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Chessville
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Some critics too, notably Frank Rich, the so-called "Butcher of Broadway",
have assailed the plot of the musical CHESS for being highly implausible.
This creation of Sir Tim Rice and the Ulvaeus/Andersson half of ABBA, has
been revived in a concert version and was performed in front of a packed
house at the Royal Albert Hall on the evenings of May 12 and 13. The
atmosphere was electric and the standing ovation epic, which encouragement
leads me to predict that CHESS is destined to return to London’s West End in
the not too distant future.
As far as implausibility goes, during the course of the evening, a Soviet world chess champion defects to the west, and back again, a manager switches sides, and a dissident falls for a Russian patriot, none of this being to the "Butcher’s" tediously conventional taste. Yet I have witnessed first hand at the Baguio World Championship of 1978 the orange-robed gurus of the Ananda Marga sect (out on bail after a charge of attempted murder, by the way) chanting for victory outside the playing venue.
Korchnoi – Karpov
Puzzle
This position is from Karpov - Korchnoi; World Championship, Baguio 1978
(Game 8). Here Karpov found a wonderful finish based on the weakness
of the f7-square. What did he play? [Ed. - find the answer, and
the entire game, at the end of the article.]
Korchnoi, of course, is still active at the age of 77 and he is living proof of the theory, now confirmed as fact, that chess helps to keep your brain fit.
Evidence is indeed emerging that playing chess can be effective in warding off Alzheimers Disease, one which afflicts, in America alone, 4 million sufferers. Doctors at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have found that one can significantly lower the likelihood of suffering from Alzheimers or other forms of dementia if one engages in playing chess. Purely physical activities failed to lower the risk. Learning and memory were far more important.
The New England Journal of Medicine reports research by Professor Joe Verghese who has discovered that playing chess can reduce the risk of dementia by as much as 74%. Solving crossword puzzles showed a trend towards reduced risk - 38% - but the association was less significant than playing chess or solving chess puzzles according to the official findings.
Professor Verghese stated that, “It is similar to the physical state. If you exercise and build up muscles then you become more resistant to injury and other illnesses. If you exercise your brain then you are also more resistant to the effects of dementing illnesses such as Alzheimers. If you challenge the brain you lay down new connections and promote growth of new cells in areas which are affected by Alzheimers”. The day may not be far off, according to Professor Verghese, "when doctors recommend a game of chess along with physical exercise and a healthy diet."
According to further research by Doctor Gene Cohen, the Director of the Centre for Ageing, Health and Humanities at George Washington University:
-- Ray Keene Karpov,A (2725) - Kortschnoj,V (2665) [C80] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3
g6 11.Qe2 Bg7 12.Nd4 Nxe5 13.f4 Nc4 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxf5 Rg8 16.Nxc4 dxc4
17.Bc2 Nd3 18.Bh6 Bf8 19.Rad1 Qd5 20.Bxd3 cxd3 21.Rxd3 Qc6 22.Bxf8 Qb6+
23.Kh1 Kxf8 24.Qf3 Re8 25.Nh6 Rg7 [Diagram] 26.Rd7 Rb8
[26...Re7 27.Rxe7 Kxe7 28.Qf6+] 27.Nxf7 Bxd7 28.Nd8+ 1-0 Now Available
GRANDMASTER BREAKS THE CODE IN MYSTERY OF HIDDEN GRAVE A chess
grandmaster has cracked an intellectual puzzle in an attempt to help police
solve a murder mystery.
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The
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Years
later former world champion, Bobby Fischer (himself part of the inspiration
for the musical), was imprisoned in Japan, and before the latest Russian
elections Garry Kasparov, perhaps the greatest chess champion of all time,
found himself incarcerated in a Moscow jail, being visited by his erstwhile
arch rival Anatoly Karpov. To cap it all, the eccentric President of the
World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilhumzhinov, has openly claimed to have been
abducted by aliens. Implausible indeed.
The
plot of the musical seems quite tame in comparison with these real life
events from planet chess.
