I've never been to the Caucasus. It's largely a blank slate to me. What the Lonely Planet, my Azeri taxi driver last night and previous Kiva Fellows in the area, such as Jonathan Buser, say is that it's a real crossroads: a blend of post-Soviet bureacracy, Shi'ite Islam, impoverished "internally displaced persons," fabulously wealthy petrocapitalists living off the transport of oil and natural gas from east to west and the ex-pats who help that happen. I'll be living in Baku (birthplace of chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov), the capital, for 6-10 weeks, and then moving on to my next destination for Kiva (Mongolia?) for the remainder of my 6-month fellowship.

I really hope to shed some light for people on this poorly understood region and its challenges for all of you. I'll do my best.

--Mark Bulliet, KF6

This Chess training center seems to know their Target Group very well and clearly focused on age groups between 5 to 16. Also a catchy name of the Baku (Azerbaijan) born World champion, for their center focusing on the game in hand.

Seen at Triplicane.

My 2nd about the game of 64 squares.

First of all, can you guess where I was on August 14th, 2008?  No Googling, Froogling, or any other freakin' cheating.  Just take your best shot and let fly with a guess.  Hint:  it's a major city and it's not in Europe.

To Our Glorious Dead:  My Mystery Location

Chess.FM Goodies

I am producing a series on ICC Chess.FM on Sicilian Theory from black's perspective when white avoids the main lines with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 (d6, e6, Nc6) 3. d4.  The series is being sound edited and should be released soon.  So far, I've covered the always entertaining Smith-Morra Gambit, the quiet Alapin (2. c3) and also....

The Moscow Variation

One of the segments is on the Moscow Variation, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+.

Position after 3. Bb5+: The Moscow Variation

I will devote some entries on the website to discussing the segments and presenting example games so that readers can contribute their own ideas and sample blitz and OTB Games for review.

In the broadcast, I went over the possible interpositions 3...Nc6, 3...Nd7, and the most popular 3...Bd7.  I stated that if black wants to try to win, 3...Bd7 isn't such a good choice because white can easily achieve safe Marcozy-bind formations.   This implies that the first two tries merit closer study because they are rarer and lead to unusual positions.

Here's an example game featuring 3..Nd7 and indeed it gives us a sharp battle.

Mark Ginsburg - Mark Paragua  San Francisco Dake Int'l 1999

Historically amusing:  when this game was played Paragua was a little kid rated 2300 something.  But so often little kids are "danger kids."

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7!? 4. d4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 a6 As mentioned in the broadcast, black goes for the bishop pair at the cost of losing some time.

6. Bxd7+ Nxd7

Position after 6...Nxd7

7. Bg5 Playable here and perhaps more logical is 7. O-O!? cxd4 8. Qxd4 and white has hopes of a small edge.

7... h6 8. Bh4 Entirely different is 8 . Be3 cxd4 9. Qxd4.  Maybe white is a little better after 9...e5 10. Qa4!?

8... g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Nd4?! Very sharp but dubious.   White could have tried 11. e5 g4 12. Nh4!? with compensation.

11... Qb6! Very strong! 12. Nd5 Qxb2 13. e5!? Maximum confusion but objectively this is just not working.

13...O-O White simply doesn't have enough after the cold-blooded 13...Bxe5! 14. Bxe5 dxe5 15. Nc7+ Kf8 16. O-O Rb8.

14. Nxe7+ Kh7 15. O-O Bxe5?! The simple 15... dxe5 16. Ndf5 Bxf5! 17. Nxf5 Rad8 is somewhat better for black.

16. Bxe5 dxe5 17. Ndf5? The inaccuracies continue. 17. Nf3! is stronger.

17...Bxf5 18. Nxf5 Qb6 19. Qf3 Qf6 20. Rab1 Rac8 20...Rad8 is strong.

21. Rfd1 Rcd8 22. c4 e4 23. Qg4 Rd3! Black is still in command.

24. Ne3 Qf4 24...Rfd8! leaves white with very little chance of survival.

25. Qh5

Position after 25. Qh5.

25...Rxe3? Black had 25...Qd6! with a big edge or 25... Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Nd3 27. Qe2 f5 also with a strong initiative.  The text gives white a way out.

26. Rb6! 26. fxe3? Qxe3+ 27. Kh1?? Nd3 wins; but 27. Kf1 Nd3 28. Qe2 fights on (but black is still better).  The text is much better.  Black must have overlooked this zwischenzug.

26...Nd3? The final miscue.  26...Ne6! 27. Rxe6 Re1+ 28. Rxe1 fxe6 leaves black a small bit better.

27. Qxh6+ Kg8 28. Rg6+ And it ends in a perpetual.

1/2-1/2

Here's a funny game in the more common 3...Bd7 line. I had to look on chessgames.com for this one, because www.chesslive.de didn't have it.

Drake Wang - Mark Ginsburg US Open 2005, Phoenix AZ

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Qe2? A well-known opening inaccuracy.  Black is not slow with his reply.

6...Qg4! Hitting g2 and e4.  White has no good answer.  Curiously, this has been seen a few times previously OTB such as Letelier-Spassky, Buenos Aires 1960 and Emma-Reshevsky, 1966.  Naturally, the strong players playing black won those games having received such an opening 'handicap'.

7. e5 dxe5 8. Qb5+ Nbd7 9. O-O e4 10. Ne5 Qe6 11. Nxd7 Relatively speaking, 11. d4 is best. The text awards black a huge bind.

11...Qxd7 12. Qxc5 e6 13. Qe3 Qd5 Of course.  White's pieces are paralyzed. His next is already desperation.

14. d4 exd3 15. Rd1 Rd8 16. Qxa7 Bc5 All of black's pieces work very well.

17. Qa4+ Rd7 17...Ke7 was also very good.

18. Qa8+ Naturally white hopes for a repetition, but by sacrificing his h8-rook black develops a winning attack.

Position after 18. Qa8+.  Black to play and win.

18...Ke7! 19. Qxh8 Bxf2+! The black queen and knight duo are too strong.  There is no defense.

20. Kh1 The problem is that 20. Kxf2 is annihilated by 20...Qc5+ 21. Kg3 Ne4+ or 21. Be3 Ng4+.

20...Qh5 21. Rf1 Ne4 22. Bf4 Bg3! A very pleasing geometrical motif. It is this move that had to be seen on move 19, otherwise white might get a chance to develop the queenside.

23. h3 Nf2+ 24. Kg1 Bxf4 And it's all over. 25. Rxf2 Qd1+ 26. Rf1 Be3+ wins.

25. Qxg7 Rd5! White's slumbering pieces cannot match up to black's active ones.

26. g4 Nxh3+ 27. Kg2 Rg5 28. Qxg5+ Qxg5 29. Kxh3 Qh6+ 0-1

I will say something in favor of 3...Bd7.  It's easier to play when one is seeking clarity and simplicity of plans for black.  Here's an ICC blitz game in which I, somewhat inebriated, came close to beating an IM without doing anything special.

ICC Blitz Test of 3...Bd7

RolMar(IM) - Aries2(IM)  5/0   8/11/08   3...Bd7 Line

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nc6 6. O-O g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 Ah-ha!  Remember white needs f2-f3 to support Be3 because the queen on d7 guards g4!  This I mentioned in the chess.fm broadcast and even a little tipsy could recall it during the blitz.

9...Nf6 10. Nc3 Ng4! See prior comment.  White has gone off the rails already.

11. Nc2 Nxe3 12. Nxe3 O-O 13. Rc1 Rac8 14. b3 Rfd8 In most OTB games, black's rooks are shown to be most effective here (in conjunction with e7-e6).  It's a mistake in these formations to aim for a quick b7-b5.  Correct is to be patient and try to enact pawn breaks (d5, b5, or some combination) later when they are justified by circumstances.

15. Ncd5? Black always needs e7-e6 to guard against knight hops to d5, so this premature move hands black several tempi.

15...e6 16. Nf4 Qe7 17. Qf3 a6 18. Rfd1 b5 Black gets a pawn break under favorable conditions!

19. Rd2 Qf6 20. Ng4 White flails around with the knights aimlessly. The "dragon" bishop on g7 is controlling events!

20...Qg5 21. Rcd1 bxc4 22. bxc4 Ne5 23. Nxe5 Bxe5 24. Nd3 Rxc4 25. Nxe5 Qxe5 26. Qe2 Qxe4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. f3 Ra4 and in this winning ending... black only drew.  :)    1/2,  103 moves!

Serious students will examine some of Kasparov's efforts battling against the Maroczy in OTB play.  It's about equal if black is attentive.

From 2-5 of December this year there will be a big event in London about leadership.  Some of the usual suspects will be there (Daniel Goelman and Rudy Giuliani) as well as a few curve balls (Garry Kasparov).  One of the more interesting speakers is Daniel Pink, who will conducting a masterclass on ‘Building An Innovative & Creative Organization’.

I’ve blogged on Dan’s books before, and yes, it’s still my favourite book in the business/psychology field.  Heck, I liked it so much I emailed the author with a few of my thoughts.  And I was surprised to receive a fairly prompt, fairly substantial reply.  Not many international speakers and writers could be bothered to do something like that, so well-done Dan!

See him in action on YouTube.

Another good one is

17 tahun

Dari manakah asal-usul permainan catur? Bagi banyak pecatur di level atas, pertanyaan ini tak hanya persoalan sejarah –namun juga terkait erat dengan soal kepemilikan dan dominasi. Kita memang kerap kehilangan kesadaran universal tentang asal-usul permainan 64 petak hitam-putih ini, seperti halnya saat  kita bergerak untuk membuat perubahan di dunia.  Maka, tak mengherankan, sangat mudah bagi bangsa Rusia ketika mengklaim sejarah catur dimulai saat mereka mulai memainkannya.

Pada tahun 1991,  saat saya mengikuti turnamen internasional untuk kali pertama, di Reggio Emilia, Italia utara. Ketika itu seorang Grand Master (GM) Rusia mengatakan saya lebih  cocok menjadi pecatur di kedai kopi. Alasannya,  karena saya tak pernah menimba ilmu di sekolah catur Rusia. Pada masa itu pecatur Rusia memang tengah mendominasi catur dunia. Dengan arogansi khas anak muda –-saat itu saya berumur 21 tahun-- saya pun membela diri, “Tetapi bukankah kami di India yang menemukan catur pertama kali? Lantas, kenapa jalan yang saya tempuh sekarang tak bisa membuat saya menjadi pecatur terbaik dunia?”

Saya membutuhkan waktu 17 tahun untuk sampai ke jalan itu, dan sepanjang itu pula saya sudah terlibat ratusan percakapan tentang asal-usul catur –-baik dengan pemain, penggemar, petugas turnamen, supir taksi, tukang cukur dan banyak orang lainnya yang kebetulan duduk di sebelah saya dalam sebuah pesawat. Saya mendengar berbagai klaim tentang asal-usul catur. Klaim itu datang dari Rusia, China, Ukraina, negara Arab, Iran, Turki, Spanyol dan Yunani. Menurut saya, olahraga ini memang selalu diklaim setiap pecatur. Tetapi pertanyaan tentang asal-usul catur sebenarnya amat mudah dijawab: catur berasal dari India.

Klaim ini tidak berlandaskan pada faktor dominasi –meski sekolah di India kini menghasilkan banyak pemain berkualitas tingi, termasuk (ehem) pecatur nomer satu dunia. Beberapa referensi tertua tentang catur memang bisa terdapat dalam naskah kuno India. Dalam epik Ramayana (menurut beberapa sumber, kisah ini sudah dituturkan secara lisan antara 750-500 Sebelum Masehi/SM) diceritakan, raja raksasa Rahwana menantang istrinya, Mandodari, dalam permainan catur. Berkat kecerdasannya, Mandodari berhasil mengalahkan suaminya. Nenek saya menuturkan kisah ini saat saya mulai bermain catur pada usia 6 tahun. Permainan catur juga digambarkan Asthastra (abad 3 SM), sebuah naskah politik tertua. Penulisnya, Chaknaya, mengambarkan catur sebagai sebuah permainan strategi perang, dengan nama chaturanga, serta dimainkan dalam papan segi empat yang terdiri dari 8 x 8 bidak. Barangkali permainan ini merupakan permainan perang virtual pertama dunia.

Saya percaya catur menyebar luas ke Barat dari India melalui wilayah yang sekarang disebut Afghanistan lalu ke Persia, pada era Kekaisaran Sassanid, --seorang raja India yang suka mengirim papan catur sebagai hadiah ke koleganya di Persia.  Di kerajaan Ctesiphon, permainan ini disebut chatrang. Penduduk Arab lalu mulai memainkannya (mereka menyebutnya shatrani) saat permainan ini tiba pada abad ke 6 Masehi. Permainan ini lalu menyebar ke Afrika. Mereka juga memperkenalkan permainan ini ke Eropa saat suku Moor melintas Selat Mediteran menuju Semenanjung Iberia. Permainan ini langsung populer di kaum Mooris, Spanyol. Permainan ini biasanya dimainkan di pinggir jalan –sebuah kebiasaan yang hingga sekarang bisa ditemui di seluruh sudut dunia.

Iberia mengalami perubahan drastis setelah abad 15, saat kekuatan Katolik yang dipimpin Ratu Isabella I  menyerbu –dan permainan catur juga berubah. Di atas papan, Ratu jadi buah terpenting. Uskup Katolik (bishop)/patih menggantikan simbol unta. Dan tempat bishop berada di sisi Raja dan Ratu. Aturan baku permainan catur modern pun ditetapkan Ratu Isabella. Pada masa itu pecatur Spanyol Luis RamIrz Lucena juga menulis buku pertama teori catur. Posisi Lucena sampai sekarang dikenal sebagai posisi benteng di sudut papan yang mengawal langkah akhir pion.

Ironisnya, Rusia justru merupakan negara terakhir di Dunia Lama yang mengenal permainan catur. Permainan itu masuk melalui rute perdagangan sungai Volga. Permainan ini mencapai puncak popularitasnya pada masa Peter Agung. Tapi perkenalan negara ini paling belakangan dengan catur tak menghentikan langkah Rusia untuk menjadi kekuatan super power dalam catur. Dominasi Rusia itu berlangsung terus sampai tahun 2000, saat seorang pecatur India akhirnya berhasil menyabet gelar juara dunia catur dan mengembalikan supremasi catur ke negara kelahiran catur itu sendiri.

Saya pikir puncak pencapaian karir saya memang mencerminkan perjalanan panjang sejarah catur. Saya mulai belajar catur di India, lalu ke Spanyol sehingga saya bisa mengikuti sirkuit turnamen Eropa, dan memenangkan gelar juara dunia pertama saya di Iran.  Sangat menyenangkan saat tempat tinggal anda dalam sejarah catur memiliki sesuatu yang khusus dalam sebuah potret besar permainan bernama catur ini.

)* Viswanathan Anand, 39 tahun, adalah Grand Master asal India yang sekarang menjadi juara dunia catur.

****

Lihat juga:

Pilihan Jurnalis: Anand Pecatur Terbaik 2007

Catur sebagai Peperangan

Saat Elmaut Menolak Tawaran Draw Soeharto

Asal-Usul Catur

Catur sebagai Permainan Strategi

Upper left: Louis D. Statham, the famous patron of the Lone Pine super-Swisses. Upper right: ex-WC Tigran Petrosian, winner of Lone Pine 1976 (the 6th LP incarnation). Bottom left: OK it's not a beautiful woman. That title was simply meant to trick you to this site. It's British GM Tony Miles, co-winner of the 1976 National Open in Las Vegas. Bottom right: the other co-winner, future IM Ed Formanek. Carl Budd took both photographs.

Tigran Petrosian Tidbits

We learn some interesting tidbits from Petrosian's interview in this issue (interview conducted by stalwart USCF official Ed Edmondson - he had a cool name).

1. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Factoid #1: He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, but was 100% Armenian.
2. Tigran's dad was a refugee from Turkey.
3. Tigran left Georgia when he was 17.
4. Tigran journeyed 160 miles to Yerevan, Armenia.
5. Before she got married to Tigran, Rona was an English teacher.
6. Tigran had two sons, Mikhail and Vartan.
7. Petrosian also enjoyed checkers, cards, and an Armenian backgammon variant called Nardy. He also played ping ping and billiards.
8. He liked to watch ice hockey and soccer.
9. He was a supporter of club "Spartak" and played first board for Spartak chess team.
10. His main hobby was philately (stamp collecting) MG Note: just as it is Anatoly Karpov's! He liked to collect art stamps and chess stamps.
11. He used to attend the opera regularly.
12. He was awarded the honorary Master of Sport title [MG: relatively late?!] in 1960.
13. He was chief editor of "64" chess magazine when this interview was conducted in 1976.
14. If he won a prize abroad, he could keep some of it and give some of it back to the state (the USSR).
15. He was impressed by young Seirawan at Lone Pine 1976. Apparently young Yasser managed to beat Tigran in a friendly skittles game (one of several they played) although Tigran pointed out "I was not serious, I was having fun." MG Note: You wouldn't see Fischer very light-hearted after a skittles loss.
16. He reiterates his belief that "... in chess there is nothing accidental. I believe only in logical, correct play."
17. On Fischer: "[he] tries to make the opponent play something other than the best move, than he - in turn - does make the best move."
18. "Everything in chess is rather wooden - wooden pieces, wooden problems, wooden decisions."
19. Petrosian in 1976 rated Ljubojevic's chances of becoming a world championship contender as higher than Mecking's, although both GMs were at that time young superstars. He also mentioned Ulf Andersson and he stated "I hope he will awaken one day." (!)

Readers will enjoy this mind-blowing Petrosian victory over former World Champ Garry Kasparov.

I also learned from Wikipedia that Petrosian received a PhD in 1968 from Yerevan State University (is this something like Georgia State University?) on the topic of "Chess Logic." Write what you know about!

So Many Tigran Petrosians

There's a modern-day (young) GM Tigran Petrosian, apparently unrelated to the WC unless somebody knows differently?.  But did you know there's a third Tigran Petrosian running around, quite literally - a professional soccer player!

More Lone Pine: Not for the Faint of Heart

On the principle you can't get enough Lone Pine photos, here I am playing GM Lev Alburt at Lone Pine 1980 with Steve Odendahl (nice hair!) in the back. Lev, who had only recently defected to the USA, had cool Soviet-style slightly tinted dark glasses that he wore indoors.

Postscript: Princeton Graduation Drama in 1980

Since the above Lone Pine photo was from March 1980 I only had 2 more months ahead of me of the undergraduate life at Princeton. Woo-hoo! But there was drama. I overslept a required final in Genetics administered by the non-too-happy Professor Tom Cline (we called him Tom Clone). I was able to get a re-test supervised by a proctor in some administrative building a few days later. Guess what, I overslept again. I was 75 minutes late for a 2 1/2 hour exam. I wound up getting 43 points out of a maximum of 200. On one essay, the grader drew a red diagonal line through my babble and simply wrote "Sorry", awarding me a 0 out of 50 on that question (involving an asteroid that crashed to Earth with some genetic samples; I had no idea what the question was talking about). After this debacle, Prof. Cline called me into the office. "This exam", he exclaimed, waving it around, "is not just an F. It's a K or an L. But I'm not going to fail you, I don't want to see you on campus next term. So I'm giving you a D minus. Now get out."

Amusing Post-Postscript

Ian Rogers has popped up on the blogosphere. But it's not the Grandmaster. Instead, we apparently have a media baron who recently departed the 'troubled' Yahoo company.

The world (more than 300,000 views on YouTube) has now seen the startling flying phallus interrupting ex-World Champion Garry Kasparov's political speech. However, for Westerners, we have unresolved questions - what was he talking about and what did he say after the phallus was punched out of the sky?

To answer, I turned to a Russian political commentator who, as a day job, works on computer systems.

He told me,

"Kasparov was talking about respecting political opponents and increasing general political culture in Russia, when a plastic penis with balls constructed in a helicopter style flew across the room until it was shut down by his guard. Kasparov then went on to say that this is the face of the Kremlin leaders who offer this solution to the demographic problem in russia.

Gotta tell you, if Kasparov made his way to Kremlin, he would not be much different from Putin and Co."

Strong words! Of course, on the video, I saw the device punched out of the sky (not shot) but let's not quibble. Or, at the French say, "mais n'enculons pas les mouches." I look forward to the next flying object situation in the chess world, it makes the 64 squares much more .... 3-dimensional.

What US Government Personnel Saw in Ecuador

When I alerted US Government personnel stationed in Ecuador about this incident, they went to the YouTube page, and there was a disclaimer: "This medium is UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Government Property."  Then they were able to see the flying phallus.

Kali ini teror itu berbentuk penis terbang. Penis plastik yang bagian atasnya dipasangi baling-baling itu dikendalikan dari jauh oleh seorang provokator pro-Putin di tengah pidato Kasparov di sebuah pertemuan aktivis oposisi Rusia.

Pertemuan di ibukota Moscow itu sendiri sedikitnya dihadiri 700 aktivis oposisi awal pekan ini. Namun, para demonstran pro-Kremlin memutuskan mengganggu pidato Kasparov dengan tujuan mengacaukan pertemuan oposan politik tersebut. Caranya dengan melepas sebuah helikopter mainan berbentuk penis saat Kasparov berpidato.

Heli berbentuk penis ini sempat melayang di atas gedung selama 20 detik. Sebelum petugas keamanan akhirnya berhasil menurunkan paksa heli mainan itu dari udara. Insiden itu bisa dilihat di film yang ada di artikel ini.

Harian Moscow Times edisi 20 Mei 2008 melaporkan aksi itu dilakukan oleh “seorang aktivis Pemuda Rusia Pro-Kremlin.” Kasparov sendiri dilaporkan tidak mengalami luka-luka atas insiden murahan tersebut.

Kasparov hanya tertawa melihat insiden itu seraya menyebutnya sebagai insiden “di bawah ikat pinggang.”

“Saya pikir kami harus berterimakasih pada demonstran karena menunjukkan tingkat pemahaman yang tidak bisa kami antisipasi,” ujarnya ringan.

Kasparov adalah seorang pecatur termuda peraih gelar Juara Dunia Catur tahun 1985. Namun ia juga tercatat sebagai pecatur terhebat dunia yang pernah dikalahkan komputer, saat ia mengalami kekalahankontroversial dari Deep Blue tahun 1997.

Kasparov mengumumkan pengunduran dirinya dari dunia catur profesional tahun 2005. Ia lalu menghabiskan waktunya di dunia politik. Belakangan, ia mendirikan Gerakan Front Sipil Bersatu, dan menjadi seorang anggota Rusia Baru, sebuah koalisi oposisi guna melawan kediktatoran pemimpin Rusia, Vladimir Putin. (MT/SM)

Lihat juga:

Karpov Bicara Keuntungan Bermain Catur

Berakhirnya Era Dominasi Catur Rusia

Manusia Catur

Obituari Bobby Fischer

A. Timofeev Menangkan Moscow Open 2008

****

I want a battery powered cock-chopper. Then again, imagine the run it could get in sex shops -- you could aim it perfectly.

Será que foi a Telma Reston? Ou você não lembra que ele desenhava "caralhinhos voadores" no filme "Os sete gatinhos"? Relembre:

El ex campeón del mundo de ajedrez, Garry Kasparov, sufrió un extraño percance, ‘el ataque de un pene volador’ mientras ofrecía una conferencia en Rusia.

Suena raro, pero según se puede ver en el vídeo de Youtube la situación es real; mientras Kasparov hablaba,  un pene erecto de plástico, provisto de una hélice comenzó a sobrevolar la sala de conferencias hasta que un miembro de seguridad lo derribó de un puñetazo.

Kasparov, uno de los principales opositores al sistema presidencialista que controla el ex presidente Vladimir Putin, se tomó la broma con humor y siguió su discurso entre las risas de los asistentes.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1220373&w=425&h=350&fv=] from www.sharenator.com posted with vodpod

• Three generations back or so, Stalin's Russia dealt with its troublesome artists by executing them or otherwise finishing them off. In Putin's Russia, they send flying penis toys -- NSFW, obviously -- to annoy their chessmasters in opposition. I'd suggest this is actually progress.
• Uwe Boll is at heart a goof, and he can be as much of a goof as he wants to be. Anyone who decided to take him on in that boxing match takes him far more seriously than he himself does. But I do like the fact that for the adaptation of Postal that's about to be released, he seems to have decided he wants to make a live-action South Park film. There is, needless to say, nothing wrong with this:
  

  The first sequence of the film, which opens on Friday, portrays 9/11 hijackers squabbling over the precise number of virgins who will be awaiting them after their martyrdom. The scene switches to a World Trade Center’s-eye view of an oncoming jet.

  As the movie’s scattershot plot rocks along, the audience gets a long full-frontal look at a nude Dave Foley, the boyish comic best known for his work in the Kids in the Hall comedy troupe and on the television show “News Radio,” who portrays a sleazy satyr of a cult leader. By the time the film’s protagonist, played by Zack Ward, uses a cat for a silencer, the boundaries of good taste have been left so far behind that the Hubble Space Telescope couldn’t spot the border signs.

  ...

  Earlier this month he received an e-mail message from the chief buyer for the Regal Entertainment Group, the largest theater chain in the country, informing him that Regal would not be exhibiting “Postal”: “While I have respected your past work this film falls short of the type of product the Regal Theater Group would consider commercial.”

  Mr. Boll denounced the decision as politics. (The film portrays President Bush as not only in league with Osama bin Laden but also in love with him.)

  Above all else, a cat as a silencer? Genius, really.

  Anyway, the opening of the film is here. I take no responsibility for any conniptions you might suffer.

• Finally, while it's a couple of days old, I firmly believe that the ILX-spawned EVIL GUIDE DOG meme must spread. Please do your part.

So what about European Russian connections?

The foreign minister of Estonia was allowed to travel to Estonia, the first time since a conflict around a Soviet Soldier's Monument erupted last summer.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to Moscow on the International Women's Day

Some journalists suggested that Medvedev had the possibilities to start a new era of foreign policy.

But the national policy looked pretty grim a day after the elections opposition party leaders were arrested by the police, according to another opposition leader, the famous chess player Garry Kasparov (here in an interview with Boris Reitschuster) Somebody, like Medvedev, who promises democracy, should hold it as well. Kasparov also said that the West had the responsibility here to respond accordingly and not swallow the new Russian fairy tales.

Maybe though it would be best for the West - to wait. And to divert ourselves with the time waiting we could for once try to understand Russia's population, their wishes, their hopes. (And i don't only mean Moscow's high-flying class here)

MOSCOW (AP) — Dmitry Medvedev, the man Vladimir Putin hand-picked to be his successor, scored a crushing victory in Russia's presidential election Sunday, a result that was long anticipated but that still raises questions about who will run this resurgent global power.

Medvedev had more than 70 percent of the vote with 97 percent of the precincts counted, according to the Central Election Commission. He is expected to rule in concert with his mentor, an arrangement that could see Putin calling the shots despite his constitutionally subordinate position as Russia's prime minister.

Original DVD cover.

Medvedev, 42, the youngest Russian ruler since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, is expected to heed Putin's advice, continue his assertive course with the West, maintain state control over Russia's mineral riches and freeze out real opposition movements.

"We will increase stability, improve the quality of life and move forward on the path we have chosen," Medvedev said Sunday, appearing alongside Putin at a celebration at the Red Square outside the Kremlin. "We will be able to preserve the course of President Putin."

...snip...

Medvedev ran against three rivals apparently permitted on the ballot because of their loyalty to the Kremlin line. But the two candidates — Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov and ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky — still alleged violations after the voting ended.

Zyuganov, Medvedev's nearest challenger with 18 percent, said he would dispute the result. Zhirinovsky threatened to do so as well before backing down.

Some voters complained of pressure to cast ballots for Medvedev, and critics called the election a cynical stage show to ensure unbroken rule by Putin and his allies.

Sunday's vote came after a tightly controlled campaign and months of political maneuvering by Putin, who appeared determined to keep a strong hand on Russia's reins while maintaining the basic trappings of electoral democracy and leaving the constitution intact.

Medvedev has said he would propose making Putin his prime minister, and Putin has said he would agree. But in Russia, the premier wields significantly less power than the president, and Putin may find his new chair narrow and confining.

...snip...

The Putin-Medvedev tandem could encourage a revival of classic Kremlinology. During the Soviet era, Western experts painstakingly studied power shifts in the Kremlin by noting minute details of the public appearances of Communist Party leaders.

...snip...

Putin already has shown signs of discomfort with his new role as subordinate to his protege.

When a reporter at his last news conference in February asked him whether he would put the new president's portrait on his office wall, Putin answered dryly that he doesn't need to make such displays of loyalty.

Some officials who know Medvedev say privately that he is tougher than his appearance and demeanor may suggest and could show more resolve after his inauguration.

Medvedev has taken a liberal and pro-business posture during the campaign, avoiding Putin's harsh anti-Western rhetoric. But critics point that he helped engineer Putin's crackdown on political and media freedoms as one-time Kremlin chief of staff.

He also spearheaded the Kremlin's concept of making Russia an "energy superpower" as chairman of Gazprom state gas monopoly, strong-arming former Soviet neighbors and expanding Russia's control of Europe's energy supplies. Medvedev's landslide victory would give him the stature to defy Putin, in case of any potential rift with his mentor.

While most expect Medvedev to play second fiddle to Putin, the vast powers of the Russian presidency may tempt him to step out of his mentor's shadow.

...snip...

Medvedev is the first Russian leader to succeed his predecessor according to a constitutional timetable; Putin became acting president first after Russia's first President Boris Yeltsin stepped down early, and only later won election.

But Medvedev's election was not a wide-open contest either.

Liberal opposition leaders Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Kasyanov were barred from running on technicalities, and voters across Russia say they were being urged, cajoled and pressured to vote in an effort to ensure that Medvedev scored a major victory.

Kasparov held his own protest against the election Sunday near Red Square. Escorted by a dozen riot police, he carried a plastic shopping bag that read: "I am not participating in this farce."

Polling stations offered enticements to voters: discounted food, office supplies, tickets to concerts. The enticements echoed the practices of the Soviet era, when hard-to-get items were available during carefully staged elections.

In a post-Soviet touch, some polling stations were set up in shopping malls.

The head of an independent Russian election monitoring group, Golos, said her organization was receiving a steady stream of complaints and reports of irregularities, including blatant attempts to influence voters and voters being "bought off."

Dog, det var VM-tittelen som betyr noe, og Kortsjnoj var som alltid med i neste syklus også. Her slo han greit ungareren Portisch i kvartfinalen med sifrene 6 – 3, men så var trekningen uheldig. Han var satt opp mot sjokktalentet Garri Kasparov, den unge superstjernen som hadde tatt steget nærmest direkte inn i verdenseliten så fort han fikk lov til å slippe til i utlandet, og som allerede 21 år gammel var ratet som nummer 2 i verden, etter Karpov. Kortsjnoj var for øvrig nummer 3. I den andre semifinalen skulle Sovjeteren Smyslov spille mot ungareren Ribli, og det ble nærmest regnet som en bagatell. Smyslov var 10 år eldre enn Kortsjnoj, og var blitt verdensmester så tidlig som 1957, og hadde blitt regnet som gammel og under de aller beste både på 1960- og 1970-tallet, før han nå altså spilte seg frem til en semifinale i kandidatturneringen[1]. Ribli ble ikke engang regnet som den sterkeste av ungarerne, og var aldri verken før eller siden i nærheten av en slik prestasjon han gjorde nå. Han tapte også greit mot gamle Smyslov (6,5 – 4,5).

Her er det imidlertid Kortsjnoj som er hovedpersonen, og han ville jo ikke vært seg selv, om det ikke hadde blitt litt kontroverser rundt kampen mot Kasparov. Denne gangen er det imidlertid russerne som roter det til for seg, godt hjulpet av sjakkforbundet FIDEs president, Campomanes fra Filippinene. Før kampene kan begynne, må det avtales spillested, og her får partene gjerne noen alternativ å velge mellom, og så avgjør presidenten. Problemet denne gangen, var at Campomanes bestemte at kampen skulle spilles i Pasadena i California, et spillested ingen av kandidatene hadde listet opp. I tillegg var dette midt under den kalde krigen, og året før Sovjetunionen boikottet de olympiske lekene i Los Angeles, som en takk for sist til amerikanerne som boikottet deres leker i Moskva 4 år før. Både Kasparov og Smyslov ble nektet å stille opp, og da Kortsjnoj likevel startet partiet lørdag 6. august som det stod på programmet, var ingen Kasparov til stede, og han dukket heller ikke opp. Både Kasparov og Smyslov ble dømt til nederlag, og det så ut til å gå mot finalekamp mellom Kortsjnoj og Ribli om retten til å møte Karpov i tittelkamp. For sikkerhets skyld ble Ribli blankt nektet utreise for en slik kamp, det kommunistiske styret i Ungarn hadde ingen ønsker om å tråkke storebror Sovjet på tærne.

Så hvordan skulle nå denne konflikten løses? Skulle ikke-eksisterende Kortsjnoj møte Karpov direkte til finale? Og ville Karpov i det hele tatt da møte opp? Det stod riktig mye på spill, og Sovjetunionen truet endog med å forlate hele sjakkorganisasjonen FIDE og starte sitt eget forbund sammen med Østblokk-landene og enkelte land fra den tredje verden. Og verken Sovjetmyndighetene eller Kortsjnoj var kjent for å inngå kompromiss, og FIDE-president Campomanes var kjent som en villstyring som kunne finne på hva det måtte være. Og jeg har ikke engang nevnt sponsorer og det amerikanske sjakkforbundet, som hadde tapt store penger på å investere i en match som aldri ble noe av.

Jeg velger igjen å bruke en part i saken som kilde. Briten Raymond Keene, en god venn av Kortsjnoj og gjennom mange år hans sekundant, skriver i boken sin ”The London contest” akkurat om denne matchen. Kapittel 2 er nok trolig skrevet av hand medforfatter, Lawson, for der blir det skrevet hvordan Keene nærmest egenhendig tar flyet til Moskva, og får til en avtale først med de Sovjetiske styresmaktene, siden også med FIDE. Det blir lagt stor vekt på hvor samarbeidsvennlig Kortsjnoj er, Ribli blir knapt nevnt med et ord, og kampene blir berammet til London året etter. Og hvorfor gikk Kortsjnoj med på spille en match han allerede hadde blitt tildømt seieren i? Det er klart at han i forhandlingene med russerne hadde gode kort på hånden, men de hadde også noe å tilby som han ønsket. For eksempel hadde han fortsatt kone og barn igjen i Sovjetunionen. Og han hadde et ønske om oppreisning, i det minste at han skulle få lov til å delta i turneringer med de beste sovjetspillerne igjen. Alt dette kom betimelig i orden etter at Kortsjnoj hadde stilt opp mot Kasparov. Pengeproblemet var det for øvrig ingen problemer å få løst. Interessen for sjakkmatchen var ikke blitt mindre etter alle konfliktene.

I kampen på brettet ble Kasparov mye for sterk. Riktignok vant Kortsjnoj overraskende det første partiet med svart, og hadde et visst overtak i den første delen av matchen, men så kom Kasaprov tilbake og vant til slutt 7 – 4. Det var dog ikke så bittert for Kortsjnoj å tape for Kasparov, som det var for Karpov. Kasparov var en fighter som han selv, han er dessuten jøde (han heter egentlig Kimovich), og han var allerede godt i opposisjon til Sovjetsystemet og en svoren fiende av Mr. Anatolij Karpov. Kasparov var på en måte arvtageren, og de neste ti årene dominerte Kasparov og Karpov sjakkverdenen totalt, og spilte alle VM-matcher seg i mellom. Kortsjnoj var stort sett nummer tre, før neste generasjon kom og overtok utfordrerrollen fra 1990-tallet av.

Men i motsetning til alle andre spillere som debuterte på 1940-tallet, faktisk, så har ikke Kortsjnoj lagt opp ennå. Han er fortsatt Viktor ”den grusomme”, og spiller på førstebordet til Sveits i hver eneste internasjonale turnering, og har et spilleprogram ungdommen vil miste pusten av. I en alder av 76 år har han fortsatt over 2600 i rating, i Norge er det bare Magnus Carlsen som har mer, i hele Norden er det bare en håndfull som kan regne seg som en bedre spiller enn denne ville gamlingen. Han stilte for øvrig opp i verdensmesterskapet for seniorer i 2006, og feide alle andre motstandere av brettet og tok en suveren seier med 9 poeng av 11 mulige. Han kunne fått flere om han ville, men etter å ha tatt 7,5 poeng på de første åtte kampene, cruiset han inn til sin første VM-tittel med tre remiser (uavgjorte).

Og han har slett ikke mistet sin kampvilje, og kjemper fortsatt med alle midler både på og utenfor brettet. I 2004 stilte han opp i Norge, i romjulsturneringen i Drammen, og møtte der en purung Magnus Carlsen som enda ikke helt hadde tatt steget opp i verdenseliten. Det skulle forresten bare mangle, han var jo bare 14 år, mens Kortsjnoj altså var 74. Kanskje skulle man vente litt god sportsånd og vennlighet fra gamle Kortsjnoj mot lille Carlsen? Men den gang ei, Magnus Carlsen noterte trekkene sine feil, og trodde han hadde gjort 40 trekk, når han i virkeligheten hadde gjort 39. Det er kritisk, for etter 40 trekk får man ny tid på klokken. I stedet for å gjøre lillegutt oppmerksom på dette, ventet Kortsjnoj til tiden gikk ut, stoppet klokken, og krevde seieren. Hans eget notatskjema, besto av uleselige kråketær som umulig kunne vise Carlsen hvor mange trekk som var gjort. Typisk Kortsjnoj, og han er selvsagt tilgitt, det er slik vi forventer av ham, og han var en stor attraksjon i Drammen[2]. Dessuten var det en god erfaring for unge Carlsen, han hadde bare godt av å lære at i toppsjakken blir det ikke gitt ved dørene. I hvert fall ikke når motstanderen er Viktor ”den grusomme” Kortsjnoj. Født og oppvokst i Leningrad i Stalin-tiden, lærte sjakk under tyskernes blokade av byen, og kjempet siden mot alt og alle både på og utenfor brettet gjennom et helt liv. Det er Viktor Kortsjnoj, den beste sjakkspilleren (sammen med kanskje Keres og Bronstein) som aldri ble verdensmester.

Jeg skulle gjerne avsluttet med en liten film av Kortsjnoj. Jeg har DVD-en hans, og det er en fryd å se hvordan godt over 70-åringen godter seg over sine viktige seire gjennom historien, og forklarer hva som foregikk på og utenfor brettet. Men det er det vanlige problemet, at jeg ennå ikke får overført fra store avi-filer til små filer som passer til youtube. Så jeg må foreløpig låne fra en film andre har lagt ut. Det er en reklamefilm, så da blir jo alle glade, og det er reklame for noe så sunt og godt som melk.

Tidligere deler

I: http://esalen.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/viktor-kortsjnoj-f-1931-del-i/

II: http://esalen.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/viktor-kortsjnoj-f-1931-del-ii/

In case you were in doubt, Kasparov is not a crackpot. It's far too easy to just discard his views like this - on some points I must admit I agree far more with Kasparov than with mr. Cohen, especially when it comes to his evaluation of Gorbatjov. Yes, if you look closely you'll find some stuff you don't like, but that's just the way it is no matter who you're dealing with, especially if you're actively looking for the flaws (Kasparov has a few of those of course - ie. his obsession with oil prices). Remember by the way when watching this debate that English is his third language (after Azeri and Russian).

 Yet, in Russia nothing is ever simple. One cannot, these days, just simply stick a stooge in place and reap the benefits (as China does). Putin is probably also mindful of the old Greek adage that "a tyrant's son always falls." So, there must be the presentation of an election.

 There are several ways to rig an election. The first is to control the ballot boxes. This will probably done just in case Medvedev gets a lower than crushing vote count come March. However, Western monitors tend to see straight through such tactics.

The next option is to control the media and thus educate people into voting a certain way. Check. Classic Putin here. The next is to have really tough rules for becoming a candidate. Pressures and unfair rulings have thusly knocked out Putin's most realistic opponents in Mikhail Kasyanov and Garry Kasparov (he the chess player).

However, this all looks a little too easy for Putin (or Poot-in as they say in America) or Vladders as we say in football circles. So, stick in the obvious yet hopeless parties. Step up Gennady Zyuganov of the Communists and Pro-Kremlin Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

 Yet, this is all still to establishment for a nice yet see-through victory. So, famous men like Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Kasyanov cannot get the 2,000,000 signatories needed to become a candidate yet an unknown former Kremlin employee known as Andrei Bogdanov can. He comes across as the great hope for democracy. He wants closer ties to Europe and more accountability. He is every westerner's dream of a Russian candidate. He even has long hair.

Yet, he is a stooge, a plant. He and his greasy locks are there to make Medvedev and Putin look good and democratic. They could, if they wanted, argue that the presence of Bogdanov proves they do not wish to stamp out opposition.

Now, I know it is dodgy to be not of the land yet make a recommendation on someone else's election. Yet, I would advise my Russian friends (the anti-Putin ones) to vote Andrei Bogdanov.

There are several reasons why:

1. He may be a stooge pretending to be pro-Western but any vote for him is a vote stating pro-Western desires.

2. Putin wants his stooge elected. But, would it not be fun to elect the wrong one? In this case either Putin has to reveal Bogdanov as a stooge thus opening him to all the right accusations of tyranny or Bogdanov will have to follow his platform.

3. It will make Putin really red faced and his reaction will be crucial.

 I urge my friends to vote for Stooge No.2.

Realmente esperaba un libro de autoayuda, pero no ha sido así. "Cómo la vida imita al ajedrez" es casi una autobiografía de Kasparov y un análisis del raciocinio humano. Expone todos los componentes de la toma de decisiones, los procesos de cálculo, el autoconocimiento y diversos aspectos. Cada uno de ellos va acompañado de anécdotas, leyendas e historias, muchas de ellas en relación a los Campeonatos del Mundo que mantuvo con Anatoly Karpov, un rival con un estilo de juego diferente al suyo..... mientras el es un atacante y un táctico, Karpov es un gran defensor y un estratega. El libro responde a preguntas como: ¿cómo mejorar nuestros defectos? ¿es importante la intuición? ¿cómo deben ser los procesos de toma de decisiones?, si tengo ventaja con mis competidores, ¿tengo que mantener la misma estrategia o tengo que cambiarla? .......

En definitiva, un libro en el que vemos al gran Kasparov, su vida como ajedrecista, y diversas correlacciones con la vida real, estas ultimas en mi opinión, a veces demasiado apasionadas. No tengo duda de que jugar al ajedrez aporta mucho valor a la vida de los jugadores: capacidad analítica, memoria fotográfica, organización y toma de decisiones, prudencia y persistencia además de perseverancia........ pero de ahí a que la vida haya que tomarsela como una partida de ajedrez, hay un mundo, cosa que por cierto Kasparov lo deja ver entrelineas.

• Lo bueno: Detalles de la vida de Kasparov. Organización del libro. Anécdotas y ejemplos. Pasión con la que está escrito.
• Lo malo: Marketing que se hace Kasparov con respecto a la política rusa. La narración en ocasiones es demasiado "densa" para el tema que se trata.

Cómo valoración, le doy un 7 sobre 10.

Saludos

Fer