European Women Team Championship 2013

The 2013 European Team Chess Championships took place in Warsaw, Poland November 8 - 17, 2013.  Women's Team composition at Chess Results.  Check out below for information on the outstanding performance of GM Alexandra Kosteniuk. 

Here are the women's teams final standings:

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1		Ukraine	9	7	1	1	15	222.5	24.0
2	2		Russia	9	6	2	1	14	267.5	25.0
3	4		Poland	9	6	2	1	14	203.0	21.5
4	3		Georgia	9	4	4	1	12	226.0	23.0
5	6		Armenia	9	5	2	2	12	215.5	24.0
6	8		Hungary	9	4	3	2	11	173.5	21.0
7	5		Germany	9	5	1	3	11	167.0	20.0
8	16		Lithuania	9	5	1	3	11	164.0	20.5
9	13		Poland III	9	5	1	3	11	160.0	19.0
10	18		Czech Republic	9	5	1	3	11	158.0	21.0
11	9		Spain	9	5	1	3	11	157.0	19.0
12	10		Romania	9	4	2	3	10	175.5	22.5
13	25		Poland Futures	9	5	0	4	10	132.5	18.5
14	14		Netherlands	9	4	2	3	10	115.0	18.0
15	11		Bulgaria	9	4	1	4	9	158.0	17.5
16	12		Serbia	9	4	1	4	9	137.5	18.0
17	19		Austria	9	4	1	4	9	109.5	14.5
18	27		Slovenia	9	3	3	3	9	108.5	17.5
19	15		Israel	9	3	2	4	8	158.5	19.0
20	17		Azerbaijan	9	4	0	5	8	129.0	17.0
21	24		Belarus	9	2	4	3	8	125.0	16.0
22	28		Turkey	9	4	0	5	8	118.0	19.0
23	23		England	9	4	0	5	8	56.0	12.0
24	7		France	9	3	1	5	7	119.0	17.5
25	20		Italy	9	3	1	5	7	117.5	19.0
26	21		Greece	9	2	3	4	7	116.5	15.5
27	30		Belgium	9	3	0	6	6	87.0	12.5
28	26		Switzerland	9	2	2	5	6	85.5	16.0
29	29		Norway	9	2	2	5	6	67.5	11.5
30	22		Croatia	9	2	0	7	4	59.5	12.5
31	32		Iceland	9	0	3	6	3	77.0	12.0
32	31		Finland	9	0	3	6	3	70.5	12.0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break without lowest result (Khanty-Mansiysk)
Tie Break3: points (game-points)

 

Here is the composition of the top three women's teams:

 

Team-Composition with round-results

1. Ukraine (RtgAvg:2498, Captain: Brodskiy, Mykhaylo / TB1: 15 / TB2: 222.5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Lagno Kateryna	2542	UKR	1	1	½	1	1	0	½	1	0	6.0	9	2424	2549	6	5.88	0.12	10	1.2
2	GM	Ushenina Anna	2492	UKR	1	1	1	½	1	1	½	½		6.5	8	2333	2584	6.5	5.63	0.87	10	8.7
3	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2491	UKR	1		1	½	1	1	1	1	0	6.5	8	2361	2612	6.5	5.35	1.15	10	11.5
4	GM	Zhukova Natalia	2466	UKR	0	1		½	½	0		½	½	3.0	7	2324	2274	3	4.71	-1.71	10	-17.1
5	IM	Gaponenko Inna	2402	UKR		½	½				½		½	2.0	4	2272	2272	2	2.63	-0.63	10	-6.3
2. Russia (RtgAvg:2491, Captain: Rublevskiy \sergey / TB1: 14 / TB2: 267.5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Gunina Valentina	2509	RUS	1	½	1	1	½	0	½	½	1	6.0	9	2419	2544	6	5.52	0.48	10	4.8
2	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2510	RUS	1		1	1	1	½	1	1	1	7.5	8	2322	2766	7.5	5.85	1.65	10	16.5
3	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	2499	RUS	1	0	1		0		1	1	½	4.5	7	2339	2441	4.5	4.90	-0.40	10	-4.0
4	WGM	Girya Olga	2447	RUS		½	1	1	½	1	0	½		4.5	7	2285	2387	4.5	4.88	-0.38	10	-3.8
5	WGM	Goryachkina Aleksandra	2438	RUS	0	½		1		½			½	2.5	5	2279	2279	2.5	3.47	-0.97	10	-9.7
3. Poland (RtgAvg:2410, Captain: Matlak Marek / TB1: 14 / TB2: 203)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Socko Monika	2431	POL	1	½	1	½	0	1	½	0	½	5.0	9	2466	2509	5	4.06	0.94	10	9.4
2	WGM	Zawadzka Jolanta	2383	POL	1	1	0		0	½	1	½	½	4.5	8	2406	2449	4.5	3.76	0.74	10	7.4
3	WGM	Majdan-Gajewska Joanna	2420	POL	½		1	0		0		1	1	3.5	6	2327	2384	3.5	3.73	-0.23	10	-2.3
4	IM	Rajlich Iweta	2404	POL		½		1	0		0			1.5	4	2422	2335	1.5	1.90	-0.40	10	-4.0
5	WGM	Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina	2382	POL	1	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	7.0	9	2294	2514	7	5.46	1.54	15	23.1

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS 2510), the 12th Women's World Chess Champion, had a best rating for points:

No.		Name	Rtg	Team	Pts.	Games	%	Bo.	Rp
1	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2510	Russia	7.5	8	93.8	2	2766
2	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2447	Armenia	7.5	9	83.3	1	2612
3	WIM	Sikorova Olga	2278	Czech Republic	7.0	8	87.5	4	2416

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk also had the best ratings performance:

No.			Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	Pts.	Games	%	Bo.
1		GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2510	Russia	2766	7.5	8	93.8	2
2		IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2447	Armenia	2612	7.5	9	83.3	1
3		IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2491	Ukraine	2612	6.5	8	81.3	2
4		GM	Ushenina Anna	2492	Ukraine	2584	6.5	8	81.3	2

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk also came in second overall in percentage of wins:

No.		Name	Rtg	Team	%	Games	Bo.	Pts.	Rp
1	WIM	Hairapetian Anna	2221	Armenia	100.0	1	4	1.0	0
2	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2510	Russia	93.8	8	2	7.5	2766
3	WIM	Haast Anne	2262	Netherlands	92.9	7	3	6.5	2579

2013 London Chess Classic Women's Invitational

Hola, darlings!

The Women's Invitational began on December 7th and runs through December 15, 2013.  You won't find the top-rated female chessplayers in the world here, but I would love to have any one of these players come to Milwaukee to play in one of our Hales Corners Chess Challenges and whip some male chess butt, heh heh heh.  What a lovely group of young ladies, too.

Current cross-table:

Rank	Name	Flags	Score	Fed.	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	IM Ciuksyte, Dagne		3.5	ENG	F	2345	2605	+1.11	1	½	1	1
2	WIM Fuchs, Judith		2.0	GER	F	2337	2325	-0.03	1	½	½
3	WIM Foisor, Mihaela-Veronica		2.0	ROU	F	2216	2414	+0.79	1	1	0
4	WGM Nadig, Kruttika		2.0	IND	F	2127	2301	+0.88	0	½	½	1
5	IM Bulmaga, Irina		1.5	ROU	F	2396	2117	-1.47	0	½	1	0
6	WFM Hegarty, Sarah N		0.0	ENG	F	2127	1534	-1.28	0	0	0	0

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows on 10-12-2013 at 16:12

Equus More Than Twice As Old As Previously Thought

This is fascinating!  The techniques for analyzing DNA are growing by leaps and bounds even as I type this.  The amount of information that is being revealed by the latest analyses is staggering. 

From Western Digs

700,000-Year-Old Horse Found in Yukon Permafrost Yields Oldest DNA Ever Decoded

Blake de PastinoNov 19,2013

 

The frozen remains of a horse more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced.

The horse was discovered in 2003 in the ancient permafrost of Canada’s west-central Yukon Territory, not far from the Alaskan border.

And although the animal was dated to between 560,000 and 780,000 years old, an international team of researchers was able to use a new combination of techniques to decipher its genetic code.

Among the team’s findings is that the genus Equus — which includes all horses, donkeys, and zebras — dates back more than 4 million years, twice as long ago as scientists had previously believed.

“When we started the project, everyone — including us, to be honest — thought it was impossible,” said Dr. Ludovic Orlando of the University of Copenhagen, who coordinated the research, in a statement to Western Digs.

“And it was to some extent, with the methods available by then. So it’s clearly methodological advances that made this possible.”

Orlando and his colleagues published their findings this summer in the journal Nature; he discussed them today in a lecture at The Royal Society, London.

Previous to this, the oldest genome ever sequenced was of a 120,000-year-old polar bear — no small feat considering that the half-life of a DNA molecule is estimated to be about 521 years. By this reckoning, even under the best conditions, DNA could remain intact for no more than 6.8 million years.

But Orlando’s team was able to make the most of what they had for a number of reasons, he said.

The fact that the remains were frozen helped slow the rate of decay. But they also “targeted specific DNA preservation niches,” he said, like the protein called collagen found in the animal’s bones, which is more DNA-rich than other tissues.

“But also we pioneered the usage of what is called true Single Molecular Sequencing that basically reads through molecules as they stand, without further manipulation,” Orlando added. By tracking a full, single DNA molecule, the team was able to avoid having to “amplify” fragments, which can often introduce errors.

To get a better sense of what this new, ancient genome held, Orlando’s team compared it against that of a 43,000-year-old horse, plus modern domestic horse breeds, and finally the Przewalski’s horse, an equid that makes its home on the Asian steppes and holds the title as the last surviving population of wild horses.

These full-genome comparisons allowed the scientists to construct “a molecular clock” that can reveal benchmarks in the horse’s evolutionary history, Orlando said.

And first among its revelations is that the shared ancestor of all horses, donkeys, and zebras lived more than 4 million years ago.

“So basically we know that members of the genus Equus are at least twice as old as previously believed,” he said.

The comparisons also shed light on genetic variations, and therefore population size, over time, Orlando noted, revealing “bursts of expansion” during cooler periods as grasslands grew, and contractions in size during times of warming.

The next, most obvious subject for these DNA-decoding techniques are early human ancestors, he said.

Methods like those used on the ancient horse could be applied to determine, for example, how human species like Homo heidelbergensis may have been related genetically to Homo neandertalensis and modern humans, he said.

“Basically genomes of that age will enable us to test the validity of the many paleontological species in our family tree,” he said, “and to determine how they relate to each other, and whether they exchanged genes or not.”

“It’s not the future,” he said of whether this technology is in reach. “It’s basically already there.”

Mysterious Dog Burials in Pots at Abydos

At Discovery News

Ancient Dogs Found Buried in Pots in Egypt

Dec 5, 2013 01:03 PM ET // by Rossella Lorenzi

Archaeologists have found some of the most curious canine burials ever unearthed in Egypt — two well preserved dogs buried in pots some 3,000 years ago.

Nicknamed Houdini and Chewie, the dog pots were discovered at Shunet ez Zebib, a large mud-brick structure located at Abydos — one of Egypt’s oldest standing royal monuments. The site was built around 2750 B.C and was dedicated to Khasekhemwy, a second dynasty king.

It is also known for the the thousands of ibis burials in jars that had been recovered in the dunes nearby, and for the interments of other animals, mostly raptors and canines.

“The site provided a very secure structure, with conveniently soft, sandy fill that was easy for quick burials within a sacred space,” Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at The American University in Cairo, wrote in a recently published Festschrift in honor of Dieter Kessler, a renowned scholar in the field of animal cults and Egyptian religion.

A leading expert on animal mummies, Ikram analyzed the results of a 2009 excavation led by David O’Connor and Matthew Adams, respectively director and field director of the North Abydos Project at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Digging in the Shunet ez-Zebib’s southeast corner, the archaeologists unearthed several jars containing animal burials.

“Of the many jars that were recovered, only 13 have thus far been properly investigated. Of these, four were empty, three contained ibises, and five were filled with dogs,” Ikram said.
While three pots contained skeletonized remains of dogs, the last two housed Houdini and Chewie, two animals with their fur largely intact.

“Although it is common to find birds in pots, it is rare to find other animals buried in this way,” Ikram told Discovery News.

In particular, no canine burials in pots have been recorded in the many dog cemeteries scattered throughout Egypt.

“These jars were probably made and used for some sort of storage, and then re-used as coffins for the dogs. They are quite charming as the dogs are curled up in the pots,” Ikra said.

Houdini was found in a large two-handled pot, and was buried without any wrappings.

Archaeologists have found some of the most curious canine burials ever unearthed in Egypt --
two well preserved dogs buried in pots some 3000 years ago.

Photo with kind permission of the NYU-IFA mission to Abydos

“We could not figure out how such a large animal was fit into the pot, so we named him after the magician, Houdini,” Ikram said.

The animal’s fur was brown to auburn-coppery, with portions darker and stiffer, as if they had been anointed by some substance such as oil or even resin.

“It seems as if he were put into the pot, hind limbs first, then adjusted and the rest of the body pushed in so that he was curled around,” Ikram said.

Although it is likely that Houdini is a dog, certain identification of the species is impossible as the animal could not be removed from the jar without compromising its integrity.

“The color of his almost auburn fur is unusual in a dog, as is the length of the hairs, which tend to be shorter in Egyptian dogs than the 3.5 inches found in the case of Houdini,” Ikram said.

“The only other viable identification would be a fox, but the fur’s color is not in keeping with the foxes found in Egypt today,” she added.

Not as well preserved as Houdini, Chewie was found in a large jar filled with the broken pieces of another large pot, which was used as a packing material to keep the dog in situ.

“Once the broken bits of pottery were removed, the dog contained within the pot was completely visible,” Ikram said.

The lack of evidence of any textile in the jar suggests Chewie was buried without bandages.

“The bones from his right foreleg were pushing through the skin and yellow fur,” Ikram added.

According to the researcher, both animals were mature, probably around five years of age.

“They were probably votive offerings unless they held the position of sacred animals — perhaps the pot burials are indicative of their being Sacred rather than just Votive,”Ikram said.

How the two animals were pushed into pots from which they cannot be extracted now remains a mystery.

“Without further examination and chemical testing it is not possible to understand the process by which these two animals were preserved,” Ikram said.

Among the possible embalming scenarios, the most likely treatment would include evisceration, dessication and defatting with natron salt.

Oiled and resined, the animals were then pushed into the jars.

“Sealed and buried in layers of protective sand, and cocooned in their jars, the animals’ bodies were well preserved so that they could serve as vehicles for their spirits, or kas, for eternity,” Ikram said.

Hnefatafl In Action!

The following was sent to me for publication by Rene Gralla from Hamburg, Germany.  I think it's great!

HNEFATAFL IS BACK WITH A BIG BANG:
THE CHESS OF THE VIKINGS IS THE BIG SENSATION ON INTERNATIONAL LADIES TOURNAMENT AT BERLIN
By René Gralla, Hamburg (Germany)


The Chess of the Vikings is back with a Big Bang: The ancient strategic game "HNEFATAFL" that has been extremely popular throughout the north of Europe between the 11th and 13th century has now seen his Second Coming during an international tournament of standard chess conforming to the rules of FIDE. The Scandinavian brand of the Game of Games was part of the accompanying program of the "8th International Ladies Chess Gala" on November 28th, 2013, at Berlin, Germany.

Norway's WIM Silje Bjerke played a spectacular exhibition game of HNEFATAFL against Mr. Olaf Koppe, the managing director of the German daily "neues deutschland" (translation: "New Germany") that hosts the annual contest between four aspiring stars of women chess since 2006. The historic duel of HNEFATAFL that had been integrated into the timetable of the tournament because of the initiative of German journalist René Gralla took place during the break between the three preliminary rounds and the finals of that competition of rapid chess that has been won by reigning Russian Women Champion WGM Valentina Gunina after prevailing over Germany's WGM Elisabeth Paehtz whereas Norway's Silje Bjerke finally conquered the fourth rank.

But the real highlight of that very Thursday afternoon in late November at the German capital was the showdown of HNEFATAFL between 31-year-old Silje Bjerke who actually studies gender science at Oslo University and the CEO of "neues deutschland", Mr. Olaf Koppe. The trial of strength - with Silje Bjerke leading the defending white army with her King hurrying to reach one of four fortified refuges at the corners of the board whereas Mr. Olaf Koppe's black attackers tried to stop that - attracted many spectators. Some people even climbed chairs and tables in order to have a better look at the battle that saw the Norwegian Amazon smartly outmaneuvering her opponent and forcing her opponent to gracefully resign.

"Silje Bjerke has demonstrated great talent", said one of the bystanders approvingly, a young man with long hair who might just have ridden in on his own drake. The 19-year-old Arne Roland knew what he was talking about: the student of math is - by fighting under his dreaded nick "Nath" - the reigning World Champion of online-HNEFATAFL 2013 after having prevailed over twelve opponents on the Danish platform http://aagenielsen.dk just some monthes ago.

The successful premiere of HNEFATAFL in the context of a well-established tournament of standard chess has extensively been covered by German media. Just have a look at the publications as follows:

http://berlinreporter.eu/index.php/sportbilanz/673-wikingerschach-hnefatafl-oder-die-flucht-des-koenigs

http://kiez-ticker.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4506:joachim-lissner&catid=71:berlin-sport&Itemid=108

www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/916642.der-norden-sagt-schach.html

And even the website of the German Chess Federation (!) has mentioned the event:

www.schachbund.de/news/walentina-gunina-gewinnt-die-nd-damen-schachgala-9287.html

WIM Silje Bjerke's stunt in the Chess of The Vikings has been the test run for Tromsö 2014 where there will be staged a tournament of HNEFATAFL on the first day off during the Chess Olympiad in next year's August. And WIM Silje Bjerke already today is up for making a run at the noble title of becoming Admiral of the Drakes: "The game is fun!", said the Lady Viking redivivus after her first raid on Berlin.

A couple of photos:

Reigning Online-World Champion of HNEFATAFL Arne "Nath" Roland (left) plays a casual game against Norwegian Professor Kjetil Jakobsen (right) who actually lectures on Scandinavian Studies at Humboldt University Berlin.  Photo: Joachim Lissner

 

Norway's WIM Silje Bjerke faces the CEO of the German daily "neues deutschland", Mr. Olaf Koppe, during an exhibition game that was one if the highlights of the "8th International Ladies Chess Gala 2013" that has been organized by the Berlin-based paper "neues deutschland", translation: "New Germany".  Photo: Joachim Lissner

There are some more photos, I will download and publish them tomorrow. 

Gruesome Find in Shaanxi Province Suggests Foundations for Denigration of Chinese Females Today

We all know the grim statistics of the imbalance between males and females in China today.  For those who cannot afford to have an ultrasound (like they do in India) to determine the sex of a fetus and abort female fetuses before they're born, the parents have to wait until the child is born.  If it is a girl, particularly in rural areas, the child is often "stillborn" -- that is, she is suffocated at birth and declared "stillborn," or she is allowed to be born and then thrown outside to die of exposure or as food for wild animals.  A few, a very few, are sent to dismal government-run orphanages where they live, for awhile at least (many do not survive past age two) in abysmal conditions.

So, what can we expect from a country that treats females worse than animal dung (that, at least, can be burned for fuel). 

In China, perhaps the roots of this systemic denigration of females can be traced back some 4,000 years, based upon this archaeological discovery. 

From the South China Morning Post
December 2, 2013

Shaanxi skull find shows women were sacrificed in ancient China

Archaeologists find skulls of more than 80 young women in mass grave at Shimao Ruins

Archaeologists in China have unearthed the skulls of more than 80 young women who may have been sacrificed more than 4,000 years ago, state media reported on Monday.

The skulls were found in what appears to have been a mass grave at the Shimao Ruins, the site of a neolithic stone city in the northern province of Shaanxi.

The women’s bodies were not present, the official news agency Xinhua said, adding that archaeologists concluded that the skulls were “likely to be relatedchina to the construction of the city wall” in “ancient religious activities or foundation ceremonies” before construction began.

There may have been an outbreak of mass violence or ethnic conflict in the region at the time since “ancient people were prone to use their enemies or captives as sacrifices”, it added.

The discovery is not the first instance of researchers unearthing remains related to human sacrifice in early China. Kings and emperors were regularly buried along with their servants and concubines, who were sometimes killed first – and on other occasions buried alive.

The Shimao Ruins cover more than four square kilometres and were discovered in 1976.

The total includes 40 skulls that the Shaanxi provincial government said earlier had been discovered at the site last year.

Sun Zhouyong, deputy head of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, told state broadcaster CCTV that the initial batch “show signs of being hit and burned”.

“This collective burial might also have something to do with the founding ceremony of the city,” he said.

Archaeologists have also found more than 100 remains of murals as well as large amounts of jade ware at the site of the ancient city, which sits in the Yellow River basin and is believed to date back to 2000 BC.

In 2005 archaeologists at Hongjiang in the central province of Hunan found an altar devoted to human sacrifice as well as the skeleton of one victim.

A separate altar was used for sacrificing animals at the 7,000-year-old site, which is believed to be the earliest human sacrificial site ever found in the country.


Well, how bogus is this?  The article continually mentions "human sacrifice" in various contexts but fails to discuss at all the 80 female skulls that were found at this particular site or what happened to captured males.  Surely some males were captured if this was a warfare scenario -- such as young male infants and male children.  What happened to THEM?

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk Back in Top Ten Women World Rankings

Hooray!  She's worked hard the past few years and this year, 2013, her hard work with her coach has paid off.  Congratulations to GM Alexandra Kosteniuk for a fine year.  Check it out, Alexandra posted about it recently at one of her blogs, Chess Queen (TM):


 

FIDE November 2013 Top 100 Women Ratings List has Alexandra at #13 (as of November 29, 2013) -- female players rated at 2500 and above:

Rank	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games	B-Year
1	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2689	0	1976
2	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2629	6	1994
3	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2618	22	1987
4	Muzychuk, Anna	g	SLO	2566	6	1990
5	Zhao, Xue	g	CHN	2565	15	1985
6	Dzagnidze, Nana	g	GEO	2556	0	1987
7	Lagno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2542	18	1989
8	Khotenashvili, Bela	m	GEO	2524	11	1988
9	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	g	RUS	2523	0	1985
10	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2520	10	1963
11	Ju, Wenjun	wg	CHN	2518	36	1991
12	Hoang, Thanh Trang	g	HUN	2511	11	1980
13	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2510	25	1984
14	Tan, Zhongyi	wg	CHN	2510	15	1991
15	Sebag, Marie	g	FRA	2510	0	1986
16	Gunina, Valentina	g	RUS	2509	24	1989
17	Cmilyte, Viktorija	g	LTU	2506	7	1983
18	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2502	0	1983

Incredible Natural Phenomenon - The Birds Make Giant Bird in the Sky

Hola darlings!  For those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving Day yesterday, I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends, feasting and drinking to excess :)

Check this out!  This is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen -- wish I could see it in person!!!

Starling murmurations create fantastic show in Scottish sky

Paul Bunyard films the poetry-in-motion spectacle of nature, puts it to music

November 27, 2013 by David Strege

A flock of 10,000 starlings put on quite an impressive show near Gretna, Scotland, with a photographer capturing the imagination with still photos of a gorilla, two dolphins, and a giant bird painted in the sky by starling murmuration, featured in the U.K. MailOnline.

Photographer Paul Bunyard of England went a step further by filming the spectacle of nature and putting it to music. Use your imagination and you might see a whale, a racecar, and any number of other images. The amazing display is pure poetry in motion. Enjoy:



MailOnline reported that the weight of the starlings resting on electricity wires caused minor power outages in a rural village near Gretna, which has a population of around 2,000. But the starlings were a welcomed sight when in flight.

“People can see in them what they like,” photographer Owen Humphreys told MailOnline.
So why do the starlings make these creative gyrations?

“There are several theories as to why starlings gather in this way,” Chris Collett of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds told MailOnline. “Some say it’s for fun, or for communication, but the most likely reason is for survival, the theory being that the sheer number of birds will confuse a bird of prey.”

Whatever the reason, we get to enjoy the show.

Meretites and Kahai, Pyramid Age Love Story

Pyramid Age love story comes to life in Egyptian tomb's vivid color

Owen Jarus LiveScience   
Nov. 15, 2013 at 6:36 PM ET

 

She was a priestess named Meretites, and he was a singer named Kahai, who performed at the pharaoh's palace. They lived about 4,400 years ago in an age when pyramids were being built in Egypt, and their love is reflected in a highly unusual scene in their tomb — an image that has now been published in all its surviving color.
The tomb at Saqqara — which held this couple, their children and possibly their grandchildren — has now been studied and described by researchers at Macquarie University's Australian Center for Egyptology. Among the scenes depicted is a relief painting showing the couple gazing into each other's eyes, with Meretites placing her right hand over Kahai's right shoulder.

Such a display of affection was extraordinary for Egypt during the Pyramid Age. Only a few examples of a face-to-face embrace survive from the Old Kingdom (2649 B.C. to 2150 B.C.), the time period when the couple lived and pyramid building thrived, said Miral Lashien, a researcher at Macquarie University. "I think that this indicates very special closeness," Lashien told LiveScience in an email.

This scene, along with other works of art recorded in the tomb, suggest that women in Pyramid Age Egypt enjoyed a greater level of equality than some scholars believe. "The tomb of Kahai is an example of the importance of women," wrote Lashien in the email. "The frequency of their representations and the equal size to their husbands or brothers suggest equal status." [We already knew that.]

Photo by Ms. Effy Alexakis, (c) Macquarie University Ancient Cultures Research
Center.  Inside a tomb dating back to the age of the Pyramids in Egypt was this image,
an embrace between a priestess and her husband, a singer in the pharaoh's palace. The
image has been  recorded by researchers in full color.

In the scene, Kahai is wearing a wig, a collar over his shoulders, kilt, bracelets and leopard's skin. He also is holding a staff and scepter, which serve as symbols of authority and responsibility probably related to his rise to the position of singing director, Lashien said. Meretites' wardrobe includes a long wig, choker and broad collar, bracelets and a long, tight dress with shoulder straps that appear to leave a breast exposed. (The display of bare breasts was not unusual among ancient Egyptian women.) [Don't you love how long Meretites' arm is -- look where her fingers are resting on Kahai's shoulder and compare the length of her arm versus his, LOL!]
This kind of embrace was not limited to romantic love; one of the few other similar embraces known from Pyramid Age Egypt shows two men who were likely twin brothers, Lashien noted.

Pyramid Age ColorThe tomb itself was discovered in 1966 and published in a book in 1971 mainly in black-and-white images. Scientists returned to the tomb in January and February of 2010 to study and document its artwork in full color. "This tomb is one of the most colourful examples of Old Kingdom art and certainly deserves a full-color publication," Lashien writes in her recently published book, "The Chapel of Kahai and his Family" (The Australian Center for Egyptology: Reports 33, 2013).
When the tomb was discovered in 1966, mummified remains were found in it, but it is not certain if they belonged to the family members. Egyptians in later periods often reused the tombs of those who had lived before them.

Archaeological and artistic evidence indicates the tomb was built during or shortly after the rule of King Niuserre (2420 B.C. - 2389 B.C.), who constructed his own pyramid just to the southeast of the Giza pyramids at a site now referred to as Abusir.

A family of singersKahai and his sons bear titles that indicate they worked as singers, with Kahai becoming the "overseer of singers of the two houses." That title meant "the family was employed in the palace," Lashien said in the email. "Probably, as a result, their tomb is particularly beautiful, being perhaps decorated by the royal artists," she said.

Indeed, the tomb art includes a colorful scene showing two people singing and musicians playing harps and flutes. Whether the musicians shown are family members or other individuals is unknown.
Despite his lofty title, Kahai would probably have kept on singing in addition to performing administrative duties, Lashien said. Looking at representations of musicians from the time period in which they lived, she said, "We have no evidence of large music/singing groups which required a full-time director. The representations show small groups of two to five men and/or women playing string and wind instruments, with one or two singers."

While the tomb itself doesn't reveal the specific songs Kahai sang for the pharaoh's family, the subject matter would, at least in some cases, have been cheerful. From other inscriptions, researchers know, for example, that the songs speak of the "pleasures of life, not different from today," Lashien said in the email, noting that one song encourages people to "eat, drink and be merry."

This is a snip of one of the images on the right side of the photo
of Kahai's and Meretites' tomb.  They are both sitting before
their respective game boards, oh sorry, they are "offering tables"
according to the archaeologists and the playing pieces are not
playing pieces at all but loafs of bread.  Yeah, right.

A father burying his adult sonThough Kahai was apparently successful at his job, his life was not devoid of tragedy. When the team studied the tomb's inscriptions they discovered that Kahai had to bury one of his adult sons, named Nefer. The tomb decorations include depictions of the young children whom Nefer left behind, and an inscription suggests that Nefer's wife was pregnant at the time of his death.

But even when family members died, their survivors could take comfort in the belief that the tomb provided them with a way to keep in some form of contact. The tomb includes five "false doors" with images of the deceased that acted as a conduit of sorts between the world of the living and that of the dead.

"Food was placed in front of the false door, and the Ka (life force) of the deceased was able to come out through the false door to receive the offerings and to enjoy the day," Lashien said.

Oh Pooh, Not a Curse After All

So much for the curse of the mummy and all that, ha!  I do rather wish the cause of the movement would not have been so easy to figure out...

19 November 2013 Last updated at 21:04 ET

Vibrations rotate Manchester Museum's ancient statue

Traffic and footsteps caused an ancient Egyptian statue to rotate inside its glass case, an investigation has found.

Curators at Manchester Museum were left baffled when a time lapse video caught the 10ins (25cm) high stone statue, which dates back to 1,800 BC, moving.

Vibrations expert Steve Gosling placed a specialist three-axis sensor under Neb-Senu's glass cabinet to record its movement over 24 hours.

He said the convex base of the figure made it "more susceptible" to rotate.

Visitor footfall
The sensor revealed traffic and footfall vibrations at busy times of the day, such as 18:00 GMT and 07:00 GMT, caused the statue to rotate.

Mr Gosling, of 24 Acoustics engineering noise consultancy, said: "The vibration is a combination of multiple sources so there's buses outside on the busy road, there's footfall activity."

Movement ceased overnight.

"There's a lump at the bottom which makes it more susceptible to vibrations than the others which have a flat base," Mr Gosling added

Before the test, Egyptology curator Annie Garnett said various theories had been advanced ranging from vibration caused by nearby traffic to visitor footfall.

The statue was donated to the museum by a private collector in 1933.

Testing was undertaken for ITV's Mystery Map series which investigates myths and mysterious stories.

2013 Brno Open

The 2013 Brno (Czech Republic) Open took place November 16 - 23, 2013.  Here are the final standings - a chess femme took clear first place. I saw this reported at The Week in Chess through the early rounds, tournament results at Chess-Results dot com. 

Konečné pořadí po 9 kolech

Poř.	St.č.			Jméno	Typ	pohlaví	Skup.	FED	RtgFIDE	RtgN	Body	PH 1	PH 2	PH 3	K	rtg+/-
1	6		WIM	Abdumalik Zhansaya	U16	w	F	KAZ	2311	0	7.5	40.5	51.5	6	15	30.3
2	2		FM	Kantans Toms			F	LAT	2412	0	6.5	40.5	52.5	5	10	-3.8
3	3		FM	Kojima Shinya			F	JPN	2364	0	6.5	40.0	51.5	5	15	-2.7
4	7		FM	Burdalev Kirill			F	UKR	2280	0	6.5	39.5	51.0	5	15	10.6
5	12		WIM	Semenova Elena		w	F	RUS	2177	0	6.5	39.0	49.0	6	15	18.6
6	1		IM	Plat Vojtech			F	CZE	2472	0	6.5	37.5	49.5	5	10	-1.7
7	5		IM	Strebkovs Andrejs			F	LAT	2324	0	6.5	37.5	47.0	4	10	-4.0
8	14			Tsenov Tsvetoslav			F	BUL	2134	0	6.5	32.0	41.5	5	15	15.9
9	13			Kearns Christopher			F	GER	2158	0	6.0	39.0	49.0	5	15	15.6
10	17			Tesar Jan			F	CZE	2072	0	6.0	36.0	45.5	5	15	13.8
11	10			Golcman Evgeny	S60		F	RUS	2209	0	6.0	32.0	41.5	5	15	-17.3
12	11			Blahynka Martin	U16		F	CZE	2188	0	5.5	40.5	51.5	3	15	2.7
13	15			Ben-Natan Yigal			F	ISR	2084	0	5.5	36.5	47.5	4	15	6.0
	35			Chan Naruna		w	F	RUS	1848	0	5.5	36.5	47.5	4	15	45.3
15	16			Grove Michael			F	SCO	2078	0	5.5	36.0	46.5	5	15	5.1
16	9		FM	Vorobyov Yrij	S60		F	UKR	2226	0	5.5	35.5	46.0	4	15	-26.1
17	4		IM	Chudinovskikh Alexander M.			F	RUS	2334	0	5.5	34.0	43.5	5	10	-22.4
18	19		FM	Spodny Josef	S60		F	CZE	2014	0	5.5	30.0	38.5	2	15	-5.1
19	8		IM	Piankov Evgenij	S60		F	UKR	2264	0	5.0	42.0	53.5	4	10	-4.9
20	20			Kotva Milan	S60		F	CZE	1996	0	5.0	34.0	43.0	4	15	-6.3
21	37			Kreyssig Bruno	U16		F	GER	1837	0	5.0	33.5	43.5	4	15	22.6
22	21			Tabola Marcin			F	POL	1990	0	5.0	33.5	40.5	3	15	0.4
23	44			Kosina Vladimir	S60		F	CZE	1775	0	5.0	32.0	41.0	3	15	17.5
24	22			Vesely Jaromir			F	CZE	1952	0	5.0	32.0	40.5	3	15	-26.3
25	18			Bakalar Jan	S60		F	SVK	2048	0	5.0	31.5	41.0	4	15	-15.3
	34			Fowler David			F	SCO	1859	0	5.0	31.5	41.0	4	15	7.8
27	45			Zikan Karel	S60		F	CZE	1774	0	5.0	29.5	36.5	3	15	17.4
28	32			Veznik Michael			F	CZE	1874	0	4.5	36.5	46.5	4	15	3.3
29	31			Saroun Radek			F	CZE	1875	0	4.5	36.5	46.0	3	15	1.4
30	33			Simo Marian	U16		F	SVK	1873	0	4.5	35.5	45.0	2	15	0.0
31	27			Kopecek Ivan	S60		F	CZE	1912	0	4.5	35.0	45.0	4	15	12.1
32	36			Kucera Jan			F	CZE	1844	0	4.5	34.5	44.0	2	30	11.7
33	28			Pultorak Jan	U16		F	POL	1908	0	4.5	33.0	41.0	4	15	-0.8
34	23			Lintner Felix			F	AUT	1943	0	4.5	32.0	41.5	3	30	-36.6
35	26			Lages Karl-Heinz			F	GER	1917	0	4.5	30.5	39.0	3	30	0.0
36	42			Chapman Nigel			F	SCO	1789	0	4.5	30.5	38.5	3	15	-0.2
37	57			Oglaza Oskar	U16		F	POL	1572	0	4.5	29.5	38.0	3	15	42.8
38	66			Vanicek Lukas			N	CZE	0	1692	4.5	29.5	37.0	4
39	60			Glacner Karel	S60		F	CZE	1554	0	4.5	26.0	33.0	4	15	34.7
40	39			Volna Lukas	U16		F	SVK	1815	0	4.0	33.5	44.0	2	15	18.5
41	24			Stanek Stanislav			F	CZE	1941	0	4.0	33.0	43.5	3	15	-17.7
42	25			Al-Dhabbi Fares			F	YEM	1939	0	4.0	33.0	42.0	3	15	-21.3
43	40			Hrdlicka Vladan			F	CZE	1805	0	4.0	32.0	42.5	4	30	-13.2
44	69			Kaplan Milan			*	CZE	0	1250	4.0	31.0	39.0	3
45	41			Stary Vladimir			F	CZE	1794	0	4.0	30.0	39.0	2	15	-12.0
46	48			Veselsky Jan			A	CZE	1695	0	4.0	28.5	37.5	3	15	3.2
47	51			Baraniuk Andrej	S60		F	UKR	1673	0	4.0	27.0	35.5	3	15	9.3
48	43			Feldvabl Vilem	S60		F	CZE	1779	0	4.0	26.0	34.0	3	15	-7.5
49	50			Romanek Zdenek			F	CZE	1675	0	4.0	26.0	33.5	4	15	-4.3
50	67			Kan Vojtech			N	CZE	0	1664	4.0	25.5	31.5	3
51	53			Rezny Frantisek			F	CZE	1623	0	4.0	22.0	28.5	2	15	-13.5
52	29			Paulik Martin			F	CZE	1903	0	3.5	28.5	38.0	3	15	-11.4
53	58			Bata Jiri			F	CZE	1568	0	3.5	28.5	36.5	3	30	21.6
54	47			Doskar Miloslav	S60		F	CZE	1743	0	3.0	32.0	40.5	3	15	-4.8
55	38			Zejda Karel	S60		F	CZE	1825	0	3.0	30.0	37.5	3	15	-32.0
56	64			Klimina Nina	S60	w	F	RUS	1345	0	3.0	29.0	37.5	3	30	63.6
57	54			Potapova Tatiana		w	F	RUS	1622	0	3.0	28.0	36.0	2	15	9.4
58	52			Kaeding Wolfgang	S60		F	GER	1659	0	3.0	27.5	35.5	2	30	-27.9
59	62			Koci Tereza	U16	w	F	CZE	1439	0	3.0	25.0	31.0	3	15	25.0
60	68			Kaeding Dieter	S60		*	GER	0	1250	3.0	23.0	29.5	2
61	59			Mach Michal			F	CZE	1559	0	3.0	22.0	28.5	0	15	-0.9
62	65			Kacalek Tomas			N	CZE	0	1760	2.5	30.0	38.0	2
63	55			Sojka Oldrich	S60		F	CZE	1607	0	2.5	27.5	34.5	1	15	0.0
64	46			Hruby Vaclav	S60		F	CZE	1746	0	2.5	24.0	32.0	1	15	-47.8
65	61			Zlamal Zdenek	S60		F	CZE	1518	0	2.5	23.0	29.5	0	15	-8.9
66	63			Richterova Julie	U16	w	F	CZE	1439	0	2.5	21.5	28.0	1	15	0.6
67	56			Vlajkov Milenko	S60		F	GER	1600	0	2.0	21.5	28.5	0	30	-74.1
68	30			Horyna Josef	S60		F	CZE	1878	0	1.0	25.5	33.0	1	15	0.0
69	49			Strnad Jiri	S60		F	CZE	1683	0	1.0	24.0	32.5	1	30	-50.7

Poznámka:
Pomocné hodnocení1: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Pomocné hodnocení2: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Pomocné hodnocení3: The greater number of victories