Immortal Game - Oh What a Feeling :)

Never mind the endgame blunders that let me get away :) After being whacked by some solid opponents, I really needed this one to go to bed with a good feeling :

What a sad end for the man. If he had just nabbed my rook with the K when he was under check.. He had me!

(See older post for the player link) (BTW, here's how the 13 year old Magnus gave Kasparov the jitters. Even though that page displays the moves list with symbols, just cut and paste in the player and all is well:)

1.Pe2e4 Pe7e5
2.Ng1f3 Nb8c6
3.Pd2d4 Pe5xd4
4.Nf3xd4 Qd8f6
5.Bc1e3 Bf8c5
6.Pc2c3 Nc6xd4
7.Be3xd4 Bc5xd4
8.Qd1xd4 Qf6xd4
9.Pc3xd4 Ng8f6
10.Bf1d3 O-O
11.Nb1c3 Pc7c6
12.O-O-O Pd7d5
13.Pe4e5 Nf6g4
14.Rd1d2 Pf7f6
15.Ph2h3 Ng4h6
16.Pf2f4 Bc8f5
17.Bd3xf5 Nh6xf5
18.Pg2g4 Nf5e3
19.Rh1e1 Ne3c4
20.Rd2e2 Pf6xe5
21.Pb2b3 Pe5xd4
22.Pb3xc4 Pd4xc3
23.Pf4f5 Pd5d4
24.Kc1c2 Ra8d8
25.Re1d1 Rd8d7
26.Re2e4 Rf8d8
27.Rd1d3 Pa7a6
28.Pa2a4 Pb7b5
29.Pa4xb5 Pa6xb5
30.Kc2b3 Pb5xc4+
31.Kb3xc4 Pc3c2
32.Re4e1 Rd7b7
33.Re1c1 Pc6c5
34.Rc1xc2 Rd8c8
35.Kc4d5 Kg8f7
36.Rc2xc5 Rb7d7+
37.Kd5c4 Rc8a8
38.Kc4b5 Kf7f6
39.Ph3h4 Ph7h6
40.Rc5c6+ Kf6e5
41.Rc6e6+ Ke5f4
42.Re6g6 Ra8e8
43.Kb5c5 Kf4e4
44.Rg6e6+ Re8xe6
45.Pf5xe6 Rd7d5+
46.Kc5c4 Ke4e5
47.Pe6e7 Rd5d6
48.Pe7e8=Q Rd6e6
49.Qe8b5+ Ke5f6
50.Qb5f5+ Kf6e7
51.Rd3xd4 Pg7g6
52.Qf5c5+ Ke7f7
53.Rd4d7+ Kf7f6
54.Qc5f8+ Kf6e5
55.Rd7d5+ Ke5e4
56.Rd5d4+ Ke4e5
57.Qf8f4#  1-0

Immortal Game

After a youngie with handle Kryzhalee whipped my a couple of times with solid foundation and mate! Got my good feeling by whipping a certain JC

Use http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html to view.. (paste the moves)

1.Pe2e4 Pc7c5
2.Bf1c4 Pe7e6
3.Pd2d3 Nb8c6
4.Bc1e3 Ng8f6
5.Ng1f3 Bf8e7
6.O-O O-O
7.Nb1c3 Pe6e5
8.Nc3d5 Nf6xd5
9.Bc4xd5 Nc6d4
10.Nf3xe5 Be7f6
11.Ne5c4 Pd7d6
12.Pc2c3 Nd4c6
13.Pf2f4 Ra8b8
14.Pf4f5 Nc6e5
15.Nc4xe5 Bf6xe5
16.Qd1h5 Be5f6
17.Rf1f3 Bc8d7
18.Rf3h3 Ph7h6
19.Ra1f1 Bd7c6
20.Bd5b3 Qd8e7
21.Be3xh6 Rf8c8
22.Bh6g5 Bf6xg5
23.Qh5h7+ Kg8f8
24.Qh7h8#  1-0

Wait! What the h was I thinking Qh7? Stage time? Crap.. Could have saved a move and boosted me ELO rating half a point..

How a Nobel Laureate Tells It

Basic semiconductor physics at the high-school level. Try staying awake. What a classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdr89n_nf9Y

Jacob Beningo Plugs Pi

Gosh, the typos on his PPTs. I wonder if he gets paid to do these webinars.. that's genius.

To follow along with his learn Python stuff, you don't actually need to download and install python..

You can do it online through your browser :

https://www.pythonanywhere.com/try-ipython/

The Big Book of Lumosity Tricks

There underperformance and then, there's indiaperformance.

What can explain India's mediocrity? Do you think that a martial law style government like China would make a difference in showings at competitions?

What's missing?

Enough ranting. If you've read this far, you're entitled to these tips that have worked for me. BTW, there's a 60 year old woman out there who's topped about 250k in Penguin Pursuit.

These aren't "lumosity" tricks - they're in the spirit of "how to be brilliant every day." I just happen to notice when playing..

1) Get plenty of sleep - or, quality sleep. If you're a guy, you might wonder why you get better scores after a wet dream - it's because testosterone boosts spatial processing.
2) Do them relaxation exerises. Do one..
3) Eat a healthy breakfast - no refined sugar. Some protein.
4) Shower, do another relaxation exercise.
5) Do some rhythmic breathing - in-4, out-6, hold-2
6) Meditate for a few minutes.

See if you can't crack level 24 of PP this way:) And 57 trains in tot.

Notorious Russell Peters (Sydney) : Super

Had me laughing all the way. How does he get away saying stuff like that and asking people those kinds of questions?

My ex-wife is a very attractive woman, on the outside.

She's like a Ferrari without the engine - doesn't go anywhere, just sits there and costs me money.

The Lesser Known Feynman - Juval Ne-eman

In one sphere, at least, Feynman made a deliberate effort to play the role of enfant terrible. Combining his love for scientific truth and his hatred of "impostors," he was always willing to play cat- and-mouse games to expose flaws and pretense - all of which made him the terror of lecturers who came to Caltech to present their intellectual wares. On my first visit, I gave a series of ten lectures on "group theory," the mathematical apparatus I used, and Feynman interrupted me with questions every 3-4 minutes. I knew the material, however, and in the end it was Feynman who got tired out. On the other hand, I remember the visit of a well-known Swiss physicist, Johann Jauch, who after half an hour of torture, flung the chalk away, announced he could not go on this way, and walked out the door.

In 1976, Werner Heisenberg, one of the leading physicists of the 20th century, made a stop at Caltech as part of a cross-country lecture tour. Since 1950, he had been expounding a certain theory that was generally acknowledged as worthless. Out of respect, however, people usually refrained from arguing with him. His lecture at Caltech was on this theory. Gell-Mann stayed away purposely, but Feynman was there and made his presence felt. At a certain point he got up and shouted: "If that's so, your theory is crap." Mortified, Heisenberg left the hall, and according to the distinguished physicist Harald Fritzsch, who was at Caltech at the time and on close terms with him, he never recovered from the shock. He died that same year.

But there was someone who gave Feynman a taste of his own medicine. The Norwegian-American physicist Ivar Giaever once suffered through a lecture with Feynman. Two years later, he came back to Caltech to give another lecture. This time, however, Giaever not only answered Feynman to the point, but made him look stupid. Obviously, he had done a good job of preparing ahead, deliberately slipping in remarks to provoke Feynman - who walked straight into his trap. Everyone in the lecture hall could feel how stunned Feynman was.

From : http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~yskim/feynman/yuval.html

I'm Sold. Zentangle is The Next Big Thing

My first tangle and I'm hooked already!

US Challenge Ends in Suck-cess

Here's the part I don't understand. Americans are always obsessed with being the biggest - go to any gym, you see what I mean. They have protein shake oozing out their eyes. So, then, why are their soccer players so small and wimpy - I mean, come on - look at the size difference in comparison to Belgium or Germany. If you want to be short, that's fine, why not be a Shaqiri in that case? Or a Messi.

Time to invoke the status thing. American soccer players have an inferiority complex because they're not seen as stars in their own country - the way basketball and football (what?) players are. Same isn't true in Europe. Read books on psychology and you learn that status counts for a lot. A study found that a chain-smoking permanent secretary in the British Civil Service had higher life expectancy than a janitor who lived by the book. Status! Prestige!

Full credit for the Swiss for playing their hearts out - even if defensively. Those tears were precious. But, really, what were they crying about? Did they really expect to win? Duh!

The Essential Henry Ford : Titles and Foreign Trade

 On Titles :

One of the things that we will not tolerate is injustice of any kind. The moment a man starts to swell with authority, he is discovered and he goes outor he goes back to a machine. A large amount of labour unrest comes from the unjustexercise of authority by those in subordinate positions and I am afraid that in far toomany manufacturing institutions it is really not possible for a workman to get a squaredeal. The work and the work alone controls us.

That is one of the reasons why we have no titles. Most men can swing a job, but theyare floored by a title. The effect of a title is very peculiar. It has been used too muchas a sign of emancipation from work. It is almost equivalent to a badge bearing the legend :This man has nothing to do but regard himself as import and all others as inferior.Not only is a title often injurious to the wearer but it has its effect on others as well.There is perhaps no greater single source of personal dissatisfaction among men than thefact that title bearers are not always the real leaders. Everybody acknowledges a realleader - a man who is fit to plan and command and when you find a real leader who bearsa title, you will inquire of someone else what his title is. He doesn't boast about it.Title in business have been greatly overdone and business has suffered. One of the badfeatures is the division of responsibility according to titles which goes so far as to amount to a removal altogether of responsibility. Where resp is broken up into many smallbits and divided among many departments, each department with its own titular head,who in turn is surrounded by a group bearing their nice sub-titles, it is difficult tofind anyone who really feels resp. Everyone knows what passing the buck means. The gamemust have originated in industrial organizations whre the depts simply shove the respalong. The health of the organization depends of every member, whatever his place, feelingthat everything that happens to come to his notice regarding the welfare of the biz ishis own job. Railroads have gone to the devil under the eyes of depts that say "oh, thatdoesn't come under our dept, dept X 100 miles away has that job"

On foreign trade and the plunder of Mexico:

A country becomes great when by the wise development of its resources and the skill ofits people, property is widely and fairly distributed. Foreign trade is full of delusions.We ought to wish for every nation as large a degree of self-support as possible.  Insteadof wishing to keep them dependent upon us for what we manufacture, we should wish them tolearn to manufacture themselves and build up a solidly founded civilization. When every nationlearns to produce the things which it can produce, we should be able to get down to a basisof serving each other along those special lines in which there can be no competition.The north temperate zone will never be able to compete with the tropics in the special products of the tropics. Our country will never be a competitor with the orient in the production of tea. Nor with the south in the production of rubber.A large proportion of our foreign trade is based on the backwardness of our foreigncustomers. Selfishness is a motive that would preserve that backwardness. Humanity is a motive that would help the backward nations to a self-supporting basis. Take Mexico forinstance. 

We have heard a great deal about the development of Mexico. Exploitation is theword that ought, instead, to be used. When its rich natural resources are exploited forthe increase of the private fortunes of foreign capitalists, that is not development. Itis ravishment. You can never develop Mexico until you develop the Mexican. And yet, how much of the development of Mexico by foreign exploiters ever took account of the developmentof its people. The Mexican peon is regarded as mere fuel for the foreign moneymakers.Foreign trade has been his degredation. Shortsighted people are afraid of such counsel.They say, "what will become of our foreign trade?" When the natives of Africa begin raisingtheir own cotton and the natives of Russia begin making their own farm implements and the natives of China begin supplying their own wants, it will make a difference to be sure, butdoes any thoughtful man imagine that the world can long continue on the present basis ofa few nations supplying the needs of the world? We must think in terms of what the worldwill be when civilization becomes general - when all the peoples have learned to helpthemselves. When a country goes mad about foreign trade, it usually depends on other countries for its raw material, turns its population into factory fodder, creates a privaterich class and lets its own immediate interests lie neglected. Here, in the US, we haveenough work to do developing our own country - to relieve us of the necessity of looking for foreign trade for a long time.