2012 Chess Olympiad Women

Hola darlings!  It's all over except for the Fat Lady singing.  September 8th is a "free day."  Why not give a free day half way through the damn competition?  DOH!  The FINAL round, Round 11, will be held on September 9th.  So, here are the top ten Women's Teams after R10.  There is only 1 more round to go.

Rk.	SNo		Team	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1		China	CHN	10	7	3	0	17	357.0	29.0	131.00
2	2		Russia	RUS	10	7	3	0	17	348.0	29.0	126.00
3	4		Ukraine	UKR	10	6	4	0	16	325.0	27.0	127.00
4	14		France	FRA	10	7	1	2	15	294.0	27.5	120.00
5	22		Kazakhstan	KAZ	10	6	3	1	15	281.0	27.0	112.00
6	9		Germany	GER	10	7	1	2	15	277.5	26.5	113.00
7	6		India	IND	10	7	1	2	15	277.5	25.5	122.00
8	7		Poland	POL	10	6	2	2	14	282.0	26.0	122.00
9	13		Bulgaria	BUL	10	6	2	2	14	260.0	26.0	107.00
10	8		Armenia	ARM	10	7	0	3	14	259.5	24.0	117.00

Three points separate the No. 1 team from the No. 10 team.  Here are the final match-ups among some of the top Women's Teams:

Round 11 on 2012/09/09 at 11:00
No.	SNo		Team	Team	Pts.	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Pts.	Team	Team		SNo
1	2		RUS	Russia	29	17		:		15	27	Kazakhstan	KAZ		22
2	13		BUL	Bulgaria	26	14		:		17	29	China	CHN		1
3	4		UKR	Ukraine	27	16		:		15	26½	Germany	GER		9
4	14		FRA	France	27½	15		:		15	25½	India	IND		6
5	7		POL	Poland	26	14		:		14	24	Armenia	ARM		8

Here are the R10 results among the top teams:

Bo.	1	China (CHN)	Rtg	-	22	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	Rtg	2 : 2
1.1	GM	Hou, Yifan	2599	-	WIM	Nakhbayeva, Guliskhan	2291	½ - ½
1.2	GM	Zhao, Xue	2549	-	WIM	Dauletova, Gulmira	2267	1 - 0
1.3	WGM	Ju, Wenjun	2528	-	WIM	Saduakassova, Dinara	2216	½ - ½
1.4	WGM	Ding, Yixin	2424	-	WIM	Davletbayeva, Madina	2165	0 - 1
Bo.	8	Armenia (ARM)	Rtg	-	2	Russia (RUS)	Rtg	½ :3½
2.1	GM	Danielian, Elina	2476	-	GM	Kosintseva, Tatiana	2530	0 - 1
2.2	IM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2454	-	IM	Gunina, Valentina	2507	0 - 1
2.3	IM	Galojan, Lilit	2349	-	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2489	½ - ½
2.4	WGM	Kursova, Maria	2338	-	WGM	Pogonina, Natalija	2448	0 - 1
Bo.	4	Ukraine (UKR)	Rtg	-	7	Poland (POL)	Rtg	2½:1½
3.1	GM	Lahno, Kateryna	2542	-	GM	Socko, Monika	2467	½ - ½
3.2	GM	Zhukova, Natalia	2442	-	IM	Rajlich, Iweta	2412	1 - 0
3.3	IM	Ushenina, Anna	2433	-	WGM	Zawadzka, Jolanta	2377	½ - ½
3.4	IM	Yanovska, Inna	2404	-	WGM	Szczepkowska, Karina	2375	½ - ½

Bo.	27	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	-	14	France (FRA)	Rtg	1½:2½
4.1	WGM	Mamedjarova, Zeinab	2285	-	IM	Skripchenko, Almira	2442	0 - 1
4.2	WGM	Mammadova, Gulnar	2324	-	WGM	Maisuradze, Nino	2284	1 - 0
4.3	WGM	Mamedjarova, Turkan	2245	-	IM	Collas, Silvia	2261	½ - ½
4.4	WIM	Umudova, Nargiz	2208	-	WIM	Bollengier, Andreea	2253	0 - 1

Bo.	9	Germany (GER)	Rtg	-	11	Spain (ESP)	Rtg	3 : 1
6.1	IM	Paehtz, Elisabeth	2483	-	WGM	Matnadze, Ana	2422	1 - 0
6.2	WGM	Melamed, Tetyana	2356	-	IM	Alexandrova, Olga	2417	½ - ½
6.3	WGM	Ohme, Melanie	2337	-	WGM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	2355	½ - ½
6.4	WGM	Michna, Marta	2380	-	WGM	Calzetta Ruiz, Monica	2276	1 - 0

Bo.	6	India (IND)	Rtg	-	25	Israel (ISR)	Rtg	3½: ½
5.1	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2503	-	WIM	Porat, Maya	2295	1 - 0
5.2	IM	Sachdev, Tania	2379	-	WIM	Efroimski, Marsel	2174	1 - 0
5.3	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	2396	-	IM	Klinova, Masha	2317	½ - ½
5.4	WGM	Soumya, Swaminathan	2271	-	WFM	Shvayger, Yuliya	2202	1 - 0

Bo.	12	Hungary (HUN)	Rtg	-	13	Bulgaria (BUL)	Rtg	1 : 3
10.1	GM	Hoang, Thanh Trang	2464	-	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2502	½ - ½
10.2	WGM	Gara, Ticia	2385	-	WGM	Videnova, Iva	2317	0 - 1
10.3	WGM	Rudolf, Anna	2289	-	WGM	Nikolova, Adriana	2299	½ - ½
10.4	IM	Gara, Anita	2306	-	WIM	Raeva, Elitsa	2313	0 - 1

Team USA, Team Canada, and Team Georgia:

14

3

Georgia

GEO

10

5

3

2

13

280.5

26.0

119.00

17

5

United States of America

USA

10

5

3

2

13

260.5

26.5

109.00

55

59

Canada

CAN

10

5

1

4

11

157.5

21.5

95.00

Judit Watch!

How is GM Judit Polgar doing?

She won again :)

5. Hungary (HUN / RtgAvg:2708, TB1: 15 / TB2: 311.5)
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	GM	Leko Peter	2737	HUN		1	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	1		5.0	9	2701	5	5.44	-0.44	10	-4.4
2	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2713	HUN	½		½	1	0	1	1	½	½	1		6.0	9	2695	6	6.11	-0.11	10	-1.1
3	GM	Polgar Judit	2698	HUN	1	½	1	½	½	1		½	1	1		7.0	9	2756	7	6.27	0.73	10	7.3
4	GM	Berkes Ferenc	2685	HUN	½	½	1	1		½	0		1	1		5.5	8	2617	5.5	6.10	-0.60	10	-6.0
5	GM	Balogh Csaba	2668	HUN	1	½			½		½	½				3.0	5	2564	3	3.43	-0.43	10	-4.3

The Hungarian Team is currently in 5th place in the Open.  Team USA is right behind in 6th place in the Open.

Remember Johnny Rivers?

Maybe because I was riding through the same poor side of town I ride through five days a week in order to get downtown to the office, but was coming from a different direction this morning after having to get a blood draw, this morning a song of Johnny Rivers' came into my head - "Poor Side of Town" - and after I played that through my mental video, I remembered smash hits like "Secret Agent Man," "Memphis," "Baby I Need Your Loving" and this one, "Summer Rain," which didn't go to number one on the charts in 1967 but to this day when I hear it (which is practically never), it gives me chills.  I think it is one of the most romantic love songs of all time.  The words are so incredible -- like he actually lived it and met his true love, the song is full of meaning, tenderness, joy, wonder.  Wow.  And he played that acoustic guitar like an angel!

I found a poor quality video from 1973 at You Tube and decided not to post it.  The sound quality on this recording is not much better, but it has the studio orchestration behind it so you kind of get an idea of what it sounded like back when I was still in high school (EEK!) before videos were ever dreamed of, people still played 33LPs and 45 singles on record players and DJs spun actual hot-pressed records, and eight-track was becoming all the rage.

 

Lyrics:

Summer Rain taps at my window
West wind soft as a sweet dream
My love, warm as the sunshine
Sitting here by me
She's here by me

She stepped out of a rainbow
Golden hair shining like moonglow
Warm lips, soft as her soul
Sitting here by me, yeah
She's here by me

All summer long we spent dancing in the sand
And the jukebox kept on playing
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

We sailed into the sunset
Drifting home, caught by a gulf stream
Never gave a thought for tomorrow
Just let tomorrow be, now
Let tomorrow be

She wants to live in the Rockies
She says that's where we'll find peace
Settle down, raise up a family
One to call our own, yeah
We'll have a home

All summer long we spent grooving in the sand
Everybody kept on playing
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

Winter snows drift by my window
North wind blowing like thunder
Our love is burning like fire
And she's here by me, yeah
She's here with me
Let tomorow be

Shell Jewelry Discovered at Dakar, Senegal

I hardly ever see a story about an archaeological discovery in sub-Saharan west Africa, so this is exciting!

Dakar floods uncover ancient jewellery: researchers

(AFP)–3 days ago

DAKAR — Pieces of pottery, iron tools and jewellery dating back thousands of years have been discovered in Dakar after recent torrential rains flooded some suburbs, university researchers told AFP on Monday.

Pieces of jewellery found at the site (AFP/File, Seyllou)
Impossible to tell from the photo what size the shells are.

Moustapha Sall, a lecturer and researcher at Dakar's Cheick Anta Diop university said he happened upon the items by chance during a visit to the suburb of Ouest-Foire in the north-east of the capital after the rains on August 26.

"While visiting the flooded zone, I stumbled upon... pieces of pottery, perforated shells reused as jewellery, iron scoria and small stones including blades which could have been used to cut or carve," said Sall.

"The water washed away the sand and revealed these archeological objects."

Sall said the area was home to several construction sites, where workers said they had come across pieces of pottery and shells, which could hinder any future archeological digs.

"We will do an analysis of the objects discovered and send them to a laboratory" at the university which specialises in dating historical items, Sall said.

Another researcher at the university, Alioune Deme, said the objects could date back between 2,000 and 7,000 BC.

 

Copyright © 2012 AFP.

2012 Chess Olympiad Women

If I'm counting right, there are only 3 more rounds to go.  The last day is September 10th, but that is usually reserved for grand awards and closing ceremonies for teams and individual boards. Soooo...

Here are the top ten Women's Teams standings after R9:

Rk.	SNo		Team	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1		China	CHN	9	7	2	0	16	287.0	27.0	102.00
2	2		Russia	RUS	9	6	3	0	15	266.5	25.5	102.00
3	4		Ukraine	UKR	9	5	4	0	14	266.0	24.5	103.00
4	22		Kazakhstan	KAZ	9	6	2	1	14	236.0	25.0	91.00
5	7		Poland	POL	9	6	2	1	14	236.0	24.5	97.00
6	8		Armenia	ARM	9	7	0	2	14	231.0	23.5	92.00
7	14		France	FRA	9	6	1	2	13	242.5	25.0	99.00
8	25		Israel	ISR	9	6	1	2	13	223.5	25.0	86.00
9	27		Azerbaijan	AZE	9	6	1	2	13	221.0	23.0	96.00
10	11		Spain	ESP	9	6	1	2	13	213.5	23.0	88.00

Team USA is out of it at this point.  They lost their match today and have fallen to 14th place.  They don't have enough rounds to make up match points, barring a complete collapse of the teams above them.  Team Canada is in 53rd place.  The Georgian Women's Team has collapsed all the way to 24th place!  I, for one, would never have predicted that outcome!  So perhaps the impossible can happen and Team USA can win a medal.  Nah.

14

5

United States of America

USA

9

5

2

2

12

212.5

24.5

88.00

24

3

Georgia

GEO

9

4

3

2

11

223.0

23.5

97.00

53

59

Canada

CAN

9

5

0

4

10

115.5

19.5

74.00

Bo.	1	China (CHN)	Rtg	-	14	France (FRA)	Rtg	3 : 1
1.1	GM	Hou, Yifan	2599	-	IM	Skripchenko, Almira	2442	1 - 0
1.2	GM	Zhao, Xue	2549	-	IM	Milliet, Sophie	2411	1 - 0
1.3	WGM	Ju, Wenjun	2528	-	WGM	Maisuradze, Nino	2284	½ - ½
1.4	WGM	Huang, Qian	2449	-	IM	Collas, Silvia	2261	½ - ½
Bo.	6	India (IND)	Rtg	-	2	Russia (RUS)	Rtg	1 : 3
2.1	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2503	-	GM	Kosintseva, Tatiana	2530	½ - ½
2.2	IM	Karavade, Eesha Sanjay	2371	-	IM	Gunina, Valentina	2507	0 - 1
2.3	IM	Sachdev, Tania	2379	-	GM	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	2524	½ - ½
2.4	WGM	Soumya, Swaminathan	2271	-	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2489	0 - 1

Bo.	5	United States of America (USA)	Rtg	-	4	Ukraine (UKR)	Rtg	1 : 3
4.1	IM	Zatonskih, Anna	2512	-	GM	Lahno, Kateryna	2542	0 - 1
4.2	IM	Krush, Irina	2467	-	IM	Muzychuk, Mariya	2466	½ - ½
4.3	WGM	Foisor, Sabina	2356	-	IM	Ushenina, Anna	2433	½ - ½
4.4	WGM	Abrahamyan, Tatev	2303	-	IM	Yanovska, Inna	2404	0 - 1

Bo.	22	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	Rtg	-	35	Uzbekistan (UZB)	Rtg	2½:1½
3.1	WIM	Nakhbayeva, Guliskhan	2291	-	WIM	Muminova, Nafisa	2329	½ - ½
3.2	WIM	Dauletova, Gulmira	2267	-	WFM	Gevorgyan, Irina	2178	1 - 0
3.3	WIM	Saduakassova, Dinara	2216	-		Nadirjanova, Nodira	2185	1 - 0
3.4	WIM	Davletbayeva, Madina	2165	-		Kurbonboyeva, Sarvinoz	2143	0 - 1

Bo.	13	Bulgaria (BUL)	Rtg	-	7	Poland (POL)	Rtg	1½:2½
5.1	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2502	-	GM	Socko, Monika	2467	½ - ½
5.2	WGM	Videnova, Iva	2317	-	IM	Rajlich, Iweta	2412	½ - ½
5.3	WGM	Nikolova, Adriana	2299	-	WGM	Zawadzka, Jolanta	2377	0 - 1
5.4	WGM	Voiska, Margarita	2281	-	WGM	Szczepkowska, Karina	2375	½ - ½
Bo.	26	Iran (IRI)	Rtg	-	8	Armenia (ARM)	Rtg	1 : 3
6.1	WGM	Pourkashiyan, Atousa	2313	-	GM	Danielian, Elina	2476	0 - 1
6.2	WIM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	2270	-	IM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2454	½ - ½
6.3	WIM	Hakimifard, Ghazal	2249	-	IM	Galojan, Lilit	2349	½ - ½
6.4	WIM	Ghaderpour, Shayesteh	2218	-	WGM	Kursova, Maria	2338	0 - 1

Bo.	25	Israel (ISR)	Rtg	-	19	Serbia (SRB)	Rtg	3 : 1
8.1	WIM	Porat, Maya	2295	-	WGM	Manakova, Maria	2304	0 - 1
8.2	WIM	Efroimski, Marsel	2174	-	WGM	Stojanovic, Andjelija	2277	1 - 0
8.3	IM	Klinova, Masha	2317	-	WIM	Rakic, Marija	2300	1 - 0
8.4	WFM	Shvayger, Yuliya	2202	-	WGM	Benderac, Ana	2266	1 - 0

Bo.	3	Georgia (GEO)	Rtg	-	27	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	1½:2½
7.1	IM	Khotenashvili, Bela	2509	-	WGM	Mamedjarova, Zeinab	2285	0 - 1
7.2	IM	Javakhishvili, Lela	2458	-	WGM	Mammadova, Gulnar	2324	½ - ½
7.3	IM	Khurtsidze, Nino	2444	-	WIM	Umudova, Nargiz	2208	½ - ½
7.4	WGM	Batsiashvili, Nino	2432	-	WIM	Isgandarova, Khayala	2205	½ - ½

Bo.	11	Spain (ESP)	Rtg	-	33	Lithuania (LTU)	Rtg	3½: ½
11.1	WGM	Matnadze, Ana	2422	-	GM	Cmilyte, Viktorija	2520	½ - ½
11.2	IM	Alexandrova, Olga	2417	-	WGM	Daulyte, Deimante	2216	1 - 0
11.3	WGM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	2355	-	WFM	Kaspute, Vesta	2118	1 - 0
11.4	WGM	Calzetta Ruiz, Monica	2276	-		Ziogaite, Jovita	2052	1 - 0

Judit Watch!

How did Judit Polgar do in R9?  She won today!

10. Hungary (HUN / RtgAvg:2708, TB1: 13 / TB2: 233.5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	Games	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Leko Peter	2737	HUN		1	½	½	½	½	½	0	½		4.0	8	2668	4	4.73	-0.73	10	-7.3
2	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2713	HUN	½		½	1	0	1	1	½	½		5.0	8	2672	5	5.36	-0.36	10	-3.6
3	GM	Polgar Judit	2698	HUN	1	½	1	½	½	1		½	1		6.0	8	2734	6	5.51	0.49	10	4.9
4	GM	Berkes Ferenc	2685	HUN	½	½	1	1		½	0		1		4.5	7	2575	4.5	5.36	-0.86	10	-8.6
5	GM	Balogh Csaba	2668	HUN	1	½			½		½	½			3.0	5	2564	3	3.43	-0.43	10	-4.3

Her numbers speak for themselves.  GO JUDIT GO! 

Checking in on the Open Teams, some interesting developments:

Rk.	SNo		Team	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	6		China	CHN	9	7	1	1	15	272.0	26.0	100.00
2	1		Russia	RUS	9	7	1	1	15	268.5	23.0	107.00
3	3		Armenia	ARM	9	7	1	1	15	258.5	23.5	104.00
4	5		United States Of America	USA	9	6	3	0	15	252.0	26.0	93.00
5	2		Ukraine	UKR	9	7	0	2	14	240.0	24.0	99.00
6	9		Netherlands	NED	9	7	0	2	14	218.0	25.0	85.00
7	29		Argentina	ARG	9	6	2	1	14	216.5	22.5	90.00
8	17		Czech Republic	CZE	9	5	3	1	13	247.0	24.0	92.00
9	7		Azerbaijan	AZE	9	5	3	1	13	246.5	25.0	97.00
10	4		Hungary	HUN	9	6	1	2	13	233.5	22.5	98.00

Tomorrow for R10, Open Team USA faces #1 Open Team China. Good luck, dudes.  Can you kill the Terminator Team?

4. United States Of America (USA / RtgAvg:2702, Captain: Shulman, Yury / TB1: 15 / TB2: 252)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	Games	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	2778	USA		1	½	1	½	½	1		1		5.5	7	2884	5.5	4.59	0.91	10	9.1
2	GM	Kamsky Gata	2746	USA	1	1	1	0	½	½	1	1	1		7.0	9	2786	7	6.41	0.59	10	5.9
3	GM	Onishuk Alexander	2666	USA	1		1	½	½	½	1	1	½		6.0	8	2761	6	4.98	1.02	10	10.2
4	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2617	USA	1	½		½		½		½			3.0	5	2557	3	3.27	-0.27	10	-2.7
5	GM	Robson Ray	2598	USA	1	1	1		½		½	½	0		4.5	7	2566	4.5	4.63	-0.13	10	-1.3

2012 Chess Olympiad Women

Quick summary tonight:

R 7 Standings, top ten Women's Teams:

Rk.	SNo		Team	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1		China	CHN	7	5	2	0	12	168.5	21.0	61.00
2	2		Russia	RUS	7	5	2	0	12	165.5	20.5	61.00
3	7		Poland	POL	7	5	2	0	12	160.5	21.0	58.00
4	4		Ukraine	UKR	7	4	3	0	11	160.5	19.5	60.00
5	14		France	FRA	7	5	1	1	11	146.0	21.0	55.00
6	12		Hungary	HUN	7	5	1	1	11	144.0	19.5	57.00
7	28		Vietnam	VIE	7	5	1	1	11	133.5	18.5	57.00
8	6		India	IND	7	5	1	1	11	133.0	18.5	58.00
9	11		Spain	ESP	7	5	1	1	11	130.0	18.5	53.00
10	35		Uzbekistan	UZB	7	5	1	1	11	124.5	18.0	54.0

At this point, Team USA was in 12th place and, shockingly given their great tradition of winning chess teams, Georgia was in 11th place. Team Canada was in 81st place.

Here are R8 Standings:

Rk.	SNo		Team	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	1		China	CHN	8	6	2	0	14	228.0	24.0	81.00
2	2		Russia	RUS	8	5	3	0	13	209.5	22.5	80.00
3	14		France	FRA	8	6	1	1	13	199.5	24.0	73.00
4	6		India	IND	8	6	1	1	13	174.5	21.0	76.00
5	35		Uzbekistan	UZB	8	6	1	1	13	171.5	20.5	74.00
6	4		Ukraine	UKR	8	4	4	0	12	209.0	21.5	83.00
7	5		United States of America	USA	8	5	2	1	12	193.5	23.5	71.00
8	7		Poland	POL	8	5	2	1	12	182.0	22.0	75.00
9	22		Kazakhstan	KAZ	8	5	2	1	12	177.5	22.5	68.00
10	8		Armenia	ARM	8	6	0	2	12	176.0	20.5	72.00

Team Georgia is now in 12th place and Canadian Women in 68th.

Judit Watch:

Judit finally got a rest day for R7.  Here are the Hungarian Open Team's results thus far:

14. Hungary (HUN / RtgAvg:2708, TB1: 11 / TB2: 185.5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Games	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Leko Peter	2737	HUN		1	½	½	½	½	½	0		3.5	7	2653	3.5	4.28	-0.78	10	-7.8
2	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2713	HUN	½		½	1	0	1	1	½		4.5	7	2678	4.5	4.69	-0.19	10	-1.9
3	GM	Polgar Judit	2698	HUN	1	½	1	½	½	1		½		5.0	7	2699	5	4.80	0.20	10	2.0
4	GM	Berkes Ferenc	2685	HUN	½	½	1	1		½	0			3.5	6	2522	3.5	4.64	-1.14	10	-11.4
5	GM	Balogh Csaba	2668	HUN	1	½			½		½	½		3.0	5	2564	3	3.43	-0.43	10	-4.3

Upcoming Events at The China Institute

Love The China Institute -- someday I'll get back there again.  I wish I could afford to live in Manhattan.  Sigh.  These events sound absolutely fascinating:

Member's Event: An afternoon of Chinese Art at Christie's

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Date: Saturday, September 8, 2012
Start Time: 2:00 pm End Time: 5:30 pm
(Time Zone: US/Eastern)

Location: Christie's (map)

Category: Members
Description

An afternoon of Chinese Art at Christie’s

Chinese Art Tour
Chinese Calligraphy: Brushstrokes and Beyond

Saturday, September 8, 2012
2:00 pm -5:30 pm

Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Plaza, 49th Street (between 5th and 6th Aves)

Join fellow China Institute members for an afternoon of Chinese Art at Christie’s, the renowned auction house. Our afternoon will start with a lecture series on Chinese Calligraphy: Brushstrokes and Beyond, hosted by Elizabeth Hammer, Vice President and Specialist, Chinese Paintings at Christie’s. After the calligraphy lectures, members will have a special tour of the upcoming auction of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art.

The Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art auction (on September 13th and 14th) comprises over 500 works across several categories and periods, including ceramics, jades, archaic bronzes, sculpture, furniture and paintings. Highlighting the sale is a superb green jade brush pot, Bitong, from the Qianlong Period (1736 – 1795), which is exceptional for the intensity of its color, its delicate and detailed carving and distinguished provenance.

Schedule of events:
2:00 pm Variations on Dots and Lines: Calligraphy and Painting in Chinese Art
(Speaker, Dora C. Y. Ching, Associate Director, P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University)

2:30 pm The Greatest Chinese Calligrapher and the Ideal Calligraphy Model
(Speaker, Wang Mansheng, Calligrapher and Artist, New York)

3:00 pm The Life and Politics of Kang Youwei (1858-1927) as Revealed in His Calligraphy
(Speaker, Elizabeth Hammer, Vice President and Specialist, Chinese Paintings, Christie’s)

3:30 pm From Tradition to Innovation: The Collection and Calligraphy of Sha Huaishi
(Speaker, Sha Huashi, Calligrapher and Collector, New York)

4:30 pm Special tour for China Institute members of the upcoming auction: The Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art


Ticket Prices:
FREE member / member’s guest $20 per person
Space is limited. Advance registration required.

To RSVP, please go to http://www.chinainstitute.org/support-us/membership/membership-events.
For more information, please call Jenny Liao at 212-744-8181 x137 or email jliao@chinainstitute.org.

Contact: Jenny Liao
Email: jliao@chinainstitute.org
Phone: 212.744.8181, x137

Location Details

Christie's
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York NY 10020 US

Special Lecture on Chinese Medicine

China Institute is honored to host a special lecture by the renowned Dr. Jeffrey C. Yuen, DMS. He is the 88th Generation Daoist Master of Yu Ching Huang Lao Pai (Jade Purity School), Yellow Emperor/Lao Tzu Sect, ordained by 87th Generation Daoist Master Yu Wen, Dr. Yuen’s adoptive grandfather. Having been immersed in the practice and study of Daoism and the classics of Chinese medicine since early childhood, Dr. Yuen offers unparalleled knowledge of the rich, oral traditions that fully integrate physical, psychological, and spiritual facets of the medicine. He is an esteemed faculty member of the American University of Complementary Medicine and other schools, and lectures internationally.

Tuesday, September 18 ~ 6:30 – 8 PM
$15 member / $20 non-member

 

Author Talk and Book Signing

Three Tough Chinamen

Nineteenth century Chinese immigrants to America, the Moy brothers — Jin Kee, Jin Mun, and Jin Fuey, crossed lines and broke barriers. Tough men whose lives were hemmed in by prejudice and restrictive laws, they were scrappy and ambitious. In an era when the Chinese were excluded from America’s shores and most already in the U.S. kept their heads down, they stood up and fought for their countrymen, using all means available to get ahead, up to and including committing petty crimes and, in the case of one brother, heinous ones. This is a collection of their stories about outwitting laws that mandated that Chinese accept third-class status if they desired even a small share in the American dream.

 

Scott D. Seligman is a writer, historian, genealogist, retired corporate executive, and career “China hand.” Seligman is the author of Chinese Business Etiquette (Grand Central Publishing, 1999) and Dealing With the Chinese (Warner Books, 1989) and co-author of the best-selling Cultural Revolution Cookbook (Earnshaw Books, 2011) as well as Now You’re Talking Mandarin Chinese (Barron’s Educational Series, 2006) and Chinese at a Glance (Barron’s, 1985 and 2001). He has published articles in the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the China Business Review, the Jewish Daily Forward, China Heritage Quarterly, and Traces, the Journal of the Indiana Historical Society. He has also created several websites on historical and genealogical topics. He lives in Washington, DC.

Tuesday, October 16 ~ 6:30 – 8 PM
$10 member / $15 non-member

The Art of Chess

From The New York Times Art Beat blog:

Chess Gets the Artistic Treatment in a New Saatchi Show

 September 3, 2013

By CAROL VOGEL

Since the new Islamic art galleries opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last fall, one of the most popular objects on display has been a chess set dating from 12th-century Iran, one that looks surprisingly modern because the pieces are highly abstracted. The Shah (king), for example, is represented by a large throne.

Faced with designing chess sets today, contemporary artists like Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan and Rachel Whiteread naturally look to their own quirky vocabularies. Mr. Hirst recently created a set composed of pills, bottles and other medical equipment; Ms. Whiteread made one fashioned from squares of carpeting and dollhouse furniture, and Paul McCarthy used objects from his kitchen, including a coffee grinder and ketchup bottle.

Sixteen of them will go on view at the Saatchi Gallery in London from Saturday through Oct. 3. Called “The Art of Chess,’’ the show originated at Somerset House in 2003 and has since traveled around the world, adding more sets at each stop. For this iteration, the British duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster will show a new, “Woodland” chess set, hand-carved from a tree stump with bronze pieces based on their collection of mummified animals. The kings and queens are squirrels; the pawns, frogs.

Beautiful Jade Horse Carving - The Horse Exhibit at British Museum

I just happned to stop by the website for the British Museum tonight and right on the front page was an incredibly beautiful jade horse carving.  It's not a chess piece - but it could be, albeit a little large:

The particulars:

Height: 12.750 cm [1 cm = .39 in. approximately; so this piece is a little over 5 inches tall]
Length: 20.500 cm [approximately a little over 8 inches long]

On loan from a private collection OA 26:20
Room 33b: Chinese jade

Jade figure of a horse

Late Ming or Qing dynasty, 17th century AD

This impressive horse belongs to a small group of carved jade animals, mainly horses and buffaloes, carved on a much larger scale than usual, and all in the same range of green opaque stones. There is no direct evidence to help us define precisely when and for what purpose these large creatures were carved.

The slender and elegantly smooth carving shows the horse lying down, its hind legs tucked under its body. The mane and tail are carefully worked to represent the hair, with the other features - eyes, jaw, limbs, muscles and sinews - shown in fine grooves.

J. Rawson, Chinese jade: from the Neolith (London, The British Museum Press, 1995, reprinted 2002).

Oh, I wish I could see this -- a wonderful exhibit on the horse at the British Museum, time is almost up, it ends on September 30, 2012:

The horse from Arabia to Royal Ascot

24 May – 30 September 2012
Free

Room 35/Open late Fridays

Royal Patron:
HM Queen Elizabeth II

A Diamond Jubilee Celebration