International Master Igor Ivanov recently competed in the United States Championship tying for ninth only a single point behind the winner Larry Christiansen. At the National Open in Las Vegas in March Igor once again competed and again tied for 9th of 197 participants in the Championship Section with 4.5 of 6.0 possible points falling just short of qualifying for the 2003 US Championship. Igor has annotated his third round victory at the National Open and has made it available for your enjoyment. Igor has agreed to provide additional annotated games in the next few months so check back often.
As an atheist I'm often asked the question what guides your life aren't you a little like the proverbial ship without a rudder. A better question would be if I was a believer would it make a difference would I be a more moral person. Robert Scheer writes in the LA Times "For a long time now, we secular humanists and other skeptics have been denigrated as the apostles of decadence and social decay. " An interesting discussion of Values and Hypocrisy. I also posted a link to this article on MetaFilter check it out for some other views on this topic and some related links.
A few days ago I told you about the event at the Internet Chess Club . Banter Chess a two game match between GM Larry Christiansen (the current US Champ) and Alexi Dreev (from Russia). The Players commented on the games in real time, but couldn't see each others comments. The event exceeded my expectations, which were already very high. My son's Chris & Tim were all online watching the action with me Chris from England. and Tim and I at home. There were approximately 700 other chess fans watching with us. We all ran out of superlatives early on, you can only say this is so cool. This is fucking awesome so many times. The games were exciting the commentary by the players was both instructive and entertaining. In the first game Alexi opened with a Queen pawn and Larry surprised him with the Benoni, a favorite defense of Grandmaster Nick de Fermian, who by the way tied with Larry at U. S. Championship this year. Larry won the playoff. When Alexi played 3. Nf3 he was expecting either a Queens Indian Defense or the Bogo Indian Larry chose the Benoni. It reminded me of the National Open in Las Vegas in 1993. Nick de Fermian had started poorly and I was playing above my head in the Open Section. I got paired with Nick in the third round. A lamb to the slaughter. The game got published in the Tournament Bulletin under amusing crushes, I later discovered that the game had made it into a database on a chess-playing program called Extreme Chess. One reason I remembered the game was that I had told Igor Ivanov that I was paired with Nick and that I was looking forward to playing against his Benoni. At the time I didn't realize that if I played 3. Nc3 that Nick would play the Nimzo Indian and that I should have played 3. Nf3 if the Benoni was what I wanted. I'm sure it would have made no difference. So of course the discussion of Larry's brought back those memories. The Benoni is extremely sharp and when Larry played the defining c5 and said something like lets play something suicidal. The game went back and forth finally ending in a hard fought draw. The second game was even wilder if that is possible. Larry sacks his queen for a couple of pieces and a wild position. Larry is a very creative chess player. At one point. Alexi said I thought we had agreed not to play these kinds of positions. Larry made an error towards the end and as a result the game went from a win or draw to a loss giving the match to Alexi 1.5 to .5. You can see the games here with all the players' comments move by move. I also included my game with Nick if you're interested in seeing how beautifully a GM can crush a patzer.
A ridge of granite rising from left to right casts a shadow on a lone pine, and below a forest of green covering all but the most rugged gray granite poking through. It is difficult to imagine the pain they must have suffered or what a grizzly bear was doing in northern Utah. Rex Stewart and his bride Cecile were found near Alta Utah. A forest service employee doing routine maintenance on a popular hiking trail found their badly mauled bodies Monday afternoon. Why the bear was there was only part of the mystery. Why the newlyweds were there was equally puzzling.
They had been on their way to Lake Tahoe, with no reason to stop in Utah, except to fill the tank of their red BMW with gas. The police asked me to help in the investigation. Why, well they were quickly discovering how paranoid chess players are and needed someone on the inside. Rex was an internationally known chess player, with a penchant for pissing people off. A giant ego, but of course that was true of most chess players. I was apparently the only one in the entire state that knew who he was. That and my ability to untangle some nasty disputes at the chessboard were my only qualifications.
I'm Matt Finley, an international arbiter, and sometime chess player. I enjoy playing, but know I wont get much better. Fortunately I've been able to stay around the game I love as an enforcer of the rules. Rex and Cecile had intended to honeymoon in Tahoe since the Tahoe Open chess tournament was scheduled to begin the following weekend. Rex was just barely welcome at the Tahoe event since he and Bronson the tournament organizer could never seem to agree on the rules. Bronson had some rule variations he liked to implement and while legal, were different from the standard fare and that seemed to create bad feelings. Bronson ruled his tournaments with an iron hand. I had intended to play, one of the few tournaments I play in each year, but now I was here to see if I could find any leads into the Stewarts deaths. The third round was underway when I arrived. I love the sight of a tournament in progress. Row after row of checkered boards, players sitting like statues with only an occasional twitch, or a knee bouncing up and down. One player I particularly enjoyed watching twisted his air around his finger over and over totally unaware of the mannerism. Tournament chess is stressful. Blood pressure rises respiration increases there is palpable tension in the air. The only sound is of the two faced clocks ticking and an audible click as each move is completed and the button atop the clock is pushed starting the opponents clock.
The investigation in Utah hadn't made much progress. There were some bear tracks but even those had been confusing and the trail had been lost.
I hadn't missed much. The top players seldom get a challenging game early in a Swiss System tournament, the type most commonly found in the United States. The first half of the players ranked by rating are paired with the second half. In subsequent rounds players with the same scores are paired with each other. The player with the highest score at the end of the tournament in this case after seven rounds, wins.
"Hi John", I said.
John Bronson the tournament organizer came out of the director's room.
"Hi Matt," he replied.
"Looks like it will be another sensational tournament for you" I said.
"Yes" he said. "We have 23 Grandmasters, 28 International Masters and $50,000 in prize money, our best so far. I thought you were playing in this one".
“I was then the business with Rex came up and I was delayed. They have asked for my help since I know the chess world." I said, "He was scheduled to play here wasn't he?"
"Unfortunately, I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but he was a pain in the ass to have in a tournament”, he said.
When was the last time you saw Rex?"
"Huh, I don't know why do you ask." He said
"I'm just trying to figure out how he ended up in Alta Utah. Did he mail in his entry?" I said
"I'd have to check with over 300 entries no way I could remember them all." He said
"Well, think about it John and let me know" I said.
I started to leave when John said "Matt, you know it wouldn't surprise me if that Russian Dimitri Ivanov was involved he and Rex were involved in a dispute at the National Open in Las Vegas. Rex accused Dimitri of cheating. Dimitri and a fifth of Vodka didn't take kindly to the accusations. Security took care of them before they hurt themselves".
"Thanks John it doesn't surprise me, the Russians don't like to be accused of cheating." I said
"Who does", said John
"Your right of course", I said
There were no major upsets in the third round. The fourth round would see the titled players start going at each other. I walked through the tournament hall; just a few games were still in progress. A couple of players in the beginners section were playing on with only their Kings the position is drawn there is no way to lose. One young player was sitting in the corner stacking all the pieces in a sort of tower, strange.
Hi Dimitri" I said. He had just finished analyzing his game with Tal Kermalinsky a talented FIDE master. "Hi Matt, I haven't seen you since Los Angeles you missed Las Vegas this year." He said
"Yes, it was unavoidable I had some business at home. Heard I missed some great chess," I said...
Yes, you missed my great victory. Said Dimitri
"I saw the reports that you won, but why 6-0 all you needed was a draw in the last round.
"Did the organizers offer an extra thousand for a perfect score?" I said.
No I just didn't feel like giving Walter an easy draw. The last time we played I beat him and he said we was unprepared, and that it would never happen again. I found a line from a training match Botvinnik played in 1951 against Smyslov. I don't think Walter had seen it. Ha Ha. Botvinnik played lots of training matches over the years, but they were kept secret.
"You're just getting crafty," I said.
Ha Ha like a computer, he said.
"Did you hear about Rex?" I asked
Yes, wild animals killed him.
"And his wife Cecile ", I said
"That is very sad", said Dimitri.
"I'm helping in the investigation and trying to find out when he registered for this tournament". I said
"That's easy," said Dimitri, "he registered the same time I did".
"When was that?" I asked
At the National Open" said Dimitri "John Bronson was there lining up the book concession and directors for his tournament. John joined Rex and I at our table. It was then that we both told John we would be coming to Tahoe for his famous tournament Ha Ha".
"He wrote it down in his notebook, so he wouldn't forget" he said.
"Well good luck in the tournament. "
"Thanks", said Dimitri.
When I got back to my room the light on my phone was flashing. I called the desk.
"You have a message for me" I said, "Finley room 347".
Yes Mr. Finley a Mr. Jones a detective with the Salt Lake City Police asked for you to call. He says it's important.
I dialed the number immediately, a pleasant voice answered on the second ring. POLICE Delores Green speaking. Ms Green this is Matt Finely and I received a message to contact detective Jones.
Yes Frank Jones, just a moment.
Matt, Frank Jones here there has been a break in the case. The forest service found some additional tracks it now appears that what we have is a grizzly mother and her cubs. A mother grizzly is dangerous to encounter anytime, but away from home, deadly. A truck and trailer used for transporting bears between Yellowstone and (Klamath Falls) was found in a creek bed not far from where Rex and Cecile were found. The truck was abandoned. Someone left in a hurry he left some chess gear and other personal things. We think the gay is named Walter Gray do you know him. Yes I know him. Sad case, drugs alcohol was a child prodigy last I heard he was dealing cards in Reno. .
We would like you to come back to Utah and go through his personal effects maybe this is the break we've been looking for.
I took the five o'clock Delta flight. I was in Salt Lake at seven thirty. Detective Jones was waiting for me. We took the 15minute drive into town in 10 minutes, are all law enforcement types this aggressive. Walter hadn't left much but what he had left was very interesting, a knapsack, with chess set, clock, and the latest Informant. Informants are collections of current GM games published three times a year. Walter had obviously renewed his interest in Chess. The latest issue of Chess life with several upcoming tournaments underlined. Jones said, "We found this scrap of paper on the floor of the truck. It's a map of the area. Mr. Gray must have brought the bears up this canyon and released them moments before Rex and Cecile came this way. It was damn near certain that the mother would attack perceiving a threat to the cubs.
" Let me see that", I said.
On one side a map of the area, but when I turned it over my heart stopped. It was a partial list of chess rules. Rules I recognized immediately. Colors will not be changed for alternation or equalization simply to preserve color. You will play the proper player sometimes this will entail playing the black pieces three times in a row.
John Bronson runs the only tournament I know of with these rules.
Detective Jones and I caught the first plane back to Reno and rented a car for the drive to Tahoe. John had already finished the pairings for the last round. The staff said he was getting a bite to eat. We headed for the restaurant Dimitri was coming from the opposite direction.
Hi Matt
Hi Dimitri you winning, I said
“Five and a half points I took a draw from Gary it guarantees me at least a tie for first.” He said
“Good job Dimitri. We have to hurry we are going to the restaurant to find John” I said.
You won't find him there, said Dimitri
I saw him get in a cab for the airport said he was picking up a player. Strange picking up a player at the end of a tournament. Ha Ha.
Detective Jones went to the nearest phone, while I waited the beginning of the end for John Bronson was starting. The authorities were there in minutes. John was apprehended with $100,000. The prizes and receipts from the tournament. He had felt us closing in, but a few extra minutes watching the game between Browne and Christiansen had cost him a possible escape. Rex had found out about a felony conviction for child molestation against Bronson some years before. When Rex revealed it to the USCF board of directors. John would be out of chess organizing. Walter Gray had been doing some work for John and discovered the same information. But he had thought of blackmail. When he confronted John. John laughed Rex already knows and is going to reveal it at the Tahoe Open, and your blackmailing days will be over. Walter's imagination started working overtime, just like any good chess player, came up with a plan and stole the bears as they were leaving Wyoming. Two drivers each thinking the other had this run, returned home not realizing the bears were missing. Walter knew Rex was stopping in Salt Lake not only for gas but to spend the night
He persuaded Rex and Cecile that the Utah Rockies were something they shouldn't miss. A day they would never forget he told them. He gave them directions telling them he would meet them at a small lake ˝ mile from the trailhead, and the rest you know. I helped a depressed staff finish up the tournament. There were some boo's when they found out the prize money was evidence, but Detective Jones had told me it would probably be released in less than a month, that news kept them happy.
I'm on my way to Los Angeles for the American Open; this time I'll be wearing my arbiter's hat. I read a small item in the Los Angeles times when I arrived about a mother Grizzly and two cubs being found 70 miles from Yellowstone and Home. I guess two freeways weren't too much to negotiate for a determined bear. Dimitri went on to win the American Open as well making it three majors in a row. At 48 he was still playing inspired chess. The tournament was a success from my vantage point, great chess and no major disputes. In Yellowstone the bears are beginning their hibernation. Walter Gray's body was found some months later also a victim of the bears. Bet he'd like to take that move back.
Book Magazine has issued the results of a readers poll of the 100 best fictional characters since 1900. here at NPR The first reference I saw to it was at, Dave Does The Blog It seems to be all the rage today. Number four on the list at Daypop.
I always have some time to waste on anything to do with books or reading so here are the ones I've read. A little over half way there but I still have a lot of reading to do.
1 - Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
2 - Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951
5 - Rabbit Angstrom, Rabbit, Run, John Updike, 1960
6 - Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1902
7 - Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
9 - Stephen Dedalus, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, 1916
13 - The Invisible Man, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1952
15 - Aureliano Buendia, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967
17 - Ignatius Reilly, A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980
18 - George Smiley, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, John LeCarre, 1974
20 - Bigger Thomas, Native Son, Richard Wright, 1940
21 - Nick Adams, In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway, 1925
22 - Yossarian, Catch-22, Joseph Heller, 1961
23 - Scarlett O'Hara, Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936
24 - Scout Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
25 - Philip Marlowe, The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, 1939
26 - Kurtz, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, 1902
27 - Stevens, The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989
28 - Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo, The Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino, 1957
29 - Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne, 1926
30 - Oskar Matzerath, The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass, 1959
31 - Hazel Motes, Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor, 1952
32 - Alex Portnoy, Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth, 1969
33 - Binx Bolling, The Moviegoer, Walker Percy, 1961
36 - Eugene Henderson, Henderson the Rain King, Saul Bellow, 1959
37 - Marcel, Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust, 1913-1927
39 - The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss, 1955
43 - Judge Holden, Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy, 1985
45 - Stephen Maturin, Master and Commander, Patrick O'Brian, 1969
46 - The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1943
47 - Santiago, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway, 1952
52 - Meursault, The Stranger, Albert Camus, 1942
53 - Jake Barnes, The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway, 1926
54 - Phoebe Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951
59 - Big Brother, 1984, George Orwell, 1949
61 - Seymour Glass, Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger, 1953
62 - Dean Moriarty, On the Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
63 - Charlotte, Charlotte's Web, E.B. White, 1952
64 - T.S. Garp, The World According to Garp, John Irving, 1978
70 - Charles Kinbote, Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov, 1962
74 - Florentino Ariza, Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1985
77 - Frankie Addams, The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers, 1946
81 - Arthur "Boo" Radley, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
83 - Joseph K. The Trial, Franz Kafka, 1925
84 - Yuri Zhivago, Dr. Zhivago, Boris Pasternak, 1957
85 - Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling, 1998
90 - Lennie Small, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, 1937
94 - Newland Archer, The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton, 1920
95 - Clyde Griffiths, An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser, 1925
96 - Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne, 1926
97 - Quentin Compson, The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner, 1929
98 - Charlie Marlow, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, 1902
100 - Augie March, The Adventures of Augie March, Saul Bellow 1953
Spider, crawler, robot, all are terms for the automated programs the search engines send out to grab your content and index it. They go by names such as Googlebot, Openbot, Scooter, FAST-WebCrawler, and vspider to mention just a few. If you are interested. SpiderSpotting by Danny Sullivan will satiate even the largest appetite for this stuff.
It's fun perusing the logs seeing who has visited my site. Discovering what they looked at how long they stayed, what part of the world they live in. The most interesting part for me is how they got here. Before I discovered my log files I had no idea where visitors were coming from and why. I thought hell I must be a great writer since hundred's of people were reading a story I wrote entitled "Did I Wake You?"
after looking at the logs It was clear that was not the case, most of the people reading the story got there by searching for "pancreitis, gallbladder, pain below the sternum, blood tests" all words with search engine links to my story. More logical was the interest in my Son Chris's article on Covey Metaphysics. You remember Stephen Covey's Book ("The Seven Habits of Highly Annoying People") the title David Weinberger applied to the book when I sent him a link to Chris's article. The article is titled "How the ‘Real World’ [territory] at last Became a Myth" Annotated to Address the Metaphysics of Covey it has been very popular still receiving five or six hits a day over 300 in the last three months, mostly from Google search terms such as "Franklin Covey, Nietzsche, Zarathustra, Metaphysics" I'm prejudiced of course but I think it's popular because it is well done. The one I'm still puzzling over however is why sexual + fantasy brings them to my site. I haven't given up searching, maybe there is some good stuff here after all. And while I'm on the subject of robots if you haven't read Paul Ford's Robot Exclusion Protocol you're missing a gem.
All these bots, spiders, crawlers got me thinking about The Cure's song lullaby
"on candystripe legs spiderman comes
softly through the shadow of the evening sun
stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead
looking for the victim shivering in bed
searching out fear in the gathering gloom and
suddenly! a movement in the corner of the
room! and there is nothing i can do when i
realise with freight that the spiderman is having
me for dinner tonight
quietly he laughs and shaking his head creeps
closer now closer to the foot of the bed and
softer than shadow and quicker than flies his
arms are all around me and his tongue in my
eyes "be still be calm be quiet now my precious
boy don't struggle like that or i will only love
you more for it's much too late to get away or
turn on the light the spiderman is having you
for dinner tonight"
and i feel like i'm being eaten by a thousand
million shivering furry holes and i know that in
the morning i will wake up in the shivering cold
and the spiderman is always hungry..."
I think he's right the spiderman is having us for dinner tonight. The spiderman is always hungry.
The Internet Chess Club just keeps getting better and better. If you have ever considered joining now would be a good time. I just received this announcement of an upcoming event taking place on ICC.
ICC announces an exciting "Banter Chess" match between Grandmasters
Alexei Dreev and Larry Christiansen! The match will take place
on Sunday, March 24, at 3pm ICC time. The Grandmasters will kibitz
their thoughts and analysis while they play, for the spectators
to watch! (The players cannot see each other's comments). It's a
great way to learn how the GMs think when they play. The match will
be two games of 20 20 time control.
The match is open for viewing only to ICC members, who should type
"observe Dreev" or "observe LarryC" to watch. GM Dreev is rated
2683 and is from Russia. GM Christiansen is the current US
champion, rated 2571.
Sounds great doesn't it. I'll be there and hope to see some of you. If you want to join and watch these two Grandmasters duke it out follow this link. If you need any help just send me an email and I'll be happy to oblige.
I played again in a simultaneous exhibition given by International Master Atillo Turzo, I played him last week and managed to win. Well today started differently I quickly got into trouble, fortunately he was playing some 40 other players and lost his Rook for my Bishop. My position was still terrible, and I made another bad move and was for all practical purposes lost, but the chess gods must have been smiling because Atillo blundered and I was able to win my second game in a row against him. The game is not pretty I'm certainly not proud of my play, but it is a good example of how continuing to play can pay off.
The upgrade to Movabletype 2.0 was smooth as could be. Thank you Ben and Mena. This program rocks!!!
From today's Washington Post
"Missouri registry of consumers who don't want to be called by telemarketers is now at 920,000 about half the population. Connecticut's list now has 370,000 roughly a third of the population.
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed creation of a national anti-telemarketing registry. J. Howard Beales III director of FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said "We know that consumers are concerned about their privacy- that includes unwanted intrusions, unwanted phone calls at the dinner hour" "
Does anyone whose name doesn't end in INC. or LLC object to such a plan. The only ones I can think of are those that want an even stronger reaction to the outrageous assault on our privacy all done in the name of business. I have strong feelings about privacy. Of course there is some concern that the government agencies would be overwhelmed with people signing up. No problem, I have a solution, simply create an opt in rather that an opt out system. No more calls unless I specifically request them.
Okay I admit it. I'm addicted to the blog hop. Jumping from site to site following the links wherever they go. Wondering how the hell I got where I am, and where it was I had intended to go when I began, and enjoying all the unexpected surprises along the way. A couple of days ago on the Movabletype News page I was checking out blogs as the new posts appeared in the recently updated list and came upon a site that I hadn’t visited before. At least I don't think I visited before, you know how it is I might have. Anyway I found myself at Ginger Stampley's blog "What She Really Thinks" a great find I must say. I immediately bookmarked it and continued to read. I came upon an entry entitled Liberal Bloggers Unite! and being of the liberal persuasion read on. Ginger recommended I check out Jak King's Site , she did add the proviso that she didn't agree with everything he blogged, neither do I for that matter, but she thought his regular feature on the Palestinian’s provided some needed balance. I agree. This is where the fun really started. Today I went back to Jak's to continue my perusal of his site and find a post of his saying he has gotten some publicity from Gary Farber . I followed the link to Gary's page and found a bit of a rant about Jak. Gary made some very good points, if you read carefully you could locate them among the personal attacks. For example "I read him only just finding out about Barbara Hatch Rosenberg's anthrax theory; okay, he's slow, but so are lots of folks, and we all find out some things late; no problem." or this "Okay, he can't read, he's never heard of the Federation of American Scientists, and this makes him something of an idiot in my book, but, okay, we'll let it pass." and finally "(Notice, by the way, that he links to a zillion sources, but not one blogger; not interested in playing with others, apparently; this may account for his counter saying he's not yet over 3700 hits, despite posting since October).) "
Not one blogger? I suppose Wood S Lot, Reductio Ad Absurdum, Objectionable Content among others will be surprised to learn they are not doing any blogging, and I think I'll keep my counter invisible.
And so back to Ginger, she has edited her original post it now reads:
"UPDATE: I officially withdraw my recommendation of Jak. Some of the stuff he links to is way beyond the pale. Thanks to Gary Farber for the catch."
I'll return to all these sites they all have some good things to say. Perhaps Gary will tone down the personal attacks and I won't have so much trouble finding his obviously thoughtful content, and Jak will continue to provide some balance, albeit beyond the pale, and Ginger, well perhaps she will figure out "What She Really Thinks".
"Freedom without opportunity is a devil's gift" - Noam Chomsky
<rant>
I believe in free speech, I believe in the first amendment, I support free speech on the Internet. I believe in a persons right to try and persuade the rest of us that he has something important to say and I'm willing to provide a multitude of ways for him to say it. I also believe in a right to privacy. If I don't want someone to call me on the telephone. I should have that right. If I don't want someone to come to my door trying to sell me something my privacy should be respected. So why does corporate America think it is some god damn right of free speech to call me on the phone and try and sell me something, and that I'm somehow un-American if I don't want to listen to their fucking pitch. And why do the religion's of the world think they have some right to ring my door bell and try to sell me salvation, and why won't the assholes take no for an answer. I tell them to fuck off and they're back a year or two later thinking I may have changed my mind. Listen I'll call you don't call me. And those spineless congressman, and state legislators who don't think it would be a good idea to pass a law to control that behavior. What the hell are they thinking? They say we wouldn't want to restrict one neighbors right to visit another. Well let me make this perfectly clear they are not my fucking neighbors. I know my neighbors and they know me. I tell corporate America not to call me they call me anyway. I post a notice at my place of business and home saying no solicitation and they come anyway. They claim they are not soliciting (1) verb [present participle of solicit][to seek (as advertising, orders, or votes) especially on a large scale] Synonyms: canvassing, drumming, drumming up Near Synonyms: ask, request, beg, beseech, implore, claim, demand, exact 2) verb [present participle of solicit][to seek to obtain by making one's needs or desires known] Synonyms: asking, bespeaking, desiring, requesting Near Synonyms: claim, demand, exact, require, beg, beseech, entreat, implore, importune 3)verb [present participle of solicit][to ask for something as or as if one's right or due] Synonyms: demanding, calling, challenging, claiming, exacting, postulating, requiring, requisitioning Near Synonyms: ask, request, bid, charge, command, direct, enjoin, order, cite, summon, summons, coerce, compel, constrain, force, oblige, necessitate" What the fuck don't they understand. Free speech has its limits. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater and you can't call me on the phone and try to sell me a gas guzzling SUV and you can't come to my front door preaching your fucking religion.</rant>
Here is a site with some nice quotations about censorship and an example.
"Freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they have, or the views they express, or the words they speak or write."
Hugo L. Black, U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1963
The Internet Chess Club is a great place to play chess they offer both casual and tournament play. You can even chat with friends while online. My son Chris logged on from Sheffield England where he studying Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, and I joined him there from my home in Utah. We were there to play in a simultaneous exhibition against Atillo Turzo an International Master. Atilla Turzo is from Hungary like the Polgar sisters and Peter Leko We had a great time chatting while playing our games. It's just great you can chat, have a board displaying not only your own game but other players so I was able to watch Chris's game at the same time I was playing. Turzo was quickly winning game after game. My game was complicated with all kinds of tactical possiblities. I started getting really nervous still having a reasonable game after 20 + moves. Late in the game I felt the tide starting to shift in his favor, it was time for some creativity or perhaps just some luck. I remembered my friend Igor telling me that there are often resources available if you can stay calm. When I looked back at the board I saw a line where I could sacrifice an exchange and at least equalize the position perhaps even gain an advantage. I played the move and with a little bit of luck obtained a decisive advantage. My heart was racing when Atilla graciously resigned. I had won. Here is the Game. Chris was not as fortunate this time. Players as strong as Atilla typically win most of the games in a simul. Seldom do they lose more than one or two. It's days like today that keep me playing. You can visit Atilla's website here.
A Story of the Future by Chris Jenson and Cinnamon Wuthrich
Merck Sable was nearing puberty. He woke up one morning with a small shiny bolt sticking out of his shoulder. He eyed it in the mirror, and checked his body for more signs of manhood. There were two wires sprouting from his chest, and his forehead was starting to look shiny with chrome.
Merck was so excited he ran to his desk. He rifled through it and found his wooden ruler. He lined up the zero to the end of his shoulder. The tip of the bolt reached two-inch hash mark.
Merck sang in the shower, using the shampoo bottle as a microphone. The label read: "Shampoo, lather, rinse, repeat if necessary." What the heck, Merck thought, and repeated it. He read the gel bottle: "May contain propylene glycol." I sure hope it does, he thought, as he squirted a double dose onto the puff.
After his shower, he squeezed a massive blob of toothpaste on his brush. He clicked his deodorant six times for each armpit for "extra coolant protection." He admired his mom, who used make-up and face lotion rampant with nutrients.
He skipped breakfast to pack himself a hearty lunch for school. He dipped his fingers into his baby sister’s peas and carrots made by Gerber. Despite the nourishing supplements, he thought it was disgusting, and left for school.
At lunchtime Merck met his friend Billy Pfiezer who had already grown two headlights for knees. Merck took out three Jiff peanut butter sandwiches, Canola oil tortilla chips, and a pint of milk fortified with extra Casein.
"Whoa, man, you must be hungry," Billy pointed out.
"Well," Merck said softly so no one would hear. "I heard Canola oil is good for you. There’s pure rapeseed in this stuff."
"Oh, I get it," Billy said. A crumb of extra-mercury tuna fish sandwich was on his lip. "You must have sprung a bolt."
"Shh. Don’t be so loud." Merck looked at the girls from the other table. "No one can be as advanced as you."
Billy laughed at him. "Look, squirt. There’s really no trick. Put Vaseline on your forehead every night. Shine you right up. That’s the nearest stuff to gasoline out there. Use your imagination. Spike your bubble bath with WD-40. And then slick your hair with tons of gel, sit back, and watch the ladies come.
After lunch Merck sat down for health class. He enjoyed the pungent aroma of motor oil and carbon monoxide while he waited for the teacher to arrive. He polished his forehead with the back of his hand, hoping the girls would notice how shiny it was.
The lecture for the day was on the 5th food group– the Crude Oil group. Mr. Ford displayed a plastic model of the liver. "The liver is a vestigial organ," he said. "It is a throwback from our ancestors, the Homo Sapien Sapiens." Mr. Ford coughed up a little cloud of brown exhaust. Merck admired the color.
"This organ," he continued, "filters out vital nutrients like propylene glycol from the fifth food group. Many chemicals, which were toxic to Homo Sapien Sapiens, are now essential nutrients to us Homo Sapien Automobillus. The chemicals help us complete our development from purely organic creatures to the organo-mechanical hybrids we are. The liver posed a serious problem to the late Homo Sapien Sapiens. Americans, for example, loved their cars so much, they wanted to become them, but the liver prevented it. One solution was to introduce heavy metals and other chemicals into the body that the liver couldn’t filter. For example. . ." Mr. Ford set the liver down and picked up a pamphlet. He took down his glasses that had been resting behind his side view mirrors on his head and read: "They added lead, fluoride, arsenic, and chlorine to the water supply. Another solution was to inject chemicals directly into the veins of very young children: Mercury by way of the preservative Thimerosol; ethylene glycol, or antifreeze; phenol, a
disinfectant dye; benzethonium chloride, a disinfectant; formaldehyde, which they used in corpses; and aluminum. They mixed this soup with live or dead viruses, some from extinct diseases and flooded their children with these vaccinations.
"Even now, the liver still blocks digestion of essential petroleum products. In order to give the liver something to feed on, be sure to take plenty of Tylenol, prescription drugs, and alcohol. That way, the liver will work on these decoys and your body will digest more from the fifth food group."
After school Merck drove past a Chevron billboard that read: "Lead is back. Doing our part for the environment." Merck breathed in the dioxin-saturated air. He couldn’t wait to measure his bolt again.
There was a recent post on MetaFilter about ABC digitally altering the James Bond Movie "Diamonds Are Forever". It's funny how uptight people are about anything sexual. At the National Open, a chess tournament usually held in Las Vegas each year. I was sharing a room with three other chess players, one was a good Mormon, and always a little uncomfortable with the Las Vegas reputation. We talked about what shows we might want to see while there and Jeff made it clear that he wasn't interested in that sort of thing. We teased him a little, but then had to head down to the tournament for the first round of play. My game lasted longer than the others and when I got back to the room. John was checking out the adult movie previews on the television. You could watch approximately two minutes of a movie without having to make a commitment to pay for it. Jeff protested, saying why would anyone watch such crap, but he didn't leave, and his attention seemed to be riveted on the TV. I smiled, and said, "better watch out Jeff that stuff is addictive". He said, "well I'm not really watching it. I was just thinking. I'd forgotten it was even on". Right I thought. We all went to get a bite to eat then to the convention area where the tournament was being held. The games lasted late into the night. Tournament Chess is a timed event. A tournament like the National Open will have a time control of 40 moves in 2 hours and game in 1 hour. That means each player has two hours to play the first 40 moves and if the game is not over you enter a sudden death time control, which allows an hour for each player to complete the game. Most games are 40 moves or less but a substantial number extends well beyond that, and a single round lasts from four to six hours. I once had a game of 92 moves before sudden death time controls were adopted which lasted over nine hours. We were all tired when we got back to the room and since the morning round was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. we quickly fell asleep. I'm not sure why I woke up, but as I rolled over I noticed the TV was on. I remember thinking, I wonder who left that on and was about to get up and turn it off when I saw Jeff sitting quietly on the edge of his bed completely absorbed in the adult fare. I watched quietly for some time as he watched two-minute segments of the entire list of well, humper movies, switching from one to the other just before he would have to order the entire movie. I eventually got bored watching him, and rolled over and went back to sleep. The next day we all won our games except Jeff who lost both of his. I guess Jeff was right when he said it was a bad idea to get involved with that sort of entertainment, it certainly was for him.
Note: The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Chess is often used as a metaphor for life and one I find useful. I remember twenty something years ago watching a game of chess between Nick de Firmian, then a good player now a Grandmaster, and an unnamed opponent. They had just finished the game, and as often happens an analysis of the game ensued. Nick, his opponent, and other strong players began analyzing the moves, the what might have been. Determining where the losing move was made, then analyzing alternative moves and how those moves would fare. They soon arrived at the critical position. Nick's opponent kept trying the same line, somehow persuaded that if he repeated it often enough it would save the game, and others would point out the error in his thinking. They suggested different solutions, but he just couldn't let go of his bad idea. Finally, Nick turned to him and explained the obvious. That once they had determined that a line didn't work there was no use in repeating it that it wouldn't change anything. It was time to move on. That is what is happening in the Middle East. The Israelis and Palestinians are stuck, repeating the same moves over and over again. They've been playing these same moves for 50 years and for 50 years nothing has changed. It is time to move on. Time to try new moves. Time for a friend to say there is no use in repeating the same moves it won't change anything. Unlike chess the game need not be zero sum. Life is more complex than that. There are solutions. The what can be, where both sides win. The current game is over, its time to begin anew. That is the only move.
Being left of left politically these are trying times. We have George (how dumb is dumb enough) Bush and John (do eagles soar) Ashcroft. I try not to obsess about them, but boy is it hard. My oldest son asked me the other day if I had my choice and could get rid of one or the other but not both who would I choose. I was surprised at what a difficult question that really is. John operates under his own set of irrefragable rules, trashing our civil rights along the way. And well George is just George. Maybe we can get Froggy (A character in an old-time radio show) to plunk his magic twanger, and they'll both go up in a cloud of smoke. So before you go to bed tonight repeat the phrase "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!" and well I can dream can't I? Here is a picture of Froggy I can't decide if looks more like John or George, and here is Froggy's home page where you can hear the request for Froggy to plunk his magic twanger.
In the early ninety's when chess players still got together in person my good friend Stephen invited the usual suspects over for a little barbecue and some chess. He said he had some visitors we would enjoy meeting. I asked who, he said that Grandmaster Alex Sherzer would be there and the rest he would save until later. I prodded without success. As it turned out Alex was not traveling alone, the others in his party were introduced as Lyle, Zoie and Sofia. The conversation quickly turned to chess, the PCA the Intel Grand Prix, as well as the merits of different players. I think at least some of us were wondering, could this Sofia be Sofia Polgar, at least I was. We didn't have to wait long to find out. About five minutes into the conversation Tim said, "well ladies do you play chess." To which they replied "oh a little." Most chess players know the code "oh a little" means I can kick the crap out of you over the board. A few minutes later not satisfied, Tim said to Sofia, "you look a lot like Judit Polgar", a real conversation stopper. Stephen said, "well of course she looks like Judit this is Sofia her sister". Tim said, "NO, not really" to which Stephen in his most serious tone replied, "Yes Tim really". Tim didn't say anything for several minutes. Then you could see the realization on his face, like the sun rising in the morning a glimmer of light reflected in his eye. Then just as quickly as if the entire day had passed in that one moment the sun set and his face turned a dark crimson red. There was nowhere to hide; all he could manage was a soft oh. Sofia gave us all gave a chance to prove our skill at speed chess, all quickly fell victim to a very good player. Tim claims to have won one game, but after watching Sofia crush Alex Sherzer game after game, I don't believe him. Tim was not alone however, the previous weekend Sofia, Alex and company were in Tucson, Sofia wasn't playing but was at the tournament where no one recognized her.
Note:
Sofia Polgar is a two-times Gold medallist with Hungarian national women’s team in 1988 and 1990. Her biggest success was in Rome, 1989 with a performance rating over 2900! (Kasparov's current rating is 2838) In a field of strong GMs she won the competition with 8.5/9, which at the time was a record in open tournaments.
Here is one of her best games from the tournament with her own annotations Sofia Polgar - Alexander Chernin. Rome 1989 and some additional information about Sofia.
I'm currently on a mystery reading binge. My latest find is Dennis Lehane and what great fun he is. Patrick (never Pat) Kenzie and Angela, Angie, Ange Gennaro are a pair of gritty Boston detectives who always get their man, albeit with a few scars and scares along the way. My favorite character is Bubba, a childhood friend and one bad dude. He is fiercely loyal to Patrick and Angie, and reminds me of the family Rottweiler, very endearing. A Drink Before the War is the first in the series followed by Darkness Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone, Baby, Gone and Prayer for Rain, for those of you who can't stand to read books out of order. I try but don't always succeed. All these are available in paperback, I think he has a new one Mystic only available in hardbound, but at the rate I read I'll wait. Thank god I buy my books at half.com there's a link under reading if you're interested. It is quite easy to buy books at half price or less including the cost of shipping. I've bought many paperbacks for $3.05 including shipping, nice having them delivered to my door. So if you want to or need to save a buck give them a try. Lehane brings humor and a page turning frenzy to his writing. I'm currently reading Gone, Baby, Gone, and yes I’ve already finished A Prayer for Rain out of order. I'm still chuckling about this line from Gone, Baby, Gone, "So Broussard said slowly, "She did bullshit us."
"Didn't want to spoil her fifteen seconds." Poole said.
"Her fifteen seconds?" I asked.
"In the spotlight," Poole said. "Used to be minutes; these days it's seconds"
I knew life was going faster but fifteen seconds is that all we get. The writing is consistent you can count on all of these for a good read.
