From Sciencedaily.com
Mystery of the Domestication of the Horse Solved: Competing Theories Reconciled
ScienceDaily (May 7, 2012) — New research indicates that domestic horses originated in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan, mixing with local wild stocks as they spread throughout Europe and Asia.
The research was published 07 May, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For several decades scientists puzzled over the origin of domesticated horses. Based on archaeological evidence, it had long been thought that horse domestication originated in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe (Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan); however, a single origin in a geographically restricted area appeared at odds with the large number of female lineages in the domestic horse gene pool, commonly thought to reflect multiple domestication "events" across a wide geographic area.
In order to solve the perplexing history of the domestic horse, scientists from the University of Cambridge used a genetic database of more than 300 horses sampled from across the Eurasian Steppe to run a number of different modelling scenarios.
Their research shows that the extinct wild ancestor of domestic horses, Equus ferus, expanded out of East Asia approximately 160,000 years ago. They were also able to demonstrate that Equus ferus was domesticated in the western Eurasian Steppe, and that herds were repeatedly restocked with wild horses as they spread across Eurasia.
Dr Vera Warmuth, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology, said: "Our research clearly shows that the original founder population of domestic horses was established in the western Eurasian Steppe, an area where the earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated horses has been found. The spread of horse domestication differed from that of many other domestic animal species, in that spreading herds were augmented with local wild horses on an unprecedented scale. If these restocking events involved mainly wild mares, we can explain the large number of female lineages in the domestic horse gene pool without having to invoke multiple domestication origins."
The researchers provide the first genetic evidence for a geographically restricted domestication origin in the Eurasian Steppe, as suggested by archaeology, and show that the tremendous female diversity is the result of later introductions of local wild mares into domestic herds, thus reconciling evidence which had previously given rise to conflicting scenarios.
The research was funded by the BBSRC, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Leverhulme Trust.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Enigmatic Burials in Cambodian Mountains
A press release from the University of Otago, New Zealand
May 8, 2012:
The Otago researchers have now provided the first radiocarbon dates for unusual jar and log coffin interments on exposed ledges high in southern Cambodia's rugged Cardamom Mountains. Since 2003, they have been working to geo-locate and survey 10 interment sites and to date these using samples of coffin wood, tooth enamel and bone.
With colleagues from Cambodia, Australia, USA and Scotland, Drs Nancy Beavan and Sian Halcrow of the Department of Anatomy have just published the dating of four sites in the journal Radiocarbon. These reveal that the mysterious funerary rituals, which are unlike any other recorded in Cambodia, were practiced from at least 1395AD to 1650AD.
Dr Beavan, who is currently in Cambodia, says that this period coincides with the decline and fall of the powerful Kingdom of Angkor, which was seated in the lowlands.
"Funeral practices in the Angkor Kingdom and its successors involved cremation rather than anything remotely like those found at sites we are studying. This stark difference suggests that, in cultural terms, these unidentified mountain dwellers were a 'world apart' from their lowland contemporaries."
To date, the bulk of research that makes up what is known about cultural history of the Khmer regions has focused on the lowlands, she says.
"Through our work we hope to broaden the understanding of this history beyond the legacies of the great Khmer Kingdom alone to those who lived within its margins," she says.
Dr Sian Halcrow says that archaeological findings from another of the 10 sites, which she and Dr Beavan are currently preparing for publication, will offer important new clues about who these mysterious people were, their culture, trade connections and biological adaptation to the environment.
Given the rugged and remote locations of the sites, the fieldwork has not been without its challenges, Dr Beavan says.
"In 2010 one of our campsites was invaded by a wild elephant in the dead of night and it had to be driven off by our camp crew banging on cooking pots. It turns out we had pitched camp between two tempting stands of wild banana. We packed up and headed off soon after that."
May 8, 2012:
New light on enigmatic burial rituals in Cambodian mountains
First radiocarbon dates for unusual jar and log coffin interments on exposed ledges
Researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand working in remote Cambodian mountains are shedding new light on the lost history of an unidentified people by studying their enigmatic burial rituals.The Otago researchers have now provided the first radiocarbon dates for unusual jar and log coffin interments on exposed ledges high in southern Cambodia's rugged Cardamom Mountains. Since 2003, they have been working to geo-locate and survey 10 interment sites and to date these using samples of coffin wood, tooth enamel and bone.
With colleagues from Cambodia, Australia, USA and Scotland, Drs Nancy Beavan and Sian Halcrow of the Department of Anatomy have just published the dating of four sites in the journal Radiocarbon. These reveal that the mysterious funerary rituals, which are unlike any other recorded in Cambodia, were practiced from at least 1395AD to 1650AD.
Dr Beavan, who is currently in Cambodia, says that this period coincides with the decline and fall of the powerful Kingdom of Angkor, which was seated in the lowlands.
"Funeral practices in the Angkor Kingdom and its successors involved cremation rather than anything remotely like those found at sites we are studying. This stark difference suggests that, in cultural terms, these unidentified mountain dwellers were a 'world apart' from their lowland contemporaries."
To date, the bulk of research that makes up what is known about cultural history of the Khmer regions has focused on the lowlands, she says.
"Through our work we hope to broaden the understanding of this history beyond the legacies of the great Khmer Kingdom alone to those who lived within its margins," she says.
Dr Sian Halcrow says that archaeological findings from another of the 10 sites, which she and Dr Beavan are currently preparing for publication, will offer important new clues about who these mysterious people were, their culture, trade connections and biological adaptation to the environment.
Given the rugged and remote locations of the sites, the fieldwork has not been without its challenges, Dr Beavan says.
"In 2010 one of our campsites was invaded by a wild elephant in the dead of night and it had to be driven off by our camp crew banging on cooking pots. It turns out we had pitched camp between two tempting stands of wild banana. We packed up and headed off soon after that."
2012 U.S. Women's Chess Championship
Results R2:
Standings after R2:
Pairings for R3:
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 0.5 | 2329 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | 2137 | 1-0 |
| 2 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | 2358 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 1.0 | 2510 | 0-1 |
| 3 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 0.0 | 2364 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 1.0 | 2333 | 1-0 |
| 4 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 0.5 | 2242 | IM Krush, Irina | 1.0 | 2457 | ½-½ |
| 5 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.5 | 2228 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 0.5 | 2224 | 0-1 |
Standings after R2:
| Rank | Name | Score | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 2.0 | F | 2510 | 2994 | +0.41 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | IM Krush, Irina | 1.5 | F | 2457 | 2496 | +0.10 | 1 | ½ |
| 3 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 1.5 | F | 2329 | 2376 | +0.11 | ½ | 1 |
| 4 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 1.5 | F | 2224 | 2428 | +0.54 | ½ | 1 |
| 5 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 1.0 | F | 2364 | 2395 | +0.09 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 1.0 | F | 2333 | 2361 | +0.07 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 1.0 | F | 2242 | 2341 | +0.24 | ½ | ½ |
| 8 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.5 | F | 2228 | 2084 | -0.37 | ½ | 0 |
| 9 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | F | 2358 | 1687 | -0.83 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | F | 2137 | 1673 | -0.36 | 0 | 0 |
Pairings for R3:
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 1.5 | 2224 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 1.5 | 2329 | |
| 2 | IM Krush, Irina | 1.5 | 2457 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.5 | 2228 | |
| 3 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 1.0 | 2333 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 1.0 | 2242 | |
| 4 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 2.0 | 2510 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 1.0 | 2364 | |
| 5 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | 2137 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | 2358 |
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Tarim Basin Reveals Another Buddhist Temple
From xinhuanet.com
KERIYA, Xinjiang, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The ruins of a Buddhist temple dating back 1,500 years ago have been discovered in China's largest desert, offering valuable research material for historians studying Buddhism's spread from India to China.
The temple's main hall, with a rare structure based around three square-shaped corridors and a huge Buddha statue, has been uncovered after two months of hard work in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Dr. Wu Xinhua, the leading archaeologist of the excavation project, said Monday.
"The hall is the largest of its kind found in the Taklimakan Desert since the first archaeologist came to work in the area in the 20th century," said Wu, also head of the Xinjiang archeological team of the Chinese Academy of Social Science.
The ruins are located in the south of the Taklimakan Desert, in the Tarim Basin, known as the Damago Oasis in the ancient kingdom of Khotan, a Buddhist civilization believed to date back to the 3rd century BC.
Temple halls with square-shaped corridors stemmed from early Buddhist architecture in India, and gradually disappeared after the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420AD-589AD), when Buddhist architecture in China began to pick up its own characteristics, according to Xiao Huaiyan, a member of the excavation team and a former researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Judging from the layout of the ruins, and the artifacts uncovered at the site, Wu and his colleagues believe the temple dates back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
It is so far the best Buddhist site for scholars to study how the religion arrived in China from India, and its early development in the country, said Wu.
Judging from the size of the pedestal on which it would have rested, the missing Buddha statue should be at least three meters tall, reaching the size limits of the hall when its roof was intact, he estimates.
The innermost corridor extends six meters from both south to north and from east to west, the second corridor is 10 meters long and 10 meters wide, while the hall's wall surrounds an area of 256 square meters.
Still visible on corridor walls are mural paintings of items including the Buddha's feet, Buddhists and auspicious animals. They are painted in a Greco-Buddhist artistic style, which was seldom seen after the 6th century.
Ruins of several residential structures were found to the southwest of the main hall, along with some pottery kilns and ancient coins.
There is still a scripture hall, a stupa and residential houses for Buddhists to be uncovered, Wu added.
The southern end of the ancient Silk Road, a major historical trade route, went across the 337,000-square-km Taklimakan Desert, and a wide variety of cultural heritage items have been buried in what is now known as the "sea of death."
In 1901, British explorer Marc Aurel Stein trekked far out in the desert and into the ruins of Niya, an ancient Pompeii-like city with homes, Buddhist stupas, temples, pottery kilns, orchards, tombs, waterways and dams.
Since then, more than 10 Buddhist sites have been discovered by archaeologists from China and abroad in the Damago Oasis.
| English.news.cn 2012-05-07 17:57:50 |
KERIYA, Xinjiang, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The ruins of a Buddhist temple dating back 1,500 years ago have been discovered in China's largest desert, offering valuable research material for historians studying Buddhism's spread from India to China.
The temple's main hall, with a rare structure based around three square-shaped corridors and a huge Buddha statue, has been uncovered after two months of hard work in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Dr. Wu Xinhua, the leading archaeologist of the excavation project, said Monday.
"The hall is the largest of its kind found in the Taklimakan Desert since the first archaeologist came to work in the area in the 20th century," said Wu, also head of the Xinjiang archeological team of the Chinese Academy of Social Science.
The ruins are located in the south of the Taklimakan Desert, in the Tarim Basin, known as the Damago Oasis in the ancient kingdom of Khotan, a Buddhist civilization believed to date back to the 3rd century BC.
Temple halls with square-shaped corridors stemmed from early Buddhist architecture in India, and gradually disappeared after the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420AD-589AD), when Buddhist architecture in China began to pick up its own characteristics, according to Xiao Huaiyan, a member of the excavation team and a former researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Judging from the layout of the ruins, and the artifacts uncovered at the site, Wu and his colleagues believe the temple dates back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
It is so far the best Buddhist site for scholars to study how the religion arrived in China from India, and its early development in the country, said Wu.
Judging from the size of the pedestal on which it would have rested, the missing Buddha statue should be at least three meters tall, reaching the size limits of the hall when its roof was intact, he estimates.
The innermost corridor extends six meters from both south to north and from east to west, the second corridor is 10 meters long and 10 meters wide, while the hall's wall surrounds an area of 256 square meters.
Still visible on corridor walls are mural paintings of items including the Buddha's feet, Buddhists and auspicious animals. They are painted in a Greco-Buddhist artistic style, which was seldom seen after the 6th century.
Ruins of several residential structures were found to the southwest of the main hall, along with some pottery kilns and ancient coins.
There is still a scripture hall, a stupa and residential houses for Buddhists to be uncovered, Wu added.
The southern end of the ancient Silk Road, a major historical trade route, went across the 337,000-square-km Taklimakan Desert, and a wide variety of cultural heritage items have been buried in what is now known as the "sea of death."
In 1901, British explorer Marc Aurel Stein trekked far out in the desert and into the ruins of Niya, an ancient Pompeii-like city with homes, Buddhist stupas, temples, pottery kilns, orchards, tombs, waterways and dams.
Since then, more than 10 Buddhist sites have been discovered by archaeologists from China and abroad in the Damago Oasis.
Lubomir Kavalek: Tales of Women in Chess
A classic article reviewing some of the most well-known female chessplayers in the world, past and present. At the very end of the article some games are featured that allow you to click and play through.
Women in Chess: A Few Tales
Posted: 05/06/2012 5:27 pm
One of the games Kavalek featured is one from the 2004 Olympiad, when GM Susan Polgar led the U.S. Women's Team to a Silver Medal, the first ever medal earned by a U.S. Women's Team. Polgar also earned, in addition, two individual Gold Medals and an individual Silver Medal for her splendid overall performance.
This photo is from a comprehensive report on Polgar's 2004 Olympiad performance at Chessbase.
In this game, Polgar played against another Women's World Chess Champion, GM Maia Chiburdanidze:
Champions come and go and we wish them well. But before they say the final goodbye, we demand another masterpiece. At the 2004 olympiad in Calvia, Spain, Zsuzsa Polgar and Maya Chiburdanidze obliged. Their tactical skills did not diminish with age and they gave us a memorable performance. And again, the square f7 played a major role in Zsuzsa's combination.
Polgar,Zsuzsa - Chiburdanidze,Maya
36th Olympiad w Calvia ESP (6), 20.10.2004
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 c5 7.b4 b6 8.Bb2 d6 9.g4!
(A vintage Polgar! Where others look to increase a small positional advantage, the Polgar sisters go after the king.)
9...Bb7 10.g5 Nh5 11.Rg1 e5 12.Bh3 Nf4 13.Bf5
(Provoking the next mistake.)
13...g6?
(The weakening of the long diagonal allows a beautiful combination. The queen on c3, supported by the bishop on b2, can now "see" as far as the square h8. Developing the knight 13...Nc6 gives black a good game.)
14.Nxe5! Nxe2
(A good idea, but the wrong move-order. Black should have played: 14...Qe7 15.Be4 dxe5 (15...Bxe4 16.Nc6 Nd3+ 17.Kf1+-) 16.Bxb7 and only now 16...Nxe2! 17.Kxe2 Qxb7 18.Qxe5 f6 19.Qe6+ Rf7 20.gxf6 and although white is clearly better, black can still fight.;
After 14...dxe5? 15.Qxe5 f6 16.Qxf4 wins.)
15.Nxf7!!
(Creating mating threats. Wrong would be 15.Kxe2 dxe5 16.Qxe5? Re8.)
15...Nxc3
(After 15...Kxf7 16.Qg7+ Ke8 17.Bf6 white wins; and on 15...Rxf7 16.Qh8 mates.)
16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.Bxc3+ Rf6 18.Bxf6+ Qxf6 19.gxf6+ Kxh6 20.Be6?!
(This wins slowly. Interestingly, Polgar who was drilled in mating finales, missed to swing her rook from a1 to h3, for example: 20.Rb1! gxf5 [20...Bf3 21.Rb3 Bh5 22.Be4 wins; 20...Nc6 21.Rb3 and the rook goes to mate on h3; 20...Nd7 21.Bxd7 wins.] 21.Rb3 and black gets mated.)
20...Nc6 21.Bd5 (The pin.) 21...Rf8 22.f7 Nd8 23.Bxb7 Nxb7 24.Rg3 Rxf7 25.Re3 (The rook made it to the open file.) 25...Nd8 26.b5 (Taking away the square c6.) 26...Rf4 27.d3 d5 28.Re7! (The rook on the 7th rank limits the knight.) 28...dxc4 29.dxc4 Nf7 (After 29...Rxc4 30.Rd1 Rd4 31.Rxd4 cxd4 32.Rxa7 the b6-pawn falls shortly.) 30.Rd1 Ng5 31.Rxa7 Rxc4 32.Ra6 Rc2 33.Rxb6 c4 34.a4 Ra2 35.Ra6 Nf3+ 36.Kf1 Nd2+ 37.Rxd2! (Simplifying into a clearly won rook endgame.) 37...Rxd2 38.Rc6 Rc2 39.b6 Black resigned.
Women in Chess: A Few Tales
Posted: 05/06/2012 5:27 pm
One of the games Kavalek featured is one from the 2004 Olympiad, when GM Susan Polgar led the U.S. Women's Team to a Silver Medal, the first ever medal earned by a U.S. Women's Team. Polgar also earned, in addition, two individual Gold Medals and an individual Silver Medal for her splendid overall performance.
This photo is from a comprehensive report on Polgar's 2004 Olympiad performance at Chessbase.
 |
| GM Susan Polgar, left (in cream colored outfit), GM Maia Chiburdanidze, right (in one of her famous chapeaus), the Game in R6 |
In this game, Polgar played against another Women's World Chess Champion, GM Maia Chiburdanidze:
Champions come and go and we wish them well. But before they say the final goodbye, we demand another masterpiece. At the 2004 olympiad in Calvia, Spain, Zsuzsa Polgar and Maya Chiburdanidze obliged. Their tactical skills did not diminish with age and they gave us a memorable performance. And again, the square f7 played a major role in Zsuzsa's combination.
Polgar,Zsuzsa - Chiburdanidze,Maya
36th Olympiad w Calvia ESP (6), 20.10.2004
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 c5 7.b4 b6 8.Bb2 d6 9.g4!
(A vintage Polgar! Where others look to increase a small positional advantage, the Polgar sisters go after the king.)
9...Bb7 10.g5 Nh5 11.Rg1 e5 12.Bh3 Nf4 13.Bf5
(Provoking the next mistake.)
13...g6?
(The weakening of the long diagonal allows a beautiful combination. The queen on c3, supported by the bishop on b2, can now "see" as far as the square h8. Developing the knight 13...Nc6 gives black a good game.)
14.Nxe5! Nxe2
(A good idea, but the wrong move-order. Black should have played: 14...Qe7 15.Be4 dxe5 (15...Bxe4 16.Nc6 Nd3+ 17.Kf1+-) 16.Bxb7 and only now 16...Nxe2! 17.Kxe2 Qxb7 18.Qxe5 f6 19.Qe6+ Rf7 20.gxf6 and although white is clearly better, black can still fight.;
After 14...dxe5? 15.Qxe5 f6 16.Qxf4 wins.)
15.Nxf7!!
(Creating mating threats. Wrong would be 15.Kxe2 dxe5 16.Qxe5? Re8.)
15...Nxc3
(After 15...Kxf7 16.Qg7+ Ke8 17.Bf6 white wins; and on 15...Rxf7 16.Qh8 mates.)
16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.Bxc3+ Rf6 18.Bxf6+ Qxf6 19.gxf6+ Kxh6 20.Be6?!
(This wins slowly. Interestingly, Polgar who was drilled in mating finales, missed to swing her rook from a1 to h3, for example: 20.Rb1! gxf5 [20...Bf3 21.Rb3 Bh5 22.Be4 wins; 20...Nc6 21.Rb3 and the rook goes to mate on h3; 20...Nd7 21.Bxd7 wins.] 21.Rb3 and black gets mated.)
20...Nc6 21.Bd5 (The pin.) 21...Rf8 22.f7 Nd8 23.Bxb7 Nxb7 24.Rg3 Rxf7 25.Re3 (The rook made it to the open file.) 25...Nd8 26.b5 (Taking away the square c6.) 26...Rf4 27.d3 d5 28.Re7! (The rook on the 7th rank limits the knight.) 28...dxc4 29.dxc4 Nf7 (After 29...Rxc4 30.Rd1 Rd4 31.Rxd4 cxd4 32.Rxa7 the b6-pawn falls shortly.) 30.Rd1 Ng5 31.Rxa7 Rxc4 32.Ra6 Rc2 33.Rxb6 c4 34.a4 Ra2 35.Ra6 Nf3+ 36.Kf1 Nd2+ 37.Rxd2! (Simplifying into a clearly won rook endgame.) 37...Rxd2 38.Rc6 Rc2 39.b6 Black resigned.
2012 U.S. Women's Chess Championship
It's that time again. So happy to see GM Alex Lenderman and GM Ray Robson in the U.S. Chess Championship. I like both players very much and would like for them to do very well.
My prediction for the Women's Championship: Zatonskih will retain her title. Yeah, I'm probably hanging myself right now making such a prediction on the basis of one game. I just don't think any of the other players can out-play her OTB, not even Krush. Let's see how my prowess as a prognosticator measures up!
You can follow the action and see games in PGN, etc. etc. at uschesschamps.com.
Standings after R1:
R1 Pairings:
R2 Pairings:
My prediction for the Women's Championship: Zatonskih will retain her title. Yeah, I'm probably hanging myself right now making such a prediction on the basis of one game. I just don't think any of the other players can out-play her OTB, not even Krush. Let's see how my prowess as a prognosticator measures up!
You can follow the action and see games in PGN, etc. etc. at uschesschamps.com.
Standings after R1:
| Rank | Name | Score | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 1.0 | F | 2510 | 2895 | +0.11 | 1 |
| 2 | IM Krush, Irina | 1.0 | F | 2457 | 3099 | +0.37 | 1 |
| 3 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 1.0 | F | 2333 | 3093 | +0.53 | 1 |
| 4 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 0.5 | F | 2329 | 2228 | -0.14 | ½ |
| 5 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 0.5 | F | 2242 | 2224 | -0.03 | ½ |
| 6 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.5 | F | 2228 | 2329 | +0.14 | ½ |
| 7 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 0.5 | F | 2224 | 2242 | +0.03 | ½ |
| 8 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 0.0 | F | 2364 | 1722 | -0.37 | 0 |
| 9 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | F | 2358 | 1598 | -0.53 | 0 |
| 10 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | F | 2137 | 1752 | -0.11 | 0 |
R1 Pairings:
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.0 | 2228 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 0.0 | 2329 | ½-½ |
| 2 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 0.0 | 2224 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 0.0 | 2242 | ½-½ |
| 3 | IM Krush, Irina | 0.0 | 2457 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 0.0 | 2364 | 1-0 |
| 4 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 0.0 | 2333 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | 2358 | 1-0 |
| 5 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 0.0 | 2510 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | 2137 | 1-0 |
R2 Pairings:
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 0.5 | 2329 | WFM Kats, Alena | 0.0 | 2137 | |
| 2 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 0.0 | 2358 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 1.0 | 2510 | |
| 3 | WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 0.0 | 2364 | IM Goletiani, Rusudan | 1.0 | 2333 | |
| 4 | FM Melekhina, Alisa | 0.5 | 2242 | IM Krush, Irina | 1.0 | 2457 | |
| 5 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 0.5 | 2228 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 0.5 | 2224 |
Monday, May 7, 2012
Rare Han Dynasty Exhibit at Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge)
This is something I would love to see. Sigh. Can't afford a trip to England this year. Only the first several paragraphs are included here. some fascinating history is given in the later paragraphs (not copied here) about the Kingdom of Nanyue (modern-day Guangzhou Province) whose capital then is modern-day Canton now and was the terminus/beginning of the maritime Silk Road trade routes.
University of Cambridge/Research News
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China
May 5, 2012
In the first exhibition of its kind, the Fitzwilliam Museum will relate the story of the quest for immortality and struggle for imperial legitimacy in ancient China’s Han Dynasty.
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China (May 5-November 11) will feature over 350 treasures in jade, gold, silver, bronze and ceramics in the largest and most important exhibition of ancient royal treasures ever to travel outside China.
The Han Dynasty established the basis for unified rule of China up to the present day. To maintain this hard-won empire the Han emperors had to engage in a constant struggle for power and legitimacy, with contests that took place on symbolic battlefields as much as on real ones. While written accounts provide an outline of these events, it is through the stunning archaeological discoveries of recent decades that the full drama and spectacle of this critical episode in Chinese history has been brought to life.
Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, commented: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Han Dynasty in the formation of a Chinese national culture and identity. At the time of the ancient Romans, the Han emperors were the first to unify a large part of the regions we now know as China under a sustained empire, which they ruled virtually unchallenged for 400 years.
“The Han Dynasty gave its name to the Chinese language, its script and the vast majority of the Chinese people. It was arguably the defining period of China’s history and the point of genesis for the China of today.
“The spectacular objects in this exhibition bring to Cambridge the finest treasures from the tombs of the Han royal family, the superb goldwork, jades and other exquisitely crafted offerings the kings chose to be buried with on their journey to the afterlife. For their artistry, refinement and pure beauty they rival anything from the ancient world.”
This pioneering exhibition will compare the spectacular tombs of two rival power factions: the Han imperial family in the northern ‘cradle’ of Chinese history, and the Kingdom of Nanyue in the south, whose capital in modern-day Guangzhou formed the gateway to the rich trade routes of the China Sea and Indian Ocean.
Objects from these tombs have never before been displayed together as a single exhibition. Through the exhibition it is revealed how, in both life and in death, Empire and Kingdom played a diplomatic game of cat and mouse, one to assert its supremacy, the other to preserve its autonomy.
Virtual Exhibition.
University of Cambridge/Research News
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China
May 5, 2012
In the first exhibition of its kind, the Fitzwilliam Museum will relate the story of the quest for immortality and struggle for imperial legitimacy in ancient China’s Han Dynasty.
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China (May 5-November 11) will feature over 350 treasures in jade, gold, silver, bronze and ceramics in the largest and most important exhibition of ancient royal treasures ever to travel outside China.
The Han Dynasty established the basis for unified rule of China up to the present day. To maintain this hard-won empire the Han emperors had to engage in a constant struggle for power and legitimacy, with contests that took place on symbolic battlefields as much as on real ones. While written accounts provide an outline of these events, it is through the stunning archaeological discoveries of recent decades that the full drama and spectacle of this critical episode in Chinese history has been brought to life.
Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, commented: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Han Dynasty in the formation of a Chinese national culture and identity. At the time of the ancient Romans, the Han emperors were the first to unify a large part of the regions we now know as China under a sustained empire, which they ruled virtually unchallenged for 400 years.
“The Han Dynasty gave its name to the Chinese language, its script and the vast majority of the Chinese people. It was arguably the defining period of China’s history and the point of genesis for the China of today.
“The spectacular objects in this exhibition bring to Cambridge the finest treasures from the tombs of the Han royal family, the superb goldwork, jades and other exquisitely crafted offerings the kings chose to be buried with on their journey to the afterlife. For their artistry, refinement and pure beauty they rival anything from the ancient world.”
This pioneering exhibition will compare the spectacular tombs of two rival power factions: the Han imperial family in the northern ‘cradle’ of Chinese history, and the Kingdom of Nanyue in the south, whose capital in modern-day Guangzhou formed the gateway to the rich trade routes of the China Sea and Indian Ocean.
Objects from these tombs have never before been displayed together as a single exhibition. Through the exhibition it is revealed how, in both life and in death, Empire and Kingdom played a diplomatic game of cat and mouse, one to assert its supremacy, the other to preserve its autonomy.
Virtual Exhibition.
You Know It's a Slow News Day When...
...the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a SPORTS story on the recently enacted "dress code" of the European Chess Union. OHMYGODDESS, what is this world coming to?
SPORTS
By Norman Chad, the Couch Slouch (I kid you not, that's what it says)
Chess dress code puts checkmate on cleavage
May 6, 2012
As many of you surely know by now, the European Chess Union has established dress-code rules for chess players.
(OK, some of you don't know - you don't follow chess and you don't think it's a sport. Well, friends, at a minimum, it's "mental sport." And, as far as I'm concerned, Bobby Fischer was every bit the athlete that Michael Jordan was; both were hyper-competitive and ruthless in their pursuits, plus Fischer was a better trash talker.)
Before we detail the dress code - apparently, the bust line has become a problem - as a former non-grandmaster, let me emphatically state my opinion in this sartorial area:
Chess needs a dress code like Switzerland needs a navy. [It seems Mr. Couch Slouch is not familiar with chessplayer Maria Manakova, who has been known to "bare it all" but not, as far as I know, at a tournament -- while playing OTB that is...]
Poker needs a dress code. At the moment, all the twentysomething savants favor shades, baseball caps and hoodies, usually adorned in black. Card rooms these days look like funeral homes, with chips.
Golf needs a dress code. At the Masters, Ian Poulter was wearing plaid pants and yellow shoes; it looked as if Walt Disney had thrown up on him. Who dresses these guys, Grace Jones?
Tennis needs a dress code. When I turn on the TV and see Serena Williams, I'm not sure if I'm watching the French Open or "Project Runway."
Bowling? Actually, those fellas look fine to me.
(Granted, I'm the last guy in the world who knows anything about fashion. At least I have an excuse: I dress in the dark and, for personal safety, I do not have any mirrors in my home.)
I last played serious chess in college; I appeared to be behind from the beginning of every match. What chance did I have, anyway? Those jokers were all perfecting Moscow Variations of their Sicilian Defense while, frankly, I was only in the sport for the ladies.
Nowadays, it seems, the ladies are the problem.
The new dress code covers both sexes, but women appear to the object of the regulators' desires.
Stunningly, plunging necklines are out - only two buttons may be opened on women's blouses.
Which raises the question: Could a comely female distract a weak-minded male with some strategic cleavage? I guess so. Heck, most men get distracted by the smell of bacon.
But Sava Stoisavljevic, general secretary of the European Chess Union, told the German website ChessBase that the new rules had nothing to do with protecting men from themselves; rather, they resulted from spectator comments on female competitors' outfits.
She also said that limits on short skirts might be forthcoming. (If these rules had been effect in the early 1980s, my first marriage never happens.)
Under the new order, sunglasses and neckties are allowed, hats and jeans with holes are not. High heels are in, flip flops are out.
And the ECU encourages sports coats for men, which would be fine by me. I have a closetful of blazers; in fact, I've slept in a Harris Tweed for years.
In short, Stoisavljevic wants the game to maintain its modesty. (This likely will thwart Spike TV's upcoming plans for "Strip Chess.")
The ECU rules require "a pulled-together, harmonious, complete look with colors, fabrics, shoes and accessories, for both men and women." What, suddenly this is Goldman Sachs? (Actually, that might be a poor reference - I'm not sure there are any women at Goldman Sachs.)
Stoisavljevic says these rules will restore a sense of decorum; to be honest, I didn't think chess was being overrun by Carrot Top and Lady Gaga.
Anyhow, players not properly attired will get a verbal warning, then a second written warning. After this, a breach in the dress code will send you into the park for your next match.
So far, the chess community has fallen in line; no one's shown up looking like a Chippendale.
Me? I've gravitated back to my sporting roots: Checkers! We wear what we want.
That's Sonja Graf on the left, a German national who played in Europe for many years, sat out WWII in Argentina when that war broke out while she and many other players were in Argentina for a chess olympiad, and after she married and moved to the United States, a two-time U.S. Women's champion. The other woman is Vera Menchik, the best female chess player in history until Judit Polgar came along. Menchik lived in England and played for that country until her death in London during a bombing raid in WWII.
Check out their outfits. Me thinks that neither Graf nor Menchik would pass muster according to today's ECU dress code! Menchik's dress is far too low cut - no cleavage must be showing, you know. And Graf - well, she's dressed like a DUDE. Even her hair is dudey. Gasp! In short, she looks like Victoria dressed as Victor (remember the movie Victor/Victoria). No matter how well in taste her outfit is, and Graf certainly does look sharp in that outfit, I don't think it is within the rules. Nope. Women must dress like women, and dudes must dress dudey, and never the twain shall meet OTB.
Here is another photo of Graf taken at the Utrecht Chess Club on October 3, 1936, according to Wikipedia, where I copied it from:
Sonja Graf is the one with the bustline.
Here is a photo of her in a dress and I'm sure that head wrap she has on back then (may have been taken in laste 1950s-early 1960s) would be disqualified today as too distracting (she was not a Sikh).
IM Herman Steiner and Graf, playing with a set designed by Steiner. Details here.
SPORTS
By Norman Chad, the Couch Slouch (I kid you not, that's what it says)
Chess dress code puts checkmate on cleavage
May 6, 2012
As many of you surely know by now, the European Chess Union has established dress-code rules for chess players.
(OK, some of you don't know - you don't follow chess and you don't think it's a sport. Well, friends, at a minimum, it's "mental sport." And, as far as I'm concerned, Bobby Fischer was every bit the athlete that Michael Jordan was; both were hyper-competitive and ruthless in their pursuits, plus Fischer was a better trash talker.)
Before we detail the dress code - apparently, the bust line has become a problem - as a former non-grandmaster, let me emphatically state my opinion in this sartorial area:
Chess needs a dress code like Switzerland needs a navy. [It seems Mr. Couch Slouch is not familiar with chessplayer Maria Manakova, who has been known to "bare it all" but not, as far as I know, at a tournament -- while playing OTB that is...]
Poker needs a dress code. At the moment, all the twentysomething savants favor shades, baseball caps and hoodies, usually adorned in black. Card rooms these days look like funeral homes, with chips.
Golf needs a dress code. At the Masters, Ian Poulter was wearing plaid pants and yellow shoes; it looked as if Walt Disney had thrown up on him. Who dresses these guys, Grace Jones?
Tennis needs a dress code. When I turn on the TV and see Serena Williams, I'm not sure if I'm watching the French Open or "Project Runway."
Bowling? Actually, those fellas look fine to me.
(Granted, I'm the last guy in the world who knows anything about fashion. At least I have an excuse: I dress in the dark and, for personal safety, I do not have any mirrors in my home.)
I last played serious chess in college; I appeared to be behind from the beginning of every match. What chance did I have, anyway? Those jokers were all perfecting Moscow Variations of their Sicilian Defense while, frankly, I was only in the sport for the ladies.
Nowadays, it seems, the ladies are the problem.
The new dress code covers both sexes, but women appear to the object of the regulators' desires.
Stunningly, plunging necklines are out - only two buttons may be opened on women's blouses.
Which raises the question: Could a comely female distract a weak-minded male with some strategic cleavage? I guess so. Heck, most men get distracted by the smell of bacon.
But Sava Stoisavljevic, general secretary of the European Chess Union, told the German website ChessBase that the new rules had nothing to do with protecting men from themselves; rather, they resulted from spectator comments on female competitors' outfits.
She also said that limits on short skirts might be forthcoming. (If these rules had been effect in the early 1980s, my first marriage never happens.)
Under the new order, sunglasses and neckties are allowed, hats and jeans with holes are not. High heels are in, flip flops are out.
And the ECU encourages sports coats for men, which would be fine by me. I have a closetful of blazers; in fact, I've slept in a Harris Tweed for years.
In short, Stoisavljevic wants the game to maintain its modesty. (This likely will thwart Spike TV's upcoming plans for "Strip Chess.")
The ECU rules require "a pulled-together, harmonious, complete look with colors, fabrics, shoes and accessories, for both men and women." What, suddenly this is Goldman Sachs? (Actually, that might be a poor reference - I'm not sure there are any women at Goldman Sachs.)
Stoisavljevic says these rules will restore a sense of decorum; to be honest, I didn't think chess was being overrun by Carrot Top and Lady Gaga.
Anyhow, players not properly attired will get a verbal warning, then a second written warning. After this, a breach in the dress code will send you into the park for your next match.
So far, the chess community has fallen in line; no one's shown up looking like a Chippendale.
Me? I've gravitated back to my sporting roots: Checkers! We wear what we want.
******************************************************
At the time the Chessbase article (link above) was written in 2004, the ECU dress code was not in effect. I doubht there was such a thing in effect in 1936, either, when this photograph of two female chess legends was taken:
That's Sonja Graf on the left, a German national who played in Europe for many years, sat out WWII in Argentina when that war broke out while she and many other players were in Argentina for a chess olympiad, and after she married and moved to the United States, a two-time U.S. Women's champion. The other woman is Vera Menchik, the best female chess player in history until Judit Polgar came along. Menchik lived in England and played for that country until her death in London during a bombing raid in WWII.
Check out their outfits. Me thinks that neither Graf nor Menchik would pass muster according to today's ECU dress code! Menchik's dress is far too low cut - no cleavage must be showing, you know. And Graf - well, she's dressed like a DUDE. Even her hair is dudey. Gasp! In short, she looks like Victoria dressed as Victor (remember the movie Victor/Victoria). No matter how well in taste her outfit is, and Graf certainly does look sharp in that outfit, I don't think it is within the rules. Nope. Women must dress like women, and dudes must dress dudey, and never the twain shall meet OTB.
Here is another photo of Graf taken at the Utrecht Chess Club on October 3, 1936, according to Wikipedia, where I copied it from:
Sonja Graf is the one with the bustline.
Here is a photo of her in a dress and I'm sure that head wrap she has on back then (may have been taken in laste 1950s-early 1960s) would be disqualified today as too distracting (she was not a Sikh).
IM Herman Steiner and Graf, playing with a set designed by Steiner. Details here.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Roman Women Created Own Credit System
Not the best translation into English, but it's readable. Not sure of the date of issue, either!
From Universitat-Jaume
Women of ancient Rome prompted a similar system of microcredits to overcome legal exclusion
Some women in ancient Rome already implemented the concept of microcredit as a loan of small amounts of money that enables people without resources to develop work projects on their own. The study conducted by the professor of Roman Law at the Universitat Jaume I Carmen Lázaro shows how women managed to evade the legal rules that excluded them from activities related with the bank and exchange through credit contracts of small amounts of money made by and among women and guaranteed by pledge agreements in which they gave as collateral personal property of small value.
From Universitat-Jaume
Women of ancient Rome prompted a similar system of microcredits to overcome legal exclusion
Some women in ancient Rome already implemented the concept of microcredit as a loan of small amounts of money that enables people without resources to develop work projects on their own. The study conducted by the professor of Roman Law at the Universitat Jaume I Carmen Lázaro shows how women managed to evade the legal rules that excluded them from activities related with the bank and exchange through credit contracts of small amounts of money made by and among women and guaranteed by pledge agreements in which they gave as collateral personal property of small value.
The existence of this microcredit system is known through various sources, mainly epigraphic, such as the inscriptions found in Roman Granio House in Pompeii, which reflect legal transactions as the ones carried out among the moneylender Faustilla and other women with an interest at 6.25%, remaining as collateral for reimbursement by way of endorsement (through pignus-pawns) personal items such as earrings or coats. Lázaro points out that these loans were done legally and avoided the need to be approved by the tutor (according to the rules of the necessary intervention of a tutor in carrying out legal transactions performed by women) "since money was a fungible good and therefore, not subject to formalities for the transmission to provide legal effects." Moreover, as what was deposited was the capital of the pawnbroker, "the loan could have taken the form of an irregular deposit, imperfect bilateral agreement which in principle would only generate obligations to the depositary." The usefulness of the irregular deposit would only raise obligations, in principle, for a part, the deposit taker, so that the lender could also avoid the necessary intervention of the tutor.
Researches carried out by Carmen Lázaro also collect other evidence of business loans for women as the ones found in the Pompeian tablets of Murecine or at some literary sources. In short, the researcher points out that the epigraphic and literary sources show how, despite the prohibition on engaging in banking activities and exchange, women were an active and passive part of monetary obligations for loans and that they operated in the field of banking and credit.
Legal constraints, which suffered women in ancient Rome, were just, as the researcher says, what led to consolidate this system that without opposing the legislation, developed the right mechanism to allow women to make their transactions. In this regard, it should be noted that the law prevented women from having access to certain contractual arrangements that limited the performance of specific legal transactions without the presence of a tutor, for example, an application for a monetary loan or the possibility of become moneylenders. However, loans among women, formalized through legal concepts beyond common and customary limits and carried out because of the gender, allowed the mobility of small amounts of money, that is, the execution of loans operated by well-off lenders to borrowers supposedly poorer that could not obtain credit through traditional means. In short, as the researcher says, it is "a business that has the characteristics of what we know today as microcredit and allowed women to enjoy some freedom of action and avoid the prohibition in the rule of law".
Perhaps Roman women kept abreast of the current development of microcredit system driven by Nobel Peace Prize and honorary doctor from the Universitat Jaume I Muhammad Yunus, who started, through the Bank of Poor in Bangladesh, a system of small loans that allowed escape from poverty to millions of people, especially women. Moreover, the lenders were also women.
In addition, Lazarus states that the activity of women in the business sector in ancient Rome was beyond lending activity since there is written evidence of women participating in the world of commerce and business. Thus, women headed shipping, textile manufacturing and footwear companies, business aimed at providing embellishment to other women, traded luxury goods and food products or managed accommodation business, among other activities. "This freedom of women in the field of business despite the prohibitions was favored by the succession of periods of war. The lack of men, who died or were fighting in the front, made virtually impossible the exercise of parental authority, it is to say, women were independent de facto, at least in economic terms as they were the heirs (of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons who, sadly died during the war) in a system in which most marriages were celebrated sine manu, that is, a marriage that provides an economic regime that we believe precedent of separation of marital property" explains. A position of women that leads Carmen Lázaro to remember the quote of Rene Pichon which states "in a people, as the Roman, which is not exactly a feminist one, women have freedom, activity and influence, more than in other societies that boast about having it".
***********************************************************************
A note on the term pignus - pawn:
Pignus is the Latin word for pawn! Not to be confused with the Latin word for "foot soldier" (see below) that became the pawn in chess -- or could there possibly be a connection, hmmm...
Definition: Pawn, pledge, token, (in pl.) persons in pledges of
The Latin word for Pawn is Pignus, Pignus is defined as: pawn, pledge, token, (in pl) persons in pledges of. To view supplementary Latin Words that share homogeneous meanings with Pignus, please visit the: Pignus - Pawn Latin Word page.
Pawn - as in the sense of a pawn shop, where an item might be temporarily physically consigned as a pledge against repayment of a loan.
• peon •
Pronunciation:pee-ên, pee-ahn
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A person bound in servitude to someone else. 2. An unskilled or menial laborer (pronounced [pyun] in India). 3. A peasant, a member of the hoi-polloi, an insignificant member of lower class society.
Notes: If you choose to pronounce today's word the first way illustrated in the pronunciation, [pee-ên,], be careful not to confuse it with paean "hymn of praise", pronounced identically. This is a good reason to choose the second acceptable pronunciation of today's word, [pee-ahn], with a little more emphasis on the second syllable. The state of being a peon is peonage
.
In Play: In the Southwest US this word is still used in its Spanish sense of simply an unskilled laborer: "The US economy would falter without the undocumented peons in the workforce." However, peon is used most often simply to refer to people of little importance to someone: "The boss very seldom comes out to the floor; he tries to avoid contact with us peons."
Word History: Today's Good Word was originally Spanish peón "laborer, pawn" from Medieval Latin pedo, pedon- "foot soldier"; in fact, it originally meant "foot soldier" in Spanish. This word was reduced to paon in Old French whence it was borrowed as pawn by English. The French word for "foot soldier" became peonier, which slowly devolved into pionnier "pioneer". Somewhere in between, English borrowed it as pioneer. The Latin word originally referred to someone with wide feet, for pedo is derived from pe(d)s "foot", a root that became foot in English and pai "leg" in Persian. Now, the word for "garment" in Persian is jamah, so when Hindi borrowed the Persian word for "leg garment", the result was pajama. (Today we thank someone who is no peon at alphaDictionary, Susanne Williams, for suggesting this little word with such a large history.)
Islamists Attack UNESCO Heritage Site
From Gulf-times.com
Latest Update: Sunday6/5/2012May, 2012, 12:34 AM Doha Time
Mali Islamists attack Unesco heritage site
Reuters/Bamako
Malian fighters from the Ansar Dine Islamist group attacked and burned the tomb of one of the town’s saints, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site, residents and a regional official said yesterday.
The militants broke off doors, windows and wooden gates from the grave and burned them, they said, in the first reported attack on a shrine in Mali.
El Hadj Baba Haidara, an elected member of parliament from Timbuktu, said some young people were discussing how to react despite being unarmed.
“There is a risk the people may revolt because this is something that affects their dignity. This tomb is sacred, it is too difficult to bear,” Haidara said.
Ansar Dine, along with Tuareg rebels and other armed groups, swept through northern Mali in March and April, seizing the northern half of the country and its ancient towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal after the government collapsed in a March 22 coup.
While the rebel MNLA has declared an independent state in the north, Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine - led by veteran Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghaly - has rejected that idea and said the group’s objective was to impose Islamic law in Mali.
Timbuktu Muslims on their way to Friday prayers at the tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar and those of other saints were stopped and threatened by armed men from Ansar Dine, one resident said.
“What you are doing is haram (forbidden). Ask God directly rather than the dead,” one of the armed men told the residents, according to Ahmed Ibrahim, a resident who witnessed the scene.
Some view shrines as idolatry but others, especially Sufis, see shrines as part of accepted custom. Salafists have attacked several Sufi shrines in Egypt and Libya in the past year.
“After uttering those words, three of them (armed men) entered the mausoleum, ripped and burnt pieces of white clothing that surrounded the tomb of the saint in front of everyone,” Ibrahim said.
Haidara said the act by the Islamist group could spark a violent reaction from the population, and that he had urged the UN body to help protect Timbuktu’s heritage sites.
“They attacked the grave, broke doors, windows and wooden gates that protect it. They brought it outside and burn it, because to build a tomb is contrary to the principles of Islam,” he said. The men said they would return to destroy other tombs.
No one at Unesco was immediately available to comment.
“We have learned with indignation of the desecration of tombs perpetrated by lawless individuals. The government condemns in the strongest terms this unspeakable act in the name of Islam, a religion of tolerance and respect for human dignity,” Mali’s government said in a statement read on national television.
Timbuktu has 333 tombs of holy saints among which 16 are classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites including that of Sidi Mahamoud Ben Amar, a learned scholar considered the most sacred in Timbuktu, Haidara said.
The town has been a World Heritage Site since 1988 and Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova in April appealed to the rebels to spare its “outstanding earthen architectural wonders”.
These include the Sankore, Sidi Yahia and Djingarei-ber mosques - the latter Timbuktu’s oldest, built from mud bricks and wood in 1325 - the famous manuscript libraries and the 16 mausoleums of Timbuktu.
Latest Update: Sunday6/5/2012May, 2012, 12:34 AM Doha Time
Mali Islamists attack Unesco heritage site
Reuters/Bamako
Malian fighters from the Ansar Dine Islamist group attacked and burned the tomb of one of the town’s saints, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site, residents and a regional official said yesterday.
The militants broke off doors, windows and wooden gates from the grave and burned them, they said, in the first reported attack on a shrine in Mali.
El Hadj Baba Haidara, an elected member of parliament from Timbuktu, said some young people were discussing how to react despite being unarmed.
“There is a risk the people may revolt because this is something that affects their dignity. This tomb is sacred, it is too difficult to bear,” Haidara said.
Ansar Dine, along with Tuareg rebels and other armed groups, swept through northern Mali in March and April, seizing the northern half of the country and its ancient towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal after the government collapsed in a March 22 coup.
While the rebel MNLA has declared an independent state in the north, Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine - led by veteran Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghaly - has rejected that idea and said the group’s objective was to impose Islamic law in Mali.
Timbuktu Muslims on their way to Friday prayers at the tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar and those of other saints were stopped and threatened by armed men from Ansar Dine, one resident said.
“What you are doing is haram (forbidden). Ask God directly rather than the dead,” one of the armed men told the residents, according to Ahmed Ibrahim, a resident who witnessed the scene.
Some view shrines as idolatry but others, especially Sufis, see shrines as part of accepted custom. Salafists have attacked several Sufi shrines in Egypt and Libya in the past year.
“After uttering those words, three of them (armed men) entered the mausoleum, ripped and burnt pieces of white clothing that surrounded the tomb of the saint in front of everyone,” Ibrahim said.
Haidara said the act by the Islamist group could spark a violent reaction from the population, and that he had urged the UN body to help protect Timbuktu’s heritage sites.
“They attacked the grave, broke doors, windows and wooden gates that protect it. They brought it outside and burn it, because to build a tomb is contrary to the principles of Islam,” he said. The men said they would return to destroy other tombs.
No one at Unesco was immediately available to comment.
“We have learned with indignation of the desecration of tombs perpetrated by lawless individuals. The government condemns in the strongest terms this unspeakable act in the name of Islam, a religion of tolerance and respect for human dignity,” Mali’s government said in a statement read on national television.
Timbuktu has 333 tombs of holy saints among which 16 are classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites including that of Sidi Mahamoud Ben Amar, a learned scholar considered the most sacred in Timbuktu, Haidara said.
The town has been a World Heritage Site since 1988 and Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova in April appealed to the rebels to spare its “outstanding earthen architectural wonders”.
These include the Sankore, Sidi Yahia and Djingarei-ber mosques - the latter Timbuktu’s oldest, built from mud bricks and wood in 1325 - the famous manuscript libraries and the 16 mausoleums of Timbuktu.
9Queens and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk!
As part of 9Queens' Fifth Annual Chess Fest, 12th Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk played a 40-gam simul in Tucson, Arizona.
The 9Queens website hasn't been updated with the most recent information/photos yet, but you can read a little at Alexandra Kosteniuk's Facebook Page.
See also 9Queens' Facebook Page with some nice photographs of Alexandra in the simul, etc.
The 9Queens website hasn't been updated with the most recent information/photos yet, but you can read a little at Alexandra Kosteniuk's Facebook Page.
See also 9Queens' Facebook Page with some nice photographs of Alexandra in the simul, etc.
 |
| The simul was held at the Congress Hotel. |
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Would You Like to Learn Mandarin?
The China Institute in America in New York City is offering an intensive six-week course in Mandarin where you will learn to speak, read and write basic Mandarin. It's not inexpensive - tuition is $2,700.00 - oops! Sorry, I missed posting this prior to the early registration cut-off date of May 1st, so the tuition is now $2,800.00. But if you've got the time (will be meeting a minimum of four hours every day, it appears, not sure if this includes Saturdays and Sundays, eek!) and the desire to learn the language and some of the basic written ideograms, this is the course for you!
Note the "guarantee" languate I highlighted from the website, below: You WILL be able to conduct conversations, and read and write short passages. Wow!
$2,700 registration before May 1
Plus $20 non-refundable registration fee
Note the "guarantee" languate I highlighted from the website, below: You WILL be able to conduct conversations, and read and write short passages. Wow!
This six-week intensive course covers the basic sounds and tones, fundamental sentence patterns and structures of the Chinese language, and a vocabulary of at least 500 written characters. Cultural activities to augment the primary language instruction in the past have included a museum trip, a contemporary Chinese film, a live traditional musical performance, and a final banquet. Each day begins with two hours of language drills, followed by two hours of smaller group instruction. Upon completion, students will be able to conduct conversations about everyday life and read and write short passages. The course is equivalent to a two-semester university language program. Prospective students should be prepared for an intensive learning environment and daily homework.
Enrollment is limited.
June 28 – August 9
Enrollment is limited.
June 28 – August 9
Registration is now open!
Monday–Friday, 12:30 PM–4:30 PM (daily) $2,700 registration before May 1
Plus $20 non-refundable registration fee
In the USA, These Men Would be Jailed as Sex Offenders
Legalized pedophilia. Sick cultures. Even sicker than ours. How low can we go?
Caption: In this photo provided on Friday Feb. 10, 2012 by World Press Photo, the 1st prize Contemporary Issues Stories category of the 2012 World Press Photo contest by Stephanie Sinclair, USA, VII Photo Agency for National Geographic magazine shows Tahani (in pink), who married her husband Majed when she was 6 and he was 25, posing for this portrait with former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. (AP Photo/Stephanie Sinclair, VII Photo Agency for National Geographic Magazine)
Do you know what happens to a girl who has a baby when she's 12, 13, 14, 15 and her body is still growing and not yet ready for childbirth?
(1) A girl's pelvic girdle isn't wide enough for childbirth. That means often times, after long (several days) and extremely painful labor contractions as the girl's uterus attemps to expel the fetus, she and the fetus die before it's ever born. If she does deliver the baby, it might be stillborn or severely brain-damaged due to oxygen cut-off during delivery. Often the girl experiences uncontrolled bleeding due to internal ruptures and dies from blood loss.
(2) Extremely young mothers have a higher risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure known as preeclampsia, and their babies are at risk for fetal growth restriction.
(3) If a young mother and the baby survive the birth, she may be plagued with "obstetric fistula." Even physically mature women often experience urinary incontinence for a time after giving birth, but it usually clears up as her body recovers from the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth and through special exercises designed to strengthen the pelvic girdle. In a young girl where those muscles have been stretched beyond their limit, or torn and not surgically repaired, this doesn't happen. Think of a rubberband that has lost its elasticity - that is what happens. If this happens to a girl (and it often does when the body is not mature enough to experience the rigors of childbirth) she will be plagued with health issues for the rest of her life -- if she isn't killed by infection.
Obstetric fistua has become something of a cause celebre in some African countries where westerners have gone in and made television specials on the subject, but in truth, any girl anywhere who is not physically mature enough to go through the rigors of carrying a fetus to term and then childbirth can experience obstetric fistua. Take a good hard look at the girls in the photo at the beginning of this posrt. Do either of them look old enough to be having sexual intercourse, let alone becoming pregnant and giving birth? Look at the expressions on their faces. Would you want YOUR eleven year old to look like that? These girls don't even have breasts yet.
Perverted, sick, evil. In the United States and most civilized countries around the world, these men would be jailed for years as child molesters. Sick societies and cultures condone such things. We are a very sick world, indeed.
Caption: In this photo provided on Friday Feb. 10, 2012 by World Press Photo, the 1st prize Contemporary Issues Stories category of the 2012 World Press Photo contest by Stephanie Sinclair, USA, VII Photo Agency for National Geographic magazine shows Tahani (in pink), who married her husband Majed when she was 6 and he was 25, posing for this portrait with former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. (AP Photo/Stephanie Sinclair, VII Photo Agency for National Geographic Magazine)
Do you know what happens to a girl who has a baby when she's 12, 13, 14, 15 and her body is still growing and not yet ready for childbirth?
(1) A girl's pelvic girdle isn't wide enough for childbirth. That means often times, after long (several days) and extremely painful labor contractions as the girl's uterus attemps to expel the fetus, she and the fetus die before it's ever born. If she does deliver the baby, it might be stillborn or severely brain-damaged due to oxygen cut-off during delivery. Often the girl experiences uncontrolled bleeding due to internal ruptures and dies from blood loss.
(2) Extremely young mothers have a higher risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure known as preeclampsia, and their babies are at risk for fetal growth restriction.
(3) If a young mother and the baby survive the birth, she may be plagued with "obstetric fistula." Even physically mature women often experience urinary incontinence for a time after giving birth, but it usually clears up as her body recovers from the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth and through special exercises designed to strengthen the pelvic girdle. In a young girl where those muscles have been stretched beyond their limit, or torn and not surgically repaired, this doesn't happen. Think of a rubberband that has lost its elasticity - that is what happens. If this happens to a girl (and it often does when the body is not mature enough to experience the rigors of childbirth) she will be plagued with health issues for the rest of her life -- if she isn't killed by infection.
Obstetric fistua has become something of a cause celebre in some African countries where westerners have gone in and made television specials on the subject, but in truth, any girl anywhere who is not physically mature enough to go through the rigors of carrying a fetus to term and then childbirth can experience obstetric fistua. Take a good hard look at the girls in the photo at the beginning of this posrt. Do either of them look old enough to be having sexual intercourse, let alone becoming pregnant and giving birth? Look at the expressions on their faces. Would you want YOUR eleven year old to look like that? These girls don't even have breasts yet.
Perverted, sick, evil. In the United States and most civilized countries around the world, these men would be jailed for years as child molesters. Sick societies and cultures condone such things. We are a very sick world, indeed.
A 2nd Century BCE Chinese Gnomon?
For general information on what a "gnomon" is, please see Wikipedia. Of note is this entry:
The Chinese also used the gnomon, mentioned in the 2nd century Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art as being used much earlier by the Duke of Zhou (11th century BC).
See Sundial History for further information and a time line about the development of the use of the gnomon and the invention of the sundial that it led to, after many centuries.
From Sci-News.com
May 3, 2012
Oldest Astronomical Instrument Discovered in China
The Chinese also used the gnomon, mentioned in the 2nd century Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art as being used much earlier by the Duke of Zhou (11th century BC).
See Sundial History for further information and a time line about the development of the use of the gnomon and the invention of the sundial that it led to, after many centuries.
From Sci-News.com
May 3, 2012
Oldest Astronomical Instrument Discovered in China
Chinese scientists have proposed that an object collected 35 years ago from a tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Fuyang city and called “lacquerware of unknown names” could be a gnomon with template.
In 1977, archaeologists unearthed a great number of precious relics, including the unknown object, in the tomb of Xiahou Zao (the 2nd century BCE), the 2nd Marquis of Ruyin of the Western Han dynasty. However, no one has been able to identify the object as well as to explain the possible function of a pair of overlapping lacquered disks found in the same tomb.
A team of Yunli Shi, a professor at the Department of the History of Science and Scientific Archaeology, University of Science and Technology of China, has now proposed that the object is a special gnomon with template, while a pair of lacquered disks is an equatorial device for the positional observation of celestial bodies. Both are the oldest astronomical measuring instruments with definite information of date that can still be seen in the world. The findings appear in the Studies in the History of Natural Sciences.
The scientists noted that the gnomon with template is a typical instrument used by ancient Chinese astronomers in determining the advent of different seasons with the gnomon shadows cast on the template by the midday Sun.
The gnomon from the tomb of Xiahou Zao has two symmetric and foldable parts. As being fully set up in the south-north direction, the midday Sun will cast the shadow of a vertical tablet in the northern half onto three fixed positions on the template respectively on the days of the Summer Solstice, the Vernal/Autumnal Equinoxes, and the Winter Solstice.
“Geographically, this type of gnomon with template can only be used on the given latitude, and the one from the tomb of Xiahou Zao fits just right with the region between the capital of the dynasty Chang’an and the fief of the Marquis of Ruyin Fuyang,” explained Prof. Shi.
The edges of the two overlapping disks are marked respectively with the complete degrees of a celestial circle, and the names and degrees of each of the 28 lunar lodges.
Previous studies have suggested that they may make either an astrological tool similar to the two cosmic disks for divination from the same tomb, or a kind of astronomical instrument, but both theories are in need of definite evidence.
Mounted on top of a lacquerware box, the disks form a complete device good for the equatorial observation fitting just right with the geographical latitude of Fuyang, a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China.
 |
| An artist's rendtion of what the object from the tomb of Xiahou Zao may look like. |
A team of Yunli Shi, a professor at the Department of the History of Science and Scientific Archaeology, University of Science and Technology of China, has now proposed that the object is a special gnomon with template, while a pair of lacquered disks is an equatorial device for the positional observation of celestial bodies. Both are the oldest astronomical measuring instruments with definite information of date that can still be seen in the world. The findings appear in the Studies in the History of Natural Sciences.
The scientists noted that the gnomon with template is a typical instrument used by ancient Chinese astronomers in determining the advent of different seasons with the gnomon shadows cast on the template by the midday Sun.
The gnomon from the tomb of Xiahou Zao has two symmetric and foldable parts. As being fully set up in the south-north direction, the midday Sun will cast the shadow of a vertical tablet in the northern half onto three fixed positions on the template respectively on the days of the Summer Solstice, the Vernal/Autumnal Equinoxes, and the Winter Solstice.
“Geographically, this type of gnomon with template can only be used on the given latitude, and the one from the tomb of Xiahou Zao fits just right with the region between the capital of the dynasty Chang’an and the fief of the Marquis of Ruyin Fuyang,” explained Prof. Shi.
The edges of the two overlapping disks are marked respectively with the complete degrees of a celestial circle, and the names and degrees of each of the 28 lunar lodges.
Previous studies have suggested that they may make either an astrological tool similar to the two cosmic disks for divination from the same tomb, or a kind of astronomical instrument, but both theories are in need of definite evidence.
Mounted on top of a lacquerware box, the disks form a complete device good for the equatorial observation fitting just right with the geographical latitude of Fuyang, a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China.
Goddesschess 2012 Canadian Women's Chess Championship
The winner will have expenses paid to represent Canada at the FIDE Women's World Championship, in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, November 10 - December 3, 2012. I do not know what the prize structure will be for the 2012 championship, but in the 2010 knock-out event, players who were eliminated in the first round earned $3,750.00.
In the 2010 WWCC, WIM Dina Kagramanov (CAN 2101) represented Canada.
Goddesschess in Echec Magazine
The saga of Goddesschess continues in the Ma-June, 2012 (No. 203) print edition of Echec magazine, published by the Quebec Chess Federation.
Hmmmm, not very legible. It's in French, too. I don't know about you, but my French skills aren't too keen these days. Here it is in English:
Hmmmm, not very legible. It's in French, too. I don't know about you, but my French skills aren't too keen these days. Here it is in English:
Goddesschess and Those Fabulous Las Vegas Show Girls!
by Janet Newton
At the time, there was no way to know that the articles written by Those Fabulous Las Vegas Show Girls would prove to be enduringly popular and among the best-visited pages at the Goddesschess website.(1) From the first article written in 2000 to the most recent article (with a cliff-hanger ending) written in 2008 during the World Chess Championship between GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Vladimir Kramnik, the Show Girls' articles have consistently received a high number of page views every month.
Perhaps it was our individual flights to freedom and our spirit of following our dreams on not much more than a wing and a prayer that led to the Show Girls finding us. I had earned a degree in law and practiced for some years before giving it up for a much more mundane 9 to 5 existence, at much lower pay but a great deal more free time to do the things I wanted to do. Partner Don McLean acts as our webmaster, creates all of the graphics for Goddesschess and its sponsorships, and is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to doing an interview, getting photographs and video action of the City of Montreal Open Chess Championships, of which we have been a sponsor since 2009. In his earlier life he started out in retail business after earning his degree and worked up the ranks, only to leave to pursue a career in counselling troubled youths. He later retired from counselling and went into the freelance world of what was then the Wild Wild West of the Emerging Internet in 1999. Partner Georgia Albert, a true Renaissance woman, made a living playing pool, owned an antiques business for awhile, and spent twenty-five years in the casino industry in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In July 2000 the Las Vegas Show Girls duo of Bambi Darlin and Candi Kane sent their very first article to The International Chessoid. That article was passed along to Goddesschess partner Georgia Albert as not being "original" enough to be suitable "Chessoid" material. Georgia, in turn, passed the article along to me. I thought it was very clever and funny and so we published it at Goddesschess.(2) Unfortunately, I do not remember what tournament the Show Girls were writing about -- as they neglected to mention the name of the tournament in their article! All I know is that the Show Girls thought that GM Alexander Khalifman and GM Michael Adams were very "hot." And because Candi Kane was wearing stilleto heels, she couldn't walk very fast and the Girls were very late, missing the beginning (and perhaps most) of the action in the "final round."
Perhaps one of you can help identify the tournament that the Show Girls visited? At the time the article was written, GM Alexander Khalifman was the reigning FIDE World Chess Champion (he won that title in September, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada), and GM Michael Adams' hair had not yet turned grey. This was during the time after Kasparov split with FIDE and there were two "World Chess Champions" for many years afterward.
From the beginning, the Girls had minds of their own, and very definite opinions about the world of professional chess. The Girls traveled the world, and sometimes they agreed to cover chess events for us. However, reporting on chess events was not what the Girls wanted to do for Goddesschess. No. They wanted to become researchers into the deepest mysteries of chess and its most ancient origins! In other words, they wanted to be - us!
Because we at Goddesschess believe in exploring new possibilities into the origins of ancient games, the Show Girls found a home with us. We were not going to say that they did not have something valuable to add to the conversation, just because they did not have "degrees" in archaeology, anthropology, or ancient history.
At irregular intervals, indicative of the lives of the busy women that they are, the Show Girls would email articles to me (I'm the de facto "editor" of Goddesschess) and after correcting for punctuation and some spelling errors, the articles were published at Goddesschess. If you would like to take some interesting journeys along the road to discovering the deeper mysteries arising out of the origins of chess, I definitely recommend that you read the Show Girls' articles.(3) To say they are "mind-bending" is an understatement.
The Show Girls are not just Show Girls, of course! They are, first and foremost, businesswomen. The life of a Las Vegas show girl can be very short-lived, although there have been many successful show girls who have had careers of 20 years and longer. But eventually, time catches up with all of us. Today, Bambi and Candi are retired from their g-strings onstage, but are active in producing some of the most popular shows in casinos around the world. The Girls continue to make their home in the mountains surrounding the valley that is Las Vegas and have no desire to leave the valley. Over the years, the Girls tried their hand at designing their own clothing lines and achieved some minor success under fictitious names, but ultimately wisely invested in the early careers of several now very successful designers, wisely realizing that despite men's fascination with tassles and g-strings, it is women who ultimately spends thousands of dollars a year buying their own clothes.
You may be surprised to learn that it was those Las Vegas Show Girls, Bambi and Candi, that led Goddesschess into its very first sponsorship in a chess tournament -- in the 2007 U.S. Women's Chess Championship. However, the Girls have always passionately supported promoting more females to play in chess tournaments of all kinds and at all levels. One of the Girls' favorite sayings is "From a small acorn the mighty oak grows..."
Over the years, many people have inquired as to whether Bambi Darlin and Candi Kane are REAL people. All I am authorized to tell you is that - what happens in 'Vegas stays in 'Vegas...
Goddesschess is very happy to be a sponsor of the 2012 Canadian Women's Closed Chess Championship. In our next article, you will learn just how it was that those Las Vegas Show Girls led us to our first sponsorship in a tournament, and how things blossomed forth from that "First Time."
Notes:
(2) This is the url to the Show Girls' very first Goddesschess article: http://goddesschess.com/lasvegasshowgirls/vegaschicks.html
(3) This is the url to the Show Girls' entire index of Goddesschess articles: http://goddesschess.com/lasvegasshowgirls/vegaschickstoc.html
Thursday, May 3, 2012
2012 Russian Juniors Chess Championship (Girls)
Information from the Week in Chess, with a pithy comment by Mark Crowther: Anastasia Bodnaruk dominated the girls event to win with 7/8 (weirdly they could only muster 9 players suggesting a lack of strength in depth, even if there was a last minute withdrawal).
Russian Junior Girls
Tue 17th Apr 2012 - Sun 29th Apr 2012
Sochi, RUS
10 Players, 9 Rounds.
SRR
Time Control: 90m+30spm(1)
| Russian Junior Girls Sochi RUS Tue 17th Apr 2012 - Sun 29th Apr 2012. Category: 1. Ave: (2266) | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Title | FED | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts | TPR | |
| 1 | Bodnaruk, Anastasia | IM | RUS | 2412 | # | 1 | 1 | 1 | = | = | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2583 | |
| 2 | Savina, Anastasia | IM | RUS | 2325 | 0 | # | = | 1 | = | 1 | = | 1 | = | 5 | 2354 | |
| 3 | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | WIM | RUS | 2341 | 0 | = | # | = | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2352 | |
| 4 | Rjanova, Valery | RUS | 2222 | 0 | 0 | = | # | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | = | 4 | 2271 | ||
| 5 | Petrova, Olga | RUS | 2250 | = | = | 1 | 1 | # | = | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 2225 | ||
| 6 | Bezgodova, Maria | WIM | RUS | 2200 | = | 0 | 0 | 0 | = | # | = | 1 | = | 3 | 2187 | |
| 7 | Matveeva, Olga | WFM | RUS | 2211 | 0 | = | 0 | 0 | 1 | = | # | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2186 | |
| 8 | Balaian, Alina | RUS | 2203 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | # | 1 | 3 | 2187 | ||
| 9 | Belenkaya, Dina | WFM | RUS | 2229 | 0 | = | 0 | = | 1 | = | 0 | 0 | # | 2.5 | 2130 | |
2012 Bulgarian Women's Chess Championship
I assume that the Bulgarian Women's Championship is a true invitational, that is, the top-rated female players in the country are NOT COMPELLED by the country's chess federation to play in the championship but are free to decline an invitation, usually (but not always) due to the paucity of prize money and lack of prestige associated with the title.
And so, this gives younger and/or lower-rated female players a chance to go for the title. Final standings, Bulgarian women's championship (information from The Week in Chess):
And so, this gives younger and/or lower-rated female players a chance to go for the title. Final standings, Bulgarian women's championship (information from The Week in Chess):
| Rk | SNo | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | TB1 | TB2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Videnova Iva | WGM | BUL | 2301 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | 9 | Raeva Elitsa | WIM | BUL | 2292 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Galunova Tsveta | BUL | 2046 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 1 | 4 | |
| 4 | 5 | Nikolova Adriana | WGM | BUL | 2293 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 6 | Genova Lyubka | WIM | BUL | 2259 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | 8 | Voiska Margarita | WGM | BUL | 2316 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4½ | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 1 | Chilingirova Pavlina | WIM | BUL | 2109 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 7 | Yordanova Svetla | WIM | BUL | 2116 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | Ivanova Simoneta | BUL | 1963 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1½ | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 | 2 | Tsekova Viktoria | BUL | 1876 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 0 | 0 |
More Evidence of Ancient Trade: The Egyptian "Pharaoh Stool"
Despite the article's silly headline, it's a good one!
From Der Spiegel Online
05/03/2012 03.05.2012
When Tutankhamen died, his tomb was filled with all manner of precious objects, including two folding chairs. The more attractive one is made of ebony and has ivory inlays.
It isn't surprising, given the advanced nature of their society, that the Egyptians were familiar with such comfortable seating. Astonishing, however, is that the gruff chieftains of northern Europe also sat on such chairs.
Some 20 Nordic folding stools have been discovered so far, most of them north of the Elbe River in Germany. The majority were found by mustachioed members of the educated classes, who burrowed into their native soils in the 19th century in search of "national antiquities." The wood had usually rotted away, leaving only the golden or bronze clasps, rivets and knobs.
The only complete specimen was found in 1891 in Guldhøj (Golden Hill) near Kolding on the Jutland peninsula, which forms modern-day mainland Denmark. The chair, made of ash wood and with an otter-skin seat, was found lying in a tree-trunk coffin. Dendrochronologists have dated the specimen, made by a local carpenter, to 1389 B.C.
But folding chairs clearly originated in the Orient. The oldest depiction of one is found on roughly 4,500-year-old Mesopotamian seals. Egyptians were also familiar with folding chairs at any early date. Dignitaries used them as mobile thrones, and the long stretchers at their bases prevented the chairs from sinking into the sand.
Bronze Age Trading Networks
The fact that the design reached so far north led many scholars to posit that northern Europeans developed it independently and in parallel to the Egyptians. But that view has now been challenged. "The design and dimensions of the chairs are too similar," says Bettina Pfaff, an archaeologist from Nebra, near the eastern German city of Halle, who specializes in prehistory. Her colleague Barbara Grodde also finds that there is "a remarkable similarity" between the Egyptian and Nordic models.
In other words, Pfaff says, "they were copied." This, in turn, presupposes that there was contact between sunny Egypt and the swampy North some 3,400 years ago.
Other evidence for such contact has also turned up. In recent years, archaeologists have discovered how far-reaching the trade network had already become in the Bronze Age. Blacksmiths from Germany's Harz Mountains worked with gold from Cornwall, while others imitated Mycenaean swords or looped needles from Cyprus.
"The elites throughout Europe were in communication at the time," says Bernd Zich, an archaeologist from Halle, adding that luxury goods were exchanged across great distances "usually on foot."
A Sudden Fashion Craze in the North
Such goods were apparently passed on from tribe to tribe and from region to region in a type of relay. But things were somehow different with the folding chairs. While they were used in the Orient and the far north, none of these folding chairs have been found in a wide swath of land between the two regions, either among the inhabitants of stilt houses in the Alps or among the Bronze Age residents of Italy and France.
Is it possible, then, that a northern trader made the long journey from the Baltic Sea to Egypt, stole the design and brought it back home? [Why assume any trader "stole" anything? Come on - all he would have needed was a sketch of how the stool worked, or a good enough memory to be able to draw it later on and describe how it worked to an artisan back home. No need to steal anything. Geez!] As farfetched as the idea might seem, it is certainly plausible. Archaeologists have recently concluded that there were long-distance scouts more than 3,000 years ago who brought tin from Germany's Erz Mountains all the way to Sweden. They probably traveled in oxcarts on dirt roads. Such ancient caravans probably also traveled along southern routes heading toward Africa. [Why travel in oxcarts when there was a network of rivers that could have taken them all the way to the Mediterranean Sea? Geez!]
Scholars are also determining the dates of such knowledge transfers. Egypt became a major power under Thutmose III (1479 to 1426 B.C.), whose armies reached the borders of modern-day Turkey. This changed the flows of goods. Even the Greek mainland fell under the spell of the pharaohs.
It was precisely at this time that a messenger from the North Sea coast could have been in Egypt and copied the chair's design onto papyrus. Starting in 1400 B.C., the stools started being made in the far north and abruptly became fashionable. It appears that every prince of the moors was suddenly determined to have one of the new thrones from the south.
Craftsmen copied the exotic chairs down to the last detail. They often used oak or ash for the frame. A particularly fine piece discovered in Bechelsdorf, in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, has elaborate ornamentation, with decorative metal tassels that chime and a deerskin seat.
For Clan Leaders or Sorcerers?
But not all find this theory convincing. The objects were often discovered in "poorly furnished graves," explains Pfaff, the archaeologist. Instead, she believes the strange pieces of furniture belonged to a "spiritual elite" that was "not necessarily wealthy," such as healers and magicians with a connection to the world of spirits.
The man from Guldhøj could have also been one of these sorcerers. Apparently afraid of the dead, those who buried his body placed one of his own shoes under his head. In this way, Pfaff says, the corpse "could no longer climb out of the grave."
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
Archaeologists and scientists are very bright people for the most part, but they do not understand "trends" and "fashions." Trends and fashions transcend all economic and social barriers, despite any elite's attempts to keep things otherwise! If you don't believe me, please do a little online research about a few current home fashion trends - the sunburst or starburst mirror! The "chandelier" (or "chandy") over the bed in the master bedroom and over the "island" in the kitchen (sometimes two over the "island" in the kitchen). Aqua (also called teal, green-blue, smokey green, etc. etc. and any shade of brown or taupe in room decor. In fact, I'm going to be using a similar color scheme in my own family room re-do. Darlings, it doesn't matter what socio-economic, political, religious or other hierarchal "class" one belongs to -- we are ALL determined to have "THE LOOK" or something similar, and for as little money as possible.
Humankind has not changed in the three thousand years or so since King Tut was buried with two of his kingly stools! If anything, today's modern communications enables just about everyone to know what the current trends are, anywhere in the world. And with FedEx, DHL and other international air transport services, you can have a sunburst mirror ordered from amazon.com in your very own igloo within 24-48 hours.
From Der Spiegel Online
05/03/2012 03.05.2012
Bronze Age Espionage: Did Ancient Germans Steal the Pharaoh's Chair Design?
By Matthias Schulz
Such ingenious chairs were already being used in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago. The brilliantly simple design consists of two movable wooden frames connected to each other with pins and with an animal hide stretched between -- a kind of ur-camping stool.
It isn't surprising, given the advanced nature of their society, that the Egyptians were familiar with such comfortable seating. Astonishing, however, is that the gruff chieftains of northern Europe also sat on such chairs.
 |
| 18th Dynasty Egyptian stool, tomb of Userhat Thebes. Eighteenth Dynasty. Photograph courtesy of Osirisnet |
Some 20 Nordic folding stools have been discovered so far, most of them north of the Elbe River in Germany. The majority were found by mustachioed members of the educated classes, who burrowed into their native soils in the 19th century in search of "national antiquities." The wood had usually rotted away, leaving only the golden or bronze clasps, rivets and knobs.
 |
| A Bronze Age folding chair found in northern Germany and now in Hamburg's Helms Museum (from article) |
The only complete specimen was found in 1891 in Guldhøj (Golden Hill) near Kolding on the Jutland peninsula, which forms modern-day mainland Denmark. The chair, made of ash wood and with an otter-skin seat, was found lying in a tree-trunk coffin. Dendrochronologists have dated the specimen, made by a local carpenter, to 1389 B.C.
But folding chairs clearly originated in the Orient. The oldest depiction of one is found on roughly 4,500-year-old Mesopotamian seals. Egyptians were also familiar with folding chairs at any early date. Dignitaries used them as mobile thrones, and the long stretchers at their bases prevented the chairs from sinking into the sand.
Bronze Age Trading Networks
The fact that the design reached so far north led many scholars to posit that northern Europeans developed it independently and in parallel to the Egyptians. But that view has now been challenged. "The design and dimensions of the chairs are too similar," says Bettina Pfaff, an archaeologist from Nebra, near the eastern German city of Halle, who specializes in prehistory. Her colleague Barbara Grodde also finds that there is "a remarkable similarity" between the Egyptian and Nordic models.
In other words, Pfaff says, "they were copied." This, in turn, presupposes that there was contact between sunny Egypt and the swampy North some 3,400 years ago.
Other evidence for such contact has also turned up. In recent years, archaeologists have discovered how far-reaching the trade network had already become in the Bronze Age. Blacksmiths from Germany's Harz Mountains worked with gold from Cornwall, while others imitated Mycenaean swords or looped needles from Cyprus.
"The elites throughout Europe were in communication at the time," says Bernd Zich, an archaeologist from Halle, adding that luxury goods were exchanged across great distances "usually on foot."
A Sudden Fashion Craze in the North
Such goods were apparently passed on from tribe to tribe and from region to region in a type of relay. But things were somehow different with the folding chairs. While they were used in the Orient and the far north, none of these folding chairs have been found in a wide swath of land between the two regions, either among the inhabitants of stilt houses in the Alps or among the Bronze Age residents of Italy and France.
Is it possible, then, that a northern trader made the long journey from the Baltic Sea to Egypt, stole the design and brought it back home? [Why assume any trader "stole" anything? Come on - all he would have needed was a sketch of how the stool worked, or a good enough memory to be able to draw it later on and describe how it worked to an artisan back home. No need to steal anything. Geez!] As farfetched as the idea might seem, it is certainly plausible. Archaeologists have recently concluded that there were long-distance scouts more than 3,000 years ago who brought tin from Germany's Erz Mountains all the way to Sweden. They probably traveled in oxcarts on dirt roads. Such ancient caravans probably also traveled along southern routes heading toward Africa. [Why travel in oxcarts when there was a network of rivers that could have taken them all the way to the Mediterranean Sea? Geez!]
Scholars are also determining the dates of such knowledge transfers. Egypt became a major power under Thutmose III (1479 to 1426 B.C.), whose armies reached the borders of modern-day Turkey. This changed the flows of goods. Even the Greek mainland fell under the spell of the pharaohs.
It was precisely at this time that a messenger from the North Sea coast could have been in Egypt and copied the chair's design onto papyrus. Starting in 1400 B.C., the stools started being made in the far north and abruptly became fashionable. It appears that every prince of the moors was suddenly determined to have one of the new thrones from the south.
Craftsmen copied the exotic chairs down to the last detail. They often used oak or ash for the frame. A particularly fine piece discovered in Bechelsdorf, in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, has elaborate ornamentation, with decorative metal tassels that chime and a deerskin seat.
For Clan Leaders or Sorcerers?
Many speculate that the furniture belonged to clan leaders entitled to an elevated position while traveling. Although the stool was only about 25 centimeters (10 inches) high, it would be high enough since everyone else would be forced to sit cross-legged on the ground.
But not all find this theory convincing. The objects were often discovered in "poorly furnished graves," explains Pfaff, the archaeologist. Instead, she believes the strange pieces of furniture belonged to a "spiritual elite" that was "not necessarily wealthy," such as healers and magicians with a connection to the world of spirits.
The man from Guldhøj could have also been one of these sorcerers. Apparently afraid of the dead, those who buried his body placed one of his own shoes under his head. In this way, Pfaff says, the corpse "could no longer climb out of the grave."
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
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Archaeologists and scientists are very bright people for the most part, but they do not understand "trends" and "fashions." Trends and fashions transcend all economic and social barriers, despite any elite's attempts to keep things otherwise! If you don't believe me, please do a little online research about a few current home fashion trends - the sunburst or starburst mirror! The "chandelier" (or "chandy") over the bed in the master bedroom and over the "island" in the kitchen (sometimes two over the "island" in the kitchen). Aqua (also called teal, green-blue, smokey green, etc. etc. and any shade of brown or taupe in room decor. In fact, I'm going to be using a similar color scheme in my own family room re-do. Darlings, it doesn't matter what socio-economic, political, religious or other hierarchal "class" one belongs to -- we are ALL determined to have "THE LOOK" or something similar, and for as little money as possible.
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| $10 "sunburst mirror" from Family Dollar, online advertisement March, 2012 |
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| "Gilt composition" sunburst mirror "of recent manufacture," sold at a Christie's London auction, 12 August 2008, for $1,070. Ridiculous. |
Humankind has not changed in the three thousand years or so since King Tut was buried with two of his kingly stools! If anything, today's modern communications enables just about everyone to know what the current trends are, anywhere in the world. And with FedEx, DHL and other international air transport services, you can have a sunburst mirror ordered from amazon.com in your very own igloo within 24-48 hours.
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