May 6, 2007

India's 19-year old chess star GM Koneru Humpy opines in a recent interview that women play chess differently than men. Here is a collection of opinions on that subject!

Susan Polgar says - watch GM Humpy Koneru (IND 2575) and Yifan Hou (CHN 2513).

Linguistics is a fascinating field; it may be through linguistics that some of the puzzles surrounding the origins of chess are solved. The first North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad has been organized and four cities are hosting the event this year - Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Ithaca, N.Y. - and students in other parts of the country who can find a teacher to serve as a proctor can compete on the Internet. The event is expected to draw several hundred students.

Online Etymology Dictionary (English only). check out the etymology for "chess" - it is the standard etymology. But is it really correct?

Amir Mohtashemi Gallery, London dealers in Islamic, Indian and ancient works of art, has some beautiful pieces, including some beautiful chess pieces. Check back from time to time, as the merchandise available for purchase changes.

The Romans Were Square Roman towns were constructed using orthogonal measurements based on Etruscan divination practices. Yeah baby!

A Chinese archaeologist wonders - can we learn from the mistakes of the past? A research team from the University of British Columbia will conduct a comprehensive study and analysis of Yellow River Valley sites, primarily Shang Dynasty, using an interdisciplinary approach employing archaeology, geology, paleography, isotope chemistry and palynology (the study of pollen and spores). Tools such as high-resolution pollen analysis of lake sediments and paleobotanical study of plant remains will augment an archaeological survey of prehistoric settlements. The focus of the study is what social and ecological forces led to the collapse of the Shang and what modern China might learn from these findings today.

Mining of obsidian in Japan may have taken place as long as 35,000 years ago, much earlier than previously thought (by about 20,000 years!)

Space Data Unveils Evidence Of Ancient Mega-lake
in Northern Darfur, evidence of the past rainy conditions in the eastern Sahara. This technology can help dry countries tap hidden underground aquifers, the contents of ancient lakes that has seeped beneath the surface over the millennia.

Chess Queen
GM Judit Polgar (HUN 2727), is the number 13 player in the world and the number 1 female player in the world, per FIDE April, 2007 ratings list. To give you an idea of her strength, the next highest female player in the world is GM Koneru Humpy (IND 2575). A male player with a rating of 2575 doesn't make the top 100 players in the world, which cuts off currently at 2622. GM Alexander Khalifman is #99 on the April list. Khalifman won the FIDE World Chess Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999.

This is a recent photo of Judit and Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, taken by Judit's husband, Gustav Fons. From Susan Polgar's Blogspot. Judit is one of 16 Grandmasters who will be competing in May, 2007 in the Candidates' Matches, the best players of which will compete for the world chess championship in Mexico, 11 September - 1 October. Judit, who will turn 31 this year, is - according to the pundits - entering her prime chess-playing years (the 30's). She beat #1 rated Topalov (FIDE January, 2007 ratings list) TWICE in October, 2006's Essent Tournament. May she have equal success in the Candidates Matches and advance to the finals in Mexico! Viva Judit!

Blast From the Past: Check out Jan Newton's posts written while she was in Las Vegas in August, 1999 to observe the quarter- and semi-finals of the knock-out event that saw GM Alexander Khalifman (RUS 2624) crowned World Chess Champion. Scroll to the heading Tournament Chess for links to those posts as well as links to several articles written by chess luminaries about the championship at the time.

April 29, 2007

Chess Analogies - Politics
It seems that people have been comparing chess to politics and political gamesmanship since the game was invented. Here are a few recent analogies in the headlines:

Chess Genius Battles Putin: Some say the war-game of chess is a mirror of reality. But what can the world's leading chess strategists accomplish outside the 64 squares...

Pakistan's legal crisis turns into legal chess: While the legal chess game is played out, some of the sense of drama surrounding the judicial crisis has begun to fade, as indeed Musharraf's advisers hoped...

Archaeologists to look for evidence of Knights Templar in Bulgaria Nikolai Ovcharov, one of Bulgaria 's most prominent archaeologists, will lead a team searching for historical evidence of the presence of Templar Knights in Bulgaria.

Death and the Maidens: Dozens of maidens, wearing headdresses of gold and lapis lazuli, walked down into a tomb in Mesopotamia 4,600 years ago. Each raised a cup to her lips, drank some poison, and lay down to die... Archaeologist sets out to prove "romantic" story of voluntary self-sacrifice in ancient Mesopotamian tombs is false.

Even now a huge new museum on the Giza Plateau is under construction and it promises, in its own way, to be as awe inspiring as the pyramids to which it will lead the way from the banks of the River Nile. Called the Grand Egyptian Museum, it is scheduled to open in 2011 and will be the largest display of Egyptian antiquities in the world, hosting over 100,000 objects. Goddesschess will have to visit!

The New York Sun reports on foreign countries' stepped-up efforts to crack down on the stolen antiquities market centered in New York.

The Ancient American is a magazine whose purpose is two-fold: to report in layman's language the variety of ancient artifacts found in the Americas and to open a forum for discussion between the professional and the avocational archaeologist. Now that's a purpose we at Goddesschess appreciate. Volume 2, Issue 8 from it's early days, is available only in photocopy. The subject - Egyptians in America. Features include "New World Drugs in Old World Mummies" and "Egyptian Statuettes in Mexico." For $7.00 US, it's worth a read.

Auction Watch Result #1
Sotheby's Auction results on Lot 48 (London, April 18, 2007): Islamic chess piece (elephant) sold for 12,000 GBP. Featured in Random Round-up during the Week of April 7, 2007.

Auction Watch Result #2
Christie's Auction results on Lot 0060 (London, April 17, 2007): Miscellaneous ivory Islamic chess pieces sold for 31,200 GBP. Featured in Random Round-up during the week of April 15, 2007.

Auction Watch
On May 2, 2007, Christie's will be hosting in South Kensington the sale of the Dr. Jean-Claude Cholet Collection of Chess Sets (Sale 5320). This is a BIG one! Lots of gorgeous lots. We'll be featuring some of the outstanding offerings in the weeks to come.

Auction Watch
Upcoming at Sotheby's May 9, 2007 (Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale, New York) Lot 372, Man Ray chess set, 32 gilder and silver gilded pieces. Executed in 1971 in an edition of 4 for Luciano Anselmino, Galleria il Fauno, in Turin. 32 silver and gilded silver pieces. Estimated at $20,000-$30,000.

Auction Watch
Upcoming at Sotheby's May 17, 2007 (British and Continental Pictures, Including Greek Art, London), Lot 166, in the style of Giovanni Boldini, Italian 1842-1931, "The Chess Players." Estimated at 2,000-3,000 GBP.

Auction Watch
Upcoming at Christie's May 4, 2007 (20th Century Decorative Art & Design, London), Lot 0121, Josef Hartwig for the Bausaus, Dessau, chess set with oak box, circa 1925. Cherrywood, partly ebonised, with paper instructions, dated 15 Oktober 1925; box 2 1/2 in. (6.5 cm.) high; 5 1/4 in. (13.5 cm. ) wide; 5 1/4 in. (13.5 cm.) deep inside cover of box impressed Hartwig. Estimated at 7,000-9,000 GBP.

April 22, 2007

The History of Black Chess Masters in America by Gregory Kearse - "The larger mainstream society is beginning to recognize the importance of chess in the education and salvation of our nation's youth. Chess clubs and programs are springing up around the country, and at the vanguard are the kids whom we have dubbed the lost generation all that black chess masters have been doing, almost from the very beginning, is passing on a legacy of excellence to the inheritors of the throne!"

The Art Newspaper The place to get the latest news in the world of art and antiquities.

$500,000 will buy you this. For those of us without such deep pocketbooks, House of Staunton offers a plastic set (unweighted), for only $19.95 (not including shipping). With the price of oil continuing to climb, you might be best served getting your plastic set now; someday it could be worth more than a diamond-studded set!

Iran will be hosting a second international conference on the Jiroft discoveries according to a press release by Iran’s Cultural Heritage News Agency – but no date has been announced yet. So – this is an announcement about a future announcement :)

Illegal looting of archaeological sites and illicit trade in looted artifacts are a fact of life the world over. Some artifacts of pure 18k gold, possibly dating from the 1st century CE, were confiscated as part of a sting operation in Turkey. After their arrests the culprits claimed they didn’t know the artifacts had historical value.

The Persian Journal reports the Iranians are going to try and salvage a Parthian (248 BC - 224 AD) or Sassanid (224-651 AD) shipwreck that rests some 70 meters below the surface of the Persian Gulf. Because of the depth, specially trained and equipped divers will be used. "Some experts believe that the discovery of this ship which belongs to either one of the two great Persian dynasties, Parthian or Sassanid, in the Persian Gulf could be used as a proof against false claims by some neighbor countries of Iran in the dispute over the Persiah Gulf, as some Arab states attribute this body of water to themselves, calling it the ‘Arabian Gulf!’"

Fraud and Forgeries Department
China is not only flooding the world with its "legitimate" manufactured goods, it’s also flooding the world with fraudulent antiquities. Here’s a reprint of a 2002 article by reporter Ron Gluckman that discusses the scope of the problem.

How Forgeries Corrupt Our Top Museums
While we ruminating about fakes and frauds, here is a must read article by Peter Watson at the New Statesman on the extent of frauds and fakes - being held by museums (who should know better, tut tut). The article is from 2000 and the problem has grown worse since then.

As fake antiquities flood the international market, the Internet and instant communications around the world have made it easier than ever for us to educate ourselves about those who prey on the unsuspecting, the gullible and the greedy. Fakebusters has lots of interesting information about Egyptian antiquities fakes and frauds.

Chess Queen
GM Antoanetta Stefanova
(BUL 2483) b. 1979.
Photo Calcutta, 1998
by GM Jon Levitt

Stefanova is one of the elite female players in the world who won the coveted GM title by her play. She won the FIDE Women's World Chess Championship in 2004 and is currently the 10th rated woman player in the World. Stefanova finished in 2nd place in the recently concluded 2007 European Women's Chess Championship with a great second-half performance that has earned her a spot in the next Women's World Chess Championship cycle.

April 15, 2007

Auction Watch: Upcoming at Christie's on April 17, 2007 in London (Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds), Lot 0060, seven (7) ivory chess pieces, probably Mesopotamia or Syria, c. 11th century, estimated 15,000-20,000 GBP (three kings, each of solid cylindrical form with raised central circles on top and a lower saddle on one side, one with traces of red dye, together with a rook with rectangular body and V-section top, two knights, one with defined horse's head, the other, more abstract, and a further piece of short cylindrical form with two horizontal protrusions at the top, incised lines around the top and bottom). Largest 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm.) high; smallest 1 9/16 in. (4 cm.) high.

Interview with Robert Bauval on his new book, "The Egypt Code."

Scientists have concluded that in paleolithic art across Europe, "female images dominate and are nude, almost every one full-figured above and below," and indicate a shared artistic tradition. Well, duh! Wasn't this one of the points that Marija Gimbutas (d.1994) was making more than 30 years ago?

Climate changes have led to the demise of several civilizations during ancient times, that's the theme of one of our discussions at the Goddesschess Discussion Group (It's Climatic Changes, Stupid! - enter as a guest). Here's a story about how one fragile ecosystem in the Arizona highlands is being destroyed as the climate gets hotter and drier.

A new book, "Kingdom of the Ark," posits that the legendary Princess Scota of Egypt was none other than a daughter of the heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, who fled her homeland after her father's death; it explores archaeological and historical evidence that the author says supports her theory. Wonder if there's possible confirmation of an Egyptian-Ireland-Scotland connection via a special type of Y chromosome Thomas Jefferson (whose ancestors were English) passed along to his male descendants: "The presidential chromosome turns out to belong to a rare class called ‘K2’, which is found at its highest frequency in the Middle East and Eastern Africa, including Oman, Somalia and Iraq. Its closest match was in a man from Egypt... ."

The looted Jiroft artefacts are back in the news. The Iranian government lost a court battle in England to regain possession of artifacts sold by the Barakat Gallery, an antiquities specialist based in London and Beverly Hills. Thousands of artifacts were stolen by looters after floods washed away the topsoil and exposed the ancient city of Jiroft in 2001. Goddesschess' 2005 article on the Jiroft gameboards.

As America's first black Grandmaster, Maurice Ashley is busy promoting chess in the United States. Here he is with some fans at the Queen City Classic in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was held March 30-31, 2007.

April 7, 2007

Auction Watch: Upcoming at Sotheby's on April 18, 2007 in London (Arts of the Islamic World), Lot 48, a 6.2 cm. max. 4.8 cm. height ivory elephant form chess piece, Persia or Central Asia, 9th-10th century, estimated 10,000-15,000 GBP. Carved in the form of an elephant leaning forward supporting a howdah on its back (rider missing).

A little history on war games from the exhibit put together by the Asia Society, "The Art of Contest".  Great graphics!

The March/April, 2007 edition of Biblical Archaeology Review has an interesting article on the use of serpent symbolism by the Egyptians and the Hebrews in "The Mystery of the Nechustan."

The latest issue of KMT (Volume 17/Number 4/Winter 2006-07) continues its "Egyptian Pantheon" series with an article on Djehuty, Moon-God and Divine Scribe.

Sunken treasure and - even more exciting to Goddesschess - evidence of ancient trade!  Here's an article about both  - treasure and evidence of Bronze Age trade between England and Sicily. 

Goddesschess loves Queens.  Read an abstract on Queen Yaba's curse at Current World Archaeology.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) is hosting a special exhibit, Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797, March 27, 2007 - July 8, 2007.

From a website devoted to the Origins of Things, here's an essay (no author noted) on the Origins of Chess.  A lot of it appears to be copied from the answer to "origins of chess" at Answers.com.  

Blast from the Past:  Speaking of the Origins of Chess, check out Ricardo Calvo's opinion on the subject.

Don McLean and Jan Newton saw this jewel of a temple in Madrid in 2002, where it shimmered in the warm autumn sun, situated in a small park on rising ground with sweeping views over half the city.  The Temple of Debod, a gift to the people of Spain from the nation of Egypt, is now threatened by pollution and bad weather!

April 1, 2007

Board games teach information architecture basics at Savannah College of Art and Design By Emily Green - Published: Friday, March 30, 2007