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One American champion is voicing her opposition to “women’s oppression” by boycotting the women’s world chess championship in Iran rather than bow to Iranian demands that she wear a hijab, or headscarf. “By participating, I would be forced to submit to forms of oppression designed specifically for women,” Nazí Paikidze insisted. “It sets the wrong example, particularly for young girls interested in chess.” Paikidze, the current U.S. chess champion, could be competing for up to $100,000 in prize money. However, she has refused to attend the event. “I will NOT wear a hijab and support women’s oppression,” she said. “Even...

...“Playing chess is worse than gambling and eating pork … People who play chess are more prone to lying than others. People who play chess may not say the shahada [declaration of Islamic belief] while they are dying,” he said... “People who play chess are cursed … You should count your prayer beads instead…” Whatever, you better start counting your Death Beads, hammerhead! Trump/Pence = MAGA

President-elect Donald Trump has decided that his administration will not pursue criminal investigations related to former rival Hillary Clinton’s private email server or her family foundation, his campaign manager said Tuesday. Trump’s apparent decison, conveyed by campaign manager Kellyanne Conway in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,’’ would be an extraordinary break with political and legal protocol, which holds that the Attorney General and FBI makes decisions on whether to conduct investigations and file charges, free of pressure from the president. During his campaign, Trump had issued incendiary calls for a special prosecutor to re-open the FBI’s closed investigation of...

Phil Chess, who co-founded the Chicago-based music label Chess, which brought American blues, soul and early rock music to an international audience and influenced generations of musicians including the Rolling Stones, died Oct. 19 at his home in Tucson. He was 95.

As one of the most successful women to ever play the male-dominated game of chess, Nazi Paikidze is used to having her moves watched closely. Her latest has drawn international attention: Paikidze announced last week that she will boycott February’s Women's World Chess Championship in Iran because the players will have to wear hijabs. Paikidze’s decision will deprive the tournament of one of the game’s brightest stars and biggest draws — the U.S. champion who once told a magazine she would “do everything I can to help more girls get into chess.”

After years of playing with pawns and bishops, the reigning queen of US chess finds herself in the biggest stalemate of her career. Nazi Paikidze, 22, shook up the chess world over the weekend when the US women’s champion announced she’s boycotting the Women’s World Chess Championship in Iran in February instead of complying with the country’s law that women cover up with a hijab. The Russian-born star, who now lives in Las Vegas, told The Post she won’t budge unless FIDE — the world chess federation — moves the competition to a “no-conflict” zone or makes wearing the hijab...

Grandmasters have accused FIDE of disregarding sexual discrimination by selecting a place that would require the competitors to wear hijabs. Meanwhile, FIDE's Commission for Women's Chess has urged participants to accept the hijab regulations in respect of "cultural differences." American Grandmaster Susan Polgar, chairman of Fide's Commission for Women's Chess, has said the players need to respect 'cultural differences'.

The 2017 World Chess Championships will be held in Tehran, and Iran has told Fide (the chess governing body) that all female participants must wear a hijab. Fide’s Commission for Women’s Chess submitted to Iran’s demand without question, instructing all participants to respect “cultural differences” and follow the rules. Needless to say, the Grandmasters are outraged. Many have flat out refused to attend the 64-player tournament scheduled for February 2017. “This violates all what sports means,” argues Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Carla Heredia. “Sports should be free of discrimination by sex, religion, and sexual orientation.” Chairwoman Susan Polgar of Fide’s Commission...

The best female chess players in the world have stated that they will boycott next year's World Championship in Iran, after being told they must wear a hijab if they wish to participate. Many of these players have harshly criticized the World Chess Federation, after it was decided that the World Championship would take place specifically in Iran. The protests were mostly regarding the Iranian requirement that women cover their faces with a hijab during the chess competition. American champions also expressed concern over whether the female participants would be safe in the Islamist country. "It's really frustrating that I...

The best-ranked female chess player in the United States has said she would rather sacrifice her career than submit to demands to wear a hijab at the next world championship. Nazi Paikidze, the reigning US Women’s Chess Champion, swore to boycott the 2017 contest, which is being held in Iran and will have an enforced Islamic dress code.

If there were a contest for the most stupid idea in politics, my choice would be the assumption that people would be evenly or randomly distributed in incomes, institutions, occupations or awards, in the absence of somebody doing somebody wrong. Political crusades, bureaucratic empires and lucrative personal careers as grievance mongers have been built on the foundation of that assumption, which is almost never tested against any facts. A recent article in the New York Times saw as a problem the fact that females are greatly under-represented among the highest rated chess players. Innumerable articles, TV stories and political outcries...

He was one of the truly great chess players, a legend. He played in three matches that produced the World Champion, but in each case lost to Anatoly Karpov. It made him the strongest player never to have won the title. In 1976 he defected from the Soviet Union and took up residence in Switzerland, where he continued to be active into his eighties in spite of a stroke. Now he has gone and leaves a grieving chess community.

Ancient Irish musical history found in modern India Press Trust of India | Melbourne May 15, 2016 Last Updated at 11:57 IST Ancient Irish musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India, according to a new study of musical horns from iron-age Ireland. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artifacts shows a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive...

An archaeologist studying musical horns from iron-age Ireland has found musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artefacts reveals a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "Archaeology is usually silent. I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive and living in Kerala today," said the ANU College of Asia-Pacific student... The findings help show that Europe and India had...

Armed with newfound, if tepid, support from unlikely sources over the past few weeks, Ted Cruz has touted himself as a Republican uniter whose campaign represents a broad and ideologically diverse spectrum of the party. But with the GOP aiming for a contested convention in July, there are mixed signals as to whether Cruz is the consensus choice in that scenario or simply the party’s vehicle to Cleveland, only to be ditched later. While Donald Trump still has a viable path to securing the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, a loss to Cruz in Wisconsin next week would...

2/16/2016 – After the refreshing free day, the players started the fifth round with renewed forces. Paradoxically, there was only one decisive game, but this was due to the increased degree of accuracy, as the fighting spirit was as high as ever.

A fatwa issued by Saudi Arabia's top cleric prohibiting chess in Islam and equating it with gambling has caused a stir on social media. In a video of a television programme posted online, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh appears categorical when asked about the board game in Islam. "Chess is prohibited. It is gambling," said Sheikh, insisting that it was a "waste of time and money and a cause for animosity between players".

Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam, saying it encourages gambling and is a waste of time. Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh was answering a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas in response to viewers’ queries on everyday religious matters. He said chess was “included under gambling” and was “a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players”.

<p>Norwegian chess phenomenon Magnus Carlsen yelled out “faen!”, a Norwegian expletive meaning literally “the devil”, and threw his pen down, after he lost his fourth match at the World Blitz Chess Championship in Berlin on Wednesday. <{p> Magnus Carlsen wins rapid chess world title (13 Oct 15) Chess genius Carlsen in crisis after fourth loss (26 Jun 15) The player’s use of the expletive, which translates more loosely as “shit” or “fuck”, left the polite and understated chess world mildly shocked.</p>

Carbon dating of walrus bones found in Snæfellsnes peninsula indicates that the bones are at least 2000 years old. A large number of walrus skulls and walrus tusks have been found around Garðafjara beach on the south coast Snæfellsnes. The first skull was discovered 1884. All in all the bones of 50 walruses have been found, most in the past 50 years. Biologists argue this indicates Snæfellsnes was the home of a sizable walrus colony prior to the settlement of Iceland. Large pre-settlement colonies of walruses in Iceland A previous theory, explaining the concentration of bone discoveries, speculated they came...