Monday Coffee

Good morning, World!
The start of another week is upon us and it is time to take stock: we are still here! This time last week the neocon‘s warned us of DOOM (or worse!) should Donald Trump be elected President of the USA. The sky has not fallen. The stockmarket is in GREAT shape. NASA has not suddenly detected a massive asteroid on a collision course with the earth…in fact, the world seems like the same old place as it was last Monday before the election. Maybe better, even. I, for one, am optimistic.

COFFEE TIP OF THE WEEK !



Sergey Karjakin Documentary !

Alexander Turpin (born Sweden, 1989) is a talented film director currently studying in Norway at the Norwegian Film School at Lillehammer. Already Alexander has attracted attention. His film Generation Mars has made it to the 2016 finalists listing for the Student Academy Awards. Congratulations!

These awards started in 1973 and are organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in America. Today it is an annual competition aimed at College and University film makers.

Generation Mars ‘ story line is as follows: Astrid is one of the winners of a reality TV show called Generation Mars. These winners are going to be sent to Mars, the first humans to try to inhabit the planet, never to return to Earth. Everything is set for Astrid to leave, except for one thing. She must say goodbye to everyone she loves…Below is the trailer.
What does this have to do with Sergey Karjakin?
It just so happens that Alexander Turpin is also a passionate chess player and has just completed a documentary on the life of Sergey Karjakin, called Sergey:

This 22-minute documentary saw Alexander Turpin do a great deal of research digging up old film footage as well as do a great deal of travelling (to Russia, Ukraine and Spain) to do indepth interviews with Karjakin’s parents, his early coaches as well as his childhood idol Ruslan Ponomariov.

Ponomariov’s winning the FIDE world championship in 2002 inspired Sergey’s quest for winning the world title for himself. The path was not easy, especially since the Ukraine chess federation did nothing to help his progress. (Sergey’s parents and grandparents are Russian origin) Karjakin felt that he would never become world champion if he remained in Ukraine, and therefore in 2009 he took the controversial and very difficult decision to change his nationality from Ukraine to Russia (in 2009 the Russian president issued a decree awarding Karjakin Russian nationality.)

Turpin’s fascinating documentary, already aired on TV in Norway, explores the person behind the chess superstar who might soon realize his dream to become World Champion. Sergey was born in the Crimea but has no apparent problem in stating that the Crimea belongs, rightfully, to Russia. This has made him both friends and enemies in Ukraine and Russia, as well as amongst his old fans.

You can see the TRAILER of Turpin’s documentary Sergey HERE.
I have seen the whole documentary and I can tell you that it is very well done (!!) and provides real insight into the man who is wrestling Magnus Carlsen right now in New York for the title of World Champion. Readers can see the whole documentary for $2, or buy it for $4. Director Alexander Turpin does not intend to make money with this documentary, but rather pay for his expenses.
More information can be found here:

