I just read this at the USCF website. Effective with 2011 election(s) and afterward - it is no longer enough to be a paid in full current member of USCF over the age of 16 in order to vote in its elections. As of 2011, one will also have to REGISTER in order to vote. Say what? What the hell for? The USCF has held elections for years without requiring "registration" of eligible voters. What is the rationale behind this new requirement?
Sounds like a scheme to suppress voter turnout - how unfortunate. We need MORE USCF members voting, not less! But you know what will happen - some members who do not read USCF online and do not receive the magazine will be totally in the dark - and will be locked out of voting if they desire to do so, when the time comes. Speaking of which, how does a member vote who does not receive a ballot wrapped on the outside of Chesslife Magazine? With the option now for membership at a lower cost without getting the magazine, how does a member get a ballot if one does not get the magazine? Is voting online now available??? Does one have to WRITE to USCF and REQUEST a paper ballot?
Where is this information published at USCF's website? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Celebrating the Goddess!
From Sify.com
West Bengal celebrates Diwali, Kali Puja
2010-11-05 18:30:00
Kolkata, Nov 5 (IANS) With Diwali and Kali Puja falling on the same day Friday, it's double celebrations for people in West Bengal.
People across the state exchanged sweets with friends, neighbours and relatives, and celebrated the occassion with traditional fervour.
Thousands of people visited Kalighat and Dakhineshwar temples since morning to offer their prayers to the goddess on this auspicious day.
Long queues were seen at Tarapith temple, near Rampurhat in Birbhum district, where lakhs of pilgrims converged to seek blessings of the goddess.
'It is after three years that I am enjoying Kali Puja in Kolkata,' said Swarup Das, a resident of Kolkata, now based in Dubai. 'My wife is also thrilled to be in the city after a long time on this day. I will spend the evening with my son, bursting crackers. At midnight we will go to Kalighat to see the puja,' he said.
Children, dressed in their festive best, were busy with toy pistols and firecrackers on the streets of Kolkata.
Pandal hopping is a popular activity during the festival, and people love to see the artistic decorations and idols in various parts of the city. Apart from the community pujas, the goddess is worshipped in a large number of homes as well, which have been holding the puja for generations.
'One of my cousins organises Kali Puja at her residence. I will go there with my family. We will watch the puja rituals, eat and burst crackers,' said T.P. Dutta, a banker.
The festivities keep the city administration on their toes as well.
Authorities have banned crackers emitting more than 90 decibel of sound to control noise pollution.
'Over 9,000 kg of banned firecrackers have been seized and more than 76 people have been arrested,' joint commissioner of police Jawed Shamim said.
Security has been beefed up in and around several parts of the city, he added.
What is Kali Puja?
Kali Puja or Shyama Puja is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new day of the Hindu month Ashwin in Bengal.McDermott and Kripal p.72 It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Puja
is primarily a Bengali festival, held in accordance to the lunar calendar around the first week of November . The Goddess Kali is worshipped at night on one night during Kali Puja . ...
infao5501.ag5.mpi-sb.mpg.de:8080/topx/archive
West Bengal celebrates Diwali, Kali Puja
2010-11-05 18:30:00
Kolkata, Nov 5 (IANS) With Diwali and Kali Puja falling on the same day Friday, it's double celebrations for people in West Bengal.
People across the state exchanged sweets with friends, neighbours and relatives, and celebrated the occassion with traditional fervour.
Thousands of people visited Kalighat and Dakhineshwar temples since morning to offer their prayers to the goddess on this auspicious day.
Long queues were seen at Tarapith temple, near Rampurhat in Birbhum district, where lakhs of pilgrims converged to seek blessings of the goddess.
'It is after three years that I am enjoying Kali Puja in Kolkata,' said Swarup Das, a resident of Kolkata, now based in Dubai. 'My wife is also thrilled to be in the city after a long time on this day. I will spend the evening with my son, bursting crackers. At midnight we will go to Kalighat to see the puja,' he said.
Children, dressed in their festive best, were busy with toy pistols and firecrackers on the streets of Kolkata.
Pandal hopping is a popular activity during the festival, and people love to see the artistic decorations and idols in various parts of the city. Apart from the community pujas, the goddess is worshipped in a large number of homes as well, which have been holding the puja for generations.
'One of my cousins organises Kali Puja at her residence. I will go there with my family. We will watch the puja rituals, eat and burst crackers,' said T.P. Dutta, a banker.
The festivities keep the city administration on their toes as well.
Authorities have banned crackers emitting more than 90 decibel of sound to control noise pollution.
'Over 9,000 kg of banned firecrackers have been seized and more than 76 people have been arrested,' joint commissioner of police Jawed Shamim said.
Security has been beefed up in and around several parts of the city, he added.
***************************************************
What is Diwali? Short answer: A "festival of lights" celebrated between mid-October and mid-November, it commenerates many instances of Good triumphing against Evil. It is a time of celebration, gifts, lights, brightness, sharing, and familial love.What is Kali Puja?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Puja
infao5501.ag5.mpi-sb.mpg.de:8080/topx/archive
Crossing hurdles, conquering minds
From The Hindu.com:
Tiruchirapalli, November 4, 2010
OLYMPIA SHILPA GERALD
Physically challenged chess champion Jennitha Anto impresses with her never-say-die attitude
Her world has revolved around the black and white squares, for more than a decade now. For Jennitha Anto crossing hurdles in life is much similar to making her way across the chess board - one square at a time. When life or her favourite game presents her with a ‘check', the 23-year-old simply marches ahead undeterred.
This physically challenged girl from Tiruchi dreams of being a grandmaster some day and a chartered accountant to boot. She has distinguished herself by earning the FIDE Women Candidate Master title with her performance in the recently concluded 39th World Chess Olympiad at the Russian town Khanty-Mansiysk.
Jennitha bagged the silver medal in the women's section at the eighth IPCA (International Physically disabled Chess Association) World Chess Championship in Wisla, Poland. In a tournament which had 70 physically challenged players participating including a number of International Masters, she managed to hold her own. She was the only non-Russian invited to represent the women's IPCA team at the 38th World Chess Olympiad in 2008, where she exhibited her prowess winning seven games in a row (against players in the general category), including one against a Woman International Master (WIM).
She stands testimony to the triumph of mind over matter. For the girl struck by polio at three, disability has never ever been a handicap in courting success. “It's all in the mind,” she quips. What is truly amazing about Jennitha is the perpetual cheer she emanates. Uncomplaining and perfectly contented with her lot, her soft-spoken veneer conceals an invincible will power.
Daddy's girl
Notable is her father's contribution to her success in the sport. Her first coach and constant companion, G.Kanickai Irudayaraj, introduced Jennitha to the world of pawns, knights and queens.
“I happened to read the ‘Will of steel' which records accomplishments of the differently abled in sports. When I came back home, I believed that Jennitha too could do something. I told her I would teach her a game,” recalls the retired school teacher. “She was reluctant and she reminded me she could not run, let alone walk. But she was eager, when I told her she could play chess sitting in one place.”
And that was how Jennitha got her first tutorial in chess. She soon discovered her talent when she won her first tournament at the district-level in 1996.
“During my first tournament, I was trembling all over; I was worried that so many people were watching me and wondering what they were thinking, seeing me on wheelchair. But after winning the tournament, I was all confidence,” she says with a bright smile that breaks out every now and then during conversation.
And she did not stop there. She went on conquering opponents in a battle of the brains. Jennitha was district champion under different age categories six times in a row. Her highest ranking in an open tournament at the State level was No. 5 while she was ranked 16th in the nation in the under-15 category and competed in international tournaments to become a rated player by 2002.
Though she took a solid break to concentrate on her Board exams, Jennitha returned to her first love - chess - while doing a degree in Commerce through correspondence.
Lack of infrastructure, comfort or special arrangements have never been impediments on her way forward. But the only disadvantage she points out is missing chances to watch the games of other players during tournaments. Players, when deeply embroiled in mind mapping, take a break while their opponent is mulling over his next move, to take a walk or watch other players at their game. But for Jennitha, any tournament implies sitting in the same position till the end of the match when her father can help her out. “Seeing other boards, apart from giving you a break can largely improve your game. I feel I have missed those chances,” she rues but resurfaces to describe some of her most memorable moments.
These include a match with Polish International Master in the first round of IPCA. Not the one to be intimidated by her first opponent in the tournament, Jennitha drew with him and continued to win a number of games.
Coached by International Master and Olympic team captain, Raju Ravi Sekhar, Jennitha says he shaped not only her techniques but also her temperament. Something, which she has imbibed from her idol, Viswanathan Anand.
The computer has been an asset for Jennitha to improve her game through online coaching and hours of practice. Apart from spending six hours trying out new moves and analyzing them, Jennitha leads a life of prayer. Deeply spiritual, she says, “Prayer keeps me going, whenever I feel doubtful or tired.”
The biggest hurdle
The biggest obstacle that stands between Jennitha and her ‘Grand' dream is the lack of funds. “Jennitha is about to start coaching under a Grandmaster which requires Rs.1,000 per hour. Besides, she requires twice the expenses a chess player requires for attending tournaments as she needs to be accompanied,” says her father.
Both father and daughter are thankful to private organizations and the Tiruchi District, State and All India Chess Associations that have made the journey possible so far. The State government sponsorship of the expenditure for the World Olympiad was a heaven sent for Irudayaraj, who for once did not have to worry about incurring debts.
Jennitha's hero, Bobby Fischer once remarked, “You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances.” Jennitha has that and more. The sunniest of optimists, she also believes in miracles and in dreams coming true.
Her life may be chequered but she has never been check-mated.
Tiruchirapalli, November 4, 2010
OLYMPIA SHILPA GERALD
Physically challenged chess champion Jennitha Anto impresses with her never-say-die attitude
 |
| K. Jennitha Anto, chess player. Photo:M. Moorthy |
This physically challenged girl from Tiruchi dreams of being a grandmaster some day and a chartered accountant to boot. She has distinguished herself by earning the FIDE Women Candidate Master title with her performance in the recently concluded 39th World Chess Olympiad at the Russian town Khanty-Mansiysk.
Jennitha bagged the silver medal in the women's section at the eighth IPCA (International Physically disabled Chess Association) World Chess Championship in Wisla, Poland. In a tournament which had 70 physically challenged players participating including a number of International Masters, she managed to hold her own. She was the only non-Russian invited to represent the women's IPCA team at the 38th World Chess Olympiad in 2008, where she exhibited her prowess winning seven games in a row (against players in the general category), including one against a Woman International Master (WIM).
She stands testimony to the triumph of mind over matter. For the girl struck by polio at three, disability has never ever been a handicap in courting success. “It's all in the mind,” she quips. What is truly amazing about Jennitha is the perpetual cheer she emanates. Uncomplaining and perfectly contented with her lot, her soft-spoken veneer conceals an invincible will power.
Daddy's girl
Notable is her father's contribution to her success in the sport. Her first coach and constant companion, G.Kanickai Irudayaraj, introduced Jennitha to the world of pawns, knights and queens.
“I happened to read the ‘Will of steel' which records accomplishments of the differently abled in sports. When I came back home, I believed that Jennitha too could do something. I told her I would teach her a game,” recalls the retired school teacher. “She was reluctant and she reminded me she could not run, let alone walk. But she was eager, when I told her she could play chess sitting in one place.”
And that was how Jennitha got her first tutorial in chess. She soon discovered her talent when she won her first tournament at the district-level in 1996.
“During my first tournament, I was trembling all over; I was worried that so many people were watching me and wondering what they were thinking, seeing me on wheelchair. But after winning the tournament, I was all confidence,” she says with a bright smile that breaks out every now and then during conversation.
And she did not stop there. She went on conquering opponents in a battle of the brains. Jennitha was district champion under different age categories six times in a row. Her highest ranking in an open tournament at the State level was No. 5 while she was ranked 16th in the nation in the under-15 category and competed in international tournaments to become a rated player by 2002.
Though she took a solid break to concentrate on her Board exams, Jennitha returned to her first love - chess - while doing a degree in Commerce through correspondence.
Lack of infrastructure, comfort or special arrangements have never been impediments on her way forward. But the only disadvantage she points out is missing chances to watch the games of other players during tournaments. Players, when deeply embroiled in mind mapping, take a break while their opponent is mulling over his next move, to take a walk or watch other players at their game. But for Jennitha, any tournament implies sitting in the same position till the end of the match when her father can help her out. “Seeing other boards, apart from giving you a break can largely improve your game. I feel I have missed those chances,” she rues but resurfaces to describe some of her most memorable moments.
These include a match with Polish International Master in the first round of IPCA. Not the one to be intimidated by her first opponent in the tournament, Jennitha drew with him and continued to win a number of games.
Coached by International Master and Olympic team captain, Raju Ravi Sekhar, Jennitha says he shaped not only her techniques but also her temperament. Something, which she has imbibed from her idol, Viswanathan Anand.
The computer has been an asset for Jennitha to improve her game through online coaching and hours of practice. Apart from spending six hours trying out new moves and analyzing them, Jennitha leads a life of prayer. Deeply spiritual, she says, “Prayer keeps me going, whenever I feel doubtful or tired.”
The biggest hurdle
The biggest obstacle that stands between Jennitha and her ‘Grand' dream is the lack of funds. “Jennitha is about to start coaching under a Grandmaster which requires Rs.1,000 per hour. Besides, she requires twice the expenses a chess player requires for attending tournaments as she needs to be accompanied,” says her father.
Both father and daughter are thankful to private organizations and the Tiruchi District, State and All India Chess Associations that have made the journey possible so far. The State government sponsorship of the expenditure for the World Olympiad was a heaven sent for Irudayaraj, who for once did not have to worry about incurring debts.
Jennitha's hero, Bobby Fischer once remarked, “You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances.” Jennitha has that and more. The sunniest of optimists, she also believes in miracles and in dreams coming true.
Her life may be chequered but she has never been check-mated.
Chess Invented in Bulgaria?
I didn't think it was possible but FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has made an utter ass of himself in this article. Well, he has been an ass for a long time, but now he's growing ears and a tail too, geez! Read the pronouncements of the Man Who Visits With Aliens:
From novinite.com
Bulgaria Possible Place of Origin of Chess
Sports | November 4, 2010, Thursday
The Bulgarian city of Plovdiv is one of the plausibly suspected places of origin of chess, according to the President of the international chess federation FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
In an interview for the Russian Kommersant daily, Ilyumzhinov explains that during his stay in Bulgaria in October he discussed with the heads of the Bulgarian Chess Federation the possibilities for staging the first international conference on history and origins of chess, to be hosted by the city of Sofia.
The FIDE states that India is only one possible places of origin of chess.
"This is one version. But do you know that ancient chess pieces have been found in Plovdiv? And this is one of the oldest cities in Europe. There are still theories about which country is the birthplace of chess. We first talked about India, then - about Persia. Last year I was in Mongolia, and its president showed me chess pieces found found in the tomb of Genghis Khan and the excavated burial mound. Check out their approximate age - they turned out to be 3 500 years old. The oldest chess pieces in India are maximum 2000 years old ... Chess pieces have also been found in Latin America, in Peru. How did they end up there?" Ilyumzhinov asked.
He said the first ever scientific conference on the history of chess will take place in Sofia but did not specify when.
From novinite.com
Bulgaria Possible Place of Origin of Chess
Sports | November 4, 2010, Thursday
The Bulgarian city of Plovdiv is one of the plausibly suspected places of origin of chess, according to the President of the international chess federation FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
In an interview for the Russian Kommersant daily, Ilyumzhinov explains that during his stay in Bulgaria in October he discussed with the heads of the Bulgarian Chess Federation the possibilities for staging the first international conference on history and origins of chess, to be hosted by the city of Sofia.
The FIDE states that India is only one possible places of origin of chess.
"This is one version. But do you know that ancient chess pieces have been found in Plovdiv? And this is one of the oldest cities in Europe. There are still theories about which country is the birthplace of chess. We first talked about India, then - about Persia. Last year I was in Mongolia, and its president showed me chess pieces found found in the tomb of Genghis Khan and the excavated burial mound. Check out their approximate age - they turned out to be 3 500 years old. The oldest chess pieces in India are maximum 2000 years old ... Chess pieces have also been found in Latin America, in Peru. How did they end up there?" Ilyumzhinov asked.
He said the first ever scientific conference on the history of chess will take place in Sofia but did not specify when.
*********************************************************************
There are so many things wrong with this article - but here are some major outright WRONG items in this article:
(1) As far as I'm aware, Genghis Khan's tomb has not been found, so it could not possibly have been excavated, unless it was done so illegally. If it has been discovered and excavated, where were the headlines?
(2) Where are photographs of whatever it is the President of Mongolia says are chess pieces recovered from Genghis Khan's tomb? It would be nice, too, to see the scientific analyses that date these alleged chess pieces to 3500 years ago.
(3) What chess pieces were discovered in Plovdiv? Never heard about it. I keep my ear pretty close to the ground - where is the article?
(4) A FIDE sponsored international conference on the origins of chess would not be the first international conference on the origins of chess. There have been several international conferences of scholars, archaelogists, games historians, historians, mathematicians, and interested amateurs (such as yours truly) that have addressed the origins and history of chess - none sponsored by FIDE - thank Goddess!
(5) What chess pieces discovered in South America? Never heard about it.
(6) An announcement that a new ancient chess piece has been discovered is a big deal. Remember the itnernational coverage the chess piece discovered at Butrint received back in 2002 (photo, right)? Chess historians crawled out of the woodwork to condemn the archaelogists who excavated the chess piece for calling it - a chess piece! Whatever you think the Butrint chess piece may be (oh, excuse me, I should call it the Butrint artifact), there was plenty of hoo ha raised when it was announced. Indeed, some people came forward expressing opinions whom I thought had died years ago - such is the power of an announcement that a new ancient chess piece has been discovered!
Mr. Ilyumzhinov - SHOW US THE CHESS PIECES!
For further information on the Butrint chess piece - er - ancient artifact, see:
The Butrint Icon in Vivisection - Part 1 at Goddesschess
The Butrint Icon in Vivisection - Part 2 at Goddesschess
SPICE Cup Receives Kudos
Texas Tech and SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) received praise in The New York Times Chess Blog:
November 2, 2010, 7:00 pm
Texas Tech Attracts Top Players to Spice Cup
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN
SPICE Cup B Group is completed. Report here.
SPICE Cup A Group current standings.
Irina Krush did not make her GM norm in the B Group.
November 2, 2010, 7:00 pm
Texas Tech Attracts Top Players to Spice Cup
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN
SPICE Cup B Group is completed. Report here.
SPICE Cup A Group current standings.
Irina Krush did not make her GM norm in the B Group.
Big Think: Irina Krush on Chess
At Big Think, ten women talk about breaking into male-dominated areas of endeavor.
10 Top Women in Male-Dominated Fields
Max Miller on November 3, 2010, 12:00 AM
Despite the strides women have made toward equality in the past 50 years, they remain underrepresented in a variety of professions. Today we salute ten female pioneers in traditionally male-dominated fields:
1. Irina Krush (Chess Master): Unlike most competitive pursuits, chess allows women to compete alongside men, yet a woman has never won a world chess championship. In fact, only one woman, Judit Polgar, has ever cracked the Top 10 in chess's world rankings. Big Think spoke recently with Irina Krush, who at age 14 became the youngest U.S. Women's Champion, and she told us that chess requires masculine characteristics that most women don't naturally have.
"Chess is a very solitary game," she says. "I think women or girls when they were growing up were more social animals; [they] prefer to do things in groups." She also points to traits like competitiveness and analytic thinking, which are crucial for success in chess but are more commonly associated with men. "For a woman to be successful in chess, she basically has to develop in herself more masculine qualities than she would if she was involved in another profession," says Krush.
The short list of qualities that Irina started rattling off as indicative of male chess players dribbled to a stop when she realized that all of those qualities are also embodied in the female of the species, as she then graciously acknowledged. I believe it's just a matter of time and further breaking down the socialization that says females "should not" or "cannot" perform in certain areas of endeavor and we'll have hundreds of Judit Polgars. And dads will have to start taking care of the kids while mom is travelling the tournament circuit.
10 Top Women in Male-Dominated Fields
Max Miller on November 3, 2010, 12:00 AM
Despite the strides women have made toward equality in the past 50 years, they remain underrepresented in a variety of professions. Today we salute ten female pioneers in traditionally male-dominated fields:
1. Irina Krush (Chess Master): Unlike most competitive pursuits, chess allows women to compete alongside men, yet a woman has never won a world chess championship. In fact, only one woman, Judit Polgar, has ever cracked the Top 10 in chess's world rankings. Big Think spoke recently with Irina Krush, who at age 14 became the youngest U.S. Women's Champion, and she told us that chess requires masculine characteristics that most women don't naturally have.
"Chess is a very solitary game," she says. "I think women or girls when they were growing up were more social animals; [they] prefer to do things in groups." She also points to traits like competitiveness and analytic thinking, which are crucial for success in chess but are more commonly associated with men. "For a woman to be successful in chess, she basically has to develop in herself more masculine qualities than she would if she was involved in another profession," says Krush.
The short list of qualities that Irina started rattling off as indicative of male chess players dribbled to a stop when she realized that all of those qualities are also embodied in the female of the species, as she then graciously acknowledged. I believe it's just a matter of time and further breaking down the socialization that says females "should not" or "cannot" perform in certain areas of endeavor and we'll have hundreds of Judit Polgars. And dads will have to start taking care of the kids while mom is travelling the tournament circuit.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Some Chess News (Not Necessarily Just the Chess Femmes)
I'm so glad to see traditional press coverage of at least some chess news in the USA - in a regular newspaper and not relegated to a chess column. All chess fans know they can find just about any chess news they want online, but informing the general public of chess news that deserves to be told - that's a different story.
A short story on Kayden Troff, who won a silver medal at the World Youth Chess Championship
ABC4.com
Salt Lake City, Utah
12-year-old Utahn #2 chess player in the world
WEST JORDAN, UT (ABC 4 News) - The sport of chess is very strategic and takes quite a bit of wisdom, but a 12-year-old from Utah has taken a top spot in the sport. West Jordan's own Kayden Troff won big in Utah, the country and now he is #2 in the world.
This next story is MAJOR. I don't think that people who are not familiar with chess can fully appreciate just how major it is. This is WOW story.
Los Gatos Times
Mercurynews.com
After almost giving up on chess, Los Gatos teen brings home world championship
Julia Prodis Sulek
Posted: 11/01/2010 06:37:54 PM PDT
Updated: 11/02/2010 01:16:10 PM PDT
When Steven Zierk was just 8, he was called a chess prodigy, a child whose talents at calculations and competition were beyond his years.
Around his hometown of Los Gatos, the shy little boy with spiky blond hair was known as "that chess kid." Expectations were endless. How far could he go? Would he stick with it?
Well, now, a decade later -- and after a five-year hiatus that crushed his coach and relieved his mother -- the 17-year-old Los Gatos High School senior has stormed back with a world championship gold medal he brought home from Greece over the weekend.
To wrap up my post this evening (my friend's family tree is still to be completed), I came across this remarkable tribute to William Jones, who is perhaps best known to chess historians as the author of "Caissa." Mr. Jones, I never knew thee. But this online essay revealed more of who you were to my amazed comprehension. Well, you get it, dontcha, even if my comment is not most elegantly phrased.
Chess & Sanskrit: Persian Jones in Old Calcutta
Jeremy Bernstein
November 2, 2010
Jones made a list of things he planned to do in India, among them writing a history of chess—at age 17 he had written a Latin poem about chess that can be found translated in some chess anthologies.
I attempted to "illustrate" the English translation of Jones' classic poem with famous paintings to highlight the action throughout the course of the poem. It was one of the earlier entries at the then fledgling Goddesschess website :)
 |
| Kayden Troff (Bill Brussard, ABC4 News) |
ABC4.com
Salt Lake City, Utah
12-year-old Utahn #2 chess player in the world
WEST JORDAN, UT (ABC 4 News) - The sport of chess is very strategic and takes quite a bit of wisdom, but a 12-year-old from Utah has taken a top spot in the sport. West Jordan's own Kayden Troff won big in Utah, the country and now he is #2 in the world.
This next story is MAJOR. I don't think that people who are not familiar with chess can fully appreciate just how major it is. This is WOW story.
Los Gatos Times
Mercurynews.com
After almost giving up on chess, Los Gatos teen brings home world championship
Julia Prodis Sulek
Posted: 11/01/2010 06:37:54 PM PDT
Updated: 11/02/2010 01:16:10 PM PDT
When Steven Zierk was just 8, he was called a chess prodigy, a child whose talents at calculations and competition were beyond his years.
Around his hometown of Los Gatos, the shy little boy with spiky blond hair was known as "that chess kid." Expectations were endless. How far could he go? Would he stick with it?
Well, now, a decade later -- and after a five-year hiatus that crushed his coach and relieved his mother -- the 17-year-old Los Gatos High School senior has stormed back with a world championship gold medal he brought home from Greece over the weekend.
To wrap up my post this evening (my friend's family tree is still to be completed), I came across this remarkable tribute to William Jones, who is perhaps best known to chess historians as the author of "Caissa." Mr. Jones, I never knew thee. But this online essay revealed more of who you were to my amazed comprehension. Well, you get it, dontcha, even if my comment is not most elegantly phrased.
Chess & Sanskrit: Persian Jones in Old Calcutta
Jeremy Bernstein
November 2, 2010
Jones made a list of things he planned to do in India, among them writing a history of chess—at age 17 he had written a Latin poem about chess that can be found translated in some chess anthologies.
I attempted to "illustrate" the English translation of Jones' classic poem with famous paintings to highlight the action throughout the course of the poem. It was one of the earlier entries at the then fledgling Goddesschess website :)
News from Egypt
This one isn't exactly "news" - it's been known for a long time that various pharaohs carried out restoration projects on the Sphinx and that the never-ending issue of wind-driven sand was a constant, vexing problem just about from Day One! From Heritage Key:
Early conservation effort? 3,400 year old wall found at Giza shows Thutmose IV tried to preserve Sphinx
Submitted by owenjarus on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 14:16
From BBC News, a video feature on a new exhibit at the British Museum, on the world's longest recovered Egyptian Book of the Dead - 37 meters long! I did not see an "embed" feature at the BBC, so here is the link to the video (for as long as it lasts), with striking images and rather crappy musical background :)
1 November 2010 Last updated at 17:23 ET
The British Museum's major autumn exhibition this year examines ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death.
Journey through the afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead will show off the museum's collection of papyri, a rare and very fragile collection of spells which were designed to guide the dead safely into eternal life.
The exhibition will include the longest Book of the Dead in the world, the Greenfield Papyrus, which is 37 metres long and has never been shown publicly in its entirety before.
Curator John H Taylor gave BBC News a tour of the exhibition.
Late Period Egyptian Papyri Reveal Age-Old Problems and Concerns
From the University of Cincinnati
Papyrus Research Provides Insights into the ‘Modern Concerns’ of the Ancient World
Date: 10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM
A University of Cincinnati-based journal devoted to research on papyri is due out Nov. 1. That research sheds light on an ancient world with surprisingly modern concerns: including hoped-for medical cures, religious confusion and the need for financial safeguards.
Early conservation effort? 3,400 year old wall found at Giza shows Thutmose IV tried to preserve Sphinx
Submitted by owenjarus on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 14:16
From BBC News, a video feature on a new exhibit at the British Museum, on the world's longest recovered Egyptian Book of the Dead - 37 meters long! I did not see an "embed" feature at the BBC, so here is the link to the video (for as long as it lasts), with striking images and rather crappy musical background :)
1 November 2010 Last updated at 17:23 ET
The British Museum's major autumn exhibition this year examines ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death.
Journey through the afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead will show off the museum's collection of papyri, a rare and very fragile collection of spells which were designed to guide the dead safely into eternal life.
The exhibition will include the longest Book of the Dead in the world, the Greenfield Papyrus, which is 37 metres long and has never been shown publicly in its entirety before.
Curator John H Taylor gave BBC News a tour of the exhibition.
Late Period Egyptian Papyri Reveal Age-Old Problems and Concerns
From the University of Cincinnati
Papyrus Research Provides Insights into the ‘Modern Concerns’ of the Ancient World
Date: 10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM
A University of Cincinnati-based journal devoted to research on papyri is due out Nov. 1. That research sheds light on an ancient world with surprisingly modern concerns: including hoped-for medical cures, religious confusion and the need for financial safeguards.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Lazy Colonists Killed Wolves Rather Than Burying Their Dead Deep Enough
Geez!
Story from the Hartford Courant
Old Mystic Cemetery Has Rare Wolf Stones
October 31, 2010|By PETER MARTEKA, pmarteka@courant.comMYSTIC — When a young Israel Putnam climbed into a craggy den on a snowy afternoon in 1743 and killed the last wolf in Connecticut, colonists could breathe a sigh of relief.
No more would they need to place huge slabs of stone over the burial sites of loved ones to prevent wolves from digging up and scattering the remains. The "wolf stones," as they were known, were eventually used as capstones for stone walls, were discarded, or became buried over time.
Behind the iron gates of Wightman Burying Ground — located near the site of the state's first Baptist church — are the graves of Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers and many of Groton's early settlers, including John Burrows. A huge wolf stone — an extremely rare one on which the inscription carved into the granite is legible — covers his grave. Burrows' wolf stone, which reads "JB A74 dyed 1716," was believed to be the only wolf stone in the cemetery.
"My mother would always take me to see it," said Essex resident Dana Hill, a descendant of Burrows. "It was pretty intriguing to an 8-year-old."
Recently, historian and cemetery researcher Iva Arpin and Wightman Burial Ground Association President Dennison Allen brought in state archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni and members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service to use ground-penetrating radar to search for unmarked graves in the cemetery.
During the process, nearly a half-dozen wolf stones were detected and eventually uncovered. None of the newly discovered stones was inscribed.
Arpin said that other, more famous wolf stones, marking the graves of Thomas Minor and Walter Palmer, are in Stonington. She noted that wolf stones generally have end stones on either side, so when one looks down at them, they give the appearance of a bed. She said the stones might have been reused, to cover individuals who died later.
Bellantoni said he doesn't see a lot of wolf stones in his travels throughout the state. He said the stones were used because the proverbial "6 feet under" was "very rarely attained back then."
"Wolves were a big problem and they were always a concern," he said. According to local records, wolves were such a scourge that in 1660, settlers offered 20 shillings — a huge sum of money at the time — for each wolf killed.
The Wightman Burial Ground Association, formed in 1882, has 40 to 45 members. Descendants of those buried at the Mystic cemetery are spread throughout the country. Arpin and Allen are working to get the 1704 cemetery on the National Registry of Historic Places. Arpin said that between the many wolf stones discovered there and the location's key role in the early history of the state's Baptist church, she is hopeful. Valentine Wightman, the state's first Baptist minister, is buried there.
But getting a site on the national register "is a demanding, grueling process," she said, adding that she has spent the past few years gathering maps, taking pictures and reviewing deeds. She said she decided to highlight the Baptist history of the area in her pitch for the national register.
"The first Baptists went up against some serious odds," she said. "They were abused by the Congregationalists, and it was amazing how tied to their faith they were."
Story from the Hartford Courant
Old Mystic Cemetery Has Rare Wolf Stones
October 31, 2010|By PETER MARTEKA, pmarteka@courant.comMYSTIC — When a young Israel Putnam climbed into a craggy den on a snowy afternoon in 1743 and killed the last wolf in Connecticut, colonists could breathe a sigh of relief.
No more would they need to place huge slabs of stone over the burial sites of loved ones to prevent wolves from digging up and scattering the remains. The "wolf stones," as they were known, were eventually used as capstones for stone walls, were discarded, or became buried over time.
Behind the iron gates of Wightman Burying Ground — located near the site of the state's first Baptist church — are the graves of Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers and many of Groton's early settlers, including John Burrows. A huge wolf stone — an extremely rare one on which the inscription carved into the granite is legible — covers his grave. Burrows' wolf stone, which reads "JB A74 dyed 1716," was believed to be the only wolf stone in the cemetery.
"My mother would always take me to see it," said Essex resident Dana Hill, a descendant of Burrows. "It was pretty intriguing to an 8-year-old."
Recently, historian and cemetery researcher Iva Arpin and Wightman Burial Ground Association President Dennison Allen brought in state archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni and members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service to use ground-penetrating radar to search for unmarked graves in the cemetery.
During the process, nearly a half-dozen wolf stones were detected and eventually uncovered. None of the newly discovered stones was inscribed.
Arpin said that other, more famous wolf stones, marking the graves of Thomas Minor and Walter Palmer, are in Stonington. She noted that wolf stones generally have end stones on either side, so when one looks down at them, they give the appearance of a bed. She said the stones might have been reused, to cover individuals who died later.
Bellantoni said he doesn't see a lot of wolf stones in his travels throughout the state. He said the stones were used because the proverbial "6 feet under" was "very rarely attained back then."
"Wolves were a big problem and they were always a concern," he said. According to local records, wolves were such a scourge that in 1660, settlers offered 20 shillings — a huge sum of money at the time — for each wolf killed.
The Wightman Burial Ground Association, formed in 1882, has 40 to 45 members. Descendants of those buried at the Mystic cemetery are spread throughout the country. Arpin and Allen are working to get the 1704 cemetery on the National Registry of Historic Places. Arpin said that between the many wolf stones discovered there and the location's key role in the early history of the state's Baptist church, she is hopeful. Valentine Wightman, the state's first Baptist minister, is buried there.
But getting a site on the national register "is a demanding, grueling process," she said, adding that she has spent the past few years gathering maps, taking pictures and reviewing deeds. She said she decided to highlight the Baptist history of the area in her pitch for the national register.
"The first Baptists went up against some serious odds," she said. "They were abused by the Congregationalists, and it was amazing how tied to their faith they were."
*********************************************************************************
So, the lazy colonists killed the last wolf for 100 miles around and, as a consequence, soon succumbed to invasion by hordes of rabbits, squirrels, voles, moles and deer that experienced a population explosion because their natural predators had been wiped out by the lazy colonists who could not be bothered to bury their dead deep enouth. The ravaging hordes of critters ate all the colonists' crops, stripped the trees of their bark so they died and, in the end, wiped out the last of the colonists who were not smart enough to move away and start over - somewhere else. Where they did the same thing all over again...
Europe's Black Death Came from China
A story of genetic detective work, from The New York Times. It's fascinating - but John Kelly in his fine book "The Gerat Mortality" in 2006 had already pegged Yertsinia pestis coming from the Far East to spread death far and wide, beginning with the great plague during the time of Justinian.
Europe’s Plagues Came From China, Study Finds
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: October 31, 2010
The great waves of plague that twice devastated Europe and changed the course of history had their origins in China, a team of medical geneticists reported Sunday, as did a third plague outbreak that struck less harmfully in the 19th century.
And in separate research, a team of biologists reported conclusively this month that the causative agent of the most deadly plague, the Black Death, was the bacterium known as Yersinia pestis. This agent had always been the favored cause, but a vigorous minority of biologists and historians have argued the Black Death differed from modern cases of plague studied in India, and therefore must have had a different cause.
The Black Death began in Europe in 1347 and carried off an estimated 30 percent or more of the population of Europe. For centuries the epidemic continued to strike every 10 years or so, its last major outbreak being the Great Plague of London from 1665 to 1666. The disease is spread by rats and transmitted to people by fleas or, in some cases, directly by breathing.
One team of biologists, led by Barbara Bramanti of the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Stephanie Haensch of Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, analyzed ancient DNA and proteins from plague pits, the mass burial grounds across Europe in which the dead were interred. Writing in the journal PLoS Pathogens this month, they say their findings put beyond doubt that the Black Death was brought about by Yersinia pestis.
Dr. Bramanti’s team was able to distinguish two strains of the Black Death plague bacterium, which differ both from each other and from the three principal strains in the world today. They infer that medieval Europe must have been invaded by two different sources of Yersinia pestis. One strain reached the port of Marseilles on France’s southern coast in 1347, spread rapidly across France and by 1349 had reached Hereford, a busy English market town and pilgrimage center near the Welsh border.
The strain of bacterium analyzed from the bones and teeth of a Hereford plague pit dug in 1349 is identical to that from a plague pit of 1348 in southern France, suggesting a direct route of travel. But a plague pit in the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom has bacteria of a different strain, which the researchers infer arrived from Norway.
The Black Death is the middle of three great waves of plague that have hit in historical times. The first appeared in the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, reaching his capital, Constantinople, on grain ships from Egypt. The Justinian plague, as historians call it, is thought to have killed perhaps half the population of Europe and to have eased the Arab takeover of Byzantine provinces in the Near East and Africa.
The third great wave of plague began in China’s Yunnan province in 1894, emerged in Hong Kong and then spread via shipping routes throughout the world. It reached the United States through a plague ship from Hong Kong that docked at Hawaii, where plague broke out in December 1899, and then San Francisco, whose plague epidemic began in March 1900.
The three plague waves have now been tied together in common family tree by a team of medical geneticists led by Mark Achtman of University College Cork in Ireland. By looking at genetic variations in living strains of Yersinia pestis, Dr. Achtman’s team has reconstructed a family tree of the bacterium. By counting the number of genetic changes, which clock up at a generally steady rate, they have dated the branch points of the tree, which enables the major branches to be correlated with historical events.
In the issue of Nature Genetics published online Sunday, they conclude that all three of the great waves of plague originated from China, where the root of their tree is situated. Plague would have reached Europe across the Silk Road, they say. An epidemic of plague that reached East Africa was probably spread by the voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He who led a fleet of 300 ships to Africa in 1409.
“What’s exciting is that we are able to reconstruct the historical routes of bacterial disease over centuries,” Dr. Achtman said.
Lester K. Little, an expert on the Justinian plague at Smith College, said in an interview from Bergamo, Italy, that the epidemic was first reported by the Byzantine historian Procopius in 541 A.D. from the ancient port of Pelusium, near Suez in Egypt. Historians had assumed it arrived there from the Red Sea or Africa, but the Chinese origin now suggested by the geneticists is possible, Dr. Little said.
The geneticists’ work is “immensely impressive,” Dr. Little said, and adds a third leg to the studies of plague by historians and by archaeologists.
The likely origin of the plague in China has nothing to do with its people or crowded cities, Dr. Achtman said. The bacterium has no interest in people, whom it slaughters by accident. Its natural hosts are various species of rodent such as marmots and voles, which are found throughout China.
Europe’s Plagues Came From China, Study Finds
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: October 31, 2010
The great waves of plague that twice devastated Europe and changed the course of history had their origins in China, a team of medical geneticists reported Sunday, as did a third plague outbreak that struck less harmfully in the 19th century.
And in separate research, a team of biologists reported conclusively this month that the causative agent of the most deadly plague, the Black Death, was the bacterium known as Yersinia pestis. This agent had always been the favored cause, but a vigorous minority of biologists and historians have argued the Black Death differed from modern cases of plague studied in India, and therefore must have had a different cause.
The Black Death began in Europe in 1347 and carried off an estimated 30 percent or more of the population of Europe. For centuries the epidemic continued to strike every 10 years or so, its last major outbreak being the Great Plague of London from 1665 to 1666. The disease is spread by rats and transmitted to people by fleas or, in some cases, directly by breathing.
One team of biologists, led by Barbara Bramanti of the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Stephanie Haensch of Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, analyzed ancient DNA and proteins from plague pits, the mass burial grounds across Europe in which the dead were interred. Writing in the journal PLoS Pathogens this month, they say their findings put beyond doubt that the Black Death was brought about by Yersinia pestis.
Dr. Bramanti’s team was able to distinguish two strains of the Black Death plague bacterium, which differ both from each other and from the three principal strains in the world today. They infer that medieval Europe must have been invaded by two different sources of Yersinia pestis. One strain reached the port of Marseilles on France’s southern coast in 1347, spread rapidly across France and by 1349 had reached Hereford, a busy English market town and pilgrimage center near the Welsh border.
The strain of bacterium analyzed from the bones and teeth of a Hereford plague pit dug in 1349 is identical to that from a plague pit of 1348 in southern France, suggesting a direct route of travel. But a plague pit in the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom has bacteria of a different strain, which the researchers infer arrived from Norway.
The Black Death is the middle of three great waves of plague that have hit in historical times. The first appeared in the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, reaching his capital, Constantinople, on grain ships from Egypt. The Justinian plague, as historians call it, is thought to have killed perhaps half the population of Europe and to have eased the Arab takeover of Byzantine provinces in the Near East and Africa.
The third great wave of plague began in China’s Yunnan province in 1894, emerged in Hong Kong and then spread via shipping routes throughout the world. It reached the United States through a plague ship from Hong Kong that docked at Hawaii, where plague broke out in December 1899, and then San Francisco, whose plague epidemic began in March 1900.
The three plague waves have now been tied together in common family tree by a team of medical geneticists led by Mark Achtman of University College Cork in Ireland. By looking at genetic variations in living strains of Yersinia pestis, Dr. Achtman’s team has reconstructed a family tree of the bacterium. By counting the number of genetic changes, which clock up at a generally steady rate, they have dated the branch points of the tree, which enables the major branches to be correlated with historical events.
In the issue of Nature Genetics published online Sunday, they conclude that all three of the great waves of plague originated from China, where the root of their tree is situated. Plague would have reached Europe across the Silk Road, they say. An epidemic of plague that reached East Africa was probably spread by the voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He who led a fleet of 300 ships to Africa in 1409.
“What’s exciting is that we are able to reconstruct the historical routes of bacterial disease over centuries,” Dr. Achtman said.
Lester K. Little, an expert on the Justinian plague at Smith College, said in an interview from Bergamo, Italy, that the epidemic was first reported by the Byzantine historian Procopius in 541 A.D. from the ancient port of Pelusium, near Suez in Egypt. Historians had assumed it arrived there from the Red Sea or Africa, but the Chinese origin now suggested by the geneticists is possible, Dr. Little said.
The geneticists’ work is “immensely impressive,” Dr. Little said, and adds a third leg to the studies of plague by historians and by archaeologists.
The likely origin of the plague in China has nothing to do with its people or crowded cities, Dr. Achtman said. The bacterium has no interest in people, whom it slaughters by accident. Its natural hosts are various species of rodent such as marmots and voles, which are found throughout China.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Origins of Chocolate
It was the Etruscans, baby! Check out the cover on this month's Archaeology Magazine - GIANT CHOCOLATE ETRUSCAN WIFE AND MATE - still ready to eat after 1,600 years.
Nah, only kidding. LOL! But they DO look like they're carved from chocolate :) Check out this abstract of the article, which states that the origins of chocolate date back to at least 1500 BCE!
I noticed her pointed finger - what that is all about? A thousand years later, there are chess pieces of queens with the same pointed index finger, and later still, paintings showing Queens and Madonnas with the pointing index finger. Also, she's left handed! Hard to believe, but only about 30% of the entire world population is left-handed (included yours truly). In the "old days", left-handed persons where often killed as "instruments of the Devil."
 |
| Cover, November/December 2010 Archaeology Magazine |
Nah, only kidding. LOL! But they DO look like they're carved from chocolate :) Check out this abstract of the article, which states that the origins of chocolate date back to at least 1500 BCE!
I noticed her pointed finger - what that is all about? A thousand years later, there are chess pieces of queens with the same pointed index finger, and later still, paintings showing Queens and Madonnas with the pointing index finger. Also, she's left handed! Hard to believe, but only about 30% of the entire world population is left-handed (included yours truly). In the "old days", left-handed persons where often killed as "instruments of the Devil."
Catching Up/Chess Femme News!
It's been a hectic weekend. I'm still working on the family tree I intend as a gift for a friend on November 17th - I keep running into new family members and have spent an inordinate amount of time running down dead-ends in an attempt to push branches of the tree back further in time. Anyway, bear with me!
I was outside most of yesterday when I wasn't working on the aforesaid family tree, cleaning up the mess that the Great Midwest Cyclone of 2010 left behind, plus putting the front lawn to sleep for the winter (although I need to do one final weed/feed). Wouldn't you know it, just a few hours after I toiled to have a pristine lawn, leaf free, the winds picked up out of the northwest as a cold front blew through, plunging the temperatures below freezing overnight, and today there is a new crop of leaves all over my front yard. Sigh.
Today I concentrated on cleaning up the disaster area that is my backyard, but first I had to cook because the ladies of the investment club had our meeting today and in honor of the Holiday Halloween I hosted breakfast. I have to say it turned out well. The breakfast casserole I made took longer to cook than anticipated because of the fresh mushrooms I included at the spur of the moment in the recipe (they added liquid that had to bake off), so while it was taking extra time to finish in the oven we feasted on toast, bacon, sausages, and fresh fruit along with fresh OJ and coffee. Eventually the casserole was done and it was pronounced delicious. Well, what can go wrong with eggs, bread, milk, cheese, mushrooms and red and green diced peppers? The prep took longer than I thought it would (it always does) and I had to bake it longer than usual but, really, a very easy recipe. As a special treat we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Yum! I think, however, the house is going to smell like maple bacon for the next week!
As you know, the SPICE Cup is currently happening at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Right now, the young GM Wesley So from the Philippines is in first place in the SPICE Cup A Group, with 7.0 points after 3 rounds (a win scores 3 points, a draw one point, and zero for a loss). In the B Group, IM Irina Krush is trying for an elusive GM norm. Currently, she is in shared 7-9th places with GM Ben Finegold and rising talent Darwin Yang with 1.0. The SPICE Cup is being covered at several on-line chess news websites, including GM Susan Polgar's own blog (for most current reports), Chessdom, The Week in Chess, etc.
The Cap d'Agde Masters (Trophee) concluded today, won by GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who seems to just improve with age, like a fine wine :) GM Judit Polgar was the only chess femme to survive the preliminary rounds and make it into the finals, but Ivanchuk defeated her in both of their games in the quarter-finals and she was out of the tournament. Well, if she had to lose to anyone, I'm glad it was someone of Ivanchuk's calibre and character. In the final round, Ivanchuk faced off against USA's own GM Hikaru Nakamura who is a wiz at this kind of speed chess, and Ivanchuk took the title convincingly. Well done! And kudos to Nakamura. I would like to see him in more prestigious events like this one but, really, HN, please ditch the unshaved look. It's just gross, yechy! I particularly thought it well done of the organizers to bring in the highest rated female player in the world (Polgar) and other highly rated female players to add some spice and new blood to the event. Thank you!
The World Youth Chess Championshps has also concluded, and the USA Team won three medals (boys won the medals). Here are the results for the USA Team:
Wisconsin's Awonder Liang had a fine tournament (I think), finishing strong and moving up to 9th place from his start place of 62nd. All of the boys in the U8 Open section had outstanding results. USA took home two silver medals and one gold for the performance by FM Steven Zierk (9.5/11).
In the hotly-contested Girls U-18 Section, my girl Narmin Kazimova, who broke out strong, sustained the race all the way to the end, even with higher-rated Cori Deysi breathing down her neck around the final turn! Azerbaijan is celebrating tonight for Narmin's victory! Hooray! I am so happy to see Narmin have what I hope is a sustained break-out performance, fulfilling the promise I saw in her a few years ago at the Women's European Chess Championship.
Here are the top final standings for the Girls U-18:
I was outside most of yesterday when I wasn't working on the aforesaid family tree, cleaning up the mess that the Great Midwest Cyclone of 2010 left behind, plus putting the front lawn to sleep for the winter (although I need to do one final weed/feed). Wouldn't you know it, just a few hours after I toiled to have a pristine lawn, leaf free, the winds picked up out of the northwest as a cold front blew through, plunging the temperatures below freezing overnight, and today there is a new crop of leaves all over my front yard. Sigh.
Today I concentrated on cleaning up the disaster area that is my backyard, but first I had to cook because the ladies of the investment club had our meeting today and in honor of the Holiday Halloween I hosted breakfast. I have to say it turned out well. The breakfast casserole I made took longer to cook than anticipated because of the fresh mushrooms I included at the spur of the moment in the recipe (they added liquid that had to bake off), so while it was taking extra time to finish in the oven we feasted on toast, bacon, sausages, and fresh fruit along with fresh OJ and coffee. Eventually the casserole was done and it was pronounced delicious. Well, what can go wrong with eggs, bread, milk, cheese, mushrooms and red and green diced peppers? The prep took longer than I thought it would (it always does) and I had to bake it longer than usual but, really, a very easy recipe. As a special treat we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Yum! I think, however, the house is going to smell like maple bacon for the next week!
As you know, the SPICE Cup is currently happening at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Right now, the young GM Wesley So from the Philippines is in first place in the SPICE Cup A Group, with 7.0 points after 3 rounds (a win scores 3 points, a draw one point, and zero for a loss). In the B Group, IM Irina Krush is trying for an elusive GM norm. Currently, she is in shared 7-9th places with GM Ben Finegold and rising talent Darwin Yang with 1.0. The SPICE Cup is being covered at several on-line chess news websites, including GM Susan Polgar's own blog (for most current reports), Chessdom, The Week in Chess, etc.
The Cap d'Agde Masters (Trophee) concluded today, won by GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who seems to just improve with age, like a fine wine :) GM Judit Polgar was the only chess femme to survive the preliminary rounds and make it into the finals, but Ivanchuk defeated her in both of their games in the quarter-finals and she was out of the tournament. Well, if she had to lose to anyone, I'm glad it was someone of Ivanchuk's calibre and character. In the final round, Ivanchuk faced off against USA's own GM Hikaru Nakamura who is a wiz at this kind of speed chess, and Ivanchuk took the title convincingly. Well done! And kudos to Nakamura. I would like to see him in more prestigious events like this one but, really, HN, please ditch the unshaved look. It's just gross, yechy! I particularly thought it well done of the organizers to bring in the highest rated female player in the world (Polgar) and other highly rated female players to add some spice and new blood to the event. Thank you!
The World Youth Chess Championshps has also concluded, and the USA Team won three medals (boys won the medals). Here are the results for the USA Team:
| SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts. | Rk. | Group | |
| 56 | Kumar Aravind | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 7,0 | 18 | Open U08 | |
| 62 | Liang Awonder | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8,0 | 9 | Open U08 | |
| 87 | Praveen Balakrishnan | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7,0 | 21 | Open U08 | |
| 104 | Taghizadeh Rayan | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7,0 | 22 | Open U08 | |
| 1 | Sevian Samuel | 2105 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8,0 | 6 | Open U10 | |
| 16 | FM | He Tommy O | 1830 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7,0 | 15 | Open U10 |
| 19 | Xiong Jeffrey | 1824 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 9,0 | 2 | Open U10 | |
| 24 | Panchanatham Vignesh | 1803 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8,0 | 9 | Open U10 | |
| 43 | Chiang Jonathan | 1714 | USA | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 6,5 | 37 | Open U10 | |
| 153 | Wheeler Cameron | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8,0 | 5 | Open U10 | |
| 5 | Troff Kayden W | 2216 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 9,0 | 2 | Open U12 | |
| 12 | Williams Justus D | 2155 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 7,5 | 14 | Open U12 | |
| 14 | Wu Christopher | 2138 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,0 | 88 | Open U12 | |
| 20 | Colas Joshua | 2068 | USA | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6,5 | 34 | Open U12 | |
| 24 | Chandran Kapil | 2058 | USA | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7,5 | 17 | Open U12 | |
| 31 | Viswanadha Kesav | 2017 | USA | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 109 | Open U12 | |
| 79 | Lin Dachey | 1805 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5,5 | 86 | Open U12 | |
| 120 | Beilin Allan | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5,0 | 104 | Open U12 | |
| 25 | Adelberg David | 2201 | USA | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 5,5 | 58 | Open U14 | |
| 46 | Shetty Atulya | 2092 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,0 | 72 | Open U14 | |
| 26 | FM | Zierk Steven C | 2391 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9,5 | 1 | Open U18 |
| 58 | Haskel Jeffrey | 2229 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 80 | Open U18 | |
| 4 | WFM | Wang Annie | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 7,5 | 6 | Girls U08 |
| 34 | Joanna Liu | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 6,5 | 22 | Girls U08 | |
| 54 | Nguyen Emily | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7,5 | 9 | Girls U08 | |
| 64 | Ramesh Kaavya | 0 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 6,5 | 24 | Girls U08 | |
| 41 | Devina Devagharan | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5,0 | 60 | Girls U10 | |
| 79 | Palakollu Samritha | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5,5 | 46 | Girls U10 | |
| 90 | Singh Reva | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5,5 | 48 | Girls U10 | |
| 107 | Zlotchevsky Nicole | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6,5 | 30 | Girls U10 | |
| 29 | WCM | Chiang Sarah | 1864 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6,5 | 23 | Girls U14 |
| 79 | WCM | Munoz Claudia | 0 | USA | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 5,0 | 57 | Girls U14 |
| 95 | Regam Jessica | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 71 | Girls U14 | |
| 46 | Matlin Anna | 1923 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 6,0 | 35 | Girls U16 | |
| 37 | Datta Anjali | 2025 | USA | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5,0 | 48 | Girls U18 | |
| 9 | Hua Margaret | 1943 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 7,5 | 10 | Girls U12 | |
| 59 | WFM | Liao Simone | 1673 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5,5 | 49 | Girls U12 |
| 62 | Oreshko Mariya | 1651 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6,5 | 37 | Girls U12 | |
| 82 | Dong Alice | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5,5 | 69 | Girls U12 | |
| 113 | Virkud Apurva | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5,5 | 71 | Girls U12 |
Wisconsin's Awonder Liang had a fine tournament (I think), finishing strong and moving up to 9th place from his start place of 62nd. All of the boys in the U8 Open section had outstanding results. USA took home two silver medals and one gold for the performance by FM Steven Zierk (9.5/11).
In the hotly-contested Girls U-18 Section, my girl Narmin Kazimova, who broke out strong, sustained the race all the way to the end, even with higher-rated Cori Deysi breathing down her neck around the final turn! Azerbaijan is celebrating tonight for Narmin's victory! Hooray! I am so happy to see Narmin have what I hope is a sustained break-out performance, fulfilling the promise I saw in her a few years ago at the Women's European Chess Championship.
Here are the top final standings for the Girls U-18:
Final Ranking after 11 Rounds
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 | WIM | Kazimova Narmin Nizami | AZE | 2260 | 9,0 | 22146 | |
| 2 | WGM | Cori T Deysi | PER | 2368 | 9,0 | 21847 | |
| 3 | WIM | Hoang Thi Nhu Y | VIE | 2214 | 8,0 | 22065 | |
| 4 | WIM | Havlikova Kristyna | CZE | 2318 | 8,0 | 21629 | |
| 5 | CM | Bhakti Kulkarni | IND | 2294 | 8,0 | 21544 | |
| 6 | Stetsko Lanita | BLR | 2148 | 7,5 | 21908 | ||
| 7 | WIM | Tsatsalashvili Keti | GEO | 2266 | 7,5 | 21668 | |
| 8 | WIM | Vo Thi Kim Phung | VIE | 2147 | 7,0 | 48,0 | |
| 9 | Rakhmangulova Anastasiya | UKR | 2153 | 7,0 | 48,0 | ||
| 10 | WFM | Kulon Klaudia | POL | 2196 | 7,0 | 46,0 | |
| 11 | WFM | Hejazipour Mitra | IRI | 2239 | 7,0 | 42,0 | |
| 12 | WFM | Efroimski Marsel | ISR | 2244 | 7,0 | 42,0 | |
| 13 | WIM | Eric Jovana | SRB | 2218 | 7,0 | 40,5 |
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Fascinating Finds in Armenia
In recent news it has been Bulgaria with finds like this - but in Armenia - I'm paying particular attention.
Reported in The Washington Post
Armenian archeologists: 5,900-year-old skirt found
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 26, 2010; 3:15 PM
YEREVAN, Armenia -- An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old. [c. 3,900 BCE]
Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing.
Earlier excavation in the same location has produced what researchers believe is a 5,500-year-old shoe, making it the oldest piece of leather footwear known to researchers.
Boris Gasparian, an Armenian archaeologist who worked jointly with U.S. and Irish scientists at the site, said they also found a mummified goat that could be 5,900-year-old, or more than 1,000 years older than the mummified animals found in Egypt.
Reported in The Washington Post
Armenian archeologists: 5,900-year-old skirt found
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 26, 2010; 3:15 PM
YEREVAN, Armenia -- An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old. [c. 3,900 BCE]
Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing.
Earlier excavation in the same location has produced what researchers believe is a 5,500-year-old shoe, making it the oldest piece of leather footwear known to researchers.
Boris Gasparian, an Armenian archaeologist who worked jointly with U.S. and Irish scientists at the site, said they also found a mummified goat that could be 5,900-year-old, or more than 1,000 years older than the mummified animals found in Egypt.
2010 World Youth Chess Championships
And speaking of Narmin Kazimova (see post below) - she is IN NUMBER 1 after Round 9, despite losing her R9 game! You go, girl! Here are the top 10 Girls' U-18:
Here are the current standings of the entire Team USA (compare start number in first column at the left to the Rk. (Rank) column second to last, on the right):
As you can see, Awonder Liang, 7 years old, a member of my adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club, rebounded well after his R7 loss, scoring 2 wins in Rs 8 and 9. Incredibly, all of the young men playing in the U8 Open for the USA are on 6.0, and all are far far ahead of their initial start positions (a very good thing). Cameron Wheeler in the Open U10 is having an excellent tournament, moving from 153rd to 4th, Kayden Troff is holding down first place in the Open U12, and Steven Zierk is currently in 2nd place in the Open U18.
The chess femmes' progress in this Championship is not, perhaps, quite as striking as that of some of the boys, but notable performances include Annie Wang Girls U8 in 4th place with 7.0/9 - amazing to me she's only in 4th place with this fine score, it's obviously a very tough competition; the other three girls playing in the Girls U8 have also moved up and done well relative to their original start places: Joanna Liu, 5.0/9; Emily Nguyen, 6.0/9; and Ramash Kaavya, 6.0/9. There are other good performances, including Claudia Munoz, but I'm too tired tonight to write further about other girls I've noted.
The end is coming up quickly - last round (11) will be held on October 30. At least these kids will be home for Thanksgiving!
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 | WIM | Kazimova Narmin Nizami | AZE | 2260 | 7,5 | 17699 | |
| 2 | WGM | Cori T Deysi | PER | 2368 | 7,0 | 35,0 | |
| 3 | Rakhmangulova Anastasiya | UKR | 2153 | 7,0 | 34,0 | ||
| 4 | WIM | Tsatsalashvili Keti | GEO | 2266 | 7,0 | 32,5 | |
| 5 | CM | Bhakti Kulkarni | IND | 2294 | 7,0 | 31,5 | |
| 6 | FM | Stetsko Lanita | BLR | 2148 | 6,5 | 17393 | |
| 7 | WIM | Bulmaga Irina | ROU | 2267 | 6,0 | 17606 | |
| 8 | WIM | Hoang Thi Nhu Y | VIE | 2214 | 6,0 | 17554 | |
| 9 | WIM | Vo Thi Kim Phung | VIE | 2147 | 6,0 | 17551 | |
| 10 | Iordanidou Zoi | GRE | 2152 | 6,0 | 17267 | ||
| 11 | WIM | Havlikova Kristyna | CZE | 2318 | 6,0 | 17220 | |
| 12 | WFM | Warakomska Anna | POL | 2188 | 6,0 | 16956 | |
| 13 | WFM | Efroimski Marsel | ISR | 2244 | 6,0 | 16790 |
Here are the current standings of the entire Team USA (compare start number in first column at the left to the Rk. (Rank) column second to last, on the right):
| SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts. | Rk. | Group | |
| 56 | Kumar Aravind | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 6,0 | 15 | Open U08 | |
| 62 | Liang Awonder | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6,0 | 17 | Open U08 | |
| 87 | Praveen Balakrishnan | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6,0 | 22 | Open U08 | |
| 104 | Taghizadeh Rayan | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6,0 | 23 | Open U08 | |
| 1 | Sevian Samuel | 2105 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6,5 | 10 | Open U10 | |
| 16 | FM | He Tommy O | 1830 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7,0 | 6 | Open U10 |
| 19 | Xiong Jeffrey | 1824 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7,5 | 3 | Open U10 | |
| 24 | Panchanatham Vignesh | 1803 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6,5 | 12 | Open U10 | |
| 43 | Chiang Jonathan | 1714 | USA | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5,0 | 48 | Open U10 | |
| 153 | Wheeler Cameron | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7,0 | 4 | Open U10 | |
| 5 | Troff Kayden W | 2216 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7,5 | 1 | Open U12 | |
| 12 | Williams Justus D | 2155 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 6,0 | 19 | Open U12 | |
| 14 | Wu Christopher | 2138 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 5,0 | 51 | Open U12 | |
| 20 | Colas Joshua | 2068 | USA | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5,5 | 29 | Open U12 | |
| 24 | Chandran Kapil | 2058 | USA | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6,5 | 15 | Open U12 | |
| 31 | Viswanadha Kesav | 2017 | USA | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4,5 | 77 | Open U12 | |
| 79 | Lin Dachey | 1805 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 4,5 | 87 | Open U12 | |
| 120 | Beilin Allan | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4,0 | 110 | Open U12 | |
| 25 | Adelberg David | 2201 | USA | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 5,0 | 37 | Open U14 | |
| 46 | Shetty Atulya | 2092 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 5,0 | 42 | Open U14 | |
| 26 | FM | Zierk Steven C | 2391 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7,5 | 2 | Open U18 |
| 58 | Haskel Jeffrey | 2229 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4,5 | 61 | Open U18 | |
| 4 | WFM | Wang Annie | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7,0 | 4 | Girls U08 |
| 34 | Joanna Liu | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 5,0 | 26 | Girls U08 | |
| 54 | Nguyen Emily | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6,0 | 11 | Girls U08 | |
| 64 | Ramesh Kaavya | 0 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6,0 | 15 | Girls U08 | |
| 41 | Devina Devagharan | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 4,0 | 62 | Girls U10 | |
| 79 | Palakollu Samritha | 0 | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5,5 | 22 | Girls U10 | |
| 90 | Singh Reva | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 46 | Girls U10 | |
| 107 | Zlotchevsky Nicole | 0 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5,5 | 28 | Girls U10 | |
| 29 | WCM | Chiang Sarah | 1864 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 32 | Girls U14 |
| 79 | WCM | Munoz Claudia | 0 | USA | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4,5 | 49 | Girls U14 |
| 95 | Regam Jessica | 0 | USA | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 4,5 | 48 | Girls U14 | |
| 46 | Matlin Anna | 1923 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5,0 | 35 | Girls U16 | |
| 37 | Datta Anjali | 2025 | USA | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4,0 | 50 | Girls U18 | |
| 9 | Hua Margaret | 1943 | USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6,0 | 14 | Girls U12 | |
| 59 | WFM | Liao Simone | 1673 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5,5 | 31 | Girls U12 |
| 62 | Oreshko Mariya | 1651 | USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4,5 | 63 | Girls U12 | |
| 82 | Dong Alice | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3,5 | 87 | Girls U12 | |
| 113 | Virkud Apurva | 0 | USA | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3,5 | 90 | Girls U12 |
As you can see, Awonder Liang, 7 years old, a member of my adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club, rebounded well after his R7 loss, scoring 2 wins in Rs 8 and 9. Incredibly, all of the young men playing in the U8 Open for the USA are on 6.0, and all are far far ahead of their initial start positions (a very good thing). Cameron Wheeler in the Open U10 is having an excellent tournament, moving from 153rd to 4th, Kayden Troff is holding down first place in the Open U12, and Steven Zierk is currently in 2nd place in the Open U18.
The chess femmes' progress in this Championship is not, perhaps, quite as striking as that of some of the boys, but notable performances include Annie Wang Girls U8 in 4th place with 7.0/9 - amazing to me she's only in 4th place with this fine score, it's obviously a very tough competition; the other three girls playing in the Girls U8 have also moved up and done well relative to their original start places: Joanna Liu, 5.0/9; Emily Nguyen, 6.0/9; and Ramash Kaavya, 6.0/9. There are other good performances, including Claudia Munoz, but I'm too tired tonight to write further about other girls I've noted.
The end is coming up quickly - last round (11) will be held on October 30. At least these kids will be home for Thanksgiving!
Chess Femme News!
Just a few items this evening - I must get to work on m friend's family tree, must have it finished for presentation on November 17. I'm getting there, but I keep finding new family members and it's hard to resist following the new clues. So far, I haven't been able to resist, but I must, I must!
News regarding the upcoming Women's World Chess Championship which is supposed to be held in Turkey December 2 - 25, 2010. That is really crappy, actually, making any competitors who may be Christians play over the Christmas holiday - and in a Muslim country, no less. Geez, dudes, great planning. But then, FIDE doesn't give a hoot about the welfare and preferences of the chessplayers who actually feed it's existence. It's all about what country or federation coughs up the most money to line the pockets of the corrupt chess politicians. Where have we heard this tune before? It's disgusting. Mind you - I won't believe that this Championship is actually going to be held until it starts - we shall see...
From Panarmenian.net
Women's World Chess Championship in Hatay to host Elina Danielyan and Lilit Mkrtchyan
October 28, 2010 - 18:43 AMT 13:43 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - On December 2-25, Turkish province of Hatay will host Women's World Chess Championship.
Elina Danielyan and Lilit Mkrtchyan, European Chess Club Cup 2010 bronze winners, will represent Armenia at the tournament.
[Note: Mkrtchian had a very good showing in the 2008 Women's World Chess Championship, making it to the quarter-finals, but she lost 1.5/0.5 to GM Hou Yifan of China.]
Also from Panarmenian.net
Ashot Vardapetyan pleased with Mika’s results at European Chess Club Cup
October 28, 2010 - 16:00 AMT 11:00 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Members of Mika women’s club, who won bronze medals at the European Chess Club Cup, and club head Ashot Vardapetyan met with journalists on October 28 to comment on the results of the tournament.
Vardapetyan said he is pleased with the results. “Other teams prepare scrupulously for each match against Mika,” he noted.
Mika women’s chess club was formed in 2004 to win champion’s title two years later. In 2007, they won bronze. Men’s club won silver medals in 2009.
At the World Youth Chess Championships, my girl Narmin Kazimova is playing excellently, and I am so very pleased for her! This is a news report on her progress and how some of the other Azeri chess femmes are doing after Round 8:
From news.az
Azerbaijani chess player leading in world championship in Greece
Thu 28 October 2010 11:52 GMT | 6:52 Local Time
The world chess championship among youth continues in Halkidiki (Greece).
Eight rounds have already been played. Azerbaijan is represented by 20 chess players. Eight of our representatives are currently among top ten. Narmin Kazimov[a] leading in U-18 contest with 7.5 points should be singled out.
Abdulla Gadimbeyli (U-8), Kenan Izzet (U-14), Sabina Ibrahimova (U-16) and Aydan Khojatova (U-12) taking second, third and fourth places also continue the struggle.
Khanim Balajayeva (U-10), Ulviya Fataliyeva (U-14), Sabina Ibrahimova (U-16) and Aydan Khojatova (U-12) are also among top ten.
News regarding the upcoming Women's World Chess Championship which is supposed to be held in Turkey December 2 - 25, 2010. That is really crappy, actually, making any competitors who may be Christians play over the Christmas holiday - and in a Muslim country, no less. Geez, dudes, great planning. But then, FIDE doesn't give a hoot about the welfare and preferences of the chessplayers who actually feed it's existence. It's all about what country or federation coughs up the most money to line the pockets of the corrupt chess politicians. Where have we heard this tune before? It's disgusting. Mind you - I won't believe that this Championship is actually going to be held until it starts - we shall see...
From Panarmenian.net
Women's World Chess Championship in Hatay to host Elina Danielyan and Lilit Mkrtchyan
October 28, 2010 - 18:43 AMT 13:43 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - On December 2-25, Turkish province of Hatay will host Women's World Chess Championship.
Elina Danielyan and Lilit Mkrtchyan, European Chess Club Cup 2010 bronze winners, will represent Armenia at the tournament.
[Note: Mkrtchian had a very good showing in the 2008 Women's World Chess Championship, making it to the quarter-finals, but she lost 1.5/0.5 to GM Hou Yifan of China.]
Also from Panarmenian.net
Ashot Vardapetyan pleased with Mika’s results at European Chess Club Cup
October 28, 2010 - 16:00 AMT 11:00 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Members of Mika women’s club, who won bronze medals at the European Chess Club Cup, and club head Ashot Vardapetyan met with journalists on October 28 to comment on the results of the tournament.
Vardapetyan said he is pleased with the results. “Other teams prepare scrupulously for each match against Mika,” he noted.
Mika women’s chess club was formed in 2004 to win champion’s title two years later. In 2007, they won bronze. Men’s club won silver medals in 2009.
At the World Youth Chess Championships, my girl Narmin Kazimova is playing excellently, and I am so very pleased for her! This is a news report on her progress and how some of the other Azeri chess femmes are doing after Round 8:
From news.az
Azerbaijani chess player leading in world championship in Greece
Thu 28 October 2010 11:52 GMT | 6:52 Local Time
The world chess championship among youth continues in Halkidiki (Greece).
Eight rounds have already been played. Azerbaijan is represented by 20 chess players. Eight of our representatives are currently among top ten. Narmin Kazimov[a] leading in U-18 contest with 7.5 points should be singled out.
Abdulla Gadimbeyli (U-8), Kenan Izzet (U-14), Sabina Ibrahimova (U-16) and Aydan Khojatova (U-12) taking second, third and fourth places also continue the struggle.
Khanim Balajayeva (U-10), Ulviya Fataliyeva (U-14), Sabina Ibrahimova (U-16) and Aydan Khojatova (U-12) are also among top ten.
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