Musings on chess, and lesser things
Non-chess posts
My boss has kindly given me two days off to study for my exam, and so far I have naturally used it to procrastinate. Not on purpose, mind you, but it’s hard not to fall back into the student trap of never having anything to do, but never having any free time, either. It’s an …
I get sinusitis. For anyone who suffers from it, or anyone who’s had a sinus infection, you’ll know just how much of a pain in the butt (or, more correctly, sinuses) it can be. On one trip to the doctor’s, I was told that I have unusually narrow sinuses, which precipitates and exacerbates sinus infections …
I’m not going to get into a debate on climate change on here – I have some pretty strong and largely unfounded opinions, and it only takes a beer or two before I’m an expert worthy of chairing the Copenhagen Summit. Regardless of your own views, we can all agree that pollution is bad, and …
I do. I really, really do. Turu comments that they appreciate reading ‘a grandmaster’s thoughts’. Well, this seems as good an invitation as any to have a rant about the festive season. As I prepare to leave tomorrow for a very merry Christmas in Perth, I’m hoping this rather unmerry post will help rid my …
A bit of a tangent from the World Cup, but I have to write about my mate Jeremy Reading’s recent win on the television reality show ‘Beauty and the Geek’. The series, overwhelmingly popular in the US and UK, teams stereotypical ‘geeks’ with ditzy ‘beauties’, and then pits these artificial couples against each other in …
Fi and I have just landed in Helsinki with, admittedly, a dual sense of relief and sadness. It’s nice to be back in positive degrees territory, and have a shower where you don’t have to worry about getting water in your mouth. But the first thing I did when getting into the hotel room was …
After an extended delay, we are finally coming to you live from Khanty-Mansiysk, host city of the World Chess Cup. The trip here, despite being intra continental, has been arduous. An extra day in London was used to the full, and Manuel eventually picked Fi and I up from right outside Big Ben, next to …
We’re still in London – but we’re not supposed to be! Apparently, FinnAir pilots are on strike, and so our flights to Ekaterinburg via Helsinki last night were cancelled. Fortunately, we’re jumping on a Lufthansa flight tonight through Frankfurt, which will get us to Siberia in time for the domestic flight to Khanty-Mansiysk, but it’s …
Two in the morning, and the typical body clock confusion has set in. Plenty of sleep still to be had, but the body just doesn’t seem to care – “Breakfast?” Still, at least we’re on solid ground. It took 36 hours all up from getting on the plane in Canberra to finally disembarking at Heathrow. …
Khanty-Mansiysk is a tiny little oil town in deepest Siberia. About 50,000 locals make up this snow-covered community that is only notable for the occasional Winter biathlon, a signature frozen fish dish… and chess tournaments. This month, it plays host to the World Chess Cup, a 128-player knockout event featuring some of the best players in the …