林丽丽 (Lín Lìlì) dressed in Chinese and Western-style clothing. As the saying goes, 有的时候，不是人们变了，而是你对他们还不够了解 (Sometimes, people did not actually change. You just never knew who they really were). Photo collage courtesy of her herself. |
Monday, June 30, 2014
Rosso di Montalcino
Honeymoon
Monica Bellucci covered in honey, Esquire, February 1, 2001. Photo © Fabrizio Ferri/Getty Images. |
Honeypot
Monica Bellucci covered with honey, Esquire, February 1, 2001. Photo © Fabrizio Ferri/Getty Images. |
虎眼石 (Tiger’s Eye)
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 30, 2014
English Opening A13
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 30, 2014
English Opening A13
1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Nd7 5. Qxc4 a6 6. Qb3 Nc5 7. Qc2 e5 8. Nc3 Ne7 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. 0-0 Be7 11. a3 Be6 12. b4 Nb3 13. Rb1 Nbd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Na4
15. ... d3 16. Qxd3 Qxd3 17. exd3 0-0-0 18. Bb2 Nd4 19. Rfe1. “[...] if 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had wanted to play for more, then perhaps 19. Nc5 was a better try, although 19. ... Bxc5 20. bxc5 Bd5 surely doesn’t look that scary for Black”, International Master Alina l’Ami writes. 19. ... b6 20. Nc3 Nc2 21. Rec1 Nd4 22. Re1 Nc2 23. Rec1 Nd4 24. Re1 ½ : ½.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk. Photos: Alina l’Ami.
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问号
Artwork: VonMonkey
Air raid across the bay at Plymouth
iii
Triangles, parallels, parallelograms,
Experiment with hypotheses On the blackboard sky, Seeking that X Where the enemy is met. Two beams cross To chalk his cross.
iii
Triangoli, parallele, parallelogrammi,
esperimento con ipotesi sulla lavagna del cielo, in cerca di quell’X dove s’incontra il nemico. S’incrociano due raggi a segnare col gesso la sua croce.
Stephen Spender
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Stendhal syndrome
Monica Bellucci covered with black caviar, Esquire, February 1, 2001. Photo © Fabrizio Ferri/Getty Images. |
Hands and Hearts
Monica Bellucci in the hands of many, Esquire, February 1, 2001. Photo © Fabrizio Ferri/Getty Images. |
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Starry☆Sky
Anna Olehivna Muzychuk – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 29, 2014
Sicilian Defence B40
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 29, 2014
Sicilian Defence B40
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4. Although playable, this move is questionable because of the “hole” at d4. 3. ... Nc6 4. Be2 Nge7. The sharpest try is 4. ... g5!? 5. d3 g4 6. Nfd2 Ne5 7. Nb3 Nf6 8. Nc3 Rg8 9. Be3 d6 10. d4 cxd4 11. Qxd4 a6 12. 0-0-0 Nfd7 13. Kb1?! (13. f4 gxf3 14. gxf3⩲) 13. ... b6 14. f4 gxf3 15. gxf3 Bb7∞ Gavrikov – J. Polgár, 11th Rapid Tournament, Tallin 2001. 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Nc6 8. Qd2 Bc5 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Nc3 d6 11. a3 a5 12. b3 e5. Black’s position is just a little easier, but nothing more. 13. Nb5 Qh4. Black fights energetically for the initiative. 14. Bf3 Be6 15. Qg5? Very ill-timed. Probably best was 15. Rb1 with reasonable play. 15. ... Qxg5 16. Bxg5 h6! 17. Bd2?! 17. Be3 seems more consistent, although after 17. ... a4 18. bxa4 Nd4! Black stands much better. 17. ... a4! 18. Bd1. Not good, but 18. b4 Bxc4 is equally bad.
18. ... Nd4! After this sacrifice of the Exchange, White’s position collapses like a castle of sand. 19. Nc7. Also after 19. b4 Nxb5 20. cxb5 Bd4 21. Rc1 Rfc8 Black’s position is imposing. 19. ... axb3! 20. Nxa8 Rxa8 21. Bc3 Bxc4 22. a4 b5! The rest requires no comment. 23. axb5 Rxa1 24. Bxa1 Nxb5 25. Re1 Bd4 26. Bxd4 exd4 27. e5 dxe5 28. Rxe5 b2 0 : 1. For if 29. Re8+ then 29. ... Kh7 30. Bc2+ d3 31. Bb1 Nc3 wins.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Alina l’Ami.
黑洞
窝头翻个儿
wō tóu fān gè’er
Wōtóu è un panino al mais di forma conica con un buco sotto per
migliorarne la cottura. Wōtóu sottosopra è metafora di una
situazione molto imbarazzante perché rende visibile il buco!
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文扬小姐的作品
(From an idea by Miss Wényáng)
(From an idea by Miss Wényáng)
誠實
炒豆大家吃，炸锅一个人的事
chǎo dòu dàjiā chī，zhá guō yígèrén de shì
I fagioli saltati li mangiano tutti, ma la pentola bruciata tocca solo
a uno.
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文扬小姐的作品
(From an idea by Miss Wényáng)
(From an idea by Miss Wényáng)
文化
Silvio Plia Montero, Manuel López Michelone, “Bobby Fischer el más grande”, Città del Messico, Selector, 2011, p. 56.
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Honey bee
Monica Bellucci covered in honey, Esquire, February 1, 2001. Photo © Fabrizio Ferri/Getty Images. |
亞美尼亞虎 (Armenian tiger)
[Event "International Jubilee Grandmaster Tournament"]
[Site "Bled YUG"]
[Date "1961.09.10"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Petrosian, Tigran Vartanovich"]
[Black "Pachman, Ludek"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Fischer, Robert James"]
[PlyCount "42"]
1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.d3 e6 6.e4 Nge7 7.Re1 O-O 8.e5 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Nb3 Nd4 12.Bf4 Qb6 13.Ne5 Nxb3 14.Nc4 {Very nice tempo move.} 14...Qb5 15.axb3 a5 16.Bd6 Bf6 17.Qf3 Kg7 18.Re4 {Now Petrosian is preparing for a very beautiful finish.} 18...Rd8 19.Qxf6+ Kxf6 20.Be5+ Kg5 21.Bg7 {This is a real problem move.} 1-0cE9s4PsM9rBRmqQ3GuR!~~60_57.JPG)
Photo: eBay
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Ubique
Silvia Bertini
Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”
人无远虑，必有近忧。
Rén wú yuǎnlǜ, bì yǒu jìn yōu.
One should plan for the future, or else get run over by it.
Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”
人无远虑，必有近忧。
Rén wú yuǎnlǜ, bì yǒu jìn yōu.
One should plan for the future, or else get run over by it.
正負號 (Plus–minus sign)
What do we mean by “understanding” something? We can imagine that this complicated array of moving things which consitutes “the world” is something like a great chess game being played by the gods, and we are observers of the game. We do not know what the rules of the game are; all we are allowed to do is to watch the playing. Of course, if we watch long enough, we may eventually catch on to a few of the rules. The rules of the game are what we mean by fundamental physics. Even if we knew every rule, however, we might not be able to understand why a particular move is made in the game, merely because it is too complicated and our minds are limited. If you play chess you must know that it is easy to learn all the rules, and yet it is often very hard to select the best move or to understand why a player moves as he does. So it is in nature, only much more so; but we may be able at least to find all the rules. Actually, we do not have all the rules now. (Every once in a while something like castling is going on that we still do not understand). Aside from not knowing all of the rules, what we really can explain in terms of those rules is very limited, because almost all situations are so enormously complicated that we cannot follow the plays of the game using the rules, much less tell what is going to happen next. We must, therefore, limit ourselves to the more basic question of the rules of the game. If we know the rules, we consider that we “understand” the world.
How can we tell whether the rules which we “guess” at are really right if we cannot analyze the game very well? There are, roughly speaking, three ways. First, there may be situations where nature has arranged, or we arrange nature, to be simple and to have so few parts that we can predict exactly what will happen, and thus we can check how our rules work. (In one corner of the board there may be only a few chess pieces at work, and that we can figure out exactly). A second good way to check rules is in terms of less specific rules derived from them. For example, the rule on the move of a bishop on a chessboard is that it moves only on the diagonal. One can deduce, no matter how many moves may be made, that a certain bishop will always be on a red square. So, without being able to follow the details, we can always check our idea about the bishop’s motion by finding out whether it is always on a red square. Of course it will be, for a long time, until of all a sudden we find that it is on a black square (what happened, of course, is that in the meantime it was captured, another pawn crossed for queening, and it turned into a bishop on a black square). That is the way it is in physics. For a long time we will have a rule that works excellently in an overall way, even when we cannot follow the details, and then sometime we may discover a new rule. From the point of view of basic physics, the most interesting phenomena are of course in the new places, the places where the rules do not work — not the places where they do work! That is the way in which we discover new rules. The third way to tell whether our ideas are right is relatively crude but probably the most powerful of them all. That is, by rough approximation. While we may not be able to tell why Alekhine moves this particular piece, perhaps we can roughly understand that he is gathering his pieces around the king to protect it, more or less, since that is the sensible thing to do in the circumstances. In the same way, we can often understand nature, more or less, without being able to see what every little piece is doing, in terms of our understanding of the game.
Richard Feynman, “Sei Pezzi Facili”, Adelphi, Milano, 2000, pp. 52-54
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Friday, June 27, 2014
斯劍虎 (Smilodon)
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Harika Dronovalli
Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; fifth stage; Lopota, June 27, 2014
French Defence C00
Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; fifth stage; Lopota, June 27, 2014
French Defence C00
Notes by International Master Alina l’Ami. 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 g6 6. 0-0 Bg7 7. c3 e5 8. a4 Nge7 9. Na3 0-0 10. Nc4 h6 11. d3 Be6 12. Bd2 Re8 13. h3 b6 14. Rfe1 Qd7 15. b4 cxb4 16. cxb4 d5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Nfxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qb7 20. f4 Nf5 21. Qf2 Nd4 22. Rac1 Rad8
23. Bc3 Qa8
Here Yìfán could have played 24. Bxd4 Bxg2 25. Qxg2 (25. Kh2!?) with a risk-free advantage in the endgame. Instead, 24. b5 gave Harika the chance to strike with 24. ... Bxg2 25. Qxg2 Bxe5 and either White takes on a8 or e5, a check on f3 will always win the Exchange in the end. 24. ... Nb3 25. Rc2 Nc5 26. Bb4 Bxe5 27. Bxc5 Bxg2 28. Rxe5 Rxe5 29. fxe5 Bxh3 30. Bd6 Qd5 31. Qe3 Re8 32. Re2 Bg4 33. Qe4 Qxe4 34. Rxe4 Bf5 35. Rc4 Bxd3 36. Rc7 Ra8 37. Kf2 Bf5 38. Ke3 Be6 39. Kd4 g5 40. Rb7 h5 41. Rb8+ Rxb8 42. Bxb8 h4 43. gxh4 gxh4 44. Ke3 Bb3
45. Bxa7 Bxa4 46. Bxb6 Bxb5 47. Kf4 Bd7 48. Bd8 h3 49. Kg3 Be6 50. Bf6 Bf5 51. Bd8 Be6 52. Bf6 Bf5 53. Bd8 ½ : ½..
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Alina l’Ami.
女老师 (Female Teacher)
唐利仿 (Táng Lìfǎng) surrounded by her young students at Associazione Culturale Linguistica Italo-Cinese (ACLIC ARCI) in Prato, Italy.
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睡美人 (Sleeping Beauty)
Just a portrait of Francesca Lidia Ortenzi, virtuoso dancer of the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” — and a display of ballerina dolls in the background.
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Thursday, June 26, 2014
在黑暗中漫舞 (Dancer in the Dark)
Nana Dzagnidze – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 26, 2014
8/3k4/1Rpr3p/p1n1pp2/P1P4P/2N1P3/4KP2/8 w - - 0 42
Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; 5th stage; Lopota, June 26, 2014
8/3k4/1Rpr3p/p1n1pp2/P1P4P/2N1P3/4KP2/8 w - - 0 42
The endgame, despite the material equality, is certainly favorable to Black. 42. Rb8 Rd3 43. Nd1? The wrong track. After 43. Nb1 Rb3 44. Rxb3
Nxb3 45. Nc3 Kd6 Black’s superiority is manifest but not yet decisive. 43. ... Ra3 44. Rh8 Ra2+ 45. Kf1. Also after 45. Kf3 Rd2 Black’s position is imposing. 45. ... Nd3 46.
Rxh6 Rd2! Yìfán’s deployment of her pieces creates a wonderfully aesthetic impression. 47. Rh7+ Kd6 48. h5 e4 49. Nc3 Rxf2+ 50. Kg1 Rf3. Sharper seems 50. ... Rc2! and White is in Zugzwang. 51.
Nd1 Rg3+ 52. Kf1 Ne5 53. Kf2 Rg5 54. h6 Ng4+ 55. Ke2 Rh5 56. Ra7 Rxh6 57. Rxa5
Rh2+ 58. Kf1 Ne5 59. Ke1. As hopeless as anything else. 59. ... Nf3+ 60. Kf1 Rh1+ 0 : 1. For if 61. Ke2 then
61. ... Re1+.
Francesca Lidia Ortenzi
Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”
Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”
无事生非 (Much Ado About Nothing)
Nana Dzagnidze – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Lopota, June 26, 2014
Queen’s Indian Defence E16
Lopota, June 26, 2014
Queen’s Indian Defence E16
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Nc3 d6 9. b3 Nbd7 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Be4 12. Qc1 Qb8 13. a4 Qb7 14. Qf4 Rfe8 15. Rfd1 h6 16. Rac1 Re7 17. g4 e5 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Qg3 Rae8 21. Rc3 Bc6 22. Nh4 g6 23. Rcd3 Bxg2 24. Nxg2 Kg7 25. Ne3 Qe4 26. Qg2 c6 27. Rd6 Re6 28. h3 Qxg2+ 29. Kxg2 Ne4 30. Rd7 Nc5 31. Rc7 R8e7 32. Rc8 Rd7 33. Rb8 Rxd1 34. Nxd1 Nxb3 35. Rxb6 Nc5 36. Nc3 Rd6 37. e3 f5 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. Kf3 Kf6 40. Ke2 Ke7 41. h4 Kd7 42. Rb8 Rd3 43. Nd1 Ra3 44. Rh8 Ra2+ 45. Kf1 Nd3 46. Rxh6 Rd2 47. Rh7+ Kd6 48. h5 e4 49. Nc3 Rxf2+ 50. Kg1 Rf3 51. Nd1 Rg3+ 52. Kf1 Ne5 53. Kf2 Rg5 54. h6 Ng4+ 55. Ke2 Rh5 56. Ra7 Rxh6 57. Rxa5
Rh2+ 58. Kf1 Ne5 59. Ke1 Nf3+ 60. Kf1 Rh1+ 0 : 1.
Nana Dzagnidze vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Bad girls don’t cry
[Event "FIDE Women's Grand Prix"]
[Site "Lopota GEO"]
[Date "2014.06.25"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Muminova, Nafisa"]
[Black "Kostenjuk, Aleksandra Konstantinovna"]
[ECO "C45"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "74"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. Be3 Re8 9. f3 d6 10. O-O-O Be6 11. Nc5 Bxc5 12. Bxc5 Qb8 13. Be3 a6 14. g4 b5 15. g5 Nd7 16. f4 Bc4 17. Qf3 Bxf1 18. Rhxf1 b4 19. Nd5 Ne7 20. Nf6+ gxf6 21. gxf6 Ng6 22. f5 Re5 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. Bh6 Rh5 25. Be3 Ne5 26. Qg3 Qc8 27. Bf4 Qe6 28. Bxe5 Rxe5 29. Rd5 Re8 30. Rxe5 Qxe5 31. Rf4 Qd4 32. Qh4 Re6 33. a3 bxa3 34. bxa3 c5 35. Kb1 d5 36. exd5 Rb6+ 37. Kc1 Qe3+ 0-1憑證
- Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez, Lopota 06: Chasing the World Champion, Chess News, 25 giugno 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
飢餓遊戲：星火燎原
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
Lopota, June 25, 2014
Sicilian Defence B20
Lopota, June 25, 2014
Sicilian Defence B20
1. e4 c5 2. Ne2. As they say, quibbling over doctrinal minutiae. 2. ... Nf6 3. Nbc3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. g3. For 5. Nxd5 see Karpov – Quinteros, Mar del Plata 1982. 5. ... Nxc3. More accurate possibly is 5. ... Bg4 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Nc6 with about even prospects, R. Byrne – G. Kramer, New York 1961. 6. Nxc3 Bd7 7. d4. For 7. Bg2 Bc6 see van Benthem – Perez Garcia, Haarlem 2001. 7. ... cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qe4 f5. Compromising. Black’s best course is probably 9. ... g6 10. Bg2 Bg7. 10. Qc4 Ne5. The corollary to her previous move, but in my opinion 10. ... Qa5 11. Bg2 e5 would have been worth considering. 11. Qd5. A neat and far-seeing Exchange sacrifice. As a compensation, White wishes to render her development’s advantage more effective, whilst preserving the “two Bishops”. 11. ... Bc6? An error of judgment. Best under the circumstances was perhaps 11. ... Nc6 12. Bg2 e6. 12. Qxe5 Bxh1
13. Be2! “A bit feeble”, says Money Mouse, “13. Nb5! was the move, and after 13. ... Rc8 14. Nxa7 White stands very much better”. Needless to say, I do not agree at all. 13. ... Qd6. To parry the threat of Be2-h5+. 14. Qxd6! exd6 15. f3! A move of paramount importance. 15. ... d5 16. Be3! Far from 16. Nxd5? 0-0-0 17. c4 Bc5 etc. 16. ... d4 17. Bxd4 0-0-0 18. Bxa7. The threat is Ke1-f2 trapping the Bishop. 18. ... Bg2 19. Kf2 Bh3 20. Bd3 f4 21. g4 g6 22. Ne2 h5 23. Nxf4. Less convincing is 23. Bd4 hxg4 24. Bxh8 Bc5+ etc. 23. ... hxg4 24. Nxg6 Rg8 25. Nf4 Rd6 26. Be3 Be7 27. Bf5+ Kd8 28. Nxh3 gxh3 29. Bxh3. Cashing in. The endgame is far better for White and Miss 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – as usual – displays her excellent technique. 29. ... Bh4+ 30. Ke2 Bf6 31. c3 Rh8
32. Bf4 Rb6 33. Rd1+ Ke7 34. Rd7+ Ke8 35. Bg4 Rxb2+ 36. Kd3 Rg8 37. Rc7 Rh8
38. a4 Rb6 39. Bd7+ Kd8 40. Bb5 Rh3 41. Rd7+ Kc8 42. Ke4 Rh4 43. Rf7 Kd8
44. Kf5 Be7 45. Be5 Rh5+ 46. Ke4 Rg6 47. f4 Rxh2 48. f5 Re2+. A gross blunder, but in any case Black was doomed. 49. Bxe2 1 : 0.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
抵制宝谷！
Ch’à da fa coi Fiorenti, l’à bé bé i öć da avrì.
Chi ha da far con Tosco, non vuole esser losco.
Proverbio bergamasco
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014
貓耳
Expressly annotated by Miss Lonelyhearts
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Antoaneta Stefanova
Lopota, June 24, 2014
English A35
Lopota, June 24, 2014
English A35
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 3. e3 Bg7 4. d4 d6. The alternative is 4. ... Nf6, e.g. 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 d6 7. 0-0 Bf5 8. b3 Nc6 9. Bb2 d5!? with even chances, Inkiov – Tal, Saint John 1988. 5. h3. If 5. dxc5 then 5. ... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 dxc5 with equality, Tartakower – L. Steiner, Debrecen 1925. 5. ... Nc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Be2 Nge7 8. 0-0 cxd4. For 8. ... 0-0 9. d5 Ne5 10. Nh2 see I. Nej – Rantanen, Tallin 1975. 9. exd4 Nf5 10. Bg5 Qb6 11. d5 Ncd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Be3 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 Qc6 16. Nd5 Bxd5 (16. ... b5!?) 17. cxd5 Qxd5? A poisoned Pawn. 17. ... Qa6 is mandatory, although after 18. Qxa6 bxa6 19. Rac1 Kd7 20. Rc6 White stands clearly better. 18. Bf4+ Kf8 19. Rfd1 Qf5 20. Bxd6+ Kg8 21. Rac1 h5 22. Rc7 b5 23. Rd3 Rc8?? A gross blunder, but also after 23. ... Qf6 24. Rd7 Black is doomed (24. ... Qxb2? 25. Qf3
+-). 24. g4. Sic et simpliciter. 24. ... hxg4 25. hxg4 1 : 0.
.jpg)
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