The Truth is Out There

This post will be devoted to answering several recently received emails and to share recent developments related to subjects written about in other recent posts. To begin, I wrote in the post of October 14, Georgia Chess News, “I recently noticed an announcement in the local Decatur Dispatch for a chess club at the Tucker library on the second and fourth Tuesday evening in which it is stated, “No children. Please.” I did not have the tabloid in front of me when writing and was working from memory. I will be the first to admit my memory, especially short term, is not what it used to be. It has been pointed out to me that the word “children” was not used in the announcement. This is correct. The announcement reads, “For adults 18 and older only, please.” I stand corrected.
There is an article by John Markoff, Making Robots More Like Us, in the NY Times. “In a shift from robots made for factories, designers are putting the “human” into humanoids so they can interact in public.” I especially like the way robots “interacted” with humans in the Terminator movies. You can find the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/science/making-robots-more-like-us.html?hp&_r=0
This goes hand in hand with, “A Chip In The Head: Brain Implants Will Be Connecting People To The Internet By The Year 2020,” By Michael Snyder, on October 29th, 2013. http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/a-chip-in-the-head-brain-implants-will-be-connecting-people-to-the-internet-by-the-year-2020
The odds are I will not be around then, and neither will the game of chess. I do not see how the game can withstand the melding of man and machine. What will be the point if every player has ready access to a program rated 6666?
One of the received emails was in regard to the post of October 20, Chess Has Been Fukushimaed. Although I regret having “upset and frightened” a reader, I must admit to also being upset and “frightened out of my wits” at the implications and possibilities caused by the disaster. I must, though, take exception to the reader when he writes, “If it were as bad as you say, I would have seen something about it on CNN, or the other national news stations.” Please! The corporate controlled so-called “news” programs are nothing more than infotainment desperately seeking viewers to satisfy sponsors just as any other program on any other station. They are content in titillating viewers with the latest on Broccoli Spears and her Basic instinct moment; Lady Google in all her Gaga glory; and Smiley Virus, the latest in a long line of good girls gone bad. Fortunately for We the People there is the internet. But for how long, I cannot help but wonder…
Because of the email I decided to make a point of asking people what they knew of Fukushima. I questioned people, usually much younger, in restaurants, coffee shops and book stores. Although not what one would consider a scientific poll, and much too small for any kind of random sampling, it was the best I could manage. The answers received were mostly that it was off the radar. Most were under the impression it was “not a problem.” Or that it, “had been cleaned up.” When I told them a little of what I have learned, they refused to believe it, telling me it could not possibly be true or else they would have heard about it from the media. The few who were interested, and had their gizmos handy, checked out several websites I mentioned, read the headlines, and said things like, “This is sooooo spooky!” This was from a young woman near Emory University. None of the Emory students with whom I talked was even vaguely aware there was a problem.
On the Coast to Coast AM radio program on the night of October 27, Helen Caldicott, “talked about the devastating nature of the Fukushima disaster as well as the dangers of nuclear power in general.”This is the worst industrial accident ever to occur, but it’s not over,” she cautioned. Caldicott explained that two of the Fukushima power plants are crumbling and, should another earthquake strike the area, one building could collapse and release massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, at the other building, over 250 tons of highly radioactive uranium sits 100 feet above the ground in a cooling pool, which could come crashing to the ground, causing massive fires and releasing irradiated water into the Pacific Ocean.
Aside from the potential danger, Caldicott said, 400 tons of radioactive water is currently being emitted into the ocean every day as thousands of additional tons have being collected in faulty tanks which are both faulty and susceptible to future earthquakes. She stressed that the unprecedented complexity of the disaster, as well as political and economic interests, have resulted in an inadequate response to both solving the crisis and raising awareness over the dangers still posed by it. She accused the Japanese government of “cutting corners” in an effort to save money in the disaster clean up and also blamed national pride for the lack of requests for international assistance. “This is a global, ongoing public health catastrophe and no one’s attending to it,” she lamented.”-From: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2013/10/27
How about this headline:
The California coastline is becoming like a dead zone.
“If you haven’t been to a California beach lately, you probably don’t know that the rocks are unnaturally CLEAN – there’s hardly any kelp, barnacles, sea urchins, etc. anymore and the tide pools are similarly eerily devoid of crabs, snails and other scurrying signs of life… and especially as compared to 10 – 15 years ago when one was wise to wear tennis shoes on a trip to the beach in order to avoid cutting one’s feet on all the STUFF of life – broken shells, bones, glass, driftwood, etc. There are also days when I am hard-pressed to find even a half dozen seagulls and/or terns on the county beach. You can still find a few gulls trolling the picnic areas and some of the restaurants (with outdoor seating areas) for food, of course, but, when I think back to 10 – 15 years ago, the skies and ALL the beaches were literally filled with seagulls and the haunting sound of their cries both day and night…
NOW it’s unnaturally quiet. (And especially at night.)” From-http://planet.infowars.com/outdoors/california-coastline-becoming-like-dead-zone-fukushima-to-blame
This is not something that may occur in the future, but is happening NOW! For example, “Yale Professor Charles Perrow is warning that if the cleanup of Fukushima is not handled with 100% precision that humanity could be threatened “for thousands of years“…
“Conditions in the unit 4 pool, 100 feet from the ground, are perilous, and if any two of the rods touch it could cause a nuclear reaction that would be uncontrollable. The radiation emitted from all these rods, if they are not continually cool and kept separate, would require the evacuation of surrounding areas including Tokyo. Because of the radiation at the site the 6,375 rods in the common storage pool could not be continuously cooled; they would fission and all of humanity will be threatened, for thousands of years.” From-http://thetruthwins.com/archives/28-signs-that-the-west-coast-is-being-absolutely-fried-with-nuclear-radiation-from-fukushima
There you will also find a film that has been posted on YouTube, Fukushima And The End Of Humanity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH3AlPmavDk You will also read, “Every single day, 300 tons of radioactive water from Fukushima enters the Pacific Ocean.”
If you go to the website of Helen Caldicott (helencaldicott.com) you will find an article, Endless Fukushima catastrophe: 2020 Olympics under contamination threat. http://www.helencaldicott.com/2013/09/endless-fukushima-catastrophe-2020-olympics-under-contamination-threat/#more-614 There you can read the comments left, including this one: “Rafi Metz on October 24, 2013 at 8:30 pm said:
In a recent video I heard Ms. Caldicott saying that it may be necessary to evacuate the entire Northern Hemisphere. If that happens, who will maintain all of the hundreds of nuclear power plants throughout that hemisphere? The answer is: “No one.” They will all eventually melt down. Fukushima is just the beginning.”
Or is it the end? Humans cannot exist when the oceans die, and the radioactive water from Fukushima is killing life in the ocean. Those in control have absolutely no idea what to do other than continue pumping life killing radiation into the life giving ocean. What happens to the game of chess pales in comparison. At this point I am thinking of the end of one of my favorite songs from youth. It is by Country Joe and the Fish. The name of the song is, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die-Rag.” It concludes with, “Well there ain’t no time to wonder why, Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.” http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/88285/

Georgia Chess News

The original purpose of this blog was to write mainly about chess in Georgia. I have received inquiries as to why I have not written more about local chess activities. Scholastic chess predominates and I wanted to focus on what was formerly called “chess,” but is now called “adult chess.” The only tournaments exclusively for adults are Senior events. Children proliferate at “adult” tournaments here and in the US. Yet tournaments consisting of mainly children are called “adult” tournaments. Go figure…I recently noticed an announcement in the local Decatur Dispatch for a chess club at the Tucker library on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings in which it is stated, “No children. Please.” Make of it what you will. I find it rather sad that chess has been so completely overwhelmed by children that anyone would print something like this, but such is the reality of the situation.
Dr. Cano left a comment to my post, “Booming Interest in Amateur Chess.” He also asked me the same question via email some time ago. His question is, “Where are the chess tournaments that we used to have here in Georgia?” This is a good question. Unfortunately I cannot answer it. I will, though, ask any member of the GCA board, or anyone else who can answer the question to leave a comment on this post, or send me an email I can publish. Dr. Cano, and many others who ask the same question, deserve an answer. These are the kinds of things discussed on the forum of other states, such as North Carolina. Those in control of the GCA have chosen to not have a forum. One can only wonder why the pooh-bahs refuse to allow their members to express their views.
I would like to direct anyone interested to the GCA website, http://www.georgiachess.org/open, where it has been announced that the 2014 Georgia Chess Championship will be held May 2-4 at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest, 200 Interstate North Parkway SE • Atlanta, Georgia 30339. Since it is a Marriott, I do not have to tell you this is a tremendous upgrade from an empty space at a Mall in decline. Backgammon tournaments have previously been held at this hotel. The recent unrated tournament for children was held at this very hotel. I will leave the efficacy of the GCA holding an unrated tournament for rated players to others interested in the chess of children.
I have had several chess coaches tell me recently that the real battle these days is in the middle school because by the time children reach high school they have lost interest in chess. This was confirmed by the turnout for the above mentioned tournament, where there were only fourteen players in the top section consisting of grades 6-12, but thirty-five in the K-5 section and sixty in the K-3 group. There were an additional twenty-five in the K-1 section. This tournament is a vivid illustration of what USCF President Ruth Haring has said about the mass exodus of children from organized chess around age eleven. It would appear puberty is killing chess. For those interested, the results can be found on the GCA website at: http://www.georgiachess.org/news?mode=PostView&bmi=1407698
I have chosen to eschew writing about local events in order to be kind. A tournament I mentioned in an earlier post, “10th Annual Georgia Senior Open” (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/10th-annual-georgia-senior-open/), something called the “GCA Combined,” included the Senior tournament. It has been jokingly said this event was the Georgia response to the recent Carolinas Chess Festival. If I were writing for one of the so-called “fair and balanced” extremist networks I would write, “There was a huge percentage increase in the turn-out for the 2013 Georgia Senior Chess Championship.” I prefer to tell it like it is and say that only fourteen players participated this year, five more than last year. There were only five players in the Open section, barely enough for a four round tournament. Last year’s Senior champion, Alan Piper, decided to play in the one day G/45 in lieu of defending his championship. This is a scathing indictment of the tournament and of those in control of the GCA. Former Senior Champion Chris Ferrante and Van Vandivier tied for first, scoring 3 out of 4. Captain Jeff Kidd finished clear third half a point behind. Richard Jones finished clear first in the second section with 3 ½ points, followed by Stephen Yancey with 3. I have written previously the tournament should be a true Open, with only one section. Once again, the small turnout proved my point. The results could be found on the GCA website, but it appears they have been removed. If one is interested in the results of the other events held at an empty space in a Mall that has seen better days, go to the USCF website: http://www.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/
The Georgia Open took place this weekend at Emory University. A total of sixty-four players, appropriately enough, entered the event that had been limited to no more than two hundred fifty. The song by Arrowsmith, “Dream On,” just entered my brain, for some reason. GM Alonso Zapate (2575) and LM Chris Mabe (2326), from the Great State of North Carolina, drew their last round game to tie for first place along with class “A” player Jinseok Kim (1963). Mr. Kim drew his first game then ripped off four in a row, including an upset of Expert Donny Gray in the last round. Five players tied for 4-8 with four points. They were, NM Michael Corallo; Expert Reese Thompson; class “A” Nicholas Williams; class “B” Shanmukha Meruga; and class “D” Ingrid Guo. Only five of the sixty-four players participating in this tournament were from other states. That is only 8%! When Dr. Cano asks why we do not have tournaments like we used to have here in Atlanta, I believe a large part of what he means is that at one time out of state players comprised a large percentage of players at our tournaments. There is a reason they refuse to come to the capital of the South to play chess. To have tournaments like we had “back in the day,” it is imperative the GCA has tournaments in which players from other states want to participate.
The crosstable can be found at the GCA website: http://www.georgiachess.org/Resources/Documents/results/2013%20Georgia%20Open%20Cross%20Tables.pdf
The 2013 Georgia Class Championships, dedicated to Ruben Shocron, will be held at Emory beginning Friday night, November 22, a day that will live in infamy. Maybe consideration should have been given to naming it the “JFK Memorial,” for obvious reasons. Details can be found, once again, on the GCA website.
It would seem the GCA website is beginning to shed its “moribund” state. While researching IM Carlos Perdomo for an interview that never materialized I found a group of interviews on YouTube, including one with Carlos, as well as other players like LM Chris Mabe, GM John Fedorowicz, GM Julio Becerra, IM Jonathan Schroer, and others, by the President of the GCA, Fun Fong. This is the kind of thing that should be accessible on the GCA website. Check them out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tk1_EEJuEQ
Finally, it has been reported that Keith Sewell has left the GCA board. There have been rumors of dissension and rancor among board members for some time, with the possibility of other disillusioned members possibly leaving in the near future. I can only hope the GCA gets its act together, listens to wizened members of the community such as the esteemed former President Scott Parker, the eminence grise of Georgia chess, and otherrespected members, like Michael Mulford, and decides to give players the kind of tournaments they want, and deserve, in lieu of ramming down their throats tournaments they refuse to attend.