Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

EU leaders line up to criticise new U.S. president’s early actions as they arrive for talks in Malta François Hollande has led a series of damning attacks on Donald Trump by EU leaders arriving at a summit in Malta to discuss the future of the union. The French president described recent comments by the U.S. president as unacceptable and warned there would be no future for Europe’s relations with the U.S. “if this future isn’t defined in common”. [Read more].

• Daniel Boffey, François Hollande leads attacks on Donald Trump at EU summit, The Guardian, February 3, 2017

2013 © 劉勃麟 (Liú Bólín) | “Hiding in the City – Paris – 10 – Liberty leading the people” | Courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York & Zürich.

大爆炸 (Big Bang)

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), angry at being matched against women in 7 of the 10 rounds in Gibraltar, took her revenge at the closing gala dinner on the evening of February 2 by chatting only with men — in descending order from top to bottom: Leontxo García, Sunil Weeramantry, and, under the watchful gaze of her mother, Brian Callaghan. Photos © Sophie Tray.

Power from Wind

北京 (Běijīng), China: A vendor sells traditional handheld windmills at a temple fair on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Even Diving Queen 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) has sometimes to attend make-up rehearsals, though we, poor human beings, think this is pretty unnecessary for her. Photos: imgrum.net.

Guess Who?

• Francesca Perry, Quiz: guess the city from its skyline, The Guardian, February 3, 2017

Morphy’s law

“I am more strongly confirmed than ever in the belief that the time devoted to chess is literally frittered away”, Paul Charles Morphy wrote in 1863, and I am afraid he was right. But we will speak about it on Saturday afternoon, since today is yet the time for you to fly on the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s carpet-dance!

From left: Chiara Angelini, Olga Calamai, Sofia Nutini, Silvia Bertini, and Viola Rocchini performing in the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s final dance showdown at the Teatro SMS of the People’s House in Grassina on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Photo © Rapid Foto Center.

Mermaid Dress

Diving Queen 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) posing in a mermaid dress. Yes, she’s retired, she must marry her Prince Charming, she must take care of her petfriend Candy, but, when the time will come, on summer of 2020, don’t forget to tune up your TV. Miracles may happen even to goddesses! Photo: imgrum.net.

The Heiress

Sophie Triay (@sophiettriay)

Life is not just matter

你很努力，别人不一定放在眼里；你若不努力，别人一定放在心里。 Nǐ hěn nǔlì, biérén bù yīdìng fàng zài yǎn lǐ; nǐ ruò bù nǔlì, biérén yīdìng fàng zài xīnlǐ. When you work hard, people don’t always pay attention to it, but if you slack off, they will surely bear it in mind.

Unorthodox Openings Explained Move by Move

Andrey Deviatkin (@AndreyDeviatkin)

Searching for Water in the Universe

Olympic Goddess 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) still cannot believe that the earth is not always a springboard. Photo: imgrum.net.

Searching for Dory in the Wrong Place

Aquaman, seen riding a seahorse in the TV show Super Friends. Photo: TV.

英法海底隧道 (Channel Tunnel)

余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, February 2, 2017
French Defence C02

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Bd7 7. Be2 Nge7 8. dxc5 Qxc5!? It doesn’t look any better than 8. ... Qc7 9. 0-0 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. b4 g6 13. c4 Bg7 14. Rb1 0-0 15. cxd5 Nxd5 16. Bb2 Bxb2 17. Rxb2 Nc3 18. Qe1 Nxe2+ 19. Qxe2 Bc6 20. Rc1 Rfd8 21. Nf1 a6 22. Ne3 Rd4 23. Rd1 ½ : ½ Romanishin – O. Foişor, Tbilisi 1986. 9. b4 Qb6 10. c4 Qc7 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bb2 Nf4 13. 0-0 Ne7 14. Nc3 Neg6 15. Rc1 Nxe2+ 16. Qxe2 Qb6 17. Rfd1 Be7 18. g3 Bc6 19. Nd4 0-0 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21. h4 Rfd8 22. h5 Nf8 23. h6 g6 24. Ne4. White acquired a dominant position by quite simple means. 24. ... Rd5 25. Qf3 Nd7

26. Nd6! Now White’s dark-squared Bishop vehemently takes part in action. 26. ... Rf8. If 26. ... Bxd6 then 27. Rxd5! exd5 (else 27. ... exd5 28. exd6 followed by Qf3-c3) 28. exd6 Qxd6 29. b5 followed by Rc1-c6 with a crushing advantage. 27. Rxd5 exd5. Or 27. ... cxd5 28. Nc8 Qd8 29. Nxe7+ Qxe7 30. Rc7 and wins. 28. Qg4 Qc7 29. Qd4. Threatening Qd4xd5. 29. ... Nb6 30. b5 Nc4 31. e6 f6 32. Nxc4 dxc4 33. Qxc4 c5 34. Rd1 Rd8 35. Rd7! Rxd7 36. exd7+ Kf8 37. Qd5 Qb6 38. a4 1 : 0. A convincing victory for 余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) that, however, didn’t stop the irresistible hunt of 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) to the top women’s prize of £15,000 pounds sterlins!

余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) vs. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
Photo: John Saunders

The Invisible Wall

The last round of the 15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival was marked by the clamorous protest of the current Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who, without forfeiting her last game, decided to make hara-kiri by losing it in a very few moves, just to draw the attention of the chess audience on her situation, with respect to her volatile status of World Champion and professional chess Grandmaster. Moreover, one could think that the choreographic form of her protest is proportionale to the lack of formal replies regarding her reiterated requests to equate men’s and women’s World Chess Championship systems.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo © JosH.Film.

Under the Volcano

Colima, Mexico: A photograph taken with a slow shutter speed of the Volcán de Colima during an eruption. Photo: Ulises Ruiz Basurto/EPA.

Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?

Mumbai, India: Commuters board a local train. Photo: Divyakant Solanki/EPA.

King’s Road

The final round pairings of the 15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival promise a thrilling Queen ending:

• 余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (both with 7 points)
• Mariya Muzychuk – Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov (both with 6 points)
• Kateryna Aleksandrovna Lagno – Samuel L. Shankland (both with 6 points)
• 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Musunuri Lalith Babu (both with 6 points)
• Antoaneta Stefanova – Kacper Piorun (both with 6 points)
• Daniel Fridman – Anna Zatonskih (both with 6 points)

Pandov Chess by Lucian Popescu

Running Up That Hill

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Sébastien Mazé
15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, February 1, 2017
King’s Indian Defence E68

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. 0-0 e5 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. f3 a5 11. b3 Bd7. I just don’t like this way of playing the King’s Indian. 12. Be3 Re8 13. Qd2 h5 14. Rad1 Qc8 15. Ndb5 Bc6 16. Rfe1 b6. Mazé’s nouvelle vague, which, however, does not improve anything on 16. ... Nfd7 17. Bd4 h4 18. f4 hxg3 19. hxg3 Nf6 20. e5 Nh5 21. Bxc5 dxc5 22. Qf2 g5 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. cxd5 Ra6 25. d6 cxd6 26. Nxd6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 gxf4 28. gxf4 Qf5 29. Re4 Bf8 30. Rd3 Re6 31. Rh3 Rg6 32. Qf3 Rg4 33. e6 fxe6 34. Re5 Qb1+ 35. Kh2 Nf6 36. Rxe6 Rg6 37. Rg3 Kf7 38. Rxg6 Qxg6 39. f5 Qh6+ 40. Kg1 Qc1+ 41. Bf1 Bg7 42. Qxb7+ Kg8 43. Qb8+ Kh7 44. Qg3 Qa1 45. Rd6 1 : 0 Dzagnidze – Harika, Women’s Grand Prix Series 2015-2016, second stage, Tehran 2016. 17. Qc2 Bd7 18. a3 Na6 19. Bd4 Nb8

Black is completely crushed and White can afford to finish with simple and direct moves: 20. e5 dxe5 21. Bxe5 Nc6. This leads to a picturesque catastrophe, but also after 21. ... Na6 22. Qb2! Black will be soon overwhelmed. 22. f4 Bf5 23. Qb2. Now Black is compelled to give up two Exchanges just to survive a few moves yet. 23. ... Nxe5 24. fxe5 Ng4 25. Bxa8 Qxa8 26. Nxc7 Qc6 27. Nxe8 Qc6+ 30. Rd5 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. Sébastien Mazé
Photo: Sophie Triay

Fate Is the Hunter

• Julian Borger, UN chief decries discriminatory border bans in rebuke to Trump travel decree, The Guardian, February 1, 2017

António Guterres, the new UN secretary general said on Wednesday, in a clear response to the Trump administration’s refugee ban, that border policies based on religion, ethnicity or race were “against the fundamental principles and values on which our societies are based”. [Read more].

Demonstrators gather outside Downing Street, London to protest Donald Trump's controversial travel ban. Photo credit: Wheatley/WENN Image.

Whatever gets you through your life

“Chess is a part of my life, but it is not my whole life!”... Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) gives a candid interview with Tania Sachdev.

Legal ethics

肖建华 (Xiào Jiànhuá) (pictured above), a 香港 (Hong Kong)-based Chinese-Canadian billionaire and financier, who The New York Times called “a banker for the ruling class”, is reported seized by the Chinese police from his apartment at the Four Seasons Hotel in 香港 (Hong Kong) on January 28, 2017 and taken in custody to the mainland China. If the news were confirmed, the Chinese intervention would violate the “one country, two systems” rule which only permits the 香港 (Hong Kong) police to operate in the territory. Photo: The New York Times.

Wednesday Night

I won’t say nothing about Arcovazzi on one condition: that you won’t say nothing, neither. Now, the most important thing: please don’t miss the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s evening dance classes!

Chiara Ciocia Vida performing in the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s final dance showdown at the Teatro SMS of the People’s House in Grassina on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Photo © Rapid Foto Center.

The Soul of a Butterfly

If you were surprised when Nixon resigned, just watch what happens when I whup Foreman’s behind! Muhammad Ali

The Uncelebrity Apprentice

Executive order mandates federal government withhold grants from localities that limit cooperation with immigration enforcement San Francisco filed suit against Donald Trump on Tuesday, becoming the first city to bring a legal challenge against the president’s executive order targeting sanctuary cities. “The president’s executive order is not only unconstitutional, it’s un-American”, said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney. [Read more].

• Julia Carrie Wong, San Francisco sues Donald Trump over order targeting “sanctuary cities”, The Guardian, January 31, 2017

A woman yells at a rally outside San Francisco city hall during a protest against Donald Trump’s executive actions to build a border wall and cut federal grants for “sanctuary cities”. Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP.

Shielding Charm

Norwich, England: Queen Elizabeth is welcomed to an exhibition about Fiji at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters.