This is another wonderful poem of Crispin's.
The Noble Path
We call upon you to fulfill your dream, the promise within you we your brothers have seen. We call upon your vigor strength and virtue, to enflame that purpose within you.
We have seen your gains and pleasures in winning and pursuing other endeavors and so seeing have wept, for too long has this promise waited to be kept; and you enjoy ANY kind of happiness too much.
We do not and indeed cannot push with the same weight and authority as your own virtue and integrity, but we do remind you such wonderful happiness awaits you, and we remind you, you’ve greater things to do and such glorious things why wouldn’t you, follow the noble path you have before you.
Crispin H. Sandford
The Noble Path Copyright 2004 Crispin H. Sandford. All Rights Reserved. Printed by the Parley Press in the USA.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Storm Damage
 |
| View looking to the southwest lot line. |
 |
| View looking toward the north/northwest lot line. A fleeting glimpse of squirrel can be seen on the left - a sort of fuzzy blur. A heavy metal planter in the form of a kitty with head on a spring was blown over. That's the first time in 20 years that has happened! |
So far - fingers crossed - I haven't lost any major limbs off my trees and the house and its siding are still intact. But it sure is roaring out there tonight. I thought the wind was supposed to die down after sunset, not get worse! This storm isn't moving away without a fight! The peak windgust in my area reached 81 mph and about 30 miles to the south in Racine an F1 tornado did some damage yesterday. It was hard enough maneuvering to and from work out in the open with winds gusting to 40 mph. I'm no lightweight, but I had to hang on for dear life this morning when I got off the bus downtown and this evening while waiting for the bus downtown to come home, as the winds were even stronger. The wind-tunnel effect created by the tall buildings in close proximity to Lake Michigan was multiplied many times by this fierce wind-storm. I count my blessings that I was able to wait out the rain yesterday morning (it stopped about 7:30 a.m. or so and I was able to get to work without getting drenched) and the rain hasn't come back. Up north Minnesota hasn't been so fortunate - wet, heavy snow, and blizzard conditions in the Dakotas. Whew!
I'll be grateful when I can finally get some sleep and not have to worry about one of my trees being blown into the house.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
2010 Cap d'Agde Invitational
The first part of the rapid chess invitational is over - the top four players from each group have been decided, as reported at Susan Polgar's chess blog. Here are the players from each group going into the knock-out round:
Group B
1-2. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2754 5½
1-2. Le Quang Liem g VIE 2694 5½
3-4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2592 4
3-4. Hammer, Jon Ludvig g NOR 2633 4
Group A
1. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2733 6½
2. Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2695 5½
3. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son g VIE 2633 4
4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2682 3½
Can anyone beat Nakamura, a master at this type of chess? Maybe he's the best ever at this type of chess. Judit Polgar, the top rated female chessplayer in the world and the sole survivor of the other female players, has her work cut out for her, that's for sure!
Group B
1-2. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2754 5½
1-2. Le Quang Liem g VIE 2694 5½
3-4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2592 4
3-4. Hammer, Jon Ludvig g NOR 2633 4
Group A
1. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2733 6½
2. Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2695 5½
3. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son g VIE 2633 4
4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2682 3½
Can anyone beat Nakamura, a master at this type of chess? Maybe he's the best ever at this type of chess. Judit Polgar, the top rated female chessplayer in the world and the sole survivor of the other female players, has her work cut out for her, that's for sure!
'Neanderthal' and 'Modern Human' Met and Mated More Than 100,000 Years Ago
From Discovery News
A modern human fossil dating to more than 100,000 years ago in Asia reveals distinctive Neanderthal features.
By Jennifer Viegas
Mon Oct 25, 2010 03:00 PM ET
Early modern humans mated with Neanderthals and possibly other archaic hominid species from Asia at least 100,000 years ago, according to a new study that describes human remains from that period in South China.
The remains are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate, by over 60,000 years, the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region.
The fossils -- a chin and related teeth -- belonged to a modern human that also featured more robust Neanderthal-type characteristics, indicates the study, published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Co-author Erik Trinkaus, who is one of the world's leading experts on Neanderthals, told Discovery News that the new findings mean "there was mating between these 'archaic' and 'modern' groups across Asia, and not just in Europe and the remainder of Africa."
"Of more interest than who had sex with whom is the fact that modern humans had spread across southern Eurasia by 100,000 years ago, and yet archaic humans remained across the more northern areas, and even displaced the modern humans in Southwest Asia for an additional 50,000-70,000 years," added Trinkaus, a professor of physical anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. "It argues for very little adaptive advantage on the part of these modern humans."
He and his colleagues studied the newly discovered remains, which were unearthed at Zhirendong, a cave in Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China. The fossils are well dated, based on isotopic analysis of the site and associated remains of now-extinct mammals and other animals.
Trinkaus and his team now believe that after anatomically modern humans first emerged in equatorial Africa, they either began to disperse into Asia 102,000 to 130,000 years ago, or gene flow through populations caused their biology to wind up in South China during the Late Pleistocene.
Either way, the researchers argue that modern human interbreeding with regional archaic populations, such as Neanderthals, must have happened. [The 'Neanderthal' weren't as "archaic" as thoght, else the successful interbreeding could not have occurred.]
In terms of what happened to the Asian Neanderthals, Trinkaus believes "that eventually they were partially absorbed into expanding modern human populations" around 40,000 years ago. He said, "We don't know why those modern humans expanded then, after remaining in Africa and southern Asia for 50,000 plus years."
A modern human fossil dating to more than 100,000 years ago in Asia reveals distinctive Neanderthal features.
By Jennifer Viegas
Mon Oct 25, 2010 03:00 PM ET
Early modern humans mated with Neanderthals and possibly other archaic hominid species from Asia at least 100,000 years ago, according to a new study that describes human remains from that period in South China.
The remains are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate, by over 60,000 years, the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region.
The fossils -- a chin and related teeth -- belonged to a modern human that also featured more robust Neanderthal-type characteristics, indicates the study, published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Co-author Erik Trinkaus, who is one of the world's leading experts on Neanderthals, told Discovery News that the new findings mean "there was mating between these 'archaic' and 'modern' groups across Asia, and not just in Europe and the remainder of Africa."
"Of more interest than who had sex with whom is the fact that modern humans had spread across southern Eurasia by 100,000 years ago, and yet archaic humans remained across the more northern areas, and even displaced the modern humans in Southwest Asia for an additional 50,000-70,000 years," added Trinkaus, a professor of physical anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. "It argues for very little adaptive advantage on the part of these modern humans."
He and his colleagues studied the newly discovered remains, which were unearthed at Zhirendong, a cave in Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China. The fossils are well dated, based on isotopic analysis of the site and associated remains of now-extinct mammals and other animals.
Trinkaus and his team now believe that after anatomically modern humans first emerged in equatorial Africa, they either began to disperse into Asia 102,000 to 130,000 years ago, or gene flow through populations caused their biology to wind up in South China during the Late Pleistocene.
Either way, the researchers argue that modern human interbreeding with regional archaic populations, such as Neanderthals, must have happened. [The 'Neanderthal' weren't as "archaic" as thoght, else the successful interbreeding could not have occurred.]
In terms of what happened to the Asian Neanderthals, Trinkaus believes "that eventually they were partially absorbed into expanding modern human populations" around 40,000 years ago. He said, "We don't know why those modern humans expanded then, after remaining in Africa and southern Asia for 50,000 plus years."
Ancient Camp Site Discovered on Canadian/U.S. Border - 10,000 Years Old!
Waaayyyyyy over on the east coast, c. 8,000 BCE. My question is - which way did these campers come from? Siberia? Or Iberia?
Archaeologists unearth 10,000 year old camp site along US/Canada border
October 22, 2010
FOREST CITY, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A team of archaeologists has spent the last several weeks gathering and collecting artifacts along the banks of the Saint Croix River on property owned by the federal government behind the U.S. Customs Port of Entry in Forest City. Dr. Ellen Cowie is director of the Northeast Archaeology Research Center, which was hired as a subcontractor for US Customs and Border Protection to recover artifacts at the site.
"We're excavating the remains of a small sort of encampment maybe where a family stopped over for a couple of nights made some stone tools and what we're finding our those stone tools and chips from stone tool making," Dr. Cowie says the artifacts are from a period known as the Paleo-Indian period following the last Ice Age in North America.
Her team found artifacts known as flakes, which are stone chippings or shavings that are the by-products of making spearheads or other stone tools. They also found some tools including a "graver" which is used to poke holes in bones or shells.
"The materials that Native Americans used for stone tools are sort of distinctive. It's just not any sort of rock it's not granite typically, but it's stone that would break in a certain way that would allow spearheads to be made and other scraping tools," Cowie explained.
US Customs and Border Protection needed to conduct this dig and have these artifacts recovered before it could move ahead with a planned renovation of the Forest City Port of Entry. Dr. Cowie says her team will bring the artifiacts to her lab in Farmington, analyze them and produce a report for CBP and the state. She says the site has already been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and she says the artifacts will likely go to the Maine State Museum.
Archaeologists unearth 10,000 year old camp site along US/Canada border
October 22, 2010
FOREST CITY, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A team of archaeologists has spent the last several weeks gathering and collecting artifacts along the banks of the Saint Croix River on property owned by the federal government behind the U.S. Customs Port of Entry in Forest City. Dr. Ellen Cowie is director of the Northeast Archaeology Research Center, which was hired as a subcontractor for US Customs and Border Protection to recover artifacts at the site.
"We're excavating the remains of a small sort of encampment maybe where a family stopped over for a couple of nights made some stone tools and what we're finding our those stone tools and chips from stone tool making," Dr. Cowie says the artifacts are from a period known as the Paleo-Indian period following the last Ice Age in North America.
Her team found artifacts known as flakes, which are stone chippings or shavings that are the by-products of making spearheads or other stone tools. They also found some tools including a "graver" which is used to poke holes in bones or shells.
"The materials that Native Americans used for stone tools are sort of distinctive. It's just not any sort of rock it's not granite typically, but it's stone that would break in a certain way that would allow spearheads to be made and other scraping tools," Cowie explained.
US Customs and Border Protection needed to conduct this dig and have these artifacts recovered before it could move ahead with a planned renovation of the Forest City Port of Entry. Dr. Cowie says her team will bring the artifiacts to her lab in Farmington, analyze them and produce a report for CBP and the state. She says the site has already been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and she says the artifacts will likely go to the Maine State Museum.
1,000 Year Old Tamil Inscription Found
Millennium old Tamil inscription found in Trincomalee
[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 00:53 GMT]
A stone slab having a Tamil inscription, clearly in the alphabet of the Chola times (c. 3rd century BCE - 13th century CE), was found in Trincomalee while digging for cricket stadium construction work recently. The land where it was found is a part of the esplanade, on the right side of the Koa’neasvaram Road leading to the Siva temple inside Fort Frederick and is adjacent to the bay where the temple’s Theerththam (water cutting) ritual is held. Sometimes back, a Buddhist Vihara and another structure called Sanghamitta Buddhist Rest were constructed at this place. The inscribed slab was taken into possession by the Trincomalee police and was sent to the Department of Archaeology in Colombo.
The construction work for a modern cricket stadium in the esplanade was financed by the Provincial Governor’s Fund.
The construction work in the land has been suspended by the Department of Archaeology.
The inscribed stone slab has a large perforation at the centre reminding of anchors and sluice-gates.
Academics are concerned about the safe custody of the inscription with the Department of Archaeology.
As there are no Tamil officials or no Tamil epigraphists in the Department of Archaeology, academic circles expect estampages of the inscription to be sent to relevant scholars as early as possible by the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka, for speedy dissemination of knowledge about the inscription.
[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 00:53 GMT]
 |
| The inscribed stone. There are additional close-up photos in the article. |
The construction work for a modern cricket stadium in the esplanade was financed by the Provincial Governor’s Fund.
The construction work in the land has been suspended by the Department of Archaeology.
The inscribed stone slab has a large perforation at the centre reminding of anchors and sluice-gates.
Academics are concerned about the safe custody of the inscription with the Department of Archaeology.
As there are no Tamil officials or no Tamil epigraphists in the Department of Archaeology, academic circles expect estampages of the inscription to be sent to relevant scholars as early as possible by the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka, for speedy dissemination of knowledge about the inscription.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Spooky Thursday Action Planned at Southwest Chess Club
Chain Rattling, Glass Breaking Spooky Swiss
October 28 & November 4, 11 & 18
4-Round Swiss in Two Sections (Open and Under-1600).
Game/100 minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5. (One ½-Point
Bye Available for any round (except round four) if requested
at least 2-days prior to round). TD is Grochowski; ATD is
Fogec/Becker.
October 28 & November 4, 11 & 18
4-Round Swiss in Two Sections (Open and Under-1600).
Game/100 minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5. (One ½-Point
Bye Available for any round (except round four) if requested
at least 2-days prior to round). TD is Grochowski; ATD is
Fogec/Becker.
Start promptly at 7:00 p.m. Registration is 6:20-6:50 p.m. Robin plans to close registration at 6:50. If you arrive after first-round pairings are prepared, you will have to take a 1/2-point bye in the first round.
However, if you want to play but anticipate being a few minutes late, please e-mail Robin or call him at 414-861-2745 prior to 4:30 p.m. on October 28, so he can include you in the pairings. If you need a first round bye please let Robin know as soon as possible and you can have one.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Albino Killings Continue in Africa
I've posted about the murder of albinos in Africa before. Here is the latest from BBC Africa:
24 October 2010 Last updated at 03:51 ET
Burundi albino boy 'dismembered'
The dismembered body of a young albino boy has been found in a river on the Burundi-Tanzania border, reports say.
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers.
Mr Kazungu told the AFP news agency that Tanzanian police had arrested five people, although there was no official confirmation from Tanzania.
In Tanzania, the body parts of people living with albinism are used by witch-doctors for potions which they tell clients will help make them rich or healthy.
Dozens of albinos have been killed, and the killings have spread to neighbouring Burundi.
In August a court in Tanzania sentenced a Kenyan to 17 years in jail on charges of trying to sell an albino person.
Tanzanian authorities have promised to crack down on albino traffickers, and several people have been sentenced to death in connection with killings.
24 October 2010 Last updated at 03:51 ET
Burundi albino boy 'dismembered'
The dismembered body of a young albino boy has been found in a river on the Burundi-Tanzania border, reports say.
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers.
Mr Kazungu told the AFP news agency that Tanzanian police had arrested five people, although there was no official confirmation from Tanzania.
In Tanzania, the body parts of people living with albinism are used by witch-doctors for potions which they tell clients will help make them rich or healthy.
Dozens of albinos have been killed, and the killings have spread to neighbouring Burundi.
In August a court in Tanzania sentenced a Kenyan to 17 years in jail on charges of trying to sell an albino person.
Tanzanian authorities have promised to crack down on albino traffickers, and several people have been sentenced to death in connection with killings.
The Perennial Allure of the Last Queen of Egypt
I've lost count of the number of articles I've posted here about Cleopatra. Here is another to add to the collection, finely written, from The Wall Street Journal - yep, WSJ!
OCTOBER 23, 2010
Still Under Cleopatra's Spell
The Romans were the first, but hardly the last, to be unnerved by female ambition, authority and allure.
By STACY SCHIFF
How is it possible that Cleopatra continues to enchant, 2,000 years after her sensational death? It helps that, with her suicide in 30 B.C., she brought down two worlds; with her went both the 400-year-old Roman Republic and the Hellenistic age. Egypt would not recover its autonomy until the 20th century.
Shakespeare and G.B. Shaw lent a hand in her immortality, of course, as did Cleopatra's eloquent Roman critics. She endures for reasons beyond the fame and talent of her chroniclers, however; the issues that she raised continue to fluster and fascinate. Nothing enthralls us so much as excessive good fortune and devastating catastrophe. As ever, we lurch uneasily between indulgence and restraint. Sex and power still combust in spectacular ways.
And we remain unnerved by female ambition, accomplishment and authority. The wise woman mutes her voice in order to maintain her political or corporate constituency. She is often cast all the same as a scheming harridan or a threatening seductress. Her clothing budget attracts uncommon scrutiny, by definition either too large or too small. If she is not overly sexual, she is suspiciously sexless.
For reasons that remain murky, Julius Caesar invited Cleopatra to Rome in 46 B.C. Though her fortune had dwindled from that of her forebears—she was the last of the Ptolemies, the Greek dynasty that ruled in Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great—she remained the richest person in the Mediterranean world. A decade earlier, her father had traveled about Rome on the shoulders of eight men and with an escort of 100 swordsmen. He distributed lavish gifts left and right. There is little reason to believe that Cleopatra did things differently. The pageantry unsettled, as will a convoy of Maybachs in Paris today.
In the late republic, that outsized wealth impugned her morals. To wax eloquent about someone's embossed silver, sumptuous carpets or marble statuary was to indict him. In the Roman view, Cleopatra quite literally possessed an embarrassment of riches. This meant that every evil in the profligacy family attached itself to her. Well before she became the sorceress of legend—a reckless, careless destroyer of men—Cleopatra was suspect as a reckless, careless destroyer of wealth. Even if she never melted a pearl in vinegar, as legend has it, she could well afford to do so.
Cleopatra's fortune derived from Egypt's inexhaustible natural resources. Her kingdom was miraculously, effortlessly fecund, the most productive agricultural land in the Mediterranean. Its crops appeared to plant and water themselves. Those harvests—and Egypt's absolutist government—accounted for the Ptolemaic fortune. Very little grew in or left Egypt without in some way enriching the royal coffers. And Cleopatra controlled the greatest grain supply in the ancient world. Rome stood at her mercy. She could single-handedly feed that city. She could equally well starve it if she cared to.
Wealth and culture also happened to share an address in Cleopatra's lifetime. Compared to Alexandria, Rome qualified as a provincial backwater. It was still the kind of place where a stray dog might deposit a human hand under the breakfast table, where an ox could burst into the dining room. Alexandria remained the fashion capital, the center of learning, the seat of culture. If you wanted a secretary, a tutor or a doctor, you wanted one trained in Egypt. And if you wanted a bookstore, you dearly hoped to find yourself in Alexandria.
By contrast, it was difficult to get a decent copy of anything in Rome, which nursed a healthy inferiority complex as a result. Gulping down his envy with a chaser of contempt, a Roman found himself less awed than offended by Egypt. He wrote off extravagance as detrimental to body and mind, sounding like no one so much as Mark Twain, resisting the siren call of Europe many centuries later. Staring an advanced civilization straight in the face, the Roman dismissed it as either barbarism or decadence.
Egypt confounded as well for its exoticism. Nothing so much proved the point as the perceived femininity of the East, that beguiling, voluptuous realm of languor and luxury. There was something subversive about a land that exported a female goddess—the Isis temples in Rome were notorious spots for assignations—and a female pharaoh.
In Egypt, on the other hand, competence regularly trumped gender. Cleopatra followed to the throne a sister who had briefly succeeded in deposing their father. She could look to any number of female forebears who had built temples, raised fleets, waged military campaigns. And she came of age in a country that entertained a singular definition of women's roles. They inherited equally and held property independently. They enjoyed the right to divorce and to be supported after a divorce. Romans marveled that in Egypt female children were not left to die. A Roman was obligated to raise only his first-born daughter. Egyptian women loaned money and operated barges, initiated lawsuits and hired flute players. They enjoyed rights women would not again enjoy for another 2,000 years.
Not only was a Roman woman without political or legal rights, she was often without a personal name. Caesar had two sisters, both named Julia. A good woman was an inconspicuous woman, something that rather defied Cleopatra's training. As ever, what kept a woman pure was the drudge's life, of which Juvenal supplied the traditional formula: "Hard work, short sleep, hands chafed and hardened" from housework. For the Romans, a world ruled by a woman was a world turned upside down; like the north-flowing Nile itself, it reversed the course of nature. Female authority was in Rome a meaningless concept. This posed a problem for an Egyptian sovereign.
Cleopatra spoke many languages, flattery perhaps most fluently. Though famed for her charm and her powers of persuasion, she did not always temper her style. She was an autocrat who very much sounded the part. Few resented her tone as deeply as her Judaean neighbor, Herod the Great; the relationship between the two sovereigns proceeded by mutual betrayals. Complicating their dealings was each ruler's friendship with Rome, the western superpower intent on maintaining peace between them. (Herod owed his crown in part to Roman fears of Cleopatra; he balanced power in a volatile corner of the world.) Cleopatra conspired to separate Herod from their mutual Roman friends. In turn, he proposed her assassination. All would be so much simpler, argued the Judaean king, if his henchmen simply eliminated the pesky Egyptian queen.
What else to do with a clever woman who could not be subjugated by the usual means? Cleopatra's relationship with Mark Antony was the longest of her life, but that with Octavian, the future Caesar Augustus, would prove the more enduring. She allowed him to recycle the oldest trope: The allergy to the powerful woman was even sturdier than that to monarchy or to the impure, inferior East. Octavian delivered up the tabloid version of an Egyptian queen, insatiable, treacherous and decadent. To prepare the ground for Actium, the battle that would decide the future of Rome and at which Octavian would defeat Antony and Cleopatra, he needed a worthy opponent. He wisely oversold the enemy.
In Octavian's version, Cleopatra assumed the role of the "wild queen," lusting after Rome and plotting its destruction. For his one-time ally Antony to have succumbed to something other than a fellow Roman, she had to be a disarming seductress. Her powers had to be exaggerated because—for one man's political purposes—she needed to have reduced another to abject slavery. And as ever, the easiest way to disarm a capable woman was to sexualize her. Herod did the same, expounding in the course of Cleopatra's Jerusalem visit on her shameless behavior. Blushingly, he swore that she had forced herself upon him. As everyone knew, such was her wont. (She was at the time hugely pregnant with Mark Antony's child.)
The divide between the civilized, virtuous West and the tyrannical, dissolute East began in part with Rome and its Egyptian problem. Cleopatra emerged as stand-in for her occult, alchemical land, the intoxicating address of sex and excess. She wielded power shrewdly and easily, making her that rarest of things: a woman who—working from an original script—discomfited the very male precincts of traditional authority. Two thousand years later, those tensions and anxieties have not relaxed their hold.
—Stacy Schiff is the author of "Cleopatra: A Life," which will be published next month. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her biography of Vera Nabokov.
And - here is a review of Schiff's "Cleopatra: A Life" from Newsweek, October 21, 2010.
OCTOBER 23, 2010
Still Under Cleopatra's Spell
The Romans were the first, but hardly the last, to be unnerved by female ambition, authority and allure.
By STACY SCHIFF
 |
| The Death of Cleopatra, by Guido Cagnacci, 1658. Note 17th c. style throne, costumes and hairdos! |
Shakespeare and G.B. Shaw lent a hand in her immortality, of course, as did Cleopatra's eloquent Roman critics. She endures for reasons beyond the fame and talent of her chroniclers, however; the issues that she raised continue to fluster and fascinate. Nothing enthralls us so much as excessive good fortune and devastating catastrophe. As ever, we lurch uneasily between indulgence and restraint. Sex and power still combust in spectacular ways.
And we remain unnerved by female ambition, accomplishment and authority. The wise woman mutes her voice in order to maintain her political or corporate constituency. She is often cast all the same as a scheming harridan or a threatening seductress. Her clothing budget attracts uncommon scrutiny, by definition either too large or too small. If she is not overly sexual, she is suspiciously sexless.
For reasons that remain murky, Julius Caesar invited Cleopatra to Rome in 46 B.C. Though her fortune had dwindled from that of her forebears—she was the last of the Ptolemies, the Greek dynasty that ruled in Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great—she remained the richest person in the Mediterranean world. A decade earlier, her father had traveled about Rome on the shoulders of eight men and with an escort of 100 swordsmen. He distributed lavish gifts left and right. There is little reason to believe that Cleopatra did things differently. The pageantry unsettled, as will a convoy of Maybachs in Paris today.
In the late republic, that outsized wealth impugned her morals. To wax eloquent about someone's embossed silver, sumptuous carpets or marble statuary was to indict him. In the Roman view, Cleopatra quite literally possessed an embarrassment of riches. This meant that every evil in the profligacy family attached itself to her. Well before she became the sorceress of legend—a reckless, careless destroyer of men—Cleopatra was suspect as a reckless, careless destroyer of wealth. Even if she never melted a pearl in vinegar, as legend has it, she could well afford to do so.
Cleopatra's fortune derived from Egypt's inexhaustible natural resources. Her kingdom was miraculously, effortlessly fecund, the most productive agricultural land in the Mediterranean. Its crops appeared to plant and water themselves. Those harvests—and Egypt's absolutist government—accounted for the Ptolemaic fortune. Very little grew in or left Egypt without in some way enriching the royal coffers. And Cleopatra controlled the greatest grain supply in the ancient world. Rome stood at her mercy. She could single-handedly feed that city. She could equally well starve it if she cared to.
Wealth and culture also happened to share an address in Cleopatra's lifetime. Compared to Alexandria, Rome qualified as a provincial backwater. It was still the kind of place where a stray dog might deposit a human hand under the breakfast table, where an ox could burst into the dining room. Alexandria remained the fashion capital, the center of learning, the seat of culture. If you wanted a secretary, a tutor or a doctor, you wanted one trained in Egypt. And if you wanted a bookstore, you dearly hoped to find yourself in Alexandria.
By contrast, it was difficult to get a decent copy of anything in Rome, which nursed a healthy inferiority complex as a result. Gulping down his envy with a chaser of contempt, a Roman found himself less awed than offended by Egypt. He wrote off extravagance as detrimental to body and mind, sounding like no one so much as Mark Twain, resisting the siren call of Europe many centuries later. Staring an advanced civilization straight in the face, the Roman dismissed it as either barbarism or decadence.
Egypt confounded as well for its exoticism. Nothing so much proved the point as the perceived femininity of the East, that beguiling, voluptuous realm of languor and luxury. There was something subversive about a land that exported a female goddess—the Isis temples in Rome were notorious spots for assignations—and a female pharaoh.
In Egypt, on the other hand, competence regularly trumped gender. Cleopatra followed to the throne a sister who had briefly succeeded in deposing their father. She could look to any number of female forebears who had built temples, raised fleets, waged military campaigns. And she came of age in a country that entertained a singular definition of women's roles. They inherited equally and held property independently. They enjoyed the right to divorce and to be supported after a divorce. Romans marveled that in Egypt female children were not left to die. A Roman was obligated to raise only his first-born daughter. Egyptian women loaned money and operated barges, initiated lawsuits and hired flute players. They enjoyed rights women would not again enjoy for another 2,000 years.
Not only was a Roman woman without political or legal rights, she was often without a personal name. Caesar had two sisters, both named Julia. A good woman was an inconspicuous woman, something that rather defied Cleopatra's training. As ever, what kept a woman pure was the drudge's life, of which Juvenal supplied the traditional formula: "Hard work, short sleep, hands chafed and hardened" from housework. For the Romans, a world ruled by a woman was a world turned upside down; like the north-flowing Nile itself, it reversed the course of nature. Female authority was in Rome a meaningless concept. This posed a problem for an Egyptian sovereign.
Cleopatra spoke many languages, flattery perhaps most fluently. Though famed for her charm and her powers of persuasion, she did not always temper her style. She was an autocrat who very much sounded the part. Few resented her tone as deeply as her Judaean neighbor, Herod the Great; the relationship between the two sovereigns proceeded by mutual betrayals. Complicating their dealings was each ruler's friendship with Rome, the western superpower intent on maintaining peace between them. (Herod owed his crown in part to Roman fears of Cleopatra; he balanced power in a volatile corner of the world.) Cleopatra conspired to separate Herod from their mutual Roman friends. In turn, he proposed her assassination. All would be so much simpler, argued the Judaean king, if his henchmen simply eliminated the pesky Egyptian queen.
What else to do with a clever woman who could not be subjugated by the usual means? Cleopatra's relationship with Mark Antony was the longest of her life, but that with Octavian, the future Caesar Augustus, would prove the more enduring. She allowed him to recycle the oldest trope: The allergy to the powerful woman was even sturdier than that to monarchy or to the impure, inferior East. Octavian delivered up the tabloid version of an Egyptian queen, insatiable, treacherous and decadent. To prepare the ground for Actium, the battle that would decide the future of Rome and at which Octavian would defeat Antony and Cleopatra, he needed a worthy opponent. He wisely oversold the enemy.
In Octavian's version, Cleopatra assumed the role of the "wild queen," lusting after Rome and plotting its destruction. For his one-time ally Antony to have succumbed to something other than a fellow Roman, she had to be a disarming seductress. Her powers had to be exaggerated because—for one man's political purposes—she needed to have reduced another to abject slavery. And as ever, the easiest way to disarm a capable woman was to sexualize her. Herod did the same, expounding in the course of Cleopatra's Jerusalem visit on her shameless behavior. Blushingly, he swore that she had forced herself upon him. As everyone knew, such was her wont. (She was at the time hugely pregnant with Mark Antony's child.)
The divide between the civilized, virtuous West and the tyrannical, dissolute East began in part with Rome and its Egyptian problem. Cleopatra emerged as stand-in for her occult, alchemical land, the intoxicating address of sex and excess. She wielded power shrewdly and easily, making her that rarest of things: a woman who—working from an original script—discomfited the very male precincts of traditional authority. Two thousand years later, those tensions and anxieties have not relaxed their hold.
—Stacy Schiff is the author of "Cleopatra: A Life," which will be published next month. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her biography of Vera Nabokov.
And - here is a review of Schiff's "Cleopatra: A Life" from Newsweek, October 21, 2010.
5th Dynasty Priest's Tomb Discovered Near Giza
They'll be digging up new discoveries in Egypt for the next thousand years. Who knows what's underneath all that constantly shifting sand? From Discovery News:
Ancient Egyptian Priest's Tomb Unearthed in Giza
Analysis by Rossella Lorenzi
Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:48 PM ET
Archaeologists have unearthed a more than 4,000-year-old tomb of a pharaonic priest near the Giza pyramids, Egypt’s authorities announced on Monday.
Beautifully decorated, the burial site is located near the tombs of the pyramid-builders.
It belonged to Rudj-Ka, a priest who lived during the Fifth Dynasty (2465 - 2323 B.C.) and was responsible for the mortuary cult of the pharaoh Khafre, also known as Chephren.
The son of Khufu, or Cheops, the Fourth Dynasty king Khafre is best known as the owner of the second largest of the Giza Pyramids.
According to Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Khafre’s pyramid complex and mortuary cult remained functioning well after the king’s death, thanks to a group of priests who conducted rituals and prayers in honor of the dead pharaoh.
Rudj-Ka was one of those priests. An important member of the ancient Egyptian court, he was provisioned through a royal endowment to serve as a purification priest.
Built from limestone blocks, which create a maze-like pathway to the main entrance, Rudj-Ka's tomb is cut directly into a cliff face and boasts walls painted with beautiful scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt.
One wall painting shows Rudj-ka fishing and sailing. Another scene portrays the priest and his wife in front of an offering table loaded with gifts of bread, goose and cattle.
According to Hawass, the discovery might indicate that an unknown larger necropolis lies near the three famous pyramids.
"This tomb could be the first of many in the area. Hopefully we have located a new necropolis dedicated to certain members of the royal court,” Hawass said in a statement.
He also speculated that the area could be a continuation of the western necropolis at Giza, which may have resulted from overcrowding in the Giza plateau.
Ancient Egyptian Priest's Tomb Unearthed in Giza
Analysis by Rossella Lorenzi
Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:48 PM ET
Archaeologists have unearthed a more than 4,000-year-old tomb of a pharaonic priest near the Giza pyramids, Egypt’s authorities announced on Monday.
Beautifully decorated, the burial site is located near the tombs of the pyramid-builders.
It belonged to Rudj-Ka, a priest who lived during the Fifth Dynasty (2465 - 2323 B.C.) and was responsible for the mortuary cult of the pharaoh Khafre, also known as Chephren.
The son of Khufu, or Cheops, the Fourth Dynasty king Khafre is best known as the owner of the second largest of the Giza Pyramids.
According to Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Khafre’s pyramid complex and mortuary cult remained functioning well after the king’s death, thanks to a group of priests who conducted rituals and prayers in honor of the dead pharaoh.
Rudj-Ka was one of those priests. An important member of the ancient Egyptian court, he was provisioned through a royal endowment to serve as a purification priest.
Built from limestone blocks, which create a maze-like pathway to the main entrance, Rudj-Ka's tomb is cut directly into a cliff face and boasts walls painted with beautiful scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt.
+and+wife+2010+10+18.bmp) |
| Photo: Meghan E. Strong. Courtesy of SCA. Rudj-ka and wife |
According to Hawass, the discovery might indicate that an unknown larger necropolis lies near the three famous pyramids.
"This tomb could be the first of many in the area. Hopefully we have located a new necropolis dedicated to certain members of the royal court,” Hawass said in a statement.
He also speculated that the area could be a continuation of the western necropolis at Giza, which may have resulted from overcrowding in the Giza plateau.
The Latest on Evidence for Chinese Presence in Africa in early 1400s
Looks like Gavin Menzies wasn't such a "nut case" after all, heh heh. From BBC News.
17 October 2010 Last updated at 20:07 ET
Could a rusty coin re-write Chinese-African history?
By Peter Greste, BBC East Africa correspondent, Mambrui, Kenya
It is not much to look at - a small pitted brass coin with a square hole in the centre - but this relatively innocuous piece of metal is revolutionising our understanding of early East African history, and recasting China's more contemporary role in the region.
A joint team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists found the 15th Century Chinese coin in Mambrui - a tiny, nondescript village just north of Malindi on Kenya's north coast.
In barely distinguishable relief, the team leader Professor Qin Dashu from Peking University's archaeology department, read out the inscription: "Yongle Tongbao" - the name of the reign that minted the coin some time between 1403 and 1424.
"These coins were carried only by envoys of the emperor, Chengzu," Prof Qin said.
"We know that smugglers would often take them and melt them down to make other brass implements, but it is more likely that this came here with someone who gave it as a gift from the emperor."
And that poses the question that has excited both historians and politicians: How did a coin from the early 1400s get to East Africa, almost 100 years before the first Europeans reached the region?
When China ruled the seas
The answer seems to be with Zheng He, also known as Cheng Ho - a legendary Chinese admiral who, the stories say, led a vast fleet of between 200 and 300 ships across the Indian Ocean in 1418.
Until recently, there have only been folk tales and insubstantial hints at how far Zheng He might have sailed.
Then, a few years ago, fishermen off the northern Kenyan port town of Lamu hauled up 15th Century Chinese vases in their nets, and the Chinese authorities ran DNA tests on a number of villagers who claimed Chinese ancestry.
The tests seemed to confirm what the villagers have always believed - that a ship from Zheng He's fleet sank in a storm and the surviving crew married locals, meaning some people in the area still have subtly Chinese features.
Searching for clues
It was then that Peking University organized its expedition to try to find conclusive evidence. The university is spending $3 million (£2 million) on the three-year project.
Prof Qin's team chose to dig in Mambrui for two reasons.
First, ancient texts told of Zheng He's visit to the Sultan of Malindi - the most powerful coastal ruler of the time. But they also mentioned that Malindi was by a river mouth; something that the present town of Malindi doesn't have, but that Mambrui does.
The old cemetery in Mambrui also has a famous circular tomb-stone embedded with 400-year-old Chinese porcelain bowls hinting at the region's long-standing relationship with the East.
In the broad L-shaped trench that the team dug on the edge of the cemetery, they began finding what they were looking for.
First, they uncovered the remains of an iron smelter and iron slag.
Then, Mohamed Mchuria, a coastal archaeologist from the National Museums of Kenya, unearthed a stunning fragment of porcelain that Prof Qin believes came from a famous kiln called Long Quan that made porcelain exclusively for the royal family in the early Ming Dynasty.
The jade-green shard appears to be from the base of a much larger bowl, with two small fish in relief, swimming just below the surface of the glaze.
"This is a wonderful and very important piece, and that is why we believe it could have come with an imperial envoy like Zheng He," Prof Qin said.
Re-writing history?
While the evidence is still not conclusive, it undermines Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama's claim to have been the first international trader to open up East Africa.
He arrived in 1499 on an expedition to find a sea route to Asia, and launched more than 450 years of colonial domination by European maritime powers.
"We're discovering that the Chinese had a very different approach from the Europeans to East Africa," said Herman Kiriama, the lead archaeologist from the National Museums of Kenya.
"Because they came with gifts from the emperor, it shows they saw us as equals. It shows that Kenya was already a dynamic trading power with strong links to the outside world long before the Portuguese arrived," he said.
And that is profoundly influencing the way Kenya is thinking about its current ties to the East.
It implies that China has a much older trade relationship with the region than Europe, and that Beijing's very modern drive to open up trade with Africa may in fact be part of a far deeper tradition than anyone suspected.
In 2008 China's trade with the continent was worth $107bn (£67bn) - more even than the United States, and 10 times what it was in 2000.
"A long time ago, the East African coast looked East and not West," said Mr Kiriama.
"And maybe that's why it also gives politicians a reason to say: 'Let's look East' because we've been looking that way throughout the ages."
17 October 2010 Last updated at 20:07 ET
Could a rusty coin re-write Chinese-African history?
By Peter Greste, BBC East Africa correspondent, Mambrui, Kenya
It is not much to look at - a small pitted brass coin with a square hole in the centre - but this relatively innocuous piece of metal is revolutionising our understanding of early East African history, and recasting China's more contemporary role in the region.
A joint team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists found the 15th Century Chinese coin in Mambrui - a tiny, nondescript village just north of Malindi on Kenya's north coast.
In barely distinguishable relief, the team leader Professor Qin Dashu from Peking University's archaeology department, read out the inscription: "Yongle Tongbao" - the name of the reign that minted the coin some time between 1403 and 1424.
"These coins were carried only by envoys of the emperor, Chengzu," Prof Qin said.
"We know that smugglers would often take them and melt them down to make other brass implements, but it is more likely that this came here with someone who gave it as a gift from the emperor."
And that poses the question that has excited both historians and politicians: How did a coin from the early 1400s get to East Africa, almost 100 years before the first Europeans reached the region?
When China ruled the seas
The answer seems to be with Zheng He, also known as Cheng Ho - a legendary Chinese admiral who, the stories say, led a vast fleet of between 200 and 300 ships across the Indian Ocean in 1418.
Until recently, there have only been folk tales and insubstantial hints at how far Zheng He might have sailed.
Then, a few years ago, fishermen off the northern Kenyan port town of Lamu hauled up 15th Century Chinese vases in their nets, and the Chinese authorities ran DNA tests on a number of villagers who claimed Chinese ancestry.
The tests seemed to confirm what the villagers have always believed - that a ship from Zheng He's fleet sank in a storm and the surviving crew married locals, meaning some people in the area still have subtly Chinese features.
Searching for clues
It was then that Peking University organized its expedition to try to find conclusive evidence. The university is spending $3 million (£2 million) on the three-year project.
Prof Qin's team chose to dig in Mambrui for two reasons.
First, ancient texts told of Zheng He's visit to the Sultan of Malindi - the most powerful coastal ruler of the time. But they also mentioned that Malindi was by a river mouth; something that the present town of Malindi doesn't have, but that Mambrui does.
The old cemetery in Mambrui also has a famous circular tomb-stone embedded with 400-year-old Chinese porcelain bowls hinting at the region's long-standing relationship with the East.
In the broad L-shaped trench that the team dug on the edge of the cemetery, they began finding what they were looking for.
First, they uncovered the remains of an iron smelter and iron slag.
Then, Mohamed Mchuria, a coastal archaeologist from the National Museums of Kenya, unearthed a stunning fragment of porcelain that Prof Qin believes came from a famous kiln called Long Quan that made porcelain exclusively for the royal family in the early Ming Dynasty.
The jade-green shard appears to be from the base of a much larger bowl, with two small fish in relief, swimming just below the surface of the glaze.
"This is a wonderful and very important piece, and that is why we believe it could have come with an imperial envoy like Zheng He," Prof Qin said.
Re-writing history?
While the evidence is still not conclusive, it undermines Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama's claim to have been the first international trader to open up East Africa.
He arrived in 1499 on an expedition to find a sea route to Asia, and launched more than 450 years of colonial domination by European maritime powers.
"We're discovering that the Chinese had a very different approach from the Europeans to East Africa," said Herman Kiriama, the lead archaeologist from the National Museums of Kenya.
"Because they came with gifts from the emperor, it shows they saw us as equals. It shows that Kenya was already a dynamic trading power with strong links to the outside world long before the Portuguese arrived," he said.
And that is profoundly influencing the way Kenya is thinking about its current ties to the East.
It implies that China has a much older trade relationship with the region than Europe, and that Beijing's very modern drive to open up trade with Africa may in fact be part of a far deeper tradition than anyone suspected.
In 2008 China's trade with the continent was worth $107bn (£67bn) - more even than the United States, and 10 times what it was in 2000.
"A long time ago, the East African coast looked East and not West," said Mr Kiriama.
"And maybe that's why it also gives politicians a reason to say: 'Let's look East' because we've been looking that way throughout the ages."
Blast from the Past
Circa 1967, Mr. Don with the band he played in at the time, Dark Side. He's the one in the center - so he says. I'm not certain I believe him. That was two years before we graduated high school. Ohmygoddess!
%5B1%5D.jpg)
%5B1%5D.jpg)
Lisa Lane Articles by Sarah a/k/a "Bat Girl"
I wanted to write about Lisa Lane a few days ago when Allen Becker of Southwest Chess Club sent me a link to an article about this former 2x U.S. Women's Chess Champion that had been posted at Chessbase.com: Lisa Lane - First Chess Beauty Queen. While I appreciate that Chessbase does offer articles from time to time about female chessplayers and posts lots of pictures of them, particularly of the prettiest and youngest female players, Chessbase gears its articles toward its overwhelmingly male audience. Thus, the otherwise well written article contains a cheesecake shot of Lisa Lane posed in a negligee with plenty of bare leg showing, looking at a chessboard, her bouffant hairdo perfectly lacquered in that 1960's way. The photo was taken from a magazine article written about Lane at the time. Well, that was the 1960's, this is the 21st century, although no doubt men ogled that 40 year old photo today the same way they did back then. Sex sells, and Lane was a good looking young woman with a good figure.
Lane was a remarkable chess talent. In a different world, she was probably good enough to become women's world chess champion, but she lacked support both training-wise and financially. Other than Bobby Fisher, no one was able to prevail against the Soviet chess machine that ruled the world then, the remnants of which still do. The prevailing attitude toward women in general and female chessplayers in particular seemed to be Fisher's - they were "fish" - although some male players were probably more discreet in hiding their contempt. Fisher did conceed back then that Lane was the "best of the American fish." Seems things haven't changed very much.
I discovered by accident that Sarah a/k/a Bat Girl's splendid blog/log about chess had been deleted or something - the webhost closed down? In any event, after hunting around a bit I did find through Sarah's postings at Chess.com that most of it had been saved and now exists as an archive at another person's website. I updated the link to it in our Links section. If you aren't familiar with Sarah's chess site, please check it out. All I can say is that it contains great stuff.
Last night I played through one of the Lisa Lane games that Sarah posted, and it totally blew me away. While wishing to become a good player, I have no ambition to study and, at 59, wonder how much progress I'd be able to make in any event. But I continue to chug along at not-even-patzer-level anyway and now that I have an "official" USCF rating, wonder if I could push it up to 1000. LOL! A pipe dream if I ever heard one, but what the hell. Anyway - back to the Lisa Lane game I went through. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. It seemed she knew like 10 moves in advance where she would have to have a piece stashed in order to make a perfect move much later in the game. And the other player was no slouch either. Both of them made moves that astounded me. Now, granted, my understanding of that level of chess is, to say the least, limited. I feel boundless admiration for people who play, and who play well. I am now even more depressed. Like Lisa Lane, I HATE, PASSIONATELY HATE LIKE HATING SOMEONE'S GUTS AND HOPING THEY BURN IN HELL FOREVER WITH A PITCHFORK UP THEIR BUTT to lose. Hate it.
Sarah/Bat Girl wrote about Lane:
February 28, 2004 Lisa Lane
April 23, 2004 Lisa Lane Revisited
April 24, 2004 Some Lisa Lane Games
May 28, 2004 Lisa Lane Final Entry - Sarah Beth makes a Lisa Lane website which, unfortunately, no longer exists, but the information she used to create the website (at least at the beginning of its life) is contained in the blog entries listed here.
Currently Sarah Beth a/k/a Bat Girl is located at Chess . com where she has a blog, le blog de la Bat Girl.
October 12, 2010 Lisa Lane
This post contains the game (Lisa Lane vs. Fenny Heemskerk, Women's Candidate Vrnjacka Banja, 1961
1-0) that I played through last night. It's at the very end of the entry and on a board where you can see the pieces move.
More on Lisa Lane:
Wikipedia
Chess games of Lisa Lane (only 25) from chessgames.com
August 7, 1961 Sports Illustrated Lisa Lane Cover
August 7, 1961 Sports Illustrated article: Queen of Knights and Pawns - I recommend this article. It is extremely telling.
 |
| Lisa Lane, 1962 Life Magazine, by Alfred Eisentaedt |
Lane was a remarkable chess talent. In a different world, she was probably good enough to become women's world chess champion, but she lacked support both training-wise and financially. Other than Bobby Fisher, no one was able to prevail against the Soviet chess machine that ruled the world then, the remnants of which still do. The prevailing attitude toward women in general and female chessplayers in particular seemed to be Fisher's - they were "fish" - although some male players were probably more discreet in hiding their contempt. Fisher did conceed back then that Lane was the "best of the American fish." Seems things haven't changed very much.
I discovered by accident that Sarah a/k/a Bat Girl's splendid blog/log about chess had been deleted or something - the webhost closed down? In any event, after hunting around a bit I did find through Sarah's postings at Chess.com that most of it had been saved and now exists as an archive at another person's website. I updated the link to it in our Links section. If you aren't familiar with Sarah's chess site, please check it out. All I can say is that it contains great stuff.
Last night I played through one of the Lisa Lane games that Sarah posted, and it totally blew me away. While wishing to become a good player, I have no ambition to study and, at 59, wonder how much progress I'd be able to make in any event. But I continue to chug along at not-even-patzer-level anyway and now that I have an "official" USCF rating, wonder if I could push it up to 1000. LOL! A pipe dream if I ever heard one, but what the hell. Anyway - back to the Lisa Lane game I went through. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. It seemed she knew like 10 moves in advance where she would have to have a piece stashed in order to make a perfect move much later in the game. And the other player was no slouch either. Both of them made moves that astounded me. Now, granted, my understanding of that level of chess is, to say the least, limited. I feel boundless admiration for people who play, and who play well. I am now even more depressed. Like Lisa Lane, I HATE, PASSIONATELY HATE LIKE HATING SOMEONE'S GUTS AND HOPING THEY BURN IN HELL FOREVER WITH A PITCHFORK UP THEIR BUTT to lose. Hate it.
Sarah/Bat Girl wrote about Lane:
February 28, 2004 Lisa Lane
April 23, 2004 Lisa Lane Revisited
April 24, 2004 Some Lisa Lane Games
May 28, 2004 Lisa Lane Final Entry - Sarah Beth makes a Lisa Lane website which, unfortunately, no longer exists, but the information she used to create the website (at least at the beginning of its life) is contained in the blog entries listed here.
Currently Sarah Beth a/k/a Bat Girl is located at Chess . com where she has a blog, le blog de la Bat Girl.
October 12, 2010 Lisa Lane
This post contains the game (Lisa Lane vs. Fenny Heemskerk, Women's Candidate Vrnjacka Banja, 1961
1-0) that I played through last night. It's at the very end of the entry and on a board where you can see the pieces move.
More on Lisa Lane:
Wikipedia
Chess games of Lisa Lane (only 25) from chessgames.com
August 7, 1961 Sports Illustrated Lisa Lane Cover
August 7, 1961 Sports Illustrated article: Queen of Knights and Pawns - I recommend this article. It is extremely telling.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The Cow Jumped Over the Moon
See the post immediately below on the latest issue (Volume 19) of the Asia Institute Bulletin. In it is an article:
Almut Hintze, The Cow That Came from the Moon: The Avestan Expression māh- gaociθra-
Synopsis: It is argued that the syntactic combination of ciθra- with the ablative case in the Avesta warrants the meaning "origin, offspring" and that such meaning is also present in the phrase māh- gaociθra- "the moon that holds the seed of the animal." This and other evidence indicates that the Middle Persian myth about the lunar origin of the numerous animal species on earth goes back to the Avesta.
I don't think I would try to read the article based on the synopsis, which sounds extremely technical and way beyond the bounds of my knowledge, but the underlying premise about an ancient Persian/Avestan tale that relates the creation of animals with the Moon - that fascinates me. The first thing that sprang into my mind when I read the title of the article was "the cow jumped over the Moon."
Yeah, I'm crazy. Bear with me. Do you remember the old nursery rhyme - Hey diddle diddle - this is how I remember it:
Hey diddle diddle,
The Cat and the Fiddle,
The Cow jumped over the Moon,
The Old Dog laughed to see such Craft,
And the Fork ran away with the Spoon.
(See Wikipedia for few other versions of the rhyme, along with discussion of the rhyme's possible meaning.)
Some free association in Goddesschess style - feel free to join in:
I see a pattern of pairs that may hold a deeper meaning, in other words, the sum of the whole is greater than its parts:
diddle - diddle
cat - fiddle
cow - Moon
dog - craft
fork - spoon (or dish - spoon)
Could this be a "spell," a formula hidden in "code" that is very very old?
There are some other associations that immediately come to mind:
cat - dog: opposites; light/dark, ying/yang
cat: associated with witchcraft; ancient Egyptian goddesses (Hathor, Bast)
cow: Hathor, India
cow: milk, food, mother
Craft: witchcraft; wizardry; old magic
dog - Moon: dog howling at the Moon, crying for his mate
dog: ancient game pieces were often called dogs
dog: companion of the Triple Goddess in her death aspect, harbinger of death, bringer of knowledge and insight, faithful companion
Moon: long associated with the Triple Goddess, and with female power, menstruation, creation - birth, death (blood), soma, the Elixir of Eternal Life
Moon: Wife/Mother of the Sun
fiddle: ancient stringed instrument of any sort for making music
fork - spoon/dish - spoon: eating, offering, ritual, feast/festivity
You get the idea...
Is "diddle" really a reference to illicit sexual activity? Could it have some other meaning, something older that has fallen out of usage and collective memory? Or was it simply added somewhere along the line in order to rhyme with "fiddle?"
Could "Craft" be an oblique reference to witchcraft?
"Catgut" was used to string ancient and not so ancient musical instruments. I'm not kidding - check out these definitions of "catgut:"
Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of a hog, horse, mule, pig or donkey. ...
Wikipedia
A popular name for classical guitar strings.
www.guitarlessons.net/musicterms.shtml
I looked at the Wikipedia entry on "catgut" and found the following information:
The name neither implies nor derives from any association with cats.
The word catgut may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may have derived by folk etymology from kitgut or kitstring -- the word kit, meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word kit for little cat. According to legend, string makers of the 17th century deliberately misled people to believe that the strings were made of cat intestines in order to protect their industry, as any association with cats was superstitiously believed to be extremely bad luck, and to be avoided at all cost.
For a long period, catgut was the most common material for the strings of harps, lutes, violins, and violas, as well as other stringed musical instruments, as well as older marching snare drums; however, most musical instruments produced today use strings with cores made of other materials, generally steel or synthetic. Gut strings are the natural choice for many classical and baroque string players, and catgut strings are still most commonly preferred in concert-tension pedal/grand and some lever harps because they give a richer, darker sound as well as withstanding high tension within low alto, tenor and high-bass ranges.
Sacred implements including bowls, platters, vials, pitchers and serving/mixing implements of all sorts, made out of all kinds of materials, have long been associated with the preparation of sacrifices to the goddesses and gods in ancient religious traditions.
Fiddle brought to mind the ancient stringed musical instrument the lyre, which can be found (I believe) in Sumer, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, and ancient Greece. Probably other places, too - ancient China? So often one forgets about China and places to the far east of the Mediterranean in discussing herstory. For instance, this blog that explores the meanings of words associated with the zodiac - in this case, the lyre - connects it to the concept of a tortoise shell. That's fine - but it's all western analogies cited. The tortoise shell in ancient China represented the mathematical basis of the first perfect 3 by 3 magical square, the Lo Shu, which may be incorporated into the ancient Chinese game liubo, which many Chinese scholars say is the predecessor of Xiang Qi -- Chinese Chess. All sides of the Lo Shu magic square sum to 15, and it is very very old, between 5000 and 6000 years old. Perhaps as old as the Horns of Hathor. And we should not forget what has been called the most ancient preserved zodiac in the world: that carved into the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera. Note: I cannot add graphics at the moment, something to do with Google Blogger maintenance, I believe. If I remember tomorrow, I will add the necessary pics then.
Okay - so, putting it all together, could the old nursery rhyme actually be an incomplete and imperfectly remembered rendition of a very old spell -- tradition -- that had to do with making offerings of some kind to a deity? Or a recording, in code, of the steps involved in making such an offering?
Probably some brilliant graduate student has already written a paper on the subject :)
Almut Hintze, The Cow That Came from the Moon: The Avestan Expression māh- gaociθra-
Synopsis: It is argued that the syntactic combination of ciθra- with the ablative case in the Avesta warrants the meaning "origin, offspring" and that such meaning is also present in the phrase māh- gaociθra- "the moon that holds the seed of the animal." This and other evidence indicates that the Middle Persian myth about the lunar origin of the numerous animal species on earth goes back to the Avesta.
I don't think I would try to read the article based on the synopsis, which sounds extremely technical and way beyond the bounds of my knowledge, but the underlying premise about an ancient Persian/Avestan tale that relates the creation of animals with the Moon - that fascinates me. The first thing that sprang into my mind when I read the title of the article was "the cow jumped over the Moon."
Yeah, I'm crazy. Bear with me. Do you remember the old nursery rhyme - Hey diddle diddle - this is how I remember it:
Hey diddle diddle,
The Cat and the Fiddle,
The Cow jumped over the Moon,
The Old Dog laughed to see such Craft,
And the Fork ran away with the Spoon.
(See Wikipedia for few other versions of the rhyme, along with discussion of the rhyme's possible meaning.)
Some free association in Goddesschess style - feel free to join in:
I see a pattern of pairs that may hold a deeper meaning, in other words, the sum of the whole is greater than its parts:
diddle - diddle
cat - fiddle
cow - Moon
dog - craft
fork - spoon (or dish - spoon)
Could this be a "spell," a formula hidden in "code" that is very very old?
There are some other associations that immediately come to mind:
 |
| Line drawing of the Narmer Palette, c. 3500-3400 BCE, Naqada, ancient Egypt. She's across the top on the front and reverse sides, with cow ears and horns. Her iconography is extremely old. |
cat: associated with witchcraft; ancient Egyptian goddesses (Hathor, Bast)
cow: Hathor, India
cow: milk, food, mother
Craft: witchcraft; wizardry; old magic
dog - Moon: dog howling at the Moon, crying for his mate
dog: ancient game pieces were often called dogs
dog: companion of the Triple Goddess in her death aspect, harbinger of death, bringer of knowledge and insight, faithful companion
Moon: long associated with the Triple Goddess, and with female power, menstruation, creation - birth, death (blood), soma, the Elixir of Eternal Life
Moon: Wife/Mother of the Sun
fiddle: ancient stringed instrument of any sort for making music
fork - spoon/dish - spoon: eating, offering, ritual, feast/festivity
You get the idea...
Is "diddle" really a reference to illicit sexual activity? Could it have some other meaning, something older that has fallen out of usage and collective memory? Or was it simply added somewhere along the line in order to rhyme with "fiddle?"
Could "Craft" be an oblique reference to witchcraft?
"Catgut" was used to string ancient and not so ancient musical instruments. I'm not kidding - check out these definitions of "catgut:"
Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of a hog, horse, mule, pig or donkey. ...
Wikipedia
A popular name for classical guitar strings.
www.guitarlessons.net/musicterms.shtml
I looked at the Wikipedia entry on "catgut" and found the following information:
The name neither implies nor derives from any association with cats.
The word catgut may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may have derived by folk etymology from kitgut or kitstring -- the word kit, meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word kit for little cat. According to legend, string makers of the 17th century deliberately misled people to believe that the strings were made of cat intestines in order to protect their industry, as any association with cats was superstitiously believed to be extremely bad luck, and to be avoided at all cost.
For a long period, catgut was the most common material for the strings of harps, lutes, violins, and violas, as well as other stringed musical instruments, as well as older marching snare drums; however, most musical instruments produced today use strings with cores made of other materials, generally steel or synthetic. Gut strings are the natural choice for many classical and baroque string players, and catgut strings are still most commonly preferred in concert-tension pedal/grand and some lever harps because they give a richer, darker sound as well as withstanding high tension within low alto, tenor and high-bass ranges.
Sacred implements including bowls, platters, vials, pitchers and serving/mixing implements of all sorts, made out of all kinds of materials, have long been associated with the preparation of sacrifices to the goddesses and gods in ancient religious traditions.
Fiddle brought to mind the ancient stringed musical instrument the lyre, which can be found (I believe) in Sumer, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, and ancient Greece. Probably other places, too - ancient China? So often one forgets about China and places to the far east of the Mediterranean in discussing herstory. For instance, this blog that explores the meanings of words associated with the zodiac - in this case, the lyre - connects it to the concept of a tortoise shell. That's fine - but it's all western analogies cited. The tortoise shell in ancient China represented the mathematical basis of the first perfect 3 by 3 magical square, the Lo Shu, which may be incorporated into the ancient Chinese game liubo, which many Chinese scholars say is the predecessor of Xiang Qi -- Chinese Chess. All sides of the Lo Shu magic square sum to 15, and it is very very old, between 5000 and 6000 years old. Perhaps as old as the Horns of Hathor. And we should not forget what has been called the most ancient preserved zodiac in the world: that carved into the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera. Note: I cannot add graphics at the moment, something to do with Google Blogger maintenance, I believe. If I remember tomorrow, I will add the necessary pics then.
Okay - so, putting it all together, could the old nursery rhyme actually be an incomplete and imperfectly remembered rendition of a very old spell -- tradition -- that had to do with making offerings of some kind to a deity? Or a recording, in code, of the steps involved in making such an offering?
Probably some brilliant graduate student has already written a paper on the subject :)
Bulletin of the Asia Institute
No. 19 is now available for purchase and it's an incredible selection of articles on ancient Persia/Iran/Avestan and Zoroastrianism (is that a word?):
"Mulberry” in Khotanese: A New Khotanese Loan Deed in the Hetian Museum
Duan Qing
The Other in the Mirror: Iranians and Jews View One Another: Questions of Identity, Conversion, and Exogamy in the Fifth-Century Iranian Empire, Part One
Yaakov Elman
Church and State in Iranian History
Richard N. Frye
Vahrām III (293) and the Rock Relief of Naqsh-i Rustam II: A Contribution to the Iconography of Sasanian Crown Princes in the Third Century
Rika Gyselen
The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave
Valerie Hansen
From Earth to Heaven: Speculations on the Significance of the Form of the Achaemenid Censer
Prudence O. Harper
The Cow that Came from the Moon: The Avestan Expression māh- gaociθra-
Almut Hintze
Poetic Self-Reference in the Rig Veda and the Persona of Zarathustra
Stephanie W. Jamison
Le sacrifice et la nature humaine
Jean Kellens et Philippe Swennen
Paul Pelliot and the Deśanā-parivarta of the Suvarnabhāsa-sūtra
Hiroshi Kumamoto
An Alan Seal
Judith A. Lerner
The Herbēdestān as a Legal Source: A Section on the Inheritance of a Convert to Zoroastrianism
Maria Macuch
Annotations on the Book of Zambasta, II: Khotanese mamkyā-
Mauro Maggi
Sheep, Wheat, and Wine: An Achaemenian Antecedent of the Sasanian Sacrifices pad ruwān
Antonio Panaino
The Name of the So-called “Tumshuqese” Language
Rong Xinjiang
The Demon Weed
James R. Russell
Remarks on the Formal Brāhmī Script from the Southern Silk Route
Lore Sander
Apollo and Khshathrapati, the Median Nergal, at Xanthos
Martin Schwartz
Studying with a Magus/Like Giving a Tongue to a Wolf
Shai Secunda
Aramaic Loan-words in Middle Persian
Shaul Shaked
Nugae Epigraphicae
M. Rahim Shayegan
The Wizirgerd ī Dēnīg and the Evil Spirit: Questions of Authenticity in Post-Classical Zoroastrianism
Daniel Jensen Sheffield
Before the Quarrel: A Bactrian Purchase Contract
Nicholas Sims-Williams
The Strange Story of Samuel Guise: An 18th-Century Collection of Zoroastrian Manuscripts
Ursula Sims-Williams
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Werner Sundermann
Resurrecting the Resurrection: Eschatology and Exegesis in Late Antique Zoroastrianism
Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina
A Pahlavi Papyrus from Islamic Times
Dieter Weber
Viśa’ Śūra’s Corpse Discovered?
Yutaka Yoshida
VOL. 19 = 246 pp.
Published in December 2009
Individual subscriptions are $75 annually. Check out the catalog of prior issues. Scroll down the left-hand margin to get to the Bulletins, click on one to bring up a Table of Contents for each volume.
"Mulberry” in Khotanese: A New Khotanese Loan Deed in the Hetian Museum
Duan Qing
The Other in the Mirror: Iranians and Jews View One Another: Questions of Identity, Conversion, and Exogamy in the Fifth-Century Iranian Empire, Part One
Yaakov Elman
Church and State in Iranian History
Richard N. Frye
Vahrām III (293) and the Rock Relief of Naqsh-i Rustam II: A Contribution to the Iconography of Sasanian Crown Princes in the Third Century
Rika Gyselen
The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave
Valerie Hansen
From Earth to Heaven: Speculations on the Significance of the Form of the Achaemenid Censer
Prudence O. Harper
The Cow that Came from the Moon: The Avestan Expression māh- gaociθra-
Almut Hintze
Poetic Self-Reference in the Rig Veda and the Persona of Zarathustra
Stephanie W. Jamison
Le sacrifice et la nature humaine
Jean Kellens et Philippe Swennen
Paul Pelliot and the Deśanā-parivarta of the Suvarnabhāsa-sūtra
Hiroshi Kumamoto
An Alan Seal
Judith A. Lerner
The Herbēdestān as a Legal Source: A Section on the Inheritance of a Convert to Zoroastrianism
Maria Macuch
Annotations on the Book of Zambasta, II: Khotanese mamkyā-
Mauro Maggi
Sheep, Wheat, and Wine: An Achaemenian Antecedent of the Sasanian Sacrifices pad ruwān
Antonio Panaino
The Name of the So-called “Tumshuqese” Language
Rong Xinjiang
The Demon Weed
James R. Russell
Remarks on the Formal Brāhmī Script from the Southern Silk Route
Lore Sander
Apollo and Khshathrapati, the Median Nergal, at Xanthos
Martin Schwartz
Studying with a Magus/Like Giving a Tongue to a Wolf
Shai Secunda
Aramaic Loan-words in Middle Persian
Shaul Shaked
Nugae Epigraphicae
M. Rahim Shayegan
The Wizirgerd ī Dēnīg and the Evil Spirit: Questions of Authenticity in Post-Classical Zoroastrianism
Daniel Jensen Sheffield
Before the Quarrel: A Bactrian Purchase Contract
Nicholas Sims-Williams
The Strange Story of Samuel Guise: An 18th-Century Collection of Zoroastrian Manuscripts
Ursula Sims-Williams
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Werner Sundermann
Resurrecting the Resurrection: Eschatology and Exegesis in Late Antique Zoroastrianism
Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina
A Pahlavi Papyrus from Islamic Times
Dieter Weber
Viśa’ Śūra’s Corpse Discovered?
Yutaka Yoshida
VOL. 19 = 246 pp.
Published in December 2009
Individual subscriptions are $75 annually. Check out the catalog of prior issues. Scroll down the left-hand margin to get to the Bulletins, click on one to bring up a Table of Contents for each volume.
Hathor: The Miners' Goddess of Ancient Egypt
Al-Ahram has an interesting feature article on a recent reported "theft" of a statue of Hathor. Very strange.
21 - 27 October 2010
Issue No. 1020
The miners' goddess
As world attention was focussed on a gold and copper mine in Chile, it emerged that there may have been a failed bid to steal one of the remaining sandstone statues of the goddess Hathor, the ancient Egyptian protector of miners. Nevine El-Aref accompanied the statues as they were transferred to a Sinai gallery for restoration
Some few thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians made their way overland to the Sinai peninsula -- or travelled there across the Red Sea -- in search of minerals. Their chief targets were the turquoise and copper veins which had been mined in the Sinai mountains since time immemorial.
Once they had achieved mastery over Sinai, the Egyptian overseers set up a large and systematic mining operation at Serabit Al-Khadim in South Sinai, where they carved out great quantities of turquoise which was so highly valued that it became an important part of ritual symbolism in their religious ceremonies. Even today, pure, unveined turquoise is weight-for-weight more costly than gold.
To mine the turquoise the Egyptians would hollow out large galleries in the mountains, carving at the entrance to each as a representation of the reigning Pharaoh who was the symbol of the authority of the Egyptian state over the mines.
During the 12th Dynasty, when Serabit Al-Khadim was the centre of copper and turquoise mining and a flourishing trade was established, a temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor was built on top of a massive, rocky outcrop at an altitude of 1,100m above sea level. One of few Pharaonic monuments known in Sinai, the temple is unlike other temples of the period in that it contains a large number of bas-reliefs and carved stelae showing the dates of the various turquoise- mining expeditions carried out in antiquity, the number of team members; and the goal and duration of each mission. From dynasty to dynasty the temple was expanded and beautified, with the last known enlargement taking place during the 20th Dynasty.
To reach the temple the visitor must pass through a sequence of 14 perfectly-cut blocks that form ante-rooms, and even a small pylon, before reaching the central courtyard. At the far end of this courtyard are the sanctum and two grottos, where the deities Hathor and Sopdu were adored and where their images still remain. This part of the temple was accessible only to the priests and the Pharaoh. Regrettably, a British colonial attempt to reopen the mines in the mid-19th century led to some of the reliefs being destroyed.
The site of Serabit Al-Khadim, which sits on top of a mountain 2,600 feet above sea level, was discovered by the British archaeologist Flinders Petrie in 1905. Petrie unearthed several royal and private sculptures, stelae and sacrificial tools dating back to the time of the Fourth-Dynasty King Senefru.
Petrie also found vestiges of the Proto-Sinaitic script, believed to be an early precursor of our modern alphabet. These scripts began with hieroglyphic signs used to write the names of the people who worked in the mines and to keep account of their labours. The signs developed into an "Aleph-Beta" script that recorded a Proto- Canaanite language.
The Serabit Al-Khadim temple resembles a double series of stelae leading to an underground chapel dedicated to Hathor. Many of the temple's large number of sanctuaries and shrines were dedicated to this goddess who, among her many other attributes, was the patron goddess of copper and turquoise miners. As we have seen, the earliest part of the main rock-cut Hathor Temple, which has a front court and portico, dates from the 12th Dynasty and was probably founded by Pharaoh Amenemhet III, during a period of time when the mines were particularly active.
A number of scenes depict the role Hathor played in the transformation of the new Pharaoh into the deified ruler of Egypt, which took place on his ascension to the throne. One scene depicts Hathor suckling the Pharaoh. Another scene from a stone tablet depicts Hathor offering the Pharaoh the ankh symbol, or key of life.
This older part of the temple was enlarged upon and extended during the New Kingdom by none other than Queen Hatshepsut, along with Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep III. This was a regeneration period for mining operations in the area after an apparent decline during the Second Intermediate Period. These extensions are unusual for a temple in the manner in which they are angled, that is to the west of the earlier structure.
On the north side of the temple is a shrine dedicated to the Pharaohs who were deified in this region. There are numerous stelae on one wall of this shrine. A little to the south of the main temple is another shrine, smaller than the one to the north, this time dedicated to Sopdu, god of the Eastern Desert.
Last year the whole site was subjected to restoration and documentation in order to make it more tourist-friendly and accessible to visitors. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the central administration for Lower Egypt antiquities, said that the restoration, which took about a year on a budget of LE500,000, removed all the signs of time that marred the temple's walls and reliefs. It also consolidated them and strengthened the fabric and colours of the wall paintings.
Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that every relief had been photographed, drawn and videotaped on all four sides and then returned to its original position. A site management project is now being carried out.
Early this month, however, with the site almost ready for its official inauguration, the archaeologist in charge of the temple reported that one of the six remaining sandstone statues of Hathor was missing from its original display inside the open court of the temple. The statue, which was erected during the reign of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenhotep III, features the lower part of the body of Hathor seated on a chair and holding the ankh symbol in her hand.
Six hours after the reported theft, with the help of the antiquities and tourist police and members of the local resident Bedouin community, the statue was found inside one of the mines tunnelled into the mountains during the ancient Egyptian era to extract turquoise.
Investigations revealed that the statue had not been stolen as was first thought, but had been hidden as part of an ongoing feud between two rival Bedouin tribes. It was the Bedouin themselves who led the police to the hiding place.
Abdel-Maqsoud confirmed that it was impossible to steal a statue of this description for three reasons. First, the temple was located 1,100m above sea level and is difficult to reach. Second, the statue was too heavy to carry over the rocks to reach the road. Third, Abdel-Maqsoud said, the site was protected by local Bedouin who did not allow strangers to enter the site, and furthermore the temple was guarded by a team of 24 guards and 10 archaeologists who made daily tours of inspection.
The SCA is currently removing the six statues in the temple to Qantara Sharq galleries for restoration and to await a second removal to the new Sharm El-Sheikh National Museum, which is planned for completion in 2011.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
21 - 27 October 2010
Issue No. 1020
The miners' goddess
As world attention was focussed on a gold and copper mine in Chile, it emerged that there may have been a failed bid to steal one of the remaining sandstone statues of the goddess Hathor, the ancient Egyptian protector of miners. Nevine El-Aref accompanied the statues as they were transferred to a Sinai gallery for restoration
Some few thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians made their way overland to the Sinai peninsula -- or travelled there across the Red Sea -- in search of minerals. Their chief targets were the turquoise and copper veins which had been mined in the Sinai mountains since time immemorial.
Once they had achieved mastery over Sinai, the Egyptian overseers set up a large and systematic mining operation at Serabit Al-Khadim in South Sinai, where they carved out great quantities of turquoise which was so highly valued that it became an important part of ritual symbolism in their religious ceremonies. Even today, pure, unveined turquoise is weight-for-weight more costly than gold.
To mine the turquoise the Egyptians would hollow out large galleries in the mountains, carving at the entrance to each as a representation of the reigning Pharaoh who was the symbol of the authority of the Egyptian state over the mines.
 |
| This is a temple to Hathor? Not much left, is there. How sad. |
To reach the temple the visitor must pass through a sequence of 14 perfectly-cut blocks that form ante-rooms, and even a small pylon, before reaching the central courtyard. At the far end of this courtyard are the sanctum and two grottos, where the deities Hathor and Sopdu were adored and where their images still remain. This part of the temple was accessible only to the priests and the Pharaoh. Regrettably, a British colonial attempt to reopen the mines in the mid-19th century led to some of the reliefs being destroyed.
The site of Serabit Al-Khadim, which sits on top of a mountain 2,600 feet above sea level, was discovered by the British archaeologist Flinders Petrie in 1905. Petrie unearthed several royal and private sculptures, stelae and sacrificial tools dating back to the time of the Fourth-Dynasty King Senefru.
Petrie also found vestiges of the Proto-Sinaitic script, believed to be an early precursor of our modern alphabet. These scripts began with hieroglyphic signs used to write the names of the people who worked in the mines and to keep account of their labours. The signs developed into an "Aleph-Beta" script that recorded a Proto- Canaanite language.
The Serabit Al-Khadim temple resembles a double series of stelae leading to an underground chapel dedicated to Hathor. Many of the temple's large number of sanctuaries and shrines were dedicated to this goddess who, among her many other attributes, was the patron goddess of copper and turquoise miners. As we have seen, the earliest part of the main rock-cut Hathor Temple, which has a front court and portico, dates from the 12th Dynasty and was probably founded by Pharaoh Amenemhet III, during a period of time when the mines were particularly active.
A number of scenes depict the role Hathor played in the transformation of the new Pharaoh into the deified ruler of Egypt, which took place on his ascension to the throne. One scene depicts Hathor suckling the Pharaoh. Another scene from a stone tablet depicts Hathor offering the Pharaoh the ankh symbol, or key of life.
This older part of the temple was enlarged upon and extended during the New Kingdom by none other than Queen Hatshepsut, along with Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep III. This was a regeneration period for mining operations in the area after an apparent decline during the Second Intermediate Period. These extensions are unusual for a temple in the manner in which they are angled, that is to the west of the earlier structure.
On the north side of the temple is a shrine dedicated to the Pharaohs who were deified in this region. There are numerous stelae on one wall of this shrine. A little to the south of the main temple is another shrine, smaller than the one to the north, this time dedicated to Sopdu, god of the Eastern Desert.
Last year the whole site was subjected to restoration and documentation in order to make it more tourist-friendly and accessible to visitors. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the central administration for Lower Egypt antiquities, said that the restoration, which took about a year on a budget of LE500,000, removed all the signs of time that marred the temple's walls and reliefs. It also consolidated them and strengthened the fabric and colours of the wall paintings.
Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that every relief had been photographed, drawn and videotaped on all four sides and then returned to its original position. A site management project is now being carried out.
Early this month, however, with the site almost ready for its official inauguration, the archaeologist in charge of the temple reported that one of the six remaining sandstone statues of Hathor was missing from its original display inside the open court of the temple. The statue, which was erected during the reign of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenhotep III, features the lower part of the body of Hathor seated on a chair and holding the ankh symbol in her hand.
Six hours after the reported theft, with the help of the antiquities and tourist police and members of the local resident Bedouin community, the statue was found inside one of the mines tunnelled into the mountains during the ancient Egyptian era to extract turquoise.
Investigations revealed that the statue had not been stolen as was first thought, but had been hidden as part of an ongoing feud between two rival Bedouin tribes. It was the Bedouin themselves who led the police to the hiding place.
Abdel-Maqsoud confirmed that it was impossible to steal a statue of this description for three reasons. First, the temple was located 1,100m above sea level and is difficult to reach. Second, the statue was too heavy to carry over the rocks to reach the road. Third, Abdel-Maqsoud said, the site was protected by local Bedouin who did not allow strangers to enter the site, and furthermore the temple was guarded by a team of 24 guards and 10 archaeologists who made daily tours of inspection.
The SCA is currently removing the six statues in the temple to Qantara Sharq galleries for restoration and to await a second removal to the new Sharm El-Sheikh National Museum, which is planned for completion in 2011.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
After R4:
Awonder Liang (U8 Open, USA, no FIDE rating) is hanging in there, in 7th place with 3.5/4. Standings.
My girl Narmin Kazimova of Azerjaiban is the only player left in the Girls U18 Section with a perfect score:
The lone USA chess femme playing in this section, Data Anjali, is currently in 49th place with 1.5, out of 72 players.
How are the other USA girls doing?
Girls U16:
44th Anna Matlin USA 1923 2.0 (of 97 players)
Girls U14:
21st WCM Chiang Sarah USA 1864 3,0
31st WCM Munoz Claudia USA 0 2,5
34th Regam Jessica USA 0 2,5 (of 99 players)
Girls U12 (posted only through R3):
21st Hua Margaret USA 1943 2,0
40th WFM Liao Simone USA 1673 2,0
62nd Dong Alice USA 0 1,5
79th Oreshko Mariya USA 1651 1,0
90th Virkud Apurva USA 0 1,0 (of 117 players)
Girls U10:
7th Palakollu Samritha USA 0 3,5
21st Devina Sevagharan USA 0 3,0
31st Zlotchevski Nicole USA 0 2,5
46th Singh Reva USA 0 2,0 (of 107 players)
Note: Canada's Kelly Wang is also playing in this section:
41st Wang Kelly CAN 0 2,0
60th Peng Janet CAN 0 2,0
79th Bai Minya CAN 0 1,5
Kelly Wang has won Goddesschess prizes in tournament play in Canada :) Go, Kelly!
Girls U8:
7th WFM Wang Annie USA 0 3,0
14th Joanna Liu USA 0 3,0
16th Nguyen Emily USA 0 3,0
39th Ramesh Kaavya USA 0 2,0 (of 81 players)
Awonder Liang (U8 Open, USA, no FIDE rating) is hanging in there, in 7th place with 3.5/4. Standings.
My girl Narmin Kazimova of Azerjaiban is the only player left in the Girls U18 Section with a perfect score:
The lone USA chess femme playing in this section, Data Anjali, is currently in 49th place with 1.5, out of 72 players.
How are the other USA girls doing?
Girls U16:
44th Anna Matlin USA 1923 2.0 (of 97 players)
Girls U14:
21st WCM Chiang Sarah USA 1864 3,0
31st WCM Munoz Claudia USA 0 2,5
34th Regam Jessica USA 0 2,5 (of 99 players)
Girls U12 (posted only through R3):
21st Hua Margaret USA 1943 2,0
40th WFM Liao Simone USA 1673 2,0
62nd Dong Alice USA 0 1,5
79th Oreshko Mariya USA 1651 1,0
90th Virkud Apurva USA 0 1,0 (of 117 players)
Girls U10:
7th Palakollu Samritha USA 0 3,5
21st Devina Sevagharan USA 0 3,0
31st Zlotchevski Nicole USA 0 2,5
46th Singh Reva USA 0 2,0 (of 107 players)
Note: Canada's Kelly Wang is also playing in this section:
41st Wang Kelly CAN 0 2,0
60th Peng Janet CAN 0 2,0
79th Bai Minya CAN 0 1,5
Kelly Wang has won Goddesschess prizes in tournament play in Canada :) Go, Kelly!
Girls U8:
7th WFM Wang Annie USA 0 3,0
14th Joanna Liu USA 0 3,0
16th Nguyen Emily USA 0 3,0
39th Ramesh Kaavya USA 0 2,0 (of 81 players)
Old Game Teaches Kids New Lessons
From NBC News EducationNation, October 20, 2010 - testing to see if this embedding works:
Life lessons taught by chess (planning, patience, strategic thinking and, to borrow a phrase from Susan Polgar, winning with dignity and losing with grace) can stand kids in good stead in later life. I learn from my mistakes. Okay Jan, girl, write that 10,000 times on your chalkboard, and really mean it.
Life lessons taught by chess (planning, patience, strategic thinking and, to borrow a phrase from Susan Polgar, winning with dignity and losing with grace) can stand kids in good stead in later life. I learn from my mistakes. Okay Jan, girl, write that 10,000 times on your chalkboard, and really mean it.
Chess, Chess and More Chess!
Notwithstanding that the brilliant strategy I thought I'd devised in my current came at redhotpawn.com with Shira Evans blew up and I just resigned, being a pawn down with two more soon to follow and no way to defend or mount a counter-threat (boo hoo and I am really, really pissed off and ready to throw all my chess sets in the garbage), the world is abuzz with chess this weekend. There are the usual super-tournaments with the same chess dudes that I don't pay much attention to because, actually, I find them boring. It's like watching a whizzing match - I can pee farther than you can. No you can't. Yes I can. No you can't. Yes I can. Watch that target on that elm over there at 50 yards - boing! Okay, so maybe you can - this time. Yawn.
The European Club Cup Championships are going on and I follow some of the action because of the women's teams. I find their chess exciting and more relatable on an esoteric level. Yeah yeah, I'm sure some will read that and laugh, more fools they because they don't get what is magical about chess. Oh well, you remember the old ditty about the kitty's titty :) Here are the current standings for the women's teams:
The SPICE Cup at Texas Tech will be revving up next week and I usually follow the action because I admire GM Susan Polgar and I like the mix of players she puts together for the SPICE Cup, not to mention that the SPICE Cup is the top rated invitation in the USA. Not the same old, same old, you know? This season's SPICE Cup B Group features a chess femme - IM Irina Krush, who is aiming for a GM norm. I hope she gets it. She's been close many times. It is not an easy task. I believe her next chance for a GM norm will be at Gibraltar in January. May the Chess Goddess be with her and grant her both norms (she has one, she needs two more). Schedule. Round pairings for both A and B Groups.
Several top level female players, including former Women's World Chess Champion GM Zhu Chen, and GM Judit Polgar, the highest-rated female chessplayer in the world for - almost since she was born, are also playing in the Cap d'Agde (October 22 - 31, 2010). Check out this line-up (information from The Week in Chess):
Vasily Ivanchuk (2754) UKR ; Hikaru Nakamura (2733) USA ; Xiangzhi Bu (2695) CHN ; Liem Le Quang (2694) VIE ; Judith Polgar (2682) HUN ; Sebastien Feller (2649) FRA ; Romain Edouard (2636) FRA ; Jon Ludvig Hammer (2633) NOR ; Truong Nguyen Ngoc (2633) VIE ; Anatoly Karpov (2619) RUS ; Yannick Pelletier (2592) SUI ; Tatiana Kosintseva (2573) RUS ; Nadezhda Kosintseva (2565) RUS ; Kateryna Lahno (2539) UKR ; Zhu Chen (2480) QAT ; Sophie Milliet (2388) FRA. Time control: 25 minutes + 10".
Here's the official website - in French. There is a google translation button to English. Here is the set-up for the Trophy (Invitational) portion of the tournament:
2 groups of 8 players meet in a first step in a round robin tournament.
The presentation of the players and the matches (draw) of each group were held Friday, October 22.
Saturday 23 October to Tuesday, October 26, 2010 tournament takes place all round, Wednesday 27 is devoted to possible tie.
The first 4 in each group qualifying for the knockout stages.
The knockout stage is played in a game of two successive parts of Thursday, October 28 to Sunday, October 31, 2010.
Round 1 live games from Chessdom.com/Chessbomb - I do not know how long this link will stay active before being replaced with R2. PGN for the R1 women's games (remember, this is rapid chess):
K. Lahno v. T. Kosintseva:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Rc1 h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Qa5 10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 Ne4 12. b4 Nxc3 13. Qb3 Qa4 14. Qxc3 O-O 15. e3 a5 16. b5 Nxc5 17. Qxc5 Be6 18. Qd4 Qxa3 19. Be2 Qc1+ 20. Qd1 Qb2 21. O-O a4 22. Bg3 f6 23. Nd4 Bf7 24. Bd3 a3 25. Nf5 a2 26. Qg4 g5 27. Nxh6+ Kg7 28. Qf5 Rh8 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Qg6+ Ke7 31. Qg7+ Ke6 32. f4 gxf4 33. exf4 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 Qxd3 35. f5+ Qxf5 36. Re1+ Qe4 37. Rxe4+ dxe4 38. Qg4+ Kd5 39. Qf5+ Kc4 40. Qxe4+ Kxb5 41. Qd5+ Kb6 42. Qb3+ Kc6 43. Qc4+ Kd7 44. Qf7+ Kc6 45. Qxf6+ Kd5 46. Qe5+ Kc4 47. Qe4+ Kb3 48. Qxb7+ Kc2 49. Qe4+ Kb3 50. Qd3+ Kb4 51. Bd6+ Ka5 52. Qd5+ Kb6 53. Qc5+ Ka6 54. Qc6+ Ka5 55. Be5 Kb4 56. Qc3+ 1-0
S. Milliet v. T. Nguyen:1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Bd3 Bb5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Be7 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. Na3 Qc7 12. Nb5 Qb8 13. c4 a6 14. Nc3 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. cxd5 Nf6 17. dxe6 O-O 18. exf7+ Rxf7 19. Bb2 Ng4 20. Qg3 Qxg3 21. hxg3 Bxb4 22. Ne4 Re8 23. f3 Ne5 24. Rad1 Nc4 25. Bd4 Rd7 26. Bf2 Red8 27. Rb1 Ba3 28. g4 b5 29. Bh4 Rc8 30. Rfd1 Rcc7 31. Bg3 Rb7 32. Bf2 Bf8 33. Rdc1 Nd2 34. Nxd2 Rxd2 35. a4 b4 36. Rc8 Kf7 37. Rc6 b3 38. Be3 Ra2 39. Rb6 Rxb6 40. Bxb6 b2 41. Bd4 Bc5 0-1
Zhu Chen v. T. Gharamian:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Nf3 Qb6 7. e3 Be7 8. Be2 a6 9. b3 Qc7 10. Bb2 d6 11. Rc1 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Ng5 Rc8 15. Qb1 Qb8 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 O-O 18. Nd4 g6 19. h3 Qb7 20. a4 Rfd8 21. Nde2 Nc5 22. Ba1 Nce4 23. Qb2 Rc5 24. f3 Nxc3 25. Nxc3 e5 26. Rc2 Rdc8 27. Rcd2 Bf8 28. Rd3 Qd7 29. Qd2 Qe6 30. e4 Nh5 31. Nd5 b5 32. cxb5 axb5 33. axb5 Rxb5 34. Bb2 Nf6 35. Nxf6+ Qxf6 36. Ba3 Rc6 37. Rc1 Rxc1+ 38. Qxc1 Qe6 39. Qc3 Rb8 40. Kh1 Rc8 41. Qd2 Ra8 42. Qc1 h5 43. Qb2 Rb8 44. Qc2 Rc8 45. Qd1 Rb8 46. Rd5 Rb6 47. Qd3 h4 48. b4 Qc8 49. b5 Rb7 50. Kh2 Rc7 51. b6 Rc6 52. Bxd6 Bxd6 53. Rxd6 Kg7 54. Qd5 Rc2 55. Qxe5+ Kh7 56. Qf6 Qc4 57. Qxh4+ Kg7 58. Qf6+ Kh7 59. Rd8 Rxg2+ 60. Kxg2 Qe2+ 61. Kg3 Qe1+ 62. Kf4 Qc1+ 63. Ke5 Qc3+ 64. Rd4 Qc5+ 65. Kf4 Qc1+ 66. Kg3 Qg1+ 67. Kf4 Qc1+ 68. Kg3 Qg1+ 69. Kf4 Qc1+ ½-½
J. Polgar v. N. Kosintseva:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4 Bg4 10. Rd1 exd4 11. cxd4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Qd7 15. h3 Bf5 16. Nh2 Na5 17. Nf1 Nxb3 18. axb3 a5 19. Ne3 Bg6 20. Ba3 b4 21. Bb2 bxc3 22. Bxc3 Rfb8 23. Bxa5 Rxb3 24. Bxc7 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 h5 26. Ba5 Bg5 27. Bd2 Rb2 28. Qe1 Qb5 29. Nf1 Bxd2 30. Nxd2 Qb4 31. Nf3 Qxe1+ 32. Rxe1 Be4 33. Ng5 Bf5 34. Ra1 Rb1+ 35. Rxb1 Bxb1 36. h4 f6 37. exf6 gxf6 38. Ne6 1-0
The European Club Cup Championships are going on and I follow some of the action because of the women's teams. I find their chess exciting and more relatable on an esoteric level. Yeah yeah, I'm sure some will read that and laugh, more fools they because they don't get what is magical about chess. Oh well, you remember the old ditty about the kitty's titty :) Here are the current standings for the women's teams:
Look at all those Russian-sponsored teams clustered up there in the top five. The Georgian team has run into some buzz saws! The formidable Cercle d'Echecs de Monte Carlo has won the Club Cup before and has put itself in a position to do so again. Here are the members and where they stand after R6:
 |
| Irina Krush, from the 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship, copied from Goddesschess copycat website Chessalee. Cheers, darlings. |
Several top level female players, including former Women's World Chess Champion GM Zhu Chen, and GM Judit Polgar, the highest-rated female chessplayer in the world for - almost since she was born, are also playing in the Cap d'Agde (October 22 - 31, 2010). Check out this line-up (information from The Week in Chess):
Vasily Ivanchuk (2754) UKR ; Hikaru Nakamura (2733) USA ; Xiangzhi Bu (2695) CHN ; Liem Le Quang (2694) VIE ; Judith Polgar (2682) HUN ; Sebastien Feller (2649) FRA ; Romain Edouard (2636) FRA ; Jon Ludvig Hammer (2633) NOR ; Truong Nguyen Ngoc (2633) VIE ; Anatoly Karpov (2619) RUS ; Yannick Pelletier (2592) SUI ; Tatiana Kosintseva (2573) RUS ; Nadezhda Kosintseva (2565) RUS ; Kateryna Lahno (2539) UKR ; Zhu Chen (2480) QAT ; Sophie Milliet (2388) FRA. Time control: 25 minutes + 10".
Here's the official website - in French. There is a google translation button to English. Here is the set-up for the Trophy (Invitational) portion of the tournament:
2 groups of 8 players meet in a first step in a round robin tournament.
The presentation of the players and the matches (draw) of each group were held Friday, October 22.
Saturday 23 October to Tuesday, October 26, 2010 tournament takes place all round, Wednesday 27 is devoted to possible tie.
The first 4 in each group qualifying for the knockout stages.
The knockout stage is played in a game of two successive parts of Thursday, October 28 to Sunday, October 31, 2010.
Round 1 live games from Chessdom.com/Chessbomb - I do not know how long this link will stay active before being replaced with R2. PGN for the R1 women's games (remember, this is rapid chess):
K. Lahno v. T. Kosintseva:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Rc1 h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Qa5 10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 Ne4 12. b4 Nxc3 13. Qb3 Qa4 14. Qxc3 O-O 15. e3 a5 16. b5 Nxc5 17. Qxc5 Be6 18. Qd4 Qxa3 19. Be2 Qc1+ 20. Qd1 Qb2 21. O-O a4 22. Bg3 f6 23. Nd4 Bf7 24. Bd3 a3 25. Nf5 a2 26. Qg4 g5 27. Nxh6+ Kg7 28. Qf5 Rh8 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Qg6+ Ke7 31. Qg7+ Ke6 32. f4 gxf4 33. exf4 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 Qxd3 35. f5+ Qxf5 36. Re1+ Qe4 37. Rxe4+ dxe4 38. Qg4+ Kd5 39. Qf5+ Kc4 40. Qxe4+ Kxb5 41. Qd5+ Kb6 42. Qb3+ Kc6 43. Qc4+ Kd7 44. Qf7+ Kc6 45. Qxf6+ Kd5 46. Qe5+ Kc4 47. Qe4+ Kb3 48. Qxb7+ Kc2 49. Qe4+ Kb3 50. Qd3+ Kb4 51. Bd6+ Ka5 52. Qd5+ Kb6 53. Qc5+ Ka6 54. Qc6+ Ka5 55. Be5 Kb4 56. Qc3+ 1-0
S. Milliet v. T. Nguyen:1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Bd3 Bb5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Be7 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. Na3 Qc7 12. Nb5 Qb8 13. c4 a6 14. Nc3 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. cxd5 Nf6 17. dxe6 O-O 18. exf7+ Rxf7 19. Bb2 Ng4 20. Qg3 Qxg3 21. hxg3 Bxb4 22. Ne4 Re8 23. f3 Ne5 24. Rad1 Nc4 25. Bd4 Rd7 26. Bf2 Red8 27. Rb1 Ba3 28. g4 b5 29. Bh4 Rc8 30. Rfd1 Rcc7 31. Bg3 Rb7 32. Bf2 Bf8 33. Rdc1 Nd2 34. Nxd2 Rxd2 35. a4 b4 36. Rc8 Kf7 37. Rc6 b3 38. Be3 Ra2 39. Rb6 Rxb6 40. Bxb6 b2 41. Bd4 Bc5 0-1
Zhu Chen v. T. Gharamian:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Nf3 Qb6 7. e3 Be7 8. Be2 a6 9. b3 Qc7 10. Bb2 d6 11. Rc1 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Ng5 Rc8 15. Qb1 Qb8 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 O-O 18. Nd4 g6 19. h3 Qb7 20. a4 Rfd8 21. Nde2 Nc5 22. Ba1 Nce4 23. Qb2 Rc5 24. f3 Nxc3 25. Nxc3 e5 26. Rc2 Rdc8 27. Rcd2 Bf8 28. Rd3 Qd7 29. Qd2 Qe6 30. e4 Nh5 31. Nd5 b5 32. cxb5 axb5 33. axb5 Rxb5 34. Bb2 Nf6 35. Nxf6+ Qxf6 36. Ba3 Rc6 37. Rc1 Rxc1+ 38. Qxc1 Qe6 39. Qc3 Rb8 40. Kh1 Rc8 41. Qd2 Ra8 42. Qc1 h5 43. Qb2 Rb8 44. Qc2 Rc8 45. Qd1 Rb8 46. Rd5 Rb6 47. Qd3 h4 48. b4 Qc8 49. b5 Rb7 50. Kh2 Rc7 51. b6 Rc6 52. Bxd6 Bxd6 53. Rxd6 Kg7 54. Qd5 Rc2 55. Qxe5+ Kh7 56. Qf6 Qc4 57. Qxh4+ Kg7 58. Qf6+ Kh7 59. Rd8 Rxg2+ 60. Kxg2 Qe2+ 61. Kg3 Qe1+ 62. Kf4 Qc1+ 63. Ke5 Qc3+ 64. Rd4 Qc5+ 65. Kf4 Qc1+ 66. Kg3 Qg1+ 67. Kf4 Qc1+ 68. Kg3 Qg1+ 69. Kf4 Qc1+ ½-½
J. Polgar v. N. Kosintseva:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4 Bg4 10. Rd1 exd4 11. cxd4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Qd7 15. h3 Bf5 16. Nh2 Na5 17. Nf1 Nxb3 18. axb3 a5 19. Ne3 Bg6 20. Ba3 b4 21. Bb2 bxc3 22. Bxc3 Rfb8 23. Bxa5 Rxb3 24. Bxc7 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 h5 26. Ba5 Bg5 27. Bd2 Rb2 28. Qe1 Qb5 29. Nf1 Bxd2 30. Nxd2 Qb4 31. Nf3 Qxe1+ 32. Rxe1 Be4 33. Ng5 Bf5 34. Ra1 Rb1+ 35. Rxb1 Bxb1 36. h4 f6 37. exf6 gxf6 38. Ne6 1-0
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Four New Wari Mummies Discovered in Peru
Pre-Inca mummies discovered in Lima
Thu, 21 Oct 2010 2:26p.m.
Four 1,150-year-old mummies have been discovered in an ancient burial site in Lima, archaeologists revealed yesterday.
The preserved bodies are believed to be the remains of an elite woman and three children, one of which may have been sacrificed. All came from the Wari, or Huari, culture, a pre-Inca civilisation that spread along the Peruvian coast between 600 and 1,000 AD.
The discovery was made in the Huaca Puccllana archeological complex in Lima's Miraflores neighbourhood. The semi-circular tomb was found at the top of the site's main pyramid - a 25-metre structure made of adobe and clay - and was untouched by looters.
So far archeologists have been unable to determine the age or sex of the primary mummy, but the ornamental offerings left with the body - including several ceramic vessels and textile bags decorated with amorphous drawings - suggest that it was a woman.
Archeologist Gladys Paz was led to the tomb after discovering its adobe roof.
"This time, we have found an intact tomb for this era - we are talking the second part of the 'horizonte medio' era or 850AD - with an age of 1,150 years. Around the tomb, a principle bundle with a fake head has been noted, along with three accompanying bundles, which for their size would have been children. Two of them are from high social rank and one was probably sacrificed," said Paz.
As the only intact Wari tomb to have been found at the top of the pyramid, it is a important discovery for those studying the period. Mummies and offerings previously found in the area have been found in poor condition.
Huaca Puccllana was one of the most important sites for Lima Culture, a pre-Incan civilization, before it became taken over by the Wari. It is a site that attracts large numbers of students and tourists from around the world.
(c) Reuters
Thu, 21 Oct 2010 2:26p.m.
Four 1,150-year-old mummies have been discovered in an ancient burial site in Lima, archaeologists revealed yesterday.
The preserved bodies are believed to be the remains of an elite woman and three children, one of which may have been sacrificed. All came from the Wari, or Huari, culture, a pre-Inca civilisation that spread along the Peruvian coast between 600 and 1,000 AD.
The discovery was made in the Huaca Puccllana archeological complex in Lima's Miraflores neighbourhood. The semi-circular tomb was found at the top of the site's main pyramid - a 25-metre structure made of adobe and clay - and was untouched by looters.
So far archeologists have been unable to determine the age or sex of the primary mummy, but the ornamental offerings left with the body - including several ceramic vessels and textile bags decorated with amorphous drawings - suggest that it was a woman.
Archeologist Gladys Paz was led to the tomb after discovering its adobe roof.
"This time, we have found an intact tomb for this era - we are talking the second part of the 'horizonte medio' era or 850AD - with an age of 1,150 years. Around the tomb, a principle bundle with a fake head has been noted, along with three accompanying bundles, which for their size would have been children. Two of them are from high social rank and one was probably sacrificed," said Paz.
As the only intact Wari tomb to have been found at the top of the pyramid, it is a important discovery for those studying the period. Mummies and offerings previously found in the area have been found in poor condition.
Huaca Puccllana was one of the most important sites for Lima Culture, a pre-Incan civilization, before it became taken over by the Wari. It is a site that attracts large numbers of students and tourists from around the world.
(c) Reuters
Smithsonian Does Not Say It''s a Fraud...
...which is significant.
Smithsonian does not dispute authenticity of archaeological find in Vero Beach
By Elliott Jones
Updated Wednesday, October 20, 2010
VERO BEACH — The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has found no reason to dispute the authenticity of an one-of-a-kind archaeological discovery that might help confirm a human presence here up to 13,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age.
In early 2009, local fossil collector James Kennedy cleaned off an old bone he found two years earlier and noticed some lines on it — lines that turned out to be a clear etching of a walking mammoth with tusks.
The location where he found it hasn’t been disclosed, except that it came from an area north of Vero Beach.
University of Florida researchers scrutinized the four-inch etching on the 15-inch prehistoric bone with an electron microscope and their tests showed it to be apparently genuine.
In May, Kennedy took the bone to the National Museum of Natural History for further studies. There Smithsonian Institution archaeologists made a copy and used advanced techniques to look at the etching.
“We have found no traces that would indicate that a (modern) metal tool was used to carve the bone,” said the institution’s Dennis Stanford, who specializes in early North American archaeology.
“While we see no evidence that it is a forgery” the institution doesn’t authenticate objects unless they are donated to the museum, Stanford wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday.
Kennedy is keeping the bone in hopes of selling it by auction.
“I want to auction it to the person with the most money, although I would rather it go to a museum,” Kennedy said.
It is presumed to be the oldest known art object of its type found in the New World, said Richard Hulbert, a paleontologist with the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville.
The person who created the etching, presumably with a shark tooth or flint implement, had to have seen a live animal to have drawn it in such detail, he said.
“I’d like to have that (an image of it) flying on a flag outside the museum,” Hulbert said while visiting Vero Beach during the spring.
“I pulled out of the dirt,” Kennedy said. “People have looked at it with all types of equipment and it has all come back positive. It is what it is.”
Smithsonian does not dispute authenticity of archaeological find in Vero Beach
By Elliott Jones
Updated Wednesday, October 20, 2010
VERO BEACH — The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has found no reason to dispute the authenticity of an one-of-a-kind archaeological discovery that might help confirm a human presence here up to 13,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age.
In early 2009, local fossil collector James Kennedy cleaned off an old bone he found two years earlier and noticed some lines on it — lines that turned out to be a clear etching of a walking mammoth with tusks.
The location where he found it hasn’t been disclosed, except that it came from an area north of Vero Beach.
University of Florida researchers scrutinized the four-inch etching on the 15-inch prehistoric bone with an electron microscope and their tests showed it to be apparently genuine.
In May, Kennedy took the bone to the National Museum of Natural History for further studies. There Smithsonian Institution archaeologists made a copy and used advanced techniques to look at the etching.
“We have found no traces that would indicate that a (modern) metal tool was used to carve the bone,” said the institution’s Dennis Stanford, who specializes in early North American archaeology.
“While we see no evidence that it is a forgery” the institution doesn’t authenticate objects unless they are donated to the museum, Stanford wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday.
Kennedy is keeping the bone in hopes of selling it by auction.
“I want to auction it to the person with the most money, although I would rather it go to a museum,” Kennedy said.
It is presumed to be the oldest known art object of its type found in the New World, said Richard Hulbert, a paleontologist with the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville.
The person who created the etching, presumably with a shark tooth or flint implement, had to have seen a live animal to have drawn it in such detail, he said.
“I’d like to have that (an image of it) flying on a flag outside the museum,” Hulbert said while visiting Vero Beach during the spring.
“I pulled out of the dirt,” Kennedy said. “People have looked at it with all types of equipment and it has all come back positive. It is what it is.”
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
Awonder Liang won his second round game against the #7 ranked player in the Open (Boys) U8 Section:
5 62 Liang Awonder (USA) 1 1 - 0 1 Zlatea Cezar-Stelian 7
The other American young men playing in this section had equally tough assignments!
1 2 Lomasov Semen 1 1 - 0 1 Kumar Aravind (USA) 56
8 10 Amon Nejc 1 0 - 1 1 Praveen Balakrishnan (USA) 87
32 104 Taghizadeh Rayan (USA) ½ 1 - 0 ½ Gruzman Ilya 40
It's very early in the tournament and anything can happen. I'm rooting for this young American Open team. Tomorrow, these young players will face off as follows:
2 87 Praveen Balakrishnan (USA) 2 2 Ram Aravind L N 4
5 9 Sadhu S Adithya 2 2 Liang Awonder (USA) 62
18 30 Doknjas Joshua 1½ 1½ Taghizadeh Rayan (USA) 104
22 56 Kumar Aravind (USA) 1 1 Amon Nejc 10
Turning my attention to the ladies:
In the Femme U18 Section:
5 62 Liang Awonder (USA) 1 1 - 0 1 Zlatea Cezar-Stelian 7
The other American young men playing in this section had equally tough assignments!
1 2 Lomasov Semen 1 1 - 0 1 Kumar Aravind (USA) 56
8 10 Amon Nejc 1 0 - 1 1 Praveen Balakrishnan (USA) 87
32 104 Taghizadeh Rayan (USA) ½ 1 - 0 ½ Gruzman Ilya 40
It's very early in the tournament and anything can happen. I'm rooting for this young American Open team. Tomorrow, these young players will face off as follows:
2 87 Praveen Balakrishnan (USA) 2 2 Ram Aravind L N 4
5 9 Sadhu S Adithya 2 2 Liang Awonder (USA) 62
18 30 Doknjas Joshua 1½ 1½ Taghizadeh Rayan (USA) 104
22 56 Kumar Aravind (USA) 1 1 Amon Nejc 10
Turning my attention to the ladies:
In the Femme U18 Section:
- WIM Narmin Kazimova (AZE 2260) currently sits in 2nd place with a perfect 2.0 score. Way to go, girl!
- WGM Cori Deysi (PER 2368) currently is in 22nd place with 1.5. I expect she will definitely move up the ranks.
- Anjali Data (USA 2025), the lone American competing in this section, is currently in 39th place with 1.0 (out of 72 players).
A Fun Chess Set
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
I received the following update from my friends at Southwest Chess Club:
This first part is from Mike Nietman, President of the Wisconsin Chess Federation:
Here is an e-mail I just got from Yingming ‘Will’ Liang. Awonder was paired up to board one and defeated the top seeded player in the section, a Vietnamese FM who is the Asian U8 Champ!
Note that they are using FIDE ratings and in that section especially, there are a lot of unrateds like Awonder. So, it’ll take several rounds to figure out who all the real players are.
Daily updates from the coaches will be on the headlines at www.uschess.org. In addition, the direct website for the event is http://wycc2010.chessdom.com/. Games start at 8 A.M. central time and top boards may be shown on the internet at a link on the USCF’s story page. It doesn’t look like they have all of the pages on the event site working yet but it is just day one.
This summary is from Mr. Liang (Awonder's dad):
I am very delighted to report to you that in the under 8 boys section at the World Youth Chess Championships here in Porto Carras, Greece, our boys played very well in the first round. They came up with a nice result of 3-1/2 out of 4. Praveen Balakrishnan quikly overpowered his opponent and won first. In a long battle, Aravind Kumar defeated a very strong opponent from Russia in style. Rayan Taghizadeh provided us with a hard-fought draw. Awonder had just pulled out an upset victory against the number one seeded player and the only FM in his under 8 boys section. Seeded number 61, Awonder played black with the Sicilian-Najdorf Opening. After 50 some moves, facing losing his Queen or King, his opponent, Anh Khoi Nguyen, the current Asian under 8 champion from Vietnam, saved both of them by running down his own clock.
Let's hope that all of our boys and girls will keep playing real good chess here.
This first part is from Mike Nietman, President of the Wisconsin Chess Federation:
Here is an e-mail I just got from Yingming ‘Will’ Liang. Awonder was paired up to board one and defeated the top seeded player in the section, a Vietnamese FM who is the Asian U8 Champ!
Note that they are using FIDE ratings and in that section especially, there are a lot of unrateds like Awonder. So, it’ll take several rounds to figure out who all the real players are.
Daily updates from the coaches will be on the headlines at www.uschess.org. In addition, the direct website for the event is http://wycc2010.chessdom.com/. Games start at 8 A.M. central time and top boards may be shown on the internet at a link on the USCF’s story page. It doesn’t look like they have all of the pages on the event site working yet but it is just day one.
This summary is from Mr. Liang (Awonder's dad):
I am very delighted to report to you that in the under 8 boys section at the World Youth Chess Championships here in Porto Carras, Greece, our boys played very well in the first round. They came up with a nice result of 3-1/2 out of 4. Praveen Balakrishnan quikly overpowered his opponent and won first. In a long battle, Aravind Kumar defeated a very strong opponent from Russia in style. Rayan Taghizadeh provided us with a hard-fought draw. Awonder had just pulled out an upset victory against the number one seeded player and the only FM in his under 8 boys section. Seeded number 61, Awonder played black with the Sicilian-Najdorf Opening. After 50 some moves, facing losing his Queen or King, his opponent, Anh Khoi Nguyen, the current Asian under 8 champion from Vietnam, saved both of them by running down his own clock.
Let's hope that all of our boys and girls will keep playing real good chess here.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Hunting for the Dawn of Writing
The Oriental Institute in Chicago is hosting a new exhibit that looks at the development of writing in ancient Egypt, Sumer, China, and by the New World Maya.
Hunting for the Dawn of Writing, When Prehistory Became History
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
Published: October 19, 2010
CHICAGO — One of the stars of the Oriental Institute’s new show, “Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond,” is a clay tablet that dates from around 3200 B.C. On it, written in cuneiform, the script language of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, is a list of professions, described in small, repetitive impressed characters that look more like wedge-shape footprints than what we recognize as writing.
In fact “it is among the earliest examples of writings that we know of so far,” according to the institute’s director, Gil J. Stein, and it provides insights into the life of one of the world’s oldest cultures.
The new exhibition by the institute, part of the University of Chicago, is the first in the United States in 26 years to focus on comparative writing. It relies on advances in archaeologists’ knowledge to shed new light on the invention of scripted language and its subsequent evolution.
The show demonstrates that, contrary to the long-held belief that writing spread from east to west, Sumerian cuneiform and its derivatives and Egyptian hieroglyphics evolved separately from each another. And those writing systems were but two of the ancient forms of writing that evolved independently. Over a span of two millenniums, two other powerful civilizations — the Chinese and Mayans — also identified and met a need for written communication. Writing came to China as early as around 1200 B.C. and to the Maya in Mesoamerica long before A.D. 500.
“It was the first true information revolution,” Mr. Stein said. “By putting spoken language into material form, people could for the first time store and transmit it across time and space.”
The Oriental Institute spent two years assembling the show, much of which comes from its own collections. However, it did borrow important Sumerian pieces from other institutions, including the clay tablet from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, which has never before been seen in the United States.
Rest of article.
Hunting for the Dawn of Writing, When Prehistory Became History
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
Published: October 19, 2010
 |
| Sumerian goods "tag" c. 3200 BCE with proto-Cuneiform symbols. |
In fact “it is among the earliest examples of writings that we know of so far,” according to the institute’s director, Gil J. Stein, and it provides insights into the life of one of the world’s oldest cultures.
The new exhibition by the institute, part of the University of Chicago, is the first in the United States in 26 years to focus on comparative writing. It relies on advances in archaeologists’ knowledge to shed new light on the invention of scripted language and its subsequent evolution.
The show demonstrates that, contrary to the long-held belief that writing spread from east to west, Sumerian cuneiform and its derivatives and Egyptian hieroglyphics evolved separately from each another. And those writing systems were but two of the ancient forms of writing that evolved independently. Over a span of two millenniums, two other powerful civilizations — the Chinese and Mayans — also identified and met a need for written communication. Writing came to China as early as around 1200 B.C. and to the Maya in Mesoamerica long before A.D. 500.
“It was the first true information revolution,” Mr. Stein said. “By putting spoken language into material form, people could for the first time store and transmit it across time and space.”
The Oriental Institute spent two years assembling the show, much of which comes from its own collections. However, it did borrow important Sumerian pieces from other institutions, including the clay tablet from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, which has never before been seen in the United States.
Rest of article.
Chess Femme News!
Chessdom.com has an interview with IM Martha Fierro (on video).
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
Started today. List of the U18 girls. includes Narmin Kazimova of Azerbaijan whom I first saw play a few years ago in the European Women's Chess Championship and was impressed. I haven't seen much of her since then - she did not play on the Azerbaijani women's chess team at the Olympiad. I'll be interested to see what she does - she's coming in ranked #6. The US has one participant in this section: Datta Anjali, rated 2025 and ranked 37th out of the 71 players entered in the section. Peru's Cori Deysi is the #1 seed and probably the favorite to take home the gold medal.
The USA has a contingent of 40 players (boys and girls) at this championship. List.
Following Wisconsin's Awonder Liang, his R1 pairing in the Boys' U8 Section is against Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Khoi. Nguyen, rated 1980 (wow) has white.
The 15th European Club Cup for Women
You can find the teams and their rankings after 4 games at Chess-Results.com. Many of the top ranked female players in the world are playing on these teams.
AVS is in first place at the moment:
Team-Composition with round-results
1. AVS (RtgAvg:2511, Captain: Georgiev, Vladimir / TB1: 7 / TB2: 10,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2551 BUL 2902257 1 ½ ½ 2,0 3 2456
2 GM Lahno Kateryna 2539 UKR 14109336 ½ ½ ½ ½ 2,0 4 2401
3 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2491 RUS 4147855 ½ 1 ½ ½ 2,5 4 2366
4 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2464 UKR 14114550 1 ½ 1 ½ 3,0 4 2325
5 WGM Savina Anastasia 2404 RUS 4196872 1 1,0 1 2104
As you can see - a very strong team!
The Georgians aren't laying down and playing dead, though:
Team-Composition with round-results
2. Samaia Tbilisi (RtgAvg:2464, Captain: Giorgadze, George / TB1: 7 / TB2: 9,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2500 GEO 13600036 ½ 1 ½ 2,0 3 2537
2 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2451 GEO 13601458 0 0 ½ 0,5 3 2471
3 IM Melia Salome 2439 GEO 13602446 1 1 ½ ½ 3,0 4 2456
4 IM Khurtsidze Nino 2435 GEO 13600320 ½ 1 1 ½ 3,0 4 2388
5 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2464 GEO 13602640 1 0 1,0 2 2208
What is perhaps most notable about the Georgian women is their consistency, game after game. I'm glad to see Goddesschess' friend IM Salome Melia playing.
The team in 4th place at the moment boasts the two highest-rated female players after GM Judit Polgar and one of the first women to earn a GM title the traditional way, GM Pia Cramling:
Team-Composition with round-results
4. Cercle d'Echecs de Monte Carlo (RtgAvg:2554, Captain: Skripchenko, Almira / TB1: 5 / TB2: 11)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Koneru Humpy 2593 IND 5008123 1 ½ 1 ½ 3,0 4 2441
2 GM Hou Yifan 2578 CHN 8602980 1 1 ½ 2,5 3 2424
3 IM Muzychuk Anna 2535 SLO 14111330 1 0 ½ 1,5 3 2265
4 GM Cramling Pia 2509 SWE 1700030 1 0 ½ 1,5 3 2370
5 IM Skripchenko Almira 2464 FRA 13900145 1 1 ½ 2,5 3 2194
What is shocking to me is that Koneru Humpy has dropped below 2600 and that Hou Yifan has not yet been able to breach 2600! They're both playing in too many women-only events and get trapped in the women's ratings ghetto. I know they're better players than their ratings reflect, and so is Pia Cramling. But strange things happen in the women's ratings ghetto, and both players have been spending an inordinate amount of time playing in women-only events.
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
Started today. List of the U18 girls. includes Narmin Kazimova of Azerbaijan whom I first saw play a few years ago in the European Women's Chess Championship and was impressed. I haven't seen much of her since then - she did not play on the Azerbaijani women's chess team at the Olympiad. I'll be interested to see what she does - she's coming in ranked #6. The US has one participant in this section: Datta Anjali, rated 2025 and ranked 37th out of the 71 players entered in the section. Peru's Cori Deysi is the #1 seed and probably the favorite to take home the gold medal.
The USA has a contingent of 40 players (boys and girls) at this championship. List.
Following Wisconsin's Awonder Liang, his R1 pairing in the Boys' U8 Section is against Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Khoi. Nguyen, rated 1980 (wow) has white.
The 15th European Club Cup for Women
You can find the teams and their rankings after 4 games at Chess-Results.com. Many of the top ranked female players in the world are playing on these teams.
AVS is in first place at the moment:
Team-Composition with round-results
1. AVS (RtgAvg:2511, Captain: Georgiev, Vladimir / TB1: 7 / TB2: 10,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2551 BUL 2902257 1 ½ ½ 2,0 3 2456
2 GM Lahno Kateryna 2539 UKR 14109336 ½ ½ ½ ½ 2,0 4 2401
3 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2491 RUS 4147855 ½ 1 ½ ½ 2,5 4 2366
4 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2464 UKR 14114550 1 ½ 1 ½ 3,0 4 2325
5 WGM Savina Anastasia 2404 RUS 4196872 1 1,0 1 2104
As you can see - a very strong team!
The Georgians aren't laying down and playing dead, though:
Team-Composition with round-results
2. Samaia Tbilisi (RtgAvg:2464, Captain: Giorgadze, George / TB1: 7 / TB2: 9,5)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2500 GEO 13600036 ½ 1 ½ 2,0 3 2537
2 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2451 GEO 13601458 0 0 ½ 0,5 3 2471
3 IM Melia Salome 2439 GEO 13602446 1 1 ½ ½ 3,0 4 2456
4 IM Khurtsidze Nino 2435 GEO 13600320 ½ 1 1 ½ 3,0 4 2388
5 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2464 GEO 13602640 1 0 1,0 2 2208
What is perhaps most notable about the Georgian women is their consistency, game after game. I'm glad to see Goddesschess' friend IM Salome Melia playing.
The team in 4th place at the moment boasts the two highest-rated female players after GM Judit Polgar and one of the first women to earn a GM title the traditional way, GM Pia Cramling:
Team-Composition with round-results
4. Cercle d'Echecs de Monte Carlo (RtgAvg:2554, Captain: Skripchenko, Almira / TB1: 5 / TB2: 11)
Bo. Name Rtg FED FideID 1 2 3 4 5 Pts. Games RtgAvg
1 GM Koneru Humpy 2593 IND 5008123 1 ½ 1 ½ 3,0 4 2441
2 GM Hou Yifan 2578 CHN 8602980 1 1 ½ 2,5 3 2424
3 IM Muzychuk Anna 2535 SLO 14111330 1 0 ½ 1,5 3 2265
4 GM Cramling Pia 2509 SWE 1700030 1 0 ½ 1,5 3 2370
5 IM Skripchenko Almira 2464 FRA 13900145 1 1 ½ 2,5 3 2194
What is shocking to me is that Koneru Humpy has dropped below 2600 and that Hou Yifan has not yet been able to breach 2600! They're both playing in too many women-only events and get trapped in the women's ratings ghetto. I know they're better players than their ratings reflect, and so is Pia Cramling. But strange things happen in the women's ratings ghetto, and both players have been spending an inordinate amount of time playing in women-only events.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
