The St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament was the first in which Capablanca played World Champion Emanuel Lasker under normal tournament conditions. The St. Petersburg event was arranged in an unusual way: after a preliminary single-round all-play-all tournament of eleven players, the top five were to play a second stage in a double round format, with scores from the preliminary tournament carried forward to the second contest. Capablanca placed first in the preliminary tournament, 1½ points ahead of Lasker, who was out of practice and made a shaky start. Despite a determined effort by Lasker, Capablanca still seemed on course for ultimate victory. However, in their second game of the final, Lasker reduced Capablanca to a helpless position and Capablanca was so shaken by this that he blundered away his next game to Tarrasch. Lasker thus finished half a point ahead of Capablanca and 3½ ahead of Alekhine.
Alekhine commented:
After the breakdown of his attempt to negotiate a title match in 1911, Capablanca drafted rules for the conduct of future challenges, which were agreed by the other top players at the 1914 Saint Petersburg tournament, including Lasker, and approved at the Mannheim Congress later that year. The main points were: the champion must be prepared to defend his title once a year; the match should be won by the first player to win six or eight games, whichever the champion preferred; and the stake should be at least £1,000 (worth about £347,000 or $700,000 in 2006 terms).
In January 1920, Emanuel Lasker and Capablanca signed an agreement to play a World Championship match in 1921. The match was played in March–April 1921; Lasker resigned it after just fourteen games, having lost four games and won none. Vladimir Kramnik thought that Lasker played quite well and the match was an "even and fascinating fight" until Lasker blundered in the last game. Kramnik's explanation was that Capablanca was twenty years younger, a slightly stronger player, and had more recent competitive practice.
Capablanca came second at the New York 1924 tournament, 1½ points behind Emanuel Lasker, though two ahead of third-placed Alekhine, with the score of 14/20 (+10 -1 =9). Capablanca's defeat at the hands of Richard Reti in the fifth round was his first in serious competition in eight years. He made another bad start at the Moscow 1925 chess tournament, and could only fight back to third place, two points behind Bogolyubov and ½ point behind Emanuel Lasker.
A group of Argentinian businessmen, backed by a guarantee from the president of Argentina, promised the funds for a World Championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine in 1927. In the New York 1927 chess tournament, six of the world's strongest masters played each other four times, the others being Alekhine, Rudolf Spielmann, Milan Vidmar, Nimzovich and Marshall, lacking Bogolyubov and Lasker. Before the tournament, Capablanca diffidently wrote that he had "more experience but less power" than in 1911, that he had peaked in 1919 and that some of his competitors had become stronger in the meantime. In the event, he finished undefeated, winning the mini-matches with each of his rivals, 2½ points ahead of second-place Alekhine, and won the "best game" prize for a win over Spielmann.
Since Capablanca had won the New York 1927 tournament overwhelmingly, and had never lost a game to Alekhine, he was regarded by most pundits as the clear favorite in their 1927 World Chess Championship match. However, Alekhine won the match, played at Buenos Aires, by 6 wins, 3 losses, and 25 draws – the longest World Championship match until the World Chess Championship 1984–85 between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Alekhine's victory surprised almost the entire chess world.
After Capablanca's death, Alekhine expressed surprise at his own victory, since in 1927 he had not thought he was superior to Capablanca, and he suggested that Capablanca had been over-confident. Capablanca entered the match with no technical or physical preparation, while Alekhine got himself into good physical condition, and had thoroughly studied Capablanca's play. According to Kasparov, Alekhine's research uncovered many small inaccuracies, which occurred because Capablanca was unwilling to concentrate intensely. Vladimir Kramnik commented that this was the first contest in which Capablanca had no easy wins. Luděk Pachman suggested that Capablanca, who was unused to losing games or to any other type of setback, became depressed over his unnecessary loss of the eleventh game, a long, gruelling endgame, featuring errors by both players.
Immediately after winning the match, Alekhine announced that he was willing to give Capablanca a return match, on the same terms that Capablanca had required as champion – the challenger must provide a stake of US$10,000, of which more than half would go to the defending champion even if he was defeated.
Negotiations for a return match dragged on for several years, often breaking down when agreement seemed in sight. Their relationship became bitter, and Alekhine demanded much higher appearance fees for tournaments in which Capablanca also played.
Capablanca finished fourth, one  point behind the joint winners at Moscow in 1935; Emanuel Lasker's third place at the age of 66 was widely admired. The following year, Capablanca won an even stronger tournament in Moscow, one point ahead of Botvinnik and 3½ ahead of Salo Flohr, who took third place; A month later, he shared first place with Botvinnik at Nottingham, with a mark of (+5 -1 =8), losing only to Flohr; Alekhine came sixth. These 1936 tournaments, the last of Lasker's life, were the only ones in which Capablanca finished ahead of Lasker.
During these triumphs Capablanca began to experience debilitating symptoms of hypertension. and could only finish seventh of the eight players at the 1938 AVRO tournament, an élite contest designed to select a challenger for Alekhine's world title. Capablanca's high blood pressure was not correctly diagnosed and treated until after the AVRO tournament, and caused him to lose his train of thought towards the end of playing sessions.
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. It happened in September 480 BC in the straits between the mainland and Salamis Island. It was part of the Greco-Persian Wars.
Although heavily outnumbered, the Greek Allies were persuaded by the Athenian general Themistocles to bring the Persian fleet to battle again. The Persian king Xerxes was also anxious for a decisive battle.
The Persian navy sailed into the Straits of Salamis and tried to block both entrances. In the cramped conditions of the Straits the great Persian numbers were an active hindrance, as ships struggled to maneuver and became disorganised. Seizing the opportunity, the Greek fleet formed in line and scored a decisive victory, sinking or capturing at least 200 Persian ships.
As a result, Xerxes retreated to Asia with much of his army, leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year, the rest of the Persian army was decisively beaten at the Battle of Plataea and the Persian navy at the Battle of Mycale. Afterwards the Persians made no more attempts to conquer the Greek mainland. These battles of Salamis and Plataea mark a turning point in the Greco-Persian wars; from then on, the Greek cities would take the offensive.
Lee Joon Gi
Lee Joon-Gi (이준기) "(born April 17, 1982, in Busan, South Korea)" is a South Korean actor, model and singer. Lee began his career as a model and held minor roles in Korean dramas. He rose to fame as Gong Gil in "The King and the Clown". As of 2007, Lee is one of the top screen stars in South Korea and in 2008, Lee's noble role as Ryung in the action-romance drama "Iljimae" boomed igniting Lee's overseas popularity, especially in Hong Kong and Thailand.
Río Cachapoal