Instant Reflex

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
ACP European Women’s Blitz Chess Championship; Monte Carlo, October 23, 2017
7k/5Kp1/8/4Q2p/7P/q5P1/8/8 b - - 5 91

Position after 91. Ke7-f7

12th Women’s World Chess Champion Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk added to her long list of awards and titles the ACP European Women’s Blitz Chess crown. In the crucial game against Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina, Kosteniuk showed all her temper and character snatching a win out of nothing: 91. ... Qf3+ 92. Kg6 Qg4+ 93. Qg5?? Gunina believes she is winning, but a great surprise awaits her! Correct was 93. Kf7 Kh7 with a draw in hand. 93. ... Qe6+! 94. Kxh5 Kh7! 0 : 1. In fact, White’s King is caught in a mating net: if 95. Qg4 then 95. ... Qh6 mate, whilst if 95. g4 then 95. ... g6+ and mate next move.

And here is Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk awarded as ACP European Women’s Blitz Chess Champion. Photo: European Chess Union (@ECUonline).

Thoughts of Youth

Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Match game 3; Hoogeveen, October 23, 2017
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk broke the ice first in the match against 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), but, indeed, the Chinese wonder boy made and unmade everything with his own hand. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 0-0 8. e3 Bf5 9. Rc1. It is worth mentioning here an interesting game by Misha Tal: 9. Be2 c6 10. Qb3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qb6 12. Bxf6 Qxb3 13. axb3 gxf6 14. Kd2 Nd7 15. Nh4 Be6 16. Bd3 Nb6 17. f3 a5 18. Rhb1 Ra7 19. g4 Rfa8 20. Ng2 a4 21. bxa4 Nxa4 22. Ra3 b5 23. Rba1 Ra6 24. Nf4 Kf8 25. e4 dxe4 26. Bxe4 Rd8 27. Bc2 Bc4 28. Bxa4 Rda8 29. Bxb5 Bxb5 30. Rxa6 Rxa6 31. Rxa6 Bxa6 32. Nh5 f5 33. gxf5 Ke7 34. Ke3 Kd6 35. Nf6 1 : 0 Tal – Damjanović, 9th International Tournament, Sarajevo 1966. 9. ... Nbd7 10. Qb3!? Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 c6 12. Nd2 Qa5 13. f3 Rfe8 14. Kf2 Rac8 15. Be2 c5 16. dxc5 Rxc5 17. Rhc1. It’s all right so far.

17. ... g5? But now 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) falls into a grave miscalculation. He should have played 17. ... Rxe3! at once, as 18. Kxe3 is actually met by 18. ... d4+! 19. Kxd4?? (19. Kf2 dxc3 is obviously better, but clearly in Black’s favour) 19. ... Rc4+!! and mate next move. Very probably, after 17. ... Rxe3! White would have preferred 18. Bxf6, but 18. ... Rxe2+ 19. Kxe2 Qa6+ 20. Kd1 Rb5 (followed by the capture of the Bishop) would have given Black a worthy compensation for the Exchange. 18. Bg3 Rxe3?? Now it won’t work anymore since the g3-Bishop guards the e5-square, and His Majesty easily escapes from predators. 19. Kxe3 d4+ 20. Kxd4 Re5. Ah, that damned Bishop at g3! 21. Bd3. Obviously, Ivanchuk does not bite the bait (21. Bxe5?? Qxe5+ 22. Kc4 Qc5 mate). 21. ... Be6 22. Qxb7! Kg7 23. Ne4 Nd5 24. Bxe5+ Nxe5 25. Rc5 1 : 0.

Abruptly, he came to know that his wife had fallen in love again

济南 (Jǐnán), China: Padlocks and heart-shaped wooden plates hang on the “love confession” wall in the capital of 山东省 (Shāndōng province). Photo: Imaginechina/Rex/Shutterstock.

But beware the flowers of carnivorous plants

Since it seemed like nothing interesting was happening, with everyone only speaking the same platitudes in myriad ways, the Communist Party Secretary of 上海 (Shanghai) had a great idea. He wrote a song overnight and presented it to his delegates the next day. So I cannot conclude this jolly tale better than in the (first) words of the ballad: 「我為您點贊，世界為您喝彩，天下歸心，想在一起，干在一起，滴水乾坤，文明之花共同栽，世界的舞台，中國的聲音…」 (“I praise you, / the world cheers for you, / all world’s hearts / wanna be together, / dry together, / drip from heaven to earth, / plant together flowers of civilization, / on the world stage, / with Chinese melodies...”).

上海 (Shànghǎi)’s superdelegate and five-time Olympic gold medal diver 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) attending the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in the Great Hall of the People in 北京 (Běijīng), China on October 18, 2017. Photo: 赵青 (Zhào Qīng).

😋

This gecko appears to look very similar to the heart eyes emoji as it cleans its face with its tongue. Photo: Suherman Buntoro/Caters News Agency.

A Week of Sundays

Did you miss your opportunity to kick Arcovazzi off last week? Well, it’s never too late! Today is already Monday, and he has all intentions of oppressing you seven days out of seven, night and day. I think it’s better for you if you return home at a late hour, when he is already sleeping, so to avoid his goodnight kiss. You work all day, at evening you are very tired, but no one can take away from you your magic hours on the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s carpet-dance!

A Mediterranean mantis spreading its wings at sunset in Nicosia, Cyprus. Photo © Hasan Ba Iar.

Suddenly One Monday

11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer being welcomed by Filipino chess official Florencio Campomanes on his arrival at Manila International Airport on Monday, October 15, 1973. He was scheduled to formally open the 1st “Marlboro Chess Classic” International Tournament on October 16. Photo: AP/CAN.

Hand reading

Pauline Guichard – Anna Muzychuk
ACP European Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; Monte Carlo, October 22, 2017
English Opening A37

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nc3 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. Bg5. 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Bd2 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. a3 h6 11. Rb1 a5 12. Qc1 Kh7 13. Nb5 Qb6 14. a4 Na7 would have also evoked sweet memories to Muzychuk, Dzagnidze – A. Muzychuk, Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship, Doha 2016. 7. ... h6 8. Bd2 d5 9. 0-0 b6 10. Qc1 d4 11. Nd1. From a theoretical viewpoint it’s worth mentioning that in Talla – Brodowski, 21st Czech Chess Extraliga 2012/2013, Czech Republic 2012 was seen 10. Na4. 11. ... a5 12. b3 g5 13. a3 Qd6 14. Rb1 0-0 15. h4 g4 16. Nh2 e5. Black’s position is already much more pleasant. 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Ra2 19. bxc5. I doubt that the opening of the b-file may favour White, but it’s not such an Hamletic dilemma as 19. b5 Nb4 looks quite unpleasant too. 19. ... bxc5 20. Rb6? This seems a big mistake of judgment. White should have absolutely avoided the catastrophe on the Queenside by exchanging Rooks on the a-file (20. Ra1). 20. ... Bd7 21. e3? And this seems the losing move, bottling up her dark-squared Bishop. 21. e4 Rfa8 was better, but bad enough not to be good.

21. ... Rb8! 22. Rxb8+ Qxb8 23. Re1 Qb3 24. Be4. This loses material, but 24. Nf1 Nb4 wasn’t a way to save the game. 24. ... Rc2 25. Qa1 Rxd2 26. exd4 Ra2 27. Qc1 Nxd4 28. Kf1 f5 0 : 1. Thus Anna Muzychuk added the title of ACP European Women’s Rapid Chess Champion to her Women’s World Rapid & Blitz Chess titles, so now only one crown is still missing. The young Russian talent Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina took the podium with a third place, and everything says that she, too, will claim that missing crown for herself.

And here is the awarding ceremony podium of the ACP European Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; from left: Kateryna Aleksandrovna Lagno (silver), Anna Muzychuk (gold), and Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina (bronze). Photo: European Chess Union (@ECUonline).

Autumn Spring

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
ACP European Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; Monte Carlo, October 22, 2017
Scotch Game C45

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Be2 b6 8. 0-0 0-0. For 8. ... Bb7 9. Nb5 0-0-0 10. Bxc5 bxc5 11. Qa4 Kb8 12. Nd2 Nc8 13. Nc4 Nb6 see Almási – Shirov, 3rd Dresdner Porzellan-Cup, Dresden 1999. 9. b4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bxd4 11. cxd4 Bb7!? 11. ... Nc6 12. e5 Qf4 13. Bf3 Rb8 14. Bxc6 dxc6 15. Qd2 Qxd2 16. Nxd2 Rd8 17. Nb3 Be6 seems also to give Black quite an even game, Alieva – I. K. Grigorjev, 4th Polugaevsky Memorial, Samara 2014. 12. Nc3 c5 13. bxc5 bxc5 14. e5 Qg6? Looking for a non-existent attack on the castled King, Pogonina only puts herself into trouble. Simply 14. ... Qf4! gave Black quite a satisfactory play. 15. d5. This most obvious move gives White a very powerful position. 15. ... Qf5? Black insists on playing her Royal Doll, ending up making things much worse. Here maybe 15. ... Ba6 was more advisable. 16. f4 d6 17. Rb1 Rab8 18. Bd3 Qd7 19. Be4 Ba8. 19. ... Ba6 20. Rxb8 Rxb8 21. Re1 makes no much difference. Black stands very badly anyway. 20. Rxb8 Rxb8 21. Qd3 g6 22. Bf3 Kg7 23. Re1 Qf5? This is the nemesis of the Black Queen’s wandering search for drama. In truth, even after 23. ... Qd8 24. g4 (Stockfish) Black had all reasons to be unhappy, but the text will end really in what Her Majesty was searching for.

24. Qd2! Rb4 25. exd6 Nc8 26. Ne4. Threatening Qd2-c3+. 26. ... Rd4 27. Qc3 Nb6 28. Nxc5 Qf6 29. Ne4 Nxd5 30. Nxf6 Nxc3 31. Ne8+ Kf8 32. Bxa8 Rxf4 33. d7 Rd4 34. Nf6 Kg7 35. Nd5! 1 : 0.

Desert Water

A woman with an umbrella wades through a water-logged street in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: Salim Reza/新华通讯社 (Xīnhuá News Agency).

Miss Hepburn

Michelle Mildenhall, Miss Hepburn, 2016
Credit: Affordable Art Fair Battersea/Lilford Gallery

Don’t worry, Edna, I’ve nothing to say to you tonight

Artwork © ZitFarm

天菜大廚 (Burnt)

面临两难选择的侯逸凡：我甚至还没接近顶 峰

ESPN资讯 ESPN 2017-09-13

侯逸凡

“他可以毫无保留地表达自己，但是我不能。我欣赏他，因为我不能像他那样，不能展示真实的自己。”--候逸凡这样评价她崇拜的鲍比-菲舍尔，一位勇敢、好斗的美国国际象棋超级明星。
7月，日内瓦，2017年国际棋联大奖赛第三站，还有五分钟开赛，整个房间沉默无语。选手都已经坐下来，世界上最好的棋手中的18个人，面对这九块木板做成的棋盘。少数观众站在一条黑色警戒线后面，距离选手们只有几英尺，低声耳语伴随着安静的呼吸。所有的目光都集中在网球场大小的游戏区的一端的电视屏幕上，因为它在倒数读秒，直到比赛开始。
当时钟走到零时，裁判长站了起来，开始宣读比赛规则。“下午好，女士。”他说，向一个选手点头执意。介绍几乎没有必要--她已经非常显眼。比赛区内有21个人，其中18人是选手，还有两名法官和一名摄影师，23岁的侯逸凡是唯一的女性，即使警戒线外，聚集在一起的观众也都是男性。
“下午好，先生们。”裁判长转向别的选手，再次的问候引起了一些笑声。但如果你注意就会发现，侯逸凡的脸上没有反应。
侯逸凡在中国浙江省兴化市长大，她一直在跟男棋手一起训练，她在竞争激烈的国际象棋中参加了很多公开赛。她听到过很多“像一个女人”一样的嘲讽，并且通过她在女子世界排名中的绝对优势将它们变成了自豪的徽章。16岁时，她成为最年轻的女子世界国际象棋锦标赛冠军；17岁时，她成为最年轻的女子世界国际象棋锦标赛卫冕冠军。今天，侯逸凡是世界（男女混合）排名前100位中唯一的女棋手--她排在74位。在女子世界排名中，她和第二名之间的差距比男子排名第一与第二十名之间的差距还大！
但是，这样的排名与差距是合理的：侯逸凡与其他棋手不一样，他们之间真正的分别不是性别--而是她的野心。侯逸凡想像他们一样，参加男子比赛，而不仅仅是女子比赛--但是她的内心也滋生出另一种愿望：对于国际象棋以外生活的追求。当她今年7月份在日内瓦参加国际棋联大奖赛第三站比赛的时候，这些野心之间的冲突是不可避免的：她不能同时拥有。如果她要留在国际象棋--并且以一种非女性的方式征服男人的世界--有些事情不得不改变。
但是，首先侯逸凡必须先征服坐在她对面的对手。
当比赛刚开始时，侯逸凡和她的对手都下得很快，毫不犹豫地兑子。她的对手是23岁的荷兰棋手阿尼斯-吉里。吉里也是一个小神童，在14岁时获得了国际大师的称号。随着比赛的进行，两人行棋速度减慢，每步棋的间隔从以秒计算到5分钟、10分钟、15分钟。侯逸凡依然在她的座位上端坐着，胳膊肘向前弯曲，托腮思考，偶尔拿起水瓶喝两口。她只站起来几次，在房间里走动着，手臂紧紧地折叠在胸前，或者去洗手间--一个只供她使用的。
七个小时之后，赛场只剩下侯逸凡和吉里了，其他比赛早已结束。两人从来没有说话，也几乎不看对方，把眼睛固定在他们之间的棋盘上。快到晚上8点的时候，侯逸凡败下阵来，她没能像上一轮那样实现逆转。
尽管如此，其他棋手和棋联官员都毫不吝惜地赞美侯逸凡的天赋、她稳重的气势、对棋的深刻理解。他们说，毫无疑问，她是一个罕见的、独特的天才。唯一的问题是她的承诺。世界排名第12位的吉里说：“她跟男棋手的比赛太少，她还没准备好（挑战男棋手）”但他同情她的情况：“她现在想很难进步，当你15岁的时候已经达到了一项运动的顶峰，就很难再激励自己。”他说。
侯逸凡的才能从小就显露出来。3岁的时候，她就能战胜她的父亲和祖母。5岁的时候，她就和专业教练一起训练。两年后，教练告诉她，她太好了，不再接受她的训练了。他说她应该去一个更大的城市，得到更好的发展。2003年，中国国际象棋队主教练与侯逸凡下了一盘棋之后，称她为“天才”。同年，她进入了中国国家队，成为最年轻的成员。
事情很快就变得很清楚，侯逸凡不像其她同年龄的棋手。一方面，她远远好于她们，她的棋艺足以压制即使是最努力的竞争对手。但更重要的是，侯逸凡承认自己和同龄人之间的个性有根本的差异：其她棋手在国际象棋之外基本抛弃了世界，但是她拥抱它。即使在旅行和比赛期间，她也继续读书和学习，包括自然科学、政治学和商业领域。对于她来说，国际象棋是进入更广阔世界的窗户。“有两种不同的人，”她说。“有些棋手只通过训练和比赛来了解国际象棋，而另外一种棋手，可以通过所有事物来了解国际象棋--美丽、时尚、策略。我显然是第二种。”

侯逸凡差点击败以色列冠军

2012年，侯逸凡选择了北京大学，中国顶尖大学之一，进入了国际关系专业。这是一个不寻常的举动，一个正处在上升期的国际象棋明星，大多数放弃高等教育而投身到训练和比赛。她的教练强烈反对她上学的决定。 “用最好的时光来下棋，尽可能地提高。”他告诉她。对于侯逸凡而言，她要选择超越国际象棋的生活。她说：“我希望我的生活丰富多彩，而不是狭窄。”“我知道这会影响我的比赛成绩，但这就是我想要过的生活。”
当进入校园时，侯逸凡已经是一个十八岁的超级巨星。中国传媒对她全方位报道已经多年，其中包括鲜亮的时尚杂志。“我们都认识她，因为她很有名，”她的一位同学说。“所以晚上她到了宿舍，我们都去见她了。”侯逸凡跟同学们合影、签名，然后搬进了拥挤的四人间宿舍。
在大学期间，侯逸凡继续训练和比赛。但下棋不再是她的首要任务：她完成了学校要求的所有课程，加入了几个课外小组，并用尽可能多的时间来接触学习以外的人。蒙古国的女子大师，侯逸凡最亲密的朋友之一，恩卡赫图·阿尔坦-乌尔齐（Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii）说：“她总是告诉我，国际象棋只是一场比赛，国际象棋不是生命。“她说，“尽你所能，但输赢并不重要。”
2016年毕业后，侯逸凡申请了芝加哥大学社会工作硕士课程。她看到了自己的未来，她参加社区工作，关注国际变化。这是一个令人难以置信的愿景，多年的辛勤工作和专门学习就要实现--但是在7月份，她推迟一年毕业，继续训练，决心证明她可以与时并进，仍是最好的棋手。
在国际棋联大奖赛日内瓦站的闭幕式上，侯逸凡静静地站在一间小宴会厅的中间，等待主裁判宣布最后的成绩。其他棋手围成紧密的圈子，喝着酒说着笑话。还有几个人走到房间的后面，在那里拿出手机玩游戏。那天早些时候结束的最后一轮比赛，挣扎着但又换来一次艰难的失败，她知道她的排名会很糟糕。最后的结果令人失望：倒数第二名，在18个参赛者中排名第17位。
主裁判和其他几名棋手在主席台上为他们发放礼品，并感谢他们的参与。掌声消失的时候，侯逸凡来到她的母亲-也是她的经纪人身边，然后走进大厅的洗手间。几分钟后，她重新出现，换上了运动鞋而不是高跟鞋，穿着黑色连衣裙和蓝色拉链连帽衫。
如果侯逸凡在男子赛事中表现不好，就会使她的排名降低，但没有改变她在女子排名的地位。事实上，这是因为侯逸凡在女子赛事完全占据主导地位，她一直在竞争：去年，她决定完全放弃女子赛事，只与男子竞争。“要成为最好的女棋手，已经对我没有吸引力了，”侯逸凡说。她要寻求新的竞争，也是一个挑战。
只下男子赛的决定是侯逸凡基于实力的选择，但也是对国际象棋联合会的反抗。根据目前的规则，女子世界冠军不再只参加挑战赛来保卫她的冠军，而是要跟其他棋手一样参加淘汰赛，没有了种子选手的优势了。相比之下，男子世界冠军可以每两年一次保卫自己的冠军，只需战胜一个对手--他通过候选人锦标赛晋级，直到成为官方的挑战者。

日内瓦大奖赛唯一的女棋手

国际棋联的官员坚持认为，男女世锦赛赛制不能平等。他们声称，女子世锦赛完全采用淘汰赛增加了参与性，而且一场淘汰赛的关注度能带来更多的收入。国际棋联管理机构FIDE的副总裁、以色列人格尔弗格（Gelfer）说：“女子世锦赛（挑战制）很难找到赞助商。对于女子棋界来说，还没有像卡斯帕罗夫和卡尔森这样的有号召力的明星，我认为男女应该是平等的，但到目前为止，情况就是这样。”
侯逸凡已经拒绝了女子世锦赛卫冕。“我不会考虑停留在我完全不同意的赛制中，”她说。结果，侯逸凡不再是官方的女子世界冠军，她选择参加另外的比赛，而不是2017年女子世锦赛。
尽管国际棋联官员态度顽固，侯逸凡认为，如果有合适的领导人，制度就会成熟的。“不仅对我而且是对女子国象有利，”她说。侯逸凡知道她是唯一拥有知名度和声誉的女棋手，她将继续为改变现状而奋斗。“也许我不是正确的人选，”她说，“但这是我的责任。”
到目前为止，侯逸凡拒绝捍卫女子世界冠军头衔。但是另一个抗议行为，侯逸凡的不满情绪超越了国际象棋界，进入公众的视野。在今年二月份的“直布罗陀国际象棋公开赛”中，侯逸凡在最后一轮仅下了五个回合就退赛了，赛后她解释了原因。这次比赛为男女混合参赛，男女比例为4比1，但在侯逸凡的10场比赛中有7场比赛对阵女棋手，这让她的积分较之其他女选手大为缩水。她向比赛官员抗议未果，然后选择了弃赛。侯逸凡说，“其他棋手也对配对表示怀疑，但是没有做我所做的。”
在充满争议的国际象棋世界中，侯逸凡的退撒是丑闻。比赛组织者表示，配对编排是计算机程序的结果，这引起世界的哗然，它让侯逸凡的抗争，由与男性比赛扩大到了比赛系统。无论她打算采取什么行动，她都向国际棋联官员发出一个明确的信息：“如果你想要更好的东西，”侯逸凡，“你需要一场革命。”
在日内瓦站闭幕式后的当晚，侯逸凡和她的母亲在拥挤的街道走过，几乎每晚都来同一家中餐厅，侯逸凡说：“在国外比赛的时候，习惯在一家中餐厅固定吃晚餐，”“找一个新餐厅很不容易，特别是经过几个小时的比赛，更重要的是，在一天的比赛结束后，熟悉的地方有点回家的感觉。
在吃着餐桌上的豆腐、蔬菜和鸡肉的同时，侯逸凡承认她仍然缺乏训练，渴望与最好的棋手竞争，但不愿意牺牲她生命中的其他方面。世界排名第三的棋手弗拉基米尔·克拉姆尼克表示：“她告诉我，她从未真的非常努力。”“当然，这是对她的一个很大的赞美--从来没有像职业顶尖男棋手那样刻苦训练，却拿到了如此之多的冠军。”
到目前为止，侯逸凡仍依靠天赋和直觉来提高自己。“这种非常自然的游戏感觉很难形容，”克拉姆尼克说。“她不需要计算，从逻辑上走出一步好棋--她只是感觉到，这是伟大的天赋的迹象，当我第一次拿到男子世锦赛冠军时，我经历了类似的事情。”
在女子赛场上，侯逸凡可以用自己的天赋来弥补训练的不足。但是在日内瓦，她和顶级的男选手之间的差距却是显而易见的。在最后三场比赛中，她多次失去了应该能够取得领先地位的机会；相反，她犯了很多错误，缺乏准备。她说：“对于一些棋手来说，不容易犯我这样的错误。“男棋手不会这样做，至少不会那么频繁。”她仍然在学习，仍然适应一种新型的竞争，她不能仅靠自己的才华来赢取胜利。
午餐后，侯逸凡和她的母亲准备乘坐两个小时的火车，前往参加Biel国际象棋公开赛，在那里她将再次成为唯一的女棋手。她的整个夏天都用来比赛了，只有几个月的时间在芝加哥大学学习，但是她在日内瓦的表现令人失望，让人担忧她的选择。现在比以往任何时候都能够看到，她的世界之窗是变得真正伟大的国际象棋--历史上伟大--现在正在迅速关闭。
她的朋友也看到了这点。克拉姆尼克说：“如果她想继续当最好的女棋手，她可以什么都不做。 至少在未来的几年里，没人能撼动她的地位。如果她想要挖掘自己的潜能，那么她必须把注意力集中在国际象棋上，但是她必须选择--她不能学习和比赛兼得，这太难了，因为竞争太激烈了。”
然而，即使对于竞争对手来说，她的犹豫也是可以理解的--有些人似乎羡慕她的困境。“在大众眼里，棋手的形象是超凡的，甚至是书呆子的形象，但事实是大多数棋手都有一个另外的技能。”国际特级大师、七次俄罗斯冠军得主彼得·斯维德勒说。“她可以走开，去另外一个领域。”
在她未来的竞争视野中，没有一个中间空间，侯逸凡知道。“我准备牺牲一些东西，”她在火车上说。“作为一个棋手，特别是一个女棋手，你没有很长的竞技生涯，但我还是想平衡国际象棋和我的学业、家庭。”她停下来，望着窗外像田园诗般的瑞士风景。“我想成为最好的，但也要有生活。”
列车长在对讲机上宣布火车正在接近目的地。在接下来的一周中，侯逸凡在大奖赛中以壮观的方式反弹，夺取了几场令人印象深刻的胜利，并在Biel的比赛中获得第一名。但是在那一天的火车上，侯依然是不确定的，她们勾画了两个不同的生活愿景，同样的诱人。她仍然不知道她会选择哪条路，但她确信她会找到自己的伟大之路。“还有更多可以争取的东西，”她说，“在国际象棋世界和外面的世界。”
侯逸凡抓着手提箱，准备下车。她说：“我甚至没有接近我的潜力和期望的顶峰。还有很长的路要走。”（飞来石 译）

The Mermaid’s Mirror

And so, while the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is outlining the guidelines to develop the country as a leading worldwide model of global politics in the coming years, 上海 (Shànghǎi)’s superdelegate and five-time Olympic gold medal diver 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) succeeded in taking over the telegraph and telecommunications! Here she is, serving as a special correspondent for the 新华通讯社 (Xīnhuá News Agency)’s microblog 《新华视点》 (Xīnhuá Viewpoint) on the ongoing congressional works.

The Wings

Anna Muzychuk – Alina Anatolyevna Kashlinskaya
ACP European Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; Monte Carlo, October 21, 2017
French Defence C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Be3 b6 8. h4 0-0. For 8. ... Nc6 9. h5 f5 10. exf6 Bxf6 11. Dd2 0-0 12. 0-0-0 just take a look at A. Muzychuk – Unuk, Turkish Team Chess Championship (First League), Kocaeli 2017. 9. h5 Nc6 10. Bb5 Ndb8 11. Qd2 c4!? The alternative was 11. ... a6 12. Bxc6 Nxc6 13. Qf2 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Qc7 15. 0-0-0 b5 16. Nxc6 Qxc6 17. f5 exf5 18. Nxd5 Bd8 19. Qg3 Kh8? (best was 19. ... h6!) 20. Nf4! h6 21. Ng6+! fxg6 22. hxg6 Qe4 23. Bxh6 Qg4 24. Bg5+ 1 : 0 Sutovsky – Forcén Esteban, 18th European Individual Chess Championship, Minsk 2017. 12. Bxc6 Nxc6 13. g4 b5. The run to opposite goals has just started. Who will arrive first? 14. Qg2 b4 15. Nd1 c3 16. b3 a5 17. Nf2 a4 18. Rc1 axb3 19. axb3 Ra2 20. g5 Qe8 21. Ng4. With the obvious threat of Ng4-f6+. 21. ... Kh8 22. Nh4 Na5 23. Qf3 Qd8? As it will be immediately clear, Her Majesty should never have relinquished control of the g6-square. 23. ... Bd8 (Stockfish) might have been Black’s toughest defence.

24. Ng6+! fxg6. If 24. ... Kg8 then 25. Nxe7+ Qxe7 26. Nf6+! Kh8 27. g6! gxf6 28. g7+! Kxg7 29. Qg3+ Kh8 (or 29. ... Kh6 30. f5 mate) 30. Rg1 and mate next move. 25. hxg6 h6 26. Nxh6! gxh6 27. Qh5 Bxg5 28. fxg5 Kg8 29. Qxh6 1 : 0.

Capitalism as a Fashion System

Anne Storno, Wall Street Dog, 2016
Credit: Affordable Art Fair Battersea

Dancing on Ice

Gentoo penguins dancing along the water’s edge in Danco Island, Antarctica. Photo: David Merron/Media Drum World Photo Agency.

Jeremy, since you said that “We are now the political mainstream”, Theresa got crazy and now wants a solo in all our shows. Don’t you think it’s better to be careful and to not provoke her needlessly?

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attending the Queen’s speech on June 21, 2017. Photo: AP/Kristy Wigglesworth.

The vanguard party

Diving Queen 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá), with her usual perfect timing, unveils us that nothing has been left to chance in the “montage” of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China underway in 北京 (Běijīng), China. So, here she is, in the limelight of 《时尚芭莎》 (Harper’s Bazaar), hand in hand with Montblanc International GmbH, the German manufacturer of luxury pens, watches, jewellery and leather goods. That’s doesn’t mean, of course, that the President’s speech was written with her Meisterstück fountain pen, and not even that the length of the presidential speech was recorded to the very last second and clocked by means of her Meisterstück Chronograph. Photo: weibo.com/bazaarchina.

Hey Edna, don’t you know that no one is allowed to fall asleep during the speech?

Artwork © calustra

Time zones map

It’s already tomorrow somewhere in the world, and so, if you were just there, you’re already given the precious chance to kick Arcovazzi off and join instead the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s afternoon Fischerandom chess meeting, starting at 16,00. Please just keep always in mind that we’re the only and one chess school not recognized by anyone!

Photo © ankazhuravleva

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

• Jon Stone, Ditch neoliberalism to win again, Jeremy Corbyn tells Europe’s centre-left parties, The Independent, October 19, 2017

Jeremy Corbyn’s speech prompted a standing ovation at the meeting of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Brussels, Belgium on October 19, 2017. Photo credit: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images.

Invented People

Simon Kirk, Invented People, 2017
Credit: Affordable Art Fair Battersea/Turner Barnes Gallery

海底总动员2：多莉去哪儿

Apparently Diving Queen 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) as well as the 上海 (Shànghǎi) delegation survived the presidential longest speech marathon on the first day of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. On the other hand, we may reasonably guess that she didn’t lose a single word of today’s press conference given by the Vice Minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television 张宏森 (Zhāng Hóngsēn), who, in saying that “The rapid development of the film industry has been a big bright spot for China’s culture industry”, also assured that the Communist Party of China will fiercely support Hollywood-style films that portray China as the rejuvenated superpower envisioned in 习近平 (Xí Jìnpíng)’s oration. So the question arises spontaneously: who will find Nemo? All photos: 郭至君 (Guō Zhìjūn)/CRNTT.com.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Today is already Friday, and even if tomorrow is Saturday, for no reason in the world you should miss your ballet and dance classes at Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”!

Tiny dancer... This lemur knows how to strike a pose. Photo: Andy Rouse/Rex Features.