This an excerpt from a forthcoming "graphic novel" Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by Penelope Bagieu, due to be out on March 6, 2018. The excerpt was published at The Lily, a product of The Washington Post.
I'm not going to attempt to cut and paste the graphics here, complete with text. Here's the link. Enjoy - it's a fast read, and fascinating. You can find a lot more about Wu Zetian online. The Empress created her own dynasty (which did not outlive her); aging and sick, she ceded the throne to back to her son Zhong Zhong in 705 CE, and died in 713 CE at the age of 81.
All of this intrigue and action took place under the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), during which the game called "Chinese chess" - Xiangqi - had fully evolved from the ancient Han Dynasty game of Liubo (played with "Generals" and "pawns" and moves determined by dice) into a game of multiple pieces and from a game of chance using dice to determine moves to one of strategy, where moves were constrained only by certain rules and the knowledge and abilities of the respective players.
I'll bet Empress Wu was a great fan of Xiangqi. A few years back, a tomb of one of the Empress' trusted female aides was discovered and excavated, and I wrote about it and some about Wu Zetian. Link.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Thursday, February 15, 2018
UBS Freezes FIDE Bank Accounts - Bank: Get Rid of Ilyumzhinov OR No Accounts
So: They finally decided to bust the crook after ALL these years. First Obama and now Trump backing Kasparov in this tit-for-tat proxy fight as tensions with Russia continue to heat up - despite whatever hold Putin has over Trump ...]
World chess body has Swiss bank accounts frozen after president accused of links to Isil oil deals
The world governing body of chess has had its financial dealings halted amid allegations its scandal-hit president facilitated the funding of Islamic State terrorists.
Fide, the Lausanne-based federation which runs the game, disclosed on Tuesday that Swiss bank UBS closed its accounts after finally losing patience with its failure to depose Russian millionaire Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Mr Ilyumzhinov, who was once part of Vladimir Putin's inner circle, was placed on a US wanted list in November 2015 for allegedly being involved in oil deals which left a financial trail to the terror group Isil via the Syrian government.
But despite repeatedly denying the allegations, and claiming he is the victim of a US-led plot to topple him, Mr Ilyumzhinov has been unable to clear his name.
In a letter published on the Fide website, treasurer Dr Adrian Siegel revealed UBS had shut its bank accounts and the federation faces a "serious problem" paying bills just weeks before the Candidates, its flagship world championship play-off tournament in Berlin which has a prize fund of $460,000.
Dr Siegal laid the blame squarely on Ilyumzhinov, saying the allegations "severely damaged Fide's business activities".
"It was only a matter of time before we faced this serious problem," he said. "In summary, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's problems severely damaged Fide's business activities and we have to look for a new banking connection."
The decision by UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, comes amid a wider attempt in Switzerland to clean up the reputation of its banking sector, which has long been accused of turning a blind eye to criminal activity.
It is doubtful whether any other bank will agree to take on Fide's accounts while Mr Ilyumzhinov remains president. Mr Ilyumzhinov, an eccentric former politician who claims he was abducted by aliens twice, has reigned as the king of chess for 23 years.
But after the US Department of Justice's decision to investigate him, rumours of back-stabbing and in-fighting began to swirl around Fide.
The embattled head was unable to attend the 2016 world chess championship held in New York for fear of arrest and became increasingly sidelined.
Last year, Fide officially announced Mr Ilyumzhinov had stepped down but then backtracked when the former head of the Russian semi-autonomous republic of Kalmykia insisted it was "fake news".
David Kramaley, founder of chess learning site Chessable.com, said: "This kind of turmoil at the top of chess has got to stop for the good of the game.
The game needs stable leadership." In 2014 Mr Ilyumzhinov overcame an attempt to unseat him led by his US-based rival Garry Kasparov amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging, allegations Mr Ilyumzhinov and Fide denied.
In a comment a spokesperson for UBS said: "We can't comment on whether individuals or organizations are clients of UBS. We follow all laws and regulations that are applicable to us."
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
DNA Analysis of 10,000 Year Old "Cheddar Man" Once Again Upends Things We Think About "Race"
Race is an artificial concept. But research in the 21st century is overthrowing old concepts held for generations. Perhaps in time the concept of "race" will finally die, because there is NO scientific basis for it.
Reported at Yahoo, from Associated Press
Reported at Yahoo, from Associated Press
DNA suggests 10,000-year-old Brit had dark skin, blue eyes
JILL LAWLESS,Associated Press 6 hours ago
LONDON (AP) — DNA from a 10,000-year-old skeleton found in an English cave suggests the oldest-known Briton had dark skin and blue eyes, researchers said Wednesday.
Scientists from Britain's Natural History Museum and University College London analyzed the genome of "Cheddar Man," who was found in Cheddar Gorge in southwest England in 1903.
Scientists led by museum DNA expert Ian Barnes drilled into the skull to extract DNA from bone powder. They say analysis indicates he had blue eyes, dark curly hair and "dark to black" skin pigmentation.
The researchers say the evidence suggests that Europeans' pale skin tones developed much later than originally thought.
"Cheddar Man subverts people's expectations of what kinds of genetic traits go together," said Tom Booth, a postdoctoral researcher at the museum who worked on the project.
"It seems that pale eyes entered Europe long before pale skin or blond hair, which didn't come along until after the arrival of farming."
"He reminds us that you can't make assumptions about what people looked like in the past based on what people look like in the present, and that the pairings of features we are used to seeing today aren't something that's fixed," Booth said on the museum website.
It's thought ancient humans living in northern regions developed pale skin because it absorbs more sunlight, which is needed to produce vitamin D.
Cheddar Man shares a genetic profile with several other Mesolithic-era individuals found in Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg whose DNA has already been analyzed. The group, known as Western Hunter-Gatherers, migrated to Europe from the Middle East after the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.
Dan Bradley, a professor of population genetics at Trinity College Dublin, said the findings were credible.
"There are other data from hunter-gatherers who lived in western Europe, and they also show darker skin and light eyes, blue eyes," said Bradley, who was not involved with the study.
"Modern Europeans are a mixture of people like this, who are older hunter-gatherer inhabitants of western Europe, and people who came in with the advent of agriculture, and people who came from the east in the Bronze Age and who also brought new genetics into the region."
Cheddar Man is the oldest complete skeleton found in Britain. Humans had lived in Britain off and on for thousands of years before his time, but they had been wiped out during periodic ice ages.
Cheddar Man would have been one of a tiny population of hunter-gatherers in Britain at the time. Scientists, who have been studying his skeleton for decades, say he appears to have had a healthy diet but died in his 20s, possibly through violence.
Dutch "paleo artists" Alfons and Adrie Kennis created a likeness of Cheddar Man based on the British scientists' findings, showing a man with long curly hair, a short beard and striking blue eyes.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
4400 Year Old Tomb Found of Hetpet, High Ranking Priestess to Hathor
Newsweek Magazine Online
Link to Twitter Feed video in article.
Link to BBC video from a shorter article in The Week contains scenes of the tomb paintings; that article indicates that Hetpet was a high ranking official and closely connected to the Royal Palace and the tomb dates to about 2400 BCE.
TOMB REVEALS RARE PAINTINGS IN NEW EXCAVATION
An ancient Egyptian tomb, dating back more than 4,000 years, was discovered by archaeologists about 12 miles outside of Cairo, the country’s capital. The finding marks the first discovery to be announced in 2018, Ahram Online, an Egyptian news organization, reports.
The tomb is thought to have belonged to “Hetpet,” a high-ranking female official, Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announced. The mud-brick tomb is in good condition and features various paintings of Hetpet, who was a priestess to Hathor, the goddess of fertility.
“The tomb has very distinguished wall paintings, in a very good conservation condition, depicting 'Hetpet' standing in different hunting and fishing scenes or sitting before a large offering table receiving offerings from her children,” according to the ministry.
Some of the scenes also show performances, as well as, one monkey collecting fruit while the other one dances. Paintings like this have been found before, but not often.
“Such scenes are rare... and have only been found previously in the (Old Kingdom) tomb of 'Ka-Iber' where a painting shows a monkey dancing in front of a guitarist not an orchestra,” Mostafa Al-Waziri, leader of the archaeological mission, told Agence France-Presse.
The tomb, which was found near the Giza Pyramids, also has a shrine; however, no mummy was found.
Archaeologists began excavating the site last October, but didn’t reveal their findings to the public until Saturday, The Associated Press (AP) reports. Al-Waziri believes there are other ancient artifacts waiting to be uncovered near the site.
“This is a very promising area. We expect to find more,” Al-Waziri said, according to the AP. “We have removed between 250-300 cubic meters of layers of earth to find the tomb.”
“What we see above the earth’s surface in Egypt doesn’t exceed 40 percent of what the core holds,” he added.Link to Twitter Feed video in article.
Link to BBC video from a shorter article in The Week contains scenes of the tomb paintings; that article indicates that Hetpet was a high ranking official and closely connected to the Royal Palace and the tomb dates to about 2400 BCE.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
800 Year Old Islamic Style Chess Piece Excavated in Norway
From Newsweek Online Magazine
“The design of the piece has an abstract shape, and is designed according to Islamic tradition, where no human figures are to be depicted,” Lars Haugesten, project manager for the excavation, said in a statement. Rather, it is decorated with tiny circles and a protruding 'snout' on the top with two dotted circles. The piece is made from an antler, and a chunk of lead was likely placed in the middle of the piece to help it stand up firmly on a chessboard, according to NIKU.
The ancient form of chess, called shatranj, helped archaeologists determine that the piece appears to be a horse, which would be a knight in today's game. Chess likely spread to the Nordic region by the last half of the 12th century, according to Haugesten. The game was played in the Arab world after the conquest of Persia in the 7th century and spread to Spain in the 10th century by the Moors. From Spain, it spread northwards to Scandinavia. The oldest find from the Nordic region was Lund, Sweden—a chess piece similar to the latest artifact from Tønsberg.
... Knight pieces are few and far between when it comes to medieval finds. Over 1,000 game pieces in general have been found in Bergen, another city in Norway, alone, but only six abstract knights such as this one have been excavated, according to Haugesten. "In Norway, some chess pieces from the Middle Ages have been found, but few similar knights," Haugesten said.
ANCIENT CHESS PIECE WITH ISLAMIC DESIGNS DISCOVERED IN NORWAY, BAFFLING ARCHAEOLOGISTS
People have been playing chess for centuries—but a new chess piece found in Norway further reveals the spread of the ancient game to the Nordic region, and provides some intriguing insights about the game's history. An 800-year-old chess piece was excavated at a site in Norway, covered with a unique pattern of circles. The piece depicts a horse-like figure, but in today’s game it would be known as the knight.
Just before Christmas, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage (NIKU) excavated the one-inch tall piece in a 13th-century house in Tønsberg, which is Norway's oldest city. What makes this piece particularly interesting is its unique Arabian pattern and abstract shape, according to NIKU.
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| The piece made of an antler is covered with circular designs.LARS HAUGESTEN/NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE RESEARCH |
The medieval knight piece has a protruding snout on the top with two dotted circles.LARS HAUGESTEN/NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE RESEARCH
"No previous archaeological finds from Tønsberg have such details, which emphasizes that this chess piece is a unique object," Haugesten said.
The medieval chess piece is one of a handful of 'knight' pieces discovered in Norway."No previous archaeological finds from Tønsberg have such details, which emphasizes that this chess piece is a unique object," Haugesten said.
NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE RESEARCH
The ancient form of chess, called shatranj, helped archaeologists determine that the piece appears to be a horse, which would be a knight in today's game. Chess likely spread to the Nordic region by the last half of the 12th century, according to Haugesten. The game was played in the Arab world after the conquest of Persia in the 7th century and spread to Spain in the 10th century by the Moors. From Spain, it spread northwards to Scandinavia. The oldest find from the Nordic region was Lund, Sweden—a chess piece similar to the latest artifact from Tønsberg.
... Knight pieces are few and far between when it comes to medieval finds. Over 1,000 game pieces in general have been found in Bergen, another city in Norway, alone, but only six abstract knights such as this one have been excavated, according to Haugesten. "In Norway, some chess pieces from the Middle Ages have been found, but few similar knights," Haugesten said.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
2018 Women's March
Hola, everybody!
Today is a big day in the states - the one year anniversary of *president Donald J. Trump's inauguration - and the one year anniversary of marches across the country of millions of women of all races, colors, creeds, ages and physical conditions.
I am so proud of my sisters, both my sisters by birth and my sisters by choice, on everyday but especially on this day where we unite in common cause in support of equality, justice, and to celebrate our sisterhood. My hometown's March began at 10 a.m. our time, on my way out the door now, but I wanted to post this map of the United States and Canada showing EVENTS scheduled by Women's March organizers in both countries. It is truly amazing, awe-inspiring and inspirational. Goddess bless us all.
Today is a big day in the states - the one year anniversary of *president Donald J. Trump's inauguration - and the one year anniversary of marches across the country of millions of women of all races, colors, creeds, ages and physical conditions.
I am so proud of my sisters, both my sisters by birth and my sisters by choice, on everyday but especially on this day where we unite in common cause in support of equality, justice, and to celebrate our sisterhood. My hometown's March began at 10 a.m. our time, on my way out the door now, but I wanted to post this map of the United States and Canada showing EVENTS scheduled by Women's March organizers in both countries. It is truly amazing, awe-inspiring and inspirational. Goddess bless us all.
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| Source: Womensmarch.com. Women are on the march all around the world, not just here - everywhere! You can find events using the search tool. |
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
St. Anthony's Blessing of Animals, St. Guinefort, St. Christopher, and Dog-Headed People, Yikes!
Hola darlings!
As I was updating myself on the news after a brief nap this early afternoon, I came across a short article at Yahoo News showing a slide show of photographs from the celebration of St. Anthony's Feast Day in Spain, who is the patron saint of animals.
There is a tradition of blessing animals on this day in Spain and some rather bizarre rituals as well, such as riding horses through fire for the benefit of the smoke which is somehow thought to protect them then through the rest of the year. Perhaps a modified version of the "Aryan" horse-sacrifice ritual where the queen then had intercourse with the dead horse?
Anyway, this led me to thinking about the dog-headed saint that I've written about before, but I couldn't remember his name. So I did a quick Google search to refresh my memory and lo and behold, up pops a lot of information about an Orthodox icon, St. Christopher (dog headed human), St. Guinefort (a greyhound patron saint in France - brutally suppressed by the Fake Male God Enforcers during the Inquisition) and about a dog-headed RACE of people, I'm not kidding. Now, honestly darlings, I don't recall at all reading about a dog-headed RACE of people before; I remember reading about the dog-headed saint and writing about him; and I may have read about a poor greyhound dog being made a saint in France but not writing about HIM (why would I not have done this, I'm asking myself???), so I guess last time I wrote about a dog-headed saint I didn't do very good research, or something, hmmm.
But Holy Hathor, what a fascinating subject! What is so bitterly ironic about this is that DOGS are the ancient companions of the Great Mother Goddess. They were thought to be the harbingers and also cleaner-uppers (is that a word?) of Death and always accompanied the Great Mother Goddess during her walks across the Milky Way or the Primrose Path or Route 66, take your pick. Modern thought also suggest that it may well have been women who domesticated the first wolves into the dogs we know and love so much today, in various places around the world, at various times, some as far back as 16,000 years ago somewhere in the vast plains of Mongolia, but also independently in the ancient Middle East. I think it's still unclear; not sure I buy into the "happened in several places more or less at once (archaeologically speaking, that is) in several different areas around the world" hypothesis. What we continue to push back in time is just how old evidence of the domestication of dogs is!
I'm not going to go into a long, wordy and overblown exposition on these various dog people/dog saints themes - you can read easy :) But if you want to do some reading on your own, here are some links for your perusal:
Cynocephali in the Ancient Christian Tradition, Scott Nevins, March 10, 2015, from Scott Nevins Memorial
St. Guinefort, Wikipedia entry. The patriarchal storm god haters of the Great Mother Goddess are much in evidence in the account of the "killer mothers" of their babies. Note in the account that the dog was buried in a well and surrounded by trees to set up a shrine that people came to. Now please - if this doesn't sound like a sacred Goddess grove complete with sacred spring and her faithful companion buried in her sacred space, what does? Heeellllloooooooo....
I am intrigued by the reference in the account of passing a baby nine times through an opening between the trunks of two trees in the "wood of Rimite" -- not sure if this means the woods (location, area?) were called "Rimite" or the particular spot where the babies were allegedly passed between two trees nine times was called "Rimite." I cannot help but wonder if there is some connection between this word (Rimite) and a name in a much earlier document from the second half of the 9th century CE, an Orthodox elder by the name of "Rimbert," as referenced in Scott Nevins' "Cynocephali in the Ancient Christian Tradition" (linked above).
Could it be that Inquisitioners, who were Roman Catholic, had come across earlier references to Rimbert in either reading or hearing something about inquiries being made on "dog-headed" people many years prior? Could "Rimite" have been conflated with "Rimbert" and then ridiculous stories made up about Satan seducing women (always women, NEVER men) into killing their own babies to fire up prejudice against uppity women? I wouldn't put anything past those corrupted rotten dudes in the so-called "holy church" back then. I should point out that the Inquisition first broke out in France in the 12th century CE in response to what was seen as encroachment on their territory (conveniently called "heresy") by Cathars (which preached equality of females, among other things anathema to the Men in Purple), Albigensians and Waldensians. St. Guinefort is a localized French saint, never officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Understanding the Dog Headed Icon of St. Christopher, July 8, 2013, Jonathan Pageau, Orthodox Arts Journal.
There's tons of info out there, get reading! The more you learn, the more you can fill in the blanks in HERstory yourself.
As I was updating myself on the news after a brief nap this early afternoon, I came across a short article at Yahoo News showing a slide show of photographs from the celebration of St. Anthony's Feast Day in Spain, who is the patron saint of animals.
 |
| The hand of Santiago Fulero, Major priest of the Saint Pablo church, blesses people with their pets outside of the church, during the feast of St. Anthony, Spain’s patron saint of animals, in Zaragoza, northern Spain, Wednesday, Jan.17, 2018. (Photo: Alvaro Barrientos/AP) |
Anyway, this led me to thinking about the dog-headed saint that I've written about before, but I couldn't remember his name. So I did a quick Google search to refresh my memory and lo and behold, up pops a lot of information about an Orthodox icon, St. Christopher (dog headed human), St. Guinefort (a greyhound patron saint in France - brutally suppressed by the Fake Male God Enforcers during the Inquisition) and about a dog-headed RACE of people, I'm not kidding. Now, honestly darlings, I don't recall at all reading about a dog-headed RACE of people before; I remember reading about the dog-headed saint and writing about him; and I may have read about a poor greyhound dog being made a saint in France but not writing about HIM (why would I not have done this, I'm asking myself???), so I guess last time I wrote about a dog-headed saint I didn't do very good research, or something, hmmm.
But Holy Hathor, what a fascinating subject! What is so bitterly ironic about this is that DOGS are the ancient companions of the Great Mother Goddess. They were thought to be the harbingers and also cleaner-uppers (is that a word?) of Death and always accompanied the Great Mother Goddess during her walks across the Milky Way or the Primrose Path or Route 66, take your pick. Modern thought also suggest that it may well have been women who domesticated the first wolves into the dogs we know and love so much today, in various places around the world, at various times, some as far back as 16,000 years ago somewhere in the vast plains of Mongolia, but also independently in the ancient Middle East. I think it's still unclear; not sure I buy into the "happened in several places more or less at once (archaeologically speaking, that is) in several different areas around the world" hypothesis. What we continue to push back in time is just how old evidence of the domestication of dogs is!
I'm not going to go into a long, wordy and overblown exposition on these various dog people/dog saints themes - you can read easy :) But if you want to do some reading on your own, here are some links for your perusal:
Cynocephali in the Ancient Christian Tradition, Scott Nevins, March 10, 2015, from Scott Nevins Memorial
St. Guinefort, Wikipedia entry. The patriarchal storm god haters of the Great Mother Goddess are much in evidence in the account of the "killer mothers" of their babies. Note in the account that the dog was buried in a well and surrounded by trees to set up a shrine that people came to. Now please - if this doesn't sound like a sacred Goddess grove complete with sacred spring and her faithful companion buried in her sacred space, what does? Heeellllloooooooo....
I am intrigued by the reference in the account of passing a baby nine times through an opening between the trunks of two trees in the "wood of Rimite" -- not sure if this means the woods (location, area?) were called "Rimite" or the particular spot where the babies were allegedly passed between two trees nine times was called "Rimite." I cannot help but wonder if there is some connection between this word (Rimite) and a name in a much earlier document from the second half of the 9th century CE, an Orthodox elder by the name of "Rimbert," as referenced in Scott Nevins' "Cynocephali in the Ancient Christian Tradition" (linked above).
Could it be that Inquisitioners, who were Roman Catholic, had come across earlier references to Rimbert in either reading or hearing something about inquiries being made on "dog-headed" people many years prior? Could "Rimite" have been conflated with "Rimbert" and then ridiculous stories made up about Satan seducing women (always women, NEVER men) into killing their own babies to fire up prejudice against uppity women? I wouldn't put anything past those corrupted rotten dudes in the so-called "holy church" back then. I should point out that the Inquisition first broke out in France in the 12th century CE in response to what was seen as encroachment on their territory (conveniently called "heresy") by Cathars (which preached equality of females, among other things anathema to the Men in Purple), Albigensians and Waldensians. St. Guinefort is a localized French saint, never officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Understanding the Dog Headed Icon of St. Christopher, July 8, 2013, Jonathan Pageau, Orthodox Arts Journal.
There's tons of info out there, get reading! The more you learn, the more you can fill in the blanks in HERstory yourself.
Thursday, January 4, 2018
China Institute (New York, NY) Offering Weiqi (Chinese "Go") Lessons
Hola everybody! Hope you are recovered from any New Year's Eve excesses :)
Here's the info on the Weiqi classes being offered by the China Institute in New York city:
Further information.
Here's the info on the Weiqi classes being offered by the China Institute in New York city:
New! Chinese Go 围棋
5-Session Course
Friday Class: 10:00am-12:30pm (1/12, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9)
Saturday Class: 10:00am-12:30pm (1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10)
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Go is an international game of the mind, processing very simple rules: players take turns to place black or white stones on a board, trying to capture the opponent's stones or surround empty space to make points of territory. It is also a game of profound complexity, requiring a unique integration and working of analytic (left brain) and artistic (right brain) mental abilities at the same time.
Originated in China more than four thousand years ago, Go (围棋Wéiqí), together with Zither playing, Calligraphy, and Painting, is one of the four supreme artistic genres in Chinese culture. It is believed that a strong Go skill is an indication of great wisdom. As the oldest game still played in its original form, Go today is popular among men and women internationally at all ages.
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Saturday, December 30, 2017
IM Dorsa Derakhshani Speaks Out on Treatment of Iranian Female Chessplayers by Iran Federation
IM Dorsa Derakhshani (USA 2306) (also holds WGM title) wrote an opinion piece published in The New York Times. Derakhshani left her family behind in Iran to go to college (St. Louis University) in St. Louis, Missouri USA, home of GM Susan Polgar's Webster University chess program and the billionaire backed Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis and World Chess Museum (the Chess Club and the Museum are located across the street from each other in an uptown section of St. Louis).
Why I Left Iran to Play Chess in America
Dorsa Derakhshani, December 29, 2017
Right now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the World Chess Championships are underway. But some world champions are noticeably absent: The Israeli players were blocked from participating when Saudi Arabia denied them visas.
Chess — a game that I have loved since I first sat down at a board — is pure. It doesn’t care about gender, ethnicity, nationality, status or politics. But too often the countries, organizations and people who enforce the rules in the world of chess are anything but.
This is a subject I know something about.
I was the second-highest-ranked player for girls under 18 in the world in 2016. I am the second-highest-ranked female chess player in Iranian history. And yet my passion for the game has taken me thousands of miles away from my home in Tehran to seek citizenship here in the United States.
From 2011 until 2015 I played for the Iranian national team. I had to follow the official Iranian dress code, which requires women to cover their hair in public. I understood that being a member of the team meant that I was an official representative of the country, so I never broke the rules. But I chafed under them.
By 2015, when I was 17 years old, it was clear to me that other things mattered more to the federation than talent. Just one example: I had won the Asian championship three times in a row when I arrived at the tournament in India in 2014. I was favored to win, given my record. Yet federation officials weren’t focused on my game, but on my clothing. On the very first day of the tournament, they told me my jeans were too tight. I told them I would not participate in the round unless they stopped scolding me.
In the end, I played and won that tournament in India. But time and time again, those in charge of the Iranian national team showed that they cared more about the scarf covering my hair than the brain under it.
Since choosing to leave the team and play chess with no strings attached, I’ve never taken a penny from the Iranian government. My parents pay for all of my expenses, including travel to tournaments. One benefit of flying solo is that I dress the way I want to. I like my outfits to reflect my mood for that day and I don’t like to dress to please others. I no longer cover my hair, including at tournaments.
To me, the choice to stop covering felt morally right, and I never felt a shred of guilt about my decision.
In 2016, I lived in Spain and played under the auspices of various European clubs. Never once did I cover my hair. Never once did I compromise my principles or my pride.
And yet, in February 2017, the Iranian chess federation announced it was barring me from playing in Iran for not wearing a hijab at a competition in Gibraltar the month before. It also barred my younger brother, who had played an Israeli player at that same competition.
The barring was baffling, since I’d already left the national team. But it sent a clear message: Independent thinkers aren’t welcome.
This September, I officially joined the United States Chess Federation and started school at St. Louis University. I write this from Columbus, Ohio, where my college team is competing in a tournament. My parents remain in Tehran.
I miss my family every second of every day, and the pain of not knowing when I’ll see them next never goes away. But their belief in me is the reason I had the strength to make this choice.
My mom was the one who taught me to read when I was only a year old. She put all her time and energy into me and my brother. She and my father taught us by example to be open minded and curious.
From a young age, I was fiercely competitive and I loved solving puzzles and reading people. My parents signed me up for chess classes when I was 6 and it immediately became an obsession. The game was a perfect fit.
My parents have always been my champions and I never wanted to leave home and live without them. But under the circumstances, they decided it was the wise decision to make — not just for my chess career, but for me as a person.
For years, they watched me struggle trying to be myself in Iran. I grew up in a society in which being exceptional, correcting your elders and generally being a smart aleck is shunned. One thing that I love about living in an open society is that I can talk straight. I never follow a script. My human interactions are just that: human. And I am free of fear of being punished for saying the wrong thing. At last, my heart and mind work in unison.
The last time I felt this kind of stability was at my high school in Tehran. The school was a haven for me, a place where I could express myself and the teachers fully respected the students. I have craved to be in a similar environment and, finally, I have found it. What’s more, I managed to join the U.S. federation in a matter of weeks — a rarity and something I remain deeply grateful for.
Unlike on the Iranian team, I am now surrounded by people who respect me as a player and don’t care or notice what I look like. Unlike on the Iranian team, where the officials could ignore a player’s earned right to play a tournament and replace that player with someone they preferred, here the rules are consistent and fair.
In this sense, America at its best reflects the best values of chess. Chess doesn’t care how old you are or what you wear. It doesn’t care about what gender you are, or how much money you have. It is blind to all of that. It cares only about merit.
That’s why I’m applying for United States citizenship and why I hope to someday represent this country in the Olympics. And it’s why barring people from the game based on their ethnicity, religion or clothing is so wrong.
Anna Muzychuk Refuses to Play in Corrupted 2017 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Saudi Arabia
A few international chess stars stand up for what is right. I wish more of them had the guts to stand up against this kind of thing and give FIDE and countries like Saudi Arabia the permanent middle finger.
From The Washington Post
Chess champion refuses to defend titles in Saudi Arabia to protest treatment of women
Des Bieler, December 28, 2017
A Ukrainian chess champion is prepared to lose her two world titles rather than defend them in a tournament held in Saudi Arabia. Anna Muzychuk said she would skip the lucrative event to protest the treatment of women in that country.
Muzychuk, 27, is the reigning women’s world champion in both rapid and blitz chess. In a recent Facebook post, she said she “decided not to go to Saudi Arabia” because she did not want “to play by someone’s rules,” including being made to “wear [an] abaya,” the loosefitting garment the country usually requires women to cover themselves with while in public.
Muzychuk also said she was opposed to being “accompanied getting outside,” and to being made to feel like “a secondary creature."
By skipping the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which began Tuesday in Riyadh and end Saturday, Muzychuk said she was aware that not only was she set to “lose two World Champion titles — one by one,” but also to pass up an opportunity to “earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined.” The $2 million prize fund for the championships, which have been named for Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was declared by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to be “almost 350% more than the previous event."
The federation also said that the dress code for the event would entail “dark blue or black formal trouser suits, with high necked white blouses” for women. “There will be no need to wear a hijab or abaya during the games, this will be a first for any sporting event in Saudi Arabia,” FIDE announced in November.
Nevertheless, neither Muzychuk nor her younger sister Mariya, a former world champion in her own right, are competing at the championships. “I am really happy that we share this point of view,” Muzychuk said on Facebook.
The Riyadh tournament has also created headlines for the absence of chess players from Israel, who were denied visas. Saudi officials have said that they cannot issue the visas because their kingdom has no diplomatic ties with Israel, while the chess federation in the latter country is seeking financial compensation.
“There needs to be a clear separation between sports and politics,” said Lior Aizenberg, a spokesman for the Israeli Chess Federation. “We want our players to play in all competitions. What is going on in the Arab world does not interest us."
Hikaru Nakamura, the U.S.’s top-ranked rapid and blitz chess player, is also skipping the event. “To organize a chess tournament in a country where basic human rights aren’t valued is horrible,” Nakamura said in a November tweet. “Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is leading an effort, called Vision 2030, to modernize aspects of his society, and in September the government announced that women will be allowed to drive, starting in mid-2018. However, women in Saudi Arabia still need the permission of male guardians to marry, get divorced, attain employment, travel or have elective surgery (per CNN), and mixing with men in public places is still largely forbidden.
“As to whether it was right or wrong, there will certainly be people who will support me and people who will condemn me,” Muzychuk told Reuters of her decision to boycott the tournament. “But I took this decision and I am responsible for it."
From The Washington Post
Chess champion refuses to defend titles in Saudi Arabia to protest treatment of women
Des Bieler, December 28, 2017
A Ukrainian chess champion is prepared to lose her two world titles rather than defend them in a tournament held in Saudi Arabia. Anna Muzychuk said she would skip the lucrative event to protest the treatment of women in that country.
Muzychuk, 27, is the reigning women’s world champion in both rapid and blitz chess. In a recent Facebook post, she said she “decided not to go to Saudi Arabia” because she did not want “to play by someone’s rules,” including being made to “wear [an] abaya,” the loosefitting garment the country usually requires women to cover themselves with while in public.
Muzychuk also said she was opposed to being “accompanied getting outside,” and to being made to feel like “a secondary creature."
By skipping the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which began Tuesday in Riyadh and end Saturday, Muzychuk said she was aware that not only was she set to “lose two World Champion titles — one by one,” but also to pass up an opportunity to “earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined.” The $2 million prize fund for the championships, which have been named for Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was declared by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to be “almost 350% more than the previous event."
The federation also said that the dress code for the event would entail “dark blue or black formal trouser suits, with high necked white blouses” for women. “There will be no need to wear a hijab or abaya during the games, this will be a first for any sporting event in Saudi Arabia,” FIDE announced in November.
Nevertheless, neither Muzychuk nor her younger sister Mariya, a former world champion in her own right, are competing at the championships. “I am really happy that we share this point of view,” Muzychuk said on Facebook.
The Riyadh tournament has also created headlines for the absence of chess players from Israel, who were denied visas. Saudi officials have said that they cannot issue the visas because their kingdom has no diplomatic ties with Israel, while the chess federation in the latter country is seeking financial compensation.
“There needs to be a clear separation between sports and politics,” said Lior Aizenberg, a spokesman for the Israeli Chess Federation. “We want our players to play in all competitions. What is going on in the Arab world does not interest us."
Hikaru Nakamura, the U.S.’s top-ranked rapid and blitz chess player, is also skipping the event. “To organize a chess tournament in a country where basic human rights aren’t valued is horrible,” Nakamura said in a November tweet. “Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is leading an effort, called Vision 2030, to modernize aspects of his society, and in September the government announced that women will be allowed to drive, starting in mid-2018. However, women in Saudi Arabia still need the permission of male guardians to marry, get divorced, attain employment, travel or have elective surgery (per CNN), and mixing with men in public places is still largely forbidden.
“As to whether it was right or wrong, there will certainly be people who will support me and people who will condemn me,” Muzychuk told Reuters of her decision to boycott the tournament. “But I took this decision and I am responsible for it."
Counting Down to the New Year, Winter UGH and Winter Ahhhhhh!
Hola darlings! Goddesschess hopes you all will have a wonderful celebration for New Year's Eve and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2018.
We are SO cold here, it is horrid. The Polar Vortex has returned with a vengeance. UGH! Even worse, I can't find any forecast that said when this may disappear, if only for a few days. The entire Midwest all the way east and even engulfing Washington, D.C. are under this Weather Horror Show! I lived through the dreadful killer Polar Vortex of winter 2012-2013, walking 9 blocks day and night five days a week through feet of snow to and from the bus stop, and I swore NEVER AGAIN.
Ha ha ha, joke's on moi. I'm no longer trekking to and from the bus stop to go to work, but I still need to go to the supermarket and for my blood draws. It actually got up to a balmy 9 degrees F yesterday morning as I went to the lab for a blood draw. I looked like I weighed 300 pounds I was so wrapped up underneath my fuchia down hooded coat. It takes me 15 minutes just to bundle up! Then the snow came yesterday evening. And the winds. I wasn't expecting this wind. Windchills today are about 30 below zero F, and we are under a winter windchill advisory.
Despite the frightful weather (...oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...) I will have my fireplace going over the next few days to snuggle up close to with a good book (received one for Christmas from Isis in Las Vegas) and tomorrow night I'll see if I can stay awake long enough to make it to midnight, LOL!
I saw this beautiful photo at The Washington Post today, wintery though it is. It is so evocative of the Goddess to me, complete with black birds :) Deer (and birds) are associated with various goddesses, of course, and horns of a variety of. animals including deer, have been worn and utilized as symbols of power perhaps as far back as man first appeared on Earth. For instance, Siberian cave paintings dating back as far as 70,000 years ago show thousands of years of images of deer, sometimes associated with the spirit world.
This photo was taken on December 28, 2017 in Richmond Park in London. Originally established as a royal hunting preserve, yet today there are approximately 650 red deer and fallow deer along with multiple species of birds who reside inside its protected boundaries. How incredibly beautiful! I especially got a kick out of the hitchhiking black bird, LOL! Thanks, WaPo, for publishing it this week.
We are SO cold here, it is horrid. The Polar Vortex has returned with a vengeance. UGH! Even worse, I can't find any forecast that said when this may disappear, if only for a few days. The entire Midwest all the way east and even engulfing Washington, D.C. are under this Weather Horror Show! I lived through the dreadful killer Polar Vortex of winter 2012-2013, walking 9 blocks day and night five days a week through feet of snow to and from the bus stop, and I swore NEVER AGAIN.
Ha ha ha, joke's on moi. I'm no longer trekking to and from the bus stop to go to work, but I still need to go to the supermarket and for my blood draws. It actually got up to a balmy 9 degrees F yesterday morning as I went to the lab for a blood draw. I looked like I weighed 300 pounds I was so wrapped up underneath my fuchia down hooded coat. It takes me 15 minutes just to bundle up! Then the snow came yesterday evening. And the winds. I wasn't expecting this wind. Windchills today are about 30 below zero F, and we are under a winter windchill advisory.
Despite the frightful weather (...oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...) I will have my fireplace going over the next few days to snuggle up close to with a good book (received one for Christmas from Isis in Las Vegas) and tomorrow night I'll see if I can stay awake long enough to make it to midnight, LOL!
I saw this beautiful photo at The Washington Post today, wintery though it is. It is so evocative of the Goddess to me, complete with black birds :) Deer (and birds) are associated with various goddesses, of course, and horns of a variety of. animals including deer, have been worn and utilized as symbols of power perhaps as far back as man first appeared on Earth. For instance, Siberian cave paintings dating back as far as 70,000 years ago show thousands of years of images of deer, sometimes associated with the spirit world.
This photo was taken on December 28, 2017 in Richmond Park in London. Originally established as a royal hunting preserve, yet today there are approximately 650 red deer and fallow deer along with multiple species of birds who reside inside its protected boundaries. How incredibly beautiful! I especially got a kick out of the hitchhiking black bird, LOL! Thanks, WaPo, for publishing it this week.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Thoughts and Memories on a Happy Winter Solstice!
Hola, darlings!
Happy Winter Solstice and Happy Holidays to all from Goddesschess. May we all share many more to come, together, and enjoy much comradery, companionship and love this holiday season and for years to come.
Snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOW! This was a recent view from the front door of Maison Newton retirement cottage - the first serious snow of the season (December 2017). It's all melted away since then (YES!), but - right on cue - it's snowing today. DRAT. Looks like we may have a white Christmas here.
What is Christmas without a tree? This year's version is simple, but sentimentally filled with the hand-blown Egyptian glass ornaments Mr. Don and I bought one Christmas season while out on our annual Christmas Eve shopping spree, gold French ribbon that sat patiently in its storage bin for several years, and assorted ornaments gathered over the years, some dollar-store specials :)
Who are those gorgeous women, oh my! This pic was snapped by Mr. Don on Christmas Day 2008 in Las Vegas. It rained and was typhoon-like weather all day and night there, LOL! We had jumped on a plane on Christmas Eve (got a break in the weather!!!) and made a surprise visit to Georgia a/k/a Isis, one of the founding members of Goddesschess, and her daughter Michelle. We cooked up a big meal and had a great time. Later that evening Mr. Don and I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian Theatre. It was fabulous - he got so excited, I thought he would fly out of his seat a couple of times at the special effects. Ahhhh, and that incredible music! I can sing (badly) practically the entirety of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera in my sleep, I've listened to it so much over the years and love it that much more. We flew back to my hometown on December 26th. It was a wonderful get-away! Hard to believe that was nine years ago, already, and Mr. Don has been gone for five.
Each day is so precious. Spend them wisely, and never hesitate to tell somebody how much you love them.
Happy Winter Solstice and Happy Holidays to all from Goddesschess. May we all share many more to come, together, and enjoy much comradery, companionship and love this holiday season and for years to come.
Snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOW! This was a recent view from the front door of Maison Newton retirement cottage - the first serious snow of the season (December 2017). It's all melted away since then (YES!), but - right on cue - it's snowing today. DRAT. Looks like we may have a white Christmas here.
What is Christmas without a tree? This year's version is simple, but sentimentally filled with the hand-blown Egyptian glass ornaments Mr. Don and I bought one Christmas season while out on our annual Christmas Eve shopping spree, gold French ribbon that sat patiently in its storage bin for several years, and assorted ornaments gathered over the years, some dollar-store specials :)
Who are those gorgeous women, oh my! This pic was snapped by Mr. Don on Christmas Day 2008 in Las Vegas. It rained and was typhoon-like weather all day and night there, LOL! We had jumped on a plane on Christmas Eve (got a break in the weather!!!) and made a surprise visit to Georgia a/k/a Isis, one of the founding members of Goddesschess, and her daughter Michelle. We cooked up a big meal and had a great time. Later that evening Mr. Don and I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian Theatre. It was fabulous - he got so excited, I thought he would fly out of his seat a couple of times at the special effects. Ahhhh, and that incredible music! I can sing (badly) practically the entirety of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera in my sleep, I've listened to it so much over the years and love it that much more. We flew back to my hometown on December 26th. It was a wonderful get-away! Hard to believe that was nine years ago, already, and Mr. Don has been gone for five.
Each day is so precious. Spend them wisely, and never hesitate to tell somebody how much you love them.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Paul Morphy: Honored in Louisiana
It's not often I write about a male chessplayer, but it's also not often an American newspaper writes an article about a chessplayer, especially one who has been dead for over 100 years, so kudos to The New Orleans Advocate for honoring Paul Morphy, one of the early American stars of international chess in the 1800s and a true master at the open game.
300 unique New Orleans moments: Legendary chess player Paul Morphy born in French Quarter in 1837
300 unique New Orleans moments: Legendary chess player Paul Morphy born in French Quarter in 1837
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| Engraving of Paul Morphy by Winslow Homer appearing in Ballou's Pictorial (1859) from Wikipedia |
“Genius is a starry word; but if there ever was a chess player to whom that attribute applied, it was Paul Morphy,” according to American chess Grandmaster Andrew Soltis.
Morphy was a child chess prodigy who grew up in New Orleans, the son of a Louisiana Supreme Court justice who learned chess simply by watching the game. At the age of 12, he won two games and had one draw against a famous Hungarian chess player.
The next year, Morphy went to Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, and then attended law school at the University of Louisiana, which later became Tulane University. He finished his law degree when he was 20, one year shy of being able to practice law. While he waited to practice law, he became determined to beat all the great chess players in the United States and Europe.
He won the first American Chess Congress in New York in 1857 and received a prize from Oliver Wen-dell Homes. He traveled to England to play Howard Staunton, considered the best player in Europe. Staunton, however, refused to meet Morphy. Morphy defeated every other comer who would play him, including in a blindfold tournament in which he defeated eight opponents in another room. Morphy returned to New Orleans a celebrity.
He attempted to start a law practice, but it was said he was un-able to get his clients to talk about anything but chess. He died of a stroke in 1884. In 1964, Chess great Bobby Fischer said of Morphy: “In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today ... Morphy was perhaps the most accurate chess player who ever lived."
Editor's note: This article was changed Nov. 20 to correct where Morphy attended law school.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Oops! Archeologists Were Wrong - There ARE Women in Cahokia Burial Mount 72!
Here is another story that I emailed to myself in August, 2016 that I didn't get around to posting - until here and now. It's IMPORTANT, too.
This story is by Live Science, but I found it at CBS News:
This story is by Live Science, but I found it at CBS News:
Ancient burial mound reveals role of women in "America's 1st city"
An important burial mound belonging to the pre-Columbian city of Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis, contains both men and women, not just men as previous studies had suggested.
WILLIAM R. ISEMINGER | COURTESY CAHOKIA MOUNDS STATE HISTORIC SITE
The remains of women and a child have been discovered at a burial mound at Cahokia, considered North America's first city, which previously was thought to hold only men, researchers say.
A closer look at a grave at Cahokia, located in Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri, has revealed that a blanket of beads is intertwined around a man and a woman of high status.
"In re-examining the beaded burial, we discovered that the central burial included females," study co-author Kristin Hedman, a physical anthropologist with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), said in a statement. "This was unexpected." [Cahokia to Area 51: The 10 Strangest Places on Earth]
Archaeologist Melvin Fowler, who died in 2008, discovered the enormous burial ground in 1967 during the excavation of an unusual mound with a ridgetop. The site, now called Mound 72, contained five mass graves, each holding 20 to more than 50 bodies. There were dozens of other bodies buried by themselves or in groups at the site, bringing the total count to 270, Fowler found.
Scientists dated the burials to between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1200, during the rise and peak of Cahokia's power and influence, the researchers said. Some of the bodies were placed on cedar piles, indicating that they were high-status individuals, according to the researchers.
"Mound 72 burials are some of the most significant burials ever excavated in North America from this time period," said study co-author and ISAS Director Thomas Emerson.
Grave problems
Several analyses of the burials haven't held up, however. Mound 72 holds two central bodies that are placed top of each other. These bodies are separated and surrounded by a blanket of beads, and several other bodies from the same time period surround them.
Fowler and other archaeologists thought that these bodies were two high-status men who were surrounded by servants. Moreover, the beads look like a beaded cape or blanket that was originally shaped like a bird, they said.
The bird motif is usually related to warriors and supernatural beings in Native American cultures, so Fowler suggested that the two central males represented mythical warrior chiefs, the researchers said.
Once this interpretation was made public, many experts viewed Cahokia as "a male-dominated hierarchy," Emerson said.
A fresh look
When Emerson and his colleagues re-examined the evidence -- including the archaeologists' maps, notes and reports -- they came to a conclusion different from Fowler's. For instance, the early archaeologists said there were only six bodies associated with the beaded burial, but the new team found 12.
Moreover, a skeletal analysis revealed that the high-status pair weren't two men, but a man and a woman. The bodies near the power couple are also male-female pairs, and one individual was a child, the researchers said.
"The fact that these high-status burials included women changes the meaning of the beaded burial feature," Emerson said. "Now, we realize we don't have a system in which males are these dominant figures and females are playing bit parts. And so, what we have at Cahokia is very much a nobility. It's not a male nobility. It's males and females, and their relationships are very important." [The 7 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth]
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