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Earth could have two suns? 2011-02-03 Daniel Reid Earth could have two suns when Betelgeuse, the second largest star in the constellation Orion, explodes. Crack out the SPF 8,000. Scientists are predicting a second sun could illuminate the Earth for a period of about two weeks. I’m going to repeat that for anyone that temporarily lost consciousness. The Earth. Could soon have. Two freaking suns. This mind-blowing event could happen as soon as this year when Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars in the sky, explodes – causing enough brightness to illuminate both day and night. The only real issue of debate is over when exactly this event will happen. Some scientists say the blast might have already happened and we just haven’t seen the light rays yet. Brad Carter, senior lecturer of physics at the University of southern Queensland in Australia, told the London Telegraph that the blast could happen in the next few months . . . or any time over the next million years. Talk about an open-ended timeframe. Though the bright red supergiant Betelgeuse is a frightening 100,000 times brighter than our sun, it remains a comfortable 640-light years away. Though a lot of questions come to mind – namely whether we should start buying stocks in Oakleys or beach towels – experts claim the event should not otherwise affect our planet. Earth will simply have a front-row seat for what promises to be one of the most incredible light shows in our planet’s history, reports the Daily Mail.

A Brief History of the Guitar Good day Rock 'n' Roll A bit of reading here but you may find it interesting. I thought this is a must have topic for Rock 'n' Roll, hope you like it. The guitar is an ancient and noble instrument, whose history can be traced back over 4000 years. Many theories have been advanced about the instrument's ancestry. It has often been claimed that the guitar is a development of the lute, or even of the ancient Greek kithara. Research done by Dr. Michael Kasha in the 1960's showed these claims to be without merit. He showed that the lute is a result of a separate line of development, sharing common ancestors with the guitar, but having had no influence on its evolution. The influence in the opposite direction is undeniable, however - the guitar's immediate forefathers were a major influence on the development of the fretted lute from the fretless oud which the Moors brought with them to to Spain. The sole "evidence" for the kithara theory is the similarity between the greek word "kithara" and the Spanish word "quitarra". It is hard to imagine how the guitar could have evolved from the kithara, which was a completely different type of instrument - namely a square-framed lap harp, or "lyre". It would also be passing strange if a square-framed seven-string lap harp had given its name to the early Spanish 4-string "quitarra". Dr. Kasha turns the question around and asks where the Greeks got the name "kithara", and points out that the earliest Greek kitharas had only 4 strings when they were introduced from abroad. He surmises that the Greeks hellenified the old Persian name for a 4-stringed instrument, "chartar". The Ancestors The earliest stringed instruments known to archaeologists are bowl harps and tanburs. Since prehistory people have made bowl harps using tortoise shells and calabashes as resonators, with a bent stick for a neck and one or more gut or silk strings. The world's museums contain many such "harps" from the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian civilisations. Around 2500 - 2000 CE more advanced harps, such as the opulently carved 11-stringed instrument with gold decoration found in Queen Shub-Ad's tomb, started to appear. "Queen Shub-Ad's harp" (from the Royal Cemetery in Ur) A tanbur is defined as "a long-necked stringed instrument with a small egg- or pear-shaped body, with an arched or round back, usually with a soundboard of wood or hide, and a long, straight neck". The tanbur probably developed from the bowl harp as the neck was straightened out to allow the string/s to be pressed down to create more notes. Tomb paintings and stone carvings in Egypt testify to the fact that harps and tanburs (together with flutes and percussion instruments) were being played in ensemble 3500 - 4000 years ago. Egyptian wall painting, Thebes, 1420 BCE Archaeologists have also found many similar relics in the ruins of the ancient Persian and Mesopotamian cultures. Many of these instruments have survived into modern times in almost unchanged form, as witness the folk instruments of the region like the Turkish saz, Balkan tamburitsa, Iranian setar, Afghan panchtar and Greek bouzouki. The oldest preserved guitar-like instrument Har-Moses instrument had three strings and a plectrum suspended from the neck by a cord. The soundbox was made of beautifully polished cedarwood and had a rawhide "soundboard". It can be seen today at the Archaeological Museum in Cairo. Queen Hatshepsut What is a guitar, anyway? To distinguish guitars from other members of the tanbur family, we need to define what a guitar is. Dr. Kasha defines a guitar as having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides" .The oldest known iconographical representation of an instrument displaying all the essential features of a guitar is a stone carving at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey, of a 3300 year old Hittite "guitar" with "a long fretted neck, flat top, probably flat back, and with strikingly incurved sides". The Lute (Al'ud, Oud) The Moors brought the oud to Spain. The tanbur had taken another line of development in the Arabian countries, changing in its proportions and remaining fretless. The Europeans added frets to the oud and called it a "lute" - this derives from the Arabic "Al'ud" (literally "the wood"), via the Spanish name "laud".A lute or oud is defined as a "short-necked instrument with many strings, a large pear-shaped body with highly vaulted back, and an elaborate, sharply angled peghead". Renaissance lute by Arthur RobbIt is hard to see how the guitar - with "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides" - could possibly have evolved from the lute, with its "short neck with many strings, large pear-shaped body with highly vaulted back, and elaborate, sharply angled peghead". The Guitar The name "guitar" comes from the ancient Sanskrit word for "string" - "tar". (This is the language from which the languages of central Asia and northern India developed.) Many stringed folk instruments exist in Central Asia to this day which have been used in almost unchanged form for several thousand years, as shown by archeological finds in the area. Many have names that end in "tar", with a prefix indicating the number of strings: Dotar two = Sanskrit "dvi" - modern Persian "do" -dotar, two-string instrument found in Turkestan three = Sanskrit "tri" - modern Persian "se" -setar, 3-string instrument, found in Persia (Iran),(cf. sitar, India, elaborately developed, many-stringed) four = Sanskrit "chatur" - modern Persian "char" -chartar, 4-string instrument, Persia (most commonly known as "tar" in modern usage)(cf. quitarra, early Spanish 4-string guitar,modern Arabic qithara, Italian chitarra, etc) five = Sanskrit "pancha" - modern Persian "panj" -panchtar, 5 strings, Afghanistan Indian Sitar The Indian sitar almost certainly took its name from the Persian setar, but over the centuries the Indians developed it into a completely new instrument, following their own aesthetic and cultural ideals. Persian SetarChartar ("Tar") Tanburs and harps spread around the ancient world with travellers, merchants and seamen. The four-stringed Persian chartar (note the narrow waist!) arrived in Spain, where it changed somewhat in form and construction, acquired pairs of unison-tuned strings instead of single strings and became known as the quitarra or chitarra. From four-, to five-, to six-string guitar As we have seen, the guitar's ancestors came to Europe from Egypt and Mesopotamia. These early instruments had, most often, four strings - as we have seen above, the word "guitar" is derived from the Old Persian "chartar", which, in direct translation, means "four strings". Many such instruments, and variations with from three to five strings, can be seen in mediaeval illustrated manuscripts, and carved in stone in churches and cathedrals, from Roman times through till the Middle Ages. Right: Roman "guitar", c:a 200 CE. Mediaeval psalter, c:a 900 CE. Angel with guitar, St. Stephen's church, 1591. By the beginning of the Renaissance, the four-course (4 unison-tuned pairs of strings) guitar had become dominant, at least in most of Europe. (Sometimes a single first string was used.) The earliest known music for the four-course "chitarra" was written in 16th century Spain. The five-course guitarra battente (left) first appeared in Italy at around the same time, and gradually replaced the four-course instrument. The standard tuning had already settled at A, D, G, B, E, like the top five strings of the modern guitar. In common with lutes, early guitars seldom had necks with more than 8 frets free of the body, but as the guitar evolved, this increased first to 10 and then to 12 frets to the body. 5-course guitar by Antonio Stradivarius, 1680 A sixth course of strings was added to the Italian "guitarra battente" in the 17th century, and guitar makers all over Europe followed the trend. The six-course arrangement gradually gave way to six single strings, and again it seems that the Italians were the driving force. (The six-string guitar can thus be said to be a development of the twelve-string, rather than vice versa, as is usually assumed.) In the transition from five courses to six single strings, it seems that at least some existing five-course instruments were modified to the new stringing pattern. This was a fairly simple task, as it only entailed replacing (or re-working) the nut and bridge, and plugging four of the tuning peg holes. An incredibly ornate guitar by the German master from Hamburg, Joakim Thielke (1641 - 1719), was altered in this way. (Note that this instrument has only 8 frets free of the body.) At the beginning of the 19th century one can see the modern guitar beginning to take shape. Bodies were still fairly small and narrow-waisted 6-string guitar by George Louis Panormo, 1832 The modern "classical" guitar took its present form when the Spanish maker Antonio Torres increased the size of the body, altered its proportions, and introduced the revolutionary "fan" top bracing pattern, in around 1850. His design radically improved the volume, tone and projection of the instrument, and very soon became the accepted construction standard. It has remained essentially unchanged, and unchallenged, to this day. Guitar by Antonio Torres Jurado, 1859 Steel-string and electric guitars At around the same time that Torres started making his breakthrough fan-braced guitars in Spain, German immigrants to the USA - among them Christian Fredrich Martin - had begun making guitars with X-braced tops. Steel strings first became widely available in around 1900. Steel strings offered the promise of much louder guitars, but the increased tension was too much for the Torres-style fan-braced top. A beefed-up X-brace proved equal to the job, and quickly became the industry standard for the flat-top steel string guitar. At the end of the 19th century Orville Gibson was building archtop guitars with oval sound holes. He married the steel-string guitar with a body constructed more like a cello, where the bridge exerts no torque on the top, only pressure straight down. This allows the top to vibrate more freely, and thus produce more volume. In the early 1920's designer Lloyd Loar joined Gibson, and refined the archtop "jazz" guitar into its now familiar form with f-holes, floating bridge and cello-type tailpiece. The electric guitar was born when pickups were added to Hawaiian and "jazz" guitars in the late 1920's, but met with little success before 1936, when Gibson introduced the ES150 model, which Charlie Christian made famous. With the advent of amplification it became possible to do away with the soundbox altogether. In the late 1930's and early 1940's several actors were experimenting along these lines, and controversy still exists as to whether Les Paul, Leo Fender, Paul Bigsby or O.W. Appleton constructed the very first solid-body guitar. Be that as it may, the solid-body electric guitar was here to stay.

Meteors set to put on a show 11/08/2011 9:29:38 AM CBC News The annual Perseid meteor shower takes centre stage this week, painting the night sky with glowing streaks of light. The annual Perseid meteor shower takes centre stage this week, painting the night sky with glowing streaks of light. The spectacle begins every year in mid-July and lasts through August, but the best time to take in the show this year is when the meteor shower peaks on Friday night and early Saturday. Unfortunately, the glare of the full moon will make it hard to see some of the more modest meteors this year. The best viewing time is expected to be just before dawn on Saturday, when the moon will be low in the sky. The Perseids appear to originate from a point within the constellation Perseus. The number of meteors visible in the sky tends to increase as the night wears on. According to NASA, more than a dozen meteors per hour were already visible by Tuesday. For those who don't want to stay up until dawn, the few meteors that are visible early in the night may also be some of the most brilliant. Astronomers call these meteors earthgrazers. Long, slow and colourful, they approach from the horizon and skim along the atmosphere much to the viewer's delight. The show is free, so grab a seat, whether for an hour or the whole night, and if you miss the event this year you can always catch it again next August. This performance has a standing engagement. What's a meteor shower? Meteor showers occur when the Earth encounters the debris fields left behind by visiting comets. As comets travel through space and near the sun, small particles of rock and metal break off, leaving fragments in their wake like a trail of crumbs. For example, the Perseids streak through the sky when the Earth is passing through debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Comet crumbs called meteoroids hit the top of Earth's atmosphere at hundreds of thousands of kilometres per hour, burning up because of friction. This may make them glow for several seconds, lighting up the night sky. If a part of the meteor survives the trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's a meteorite. But that is a rare occurrence. Meteoroids are usually pretty small. According to NASA, most meteors range in size from one millimetre to one centimetre in diameter, barely more than a grain of sand. The light they produce while burning up, however, is very intense and can be seen from hundreds of kilometres away. Many people call these celestial fireworks "shooting stars," but they really don't have anything to do with stars at all. Why are they so bright? The intense light of a meteor breaking up is created when a dust particle hits air molecules in the Earth's atmosphere. The impact vapourizes the outer layers of the meteor, leaving a trail of iron, magnesium and sodium. When this trail of molecules makes subsequent impact with air molecules, the electrons are "bashed" out of their regular orbit with their corresponding nuclei, creating light in the process. The colour of light produced depends upon the composition of the meteorite. Iron particles produce yellow light; sodium particles produce orange-yellow light; magnesium produces a blue-green light and silicon atoms produce red light. How are they named? The debris from a comet travels in parallel lines, and when that hits the Earth's atmosphere, it appears to originate from a single point, just as parallel train tracks appear to converge to a single point. The Perseids, for example, get their name from the constellation Perseus, because that is where the shower appears to originate. Similarly, November's Leonids appear to come from within the constellation Leo, and December's Geminids appear to originate from within the constellation Gemini. Where to watch them Find the darkest spot you can, away from light pollution. Try to get outside any settled area. In years where there is a bright moon, try to position yourself so its light is shielded from your field of vision. Meteors can appear anywhere in the night sky and they are safe to watch with the naked eye.

Methods for comparing top chess players throughout history This article examines a number of methodologies that have been suggested for the task of comparing top chess players throughout history, particularly the question of comparing the greatest players of different eras. Statistical methods offer objectivity but, whilst there is agreement on systems to rate the strengths of current players, there is disagreement and controversy on whether such techniques can be applied to players from different generations who never competed against each other. Elo System Perhaps the best-known statistical model is that devised by Arpad Elo. In his 1978 book The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present, he gave ratings to players corresponding to their performance over the best five-year span of their career. According to this system the highest ratings achieved were: 2725 – José Raúl Capablanca 2720 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Emanuel Lasker 2700 – Mikhail Tal 2690 – Alexander Alekhine, Paul Morphy, Vasily Smyslov. (Though published in 1978, Elo's list did not include five-year averages for Bobb Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. It did list January 1978 ratings of 2780 for Fischer and 2725 for Karpov.) In 1970, FIDE adopted Elo's system for rating current players, so one way to compare players of different eras is to compare their Elo ratings. The best-ever Elo ratings are tabulated below. Table of top 20 rated players ever, with date their best ratings were first achieved Rank RatingPlayerYear-monthCountry 1 2851 Garry Kasparov 1999-07 Russia 2 2826 Magnus Carlsen 2010-07 Norway 3 2817 Viswanathan Anand 2011-03 India 4 2813 Veselin Topalov 2006-07 Bulgaria 5 2809 Vladimir Kramnik 2001-10 Russia 6 2808 Levon Aronian 2011-03 Armenia 7 2788 Alexander Morozevich 2008-07 Russia 8 2787 Vassily Ivanchuk 2007-10 Ukraine 9 2785 Bobby Fischer 1972-01 United States 10 2780 Anatoly Karpov 1994-07 Russia 11 2776 Sergey Karjakin 2011-01 Russia 12 2774 Hikaru Nakamura 2011-03 United States 13 2773 Alexander Grischuk 2011-01 Russia 14 2772 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2011-01 Azerbaijan 15 2765 Peter Svidler 2006-01 Russia 16 2763 Peter Leko 2005-04 Hungary 17 2761 Teimour Radjabov 2009-01 Azerbaijan 17 2761 Boris Gelfand 2010-01 Israel 17 2761 Pavel Eljanov 2010-09 Ukraine 20 2760 Dmitry Jakovenko 2009-01 Russia The average Elo rating of top players has risen over time. For instance, the average of the top 100 active player rose from 2644 in July 2000 to 2697 in March 2011, a 53-point increase. Many people believe that this rise is mostly due to a system artifact known as ratings inflation, making it impractical to compare players of different eras. Arpad Elo was of the opinion that it was futile to attempt to use ratings to compare players from different eras; in his view, they could only possibly measure the strength of a player as compared to his or her contemporaries. He also stated that the process of rating players was in any case rather approximate; he compared it to "the measurement of the position of a cork bobbing up and down on the surface of agitated water with a yard stick tied to a rope and which is swaying in the wind". Chessmetrics Many statisticians since Elo have devised similar methods to retrospectively rate players. Jeff Sonas, for example, calls his system Chessmetrics. This system takes account of many games played after the publication of Elo's book, and claims to take account of the rating inflation that the Elo system has apparently suffered. One caveat is that a Chessmetrics rating takes into account the frequency of play. According to Sonas, "As soon as you go a month without playing, your Chessmetrics rating will start to drop". While it may be in the best interest of the fans for chess-players to remain active, it is not clear why a person's rating, which reflects his/her skill at chess, should drop if the player is inactive for a period of time. Sonas, like Elo, acknowledges that it is useless to try to compare the strength of players from different eras. In his explanation of the Chessmetrics system,he says: Of course, a rating always indicates the level of dominance of a particular player against contemporary peers; it says nothing about whether the player is stronger/weaker in their actual technical chess skill than a player far removed from them in time. So while we cannot say that Bobby Fischer in the early 1970s or Jose Capablanca in the early 1920s were the "strongest" players of all time, we can say with a certain amount of confidence that they were the two most dominant players of all time. That is the extent of what these ratings can tell us.Nevertheless Sonas' Web site does compare players from different eras, and shows that in such cases the Chessmetrics system is rather sensitive to the length of the periods being compared. Including data until December 2004, the rankings were: Position1 year5 years10 years15 years20 years[ 1 Bobby Fischer Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov 2 Garry Kasparov Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Karpov 3 Mikhail Botvinnik José Capablanca Anatoly Karpov Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker 4 José Capablanca Mikhail Botvinnik José Capablanca José Capablanca Alexander Alekhine 5 Emanuel Lasker Bobby Fischer Bobby Fischer Alexander Alekhine Viktor Korchnoi 6 Alexander Alekhine Anatoly Karpov Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Vasily Smyslov In a 2005 ChessBase article, Sonas uses Chessmetrics to evaluate historical annual performance ratings and comes to the conclusion that Kasparov was dominant for the most number of years, followed closely by Lasker and Karpov. Warriors of the Mind In contrast to Elo and Sonas's systems, Raymond Keene and Nathan Divinsky's book Warriors of the Mind attempts to establish a rating system claiming to compare directly the strength of players active in different eras, and so determine the strongest player of all time. Considering games played between sixty-four of the strongest players in history, they come up with the following top ten: Garry Kasparov, 3096 Anatoly Karpov, 2876 Bobby Fischer, 2690 Mikhail Botvinnik, 2616 José Raúl Capablanca, 2552 Emanuel Lasker, 2550 Viktor Korchnoi, 2535 Boris Spassky, 2480 Vasily Smyslov, 2413 Tigran Petrosian, 2363 These "Divinsky numbers" are not on the same scale as Elo ratings (the last person on the list, Johannes Zukertort, has a Divinsky number of 873, which would be a beginner-level Elo rating). Keene and Divinsky's system has met with limited acceptance, and Warriors of the Mind has also been criticised for its arbitrary selection process and bias towards modern players. Actual moves played compared with computer choices A computer-based method of analyzing chess abilities across history came from Matej Guid and Ivan Bratko from the Department of Computer and Information Science of University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2006. The basis for their evaluation was the difference between the position values resulting from the moves played by the human chess player and the moves chosen as best by a chess program, Crafty. They also compared the average number of errors in the player's game. Opening moves were excluded, in an attempt to negate the progress in chess opening theory. According to their analysis, the leader was José Raúl Capablanca, followed closely by Vladimir Kramnik. The "Classical" World Chess Championship matches were analyzed, and the results for the fourteen Classical World Champions were presented. Players with fewest average errors: José Raúl Capablanca Vladimir Kramnik Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov Boris Spassky Tigran Petrosian Emanuel Lasker Bobby Fischer Alexander Alekhine Vasily Smyslov Mikhail Tal Mikhail Botvinnik Max Euwe Wilhelm Steinitz The method received a number of criticisms, including: the study used a modified version of Crafty rather than the standard version; even the standard version of Crafty was not strong enough to evaluate the world champions' play; one of the modifications restricted the search depth to 12 half-moves, which is often insufficient. As of 2006 Crafty's Elo rating was 2657, below many historical top human players and several other computer programs. A similar project was also conducted in 2007 using Rybka 2.3.2a and a modified version of Crafty 20.14. Analysis by Rybka 3 and comparisons with modern ratings

Top 10 chess books of all time "Zurich International Tournament" by David Bronstein An author of collection D.I. Bronshtein - was a Soviet grandmaster, known chess analyst. The book contains all the parts of the tournament contenders, which was held in Zurich in 1953. In the creative for this tournament was one of the most meaningful in the postwar years. In the comments, the author focuses on parsing the middle of the game. The book is considered one of the best in chess literature, and interest in it over the years has not diminished. All 210 games from the greatest tournament since World War II. Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, 10 others; perceptive annotations by Bronstein. "My System" by Nimzowitsch "My system" was required reading of many outstanding players past and present. The blockade and prevention, erosion of pawn chain base and maneuvering, excessive protection and mysterious course - these and many other devices have been placed on shelves and the famous educator Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch. Written by a living, figurative language, it is not just a classic, but really brilliant textbook positional play. Chess seriously study it, learn to deep penetration into the mysteries of the ancient game. The book will be useful as a chess player, only beginning to climb the ladder of classification, as well as their more experienced colleagues. "My Great Predecessors" series by Garry Kasparov This book contains not only the best party of former giants studied again with the help of a computer, but also "hot spots" of chess history - critical, crucial moments of matches at the World Championship. Champions in chess replaced for various reasons, and yet the main of them was more purely evolutionary: the continuous and rapid development of the game itself. "School of chess excellence" by Dvoretsky Second, revised and enlarged, edition of the book begins a series of "Higher School of Excellence" Honored coach of the USSR, Russia and Georgia's Mark Dvoretsky. This is the first in the world literature textbook for chess players of the highest quality - up to and including grandmasters. "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" by Bobby Fischer Here is the fastest, most efficient, most enjoyable book on chess ever compiled. As the student, you start at the beginning and progressively develop your skills as you apply Bobby Fischer's principles and learn how to play Chess the Bobby Fischer way. When you finish this book, you will not be able to beat the greatest Chess player the world has every known, but you will be a much better chess player than you were. Bobby Fischer was born in Chicago Illinois, in 1943. He was introduced to Chess and learned the moves when he was six years old. In his teens he achieved international prominence by winning every United States Chess competition for four years running without the loss of a game. He was the youngest International Grandmaster in Chess history. "Tal-Botvinnik, 1960" by Tal One of the greatest books ever written about a world championship match. Take a trip with the Magician from Riga as he invites you to share his thoughts and feelings as he does battle for the world title. "Endgame Manual (2nd edition)" by Dvoretsky A modern classic. The first edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual was immediately recognized by novice and master alike as one of the best books ever published on the endgame. This second edition is revised and enlarged, now over 400 pages, covering all the most important concepts required for endgame mastery. "My Best Games" byAlexander Alekhine Alekhine comments his best games (1909-1937, including his best games of 2nd match vs Euwe). The foreword of Kasparov (who is a most famous "pupil" of Alekhine, he studied Alekhine's books and games very much in his youth). Books of Alekhine teach very successfully, they has a great clarity of explanations. Alekhine is one of few real chess philosophers in the history, he is able (using brilliant abstract ideas) to explain very complicated situations on board. Probably, one of the best ways to improve your chess understanding if you are a qualified amateur (especially of active style), pay attention also to "107 Great Chess Battles". 118 games at all. Useful notes of elite GM John Nunn. "New York International Chess Tournament 1924" A. Alekhine Many experts consider that it's the best book about tournaments. 110 games. Took part in the competition: Capapablanca, Em. Lasker, Alekhine, Marshall, Bogoljubov, Janowsky, Reti, Maroczy, Tartakower, Ed. Lasker, Yates. "My Best Games" by Anatoly Karpov In 1975, Anatoly Karpov was declared chess champion of the world when the eccentric Bobby Fischer declined to defend his title against his Russian challenger. "Tolya" went on to prove that he was no paper tiger over the next three decades, during which he held the FIDE world championship for 17 years and won more than 160 major chess tournaments, an all-time record. The unique career of the Russian grandmaster can be appreciated from these 100 games, each of which is annotated by Karpov. All chess enthusiasts can profit and learn from these incredibly matches. Of course I likely missed a great deal of other books but these are a few to consider.

Most Expensive Guitar in the World “Blackie”, Eric Clapton’s favorite mid-career modified Strat has been surpassed in value and is no longer the most expensive guitar ever, despite that it was bought for $950,000 USD in 2004 by a guitar archaeologist. The latest most expensive electric guitar in the world dethroned its predecessor at an auction in Doha, Qatar on November 16th, 2005. The Strat was signed by several rock musicians to benefit a tsunami charity, ‘Reach out to Asia’. It was bought one year ago by Qatar’s royal family for a million dollars and donated back to the Asia Program, bringing in $2.7 million USD at the more recent auction, whose attendees included Former President Bill Clinton. Technically, the guitar has generated a total of $3.7 million USD, making it the most expensive guitar yet. Signees of this expensive electric guitar included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams, the coordinator of the project. 10. 1949 Fender Broadcaster prototype: $375,000 Leo Fender’s first solid object prototype became the template for one of the most popular guitars ever made (then known as the Fender Telecaster). Though Les Paul’s quicker off the mark in making the first solid body guitars, this particular model is the key to the fate of the electric guitar world’s most successful companies, and thus history is very important. Sold to private collectors in 1994, for $ 375,000, the highest price ever paid for a guitar at that time. 1949 Fender Broadcaster prototype 9. Eric Clapton’s Gold Leaf Stratocaster: $455,550 Ordered by Eric Clapton in 1996, around the time Fender’s 50th anniversary. Clapton reportedly wanted something that could hang in a museum like the Louvre, and delivered with a Custom Fender Start, plated with 23K gold. Then go into production, becoming the company’s first signature guitar. Original sold at auction by Christie’s for an impressive $ 455,000 in 1997. Eric Clapton's Gold Leaf Stratocaster 8. George and John’s 1964 Gibson SG: $570,000 This guitar is used by The Beatles between 1966 and 1969. George Harrison used it when recording and touring the album Revolver, while John Lennon used during the sessions for The White Album. It was given by George Peter Ham, from the rock band Badfinger, and after his death lay undiscovered until 2002. It sold to an anonymous bidder at auction in 2004, for a startling $ 570,000. George and Johns 1964 Gibson SG 7. “Lenny” – Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1965 Fender Composite Stratocaster: $623,500 Great blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan, received from his wife, Lenny, in 1980 as a 26th birthday present, and named it after him. This is one of his favorite guitar, and he used it extensively until his death in 1990. The SRV stickers on the body of this guitar is a trademark of the majority of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar, a habit he picked up from brother Jimmie who started this trend in his presence. In 2004 it became the first and only one guitar ever released for sale by the estate, to raise money for charity.It raised $ 623,500 at auction to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. Lenny Stevie Vaughan's 1965 Fender Composite Stratocaster 6. Eric Clapton’s C.F. Martin & Co., circa 1939: $791,500 One of Clapton’s guitar added to this list. The reason for this is that he is one of the few famous guitarists who do not actually sell the guitar – to raise money for Crossroads Rehabilitation Center. Surely there are guitars out there (owned by Jimmy Page, Van Halen, etc.) that can take more if they were sold, but they have not yet put up for sale. CF Martin Co circa 1939 5. Eric Clapton’s 1964 Gibson ES0335 TDC: $847,500 The guitar was used as Clapton’s guitar particularly during 1964, but only rarely after that. It took the highest price ever paid for a Gibson when auctioned. Eric Clapton's 1964 Gibson ES0335 TDC 4. Blackie – Stratocaster hybrid: $959,500 In 1970, due to the effect from other guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton decided to switch from Gibson to the Stratocaster guitar. Clapton bought six vintage Strats from the guitar shop in Texas for a hundred dollars each. He gave three to go (for George Harrison, Pete Townshend and Steve Winwood) and then collect the best parts of the remaining three. which he named ‘Blackie’ as a dark finish. Clapton Blackie played for the first time in January 1973, and continues to do so until he retired in 1985 because of neck problems. Blackie sold at auction in 2004, and became the one of the world’s most expensive guitar for $ 959,000. Blackie Stratocaster Hybrid 3. Bob Marley’s Custom made Washburn 22 series Hawk: estimated Price $1.2 to 2 million Classified as a national asset by the government of Jamaica, this guitar is one of only seven guitar of reggae icon’s life. On November 21, 1971, after a gig in Vancouver, Marley gave the guitar to a guitar technician Gary Carlsen with the words, “Take it as you will understand later.” Amazing, Carlsen took this as a sign that he should use the gifts he has given to a better world in some way, and so he founded the charity “Different Journeys, One Destination”, offers guitar as a prize in the lottery. Bob Marley's Custom made Washburn 22 series Hawk 2. Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Stratocaster: Estimated Price $2 million This guitar Hendrix played at Woodstock in 1969. From 1970 until 1990 was in charge of drummer Mitch Mitchell, before emerging to the surface in 1990 at the opening of the new Fender Artist Centre complete with cigarette burns on the headstock, and Trademark Jimi reverse stringing. It sold at Sotheby’s in the same year for $ 198,000. The rumors say that Paul Allen (Bill Gates’ right-hand man at Microsoft) is paid two million dollars for this guitar in 1998. Jimi Hendrix's 1968 Stratocaster 1. Reach out to Asia Fender Stratocaster: $2.7 million This guitar sold at auction in Qatar in 2005, to raise funds for Reach out to Asia, a charity formed to help the tsunami victims. Coordinated by Bryan Adams, was signed by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams himself. Initially taken by the Qatari royal family for $ 1 million and later donated to charity, after it was sold again to a price of $ 2.7 million, which means that the guitar has yielded a total of $ 3.7 million dollars for charity. Reach out to Asia Fender Stratocaster

Most Expensive Chess Set Renowned French artist and master of jewelry, Bernard Maquin created the Royal Diamond Chess set in 2005 bringing the game of chess to a whole new level. Noted for its abililty to combine fine art, jewelry, and the classic game of chess, this is one of the most expensive chess sets in the world. Thirty craftsmen, under the direction of Maquin spent over 4500 hours creating the expensive chess set. The work was done all by hand and when it was completed, the artists used 1168.75 grams of 14 carat white gold, and approximately 9900 black and white diamonds, bringing the total weight to 186.09 carats and the total cost to $500,000. This posh chess set is part of the Charles Hollander Collection, one of the most respected names in the diamond industry. And you just know you are looking at a piece from the Hollander collection when you see a game doubling as a diamond studded work of art. But if you thought the Hollander set would make your chess game bling-bling, then you haven’t seen the most expensive chess set in the world yet. This label goes to the Jewel Royale Chess Set from Britain. Boodles, a British custom jewelry company commissioned its production. Valued at over £5 million ($9.8m USD), this single chess set is the most expensive and exquisite game set of any kind in the world. Constructed of gold and platinum, it contains diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls and sapphires. The king piece alone weighs 165.2 grams of 18 carat yellow gold and has a spiraling mid-section graced by 73 rubies and 146 diamonds. Interestingly, there will be a limited number of replica sets selling for about £20,000 ($26,700 USD). Book and film script adaptations featuring The Jewel Royale Chess Set, with the title of “Checkmate”, are being worked on by an un-known, award winning British writer. Whether it’s a comedy or a thriller, promotional and merchandising opportunities are sure to be huge!

Hockey may not be much of a topic for many compared to chess. Many countries have improved their game and more are becoming more involved in hockey. Here is a bit of history on World Hockey under 18 years old. All-Time Medal Count YearSiteGoldSilverBronze 2011 Buffalo, United States Russia Canada United States 2010 Saskatoon/Regina, Canada United States Canada Sweden 2009 Ottawa, Canada Canada Sweden Russia 2008 Pardubice, Czech Republic Canada Sweden Russia 2007 Leksand, Sweden Canada Russia United States 2006 Vancouver, Canada Canada Russia Finland 2005 Grand Forks, United States Canada Russia Czech Republic 2004 Helsinki, Finland United States Canada Finland 2003 Halifax, Canada Russia Canada Finland 2002 Pardubice, Czech Republic Russia Canada Finland 2001 Moscow, Russia Czech Republic Finland Canada 2000 Skelleftea, Sweden Czech Republic Russia Canada 1999 Winnipeg, Canada Russia Canada Slovakia 1998 Helsinki, Finland Finland Russia Switzerland 1997 Geneva, Switzerland Canada United States Russia 1996 Boston, United States Canada Sweden Russia 1995 Red Deer, Canada Canada Russia Sweden 1994 Czech Republic Canada Sweden Russia 1993 Gavle, Sweden Canada Sweden Czechoslovakia 1992 Germany CIS Sweden United States 1991 Saskatoon, Canada Canada Soviet Union Czechoslovakia 1990 Finland Canada Soviet Union Czechoslovakia 1989 Anchorage, United States Soviet Union Sweden Czechoslovakia 1988 Moscow, USSR Canada Soviet Union Finland 1987* Czechoslovakia Finland Czechoslovakia Sweden 1986 Hamilton, Canada Soviet Union Canada United States 1985 Finland Canada Czechoslovakia Soviet Union 1984 Sweden Soviet Union Finland Czechoslovakia 1983 Leningrad, USSR Soviet Union Czechoslovakia Canada 1982 Rochester, United States Canada Czechoslovakia Finland 1981 Germany Sweden Finland Soviet Union 1980 Helsinki, Finland Soviet Union Finland Sweden 1979 Karlstad, Sweden Soviet Union Czechoslovakia Sweden 1978 Montreal, Canada Soviet Union Sweden Canada 1977 Banska, Bystrica Soviet Union Canada Finland 1976 Turku, Finland Soviet Union Canada Czechoslovakia 1975 Winnipeg, Canada Soviet Union Canada Sweden 1974 Leningrad, USSR Soviet Union Finland Canada

22 November 2010 Polgar beats Ivanchuk and Topalov to win rapid knockout in Mexico Judit Polgar scored one of her best results in years on Sunday by winning the first UNAM quickplay knockout tournament in Mexico City. She first beat Vassily Ivanchuk in the semi-finals and then also managed to win the final against former world number one Veselin Topalov. The first UNAM chess festival took place 13-21 November in Mexico City. The longest event was the Ibero-American championship, and when this tournament had almost reached its end, a big number of activities were packed into just four days. There were simuls by Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, a demonstration of a replica of the chess machine “The Turk”, an “Art and Chess” exhibition, lectures, symposia, concerts, films, workshops, multimedia shows and the Ajedrez UNAM Quadrangular tournament, with Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar and Manuel Leon Hoyos. The festival was part of the centenary celebrations of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The aim was “to promote the practice of chess through numerous activities, including recreation, competition, debate, culture and artistic creativity, directed not only towards university spectators or chess experts, but also towards the general public”, according to the official website. The festival also aimed to “contribute to the possibility that this discipline will be included as an educational subject in the curriculum from the lowest level, in both public and private schools, as it is an essential tool for improving the cognitive level of attention, concentration and memory among children and young people”. The main chess event was a four-player knockout with four games of ten minutes and five seconds per move in both the semi-finals and the final. It ended in a marvelous victory for the only female participant: Judit Polgar. The former Hungarian prodigy, who hasn’t played much in recent years as she preferred to spend time with her family, this weekend showed how strong her chess still is when she’s in top shape. In the semi-finals Polgar beat Vassily Ivanchuk – arguably the favourite to win this event – after losing the first game in a Caro-Kann. Unfortunately this game was saved incorrectly in the PGN file, and the next one, where she beat Ivanchuk, must be incomplete as well. After a draw in the third, Polgar again managed to beat her opponent with the black pieces in yet another 4…Qb6 Sicilian, mainly because Ivanchuk went too far in trying to win. In the other semi-final, Veselin Topalov was far too strong for local hero Manuel Leon Hoyos, who is sometimes the second of Ivanchuk. Topalov won the first three games, and then drew the fourth with Black. In the first game of the final, Polgar used the Dutch Defence to draw an interesting game – unfortunately again not saved correctly and incomplete, as Black misses a mate in one several times. (It’s a real shame that time and again, even after about fifteen years of online chess, new tournaments keep on having problems with transmitting the games live and/or correctly saving the moves for later download.) Then, Polgar duly won three games in a row! First she outplayed Topalov with the white pieces in a Berlin Wall and then she easily defended against the Bulgarian’s sharp handling of yet another Dutch Defence (1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4. h4 d6 5.h5 Nxh5 6. Rxh5 gxh5 7.e4). Having won the first prize already, Polgar then played the King’s Gambit and won with a proud king on f3. Ivanchuk,Vassily vs Polgar,Judit 0-1 Polgar,Judit vs Topalov,Veselin 1-0

18 November 2010 Aronian wins World Blitz Championship Levon Aronian today won the 2010 World Blitz Championship in Moscow, Russia. The Armenian scored 24.5 points out of 38 games and finished half a point ahead of Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijan. Third came Magnus Carlsen from Norway, who won the title in 2009. World Blitz Championship 2010 | Final Standings

Sure I like the oldtime rock n roll, classic rock. I also like just the guitar, acoustic of certain styles. Here is a good example of the guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAPEu7HhSx4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuXqiVFnbY8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDfcdQpmUAs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh1JcI3lDxE&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjbyI_817F8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gtr7dylKR4 I think you get the idea, too many solos not mentioned here.

Chess nearly solved "I was playing in a tournament in Germany one year when a man approached me. Thinking he just wanted an autograph, I reached for my pen, when the man made a startling announcement. 'I've solved chess!' I sensibly started to back away, in case the man was dangerous as well as insane, but the man continued: 'I'll bet you 50 marks that if you come back to my hotel room I can prove it to you.' Well, 50 marks was 50 marks, so I humored the fellow and accompanied him to his room." "Back at the room, we sat down at his chess board. 'I've worked it all out, white mates in 12 no matter what.' I played black with perhaps a bit incautiously, but I found to my horror that white's pieces coordinated very strangely, and that I was going to be mated on the 12th move!" "I tried again, and I played a completely different opening that couldn't possibly result in such a position, but after a series of very queer-looking moves, once again I found my king surrounded, with mate to fall on the 12th move. I asked the man to wait while I ran downstairs and fetched Emmanuel Lasker, who was world champion before me. He was extremely skeptical, but agreed to at least come and play. Along the way we snagged Alekhine, who was then world champion, and the three of us ran back up to the room." "Lasker took no chances, but played as cautiously as could be, yet after a bizarre, pointless-looking series of maneuvers, found himself hemmed in a mating net from which there was no escape. Alekhine tried his hand, too, but all to no avail." "It was awful! Here we were, the finest players in the world, men who had devoted our very lives to the game, and it was all over! The tournaments, the matches, everything - chess had been solved, white wins." About this time Capa's friends would break in, saying "Wait a minute, I never heard anything about all this! What happened?" "Why, we killed him, of course." A chess master died at his chessboard - and after a few days, a good friend of his heard a voice; it was him! "What's it like, where you are now," he asked. "What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?" "Tell me the good news first.""Well, it's really heaven here. There are chess tournaments with incredible classical, rapids and blitz sessions going on all the time 24/7 with Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Tal they're all here, and you can play any one of them at anytime." "Fantastic!" the friend said, "so what is the bad news?" "You have Black against Capablanca on Saturday." TOP TEN Moments when you should sense danger in chess:10. There has been a change in the pawn structure. Your opponent has eight and you don’t have any.9. Your opponent begins to throw pawns at your eyes.8. You have a position won, but your opponent has a gun.7. The Director tells you not to bother turning in your score sheet after the game.6. Before the game begins you notice your opponent’s first initials are GM.5. After completing your development you sense your opponent is playing the endgame.4. Just as you make your opening move your opponent announces mate in 11.3. You don’t control any squares at all.2. Your draw offer sends all the people watching your game into uncontrollable laughter.1. Your opponent has three bishops. Two chess players are playing a correspondence game. White lives at the South Pole. Black lives at the North Pole. The postal service is rather slow and play proceeds at the rate of one move per year. After 15 years of play, white makes a daring queen sacrifice, the consequences of which are by no means clear. A year later, as he sees the postman returning, he is very excited. He thinks "Will black take my queen ?", "Is the sacrifice sound ?". He tears open the reply and sees "Jadoube".

Hopefully you like this? White to move and mate in 5.

The song I am listening to most this week is: The River by Good Charlotte (featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates). Give it a listen!

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Kasporov vs Deep Blue 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 Game 1 Kasporov vs Deep Blue A07 Game 2 Deep Blue vs Kasporov C93 Game 3 Kasporov vs Deep Blue A00 Game 4 Deep Blue vs Kasporov B07 Game 5 Kasporov vs Deep Blue A07 Game 6 Deep Blue vs Kasporov

Rock & Roll I really like this chess website, have met some great people, a few bad ones as well. Lots of people, lots of different languages. I speak english but always try to learn some words in other languages. I always start my games by saying good day or hello. I also like to try to use a few words in my opponents language? Here is a link that I often use. Rod http://translate.reference.com/translate

So how many of you lot play in a band? Any music on the net that we can listen to?