2012 London Chess Classic

Results and standings after R1:

Results Round 1

Luke McShane v Magnus Carlsen	0-1
Levon Aronian v Hikaru Nakamura	0-1
Vladimir Kramnik v Judit Polgar	1-0
Gawain Jones v Michael Adams	0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Bye (assisting commentary)

Rankings after Round 1

1.	Magnus Carlsen 3 / 1 Black win
	Michael Adams
	Hikaru Nakamura
4.	Vladimir Kramnik 3 / 1 White win
5.	Viswanathan Anand 0 / 0
6.	Judit Polgar 0 / 1 Black loss
7.	Levon Gawain Jones Aronian 0 / 1 White loss
	Luke McShane

Yet Another Brave Dog Story

Whew!  The Christmas tree is mostly decorated.  The Big Ten Championship is on and YEAH - Wisconsin Badgers are leading 28 - 10 against Nebraska Cornhuskers.

I came across yet another fearless, wonderful dog story -- and wasn't even looking for it!  So, without further ado, here it is:

From The New York Daily News

Fearless dog saves woman from deadly cottonmouth snake – and almost dies from venomous bites
Gudrun Mastriano of Kissimmee, Fla., was walking her daughter’s black lab Dante when the deadly snake lunged and the dog grabbed it in its jaws and suffered near deadly bites, taking months to recover.

By Michael Walsh / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, November 30, 2012, 6:49 PM

Dante the Dog.  Wonder Dog!

Man's best friend doubles as a doggone good bodyguard.

Gudrun Mastriano of Kissimmee, Fla., was walking her daughter’s black lab Dante home when a venomous cottonmouth snake, mere inches away, attacked her.

The protective canine lunged in front of Mastriano, captured the serpent in his mouth and dragged it away. But during the fight, the snake’s fangs sunk into Dante’s snout and legs.

"It could have been me," said Mastriano. "I would have died."

Dante’s snout swelled up to about 17 inches as the deadly venom settled in his body, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"I thought he looked like a little baby hippopotamus," said Mastriano.

Mastriano immediately brought the lethargic and injured dog to an emergency animal clinic, where he was stabilized and treated with antivenin before being transferred to another medical center for rehabilitation.

For the past two months, Dante has received oxygen therapy. Veterinarians delivered concentrated oxygen to Dante’s damaged cells seven times to reduce swelling and speed healing, reported the Orlando Sentinel.

Dante, rejuvenated, was ready to be reunited with his owner, Mastriano’s daughter Charlotte Eierle.

Eierle moved to Madrid, where her husband is stationed with the Navy, in September. Eierle only planned to leave Dante behind for a few weeks while she and her husband got situated, but the snake attack delayed his trip abroad.

"We're just happy to see him healthy and going home for the holidays," said one of the veterinarians who bid Dante farewell at the airport.

For his flight to Spain, Dante was placed in a pet carrier that bore a notification for careful handling, along with a fitting description: “Traveling Hero.”

 

*********************************************************

 

Damn -- so this brave, wonderful doggy, is travelling to Spain in the baggage compartment of a commercial airline?  Hope he makes it.  What fricking torture for an animal to travel this way!  Dante should be in first class, with a private "turf" area behind a curtain where he can relieve himself, being served steak tartar!

2012 London Chess Classic

Game 1 is live, darlings!  You can watch it at many places -- right now I'm watching the action, meaning only Judit Polgar's game with Vlady Baby :) -- at Chessdom.com.  Link. 

Action thus far,  Vlady is White, Judit is Black:

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d6 5. e3 e5 6. Nge2 Be6 7. Nd5 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nec3 Nb4 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. d3 d5 12. a3 dxc4 13. axb4 cxb4 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 f5 16. Bg2 Rfd8 17. d4 a5 18. Qe2 e4 19. f3 Bd5 20. fxe4 fxe4 21. Rf5 Qd7 22. Re5 Re8 23. Bh3 Qc6 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Bd2 Qe7 26. Qh5 *

It's 11:41 a.m. Milwaukee time and I'm working on decorating my Christmas tree, that has been up since Thanksgiving day and slowly, ever so slowy, being decorated, an ornament here, an ormanent there; today I'm wrapping French ribbon and later on, if things go right, I'll be adding the most spectactular feather garland you've ever seen (bought it last year at Paul Michael Company). 

So, back to work on the tree, and I'll check on the game in a few minutes and update :)

12:25 p.m.  Oy -- okay, this was more than a few minutes, but I'm decorating the tree and was engaged in a very delicate act of placing the feather garland!  It turned out fabulously, by the way, which is more than I can say for Judit's first game.  Ach!  SHE LOST.  To Vlady Baby.  Holy Hathor.  What is this world coming to?  Here are the rest of the moves, read 'em and weep:

26. Qh5 Qd8 27. Rf1 g6 28. Qe5 Ra6 29. Bd7 Bf7 30. Rxf7 Kxf7 31. Bb5 Rf6 32. Bxc4+ Kg7 33. Qxe4 Qc7 34. Qd5 Rf8 35. e4 b5 36. Qxb5 Qd6 37. Qb7+ Kh8 38. Qa7 g5 39. Bxg5 Qc6 40. Qe7 1-0

Here's a screen snip of the final position:

In other news, North America's representative, GM Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces knocked out GM Levon Aronian. Hmm, maybe I kinda like him after all...nah.  Game:

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. g3 e5 6. Nb5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 a6 8. N5c3 d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bg2 Be6 11. O-O Nb6 12. Be3 Nc4 13. Qc1 O-O 14. Rd1 Qc7 15. a3 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Ba5 17. Nd2 Bb6 18. Qf3 Rad8 19. Na4 Ba7 20. Qc3 Rd4 21. Qc2 f5 22. e3 Rdd8 23. b4 e4 24. Nb3 Qf7 25. Nbc5 Bd5 26. Rd2 b6 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. Nxa6 Ne5 29. Rd1 Rfd8 30. Rxd5 Qxd5 31. Nb2 Qd2 32. Qc7 Ng4 0-1

Final position:

And now, back to my Christmas tree...

2012 FIDE WWCC: Ushenina Wins Title!

From The Week in Chess:

27 year old Ukrainian Anna Ushenina emerged as the 14th World Champion. Ushenina won the second rapidplay game in the final against former champion (2004-6) Antoaneta Stefanova. Ushenina will defend the title against now former champion Hou Yifan in a match next year.

Name	FED	G1	G2	G3	G5	R1	R2	r3	r4	B1	B2	SD	Tot
Round 6 Match 01
Ushenina, Anna	UKR	½	½	1	0	½	1						3½
Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	½	½	0	1	½	0						2½

From the official website:

Anna Ushenina became the new World Champion

01.12.2012

The Ukrainian grandmaster defeated Antoaneta Stefanova on tie-break.

The tie-break between Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) was short, but the struggle was really tense.

Antoaneta Stefanova had White in the first rapid game. She obtained a minimal advantage in the opening, but her central break was a bit premature, as it allowed Black to open the files and activate her pieces. The position got simplified, and Black eventually equalized. In the subsequent maneuvering game White tried different tricks, but Black defended accurately and parried all threats. A draw was agreed on 89^th move.

In the second game Anna Ushenina demonstrated an opening novelty and seized the initiative. Stefanova ended up in a worse position and was short on time. After the exchange of queens White got a spatial advantage, invaded Black’s camp with her rooks and won a pawn. Stefanova did not want to defend passively and attempted to activate her pieces, but Ushenina exchanged a pair of rooks and denied her counterplay. Soon White won another pawn and accurately converted her decisive material advantage.

The score in the final is 3.5-2.5 in favor of Anna Ushenina (Ukraine). FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov congratulated her with this historic achievement at the concluding press-conference. The FIDE President arrived today to Khanty-Mansiysk to participate in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Women’s World Championship.

Dudes!  Can't you tell the lady wants to visit the rest room?  She's already got her purse over
her shoulder eager to get away as Stefanova gives her a smiling fingers touch (lady handshake). 
Get that clipboard and pen out of her face, already!  Geez, sometimes dudes are so dense.

Interview with Anna Ushenina afterward at the official website.  Kirsan the Alien is also present and spoke more than Anna did.  Interestingly, he invited Ushenina to play in the next World Cup (Men's) that will be held in Tromso, Norway.  Let's see what happens, shall we...

More Dogs to the Rescue

From The Huffington Post (also reported elsewhere):

Rescue Dog, Duke, Saves 9-Week-Old Baby From Dying

By Sarah Medina Posted: 10/14/2012 2:13 pm Updated: 10/14/2012 2:13 pm

Mom, Baby, and Duke the Dog.  Duke reminds me
of one of our family dogs -- Hero -- who was a
shepherd/setter mix.  He passed to the
Happy Hunting Ground in the mid 1970's.

A rescue dog is being called a hero after saving the life of a Portland, Conn., family's infant daughter.

The Brousseau family had already gone to bed on Sunday night when their dog, Duke, who was adopted nearly six years ago, jumped on their bed and began shaking uncontrollably. Duke's behavior immediately woke the couple up, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

"He is insanely obedient, so this was extremely bizarre," Jenna Brousseau told WFSB News.

Duke had never acted like this before, according to the Brousseaus, so they knew something had to be wrong. When they went into their 9-week-old daughter Harper's room to check on her, she wasn't breathing.

According to ABC, Jenna's husband immediatley called an ambulance. Baby Harper was then revived by paramedics, and taken to the hospital.

"If Duke hadn't been so scared, we would have just gone to sleep," Jenna Brousseau said of her heroic dog. She added, "He's the perfect dog, he was meant, meant to be ours."

From The Sideshow, Yahoo News:

Dog stays by missing boy’s side

By Claudine Zap | The Sideshow
November 29, 2012

Ashapoo the Dog.  Looks like he has some Border
Collie blood -- a "herder" breed.

The spirit of Lassie is alive and well in a dog named Ashapoo. The trusty canine was always at the side of his owner's two-year-old grandson, Peyton.

And that was a good thing when Peyton's grandfather turned his back for a minute as he was planning to take the boy on a trip on the family land in Clover, South Carolina, to find a Christmas tree.

When he turned around, the energetic kid was gone. But so was Ashapoo.

By the time Peyton's parents showed up to join the hunt for their missing son on the 300 acres of woods, they took solace knowing the boy was with his faithful friend.

Said dad Rich Myrick to local station WBTV, "In the back of your mind, you know the dog is going to be with him."

Still, four and a half hours of a missing child takes a lot of faith. It was getting dark and cold. Mom Carmen Myrick noted to WCNC that she took in the hundreds of volunteers, ambulances, the media, and police cars. She says she remembers thinking, "'This is not going to end good.'"

When rescuers made their way to a barn, Ashapoo suddenly appeared, then ran away barking, leading searchers to a sleeping Peyton on the ground. He was fine.

The two-year-old told his family he was scared, he was going to get hurt, and he was cold. Dad Rich said, "I think he got scared and just lay down and took a nap, and Ashapoo stayed right with him." He added, "I guess he felt that was his job to protect him and be with him." And he also said, "I believe the dog was his guardian angel in fur."

The parents said that the dog was their hero. They plan to get him a well earned steak, and they are also looking into a GPS tracker for Peyton.

And this story, which sounds bizarre to me and am wondering if there is more here that wasn't told, but aside from whatever these parents may have been involved in, the baby was certainly innocent and was also saved by the actions of a dog:

Hero dog saves baby from kidnapping, family says
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow – Wed, Nov 21, 2012

Baby Angeles-Morales and unnamed Protector Dog,
a pit bull mix.

A kidnapping attempt was thwarted in Indianapolis on Tuesday when a family's dog stopped an armed would-be kidnapper from leaving the family's home.

Police say a man and a woman broke into the home of Nayeli Garzon-Jimenez through the back door while her husband was at work. Garzon-Jimenez was on the phone with her husband, Adolfo Angeles-Morales, at the time of the break-in.

"She started screaming and crying, and said, 'Someone just stuck their hand in the door,'" Angeles-Morales told WISH-TV. "The guy said, 'Give me the money or we take the baby.'"

"The man said, 'Money, money,'" Garzon-Jimenez said. "I said, 'I don't have any.'"

The woman then grabbed her 3-month-old girl and attempted to flee through the back door.

"But there was something else waiting for her at the back door," WISH-TV reported.

"One of the doggies," a pit bull mix, "didn't let her go through the back door," Angeles-Morales explained.

The woman turned around, "threw the baby back" at Garzon-Jimenez and the perpetrators fled the scene.

The mother, who was hit in the head with a gun during the melee, was treated for cuts and bruises at a local hospital, and was released. The baby was unharmed.

Indianapolis police are now searching for the suspects...

2012 London Chess Classic

The 4th London Chess Classic starts tomorrow.  Among the players is GM Judit Polgar, the best female chessplayer in the world. 

Polgar will be matching skills across the chessboard with some of the top-rated players in the world:

Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura -- and from Great Britain, Michael Adams, Gawain Jones and Luke McShane.

Official website.

Pairings 2012

Round 1, Sat Dec 1st, 14.00				Round 5, Thur Dec 6th, 14.00
Luke McShane	-	Magnus Carlsen		Vladimir Kramnik	-	Luke McShane
Levon Aronian	-	Hikaru Nakamura		Gawain Jones	-	Vishy Anand
Vladimir Kramnik	-	Judit Polgar		Mickey Adams	-	Magnus Carlsen
Gawain Jones	-	Mickey Adams		Judit Polgar	-	Hikaru Nakamura
Vishy Anand (bye) - assisting commentary				Levon Aronian (bye) - assisting commentary
Round 2, Sun Dec 2nd, 14.00				Round 6, Fri Dec 7th, 14.00
Judit Polgar	-	Gawain Jones		Magnus Carlsen	-	Judit Polgar
Hikaru Nakamura	-	Vladimir Kramnik		Vishy Anand	-	Mickey Adams
Magnus Carlsen	-	Levon Aronian		Luke McShane	-	Gawain Jones
Vishy Anand	-	Luke McShane		Levon Aronian	-	Vladimir Kramnik
Mickey Adams (bye) - assisting commentary				Hikaru Nakamura (bye) - assisting commentary
Round 3, Mon Dec 3rd, 14.00				Round 7, Sat Dec 8th, 14.00
Levon Aronian	-	Vishy Anand		Gawain Jones	-	Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik	-	Magnus Carlsen		Mickey Adams	-	Luke McShane
Gawain Jones	-	Hikaru Nakamura		Judit Polgar	-	Vishy Anand
Mickey Adams	-	Judit Polgar		Hikaru Nakamura	-	Magnus Carlsen
Luke McShane (bye) - assisting commentary				Vladimir Kramnik (bye) - assisting commentary
Round 4, Tue Dec 4th, 16.00				Round 8, Sun Dec 9th, 14.00
Hikaru Nakamura	-	Mickey Adams		Vishy Anand	-	Hikaru Nakamura
Magnus Carlsen	-	Gawain Jones		Luke McShane	-	Judit Polgar
Vishy Anand	-	Vladimir Kramnik		Levon Aronian	-	Mickey Adams
Luke McShane	-	Levon Aronian		Vladimir Kramnik	-	Gawain Jones
Judit Polgar (bye) - assisting commentary				Magnus Carlsen (bye) - assisting commentary
Wednesday 5th is the rest day				Round 9, Mon Dec 10th, 12.00
				Mickey Adams	-	Vladimir Kramnik
				Judit Polgar	-	Levon Aronian
				Hikaru Nakamura	-	Luke McShane
				Magnus Carlsen	-	Vishy Anand
				Gawain Jones (bye) - assisting commentary