the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
In post-Soviet Russia the championship is somewhat less strong, as entrants from the non-Russian countries are lacking.
All the same, it is still the strongest national championship in the world, and Peter Svidler has won it six times.
Botvinnik influenced the design of the system which would be used for World Championship competition from 1948 to 1963.
Viktor Baturinsky wrote "Now came Botvinnik's turn to defend his title in accordance with the new qualifying system which he himself had outlined in 1946".
On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the World Chess Championship 1948, which was held at The Hague and Moscow.
He won the tournament convincingly, with a score of 14/20, three points clear, becoming the sixth World Champion.
Botvinnik then held the title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven world championship matches.
Botvinnik played no formal competitive games after winning the 1948 match tournament until he defended his title.
In 1951, he drew with David Bronstein over 24 games in Moscow, +5 =14 -5, keeping the world title.
He struggled to draw this match with Bronstein, and had (by his standards) weak tournament results.
Botvinnik did not play in the Soviet team that won the 1952 Chess Olympiad in Helsinki: the players voted for the line-up and placed Botvinnik on second board, with Keres on top board; Botvinnik protested and refused to play.
Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been outstanding.
In 1954, he drew with Vasily Smyslov over 24 games at Moscow, +7 =10 -7, again retaining the title.
In 1957, he lost to Smyslov by 9½–12½ in Moscow, but the rules then in force allowed him a rematch without having to go through the Candidates' Tournament, and in 1958 he won the rematch in Moscow; Smyslov said his health was poor during the return match.
In 1960, Botvinnik was convincingly beaten 8½-12½ at Moscow by Tal, now 23 years old, but again exercised his right to a rematch in 1961, and won by 13–8 in Moscow.
Botvinnik's play was better than in the 1960 match, mainly due to thorough preparation.
Botvinnik changed his style in the rematch, avoiding the tactical complications in which Tal excelled and aiming for closed positions and endgames, where Tal's technique was not so outstanding.
Also, Tal's health was variable.
Finally, in 1963, he lost the title to Tigran Petrosian, by 9½-12½ in Moscow.
FIDE had by then changed the rules, and he was not allowed a rematch.
The rematch rule had been nicknamed the "Botvinnik rule", because he twice benefited from it.
In 1970, Botvinnik retired from competitive chess, and he worked on chess-playing software.
There was no significant result from this, but his work as a coach to top young players bore fruit.
He died of pancreatic cancer in Moscow.
Hate speech is communicating in a way that is meant to offend and hurt somebody.
It is usually based on a factor such as somebody's race, gender, ethnic group, orientation,  identity, disability or religion.
Some places have laws that make it illegal to use hate speech.
Countries such as Canada, France and Germany have stricter laws against hate speech than the United States, where hate speech is usually legal because its Constitution says that people have freedom of speech.
Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed, Greek μακάριος, makarios and Latin facere, make) is a recognition given by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and power to help people who pray in his or her name.
Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process.
A person who is beatified is given the title "Blessed".
List of all Blesseds in the Catholic Church by Giga-Catholic Information.
Reading railway station (formerly Reading General) is a major rail junction and station in the English town of Reading.
It is on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames.
Next to the railway station is a bus interchange, served by most of Reading's urban and rural bus services.
Reading was opened on 30 March 1840 by the Great Western Railway.
It is a major junction point on the National Rail system, and as a consequence the railway station is a major transfer point as well as serving heavy  local traffic.
The station is sponsored by the bank ING Direct and the University of Reading.
There are many local buses, regional buses and a coach to Heathrow Airport.
South West Trains, First Great Western and CrossCountry serve the station.
DreamWorks Records was an American record label.
Started in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a split from DreamWorks SKG.
The label worked until 2005 when it was shut down.
The label itself also showed a Nashville, Tennessee based subsidiary, DreamWorks Nashville, which worked specifically in country music and was also shut down in 2005.
The company's logo was designed by Roy Lichtenstein and was his last commission before his death in 1997.
"The Good Left Undone" is the third single from the American punk rock band Rise Against's fourth album, The Sufferer & the Witness.
In June 2007, they said that they would be holding a contest to see who could make the best video for the song.
They released a bulletin board over their MySpace account giving information about the contest.
The song got to number six on the Billboard alternative rock chart, making it the band's second top 10 single (the first being the last single "Prayer of the Refugee") and highest charting single from the album.
The song has spent 30 weeks on the chart before its peak, making it the band's slowest climb to the chart's Top 10.
Revolutions per Minute is the second album by the American punk rock band Rise Against.
It has the singles "Heaven Knows" and "Like the Angel" as well as a cover of Journey's single, "Any Way You Want It."
The album had a limited release on vinyl (217 of which were on red vinyl) which is now out of print.
It was the band's last release under Fat Wreck Chords before to their move to Geffen Records.
This is where they released Siren Song of the Counter Culture in 2004.
It is interesting to note that inside the album cover, there is a copyright to Transistor Revolt, the band's name before they changed it to Rise Against.
All music was written by Rise Against; all lyrics were written by Tim McIlrath, unless stated
"Black Masks and Gasoline" – 2:59
"Heaven Knows"  – 3:23
"Dead Ringer" – 1:31
"Halfway There" – 3:41
"Like the Angel" – 2:46
"Voices off Camera" – 2:17
"Blood-Red, White, and Blue" – 3:38
"Broken English" – 3:25
"Last Chance Blueprint" – 2:14
"To the Core" – 1:33
"Torches" – 3:41
"Amber Changing" – 3:39
"Any Way You Want It" (Journey cover)  – 2:57
Track 13 is a hidden track
Wicked is a Broadway musical.
It is loosely based on characters and concepts created by L. Frank Baum in his children's series of Wizard of Oz books, the 1939 MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz, and the 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
Winnie Holzman wrote the musical's book.
Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics.
Wicked premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003.
It won several awards, including three Tonys.
A film of the same name will be released in 2022.
2000s musicals
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, made for punk rock.
It was started by Fat Mike (lead singer and bassist of the punk rock band NOFX) and his wife, Erin, in 1990.
They have made material for bands such as Descendents, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Lagwagon, Strung Out, No Use for a Name, Less Than Jake, Against Me!,
Anti-Flag, Facing The Giants, Return To The Wars, Hallowed Ground, and his own band NOFX.
PGL is an activity holiday company started by Peter Gordon Lawrence in 1957.
They run holidays for schools, individual children, youth groups and families, in the UK, France, Spain, Austria and other places.
1957 establishments in the United Kingdom
Minato is on Toyko Bay.
It borders Shinagawa on the south.
Meguro is southwest of the ward.
Shibuya is on the ward's western border.
Shinjuku, Chiyoda and Chūō are on the norther border.
Minato website
The Afghan Hound is a dog from Afghanistan.
Other names for them are Kuchi Hound, Tāzī, Balkh Hound, Baluchi Hound, Barutzy Hound, Shalgar Hound, Kabul Hound, Galanday Hound, or sometimes, incorrectly, African Hound.
This is a very old dog breed, believed to have existed for thousands of years.
It is a type of sighthound , a hunting dog which uses its eyes to spot and chase small animals, like rabbits.
They are closely related to other sighthounds, like the Greyhound.
Afghan Hounds can run very quickly, and can run short distances at up to 75 kilometers per hour.
Nowadays, they are kept as pets, compete as show dogs, and participate in a dog sport called lure coursing, which is similar to rabbit hunting.
Their face is long and skinny, with ears that drop down on the sides of their head.
The Afghan Hound is tall and thin, with a long tail that curls and is held high up in the air.
The Afghan Hound is one of the most difficult types of dogs to train.
Unlike many kinds of dogs, they do not like to listen to commands, and would rather make their own choices.
In The Intelligence of Dogs, the Afghan Hound came in last place for "working intelligence."
This does not mean that the Afghan Hound is stupid; it means that it is easier to encourage other dogs to follow instructions than the Afghan Hound.
They like to run, and because they can run very fast, they need to be kept on a leash or in a fenced area.
Fences need to be very high to keep the Afghan Hound from escaping, because they can easily jump several meters in the air.
Afghan Hounds cannot live in the same house as a cat or any other small animal, as they will try to chase or hunt it.
This is a quiet dog for indoors, but needs to have regular exercise and play time.
They need to have the chance to run in a safe, fenced area at least once a week.
If an Afghan gets bored, it can tear things up.
This is a friendly dog that is not shy with people or other dogs.
Many people who own Afghan Hounds say that they are "clownish" and silly, because they are very playful.
Afghan Hounds are known to be very sensitive to injuries and complain a lot when they have them.
Afghan Hounds are mostly very healthy dogs, but do get some diseases more often than others.
Because their tails are very long and thin, they can hurt them quite easily.
These dogs are very sensitive to anesthetic, so if they are getting an operation, the vet must be very careful with the amount of anesthetic given.
Their eyes can develop cataracts, which will make the dog blind if they are not removed.
The Africanis is a group of rare South African dogs.
They are not recognized as a breed.
The Swahili name for the breed is .
This means common or mixed-breed or "traditional dog".
The Africanis is a medium-sized dog.
It is well-muscled and is a bit longer than it is tall.
It has a short coat of fur that can be of any color.
This dog can run very fast and also is trainable.
Africanis Society of Southern Africa
University of Johannesburg (scientific study)
Breed standard (KUSA)
Earthquake engineering is the study of the behavior of building structures subject to earthquake impacts.
It is a subset of civil engineering.
Objectives of the earthquake engineering
Understand what happens between buildings and the ground.
Understand what strong earthquakes or tsunamis might do to building structures.
Design, build and maintain structures to last during an earthquake while following building codes.
To test seismic performance of a building structure with experiments, it is may be put on a shake-table that behaves like the earth shaking.
The earliest shake-table experiments were performed more than a century ago
Tsunami preparedness and protection
Tsunami or a chain of fast moving waves in the ocean caused, mostly, by powerful earthquakes is a very serious challenge for people's safety and for tsunami protection of buildings and civil infrastructure.
Those waves can flood coastal areas, destroy houses and even swipe away whole towns.
Ahmadi Maleki, M., Emami, M. Application of SVM for investigation of factors affecting compressive strength and consistency of geopolymer concretes.
Journal of civil Engineering and Materials Application, 2019; 3(2): 95-101.
doi: 10.22034/jcema.2019.92507
Numerical weather prediction is the way weather forecasts are made.
This is done using computer models of the atmosphere.
Such models describe the current weather conditions, and how they change over time using equations.
Using the current weather conditions, the equations can be solved, or approximated to tell what the weather will be like in the near future.
The relevant physical parameters, such as pressure, temperature, the direction and the speed of the wind are taken to be functions of time.
These are modelled with a system of partial differential equations.
This is a dynamic system that is solved numerically.
Most of these equations are implemented using FORTRAN.
The equations are approximated.
Since the number of calculations is huge, supercomputers usually do them, to finish before it's too late.
The atmosphere is modelled as a fluid.
The basic idea of numerical weather prediction is to sample the state of the fluid at a given time.
The equations of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics can then be used to estimate the state of the fluid at some time in the future.
Local weather prediction
The results are usually too inaccurate to be used for predicting the weather at any place.
For this reason, meteorologists check the values, and compare them to historical data.
In other words, they use the data to help produce the weather forecast.
Model Output Statistics is a statistical model that was developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
It uses regression analysis for a fully automated forecast.
With it, historical data is analysed automatically.
One of its applications is called Direct Model Output.
MOS uses both historical data and statistical modeling.
Predictions beyond about six hours are unreliable.
Another well-known model is called Global Forecast System (GFS), which is run by the US weather service, NOAA.
It gives a forecast four times a day.
Since the information is free, the GFS is often used, especially by smaller weather stations.
The atmosphere is a chaotic system.
A small change of the input values does not necessarily lead to a small change of the output.
This is due to the equations of fluid dynamics that are involved.
These equations involved are solved or approximated once with the parameters that were observed.
This is done several times more, with parameters that are based on the observed values, but which have been changed slightly.
Because the computing power is limited, the "resolution" of such a model is more coarse.
Once all the calculations are finished, they are compared to one another.
Calculated results that are "similar" indicate that the prognosis is relatively good.
In some cases, this means that it is possible to accurately predict the weather for a time of about ten days; in other cases a prediction over even a few days may be difficult.
Paul Bunyan is a fictional giant lumberjack.
James MacGillivray wrote about Bunyan in 1910, which is the earliest writing about Bunyan that we know about.
A few years later, in 1916, William Laughead was writing an advertisement, and decided to use Bunyan in what he was writing, and decided to make him a giant.
Origin of Paul Bunyan
James Stevens wrote a book called Paul Bunyan in 1925.
This book said that French Canadians people made up the Paul Bunyan stories during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837, when they were fighting against England.
This would explain why Paul Bunyan's last name is "Bunyan", because "Bunyan" sounds like the French-Canadian slang word "Bonyenne", which is something that they might say when they are surprised, like how people who speak English might say "Good Grief" or "My Goodness".
People told other people stories about Bunyan, and the stories would change a little bit as they spread from person to person.
Often, Paul Bunyan is shown in pictures with a giant blue ox named Babe.
Historians think that Babe was not created until the 20th century for advertising.
Other theories is that the Paul Bunyan was based on the legendry "Big Joe Mufferaw" [aka French-Canadian lumberjack Joseph Montferrand [1802-1864].
or on a French-Canadain lumberjack in Michigan named Fabian "Joe" Fournier  [1845-1875]
Legends about Paul Bunyan
According to legend, when Bunyan was born, it took three storks to carry him. (
In some stories storks carry babies and drop them off at their parents' houses.).
When he became older, he broke every window in the house when he clapped or laughed.
When he was seven months old, he sawed the legs off his parent's bed in the middle of the night.
Paul and his friend, Babe the Blue Ox, dug the Grand Canyon when Paul was carrying his axe and dragging it behind him.
Babe, Bunyan's friend, was a large and very strong animal.
Many different towns say that they are the "home" of Bunyan.
Some of these towns are in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, although there are towns in other states, too.
"The Story of Paul Bunyan", Paul Bunyan Trail
Paul Bunyan: How A Terrible Timber Feller Became the Legend , History of the Paul Bunyan Legend
Roadside statues and other tributes to the Great Tree-Biter, Paul Bunyan, Roadside America
Animated stories of Paul Bunyan
The , also known as , is a traditional calendar system which began during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku in the 7th century.
This calendar has been in use in Japan since the beginning of the 8th century.
Each new  was usually started soon after the beginning of the reign of a new emperor.
Era names were also changed due to other events.
Starting in the reign of Emperor Yōzei, the tradition of naming eras because of good omens changed.
Instead, the name of an era might be chosen to ward off something bad.
The first day of the  started whenever the emperor decided.
This first year continued until the next lunar new year, which is understood to be the start of the nengō's second year.
To change a Japanese year to a Western or Gregorian calendar year, find the first year of the nengō (see list below).
When found, subtract 1, and add the number of the Japanese year.
For example, the 23rd year of the Shōwa period (Shōwa 23) was 1948:
ILLUSTRATION: 1926 − 1 = 1925 ..., and then  1925 + 23 = 1948 ... or Shōwa 23.
Timeline of Japanese era names
National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar"
NengoCalc
Eras
Appomattox Court House is a place in Virginia (It is now called Appomattox, Virginia).
It is where General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army on April 9, 1865, ending the American Civil War.
Though the place is called Appomattox Court House, the surrender took place at the McLean House, a private home.
Basic parts of base isolation system
Base isolation system consists of isolation units with or without isolation components, where:
Isolation units are the basic elements of base isolation system which provide the mentioned separation effect to a building structure.
Isolation components are the connections between isolation units and other parts of the building having no separation effect of their own.
Famous base-isolated buildings
From the very beginning, the theory of base isolation rested on two pillars: heavy damping and frequency separation.
Unfortunately, nobody paid any attention that the heavy damping was a sort of a strong connection between a substructure and superstructure, and that the idea of decoupling them with the help of such connections was of no good.
Anyway, to virtually test-drive any design concept of base isolation, some online help is available now.
, also spelled as Shō-ō, was a  after Kōan and before Einin.
The period started in April 1288 and ended in August 1293.
Events of the Shōō era
1288 (Shōō 1): The future Emperor Go-Fushimi was born.
1288 establishments
13th-century establishments in Japan
1293 disestablishments
13th-century disestablishments in Japan
Types of vibration control devices
All vibration control devices may be classified as passive, active  or hybrid.
The first kind is the simplest one and, therefore, widespread.
Passive control devices represent different types of base isolators and seismic dampers.
Base isolators restrict penetration of potentially damaging seismic waves into a building structure while dampers decrease destructive effect of those waves.
A telephone card, calling card or phone card for short, is a small plastic card that is used to pay for telephone calls.
They usually hold a set value of credit.
Some cards can be recharged with more credit.
Vera Menchik  (Moscow, 16 February 1906 – London, 27 June 1944) was a British-Czech chess player.
Menchik was the first women's world chess champion.
She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating some of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.p256
The daughter of a Czech father and British mother, Vera Menchik was born in Moscow.
In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, her family moved to England in 1921.
Her father taught her chess when she was nine and, in the year of her arrival in England at the age of fifteen, she won the British girls' championship.
The following year, she became a pupil of Géza Maróczy, the leading Hungarian grandmaster at the time.
She won the first Women's World Championship in 1927 and successfully defended her title six times in every other championship in her lifetime, and only lost one game, while winning 78 and drawing four games.
These were all-play-all tournaments, mostly run alongside Chess Olympiads.
Starting in 1929, she participated in a number of Hastings international tournaments.
When, the same year, she entered the tournament in Carlsbad, Viennese master Albert Becker ridiculed her entry by suggesting that any player whom Menchik defeated in tournament play should be granted membership into the Vera Menchik Club.
In the tournament, Becker himself became the first member of the "club".
In addition to Becker, the "Vera Menchik Club" eventually included grandmasters such as Max Euwe, Mir Sultan Khan,  Samuel Reshevsky, Friedrich Sämisch, Lajos Steiner, and virtually every leading British player of the day.
Menchik's greatest success at international tournaments was at Ramsgate 1929, when she finished tied for second with Akiba Rubinstein, just half a point behind former World Champion José Raúl Capablanca, and ahead of her teacher Géza Maróczy.
In 1934 she finished third at Maribor, ahead of Rudolph Spielmann and Milan Vidmar.
In 1942 she won a match against international master Jacques Mieses (four wins, five draws, one loss).
Vera was a professional player.
From the late 1920s, she was the manager and house professional of the Empire Chess Club, which was situated on the top floor of Whiteleys store in Queensway, West London.
In 1939 she was appointed to the new National Chess Centre.p256
In 1937, at the age of 31, Vera Menchik married R.H.S Stevenson (1878–1943), 28 years her senior, who was a leading chess organiser and patron.
Vera Menchik's younger sister Olga was also a tournament chess player.
In 1944, in World War II, with 38-year-old Vera still women's world champion, the two sisters and their mother were killed by a V-1 flying bomb, which destroyed their home.
The trophy for the winning team in the Women's Chess Olympiad is known as the Vera Menchik Cup.p256
Biographies of Menchik
Bykhova E.I. 1954.
Vera Menchik.
In Russian, 93 annotated games plus biography.
Kalendovsky J. 1986.
Klub Very Menčíková.
In Czech, 94 annotated games plus biography.
Alexandra Kosteniuk (born Perm, Volga, 23 April 1984) is a Russian chess Grandmaster and former Women's World Chess Champion.
She lost her title in 2010.
Kosteniuk is now ranked 31st in the current FIDE rating list for women.
She is no longer playing regularly.
The highest rated woman, Judit Polgar (Hungary), never plays in female events.
The second highest rated woman is Humpy Koneru (India); she has never won the women's world championship.
Notable games
Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Alexander Onischuk, Corus, Group B 2005, Spanish Game: Classical Variation (C65), 1–0
Anna Ushenina vs Alexandra Kosteniuk, WWCh.
2008, Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical, Noa Variation (E34), 0–1
Interview with Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk on LatestChess site
Photo collection of Kosteniuk
ChessBase: Alexandra Kosteniuk is Women's World Champion
The crowning of Kosteniuk as a World Champion
King's Sutton railway station serves the village of King's Sutton in Northamptonshire, England.
It is also the nearest railway station to the town of Brackley.
It was opened on 1 December 1873 by the Great Western Railway.
The station is managed by Chiltern Railways, who provide services along with First Great Western.
It was heavily renovated in 2009, with new fencing, a new shelter and a bridge being added to it.
The Akbash Dog is a large breed (type) of dog which comes from Turkey.
It has a white coat of fur.
It was bred to protect sheep in the field from thieves and predators.
While this dog has been used for this job in Turkey for many hundreds of years, it is not often found outside of Turkey.
The Akbash Dog is closely related to other large, white dogs used to protect sheep, such as the Komondor and the Aidi.
Clapping is when you hit your hands together which makes a sound.
The harder you hit, the louder the sound, the softer you hit, less the sound.
Strung Out is a punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, United States.
They are known mostly for their musical style, which has both aspects of punk rock and heavy metal to make their main sound.
They have made seven albums on Fat Wreck Chords and appeared on many compilations and skate/surf videos.
They have played on the Warped Tour and continue to tour around the world.
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are two yearly music festivals.
They take place in Reading and Leeds in the United Kingdom.
They are run by Festival Republic (itself owned by Live Nation and MCD).
The festivals take place one at a time on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
They take place on the August of bank holiday weekend.
They share the same bill.
Between 1998 and 2007, the two festivals were known as the "Carling Weekend", until parting ways with their sponsor Carling in November 2007.
Circa Survive is a rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They formed in 2004.
The band has vocalist Anthony Green.
He was a singer of Saosin and members of the now-defunct This Day Forward.
Their first album, Juturna, was released on April 19, 2005 by Equal Vision Records, which got mixed reviews.
However their second album, On Letting Go, released on May 29, 2007, garnered big reviewer acclaim.
Their upcoming album, Blue Sky Noise, will be released on April 20, 2010 on Atlantic Records as the band has finished their term with Equal Vision Records.
Juturna (2005)
On Letting Go (2007)
Blue Sky Noise (2010)
Violent Waves (2012)
Descensus (2014)
The Amulet (2017)
musical groups from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Blind Side is a 2009 American drama sports movie directed by John Lee Hancock.
It is based on the novel The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which was written by Michael Lewis.
It stars Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, and Kathy Bates.
The movie is based on a true story.
The story follows football player Michael Oher's life, from growing up in a very poor neighborhood, to being adopted by a rich family, and then going to play for Ole Miss and eventually the Baltimore Ravens.
2009 drama movies
2000s sports drama movies
The district of Lahaul-Spiti in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh consists of the two formerly separate districts of Lahaul and Spiti.
he:ספיטי
Presidency Division is a division in the Indian state of West Bengal.
It has 5 districts:
Howrah district
Nadia district
North 24 Parganas district
South 24 Parganas district
Burdwan Division is a division in the Indian state of West Bengal.
It consists of 4 districts:
Paschim Bardhaman district
Hooghly district
Whitehouse.gov: The Presidents
The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies –Grand Valley State University
POTUS: Presidents of the United States – Internet Public Library
Jalpaiguri Division is a division in the Indian state of West Bengal.
It consists of 5 districts:
Jalpaiguri district
Darjeeling district
Cooch Behar district
Kalimpong district
The history of chess goes back almost 1500 years.
The game originated in northern India in the 6th century AD and spread to Persia.
When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently, through the Moorish conquest of Spain, spread to Southern Europe.
But in early Russia, the game came directly from the Khanates (muslim territories) to the south.
In Europe, the moves of the pieces changed in the 15th century.
The modern game starts with these changes.
In the second half of the 19th century, modern tournament play began.
Chess clocks were first used in 1883, and the first world chess championship was held in 1886.
The 20th century saw advances in chess theory, and the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Chess engines (programs that play chess), and chess data bases became important.
Milestones of the game
550 AD: Northwestern India
600AD: First clear reference to chess, in a Persian manuscript describes chess coming to Persia (Iran) from India.
~700AD: Date of first undoubted chess pieces.
800AD: Moors bring chess to Spain and Sicily.
900AD: Early Muslim chess masters, as-Suli and al-Lajlaj write works on the technique of chess.
1000AD: Chess widespread in Europe, including Russia.
1300AD: First European comments on chess in sermons and stories.
1475–1500AD: Birth of the modern game: especially, new moves for queen and bishop.
1495: First printed chess book.
1497: First printed chess book to survive to the present day.
1600: First professional player-writers.
1780s: First master games to be recorded as they were played.
1836: First chess magazine.
1849: First US chess tournament.
1851: First international chess tournament.
1866: First match to be timed by clock.
1883: First tournament to use specially designed chess clocks.
1886: First acknowledged world championship match.
1927: First chess Olympiad, with FIDE as the organisers.
1960: Numerical rating of players becomes standard.
The origin of the game
The precursors of chess originated in northern India during the Gupta empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as Chaturanga.
This translates as 'the four divisions', meaning infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.p173; p74
Persian and Arabic chess
In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became Chatrang and the rules were developed further, and players started calling Shāh! (
Persian for 'King') when threatening the opponent's king, and Shāh māt! (
Persian for 'the king is finished') when the king could not escape from attack.
The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names; in Arabic "māt" or "māta" مَاتَ means "died", "is dead".
In Arabic, the game became Shatranj.
In all other languages, the name of the game is derived either from shatranj or from shah.
Changes in names of pieces
The following table provides a glimpse of the changes in the names and character of chess pieces, as they passed from one culture to another, from India through Persia to Europe:p221
Changes in the Arabic names of pieces happened over several centuries after the game arrived in Europe.
Most changed were the pieces which had no equivalent in Europe, such as the elephant, the visier (an advisor: the firzan or wazir), and the chariot (rukhkh).
The greatest variety of names was for the elephant,p424 which was not seen in Europe, and so not used in war.
In Spain names derived from Arabic lasted for centuries (alfil, aufin, orfil...).
Eventually, all but France used a word for "bishop".
In a similar manner, vizir eventually became "queen", and the chariot became a word for "castle".
Except, that is, in English, where "rook" is obviously a version of "rukh".
Please note: the following table does not capture all these complicated changes.
Europe and the East
The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century.
By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe.
Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon and dice named the Libro de los juegos.
Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others carried it to the Far East, where it was transformed into a game often played on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares.
Chinese chess and Shogi are the most important of the oriental chess variants.
However, it was the changes made in medieval Europe which led to our modern game.p71
The game of chess is really two games.
There is the original Indo-Arabic game, and there is the modern game, usually called 'international chess'.
The transition between the two happened during the change from the medieval world to the modern world, in the Europe of the later 15th century.
In fact, the new game of chess was one of the early topics chosen for the new technology of printing.
The Indo-Arabic game
In early chess the moves of the pieces were:p224 et seq
Shāh: as King now.
Firzān: one square diagonally at a time (contrast modern Q).
Fīl: two squares diagonally (no more or less), but could jump over a piece in between (contrast modern B).
This move meant that an individual fīl could move to only eight squares on the board, and no fīl could ever attack another fīl.p226
(Horseman): as Knight now.
Rukh: as Rook now.
Pawn: one square forwards (not two), capturing one square diagonally forward; promoted to firzān only.
The game could be won by 1.
Mating the king; 2.
By giving stalemate; 3.
By capturing all the opponent's pieces.
This kept down the number of draws.
Changes in Europe
Mantri/Firzan/Vizir > Queen, perhaps because it starts beside the King.
Fīl > Aufin > Bishop, because its two points looked like a bishop's mitre; In French fou; and others.
Its Latin name alfinus was reinterpreted various ways.
About 500 years after chess first reached Europe, after some smaller experiments, there were big changes in the way the pieces moved.
The effect was to make the start of the game run faster, and get the opposing pieces in contact sooner.
The changes were:
Pawn moving two squares in its first move.
This led to the en passant rule: a pawn placed so that it could have captured the enemy pawn if it had moved one square forward was allowed to capture it on the passed square.
King jumping once, to make it quicker to put the king safe in a corner.
This eventually led to castling.
This had been a piece called the firzān, from the Persian word for a counsellor.
Its movement was more limited than the king, for it could move one square only on the diagonals.p225
An early addition to her movement: an initial move of two squares with jump, diagonally.
This right was sometimes extended to a new queen made by promoting a pawn.
The piece was then called the fers.
Full-ranging movement of the queen, along diagonals and ranks & files, is the real mark of modern chess.
It is such a huge change that one French commentator called the new game eschés de la dame enragée (~ the mad queen's game), and the Italians called the game schacci alla rabioso (~furious chess).p328 Indeed, the change from a limited counsellor to an unlimited queen cannot be understood as part of the original war-game.
It can only be understood as an attempt to improve the game as a sport.
These changes made most of the older chess culture obsolete.
The slow development in the openings was replaced by gambits and rapid attacks.
The relative values of the pieces are changed.p228 The game can now only be won by mate or resignation by one of the players.
Originally, this was not seen as a problem, but as technique improved, so did the number of draws.
This became a matter for discussion in the early 20th century.
The limited number of ways to win changed what players needed to win in the endgame; many endgames which could be won with the old rules now were drawn.
Evidence in print and manuscripts
The first printed work on chess to survive to the present day is Luis de Lucena's Arte de axedres, printed in Salamanca, Spain.
It can be dated to 1496 or 1497.p73 It presents a number of chess problems, some of which are in the old rules (del viejo), some in the new rules (dela dama).
This suggests that the transition is not quite complete, and some readers might not know about the new rules.
By 1512, when Damiano published his Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi in Rome, it only included problems with the new rules, and does not mention the medieval game.
The same applies to the Gottingen manuscript, probably written in Spain or Portugal.
Though it has been claimed to be earlier, its content suggests it was not written before 1500.p74 England and Germany received the reformed game by 1530.
After that, the old game was effectively dead—in Europe, at any rate.
A version of the old game survived in India until recently.
Theory of the game
Modern chess theory was slow in developing.
After the new moves of the pieces, players spent their time playing gambits, and trying to mate each other.
The games of Gioacchino Greco (1600– ~1634) clearly show this.
The first ideas as to how to win indirectly, 'positionally', started with Philidor.
Modern chess has a lot of indirect manoeuvering of a kind the old Arabic players would have understood.
They could not attack directly, because their Alfil and Firzān (our bishop and queen) had such limited moves.
One interesting fact is that the Arabs divided their game into the same three stages which we do today: opening, middlegame and endgame.p234
Tabiyat
"The result of this was that... the final position of the opening was the important one to memorise.
Hence in almost all older Muslim chess-works we find... a collection of type-positions, each with its own distinctive name. [
These] are recommended to the player as models for his imitation.
Diagrams of these type-positions were a regular feature of Arabic chess-works down to the 17th century.
These positions were called ta'biya (plural: ta'biyat or ta'abi)... which may be translated as battle-array".p234-5
Changes in values of the pieces
The table, based roughly on square control, suggests the modern game deploys about 20% more force on the board than the older game.
However, this understates the case, since the table does not allow for castling, nor the initial optional double move of the pawn.
Also, the pawn promotion to the new queen is hugely significant when it takes place.
No exact value can be placed on these elements, but perhaps the modern game makes use of up to a third more force than in the original game.
Also, the fast development of the pieces makes the opening far more important in the modern game.
Evidence from archaeology
Single pieces found in archaeology are seldom taken as chessmen; they are much more likely to be general art objects.
Groups of small objects are more likely chessmen if there are of more than two types.
Many board games have used two kinds of pieces, but only chess uses six different kinds.
A dig might not turn up all six forms, but more than two is indicative of chess.
If the forms have characteristic chess figures (foot soldiers, kings, man on horse) this is even more convincing.
Afrasiab
The earliest chessmen found are the Afrasiab collection.
In 1977 the Uzbekistan Academy of Archaeology conducted a dig at Afrasiab, near Samarkand.p15p58 Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, and at times it has been one of the greatest cities of Central Asia.
Samarkand is on the trade route between China and the Mediterranean (the Silk Road), and so it is a logical place for a trader to store some of his precious goods.
The Afrasiab finds include seven chess pieces.
They are heavily worn, but they include: two foot soldiers with shields and short swords (= our pawns); a war elephant with chain armour and a rider in full battle-dress (= our bishop); a visier (= our queen) with two horses with armed rider; two mounted riders with sword and shield (= knights); and the Shah, on a three-horse chariot, holding a mace-like symbol of power (= our king).
That is five out of the six types of piece, and completely convincing as a chess set.
The rukh (rook) is also known: it features a three-horse chariot with two men, one driving, and the other armed with sword and shield.p61–62
This group is dated to the 7th–8th centuries, and probably come from the end of the Sassanid Empire just before the Arabic conquest.
They are representational, meaning they are small carvings (though somewhat crude) of war men and equipment.
Later Arabic sets became abstract shapes, in accordance with their religious teaching.
Shani is one of the Navagraha  which are the nine main celestial beings in Hindu astrology, or Jyotiṣa.
Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn.
Shani is the Lord of Saturday; the word Shani also denotes the seventh day or Saturday in most Indian languages.
Wolfgang Wagner (born 30 August 1919 - 21 March 2010) was a German opera director.
He was the grandson of the opera composer Richard Wagner and great-grandson of the composer Franz Liszt.
For 42 years he was director of the Bayreuth Festival, which was created by Richard Wagner for the performances of his operas.
At first he was director together with his brother Wieland.
After Wieland died he continued to be director until he retired in 2008.
He tried to get rid of the festival’s Nazi past, and put on productions which were very symbolic: using lighting effects instead of complicated scenery and heavy costumes.
Wagner was born in Bayreuth.
His mother, Winifred Wagner (born Williams-Klindworth), was English.
She married Richard Wagner’s son Siegfried, who was much older than she was.
Although Siegfried was gay they had two sons (Wieland and Wolfgang) and two daughters.
When Siegfried died in 1930 Winifred took over the running of the festival.
She was friends with Adolf Hitler who often came to the performances.
Hitler became a family friend.
The children called him “Uncle Adolf” or “Uncle Wolf” (his nickname).
When World War II started, Wieland did not have to fight in the army because Hitler said he was too important for German culture.
However, Wolfgang had to fight, and he was wounded in Poland, but got better.
He started to produce operas in Berlin.
Hitler liked him, but he never joined the Nazi party.
During the war a lot of Bayreuth buildings were damaged, but not the theatre.
The Americans used it for religious services.
After the war Winifred was not allowed to run the opera house because of her Nazi past, but Wieland became director and Wolfgang looked after the money.
The two brothers started the festival again in 1951.
They formed the orchestra again, and invited Hans Knappertsbusch and Herbert von Karajan to conduct.
They deliberately avoided using lots of scenery and made use of symbolic ideas, especially lighting.
When Wieland died in 1966 Wolfgang was the only director.
He continued the modern ideas of his brother, using very simple staging techniques.
The production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in 1976 by the opera director Patrice Chéreau was particularly important.
Many people loved it, others disagreed with it.
The production of the Ring Cycle in 1983 by Peter Hall, conducted by Georg Solti celebrated the 100th birthday of Richard Wagner.
People argued about this production, too.
Since then, many famous people have visited the festival, including the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German President Horst Köhler.
In 1982 Grace Bumbry was the first black person to sing at the festival (she sang the part of Venus in Tannhäuser.
Some of the audience thought this was shocking, but she sang so beautifully that everyone applauded for 30 minutes.
She had to take 42 curtain calls.
Wolfgang married twice.
His first wife was Ellen Drexel.
He had two children by this marriage.
He argued with them.
His son did not like the family’s past Nazi connections, and the daughter Eva argued about the control of the festival.
Wolfgang later married Gudrun Mack, with whom he had a daughter Katharina.
Eva and Katharina now run the festival.
Wolfgang Wagner - The Independent obituary
The American Foxhound is a kind of dog breed.
The foxhound came from the United States.
It is a type of hound.
"Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" (pron. [
mu ˈisɑ.mɑː mu ˈɤnʲ jɑ ˈrɤːm], "moo EE-sah-mah moo UHN yah RUHM"; en. '
My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy') is the incipit of the national anthem of Estonia, first adopted in 1920.
When the Soviets took control of Estonia in 1940, this anthem was banned, then four years later when the small Baltic country became part of the Soviet Union, a regional Soviet anthem was adopted.
In May 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union fell, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the "Republic of Estonia" and this anthem was adopted again.
Estonian lyrics
My native land, my joy – delight,
How fair thou art — how bright!
For nowhere in the world around
Can ever such a place be found
So well belov'd, from sense profound,
My native country dear!
My tiny crib stood on thy soil,
Whose blessings eased my toil.
May my last breath be thanks to thee,
For true to death I'll ever be,
O worthy, most belov'd and fine,
Thou, dearest country mine!
May God in Heaven thee defend,
My own beloved land!
May He be guard, may He be shield,
For ever bless and guardian wield
Protection for all deeds of thine,
My own, my dearest land!
This anthem uses the same tune as "Maamme", the national anthem of Finland.
The V sign is a hand gesture that means victory or peace.
It is made by raising the first and second fingers on the hand, and putting down the other fingers.
was the 20th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Historians consider details about the life of Emperor Ankō to be possibly legendary, but probable.
The name Ankō-tennō was created for him posthumously by later generations.
The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record that Ankō was the second son of Emperor Ingyō.
Events of Ankō's life
Very little is known about the events of Ankō's life and reign.
Only limited information is available for study prior to the reign of the 29th monarch, Emperor Kimmei.
462: According to Chinese records, a delegation from the Japanese monarch was received in the court of the southern Sung Dynasty.
The "king" mentioned in these documents probably would have been Emperor Ankō.
According to the Imperial Household Agency, the emperor's final resting place is in an earthen tumulus (kofun).
This emperor is venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) which is associated with the burial mound.
A building code is a set of rules set to govern a a building's design, construction, testing, inspections, and maintenance to protect public health, safety and welfare.
Building codes are adopted and enforced by the government, who may inspect buildings to make sure they follow the rules.
A building code may provide rules for many different things and is influenced by materials manufacturers, firefighters, and building officials.
The building may need to follow rules about providing parking or affecting traffic.
There will be rules about making the building safe during disasters, such as fires, earthquakes, and tornadoes.
The rules used on a specific building may be very different depending on where the building is and what it is used for.
For example, a house will have extra rules about making sure people can live there, while a hotel will have extra rules about fire exits.
Many public buildings have a "maximum occupancy" for some rooms, which is how many people may be allowed into that room at once.
Any building code has either some minimum requirements for seismic loads  (prescriptive code) or some seismic performance rules (performance-based code).
Seismic design is based on procedures meant to protect structures that may experience earthquake impact.
However, a design which blindly follows seismic code rules does not guarantee safety against collapse or serious damage.