The Art of Women, Chess and other Potpourri
Chess Obsession
“Generally, my themes are women. When it comes to painting women i am taking great joy from this subject and will continue to pursue painting extraordinary works of beautiful women as long as i will be able to paint. Women are designed amazingly by our Creator.”
Andrius Kovelinas, born Lithuania 1958, is a surrealist painter of considerable reknown. Creative and absolutely brilliant in my opinion. You can also find Andrius on FaceBook.
Mila Kunis
The lovely actress and model Mila Kunis (b. Ukraine 1983) photographed by Michael Thompson for Wmagazine (2014). She is one of my favourite actresses!
But apart from that, I just want to draw the reader’s attention to the chess pieces. I have often wondered what could possibly be the use of extra-size chess pieces…It appears that there are numerous uses!
Interesting interview with Daniil Dubov
There is an interview with the 24 year old Russian star over at PapinChess. Readers will no doubt recognize the name Dubov, whose games I have often published here on this blog.
Possessing a remarkably unorthodox style of play, years ago he was ‘snatched up’ by Magnus Carlsen’s team in preparation for one of his World Championship matches.
The interview is in Russian, but using any of the many excellent online Russian-to-English translators will easily allow you to enjoy Dubov’s views on working with Carlsen, life, chess computers and women.
For example, against the extensive computer-preparation on the part of his opponents, Dubov has some very interesting views. He suggests that one develop a wide opening repetoire. Also to play sharp and risky lines that theory, often discredits for no real good reason, so as to get the kind of unclear position that the computer is not yet so strong at.
Forcing the opponent to fight with his own head instead of just using his memory can bring success.
Dubov considers the young Iranian teenager Alireza Firouzja to be the biggest natural chess talent in the world today. Curiously, Dubov does not judge Carlsen to be amongst the most talented of the top players!
I suggest the reader to take the time to read this interview. Dubov has very distinct opinions, and does not shy away from expressing views that might be unpopular in certain powerful corners.
Cheating in Online Scholastic Chess
The 2020 online version of the Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions is one of the most prestigious scholastic events in the USA. At first Sam Shankland wrote that 10% of the tournament participants were suspended for suspected cheating violations, but he later corrected that to 5%.
Even so, 5% is completely unacceptable! And remember that these players were not just ordinary players: they had to qualify for this tournament by becoming state champions!
Without getting into a discussion of Sam’s idea of what would be a fitting punishment for those caught cheating, I would like to simply state that such a high percentage of cheating in a tournament is indicative that there is a much larger problem somewhere with online scholastic chess than just the cheating.
If I had to guess, it is that online chess is toxic by nature. It is impossible to stop 100% cheating (despite what the ‘experts’ tell you). And cheating is a phenomenon in the chess world: cheap apps have chess engines that play better than most grandmasters!
My recommendation is for FIDE to get out of online chess before the shit hits the fan…
