Well, Edna, the question arises spontaneously: mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of all?

Artwork © shabbyrtist

Postscript

A dancer prepares backstage before a show at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The theatre reopened on October 28, 2021, 19 months after it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: André Coelho/EPA.

Penny Lane

Chess superstar Bobby Fischer is being shaved by fine art photographer David Attie on August 10, 1971 in New York City, United States. When Fischer arrived at Attie’s home studio for a portrait shoot for Amerika magazine, he thought he looked unshaven, and asked Attie to shave him. Attie’s wife, feminist painter Dotty Attie, took a mute 8mm home movie, which was recently discovered in a family closet and licensed by Getty Images. Courtesy of Eli Attie.

Yeah, Edna, time changes and now you are the best by test

Artwork © Masucabiel

∞

As Stanisław Lem wrote in Solaris, “Where there are no men, there cannot be motives accessible to men”.

Surfing the Edge of Chaos

Just lock the bike to the rack and sway to the beat of the track.

Untitled

The world’s first phone box called Fernsprechkiosk, was opened on January 12, 1881 at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, while credit for the telephone’s invention is disputed by more people, including Antonio Meucci. Today most phone booths have been abandoned for mobile phones and eventually transformed into other public street services like lending libraries or free book exchanges in the form of shelves of donated books (such as the one pictured above).

The Queen’s Hat

Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda, Checkmate, 2019. Courtesy of Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda.

Of course, Edna, you are a different kind of queen so gold is not enough for you

Photo © Javon London (@javon_london)

Heat Wave

Future perfect

Above pictured is Bobby Fischer (the tallest one in the group) in what might well be the last photo of him ever. It dates back to Tuesday, January 2, 2007 when Fischer, together with his partner Miyoko Watai (渡井 美代子) (pictured above left), Thai diplomat Kantathi Suphamongkhon and his wife Soparvan (pictured above right), enjoyed a New Year’s dinner hosted in Reykjavík by Icelandic economist Thorsteinn Thorgeirsson. Kantathi himself then devoted an article “On An Icelandic Dinner with Bobby Fischer”, which was pubished in The Nation of January 27, 2008. Photo courtesy of Kantathi Suphamongkhon/The Nation.

Of course, Edna, the more they deny your divine reign, the more you will shine — random or not

Artwork © Sealine (105788113)

Secrets of the Spas

On Sunday, november 14, 1993, Bobby Fischer, in a voyage which touched also Italy, stopped at the Grand Hotel Le Fonti in Chianciano Terme, Tuscany, which at the time was managed by International Master Stefano Tatai and his wife. Fischer, who was accompanied by Grandmaster Pál Charles Benkő and his wife, and International Master János Rigó (who acted as a driver), stayed in Chianciano Terme until Thursday, November 18, 1993, when he left to go to Abano Terme, but Tatai could honour his guests with his presence only the first two days. Then Fischer asked to be left alone. Tatai himself wrote a detailed account of his “close encounter of the third kind” which was published in Torre & Cavallo, No. 1, January 1994, pp. 7-8. As Tatai writes, it’s worth noting, however, that the rules of Fischerandom chess were already formulated as it is today in the fall of 1993:

But yet Bobby the Champ did not deny himself even in the dining room. As soon as he sat down, he took out his pocket magnetic board, eager to analyse or play a game. He took care at once to explain to me that chess has become too studied, and canvassed to such an extent that what matters most today in tournament play is preparation and memorisation of the openings. Often the true game begins only after the thirtieth move, which favours more the “greasy grind” rather than innate talent. But there’s a way out of this dead end, “Fischerandom” chess (this magazine also wrote about it a few months ago). In it the initial position changes: the Pawns are placed on the second ranks as in classical chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the first rank is randomly “shuffled” by means of a computer — the arrangement of White and Black figures being mirror-symmetric. There are only two constraints: the King cannot be in the corner (so as to guarantee the possibility of castling on both wings) and the two Bishops must be placed on opposite-colour squares. According to the calculations the number of possible starting positions is 960. Thus any theoretical preparation would be impossible, at least for a few decades, if not for some centuries. In every other respect the game would retain all of its strategic and tactical elements that make it so exciting. We played several games in this mode during the first two days’ meals, and only once I managed to put him in difficulty, eventually drawing the game. Bobby is always Bobby, after all.

“Bobby was probably an inch or two taller than me, but the age sometimes plays bad jokes”, Tatai writes. “In Chianciano he seemed less tall than me; in Havana, where I met him for the first time (he was 23), he was taller”. Photo: Stefano Tatai.

For an Ever After

[Event "2015 Showdown in Saint Louis"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2015.11.13"]
[White "Negi, Parimarjan IND"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan CHN"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "1200+10"]
[Opening "960 Position 112"]
[Variant "Fischerandom"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "bbnqrnkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BBNQRNKR w HEhe - 0 1"]
[Termination "abandoned"]
[Mode "OTB"]
[PlyCount "42"]

1.e4 e5 2.b4 b6 3.a3 c6 4.c4 Ne7 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Ne6 7.Qb2 f6 8.Nd3 O-O 9.Ng3 c5 10.O-O Ng6 11.Nh5 Be5 12.Nxe5 fxe5 13.Qd2 d6 14.g3 Rf7 15.f3 Ref8 16.Kg2 Ne7 17.Rd1 Nd4 18.Bxd4 cxd4 19.Ba2 g6 20.c5 d5 21.Qg5 Nf5 0-1

[Event "2015 Showdown in Saint Louis"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2015.11.13"]
[White "Hou, Yifan CHN"]
[Black "Negi, Parimarjan IND"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "1200+10"]
[Variant "Fischerandom"]
[Opening "960 Position 436"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rbbnnqkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBBNNQKR w HAha - 0 1"]
[Termination "time forfeit"]
[Mode "OTB"]
[PlyCount "90"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 a5 4.d4 d6 5.Ne3 Nf6 6.Qd3 Qe8 7.O-O exd4 8.cxd4 Nb4 9.Qb3 c5 10.Re1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Ba7 12.Qd1 Nc6 13.Nb5 Be6 14.Nc7 Qd8 15.Nxa8 Qxa8 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.Be3 Bxe3 20.Rxe3 O-O 21.Bd3 b6 22.Be2 Rc8 23.Qd4 Rc5 24.Rd1 g6 25.Qh4 Kg7 26.f4 Ned7 27.Bf3 Rc4 28.b3 Rc7 29.Qf2 Nc5 30.h3 b5 31.g4 b4 32.g5 Ng8 33.Rde1 Rc8 34.Qd2 a4 35.Qxb4 axb3 36.axb3 Kf8 37.Qd4 Rb8 38.b4 Na6 39.b5 Nc5 40.Be2 Nd7 41.Ra1 Qb7 42.Qa7 Qc8 43.Bg4 f5 44.gxf6 Ngxf6 45.Bxd7 Nxd7 46.Rae1 Qc5 {Negi exceeded the time limit while making his last move.} 1-0

[Event "2015 Showdown in Saint Louis"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2015.11.13"]
[White "Negi, Parimarjan IND"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan CHN"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "1200+10"]
[Variant "Fischerandom"]
[Opening "960 Position 539"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnkqbnrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKQBNRB w GAga - 0 1"]
[Termination "abandoned"]
[Mode "OTB"]
[PlyCount "54"]

1.g3 g6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 f5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.Nf3 g5 6.Bd2 e6 7.h4 h6 8.hxg5 hxg5 9.g4 f4 10.e3 Ng6 11.Qe2 Qf6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 O-O-O 14.O-O-O Nge7 15.Ne5 Rd5 16.Qe2 Ra5 17.Nxc6 Bxc6 18.Bxc6 Nxc6 19.Kb1 e5 20.dxe5 Qg6+ 21.Ka1 Qe6 22.a3 Rxe5 23.Qd3 Rd8 24.Qc2 Na5 26.Kb1 Nb3 27.Nh2 Nxd2 28.Rxd2 Re1+ 0-1

[Event "2015 Showdown in Saint Louis"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2015.11.13"]
[White "Hou, Yifan CHN"]
[Black "Negi, Parimarjan IND"]
[Round "4"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[TimeControl "1200+10"]
[Variant "Fischerandom"]
[Opening "960 Position 227"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "bnrqknrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BNRQKNRB w GCgc - 0 1"]
[Termination "abandoned"]
[Mode "OTB"]
[PlyCount "73"]

1.g3 g6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d3 d6 5.Nd2 Nd7 6.O-O O-O 7.a3 b6 8.Qa4 Nde5 9.b4 Qd7 10.Bg2 Nd4 11.Qxd7 Nxd7 12.b5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 f5 14.e3 Ne6 15.Nd5 Kf7 16.f4 Nc7 17.Nxc7 Rxc7 18.Bxh8 Rxh8 19.a4 a6 20.Ra1 Ra8 21.Ra3 Rca7 22.Rfa1 Nf6 23.Kf3 Ke8 24.h3 Kd7 25.g4 e6 26.Nb1 axb5 27.axb5 Rxa3 28.Rxa3 Rxa3 29.Nxa3 d5 30.g5 Ne8 31.Nb1 Kd6 32.Nc3 Nc7 33.Na4 Na8 34.h4 Ke7 35.Nc3 Nc7 36.Na4 Na8 37.Nc3 1/2-1/2

Another Time

On July 11, 1996 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer held a final press conference in La Plata, Argentina prior to the beginning of the first ever match at Fischerandom chess between Eugene Torre from Philippines and Pablo Ricardi from Argentina, which was set to commence on July 12 at Centro Cultural Pasaje Dardo Rocha. On occasion Fischer presented his clock and shuffler, two key devices required for his new contemporary chess. Unfortunately the match was eventually cancelled in a dispute over sponsorship. Photo credit: Gabriela Scandura.

Well, Edna, to quote Hikmet, “The miracle of renewal, my sweetheart, is to repeat without repeating”

Credit: The Incredibles Wiki

The Future of Time

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Parimarjan Negi

2015 Showdown in Saint Louis — Fischerandom Chess; match game 4; time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Saint Louis, November 13, 2015

bnrqknrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BNRQKNRB w GCgc - 0 1

Position #227

1. g3 g6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d3 d6 5. Nd2 Nd7 6. 0-0 0-0. Magic Mirror on the Wall, Who is the fairest one of all? 7. a3 b6 8. Qa4 Nde5 9. b4 Qd7 10. Bg2 Nd4 11. Qxd7 Nxd7 12. b5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 f5 14. e3 Ne6 15. Nd5 Kf7 16. f4 Nc7 17. Nxc7 Rxc7 18. Bxh8 Rxh8 19. a4 a6 20. Ra1 Ra8 21. Ra3 Rca7 22. Rfa1 Nf6 23. Kf3 Ke8 24. h3 Kd7 25. g4 e6

26. Nb1 axb5 27. axb5 Rxa3 28. Rxa3 Rxa3 29. Nxa3 d5 30. g5 Ne8 31. Nb1 Kd6 32. Nc3 Nc7 33. Na4 Na8 34. h4 Ke7

35. Nc3. Only one minor thrill in an otherwise peaceful plot. In his live commentary, Grandmaster Maurice Ashley picturesquely said that 35. d4! was screaming for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) to do it! His analysis runs 35. d4! cxd4 36. c5! bxc5 37. exd4 cxd4 38. b6 Nxb6 39. Nxb6 and White is still just messing around and trying to win. 35. ... Nc7 36. Na4 Na8 37. Nc3 ½ : ½.

One last handshake before the end. Screenshots from the live stream.

Anytime

Parimarjan Negi – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2015 Showdown in Saint Louis — Fischerandom Chess; match game 3; time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Saint Louis, November 13, 2015

rnkqbnrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKQBNRB w GAga - 0 1

Position #539

1. g3 g6 2. d4 d5 3. c3 f5 4. Nbd2 (4. g4 f4) 4. ... Nc6 5. Nf3?! (5. f4!? g5!?) 5. ... g5! 6. Bd2 e6 7. h4 h6 8. hxg5 hxg5 9. g4 f4 10. e3 Ng6 11. Qe2 Qf6 12. e4?! (⌓ 12. c4) 12. ... dxe4 13. Qxe4 0-0-0 14. 0-0-0

14. ... Nge7! (Δ ... Be8-g6) 15. Ne5?! Hoping to take revenge by a mating attack on the diagonal h1-a8 — just a bit too naïve. On the other hand, 15. Re1 Qf8! 16. Qxe6+ Kb8 would give Black powerful compensation for the Pawn. 15. ... Rd5!? A natural reply, but 15. ... Qh6! (Δ ... Bh8xe5) 16. Nd3 e5! was more promising. 16. Qe2? Here is where Negi’s trouble begins — or begins over again depending on the viewpoints. Best was 16. Re1! Nxe5 17. dxe5 Qg6 with approximate equality.

16. ... Ra5!→ 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 Nxc6 19. Kb1. Understandably White does not want to cede the a-Pawn, but material equality has its price in dynamic equilibrium.

19. ... e5?! 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) apparently overlooks that 19. ... Qg6+! 20. Ka1 Bxd4! is much stronger since after 21. cxd4?? Nxd4 Black wins at least the Queen. 20. dxe5? But all’s well that ends well... ⌓ 20. Qe4 exd4 21. cxd4 Ra4∓ is still a tough fight. 20. ... Qg6+ 21. Ka1 Qe6−+ (21. ... Qc2−+) 22. a3 Rxe5 23. Qd3 Rd8 24. Qc2 Na5! (24. ... Re2−+) 26. Kb1 Nb3 27. Nh2 Nxd2 28. Rxd2 Re1+ 0 : 1.

It was as physical as a handshake. Screenshots from the live stream.

Not This Time

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Parimarjan Negi

2015 Showdown in Saint Louis — Fischerandom Chess; match game 2; time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Saint Louis, November 13, 2015

rbbnnqkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBBNNQKR w HAha - 0 1

Position #436

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 a5 4. d4 d6 5. Ne3 Nf6 6. Qd3 Qe8 7. 0-0 exd4 8. cxd4 Nb4 9. Qb3 c5

10. Re1! Indirectly defending the e-Pawn as after 10. ... Nxe4?? 11. a3! Black loses a piece due to the back rank weakness: 11. ... a4 12. Qd1 Nc6 13. Bxe4 Qxe4 14. Nd5! and finis.
10. ... cxd4 11. Nxd4 Ba7 12. Qd1 Nc6? A listless Negi goes adrift in his mare magnum, thus burdening himself with grave weaknesses. ⌓ 12. ... Bc5 13. Ndf5 is obviously better for White, but Black can still hope to defend himself.

13. Nb5! Be6? An Exchange sacrifice with no meaning, but Black’s situation was bad enough anyway.
14. Nc7 Qd8 15. Nxa8 Qxa8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Ne5 18. Be3! Because it is very easy to be content when one has all one can desire, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is most satisfied with a job well done by simple means.
18. ... Bxe3 20. Rxe3 0-0 21. Bd3 b6 22. Be2 Rc8 23. Qd4 Rc5 24. Rd1 g6

25. Qh4 Kg7. Not 25. ... Nxd5? on account of 26. Rh3 h5 27. Bxh5! with irresistible attack.
26. f4 Ned7 27. Bf3 Rc4 28. b3 Rc7 29. Qf2 Nc5 30. h3 b5 31. g4 b4 32. g5 Ng8 33. Rde1 Rc8 34. Qd2 (34. Qb2+ Kf8 35. Qh8+−)
34. ... a4 35. Qxb4 axb3 36. axb3 Kf8 37. Qd4 Rb8 38. b4 Na6 39. b5! Nc5 (15. ... Rxb5 16. Re8+ Qxe8 17. Rxe8+ Kxe8 18. Qa4 Nc7 19. Be2+−)
40. Be2 Nd7 41. Ra1 Qb7 42. Qa7 Qc8 43. Bg4 f5 44. gxf6 Ngxf6 45. Bxd7 Nxd7 46. Rae1 Qc5 1–0. Negi exceeded the time limit while making his last move, which would have been followed by 47. Qxd7, leaving White up a Rook and a Pawn.

Guess who’s who in an approximation of a handshake. Screenshots from the live stream.

Please, Edna, if ever they were to serve you a still life with basket of plums instead of a rich tiramisu cake drenched in chocolate sauce, be careful not to swallow the kernels

Artwork © Stfu♥ (@elvarqen)

Gemstones

Parimarjan Negi – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2015 Showdown in Saint Louis — Fischerandom Chess; match game 1; time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Saint Louis, November 13, 2015

bbnqrnkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BBNQRNKR w HEhe - 0 1

Position #112

As it is well known the Saint Louis Chess Club was not able to provide any PGNs on occasion of its inaugural Fischerandom showdown in 2015, the official reason being that the DGT board could not read and process the castling rules. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) demonstrated her impressive strength also at Fischer’s chess, by winning a mini-match of four games against Parimarjan Negi 3½ – ½. What remains of all this, however, is a series of fragments to be taken by the video footage and then reassembled in logical sequence (sometimes with a good dose of imagination). Not everything is to be taken for granted though, except for the final position.

1. e4 e5 2. b4 b6 3. a3 c6 4. c4 Ne7 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4. Threatening mate in one. 6. ... Ne6 7. Qb2 f6 8. Nd3 0-0 9. Ng3 c5 10. 0-0 Ng6 11. Nh5?! This is sure a compromising adventure. ⌓ 11. Qd2 at once was preferable. 11. ... Be5 12. Nxe5 fxe5 13. Qd2 d6

14. g3? And this proves catastrophic. White was understandably apprehensive about the jump of a Black Knight to f4, but the cure is even worse as it only weakens the King’s side (h-side). ⌓ 14. f3! was called for. 14. ... Rf7−+ 15. f3 Ref8 16. Kg2 (16. Qg2 Qg5 17. Qh3 Ngf4! 18. Nxf4 Nxf4 19. Qh4 Qxh4 20. gxh4 Bb7!−+)

16. ... Ne7! It is like a cat and mouse game, not only but also because Negi finds himself under terrific time pressure, with a few seconds left and no way out. 17. Rd1 Nd4. In his live commentary, Grandmaster Maurice Ashley also considered 17. ... Nc6 18. Qxd6 Qc8! which is strong as well. 18. Bxd4 cxd4 19. Ba2 g6 20. c5

20. ... d5! 21. Qg5 Nf5! And White resigned, just one second before losing on time. 0 : 1.

A handshake worth a diagram. Screenshots from the live stream.

Well, Edna, to quote Einstein, “Our situation on this earth seems strange”

Artwork © Sudharsha Subbiah (@sudharsha)

In the Realm of the Greater Bay Area

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) was one of the special guests welcomed on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at the 3rd 深圳南山粤港澳大湾区国际象棋公开赛 青少年组 (Shēnzhèn Nánshān Guǎngdōng–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area Junior Chess Open) in 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), where she proffered her commentary to the audience, then, for the sake of young enthusiasts, gave a joint simultaneous exhibition, and finally, with her customary grace, handed the awards to the winners. Photos: 深圳晚报 (Shēnzhèn Evening News).

Yeah, Edna, you can guess how bitter they must feel to even think of trying to steal your crown from you

Artwork © Carlos Sellers (@theartistknownas__redlion)

In Search of a Crown

Gábor Molnár, Queen Without a Crown. Artwork © Gábor Molnár (@dformer).

So Edna, you’re also a rapper now?

Photo © mytoycrew (@mytoycrew)

Of Life and Time

The Outer Edge

Bicycle Kingdom, one of a series of pieces of LED art produced by the 上海 (Shànghǎi)-based art collective 六岛 (Liù Dǎo), or “六岛” (“island6”). Courtesy of island6 via Neocha.

Of course, Edna, it is only a coincidence that many artists become famous only after they die

Artwork © Maxdemon6

Think Like an Artist

David Llada’s “The Thinkers” (Quality Chess UK Ltd, Glasgow, 2017) is a pictorial tribute to the game of chess, showing a kaleidoscope of emotions through a nonverbal display of composite humanity, from famous World Champions — such as 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (pictured above) — to unnamed amateurs. Photo collage © David Llada.