Gong Xi Fa Cai

Difference between men and women

The FBI had an opening for an assassin. After all the background checks, interviews and testing were done, there were 3 finalists; two men and a woman.

For the final test, the FBI agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. 'We must know that you will follow your Instructions no matter what the circumstances.

Inside the room you will find your wife sitting in a chair .. . . kill her!!'

The man said, 'You can't be serious. I could never shoot my wife.'
 
The agent said, 'Then you're not the right man for this job.  Take your wife and go home.'
 
The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room.  All was quiet for about 5 minutes.

The man came out with tears in his eyes, 'I tried, but I can't kill my wife.'  The agent said, 'You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home.'
 
Finally, it was the woman's turn.  She was given the same instructions, to kill her husband.  She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one after another.  They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all was quiet.  The door opened slowly and there stood the woman, wiping the sweat from her brow.

'This gun is loaded with blanks' she said.  'I had to beat him to death with the f**king chair.'
 
MORAL of the story:
Women are crazy. Don't mess with them :)

An amazing thing happened in 2012 Reggio Emilia

A most amazing final round result in the just concluded 2012 Reggio Emilia. Somehow Anish Giri caught up with the leaders, Morozevich and Nakamura. All three tied for 1-3 spot with fifteen points. And surprisingly in the last round, none of them were playing each other!

Morozevich had the easiest opponent, last placed Vitiugov, whereas Nakamura was playing the out-of-form Ivancuk.

Giri drew quickly against GM Fabiano and looked like out of the running for the first placing. But then the unexpected happened. Both Morozevich and Nakamura lost! Giri who throughout the tournament had been trailing the leaders takes sole first place! Fabiano ties with Nakamura and Morozevic for 2-4 placing! Amazing.

Final results (tie-breaker unknown to me so I just list 2-4 placing in random order, but probably Morozevich should be 2nd)

1. GM Anish Giri 16/10
2-4 GM Alexander Morozevich 15/10
2-4 GM Hiraku Nakamura 15/10
2-4 GM Fabiano Caruna 15/10
5. GM Ivancuk 12/10
6. GM Vitiugov 8/10

Ivancuk commits "suicide"

Suicide chess is a variant of chess. I learnt it from Indian IM Ravi Shekar during the 80s where we struck up a friendship over many tournaments. The object of the game is not checkmate but to give away all your pieces. You can engage in this type of chess - one of many chess variants - on the Free Chess server . In fact IM Mok Tze Meng claims to be the strongest suicide player there :)

Sometimes in my bullet games, my opponent will start giving away pieces intentionally when they have been totally out-played either out of frustration or defiance. Says a lot about their characters.

But to see this at  top level tournament - we can only thank GM Ivancuk. This is what he played in the position below where White is quite lost already

Ivancuk - Fabiano, Reggio Emilia 2012

29. Qxb7 Qxb7 30. Rxf4 gxf4 31. Nxd2 exd2 32. Bxf4 Rxf4 33. Bc6 Qb6+ 0-1

But for Ivancuk to do this at this level is really a sign of disrespect  (or ultimate frustration). If the position is lost, just resign. Whatever his reason, he just lost a least one fan. Doing this is highly disrespectful of his opponent, the chess organizers and fans. I hope he will not be invited back to Reggio Emilia again.