Coffee, Chess, Art Collecting in Tehran & Gratuitous Sexism
Friday Coffee
The first Friday of the month is always accompanied with a sigh of relief and anticipation. A freshness to our daily routine, Friday’s bring on the sense of a week well lived, and the coming weekend our reward. Have a great weekend!
More Bad News For Coffee Producers
The coronavirus is bad news for the world economy, and coffee has not escaped its wrath. With fewer people willing to hang out in public places — such as coffee shops — the demand for coffee beans has correspondingly plummeted. LINK
But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Asia — especially Vietnam — is one of the biggest producers of coffee and might see exports drop sharply if import bans are placed by some of the world’s largest coffee consuming nations.
Of course, everything depends on how fast — OR NOT — new treatments of the nasty virus are found. The moral of the story: don’t ever take coffee for granted and stay safe in your room until the virus goes away!
Kirsan buys Putin Photo Real Cheap
Once a Putin admirer, always a Putin admirer
For those of you who long for the good old days when Kirsan was FIDE president, I have exciting news: Kirsan is alive and well! Just as rich as ever and basking in his new life as a civilian_businessman.
This week Kirsan was on a business trip to Iran and found a great buy at a local flea market: a photo portrait of Vladimir Putin! I won’t divulge how much it cost Kirsan (no doubt a small fortune in state of the art centrifuges?!), but you can read his TWITTER to follow the story.
Rumor has it that Kirsan already has a buyer for the Putin portrait…apparently an un-named rich American-playboy-politician in Washington…
Post Script: On the 10th it was revealed on Kirsan’s blog that the above portrait is actually a hand woven tapestry and that he intended to give it to Putin as a gift! LINK
Strongest Woman’s Tournament Begins
Some say that the 2nd Cairns Cup is the strongest all-female chess tournament of all time. It may very well be, but it is certainly the richest in terms of prize money ($180,000)! Held between the 7th and 17th of this month in St. Louis.
Rest day is Wednesday 12th, but there is a nasty rumor circulating that World Champion Magnus Carlsen could be flown in to St.Louis to give a blindfold clock simultaneous against all of the female participants…
Post Script
Stefan Loeffler is a well respected journalist and is one of the organizers of the 2019 London Conference on Chess & Female Empowerment.
With all due respect to the wonderful work and generous support given to promote the game of chess in America by Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, an increasing number of adults are asking whether such all-female tournaments are the most effective way to promote female chess.
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