9,000 Year Old Obsidian Bracelet Shows Great Workmanship

Oldest obsidian bracelet reveals amazing craftsmen's skills in the eighth millennium BC

December 21, 2011

The obsidian bracelet from Aşıklı Höyük. a. Shape and dimensions, b. Symmetry of the object. Credit: Obsidian Use Project Archives. This image is available from the CNRS photo library, phototheque@cnrs-bellevue.fr

Researchers from the Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes in Istanbul and the Laboratoire de Tribologie et de Dynamiques des Systèmes have analyzed the oldest obsidian bracelet ever identified, discovered in the 1990s at the site of Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey. Using high-tech methods developed by LTDS to study the bracelet's surface and its micro-topographic features, the researchers have revealed the astounding technical expertise of craftsmen in the eighth millennium BC. Their skills were highly sophisticated for this period in late prehistory, and on a par with today's polishing techniques. This work is published in the December 2011 issue of Journal of Archaeological Science, and sheds new light on Neolithic societies, which remain highly mysterious.

The obsidian bracelet from Asikli Hoyuk (Turkey). a. Shape and dimensions.
b. Symmetry of the object.  Credit:  Obsidian Use Project Archives.
This image is available from the CNRS Photo Library, phototheque@cnrs-bellevue.fr 

Dated to 7500 BC, the obsidian bracelet studied by the researchers is unique. It is the earliest evidence of obsidian working, which only reached its peak in the seventh and sixth millennia BC with the production of all kinds of ornamental objects, including mirrors and vessels. It has a complex shape and a remarkable central annular ridge, and is 10 cm in diameter and 3.3 cm wide. Discovered in 1995 at the exceptional site of Asıklı Höyük in Turkey and displayed ever since at the Aksaray Archeological Museum, the ring was studied in 2009, after Mihriban Özbasaran, Professor at the University of Istanbul's Department of Prehistory, resumed excavations.

Laurence Astruc, a CNRS researcher and her colleagues analyzed the bracelet using extremely powerful computer technologies developed by LTDS researchers Hassan Zahouani (ENISE) and Roberto Vargiolu (ECL). Developed for industry in order to characterize the 'orange peel effect' on painted car bodywork, these methods, known as multi-scale tribological analysis, have been adapted for the study of micro-topographic features on archeological artefacts. They seek to identify every single operation performed on the surface of these objects.

This process has revealed that the bracelet was made using highly specialized manufacturing techniques. The analyses carried out showed that the bracelet was almost perfectly regular. The symmetry of the central annular ridge is extremely precise, to the nearest degree and nearest hundred micrometers. This suggests that the artisans of the time used models to control its shape when it was being made. The surface finish of the bracelet (which is very regular, resembling a mirror) required the use of complex polishing techniques capable of obtaining a nanometer-scale surface quality worthy of today's telescope lenses.
Led by Laurence Astruc, the work was carried out in collaboration with the University of Istanbul and was funded by France's National Research Agency as part of the 'Obsidian: Practical Techniques and Uses in Anatolia' program (ANR 08-Blanc-0318). In the program, the Asıklı Höyük bracelet is the first object to have been studied among some sixty other polished obsidian artefacts.
In collaboration with the University of Manchester and the British Museum, Laurence Astruc's team is now analyzing ornamental objects found at the Halaf sites of Domuztepe in Eastern Central Anatolia and Arpachiyyah in Iraq.
More information: Astruc L., et al., Multi-scale tribological analysis of the technique of manufacture of an obsidian bracelet from Aşıklı Höyük (Aceramic Neolithic, Central Anatolia), Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (2011): 3415-3424.

2011 FIDE Women's World Team Chess Championship

December 17 - 28, 2011
Standings after R4 from official website:

Rank	Team	Gam.	+	=	-	MP	TGP
1	CHINA	4	4	0	0	8	13½
2	INDIA	4	3	1	0	7	13
3	RUSSIA	4	2	2	0	6	9½
4	GEORGIA	4	2	1	1	5	9½
5	VIETNAM	4	2	0	2	4	8
6	TURKEY	4	2	0	2	4	7½
7	UKRAINE	4	1	1	2	3	8
8	ARMENIA	4	1	0	3	2	6
9	GREECE	4	0	1	3	1	4
10	RSA	4	0	0	4	0	1

The United States was invited to send a women's team to this year's championship, but it did not happen.  You are free to draw your own conclusions as to why.

From Susan Polgar's chess blog:

Thursday, December 01, 2011The US refuses to send women's team to World Team Championship

Thursday, December 01, 2011More of the USCF - Women's World Team Championship Saga

Tuesday, December 13, 2011Women's World Team Championship

From Google Groups

rec.games.chess.politics

USCF not supporting Women's Team for World Team Chess Championship

I found it interesting that Mr. Hall never mentioned in his publicized email any concerns about the security of the chessplayers in the chosen venue.  Hmmm...

2011 Women's World Team Chess Championship

From ibnlive.in.com
on Dec 20, 2011 at 06:06pm IST

India beat Turkey in World Women Chess C'ship

Mardin (Turkey): Led by Koneru Humpy, the Indian women's team cruised to an emphatic 3.5-0.5 victory over Turkey and jumped to fourth spot after the end of the second round of the World Women Team Chess Championship here.

Kubra Ozturk denied India a complete whitewash against the hosts by holding International Master Tania Sachdev to an easy draw, while on the other three boards the Indian girls had no problems in ensuring sweeping victories.

China came back strongly from a near-shocking start to beat South Africa 4-0, while Russia recorded a 3-1 victory against Ukraine.

Mardin (Turkey): Led by Koneru Humpy, the Indian women's team cruised to an emphatic 3.5-0.5 victory over Turkey and jumped to fourth spot after the end of the second round of the World Women Team Chess Championship here.

Kubra Ozturk denied India a complete whitewash against the hosts by holding International Master Tania Sachdev to an easy draw, while on the other three boards the Indian girls had no problems in ensuring sweeping victories.

China came back strongly from a near-shocking start to beat South Africa 4-0, while Russia recorded a 3-1 victory against Ukraine.

With this victory, the Indian team jumped to fourth spot after the end of Round 2.

China and Russia now share the lead with Georgian eves, who scored a minimal 2.5-1.5 victory over Armenia.

With seven rounds still to go in the 10-team round-robin event, China, Russia and Georgia have four match points, while India now stands fourth on three match points.

Not far behind are Armenia and Vietnam with two points in their kitty, while Ukraine is now seventh with just one point that it secured against India in the opener.

Turkey, Greece and South Africa share the last spot, yet to open their match point account.

South Africa, in fact, are yet to open their score on any boards.

The Turks had started with a very satisfying 1.5 points against highly fancied China in the opener but Humpy ended chances of a similar performance with clinical precision against Yildiz Betul Cemre.

For the records, it was a queen pawn game wherein Humpy exerted pressure on the queen side to get two connected passed pawns. After regulation exchanges, the players reached an endgame which turned out to be child's play for the Indian ace.

Before Humpy's triumph, Padmini Rout and Soumya Swaminathan had ensured Indian victories over Kardelen Cemhan and Ebru Kaplan, respectively.

Tania Sachdev could do little against Kubra Ozturk in a Queen's Indian defence game as black on a day when the think-tank decided to give Harika a rest on the second board.

Harika flew in directly after a hectic event in China and still played the first game against Ukraine that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Ukraine could not continue with the same promise that they showed in round one and lost to Russia. The victories for the winning team came on board two and four where Tatiana Kosintseva and Gunina Valentina proved superior with white pieces while the other two games were drawn.

Georgian top board Nana Dzagnidze provided a much needed clincher for the team scoring over Elina Danielian of Armenia on the top board. The other three boards were drawn keeping the Georgians atop the tables.

After a 0-4 whitewash in the opener, Greece lost narrowly to Vietnam while South Africans were no match for wily Chinese girls.

Results - Round 2:

India (3) beat Turkey (0) 3.5-0.5; Ukraine (1) lost to Russia (4) 1-3; China (4) beat South Africa (0) 4-0; Georgia (4) beat Armenia (2) 2.5-1.5; Greece (0) lost to Vietnam (2) 1.5-2.5.

Don't Think It Can't Happen Again...

From burning "witches" around the world (we had our own witch burnings in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s by so-called Protestant "Christians") to hunting down "albinos" in Africa to executing female rape victims for "bringing shame upon their family" in Muslim and other backward countries, to Nazism, McCarthyism and today's Tea Party marching arm in arm with religious fanatics, it's in a country near you!  If you think you're immune from persecution on the turn of a dime, you're a fool.

From Der Spiegel Online

12/16/2011   Burned for Spoiling Beer
Germany Rehabilitates Its Persecuted 'Witches'

By Kristen Allen

Tortured and burned at the stake by the tens of thousands, Germany's alleged witches have been largely forgotten. But thanks to efforts by a small group of activists, a number of German cities have begun absolving women, men and children who were wrongly accused of causing plagues, storms and bad harvests.

It began with the trial and execution of an eight-year-old girl for witchcraft in the spring of 1630. Compelled to name others involved in an alleged nighttime dance with the devil in the German town of Oberkirchen, young Christine Teipel's confession sparked a wave of fingerpointing and subsequent trials. Within just three months, 58 people, including 22 men and two children, were burned at the stake there.

The Oberkirchen trials represent just a small fraction of those that led to the execution of some 25,000 alleged witches between 1500 and 1782 in Germany. The country was a hotbed of persecution, says witch-trial expert Hartmut Hegeler, explaining that some 40 percent of the 60,000 witches who were tortured and killed in Europe during the infamous era were executed in what is now modern Germany. Hegeler, 65, a retired Protestant minister and college religion instructor in the western German town of Unna, is now working to rehabilitate these supposed witches city by city.

"We owe it to the victims to finally acknowledge that they died innocent back then," Hegeler told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "But this is not just about the past -- it's a signal against the violence and marginalization of people that goes on today."

It was mainly women who were targeted, although there were also a surprisingly high number of men as well as a few children like Oberkirchen's Christine Teipel. They were accused of not only cavorting with the devil, but also of causing insect plagues, bad weather, ruined harvests and even spoiling the production of beer.

Flood of Inquiries
"Of course there were no witches, these were all invented crimes," says Hegeler, who has written 17 books on Germany's witch trials. "But in hard times it was a good tool for local authorities to place the blame on others for famines and other problems. The witches were a wonderful scapegoat for whenever things went wrong."

In a time when many regions were fighting for political domination, historians believe that leaders also used the trials as an expression of power, he explains. And, contrary to common belief, it wasn't just the Catholic Church that encouraged witch hunts. The Protestant Church was behind a significant number of trials. "I was stunned to find this out when I first started my research," he says.

Hegeler's efforts, along with those of an informal "working group" of some 40 like-minded activists across the country, have led to what he calls a "snowball effect" in witch exonerations. Eight cities have officially absolved convicted witches of wrongdoing in the last several years, five in 2011 alone. Some seven other cities are also currently processing requests to do so. As word of witch exonerations spreads, Hegeler reports receiving a number of inquiries from concerned citizens hoping to clear the records of falsely accused witches from their own communities' books.

Recently he has been in contact with Green Party officials in the Rhineland town of Rheinbach, where they have reportedly proposed the rehabilitation of 130 witches who were burned at the stake in the area around 1631. The city plans to address the motion next week, according to regional daily Express. But no particular party claims ownership to the cause, and inquiries and support have come from officials across the German political spectrum, Hegeler says.

Early this month, Hegeler also filed a request with the city of Cologne to rehabilitate Katharina Henoth, who was strangled and burned at the stake there in 1627 for allegedly causing a plague of caterpillars at a monastery. He has also contacted the office of Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the archbishop of Cologne, in hopes that the Catholic Church too might make a public statement to acknowledge the unjust execution. While city and municipal courts were generally responsible for witch trials, church forces often spurred their progress, Hegeler says.

'Long Overdue'
But not every community welcomes such requests. In November, the western German city of Aachen rejected a request to vindicate a 13-year-old Sinti girl who was tried and killed in 1649.

"I was very disappointed with the politicians there. It wouldn't have cost them anything and would have given them even more credibility," Hegeler says, referring to the fact that the city awards the prestigious Charlemagne Prize each year for distinguished efforts toward European unification.

The city of Büdingen in the state of Hesse also told Hegeler they had more important issues at hand. According to him, the city may have feared upsetting an aristocratic family that allowed the witch trials to occur and still wields significant political clout there. "But most cities say this is long overdue," he adds.

Of all the witch trial cases he has researched, the case of Christine Teipel remains among the most personally moving for Hegeler. Still, he has filed no official request for her pardon. Discussions with Oberkirchen officials proved fruitless, he said, though the city does have a memorial to the victims.
"People don't want to talk about rehabilitation there," he says. "For some reason there are great reservations. They don't want to take the step of saying that those executed were innocent. At least not yet."

A New Twist on the Meaning of "Ho Ho Ho"

From mytowerhamlets.co.uk
17th December, Saturnalia     
Spitalfieldslife.com
Published: 12:03 AM, 17 December 2011
Paul Bonn
Today marks the start of Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival in honor of the god Saturnus. One of the most popular Roman festivals, it was marked by tomfoolery, mayhem, merriment and the reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters switched places (much like the Lord of Misrule in medieval celebrations).

Saturnalia was introduced around 217 BCE to raise morale after a crushing military defeat at the hands of the Carthaginians. Originally celebrated for a day on December 17th, its popularity saw it grow until it became a week-long extravaganza, ending on the 23rd. Efforts to shorten the celebration were unsuccessful – Augustus tried to reduce it to three days and Caligula to five (Party poopers! How did they get the reputation of being hell-raisers?), but these attempts caused uproar and revolt among the Roman citizens.

Saturnalia involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturnus and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturnus during the rest of the year. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings and, besides the public rites, there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately – including a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). And gambling was allowed for all, even slaves.

Saturnalia was a time to eat, drink and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather colorful and informal ‘dinner clothes’ and the pileus (a freedman’s hat, close-fitting and brimless like a fez) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment and treated their masters with (a pretense of) disrespect, celebrating a banquet before, with, or served by the masters. Yet the reversal of the social order was mostly superficial – the banquet would often be prepared by the slaves and they would prepare their masters’ dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries, reversing the social order without subverting it.

The customary greeting for the occasion is a “Io, Saturnalia!” — Io (pronounced “e-o”) being a Latin interjection related to “ho” (as in “Ho, praise to Saturn”).

Saturnus was the Roman god of agriculture and harvest whose reign was described as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many authors. In medieval times, he was known as the Roman god of dance, agriculture, justice and strength, often portayed holding a sickle or scythe in one hand and a bundle of wheat in the other. Saturnus is sometimes identified with the Greek Cronus, the god of Time (hence chronological, chronic, &c.) who famously ate his children. Fear not, the children were later regurgitated intact through the intervention of their mother and went on to become the gods of Olympus! A gruesome tale, yet viewed metaphorically it can be seen as a simple moral – that Time eats everything in the end.

Interesting Cockerel Figurine

I saw this story earlier, didn't have a chance to post it until today (inbetween bouts of cleaning the bedrooms upstairs...)

From BBC News
December 2011 Last updated at 19:47 ET

Cockerel figurine found in Cirencester Roman dig

A checkered cockerel

A Roman cockerel figurine thought to have been made to accompany a child's grave has been unearthed in Gloucestershire.

The 1,800-year-old enamelled object was found during an archaeological dig at one of Britain's earliest-known burial sites in Cirencester.

It is thought the bronze cockerel, which is 12.5cm high, could have been a message to the gods.  Archaeologist Neil Holbrook said it was a "most spectacular" find.

The elaborately-decorated cockerel is believed to be Roman, probably dating back to the 2nd Century AD.  According to experts, religious significance was given to the cockerel by the Romans and the artistic subject is known to be connected with Mercury, the messenger to the gods.  They said it was Mercury who was also responsible for conducting newly-deceased souls to the afterlife.

'Made in Britain'

Mr Holbrook, chief executive at Cotswold Archaeology, said the cockerel had been excavated from the grave of a young child and had been placed close to his or her head.

"Interestingly a very similar item was found in Cologne in Germany and it looks like they both could have come from the same workshop based in Britain," he added.

The object was discovered in early November and held back to allow the dig to continue uninterrupted.

It will now be cleaned, conserved, and possibly then displayed at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.

Other finds from this grave include a small pottery tettine or feeding bottle, which was unfortunately highly fragmented. This will also undergo conservation work.

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Is there a connection between the "checkerboard" pattern on the Hermes cockerel to Toth (Jehuty), and the black and white checkered floor in the Hall of Judgment (also called the Hall of Justice)???  The Greeks equated their god, Hermes, to the ancient Egyptian god, Toth (Jehuty - spelled phonetically in an approximation of how scholars think the name may have been pronounced) and, in later times (beginning in the first century CE of the Roman era), the god Hermes Trismegistus was accepted by at least some Greeks and Romans as a form of Hermes.  It is supposed that out of the teachings of the followers of Hermes Trismegistus arose the esoteric tradition known as "hermeticism," roughly paralleling the development of other lines of though such as Gnosticism. 

This is not an area in which I'm much read!  Please feel free to add your comments.  I am confident about the black and white checkered floor being associated with the Hall of Judgment (Hall of Justice) and Toth because this was told to me years ago by someone whose scholarship and credentials I trust.  If any of you are familiar with depictions within older Masonic halls, the black and white checkerboard floor is often depicted in murals, paintings, and may sometimes also be reflected in flooring of the the ceremonial room (not necessarily in black and white, but the checkerboard pattern of light and dark will be there).  My guess is that this reflects Toth's role as mediator between the gods, in which he had to make sure that neither "good" nor "evil" ever achieved supremacy over the other - that there was always maintained an equilibrium between the two opposing forces. 

Count-down to Christmas!

I confess, darlings, today I piddled around doing this, doing that, and not really "working."  I posted only a few things here, for instance; I did not research at all; I didn't even work on the family tree that is due next week (gasp!)  Instead, I took a lovely walk early this morning, when the sun was still out, with a fresh quarter-inch of snow on the ground, to Walgreens, to pick up a 50% off wreath hanger and a large pack of AA batteries (20 on sale for $5.99).  I needed them because, you see, yesterday, I succumbed to the magic of the season and brought a pre-lit battery-operated 24" wreath for my front door!

Oh Joy!

I'm so happy!  I haven't had a wreath on the front door in years!  Not since 1996 probably.  The last wreath I had was a first-generation plastic model that I purchased at Walgreens eons ago.  It held it's shape perfectly and had glitter and red berries on it.  It was pretty.  But, alas, I gave it away many years ago to a friend who at the time had little money and two young kids and needed a tree, ornaments, decorations - you name it.  I gave her every decoration I had, including "Christmas Around the World" collector ornaments, a nice artificial tree, the wreath, tons of lights, etc. etc.  Happy to say her kids grew up with my contributions, and despite an occasional twinge of loss every now and then, I was happy to do it.  I didn't get another tree in the house until Mr. Don's first visit - whenever the heck that was (1902??? something like that...)

Anyway, I saw this wreath perhaps two weeks ago when I made a foray to purchase some 60% off ornaments (I know, I know, I swore up and down this year I wouldn't do that, but it's Boston Store and they have such lovely ornaments...)  The wreath was then on sale for $19.99, but since I was already loaded down with a dozen large ornaments and had blown my budget (so I thought at the time), I turned my back on it.

Yesterday we received our year-end bonus checks and I was feeling flush with cash, at least temporarily.  So, at lunch I ran to deposit the check and then I ran even faster to Boston Store in the Shoppes at Grand Avenue and headed for the Christmas area.  Sure enough, ornaments on clearance, but not marked down lower than what I'd previously paid for them.  Drat!  Then, I turned and GASP! there was a tower of boxes of those pre-lit wreaths on sale for the unbelievable price of $9.99.  Originally marked $50.  I know, I know!  Well, darlings, how could I resist?  I couldn't.  I plowed through the tower and picked out a likely looking wreath and hustled it to a check-out.  I toted it home last night on the bus in this gigantic red plastic bag (Santa would fit in this bag, I swear) to await installation.

I put it up this afternoon, one of those putsy things I've spent the day doing.  I managed to figure out how to get the battery case apart (it did not come with written directions, but since they would probably be in Chinese anyway...), insert the batteries, and get the case back into it's "rack."  Fortunately, there is an off-on button on the top part of the battery case that is easy to reach but is disguised behind the "foilage."  The lights are LED so they'll last practically forever but they aren't that dreaded greyish dead white but a nice and bright warm light, surprise surprise!

Back to today -- while I was at my second stop of that nice walk -- the Pick 'n Save -- the florists just happened to be putting out these gorgeous big glittery ornaments for a mere $2 each.  Another "I couldn't resist" purchase.  The single ornament I bought is now adorning my new wreath!

Here's a picture I took earlier this evening, sans flash -- can't figure out how to get the flash turned back on and too lazy to dig out the instruction book for the camera, oh well --

Hmmmm, on second thought, perhaps that particular ornament isn't the best selection for a wreath...
well, on the other hand, this is a Goddess-blessed house and the Hieros Gamos - oh, never mind...

It's staying as it is.  In fact, I just re-hung that center phallic symbol ornament so it's more perfectly centered within the wreath.  In future years I may add a few ornaments or thread some ribbon around it (the wreath, not the phallic symbol ornament), but for this season, I swear to you I'm decorated out!

Before I return upstairs to continue my off-and-on cleaning rounds in the bedrooms, here are the latest photos I could not resist taking of the living room. 

I've got a fire going right now and it's so warm and cozy in here, the flameless candles are flickering (LOL!) and earlier today I pulled out my stuffed grizzly bear (it's tiny, not full size, unfortunately), put a bow on him, and he's sitting on the back of the sofa right now.  I didn't take a picture though because he's away from the light and without a flash on the camera you really can't see him.  I'll grab a pic tomorrow when it's light in here or whenever I get the flash turned back on.  He's so cute!  He's so soft, and cuddly and smooshy - this time of year I'll take comfort wherever I can find it, even from a grizzly bear.

But - avast!  Soon the Winter Solstice will be upon us! And then the days will get longer by a few minutes in the morning, and a few minutes in the evening, each day, all the way to the Summer Soltice in June when it doesn't get dark until close to 9:30 p.m.! 

In the meantime, we combat the dark and the cold with our dressed up "Festival of Lights."  We decorate evergreen trees (real and faux), an ancient symbol of eternal life, with glittering ornaments and lights and every good thing we can think of, including cookies, candies and fruits!  We stuff ourselves with rich foods, cuddle and ponder next to fires, make lots of love (it's no coincidence so many babies are born during the summer, you know) under bundles of warm blankets, and drink lots of hot liquered-up nogs and such.  We busy ourselves (especially we femmes) decorating our homely havens and shopping for the holidays to find that just-so-perfect gift for our special somebodies, and we hum age-old carols under our breath as we cook and bake, even those of us who rarely otherwise cook and bake.  Even if it's crappy.  It's the effort that counts, and the critters outside will always eat it, even if I won't! 

Tree with faux-gifts (except for one real one) now arranged underneath the tree.
I'm loving that new tree skirt and my new jerry-rigged traditional star tree-topper.
Those gift bags cover up the "stem" of the tree nicely.  I think next year
I'm going to elevate the tree on some phone books -- an idea I saw this year
(after the fact) on the internet!  It will make it easier to crawl around underneath and
arrange the tree skirt and gifts!

In this photo you can see the "cardinal" framed pics I added on the right side and underneath the tick-tock on the left.
No close-ups of those!  This is the warm cozy glow of my evening/night-time living room.  As the pillow on the
chair by the fireplace says "It's Good to be QUEEN."

Asian Women's Xiangi Champ Wins Silver in Mind Games

From Vietnam News (English)
Updated December, 17 2011 10:25:00

Lan Huong wins silver in China

HA NOI — Asian xiangqi (Chinese chess) champion Ngo Lan Huong received a silver medal in the women's category at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2011 which ended in China yesterday.

Huong earned seven points after drawing with Australia's Liu Bi Jun and beating the US's Take Aki, three points fewer than the host nation's Jin Hai Ying. Liu Bi Jun, who stands behind Huong, earned four points. In this case, the first and second positions were finalised prior to the final round.

In the men's category, Vietnamese master Nguyen Hoang Lam lost his last two games to miss out on a medal. Chinese player Jiang Chuan secured his place as a champion.

International grandmaster Le Quang Liem did not make it to the medal round in blindfolded chess. During the tournament, he defeated Chinese Wang Yue and Cuban Dominguez Perez, drew with Russian Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin and lost to Ukranian Rusland Olegovich Ponomariov. The Vietnamese master finished in 14th place out of 16 with 6.5 points in rapid chess and in 10th position out of 16 with six points in blitz chess.

With Huong's silver, the Vietnamese delegation stood at the 13th position. The host nation lead the medal tally with eight gold, two silver and one bronze. The US took the second place with four gold, one silver and four bronze while Russia palmed three gold, two silver and one bronze medals. — VNS

From Chessboard Geometry to Geomancy

Not as far as stretch as you might think... 

But first, the article, from the Malaysian New Strait Times:

17 December 2011 | Last updated at 10:46PM

Mixing chess, feng shui and politics

By Kongster

I have tried picking Christi Hon's brains over a drink a few times but he never fails to intrigue me -- the enigmatic man that he is.

Little was heard of Christi following his disappearance from the Malaysian chess scene in 1989 after winning the national championship a record five times.

After nine years of obscurity, from 2002 to 2010, Christi is back with a new move -- this time wearing the 1Malaysia badge and charging around like a knight with a mission to effect social changes.

But this time you see Christi not as the chess champion but as opinion giver, arguer and adviser.

I inquired where he had been and what he had been up to all these years.

Christi revealed that he had been travelling often to other countries as a feng shui consultant.

I tried putting the pieces of info together -- a chess master becoming a feng shui master, chess geometry making way for geomancy.

Though chess and feng shui are as different as cheese and chalk, Christi has turned out to be master of both.

He said there is something common between them; chess is about predicting the opponent's moves and countering while feng shui is also about looking ahead and taking the right steps.

Christi has represented Malaysia in the World Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Lucerne (Switzerland), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Dubai.

He was Malaysia's first Fide Master after earning a rating from the World Chess Federation and also had the distinction of beating Anand Viswanathan, the current world champion from India, in an IM tournament in New Delhi in 1985.

"You really beat Anand Viswanathan?" I asked Christi in a really-I-don't-quite-believe-you tone of voice.

"I thrashed Anand in 30 minutes," he replied.

Wow, I would say that is something great for Christi to thump his chest.

But for Christi, 53, his world is no longer about 64 black and white squares but a political landscape coloured by dark clouds.

Christi says he is ready to speak out for Malaysians. Boldly printed on his calling card is the proclamation: "I am the New Voice of 26 million Rakyat!"

Admitting that he was apolitical when he was a serious chess player in the 1980s, Christi looks at the world differently today.

Away from the chessboard, he sees political pawns, king makers, sacrifices, manoeuvres, and end games of a different kind.

Christi, whose specialty is divination through feng shui, has indicated he is keen to help BN checkmate its rivals in the coming general election. He sees himself as a foreteller who makes predictions for 2012 -- its big conflicts and big changes.

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One of the theories about the development of board games is that they arose out of ancient divining techniques and geomancy practices honed by practitioners over thousands of years.  One has only to see the intricate boards drawn in sand or soil for "fox print" divination by a Dogon shaman, or inspect an ancient diagram from a millennium old book on feng shui to see the same geometry at play as that on a modern-day chessboard.  Alas, we have long forgotten the significance and meaning behind the moves, but that meaning is still there, buried in the distant past. 

A typical feng shui bagua, derived from the 64 trigrams of the I Ching.
This image is from Lisa's Blog. 

A dogon shaman creating a 'board' in the sand for
fox divination.  If blessed by the spirits, a fox will visit the
site overnight, leaving prints behind, that the shaman will
interpret to answer a question put to him by a villager.
Originally this image was at National Geographic online.

Dr. Joseph Needham  spent a lifetime studying ancient Chinese culture and produced a staggering multi-volume study on the development of Chinese science and technology from ancient times forward. Goddesschess has archived two excerpts from volumes by Dr. Needham:

• Joseph Needham
PDF (900 Kb) Ch.11
The pseudo sciences and the sceptical tradition

• Joseph Needham
PDF (1.88 Mb)
Ch. 26 Physics - the Chinese orientation to chess - Ch. 26 Physics, (8) The Magnet, Divination, and Chess, pp. 314-334.

See also:  Thoughts on The Origin of Chess
by Joseph Needham, (Cambridge), 1962

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You may find these some fascinating reading.  I have full citations (not at hand or I'd type them in right now) for the book excerpts. I've provided the information to our webmaster from time to time over the years but it's never made its way to the website :)  Such is life.  So, if you should happen across this blog some day and want to use the excerpts to support your research on the ancient origins of chess and need proper citations - and I'm still alive - email me and I'll send you the information. 

More on Imprisoned Afghan Rape Victim

What punishment did the rapist receive for committing "adultery?"  Is the rapist's family shamed in the eyes of society?

Report from CNN.com:

Karzai: Freed rape victim has choice to marry attacker

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 6:36 AM EST, Sat December 17, 2011

Kabul (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that a rape victim freed from prison after he intervened on her behalf has the right to make her own choice about whether to marry her attacker.
In an exclusive interview from Kabul, Karzai told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that the woman's case appeared to be a "misjudgment" that had to be resolved.

The woman, identified only as Gulnaz for her own protection, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she reported that her cousin's husband had raped her.


But the 21-year-old was freed this week following the president's intervention, and is now staying at a women's shelter in Kabul, with the daughter she conceived in the attack and gave birth to in prison.

Her plight attracted international attention when it came out that she had agreed to marry her attacker to gain her freedom and legitimize her daughter. 

Karzai said he had convened a judicial meeting when he came aware of her case. "The issue was discussed in detail, and the right inquiries made. We, on advice from the chief justice and the minister of justice, decided that this was a case, perhaps, of misjudgment and that it has to be resolved, and resolved by giving her a pardon immediately. That's what I did."

Asked whether it was appropriate that Gulnaz should marry her attacker, as some in Afghanistan say, Karzai said it was her choice. "It's up to her to decide who to marry or who not to marry," he said. "And Islam gives her that right."
Looking to the future, Karzai said the West should have confidence in Afghanistan's judicial processes after international forces withdraw. "It's a country that has been troubled a lot. But it is also an old country, with laws and a penal code and judicial history," he said.
"I can assure you that, once the international forces are withdrawn and not as many as there are today, Afghanistan will neither go into a trouble within the country or strife or into miscarriage of justice. I can assure you of that."
After the attack two years ago, Gulnaz hid what happened as long as she could because she was afraid of reprisals. But then she began showing signs of pregnancy and, aged only 19, was found guilty by the courts of sex outside of marriage -- adultery -- and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
A key problem is that Afghan law fails to clearly distinguish between rape and adultery, which is a crime under Sharia, or Islamic law.
And despite the pardon, Gulnaz's future remains unclear in a conservative society where her ordeal is considered to have brought shame on her family. She told CNN from prison last month that she was willing to marry her attacker in order to end her incarceration, though she did not want that option.

Swedish King's Tomb Misidentified

I find this a very interesting article for its implications.  What other mistakes have been made based on the assumption that those who came before us had it right?

Wrong persons found in King´s tomb
Culture | 2011-12-09

King Magnus Ladulas

The Swedish King Magnus Ladulås (1240-1290 a.d.) is buried in the Riddarholmen church (Riddarholmskyrkan) in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. This is at least what everybody have taken for granted...until new facts were presented recently. A new radiocarbon dating of the tomb's content indicates that the content of the tomb comes from the remains of nine persons who were buried some time between 1430 and 1520, i.e. at least 200 years after King Magnus.

It is thus clear now that King Johan II (son of Gustav Vasa) put up the pompous tomb above the wrong grave. The research group around Magnus Ladulås tomb is very excited about their new discovery and want to open a nearby tomb. They write the following on their blog:

"It is a fantastic story that is rolled up in front of our eyes. Johan II had the impressive tomb put up above the wrong grave and this historical hoax has been unchallenged for 400 years! On good grounds we believe instead that Magnus Ladulås was placed in the southern tomb in front of the choir, i.e. the tomb in which King Karl Knutsson placed himself in the 15th century. With the knowledge we have today it is obvious that we have only done half the job. In order to make further progress in this project we need to open also the southern part of the choir-tombs (the tomb of Karl Knutsson) and investigate all individuals there." (Stockholm News translation.)

If the research group's application to open this tomb is accepted by the Royal court of Sweden, it can start in 2014 at the earliest.

Short background about King Magnus Ladulås:

King Magnus Ladulås was the first 'Magnus' to rule Sweden for any length of time. He was king of Sweden 1275-1290.

The name 'Ladulås' is thought to come from his decree of 1279 prohibiting travelling nobles or bishops to demand from the peasant to provide them with food and beds. The word Ladulås is therefore believed to be the name he got after this decree.

Ladulås means "the lock of the barn", i.e. the right of the peasants in Sweden to say no to travelling nobles of enterring their house. Another theory of the name 'Ladulås' is that it refers to his Slavic heritage and would in that case be 'Ladislaus'.

1st SportAccord Mind Games

The event is over and the final results are in.  The last contest was blindfold chess - eek!  This, from the official website:

Time to say goodbye!

Friday, 16 December 2011

The SportAccord World Mind Games are over and in the final day we knew the surprising results of both the men and women events. The women's World Champion Hou Yifan from China proved again, that she is the best chess player in the world. Her results were brilliant - she was able to clearly win 2 of 3 competitions! Only in the rapid event, where she took 6th place , was this not really sucessful. Anyway, we congratulate the Chinese player with this great results!  [Keep in mind that this event was sponsored by a Chinese company and held in China. I think Hou Yifan's results speak for themselves, but she is not the best female chessplayer in the world and she certainly is not the best chessplayer in the world!] The Russian former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk can be proud of her results also. She won the rapid competition and took the 4th and 3rd place in blitz and blindfold accordingly. And last but not least - she was selected as the Ambassador of this games among the other great players and officials of 5 mind sports. We can't even imagine who can do this job better then her. She was brilliant - on the chess board and outside it. Final standings - Blindfold (Women's):  Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED 1.Rd. 2.Rd. 3.Rd. 4.Rd. 5.Rd. 6.Rd. 7.Rd. Pts. 1 1 GM Hou Yifan 2578 CHN 2 b 0 6 w 1 15 b 1 13 w 1 4 b 1 11 w 1 3 b ½ 5½ 2 9 GM Cmilyte Viktorija 2503 LTU 1 w 1 8 b ½ 9 w 1 11 b 1 10 w 1 3 w 0 4 b 0 4½ 3 16 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2439 RUS 7 b 1 4 w 0 10 w 0 12 b 1 14 w 1 2 b 1 1 w ½ 4½ 4 6 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2516 GEO 16 w 1 3 b 1 11 w 0 8 b ½ 1 w 0 10 b 1 2 w 1 4½ 5 13 IM Dembo Yelena 2468 GRE 13 w ½ 10 b ½ 8 w 0 7 b 1 9 b ½ 12 w 1 11 b 1 4½ 6 15 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2457 GER 10 w ½ 1 b 0 14 w ½ 15 w 1 13 b ½ 9 b 1 8 w 1 4½ 7 8 IM Zatonskih Anna 2506 USA 3 w 0 16 b 0 12 b 1 5 w 0 15 b 1 14 w 1 13 b 1 4 8 3 GM Lahno Kateryna 2549 UKR 15 b ½ 2 w ½ 5 b 1 4 w ½ 11 b ½ 13 w 1 6 b 0 4 9 10 GM Danielian Elina 2497 ARM 12 b 1 11 w ½ 2 b 0 10 b ½ 5 w ½ 6 w 0 16 b 1 3½ 10 7 GM Harika Dronavalli 2512 IND 6 b ½ 5 w ½ 3 b 1 9 w ½ 2 b 0 4 w 0 14 b 1 3½ 11 4 WGM Ju Wenjun 2543 CHN 14 w 1 9 b ½ 4 b 1 2 w 0 8 w ½ 1 b 0 5 w 0 3 12 2 IM Muzychuk Anna 2562 SLO 9 w 0 14 b ½ 7 w 0 3 w 0 16 b 1 5 b 0 15 w 1 2½ 13 5 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2531 BUL 5 b ½ 15 w ½ 16 b 1 1 b 0 6 w ½ 8 b 0 7 w 0 2½ 14 12 GM Socko Monika 2479 POL 11 b 0 12 w ½ 6 b ½ 16 w 1 3 b 0 7 b 0 10 w 0 2 15 11 GM Cramling Pia 2495 SWE 8 w ½ 13 b ½ 1 w 0 6 b 0 7 w 0 16 w 1 12 b 0 2 16 14 IM Skripchenko Almira 2468 FRA 4 b 0 7 w 1 13 w 0 14 b 0 12 w 0 15 b 0 9 w 0 1 Photo from Chessqueen: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, left, and GM Hou Yifan, right, the 12th and 13th Women's World Chess Champions, respectively.  Kosteniuk won gold (blitz) and bronze (blindfold) medals; Hou won two gold (rapid and blindfold).