CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter, March 2011

"You don't learn anything in school. It's
just a waste of time”. So said Bobby Fischer(born on 9th March, 1943). The youngest USchess champion in history (he was 14 when
he won) and, later, World Champion, hisname appears frequently in the lists of ‘Top
Ten Smartest People of All Time’ thatappear from time to time.
Skill at chess depends, to some extent, onmemory: the ability to remember positions
from previous games and the correct move
to make give a player an advantage. From
analysis of his speed chess games (a type ofchess where each player has only 5 minutes
to complete all his moves) it seems that hecould see three or four moves ahead with aglance of only a second or two, and five or
six moves ahead if he studied the position
for five seconds. For fun, Fischer liked togive his opponents 10 minutes and himself
only one. He usually won. Even more
remarkable is the fact that Fischer could
remember most of his speed chess games.
After one tournament, Fischer recalled all
the moves – over 1,000 - from his 22 gamesfrom memory.
Fischer taught himself several foreign
languages in order to read foreign chessperiodicals. After arriving in Iceland for theWorld Championship he rang a chessplaying friend but got through to his young
daughter, who explained - in Icelandic, alanguage Fischer had no knowledge of that her parents were out for the evening
and would return late. When he finally got
through to his friend Fischer related thelittle girl’s message word for word withperfect intonation.

Fischer declined todefend his 1972
World Championshipand forfeited thetitle in 1975. A rematch with his1972 opponent washeld in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia in 1992
(Fischer won), amatch which broke
the United Nations embargo on the country(which included a ban on sporting events).
Thereafter, he led a wandering life living forsome time in Hungary, Germany and thePhilippines. He was detained for ninemonths in Japan in 2004-5 under threat ofdeportation to the US but was released after
the Icelandic government granted him fullcitizenship (‘for putting Iceland on the map’).
He died there in 2008.

Article by Jonathan

Fischer and Spassky competingfor the world chess title in 1972NET LESSONS: Try our lessons on the Internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home or office!
Call for details: 089 9217595

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
If you’d like to learn how to play chess, try this site:www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/learn.htm
CROSSSROADS ON MIXI: Check it out!
http://mixi.jp/show_profile.pl?id=30381548

Joshua Says: Well, it’s the end of the term again, and that means we have
our end-of-term performance night coming up. I hope many of you will comealong and join in the fun. You do not have to be in a performance group to enjoy
the night. There will be wine, food and lots to do. You can bring friends or family
members, too. So, I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the party!

Junko Says: Last month, I wrote about the new WiFi Internet connection we
have installed at Crossroads. Now, Joshua is preparing Bookcase files of many
English books for you to read on our new “Crossroads i-Pad”. Our i-Pad will beavailable to you from next month. If you have any books you’d like to read, pleasecome and see me in the office and fill out a “Books I’d Like to Read” request form.

Jonathan Says: Buying a 30kg bag of brown rice recently I pondered on therelative importance of this food in Japan compared to England. The English
would perhaps buy a bag of one or two kilograms (there exist 250g bags for theultra-cautious). The biggest bag you would find in a supermarket would beperhaps five kilograms, 10 or 15kg in an Indian food shop. But then, in Japan,
I can’t buy boxes of 250 tea bags that I bought in England…

Greg Says: It’s always terrible to hear about an earthquake, but the Sendai
earthquake hit very close to home for me. Sendai was the first place I lived inin Japan (for 4 years) and many of my old students lived in the places that got
wiped off the map. I have no idea if they are safe but I truly hope they are. Iknow the city will recover. I just hope the people involved can as well.

Sean Says: I just realized today that White Day is around the cornerand I mustn’t forget to buy a few presents (you know who you are!).
I have to laugh because the ones who bought me chocolates are also
the ones who “helped” me eat them. No wonder jewelry or brandgoods are the usual requests for White Day!

Notice

Saturday the 26th thismonth! We start at
8:00pm –All students are invited tocome along, and you canbring all your friends andfamily with you, too!

Crossroads is getting wired up! - Actually,“Wirelessed Up”!
For private study in our café, you can now
bring along your personal laptop or i-Phone,settle in anywhere in the building with acoffee, let the background music put you intothe right mood and just get to work! We also
have special adapters for your computer if
you require one. For more details, just ask
Junko in our office. Happy studies…..

Miho and Akane’s Adventures Overseas – a serial by S(A)3 students - Episode 2

On Sunday, Akane woke up early in the morning. As her job was relatively easy, she had energy to go

jogging in the mornings at weekends. Jogging refreshed her in mind and body. She thought of nothing onthese jogs but today she was thinking of Miho. Her call was very short last night; she seemed to be in ahurry. Just travelling? Or has anything happened to her?
In the afternoon, Akane got to the bookstore a little early but Miho was already there. Akane checked her
watch; she wasn’t late. Miho recognised her, smiled and waved. A smile came over Akane’s face, too, andthey hugged. Miho looked more feminine than before. Akane asked what had brought her to Sydney. Mihowore a bitter smile and suggested that they go to a burger restaurant where they used to go.
At the restaurant, Miho took a big mouthful of burger saying she really wanted to eat this again. Akane
stared at her face trying to guess what the situation was. Miho noticed her curious eyes. Suddenly, Miho
asked if she could stay with Akane for a while. Akane blinked in surprise at the request. Miho explained
she was chasing after her Australian boyfriend who had come back to Sydney because his visa hadexpired. She badly wanted to find him; she really liked him. Akane remembered that Miho got obsessed
about things. ……………..to be continued

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