan and northern India.

 BRONZE Age cities archaeologists say could be the precursor of Western civilisation is being uncovered in excavations on the Russian steppe.

Twenty of the spiral-shaped settlements, believed to be the original home of the Aryan people, have been identified, and there are about 50 more suspected sites. They all lie buried in a region more than 640km long near Russia's border with Kazakhstan.

The cities are thought to have been built 3500-4000 years ago, soon after the Great Pyramid in Egypt. They are about the same size as several of the city states of ancient Greece, which started to come into being in Crete at about the same time.

If archeologists confirm the cities as Aryan, they could be the remnants of a civilisation that spread through Europe and much of Asia. Their language has been identified as the precursor of modern Indo-European tongues, including English. Words such as brother, guest and oxen have been traced back to this prototype.

"Potentially, this could rival ancient Greece in the age of the heroes," said British historian Bettany Hughes, who spent much of the northern summer exploring the region for a BBC radio program, Tracking the Aryans.

"We are all told that there is this kind of mother tongue, proto-Indo-European, from which all the languages we know emerge.

"I was very excited to hear on the archeological grapevine that in exactly the period I am an expert in, this whole new Bronze Age civilisation had been discovered on the steppe of southern Siberia." [Except, it was discovered more than 20 years ago!]

She described driving for seven hours into the steppe grasslands with chief archeologist Gennady Zdanovich. "He took me to this expanse of grass; you couldn't tell there was anything special. Then, as he pointed to the ground, suddenly I realised I was walking across a buried city," she said.

"Every now and again you suddenly notice these ghostly shapes of fortresses and cattle sheds and homes and religious sites. I would not have known these had he not shown them to me."

The shape of each of the cities, which are mainly in the Chelyabinsk district, resembles an ammonite fossil, divided into segments with a spiral street plan. The settlements, which would each have housed about 2000 people -- the same as an ancient Greek city such as Mycenae -- are all surrounded by a ditch and have a square in the middle.

The first city, known as Arkaim, was discovered in 1989, soon after the soviet authorities allowed non-military aerial photography for the first time.

The full extent of the remains is only now becoming apparent. Items that have so far been dug up include many pieces of pottery covered in swastikas, which were widely used ancient symbols of the sun and eternal life. The Nazis appropriated the Aryans and the swastika as symbols of their so-called master race. Ms Hughes believes that some of the strongest evidence that the cities could be the home of the Aryans comes from a series of horse burials.

Several ancient Indian texts believed to have been written by Aryans recount similar rituals. "These ancient Indian texts and hymns describe sacrifices of horses and burials and the way the meat is cut off and the way the horse is buried with its master," she said. "If you match this with the way the skeletons and the graves are being dug up in Russia, they are a millimetre-perfect match."

[Note: The Nazi swastika was reversed from the ancient goddess-honoring symbol.  The term "Aryan" has political connotations; most specialists prefer the term proto-Indo-Iranians to identify the steppe-ranging people of this region in ancient times, the possible inventors of the first wheeled carts/wagons and speakers of a proto-Indo-European language from which many languages descended].

Another Statue of Amenhotep III Uncovered in Egypt

From the Star Tribune:

Archaeologists in Egypt unearth 3,400-year-old granite statue of pharaoh
Associated Press
Last update: October 2, 2010 - 11:50 AM


This photo cracks me up.  You really can't see the important
statue of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, but front and center is
Zahi Hawass, LOL! 

CAIRO - Archaeologists have unearthed the upper part of a double limestone statue of a powerful pharaoh who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, Egypt's Ministry of Culture said Saturday.

A ministry statement said the team of Egyptian archaeologists discovered the 4-foot (1.3-meter) by 3-foot (0.95-meter) statue of Amenhotep III in Kom el-Hittan, the site of the pharaoh's mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor.

The temple is one of the largest on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor.

The statue portrays Amenhotep III wearing the double crown of Egypt, which is decorated with a uraeus, and seated on a throne next to the Theban god Amun.

Amenhotep III, who was the grandfather of the famed boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun, ruled in the 14th century B.C. at the height of Egypt's New Kingdom and presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.

The pharaoh's temple was largely destroyed, possibly by floods, and little remains of its walls. But archaeologists have been able to unearth a wealth of artifacts and statuary in the buried ruins, including two statues of Amenhotep made of black granite found at the site in March 2009.



Supreme Council of Antiquities, HO In this undated

hand out picture released, Saturday, Oct.2, 2010, the

unearthed double limestone statue  of Ahmenhotep III.

 Here is a much better photo of - I believe - the newest recovered statue of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

More coverage:

Egypt unearths 3,400-year-old granite statues
Associated Press,
Posted on Sat, Oct. 02, 2010 09:43 AM

Luxor yields Amenhotep III statue
Press TV
Sun Oct 3, 2010 4:53PM
(an excellent photo of the double statue - one side is headless, eek!)

More Info in Ground Zero Ship Mystery

New Clues Emerge About World Trade Center Boat’s Past
October 1, 2010 12:53pm Updated October 2, 2010 11:07
The wooden pieces of the 18th-century boat found at the World Trade Center site are being preserved in Maryland.
(Please visit the website for a slideshow)
By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — Eleven weeks after a Revolutionary War-era ship emerged from the muck at the World Trade Center site, researchers are still trying to unlock its past.

A shadowy outline of a story has emerged — from the vessel’s birth in a small shipyard to its death in the landfill that overtook the Hudson River — but exact dates and names remain a mystery.

"It’s very interesting," said Michael Pappalardo, senior archaeologist with AKRF, the firm that unearthed the boat. "What happened? That’s a great question."

Pappalardo joined maritime historian Norman Brouwer and conservator Nichole Doub at a panel Thursday night to update the public on their progress and on the work that lies ahead. Sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences and the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, the lecture in 7 World Trade Center drew more than 100 people.

The boat’s modern saga started on July 13, when workers at the World Trade Center noticed an unusually curved piece of wood 25 feet below street level, just south of Liberty Street.

Over the next two weeks, archaeologists dug out a 32-foot long section of the 18th-century boat’s hull, documented it exhaustively, disassembled it and carted it off to the Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory.

Once there, conservators cleaned the mud off the worm-eaten wood — enduring a low-tide stench — and placed it in a carefully calibrated solution to prevent it from deteriorating.

At the same time, Brouwer was sorting through the evidence for clues to the boat’s history.

He noticed that the boat’s floorboards were irregular and "fitted together like a puzzle," suggesting it was built in a small town near a forest, not in one of the major east coast shipyards, which used standardized planks.

Once it set sail, the merchant ship likely spent its days traveling up and down the Atlantic coast, bringing wood and food down to the West Indies and returning with sugar, salt, molasses and rum, Brouwer said.

While in the Caribbean, the boat picked up an infestation of Teredo worms, which ate away at the wood. By 1797, it was buried in the landfill used to extend Manhattan’s shoreline westward.

More information about the boat’s owner and crew could come from the hundreds of artifacts found in and around the boat, including ceramics, musket balls, a buckle, a British button, a coin, animal bones, dozens of shoes and a human hair with a single louse on it. Brouwer also hopes tree experts will be able to date the wood.

Down in Maryland, the preservation process has just begun. To permanently stabilize the wood, some of the larger pieces will have to sit in a chemical solution for up to six years. Only then could the boat could be reassembled for display, Doub said.

Doub, Brouwer and Pappalardo all said the boat provided a rare look into the past, and they noted that if any one thing had been different — the oxygen level in the river clay, the location of the Deutsche Bank building — the boat would never have stayed intact for so long.

"It was purely by chance," Pappalardo said. "It was lucky."

How Did a 2,000 Year Old Phoenician Shekel End up in Massachusetts?

An intriguing archaeological mystery!

September 30, 2010

Salem man finds 2,000-year-old shekel on the shore
By Kendra Noyes, Staff Writer
The Salem News Thu Sep 30, 2010, 06:00 AM EDT

MANCHESTER — What a builder thought was a quarter has turned out to be a 2,000-year-old shekel, the kind of coin Judas was paid to betray Jesus.

The coin was found during the reconstruction of a Manchester wharf in the spring of 2006, and now the finder and property owner are trying to solve the mystery of how it got there.

Phillip Pelletier of Salem was reconstructing the wharf at 7 Norton's Point Road in Manchester when he found what he thought was a quarter in a small hole in the sand. He pocketed the change without thinking twice and set it aside when he got home.

But later, after a closer look, Pelletier realized the coin wasn't a quarter at all. He brought it to one of his wife's co-workers, a coin collector, who identified the silver piece as a shekel of Tyre. The collector told Pelletier the 90 percent silver coin dated to biblical times and was the type of silver used to pay Judas for the betrayal of Jesus.

Pelletier said he is shocked he found a 2,000-year-old coin in Manchester but finds it ironic that he discovered the shekel on Holy Thursday, the day that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles; it was after the meal that Judas betrayed Christ.

Pelletier said he held on to the coin for a while, thinking he had struck big. Some further research, however, revealed the coin was worth about $800 or so. The worldwide coin source online lists the coin as worth about $1,000.

Curiosity got the best of Pelletier, though. "I had to find out where it came from," he said.

He called Anita Brewer-Siljeholm, the owner of 7 Norton's Point Road, to see if there were coin collectors in her family who might have lost the shekel. Brewer-Siljeholm said she had no history of coin collectors in her family and was just as puzzled by the ancient coin being on her property.

"It's a complete mystery to me as to how it got there," Brewer-Siljeholm said.

Pelletier gave the coin to Brewer-Siljeholm so she could photograph and research it. Brewer-Siljeholm said she would return the coin to him after she finished her search, according to Pelletier. Brewer-Siljeholm still has the coin.

Brewer-Siljeholm rented a metal detector to search the area for significant metals on her property after Pelletier suggested it. She said she found no other substantial artifacts.

Pelletier and Brewer-Siljeholm said they wanted to get the story out so they could solve the mystery of how a Phoenician shekel arrived in Manchester.

Brewer-Siljeholm said she took the coin to J.G.M. Numismatic Investments, a Beverly coin and jewelry dealer, which verified it as a real shekel of Tyre. The inspector first weighed the coin to confirm its authenticity; the coin had worn and lost some of its mass, Brewer-Siljeholm said. The appraiser also noted that there was evidence the coin had been submerged in water for a significant time. The authenticity was verified, but no formal paperwork or record was drawn up by the company, she said.

The shekel was minted by the Phoenician-Judean city of Tyre, which is in present-day Lebanon, from 126 BC to 66 AD. The coin replaced the Greek coinage of Alexander the Great. The silver shekel features a graven image of Melkart (Baal), the Phoenician deity on one side; the reverse is an Egyptian-style eagle with its right claw resting on a ship's rudder, which is associated with Hercules. The Greek inscription on the coin is "Tyre, the Holy and Inviolable," followed by the date.

The real question is how did this ancient coin arrive in Manchester?

Brewer-Siljeholm called it an "unsolved mystery" and acknowledged her research has suggested there are hundreds of ways the coin could have gotten to Manchester.

Brewer-Siljeholm noted the harbor is very close to where the coin was found and thought that the Phoenicians may have came here to trade with the Vikings. "The Phoenicians were great sailors," she said.

The house was owned by two other families before Brewer-Siljeholm's family purchased it in 1951. The home was built in 1890 and its first owners owned the Waltham Watch Co., which may have had a connection to coin collecting, she said.

Brewer-Siljeholm said, to her knowledge, there was no history of coin collectors in the other owners' family, either.

"The only other plausible explanation I've heard to date is that a bird such as a sea gull picked it up and dropped it there," Brewer-Siljeholm said. Pelletier also noted that it could have been buried or dug up from underground by a squirrel or other creature.

2010 Chess Olympiad - It's Over!

Open - final top 10:

Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 2 Ukraine UKR 11 8 3 0 19 380,5 31,0 143,00
2 1 Russia 1 RUS1 11 8 2 1 18 379,5 28,0 157,00
3 11 Israel ISR 11 7 3 1 17 367,5 29,0 148,00
4 5 Hungary HUN 11 8 1 2 17 355,5 26,5 157,00
5 3 China CHN 11 7 2 2 16 362,0 29,0 147,00
6 4 Russia 2 RUS2 11 8 0 3 16 355,0 29,5 144,00
7 6 Armenia ARM 11 7 2 2 16 345,0 27,0 147,00
8 16 Spain ESP 11 7 2 2 16 332,0 28,5 137,00
9 9 United States of America USA 11 7 2 2 16 315,5 27,0 141,00
10 10 France FRA 11 6 4 1 16 311,5 25,0 149,00

Ivanchuk on Board 1 was incredible for Ukraine (8.0/10 points, with 1 draw and 1 loss), as was Board #4 Efimenko (8.5/11 with no losses)!  Both players will add double digits to their ELOs.  Well done!

Team Hungary - one can only ask "what if" - Leko had performed up to his rating - in this Olympiad, he did not, with 4.5/10 including two losses.  Judit Polgar also had 2 losses, but she still garnered 6.0/10 and a PR of 2703, above her ELO of 2682.  The star of the Hungarian team was GM Zoltan Almasi on Board 2 who will add about 12 points to his ELO.  Well done! 

Team USA - Kamsky played well, the others were - disappointing (except for youngster and Olympiad rookie Hess, who didn't have much opportunity to play). 

A great medal for Team Israel, who came in ranked 11th.  As for Russia 1, well, they should have medaled - good thing for them they did.  One can only imagine what Putin would have done if they did not - is there anyone left to fire in the whole of Mother Russia?

And the ladies - here are the top 10 final:

Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 1 Russia 1 RUS1 11 11 0 0 22 439,5 34,0 147,00
2 2 China CHN 11 9 0 2 18 386,5 31,5 146,00
3 4 Georgia GEO 11 7 2 2 16 384,0 29,0 155,00
4 18 Cuba CUB 11 8 0 3 16 348,5 30,0 136,00
5 6 United States of America USA 11 7 2 2 16 336,5 28,5 140,00
6 10 Poland POL 11 7 2 2 16 336,0 29,5 132,00
7 26 Azerbaijan AZE 11 8 0 3 16 320,0 28,0 136,00
8 12 Bulgaria BUL 11 7 2 2 16 296,5 24,5 147,00
9 3 Ukraine UKR 11 7 1 3 15 366,5 28,5 156,00
10 5 Russia 2 RUS2 11 6 3 2 15 335,5 26,5 152,00

China and Georgia battled back (some news accounts had writtten off both teams in earlier rounds after some match losses) to earn well-deserved medals. Well done, Ladies. Cuba and particularly Azerbaijan are pleasant surprises in the top 10 relative to their start positions.  Both of those teams should be very proud of the way they played.

In the final round, Russia 1 played Russia 2. :

Bo. 5 Russia 2 (RUS2) Rtg - 1 Russia 1 (RUS1) Rtg 1½:2½ 1.1 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2491 - GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2573 ½ - ½
1.2 WGM Girya Olga 2414 - GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2524 ½ - ½
1.3 IM Bodnaruk Anastasia 2399 - IM Galliamova Alisa 2482 ½ - ½
1.4 WGM Kashlinskaya Alina 2358 - WGM Gunina Valentina 2465 0 - 1

I guess Gunina didn't get the memo. Will Putin banish her to Mansky Kamsky for not drawing her final game against a much lower rated player, hmmm???

USA Women met Indian Women in the final round:

Round 11 on 2010/10/03 at 11:00
Bo. 6 United States of America (USA) Rtg - 8 India (IND) Rtg 2½:1½
5.1 IM Krush Irina 2490 - IM Harika Dronavalli 2515 ½ - ½
5.2 IM Zatonskih Anna 2480 - IM Tania Sachdev 2382 ½ - ½
5.3 WFM Abrahamyan Tatev 2352 - IM Karavade Eesha 2365 1 - 0
5.4 WGM Baginskaite Kamile 2328 - WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2336 ½ - ½

The match loss by India dropped the team out of the top 10 to 17th place, which must be a bitter disappointment for a team that started ranked 8th. I wish USA and India had been able to play other teams, because I like both teams very much.

As this is a USA-oriented blog, here are the individual totals for the USA Women's Team:

5. United States of America (USA / RtgAvg:2413, Captain: Khodarkovsky, Michael / TB1: 16 / TB2: 336,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. Games Rp w we w-we K rtg+/-
1 IM Krush Irina 2490 USA 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 7,0 11 2494 7 6,55 0,45 10 4,5
2 IM Zatonskih Anna 2480 USA 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6,5 10 2454 6,5 6,72 -0,22 10 -2,2
3 WFM Abrahamyan Tatev 2352 USA 1 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 6,0 10 2358 6 5,82 0,18 15 2,7
4 WGM Baginskaite Kamile 2328 USA 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6,0 8 2354 6 5,48 0,52 15 7,8
5 WGM Foisor Sabina-Francesca 2293 USA 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 3,0 5 2279 3 2,85 0,15 15 2,3

It was, perhaps, fitting, that Abrahamyan had the decisive game in the final round.  She often pushes the envelope and sometimes goes over the edge, resulting in a ZERO where another player would play for a draw - one has only to look at her game line in this Olympiad.  She earned 6.0/10 on Board 3 despite 3 losses!  Abrahamyan has won two Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award prizes for her performances at U.S. Women's Chess Championship.  A leopard cannot change her spots.  Do she and Nakamura date?  Just saying - chesswise - they seem a perfect match...

Irina Krush was a rock-solid Board 1 and had no games off.  Zatonskih disappointed, although her game did seem to pick up a bit in the second half of the Olympiad.  Baginskaite delivered, as she has in many past Olympiads for the American women.  She played 8 games on Board 4 and garnered 6.0, with no losses. 

Women playing on Open teams:

GM Judit Polgar - see above (Team Hungary).

GM Victoria Cmilyte, Lithuania, Board 3:
Cmilyte had a sub-par performance, with 5.0/9 including 3 losses, but she did win her game in R11.  Her performance rating of 2424 is quite a bit below her ELO of 2513.

GM Zhu Chen, Qatar, Board 3:
Zhu Chen garnered 7.0/11 (1 loss but 6 draws).  Her performance rating of 2366 is well below her ELO of 2480.

GM Keti Arakhamia-Grant, Scotland, Board 2:
5.5/10, with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 5 draws.  Her performance rating was 2395.  Her ELO is 2451.

WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni, Luxembourg, Board 5:
Finished her Olympiad appearance with a draw (her team won 3.0/1.0 against Wales).  Her score was 5.0/8 (3 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss) for a PR of 2014, below her ELO of 2152. 

Canadian Women, disappointed by their 67th place finish (started at 58th), despite fine performances by Boards 1 and 2:

67. Canada (CAN / RtgAvg:2054, Captain: Shi, Shao Min / TB1: 10 / TB2: 217)
Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. Games Rp w we w-we K rtg+/-
1 WIM Yuan Yuanling 2189 CAN 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 7,5 11 2271 6,5 4,43 2,07 15 31,0
2 WIM Kagramanov Dina 2086 CAN 1 1 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 5,5 9 2111 4,5 3,50 1,00 15 15,0
3 Lacau-Rodean Iulia 2024 CAN ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 3,5 9 1908 3 3,32 -0,32 15 -4,8
4 Orlova Yelizaveta 1917 CAN 1 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 3,5 8 1915 2,5 2,18 0,32 15 4,8
5 Kagramanov Dalia 1866 CAN 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 3,0 7 1810 2 2,21 -0,21 15 -3,2

Who won individual medals for board performances? Info from the official website:

Board 1
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2573 Russia 1 70 7/10 2479 2628
2 WGM Mamedjarova Zeinab 2234 Azerbaijan 81.8 9/11 2361 2623
3 GM Hou Yifan 2578 China 72.7 8/11 2398 2573

Board 2
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2565 Russia 1 85 8.5/10 2366 2662
2 WGM Ju Wenjun 2516 China 86.4 9.5/11 2327 2636
3 WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2304 Vietnam 85 8.5/10 2185 2481

Board 3
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 WGM Marrero Lopez Yaniet 2324 Cuba 87.5 7/8 2175 2511
2 IM Melia Salome 2439 Georgia 70 7/10 2309 2458 (a personal favorite player)
3 WGM Berzina Ilze 2283 Latvia 81.8 9/11 2188 2450

Board 4
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Gaponenko Inna 2469 Ukraine 93.8 7.5/8 2247 2691
2 IM Bodnaruk Anastasia 2399 Russia 2 87.5 7/8 2233 2569
3 WIM Vasiliev Olga 2293 Israel 77.8 7/9 2159 2379

Board 5
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2464 Ukraine 72.2 6.5/9 2265 2431
2 WGM Kashlinskaya Alina 2358 Russia 2 61.1 5.5/9 2247 2327
3 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2464 Georgia 62.5 5/8 2194 2289

Open Section medals:

Board 1
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2754 Ukraine 80 8/10 2650 2890 (a personal favorite player)
2 GM Aronian Levon 2783 Armenia 75 7.5/10 2695 2888
3 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2706 Russia 2 72.2 6.5/9 2655 2821

Board 2
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Sutovsky Emil 2665 Israel 81.3 6.5/8 2644 2895
2 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 Hungary 70 7/10 2652 2801
3 GM Wang Hao 2724 China 75 7.5/10 2590 2783

Board 3
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Teterev Vitaly 2511 Belarus 87.5 7/8 2517 2853
2 GM Eljanov Pavel 2761 Ukraine 70 7/10 2588 2737
3 GM Rublevsky Sergei 2683 Russia 3 72.7 8/11 2552 2727
4 GM Polgar Judit 2682 Hungary 60 6/10 2631 2703 (a personal favorite player)
(honorable mention for Polgar)

Board 4
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Karjakin Sergey 2747 Russia 1 80 8/10 2619 2859
2 GM Efimenko Zahar 2683 Ukraine 77.3 8.5/11 2572 2783
3 GM Giri Anish 2677 Netherlands 72.7 8/11 2555 2730

Board 5
Rk. Name Rtg Team % Pts Rc Rp
1 GM Feller Sebastien 2649 France 66.7 6/9 2583 2708
2 GM Bartel Mateusz 2599 Poland 77.8 7/9 2486 2706
3 GM Babula Vlastimil 2515 Czech Republic 77.8 7/9 2448 2668