Pawned!

Trailer for what looks like an interesting upcoming documentary on street chess. Who says Chess is not an addiction? Warning: Some offensive language.

From Bulent Kenes, Today’s Zaman, Turkish News

If I was asked “What is the concept that has left its mark on the last 20-30 years most prominently?” I would probably say “extremism” without a moment’s hesitation.
The revolution in Iran carried out by the Iranian people under the leadership of a religious figure to put an end to the despotic and collaborating regime of the shah, the Chechen fight for survival, the acts of terrorism perpetrated by al-Qaeda and the armed attacks of the resistance fighters in Iraq have all been subject to attempted explanations through this word.

While “extremism” is more associated with religious movements involved in terrorism and violence, it has also been made into a very effective device to defame those who have different philosophies on life and hold different worldviews, so much so that a certain segment of Turkish society still shamelessly portrays a movement — that is the world’s most moderate and tolerant organization and the most receptive of interfaith and intercultural dialogue and contributes to world peace in the most lasting manner with its worldwide educational and cultural activities — as “extremist.” During a speech delivered at a dinner privately held for high-ranking media managers as part of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN)-World Editors Forum (WEF) Congress, held in the Swedish town of Göteborg, we understood the full potential for the abuse of this word and the extent to which its meaning can be expanded.

Apart from the content of this speech, the life story of the person who delivered it is familiar to many and, without a doubt, features events that would strike many as interesting. The person who delivered the speech was Gary Kasparov, the world’s greatest chess master, and I think you can already guess what I want to tell you. Kasparov says that he now uses his achievements in chess, which made him a legendary figure, and the tactics and strategies he developed for this game in the political realm. Kasparov, who keeps berating the Kremlin administration with his quick wit and extremely sharp style, succeeded in evoking a well-deserved feeling of admiration in the listeners who showed a keen interest in his speech.

For the last eight years, Kasparov has been directing very serious criticism at the Kremlin administration — led by Vladimir Putin up until a short time ago — in regard to violations of democratic rights and economic weaknesses, and he has been waging a remarkable struggle for democratic and civil rights through the civil movement he leads and the rallies and demonstrations he organizes. Of course, the attribute Moscow has come up with to describe Kasparov is very familiar: “extremist.”

Kasparov — who we can define as, at most, a liberal democrat, given his rhetoric, demands and actions — has been arrested a number of times for his “extremist” activities. To highlight how ironic the accusations made about him are, he pointed out that even Grigory Yavlinsky, one of the most liberal and democratic figures on the Russian political scene, was also defined as an extremist by Putin’s administration.

The biggest weapon of the civil movement, called “The Other Russia” and led by Baku-born Kasparov, which defends democracy, human rights, freedom of thought, speech and press, and individual rights and freedoms and fights for a fairer income distribution, is its civil activities.

Kasparov noted that Putin is still wielding as much influence as before despite the fact that the presidential office now belongs to Alexander Medvedev, adding that the world media have been wrongly buying into Russian legends in recent years. He provided a good number of examples of these false legends. Contrary to what is prevalently believed, it’s not Russia or the Russian people, but a certain segment of Russia that has grown more affluent, he said, stressing that the Russian people are still faced with great financial pain because of a corrupt income distribution system, despite the fact that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has witnessed a huge increase compared to eight years ago. Emphasizing that this year 82 Russians ranked in the Forbes’ list of billionaires even though none were on the list eight years ago, Kasparov reiterated that Russia had not become richer; rather, a certain clique of Russian elites famed for their close ties to Putin have acquired vast wealth.

Kasparov contended that Moscow has become the world’s costliest metropolitan area, having overtaken even New York and Tokyo. He also claimed that a significant number of Muscovites were literally fighting for survival on less than $100 a month due to the skyrocketing real estate prices and living costs in the city. He noted that Russia’s economic growth did not have the slightest positive impact on the lives of 85 percent of the Russian population. The greatest problem of the Putin era was favoritism and corruption, Kasparov said. He noted that the country that saw the biggest amount of direct investment in Russia according to official records was Greek Cyprus, hinting that siphoned-off public resources were laundered through Greek Cyprus.

Arguing that Russian elections were neither fair nor transparent, Kasparov maintained that the purpose of the Other Russia movement was not to win elections but to simply have real elections held. Speaking quite passionately, he called on world leaders and the world media to renounce their current policy of portraying the Putin administration as successful and of not seeing its violations of democratic and human rights. The Putin administration uses such attitudes among foreign leaders and media as a source of legitimacy to repress its opponents, Kasparov noted, drawing the audience’s attention to the fact that Russia was the second country after US-occupied Iraq with the greatest number of slain journalists and saying that this was not a coincidence.

What do you think? Does Kasparov really deserve to be called an “extremist” because of his statements?

Read Original Story Here.

A video tour of RZA’s Wuchess website just hit youtube a couple hours ago.

Go To WuChess.com.

Not so much about chess, just some seventies old school Kung Fu technique.

(Imagine mouth lip-syncing “two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun”) … “Wassa! Ghost faced killer!!”

Without further adieu, The Helicopter Video (set to Flight of the Valkyries, of course)… Rich

There’s an interesting post over on Problogger that I think makes a lot of good points about bloggers and blogging in general. Have a look at it, and see if any of it relates to your Chess blog reading and writing.

From Problogger:

“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.”

I can relate. For the last year or so I was hunting furiously for stories and videos that were not being covered by the mainstream chess blogs (if there even is such a thing as a mainstream chess blog). I’ve found that over the past month or two that one really does not need to post something every day to maintain loyal readership.

What’s most important is that you communicate with your readers in a prompt and sincere fashion. Interact with them, and post good content that makes them want to come back. I knew this from the get-go, but I still gravitated more toward quantity than quality.

It’s easy to just cut and paste google chess news alerts on your blog if your a celebrity chess figure, but us blue collar guys have to dig out the original and thought provoking stuff.

So what you’ll begin to see here is a little less posting, but a little more quality and originality.

What an original concept ! …Rich

Restoration Ministries program teaches life lessons.

By Lolly Bowean, Baltimore Sun, May 4, 2008

Thirteen-year-old Antwon McGhee glanced back and forth between the chessboard and his opponent, a 28-year-old recovering crack addict from Chicago.

Moments earlier, Antwon had been as frisky as the 40 other children around him in the Restoration Ministries workshop in Harvey, outside Chicago. But when he bent over the chessboard, he was all business.

For most people, chess is just a game. But in this club, where recovering addicts coach children in chess, it is a way toward understanding life better in a struggling community.

“That’s checkmate,” Antwon’s opponent said after 15 minutes of play. Antwon shook his head no.

“Yes, that’s checkmate,” his adversary said. Antwon stared at the board a few seconds more. “Wanna play again?” he asked with a small grin.

“In life, you’ve got to think like the rook,” Antwon said as he set up for another game.

“He can go anywhere, backward or forward, but only in a straight direction. I’m following God’s footsteps and moving forward. Some people can’t do that.”

The chess club was started last year by Michael Acquaviva, who said he’s been clean and moving forward for four years after spending what seemed like a lifetime addicted to drugs.

On the streets of his native Detroit, Acquaviva was a begging, bug-covered, smelly bum who lived under a bridge and injected heroin and a mix of vinegar and crack, he said.

But now, Acquaviva, 52, is the knight. Like the game piece, he hops around the Chicago suburbs speaking to children, telling his story to students and pushing men at a drug recovery house to do their best, hoping to capture an invisible prize: redemption from his troubled past.

“The chessboard is an even playing field,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Everyone is the same, and you have one goal.

“If I can help somebody with that,” he said, his voice trailing off. “This really boosts their confidence.”

Acquaviva hopes that if the players can see a bit of themselves in the game, maybe the children and recovering addicts can find their way to victory in life.

“I hope that at this young age, this game will be something they can carry on,” he said. “I strayed away from chess, but I did come back.”

After years of feeling he had little to contribute to the world, Acquaviva found his niche with the children in Harvey.

He started the group after mentioning to an employee at the recovery house where he lives and works that he used to love the game as a youngster.

When the club started, only eight children from Restoration Ministries’ after-school program were interested, he said.

Acquaviva found a way to grab more children’s attention. He announced a challenge: He’d pay $100 cash to anyone who could learn the game and beat him.

“At first it was easy,” he said. “But then I had to work to protect that $100.

“If you watch the kids, you’ll see they are so determined. They are young, but they are focused. They want to win.”

During the hourlong sessions, the room grows silent as the children stare down their opponents. Most of the time they play against adults: the recovering addicts, some college students and community volunteers. Sometimes they play each other.

The children come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Most are from Harvey, but some come from South Holland and other nearby towns to play.

They don’t take defeat easily. When one child lost, he called his opponent a rascal.

In return, his foe pulled his glasses from his face and let out a breathy huff.

“Smell my breath,” he said, and his opponent retreated while covering his face.

Seated a few spaces over, Aaliyah McGhee, 7, said she thought for sure she had won her game as her opponent TaSonia Bolden, 9, celebrated, “I beat you, I beat you.”

Aaliyah wrinkled her nose and twisted her face in disgust. “I don’t want to play again,” she said, and flicked the remaining pieces off the board.

“Dang! Did you see what she did?” a boy at another table said.

Many times, TaSonia said, she feels powerless.

But on the chessboard, she’s the queen.

“I like the queen because the queen can do whatever she wants,” she said. “I’m just a kid; I can’t take over everything like the queen can.”

Since she started playing chess, TaSonia said she’s quieted down. She prefers the thinking game to watching TV or running around.

“Chess is real quiet. You use your head,” she said.

Aaliyah might have not beaten TaSonia, but she’s won a few times, she pointed out. “I beat my brother. Then I beat my dad. Then I beat my mom. Then I kissed her.”

For Antwon, chess is a way to escape frustrations, he said.

His father taught him the ins and outs of the game, and when he and his sister found out about the chess club they walked in off the street to join.

Though the games are played in silence, emotion is projected in the moves, he said.

“When I get real mad, I play chess,” he said. “It makes me calm down a little. I don’t really care if I win or not. It’s just for the love of the game.”

His opponent reminded him that he was getting distracted, and it showed in his game.

“Just being able to help these kids feels good,” said Jonathan Lane. “If you learn your opponent, you’ll beat him eventually.”

Then Lane grew a little more introspective: “The world can be discouraging,” he said.

“But you can overcome. Once you learn the ways of the world, you become much wiser.”

From Times Online (UK) -

TYUMEN - A microscopic chess set no bigger than a match head could be the smallest board game in the world. The board is 3.5 mm by 2.5 mm and the gold and silver pieces are 0.15 mm and 0.3 mm high.

The set is one of the most remarkable works of the Russian micro-miniaturist Vladimir Aniskin, who has spent a decade perfecting his craft. He uses powerful microscopes and equipment that he designed himself and says that he must work between his heartbeats to create the tiny pieces.

“While working I hold my creation in my fingers,” he said. “Even one’s heartbeat disturbs such minute work, so particularly delicate work has to be done between heartbeats.”

The chess took six months to complete and he has about another 40 works to his name. His first was a grain of rice inscribed with 2,027 letters. “The rice grain took three months, camels in an eye of a needle took two months and camels in a horse hair also took two months,” he said. “Even with these simpler jobs it is still time-consuming.”

Mr Aniskin, 30, works at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in Tyumen, specialising in developing microphobes for aerodynamic investigations.

Read Original Story Here.

Frank Brady, Asa Hoffman, and Bruce Pandolfini talk about the Marshall Chess Club in New York.