Chess champion Levon Aronian, who competed in Chennai Grand Masters recently, on future Indian chess superstars

Uzbekistan's young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.

1. Tata Steel Chess India Day 1: Abdussatorov Leads Carlsen, So, Narayanan  Chess.com
2. Magnus Carlsen interview: I probably will have the most fun playing Gukesh  Hindustan Times
3. Tata Steel Chess India - Live!  Chess News | ChessBase
4. Abdusattorov Nodirbek leads, Magnus Carlsen close behind in India Open chess  The Times of India
5. Indian chess has come a long way, courtesy Anand: Carlsen  The Hindu

1. Tata Steel Chess India - Live!  Chess News | ChessBase
2. Magnus Carlsen interview: I probably will have the most fun playing Gukesh  Hindustan Times
3. Tata Steel Chess 2024: Abdusattorov, Goryachkina lead standings; Carlsen joint-second after third rapid round  Sportstar
4. Chess tournament, Guru Nanak Jayanti and more Kolkata news in pictures  Telegraph India
5. Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz: Magnus Carlsen held to draws by Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin  The Indian Express

The World No. 1 said that Indian chess had changed considerably since his first visit to the country in 2013

We are thrilled to be a valued HESS / Coalition Contract Business Partner and to participate in their quarterly webinars. Bryan Leber and Chuck Donnelly are eager to provide The Higher Education Systems & Services Consortium (HESS) members with insights into Fischer Identity's unique Identity and Access Management (IAM) strategy in the upcoming week. We eagerly anticipate connecting with the HESS Consortium community and sharing our expertise.

ChessBase, the world leading chess software company, announces the auction of a unique collection of currently 14 artworks with the chess world champions. Each champion's artwork is a unique 1080 x 1080 px GIF showing the notation of one of his most famous games, a ray traced 3D rendering of the key position and a photo of the champion from his active time. These are all authorized by the champion himself or his family resp. descendants.

I play in the Chicago Industrial Chess League (CICL) for my employer DRW. I generally play one of the lower boards, but I do pretty well. Two nights ago, I played possibly the best chess game of my life... and lost.

How? By touching the wrong piece. I had a choice of two recaptures - one that would win the game, and one that would lose. If I had simply moved quickly, that would've been bad enough, but I actually noted the problem with the first recapture, and then did some sanity checks for the other move. Content that all was good, I started my move by picking up the bishop to be captured, AND THEN PICKED UP THE WRONG CAPTURING PIECE. I realized it immediately, but by then it was too late. I resigned a few moves later.

The worst bit is I found a strong move on 18. (see below, I'm playing white) - and I saw that position 3 moves earlier. I don't always play this well when I'm rested - let alone after a 12 hour work day... which of course just makes the blunder that much more painful.

Moral of the story? When you're winning, when you're tired (or both!). STOP! Check it again. Check each bit, write it down and check it a third time. Then if your sure, make the move.

This one burned. Hopefully it stung enough that I won't do it again.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is my wonder-blunder:

Good News or just an Elaborate Ruse?

This was an impressive photo-op but there is no reason to celebrate (yet). What this really demonstrates is how important it is for the U.S. to settle this region of the globe, even if it is only just a stop-gap measure. The U.S. has more than enough on its plate with Iraq and Katrina to contend with.

Apparently North Korea has agreed to give up nuclear weapons activities and rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Of course, that comes with a proviso that the US promises it will not attack and will provide aid and electricity.

Interestingly, it was China that brokered the compromise:

"The agreement was reached on the basis of a compromise proposal put forward by China in an effort to bridge differences between the United States and Pyongyang over a North Korean demand for a light-water nuclear reactor to produce electricity. The compromise suggested that North Korea be accorded the right in principle to peaceful nuclear energy, but only after dismantling its nuclear weapons program and rejoining the U.N. nuclear inspection regime and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."

GIVEN THAT knowledge gained from the "peaceful" use of nuclear technology can easily be transferred to building bombs, it will be incumbent on the U.S. to keep a close eye on Kim whose instability is world renowned.

Sure, U.N. inspectors will eventually be allowed in, but let's hope they will have more success than they did in Iraq. Which demonstrates to this writer how important it is for the U.S. to settle (at least temporarily) this region of the globe. The U.S. has more than enough on its plate with Iraq and Katrina to contend with.

It was a veritable PR coup de gras for the Chinese. So does this imply that China is not really the monstrous behemoth that we have all been told? Is it an evil regime that is finally beginning to come to its senses? Perhaps it is neither and Political FootBall remains suspicious that China was even involved in the deal.

Could it really be part of an elaborate ruse by communist Asia to buy time for N. Korea to get the aid it desperately needs, and while China seeks to become the next economic superpower? All the while lulling the west into a false sense of security in the deadly game of nuclear checkmate. And what about their military alliance? In the grand scheme of things doesn't that make this 'historical' photo-op moot? Many questions that only time will answer.

IT SEEMS likely that economic pressure, $$$ capitalism and carrying the big stick (moving stealth bombers to South Korea) have all contributed to bringing another regime to its knees. That would also be in keeping with the Pentagon's announcement of a new strategy that includes a preemptive strike using nuclear weapons.

No matter, so long as an unstable pompass like Kim remains in control the future of the world will continue to hang in the balance.

BUT THE QUESTION BEGS to be asked if the same tactics would also work for its ally China. Probably not, for unlike it's Soviet counterpart China seems to have found a working formula that successfully blends capitalism and communism, making it an emerging super power. So long as we continue to demand cheap shirts from Walmart that appears to be an almost certainty.

AND WHAT ABOUT Iran and other muslim nations where religious fanaticism is the rule? So long as there remains opposing idealogues and economic disparity in this world the prospect for peace in the long term remains unlikely.

The bottom line is Political FootBall is of the opinion that this latest news does little in the long term for world stability. It only buys time for both sides before making their next power-play.

So we won't be breaking out the champagne, at least for the near future anyhow.

When Dave Chesson was in the US Navy, he would spend lots of time away from his family. And he hated it.  He decided to create a portfolio of niche sites in an attempt to earn enough to quit his…

The post How Dave Chesson Earns Up To $14k/Month Publishing Books on Amazon appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Fr. John Whiteford uses the life of New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth to encourage the listeners to live a life of perseverance in the faith. Nothing is won without struggle and sacrifice.

She was a servant of the Jewish wife of the governor of Thessalonica. When she refused to enter the synagogue with her mistress, she was beaten, then locked in a cell until she starved to death. Finally, her mistress ordered her body thrown from the roof of the house and left to lie in the open. Christians took her body and buried it honorably, and the bishop, Alexander, built a church over her grave.

"Saint Irene was the daughter of a princelet called Licinius; named Penelope by her parents, through a divine revelation she was brought to faith in Christ and at Baptism was renamed Irene. In her zeal for piety she broke in pieces all the idols of her father, who commanded that she be trampled underfoot by horses. But while she remained unharmed, one of the horses rose up and cast down her father, killing him. By her prayer she raised him to life again, and he believed and was baptized. Afterwards, in many journeyings, Saint Irene suffered torments and punishments for her faith, but was preserved by the power of God, while working dread miracles and converting many thousands of souls. At last she came to Ephesus, where she fell asleep in peace, in the first half of the fourth century. Two days after her death, her gravestone was found lifted off, and her grave empty. At least two churches were dedicated to St Irene in Constantinople, and she is the patroness of the Aegean island of Thera, which is commonly called Santorini, a corruption of "Saint Irene." (Great Horologion)   Note: The most famous Agia Irene church in Constantinople is not named after her, but for the Holy Peace (Greek Irene) of God, which is Christ.   The Prologue's account differs in several details. St Nikolai places St Irene in the Balkans in the town of Magedon, in apostolic times rather than the 3rd-4th century. In his account Irene learned the Christian faith from her teacher, Appelianus, and was baptised by the Apostle Timothy himself. He attributes the anger of Irene's father to her refusal to marry rather than her smashing the family idols (though of course she might have done both).

For years he lived the ascetic life in a crude tree- house he had fashioned in the branches of an almond tree. Then he moved to Thessaly, where he continued his life of fasting, prayer and vigil, cleansing his soul and being made worthy to perform many miracles. Once, when the Emperor Justinian visited him, he took a live coal in his bare hand and censed the Emperor. The Emperor, seeing this, bowed to the ground before David. He reposed in peace.

He was the servant of the Great Martyr Demetrius, and was present at his martyrdom. He dipped the hem of his garment in the martyr's blood, and later worked many miracles with the garment, healing many illnesses. At the order of the Emperor Maximian, he was then himself arrested, tortured and, like his earthly master, beheaded for Christ. It is said that, as his death approached, he prayed to be baptized before his death, for, though a believer in Christ, he had never been able to be baptized. A cloud suddenly poured down a torrent of water upon him, answering his prayer.

He was born to a distinguished and pious Christian family in Thessalonika. After acquiring an unusually good education he spent a few years in Constantinople, then returned to his native city. He spoke both Turkish and Arabic well, and often conversed with Muslims. Once, while speaking with an emir, Athanasius pronounced the Muslim confession of faith to illustrate a point. The emir, seeing an opportunity, immediately reported Athanasius to the Islamic judge, claiming that he had converted to Islam. The judge found no merit in the case and would have dismissed Athanasius; but the emir and other officials were insistent, and the judge pressured Athanasius to convert. When Athanasius answered that he knew no truth but that of Christ, he was thrown in prison. When he appeared before the judge several days later, he was still firm in his confession, and was sentenced to death. He was hanged outside the city in 1774, at the age of twenty-five.

She was a servant of the Jewish wife of the governor of Thessalonica. When she refused to enter the synagogue with her mistress, she was beaten, then locked in a cell until she starved to death. Finally, her mistress ordered her body thrown from the roof of the house and left to lie in the open. Christians took her body and buried it honorably, and the bishop, Alexander, built a church over her grave.