Happy New Year!

Have a Wonderful Christmas

Please click HERE to read more and if you're interested in a lovely Power Point Presentation with animation and music. The PDF-document can be downloaded from this link, but I couldn't upload the Presentation document. You can read on the link what you can do to get it though. Enjoy the movie here with the music of Sweet People.
I hope you will have a wonderful Christmas!


This song is John Lennon with "So this is Christmas".

Dresden Olympiad 2008

The official blog of CHESS SA: http://chessaol.wordpress.com
Please click on THIS LINK to see chess graphics of the South African chess players at Dresden. The link will open in a new window.

South Africa, Dresden and round 6

South Africa at Dresden 2008

Image: The Official blog of CHESS SA.



Please click HERE to see more images and graphics of the games as well as results of the Saffa-teams at Dresden.

Image: Official blog of Chess SA - see the link in this post.
South Africa vs IPCA - The International Physically Disabled Chess Organisation.

Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008

You want to know who's playing chess? Please click on THIS LINK to read about them - and many more - and to get all the details about Dresden 2008! The link will open in a new window.

Tussen Treine

Richard van der Westhuizen with "Tussen treine" ("between trains")


Nadine singing "Song for the World"

Anand vs Kramnik 2008

Finally!!! The Two Chess Engines in the World! The World Chess Championship 2008 has started in Germany.
Click on this link on my Wordpress-blog to follow the Championships.There are chess graphics about their games and links to the official site and other sites too. The link will open in a new window.

End Poverty - Blog Action Day

Read here on my WORDPRESS-blog more about this calculation and you will also find more facts on poverty! Do you think the rich countries are doing their bit...I say no!! and read why I say it! Links will open in a new window.

UK taxpayers’ money + American’s = 37 billion pounds…+ 250 billion dollar = roughly… 162 billion pounds! and that =£288 per person in the whole wide world…every single person…adult/child!

Amersham

Amersham is just North of London...North-West..outside London, a beautiful place!

How to make your own chess set

Making A Chess Board The Quick&Easy Way

Fed-Up

Yes, You've read my title...I'm fed up! And maybe, if you look at these images, you can take a guess!

I'm fed up with the following on the London Underground:

---people having their music SO loud that they don't care a damn for anyone around them!! And this is everyday!! I haven't travelled one single day without having someone about 30-60 cm away from me with their music loud! So loud, that people about 2 m away look around to see who's music is so loud!! If different people near you give you "the look" (open your eyes if your ears are blocked!!) know!! they are looking at you because of your LOUD music!!! Next time if you get something against your head, know that might be me...waking you up!!

---people...mostly secondary age school children..."shouting" at one another, whilst sitting opposite one another!! I won't tell you what we call people like that in South Africa!! You definitely don't want to know!

---people...adults and secondary age school children...mostly girls/ladies, but sometimes men too...talking on their mobiles as if they are the only person in the carriage...for miles without end!... having a conversation as if it's the last conversation on earth and also in such a loud voice that you can't think in your head!!

Please, read the posters!! You can even click on this image to be able to read what it says, print it off for you, have it in your room to remind you about it!! Think for yourself!! Stop being a selfish traveller and think about the other people around you!! I'm fed up with people like you, not knowing how to behave in public!!

People that read my blog quite often, you might be "shocked" with this entry, my very "aggressive" entry!! This is really how I feel after travelling the past month to Uxbridge and it really is something that happens everyday on every train...I change at Acton town, sometimes at Rayners Lane again, depending on the train I got on at Acton town and I can't think of one peaceful and "quiet" day so far. It's really not very pleasant having all these people around you whilst travelling. Is it necessary to shout?? NO! You keep your voice down when having conversations with other people, but unfortunately....(((big sigh))

Do you see what I see?

Hill Top Farm

Please click HERE to see my entry about Beatrix Potter and Hill Top Farm in Hawkshead.

World Women's Chess Championships in Nalchik

Links will open in a new window.
Follow the results of round 6, the final between Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan in Nalchik.
Please click HERE to see more pictures about Alexandra Kosteniuk, the Chess Queen, and to play through her games in round 5 of the World Women's Chess Championships in Nalchik.

Please click HERE to see beautiful pics of Alexandra on my WP blog.

Sweet Places

Please click HERE to see my pictures about the Lake District and to read more about Hadrian's Wall and Whitehave. If you like Sweet People's music, you can even listen to Barcarolle.

Final Chess Masters Bilbao

Please click HERE to follow the results of the Final Chess Masters in Bilbao, Spain.

I am an African

Image: DK-images..Langebaan, Cape Town, South Africa

If you are looking for Afrikaans Poems...click HERE to read poems by our own South African poets!Enjoy. The link will open in a new window.

 
Ek is van Afrika
Ek is van Afrika
Nie omdat ek daar gebore is
Maar omdat my hart met Afrika klop
Ek is van Afrika
Nie omdat my gelaat donker is
Maar omdat Afrika my gedagtes omgrens
Ek is van Afrika
Nie omdat ek van haar leef
Maar omdat my siel tuis is - in Afrika
Please click HERE to read the rest of the Afrikaans version of the poem..."I am an African" on my WP blog. Wayne Visser has asked me to translate his poem and you will find his English poem on this link too and a link to his site where you can enjoy more wonderful poetry written by him. If you go to his site, make sure you read the poem..."Prayer for Africa" too. Also, read Wayne's message which I've posted here too...

Wayne has sent me this message via email, please react if you're interested by sending him an email with one of your poems in either English or Afrikaans...about Africa...

"Hello again I thought I'd let you (and your lekker vriende) know that I've launched a "Poets of Africa" blog - http://poetsofafrica.blogspot.com/
Afrikaanse digters welkom! Just email me on wayne@waynevisser.com and I will give permission for you to post. Kwa heri Wayne”

Jane Austen

See more beautiful pictures from Jane Austen's house on my Wordpress blog and take a virtual trip through the house-museum too.

World Junior Chess Championships 2008

A new post with results from round 8 onwards, can be found on my Wordpress blog HERE with results and images from the Official site updated daily as the tournament goes. - 9th Aug. There is also a link to the results of rounds 1-7.

To follow the results of the World Junior and Girl's Championships in Turkey, please click HERE to see the results on my Wordpress blog.

Emanuel Lasker

Image: Wikimedia

Emanuel Lasker was born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland), the son of a Jewish cantor. At the age of 11 he was sent to Berlin to study mathematics, where he lived with his brother Berthold, eight years his senior, who taught him how to play chess. Berthold, a strong player in his own right, was according to Chessmetrics among the world's top ten players in the early 1890s. He was also possibly distantly related to International Master Edward Lasker.

To supplement their income Emanuel Lasker played chess and card games for small stakes, especially at the Cafe Kaiserhof.

Lasker shot up through the chess rankings in 1889, when he won a tournament at Cafe Kaiserhof and the "second division" tournament at the German Chess Federation's (DSB) congress, held in Breslau; finished second in an international tournament at Amsterdam, ahead of some well-known masters including Isidore Gunsberg, who finished 3rd in the New York 1888 "Candidates Tournament" and unsuccessfully challenged for Wilhelm Steinitz' World Chess Championship title, also in 1889. In 1890 Lasker shared first prize with his brother Berthold in a tournament in Berlin and finished third in Graz. He followed up with tournament victories at London 1892 (by 4½ points) and New York 1893, in both cases without losing a game.

His match record was equally impressive: at Berlin in 1890 he drew a short play-off match against his brother Berthold; and won all his other matches from 1889 to 1893, mostly against top-class opponents: Curt von Bardeleben (1889; 9th), Jacques Mieses (1889; 11th), Henry Edward Bird (1890; then 60 years old; 29th), Berthold Englisch (1890; 18th), Joseph Henry Blackburne (1892, without losing a game; Blackburne was aged 51 then, but still 9th in the world), against Jackson Showalter (1892-1893; 22nd) and Celso Golmayo Zúpide (1893; 29th). Chessmetrics calculates that Emanuel Lasker became the world's strongest player in mid-1890, and that he was in the top 10 from the very beginning of his recorded career in 1889.

In 1892 Lasker founded the first of his chess magazines, The London Chess Fortnightly, which was published from August 15, 1892 to July 30, 1893. In the second quarter of 1893 there was a gap of 10 weeks between issues, allegedly because of problems with the printer. Shortly after its last issue Lasker traveled to the USA, where he spent the next two years.Source: Chess.com and Wikipedia..

Please click HERE to read more about Lasker on Wikipedia.

On THIS LINK you can play through Lasker's games on Chessgames.

Chess Puzzle

Please click HERE to solve this puzzle, please allow 10 seconds for the puzzle to load.
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Dortmund Chess Tournament 2008

Please click HERE to follow the games live and for results and more information.

Standings after round 6, Dortmund Chess
Today, Sunday 6th July, it's the final round, round 7



Participants…

Vladimir Kramnik, Russia 2788
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Azerbaijan 2752
Peter Leko, Hungary 2741
Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine 2740
Loek Van Wely, Netherlands 2676
Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia 2634
Arkadij Naiditsch, Germany 2623
Jan Gustafsson, Germany 2603



Time Schedule Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2008

Saturday, 28th June 3 p.m. 1st round
Sunday, 29th June 3 p.m. 2nd round
Monday, 30th June no play
Tuesday, 1st July 3 p.m. 3rd round
Wednesday, 2nd July 3 p.m. 4th round
Thursday, 3rd July no play
Friday, 4th July 3 p.m. 5th round
Saturday, 5th July 3 p.m. 6th round
Sunday, 6th July 1 p.m. final round

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Aerosvit International Tournament 2008

Please click HERE to see more results, to play through games and to see "game-of-the-day"-movies played at the Aerosvit International Tournament.
On this next table you can see the standings after round 7.




Round 10 : Results

Van Wely, Loek 0 - 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Eljanov, Pavel ½ - ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Carlsen, Magnus ½ - ½ Volokitin, Andrei
Alekseev, Evgeny ½ - ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ½ - ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Shirov, Alexei 1 - 0 Svidler, Peter

Round 11 : Pairings for Thursday 19th June..the final round

Svidler, Peter Van Wely, Loek
Ivanchuk, Vassily Eljanov, Pavel
Karjakin, Sergey Carlsen, Magnus
Volokitin, Andrei Alekseev, Evgeny
Jakovenko, Dmitry Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Onischuk, Alexander Shirov, Alexei

Aerosvit 2008, Foros

Please click HERE to play through games interactively.


Standings …Round 4

Van Wely, Loek vs Alekseev, Evgeny
Eljanov, Pavel vs Carlsen, Magnus
Svidler, Peter vs Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Ivanchuk, Vassily vs Onischuk, Alexander
Karjakin, Sergey vs Jakovenko, Dmitry
Shirov, Alexei vs Volokitin, Andrei

The standings after round 2:

1 Shirov, Alexei ESP 2740 ---2
2 Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2765 ---1½
3 Karjakin, Sergey UKR 2732--- 1½
4 Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2684--- 1½
5 Svidler, Peter RUS 2746--- 1
6 Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2687 ---1
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2740 ---1
8 Alekseev, Evgeny RUS 2711--- ½
9 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU 2684--- ½
10 Van Wely, Loek NED 2677--- ½
11 Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2711--- ½
12 Onischuk, Alexander USA 2664 ---½

Schedule:

June 8th, 2008, Round 1, Time 15:00…ALL rounds start at 15:00 —every day!
June 9th, Round 2
June 10th, Round 3
June 11th, Round 4
June 12th, Round 5
June 13th, Round 6
June 14th, REST DAY
June 15th, Round 7
June 16th, Round 8
June 17th, Round 9
June 18th, Round 10
June 19th, Round 11

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Ivanchuk takes Leon Chess

Image:chessdom

Read HERE more on Chessdom.


Game 1: Anand 0-1 Ivanchuk
Game 2: Ivanchuk 0-1 Anand
Game 3: Anand 1/2 Ivanchuk
Game 4: Ivanchuk 1-0 Anand
Ivanchuk wins 2.5-1.5


GM Ivanchuk (2740) - GM Anand (2803) [E55]
Leon Rapid Chess, 01.06.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nbd7 9.Qe2 cxd4 10.exd4 b6 11.d5 Nc5 12.Rd1 Qe8 13.Nb5 exd5 14.Nc7 Qe4?? (14...Qxe2 +=) 15.Rd4 Qg6 16.Nh4 White wins 1–0

GM Ivanchuk (2740) - GM Anand (2803) [B90]
Leon Rapid Chess - Game 2, 01.06.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 0–0 9.0–0 Qc7 10.Bb3 Be6 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.Ng5 Bc4 13.f4 Nbd7 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.Rf5 Bb4 16.Rd1 Rd8 17.Qe1 h6 18.Nf3 Be6 19.Qg3 Bxf5 20.exf5 Bc5 21.Bxc5 Nxc5 22.Re1 Nxb3 23.axb3 b5 24.h3 Rac8 25.Nxe5 Re8 26.b4 Qd6 Black wins 0–1



Game 1:

GM Anand (2803) - GM Ivanchuk (2740) [B47]
Rapid Chess - Game 1 Final, 01.06.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Qe1 0–0 11.Qg3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.a3 Bb7 14.Kh1 Rad8 15.Rae1 Rd7 16.Bd3 Re8 17.f5 e5 18.Be3 Kh8 19.Bg5 Nh5 20.Qh4 Bxg5 21.Qxg5 Nf6 22.Rf3 Qc5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.Rh3 b4 25.axb4 Qxb4 26.Rb1 Rc7 27.Rh6 d5 28.exd5 Qb6 29.Na4 Qd6 30.Rh4 Bxd5 31.Nc3 Rb8 32.Qc1 e4 33.Bxe4 Nxe4 34.Nxe4 Qc6 35.Qe3 Qxc2 36.Rg1 f6 37.Qd4 Rd7 38.Nxf6 gxf6 39.Qxf6+ Rg7 40.Rg4 Qxb2 Black wins 0–1


Source: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post.html

Ivanchuk MTel Masters rounds 4 and 5

MTel Masters was a tournament played earlier in middle May...see other posts about it too... and Ivanchuk was the winner....

Bloggers are like Pawns on a Chessboard

Chess has been used many times to compare/explain situations....and this article is another one...enjoy! and keep blogging!!

Source of the article:...Please click HERE ....

Well, you have to give it up for the title, don’t you think? Probably one of the weirdest blog post titles that you’ve ever seen on Problogger right? Well anyway, by the time you’ve finished reading this post, I can guarantee you that you will know just where on the chessboard (blogosphere) you are. I can not expect all of you to know your chess, and knowledge on the game will only matter less. Most of you are bloggers and my only hope is that you will find this article useful.

For those of you who are less familiar with the games of chess, let me tell you what a pawn is. There are 8 pawns per player on a chess bard. Pawns are the weakest of all the pieces and the lowest ranked. They can only move forward - two squares at the first move and one square per turn thereafter and can capture any other piece on the board moving one square diagonally.

So what blogger-like qualities do I see in pawns?


In the beginning there are plenty of them - and it makes them virtually worthless
In the beginning of the game, there are so many pawns at the same level. And too much of one thing will seriously undervalue it all.

Just like that, when you’re starting off as a blogger, it’s pretty hard to place some value on yourself since there will be so many bloggers at the same level as you are. You just have to accept the fact and work your way through it just like the entire platoon of pawns do. The more you progress in the right track at the right time will make you last long in the game.


Almost every time, a pawn takes the start.
A knight (the horsey figure) on the chess board can jump over all the other pieces on the board at a time, while moving. So, at the start, if you’re not starting the game with your knights, you will have to move your pawn.

If you are a well known personality, like a celebrity, you probably don’t have to take the game’s start as a pawn. Do you think Darren would have to start from scratch, and wait for a few months till his subscriber count hits 100, if he launches a new blog tomorrow? He can use his star power to probably jump over a few obstacles he’d otherwise encounter. It might not be the best thing, but it will be a head start. If not, you should start your game with a pawn, as a pawn. It’s just the way it is. Most of us will start from that zero point, and build on it thereafter.


At the very start, they will move two squares each
On a chessboard, a pawn can only move one square at a time except for the very first move of that pawn. If the player wishes, the pawn can move two squares when it has not been moved before. (When it is at its first move)

Remember that time you started to blog? You were so into making it happen that you used to commit so many hours into you blog? Instead of moving one square at a time, you were a bit impatient so you thought you should move two at a time. You soon learnt that running on full throttle is not something you can do all the time. So, you HAD to slow down and realize your blog doesn’t deserve all of your attention.


Most of them fall off
Pawns are often ignored in the middle game of chess and when in the end game, most of the pawns would’ve been captured (or sacrificed) by the two players. When the going gets rough, I guess some pawns fall off. It’s inevitable.

Similarly, when time goes by, most of the bloggers would just quit on their blogs or ignore them. It’s just a part of the cycle I guess. At a certain level, some people won’t find it worthwhile committing to something that is demanding constant attention. It’s like kids falling off when the class moves up the grades I guess. It just happens that way.


A few makes it to the end and becomes powerful
Do you know what happens to a pawn that defies all the odds and make it to the other end of the chessboard? To the 8th row of the chess board? The pawn, the lowest ranked piece of the chessboard becomes the most powerful piece on the chessboard. At that moment, a player can trade that pawn to any other piece that he/she wants that had been captured by the other side.

Well, I guess you know what that means. A blogger who has got a lot of persistence and survives till the end will undoubtedly find it worthwhile to have made it that far through all the turmoil. That blogger will be recognized as someone who made it to the ‘top’. And that blogger would not be a pawn anymore.


Before you become powerful, people will start attacking you
When pawns make it nearly to the end of the ‘other side’, to become the most powerful piece on the board, the other pieces will start attacking the pawns to make sure that they don’t make it through. It’s a battle, what do you think?

People will sometimes be envious towards what you have achieved for little or no reason and will start attacking you. If they don’t have any valid point for their attack, know that those are the other pieces on this chessboard that do not want you to make it big. Do not let them succeed. You didn’t make 6 rows on your own to be thrown out of the game on the 7th row!


But, do you really want to be just a pawn..?
So did I make all of these analogies to tell you you’re not a pawn? Well, let me put it this way. As I’ve put out here, you can clearly see how the life-span of a blogger can coincide with a life-span of the pawn of chess. But, there’s one last thing I want to tell you.

On the chessboard, a pawn is a pawn. It has no control of its existence. But, you can think and make decisions for yourself. You are not a pawn. You can choose to be successful. You can choose to fail. You might only move one square at a time. But you are in control of your journey. If you want to make it to the end, keep that in mind.

Chess puzzle - Ivanchuk tactic

Click on THIS LINK to solve the puzzle and you will find another one to solve too. Wait a few seconds for the board to load and slide down to the bottom of the page for the second puzzle - which is the one on this image. Enjoy!

Paul Klee and Chess

Please click HERE to see more Paul Klee art and you can see children's art work in the style of Paul Klee.

Knights!

Some of the chess players I'm playing quite often will know HOW much I love my Knights...please click HERE to solve a puzzle involving Knights!

Ivanchuk takes MTel Masters

Enjoy the game of round 10, the final round. This is Ivanchuk's game against Cheparinov. Ivanchuk is the winner in the Mtel Masters tournament that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria and which ended the 18th May.

MTel Chess rounds 9 and 10

Ivanchuk...image:Chessdom

Update: Final results...after round 10.
Ivanchuk is the Winner of MTel Masters 2008!

Ivanchuk Vassily 2740 UKR 8
Topalov Veselin 2767 BUL 6,5
Radjabov Teimour 2751 AZE 5,5
Cheparinov Ivan 2695 BUL 4
Bu Xiangzhi 2708 CHN 3
Aronian Levon 2763 ARM 3


Results round 10…the final round…
Topalov, V vs Radjabov, T….1/2
Cheparinov, I vs Ivanchuk, V….0-1
Aronian, L vs Xiangzhi, Bu….1/2


Please click HERE to follow the results of the other rounds played in this tournament. I will update this post on the results of rounds 9 and 10. Round 9 is scheduled for today and the final round tomorrow. This tournament is taking place in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Please click on the images for a larger view.

Round 9: ...End position...Radjabov and Cheparinov...1/2

Round 9:...End position....Xingzhi vs Topalov...1-0!!





Round 9: ...End position...Ivanchuk vs Aronian... 1/2