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The French tennis open, Wednesday 29 May, 2024

Victory goes to the most tenacious. Swiatek v Osaka

A heroic sentiment. 
Found written in English, in the very Gallic location the Rolland Garros stadium, Paris, France. 
But that is not the  most surprising aspect of this story.

Historically,Roland Garros was a French aviation hero becoming one of the earliest fighter pilots who was shot down in the last days of WW1. The French Open tennis tournament takes the name of Roland Garros, held in the stadium named after him. 

Now, in the stadium, it is true that the words attributed to the heroic aviator are shown in English emblazoned on the side of the stadium. 

Victory goes to the most tenacious. 

It is frequently mentioned by English language commentators. But a little further digging reveals it originally came another even more famous historical figure, Napoleon Buonaparte.  
Also on the frontage at the Roland Garros is the original quote 

‘La victoire appartient aux plus tenaces’ if you’ll pardon my French. 

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These chess lessons in audio form are provided for parents and would-be chess beginners at the Northern Tennis club, Didsbury.  You will need a chess board and a set chess if you want to study some of the answers. 
It will also help if you know how to pause and restart the audio. 

First some revision questions. You now know how the chess pieces move, the value of the pieces, their starting positions, how to castle, how to check the king, and what’s checkmate. 

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End of season blues. Things can only get better.

Wednesday 22 May 2024

This is it. The day the chess sets and clocks are packed away. The tables unfolded with care to avoid barked knuckles. Chairs stacked neatly in the storage space by the filing cabinet.
Lights out. The few members who attended the last night of the season trail slowly out of the club room following the instructions to check lights. The outside door closes with a click.
All chess has ended for the summer recess.
Before next season starts, there will be the Euros (except for Wales who lost their qualifying match to finish their season) The General Election. Wimbledon tennis lies ahead.
All that is left are memories.
At the AGM, the Captains spelled out the bad news bravely. Captain Tom spoke movingly of how the first team had fought valiantly, against higher ranked players, losing several matches by the smallest of margins.
He also announced his own retirement from chess to cope with an addition to his family later in the year.
Cometh the day, cometh the man, and John Reed fearlessly agreed to take over, having studied the rise and fall of Manchester United as his special topic in pub quizzes.

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Getting started in chess 
Revision session No 2 The basic moves.

These chess lessons in audio form are provided for parents and would-be chess beginners at the Northern Tennis club, Didsbury.  You will need a chess board and a set chess for the final puzzle. 
It will help if you know how to pause and restart the audio. 

First some advice about thinking before you move:
A blunder is a very bad move which could lose the game.

Most blunders happen because of a simple lack of focus. You might get distracted or be too lazy to calculate properly. Your hand plays a move without your brain fully processing what you are about to do.And your Queen is gone. Oops.

On other occasions, you might be fully focused but not on the right thing. Before you move, look at the position and watch for ‘takes’ . 


Now, for revision session 2.

This session concentrates on the basic moves of all the pieces.

You can think of them as two kinds, the long range pieces, and short range pieces. 
The long range pieces are the Bishops, rooks, and queens. They can go backwards or forwards until blocked. Their moves are easier to remember.
The short range pieces are the pawns, knights, and kings. There are a more things to learn about them. 

Last session we revised how to start a chess game, and basic moves including castling. This week we go into more details about how pieces move.

As mentioned, be ready with a board and chess set before answering these questions. You will have five seconds to answer.     

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Wit and Wisdom. Late May  2024 edition.

@karinbeery’s post earlier this month asked for examples of disguised swear words. There was great response including these:

Sadly I can’t trace the first contributor.

Saw this post and loved it: what words do you use when you don't want to swear but want to express yourself? My mom always went with cripe. I'm a big fan of 'cheese and crackers' and 'son of a biscuit.'

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General Election fever. Wet.wet.wet.

Wednesday 22 May 2024
4.30pm

Election fever has been mounting all day. News media report that the PM will announce a date for it in front of No 10, at 5pm.
Polls have remained stubbornly predicting a serious loss for the Government for at least a year. 
The weather remains as bleak as the political climate. 
Inside, we are informed, the PM is completing the briefing to his cabinet, several of whom have cancelled planned duties.
The weather wins the first round, forcing storm protection measures to be  hastily erected (should I say general protection measures?).
Twiddle thumbs. 
Switch channels
Sky predicts July 4
Bloomberg expects announcement 
BBC SAYS July 4
CNN reports ICC developments
Channel 5 opts for the comfort of the studio then to damp reporter outside No 10

5.08
Action.
The lectern arrives. 
Wet
Wet
Wet

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Strictly come dentistry. The new sensational TV show

The format. Contestants show off their dentistry skills before a live audience, and a panel of celebrity dentists.

Votes from the panel and from viewer’s phone-in. 

Each week, the candidates demonstrate their skills in selecting the correct tooth, executing their dentistry skills, with vivid in-mouth shots on giant screens, background music, and lights display. 

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Dogs in Drag

Sunday 19 May.
The BBC breakfast show gave priority to a cringemaking report of an event called The Dogs’ Prom. The show revealed an infantilised treatment of dogs stripped of all dignity, and dressed up in gruesome costumes.

I watched in horror at dogs dressed as cute children’s dolls were paraded to the rapturous approval of owners, and the presenters. My nausea was not shared by other viewers of the program who sent in equally repulsive images...

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The chess championship of the future. The Armageddon wars.

If it sounds like science-fiction, it’s probably because it is very much like the plot of a science-fiction blockbuster, set in the remote future, in a galaxy far from ours.
A glimpse of how it may play out was seen in a remarkable competition involving most of the leading Chess grandmasters of the day, which ended this week on Wednesday 24 May 2024. 

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