And now for our next act, I present to you Bob Fosse, consummate showman, tireless workaholic, bottomless well of charisma. Fosse may be the ultimate tortured genius: both arrogant and deeply insecure about his talent, unappreciative of his success, lovable but deeply unreliable as a husband, a father, and a partner. Hed have been a cliche if not for the fact that he really was a kind of wizard, bringing a wholly unique style to theatrical dancing that everyones been trying to mimic ever since.

Unlike most tortured geniuses, however, one thing Fosse didnt lack was self-awareness. He seemed to be keenly aware that, if not for the fact that he sure could dance (and had the ability to make other people even better dancers than him), he wouldnt have been worth much. He had to stay on that stage spinning-shuffling-tapping, giving the people what they want, because he had nothing else to give. That grim awareness comes through, to a startling degree at times, in All That Jazz, a musical masterpiece co-written and directed by Bob Fosse, about Bob Fosse, warts and all. Or rather, mostly just warts.

Okay, fine, Joe Gideon, have it your way. But we all know its Bob Fosse, so thinly veiled you can see right through it. Roy Scheider as Joe bore a strong resemblance to Fosse, right down to the uniform of black pants and black shirt, and the ever-present cigarette in his mouth. The meta touches in All That Jazz are dizzying, as illustrated when Cliff Gorman was cast to play a character inspired by Dustin Hoffman, who in real life replaced Gorman as Lenny Bruce in the Fosse-directed film adaptation of Lenny. Fosses ex-girlfriend Ann Reinking was cast to play the character based on her but only after she had to audition for it. When the sound of tap dancing was needed to loop over a scene of young Joe (Keith Gordon) performing, Fosse recorded himself. Dialogue was lifted whole cloth from real life conversations, and theres even a scene where Joe stops in the middle of an argument with a girlfriend to write down a harsh observation she makes about him. Short of a few name changes and timeline shifts, it qualifies as a biopic.

There was just one glaring difference: in All That Jazz, he dies at the end.

Though All That Jazz was met with positive reviews upon release, there was some debate over whether it was a self-aggrandizing puff piece about a deeply flawed man. This was a criticism similarly leveled at Noah Baumbachs Marriage Story, that in making himself the protagonist he lacked the insight to understand how negatively the character came off. Its puzzling particularly when applied to All That Jazz, considering the entire third act of the film is devoted to a dying Gideon hallucinating a lavish musical about how much of a failure as a human being he is. Granted, in the end hes bid a fond farewell by friends, family, lovers, and enemies alike, but its at the cost of being described as a so-so entertainer, and painfully reminded that all the women in his life have moved on to better, happier things. Its the opposite of a vanity project.

Unlike most tortured geniuses, however, one thing Fosse didnt lack was self-awareness.

Lets face it, it would be great to have the kind of energy Joe Gideon has for a full day of choreographing, directing, editing, writing, shmoozing, and fucking, if only it didnt require a diet of cigarettes and speed. According to Sam Wassons exhaustively detailed biography of Fosse, his life really was like that, where rest was a dirty word and vacation meant renting out a summer home with a dozen friends and throwing parties every night. To stop working, even for just a little while, meant getting mowed down and left behind by the competition, and to be alone meant having to face himself for who he was, an insecure perfectionist in an industry that valued the new and the now, who perhaps needed women more than he actually liked them.

Perhaps most poignantly is that, even though its Gideons non-stop life and unhealthy choices that ultimately lead to his death, theres no indication that Fosse changed any of those habits in his real life. He lived for another six years after All That Jazz, and still maintained a physically and spiritually punishing lifestyle. It doesnt seem likely that he failed to heed the message of his own movie, but rather than he simply couldnt. The performing life was baked into him, he knew nothing else.

Its like the old story about someone retiring from their job, and dying a year later, because they had lost their purpose. Surely Fosse would have preferred to drop dead in the middle of a dance studio rather than withering away in a retirement home. He came darn close, dying on his way to a revival of Sweet Charity, one of his most famous musicals. In an ending that seems like something out of a movie itself, Fosse died in the arms of Gwen Verdon, his third wife, muse, closest friend and harshest critic.

The end of the movie, a dazzling 10 minute musical number that is alternately bleak and joyous, is Fosse throwing his own funeral. What wouldnt we give for such an opportunity, to feel that love we either couldnt see or ignored in life, and to take center stage before every single co-star, supporting character, and extra in the production number of our lives? Are we going to hide behind the curtain, or are we going to get out there and dance until the lights go down? What kind of miracle would it be to say one last goodbye to the people who meant something to us, to apologize, to thank them for being a cast member in our plays?

Joe isnt sad, hes exhilarated, even bursting into overwhelmed laughter at one point. At least I dont have to lie to you anymore, he says to Audrey (Leland Palmer), the character based on Gwen Verdon. If it had to come to this, at least hes going out on the kind of big budget, over the top level a showman like Joe Gideon deserves. When the shows over and he gets that standing ovation hes been craving his whole life, hes exhausted, but happy. Theres a weary peace in his eyes that comes from knowing he put on a show that no one will ever forget, long after the lights have dimmed, and the curtains have dropped. He gave them everything he could.

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All That Jazz & the Great Stage of Life - The Spool

As little ones dream of sugarplums this holiday season, the worlds cybercriminals are dreaming of a new decade in which they will plot ever more clever and evil ways in which to bring down your companys security framework. Their vision is to cost you money and time in lost productivity, compliance risk exposure, and the icing on the gingerbread house, a data breach in which ransomware can play a part.

Data breaches are hitting companies in all business sectors, from finance to health care services. This year a Capital One breach affected 100 million-plus credit card applications and more than 100,000 Social Security numbers; the Quest Diagnostics breach affected more than 12 million patients, and approximately 540 million Facebook user records were exposed by third-party app developers.

While the big brand names tend to get more public attention when there is an attack, the harsh reality is any company small, medium or large is vulnerable to a costly data breach and expensive recovery. Threats come from external sources like nation-state cyber criminals looking to cause large scale disruption. They also can come from third-party sources like the Facebook event. What companies are now realizing more is that threats, though inadvertent, can also come from within.

Employees who unwittingly click on an email link designed to introduce malware into the network, or staff members who decide to work on company privacy material on a device off the corporate network are prime examples of what security professionals refer to as insider threats. To add to these threats there is another aspect, shadow IT, in which employees purchase devices or applications, and start using them without following any company security protocols first to ensure data protection.

Against this landscape of a varied threat environment, consider tuning up your companys security architecture and policies in order to begin the next year, and decade, with a stronger posture from which to defend against cyber threats. These practices are highly recommended by security IT teams:

No doubt, 2020 and the next decade will bring new threats to businesses and the personal data privacy of citizens. The best practice is to look at cybersecurity as a prism one facet being the external threats from malicious cyber criminals, another facet the inadvertent entry of malware by employees opening scam email links, and yet another facet the plethora of devices in use today, many of which may not be subject to effective access controls.

By incorporating these five security practices, companies can address this multi-faceted threat landscape. The best holiday gift is a data secure environment for company success in the New Year.

The rest is here:
Give Your Company The Gift of Better Security - Utah Business

Artist Calixte Hetier Clements exhibition traces her journey of living in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI: Clement studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, but later did courses in art and pursued both fields for several years. After moving to Abu Dhabi in 2018, she decided to focus solely on art. Through various series of oil on canvas paintings created in the UAE, Clement is sharing her feelings about uprooting herself from her own country, adapting to a new place and new cultures, and beginning to feel at home in the UAE.

Her first series, Love Reflections features a pair of hands in gestures evoking anxiety. I began this series in France and finished it here. Moving to Abu Dhabi was a big change in my life and these hands in the darkness express my uneasiness about the unknown and the scary feeling of losing control, the artist says.

After she felt settled in Abu Dhabi, she began the series, Hopiness a word she coined by combining hope and happiness. It features colourful paintings of people in different poses. Other series in the exhibition indicate her love for painting faces. Introspection, featuring close-up views of faces, is about looking deep into the soul of a person to discover their real self; and Faces reflects the multicultural community of the UAE. Another series, Freedom features joyful portraits of women indicating how comfortable she now feels here.

These paintings depict my personal evolution over the last year. It was difficult for me to move from my secure life in France, but now I am looking forward to the future and a beautiful life here. I have met people of many different nationalities here, and I have learnt that the most important thing is to be alive and to have plans. I have seen people patiently waiting and hoping for a better future and realised that the notion of time in various cultures is different from that in Paris. My palette is also changing with the bright skies and new light, and it is inspired by the colours of the fabrics, spices and handicrafts from various countries that I see in the souks. This exhibition is about introspection, self-awareness, and coming to terms with our own feelings as well as a tribute to the spirit of tolerance I have experienced here, the artist says.

Feelings will run at La Galerie, Alliance Franaise Dubai, Oud Metha Road until January 4, 2020.

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Coming home to the UAE | Arts Culture - Gulf News

CLAYTON EARLY LEARNING COMMUNITY MARKS THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A CELEBRATION OF INDIVIDUALITY AND CULTURAL AWARENESS Genesis Aguilar Pino, left, daughter of Jacqueline Pino Valenzuela, a child family educator in the Play and Learn community-based program at Clayton Early Learning, performed traditional Mexican dance with Kamille Pescador, a former Clayton Play and Learn student, at Clayton Culture Night.

Clayton Early Learning has its own special tradition when it comes to observing the holidays. Clayton Culture Night, the schools largest event of the year, recently celebrated the richly diverse individuals that comprise the Clayton Early Learning community.This years event was attended by 250 children, parents and Clayton staff.

Centered on the theme of This is Us, the celebration encompassed the unique life experiences that shape the students, families and staff as individuals and create community within the walls of the school and its early childhood programs, as well as the larger community of Denver and Colorado.

The event included an array of hands-on cultural cooking and crafting activities, as well as Mexican regional dance performances, and an African American storyteller.

Building and celebrating both self-awarenessand a sense of belonging is critical for healthy development in young children, leading to important socialemotional, cognitive, and language and literacy skills, commented Becky Crowe, president and CEO at Clayton Early Learning.This beautiful celebration is our way of honoring the individuality of everyone who is part of the Clayton community: children, their families, and our dedicated professional team.

Foods representing different family traditions were prepared in the Clayton kitchen, and staff and families also brought traditional foods of their own to share.

One particularly popular ethnic food was served by Clayton Teacher Edwina Annan, who teamed up with family and friends to share traditional foods from her Ghanaian roots. The team cooked all day to prepare Omotuo(rice balls) with peanut soup, and Jollof, a rice and chicken dish.I love cooking with my family, and we were happy to share our traditions with the Clayton community, said Annan. Im mastering these dishes so we dont lose the connection for future generations.

Clayton Early Learning is a hub for Colorados innovative work in early childhood development. Committed to the belief that healthy early childhood development offers one of the most powerful levers for ending poverty and inequality, Clayton applies a unique two-generation approach that demonstrates whats possible in the early years, and the positive impact that it has for children and families over time. Home to Colorados only Educare school, a nationally recognized model supporting children from birth to age 5, and their families, Clayton also influences systems change through research and evaluation services, professional development for educators and leaders, and policy and advocacy work at the state and federal levels.

With a professional team of teachers, social workers and health professionals, Clayton directly serves 500 families living below the poverty line, and 20,000 children are impacted through statewide systems-change work. Visitwww.claytonearlylearning.orgfor more information.

Susan Hagar is a public relations and communications consultant, and the owner of Hagar Communications.

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CLAYTON CULTURE NIGHT: THIS IS US - The Know

I have two answers to this case against laughter.

The first is a rejection of its final premise: Trump has indeed hurt vulnerable people, but between the leaven of incompetence in his cruelty, his rejection of some of the disastrous ambitions of his predecessors and a certain amount of fools luck, his administration is arguably responsible for fewer human tragedies so far than more high-minded, less personally degraded presidencies.

And I dont just mean to reference George W. Bush and the Iraq war here. To return to the subject of my last column, in President Barack Obamas first few years in office about 1,500 American soldiers and thousands more Afghans died for a futile and dishonestly justified campaign. If laughter was permissible while that deadly folly was transpiring (mostly out of the public eye), its probably O.K. to laugh at our situation now.

[Listen to The Argument podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.]

The second answer, meanwhile, is a mild suggestion that a little more laughter might actually be good for the anti-Trump Resistance. In particular, anti-Trumpists might be a touch more effective if they could recognize how humorlessness and constant self-important dudgeon frequently helps the Trumpian cause, by setting up the dynamic I just sketched in my movie pitch where the country is asked to choose between two kinds of folly, one squalid and corrupt but the other pompous, insufferable and paranoid in its own self-important way.

The latter sort folly is at its worst, not on the far left, but on the establishment center-left and the Never-Trumper center-right, to which I belonged in 2016 and still do, in the sense that I continue to regard our president as unfit for his job and undeserving of a second term. But that belief, it seems to me, should coexist with some self-awareness about the many blunders by the great and good that brought us to this pass, some instinct for how absurd it sounds to write and talk as though the republic dies daily only to be resurrected overnight and slain by Trump anew, and some recognition that when our law enforcement agencies send their G-men to save the Republic from Vladimir Putin, sometimes they dont send their best.

Or to bring things to a finer point: If you couldnt see, long before the Mueller report fizzle or the latest revelations of F.B.I. incompetence, that Comey was a fundamentally comical figure rather than a paragon of old-school American virtue, then you have no business leading a resistance movement against a president whose main political talent is to make his rivals look ridiculous.

At the end of Burn After Reading, the pompous, alcoholic C.I.A.-agent character Ozzie Cox, played with urbane self-delusion by John Malkovich, confronts one of the civilians he believes has tormented and blackmailed him. You represent the idiocy of today, he says. Youre part of a league of morons.

Excerpt from:
Laughing Through the Trump Era - The New York Times

THE STEELSERIES ARCTIS 1 WIRELESS HEADSET IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE NINTENDO SWITCH, PS4, PC & ANDROID.

The launch of Apple Arcade introduced a lot of gamers to a bunch of fantastic experiences for iOS. The most memorable for the Press Start team was certainly What The Golf, a sharp-witted and hilarious golfing game that flipped the genre on its ear even more so than Dangerous Golf, inserting a lot of clever nods to pop and gaming culture.

Its explosive, insanely fun and very addictive. Its ideal for those happy to chip away at it on the go for short trips, though were sure theres just as many whove made it a fairway through the game in a single sitting. Were not sure what drives the developers to take such creative risks like this and if the question was ever which game in 2019 provided the most mindless fun then this game would have to be nearest to pin.

RELATED: Press Start's 2019 GOTY #10 - A Plague Tale: Innocence

Though the team didnt review What The Golf, Press Starts own Jake Barros featured the game in an episode of his Arcade Today channel.

Press Start Australia didnt publish a review for What The Golf though it holds a score of 79 on Metacritic.

Steven said: An absolute standout of the Apple Arcade lineup, and mobile gaming in general. Endlessly surprising, What The Golf played with the inputs of a mobile device in delightfully unexpected ways and kept me guessing until the very last moment.

Brodie said: What The Golf was one of the few games at launch that made Apple Arcade worthy of the asking price. Ive never been much of a mobile gamer, but What The Golf captured many of the things that made other wonderful puzzle games like Portal so fun and memorable. A satisfying, addictive core loop along with its self-awareness and the way it manages to be self-referential with regards to the industry its in only adds to the charm.

RELATED: Press Start's 2019 GOTY #10 - A Plague Tale: Innocence

Shannon said: When Apple Arcade launched, it reminded me of what I absolutely adore about mobile games (when done correctly). What The Golf ate up every free second of my day for at least 3-4 days when it launched. It was fast-paced, insanely clever and very addictive and Im still surprised that such a simple concept could work so well in a crowded library of games.

For our #9 spot, we send congratulations to Triband. Along with a spot in our top ten, a nomination for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards is something to be proud of.

Current Top 10: 9. What The Golf 10. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Originally posted here:
Press Start's 2019 GOTY #9 - What The Golf - Press Start Australia

A nine-year-old legally blind girl who dreams of being a ballerina was able to watch The Nutcracker live for the first time after being gifted with special glasses.

Lily Lueders, from Austin, Texas, was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia when she was just three months old, with the condition causing blindness in her right eye and limited vision (20/800) in her left.

The nine-year-old also struggles with nystagmas, an involuntary shaking of the eyes, and has problems with depth perception which means she can only really see up to 3ft away making the ballet performance even more special.

You can find out more about Lilys story below:

Lily and other visually impaired people were invited to view a live performance of The Nutcracker called the Unseen Ballet sponsored by Dell Technologies and its partners, eSight and Ballet Austin at The Long Center in Austin on December 5.

With the help of advanced assistive eyewear technology eSight, which uses a cutting-edge camera, smart algorithms and high-resolution screens to create a clear, real-time image of what is in front of the user, Lily was able to watch the classic ballet for the first time.

Lilys mum, Kimmy, said the young girl has always been a fan of ballerinas and so was absolutely delighted by the ballet. She is not one to sit still, but there was a calmness and easy stillness to her during the performance, she told PEOPLE.

[It] was the most impactful thing she has experienced with the eSight [glasses] She absolutely loved seeing the details on the edges of the stage and the change of each set. I think the snow scene was her favourite. The giant beautiful snowflakes and falling snow. It was magic!

Kimmy and husband Dustin Lueders first noticed Lilys eye crossing and a lack of object tracking when she was a baby, after which she was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Lilys mum says her daughter has learned to navigate the world as she sees it, explaining how she has always done better than we could have imagined.

Kimmy said the young girl was awestruck when she first wore the eyewear technology and says her first fitting enabled her to read letters off a vision chart across the room for the very first time.

The first couple tries at home, she would have these moments where words would fail and she would just let out this excited giggle. It really is the sweetest thing for a mother to experience her child experiencing the world like never before.

The nine-year-old currently attends occupational and speech therapy four times a week to promote self-awareness, while her parents provide sensory activities and tools to help with cognitive focus.

However, the cost of four therapy sessions a week is taking its toll on the young family, who often find themselves struggling to pay bills and provide support for Lily and her younger brother, James. Because of this, they have set up a GoFundMe page to help with the $21,000 a year costs.

The family describe the therapies as crucial in maintaining Lilys quality of life and preparing her for future successes and say they would be so grateful for any donations anyone can make.

You can donate to their cause here.

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9-Year-Old Legally Blind Girl Watches The Nutcracker For First Time With Special Glasses - UNILAD

A unique event has been planned in South India fromJanuary26thtoFebruary2nd, 2020:Achess tournament on a floating house boat in the famous Vembanad Lake of Kerala! Dubbed as 'Gods own country', the state of Kerala in south India is a beautiful stretch of land in the southwestern tip of the peninsula. With long stretches of beaches, lush green coconut groves and paddy fields, hills, valleys and enchanting backwaters, easily the most sought after tourist destination in India. As they say in India, it is the only state in the country with all the types of tourists destinations that one can think up beaches, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, hill stations, palaces, historic monuments, architectural marvels, art collections, famous temples, adventure sports, music and dance festivals and medical tourism.

For the first time ever, an international chess tournament that blends chess and tourism has been planned in this traveller's paradise, to be held at four different venues: two days in a floating houseboat in the Vembanad, the longest lake of the country, and a day each by the Marari Beach, a 5-Star hotel and a riverside resort.

It is a unique experience to live in the 'Houseboats' of Kerala you have a huge boat for yourselves, with all the amenities of a home floating in the Vembanad lake with bedrooms, dining space, kitchen and restrooms. The boat is managed by a crew who cook your food and cruise the boat along breathtaking scenery all through the day. The air-conditioned floater for the event 'Chess Houseboat 2020' is identical to the 'Spice Routes luxury houseboats' which hosted theKing of the Netherlands when he visited Keralaa couple of months ago.

The tournament itself will be a 10-round unrated Swiss with a time control of 20 minutes plus five seconds per game, spread over six days two rounds per day in the mornings in five days with a complete rest day after six rounds, apart from the day of arrival and departure. It is conducted by 'Oriental Chess Moves Trust', an independent chess body of organisers and chess lovers. They are headed by NR Anil Kumar, a former member of the Indian Chess Olympic team and an International Master in Correspondence Chess, along with Joe Parappilly and P Manojkumar, former international players. The authenticity stamp for the event comes in the form of the associate organisers, the Department of Kerala Tourism, an official government arm.

The tournament carries a total prize fund of 5000, with 2500 in cash and 2500 'in kind' as follows:

The accommodations for each day have been planned at different places, the first three nights being planned at the 'Lake Palace Resort', Alleppey.

The Lake Palace Resort, on the banks of the Vembanad Lake

A further two nights stay will be at the luxuriousCrown Plaza Kochi, a 5-star facility.

The Crown Plaza Kochi, one of the finest hotels of the beautiful city of Cochin

The final two nights of stay have been planned at theHyatt Regency, Trichur, another 5-star facility.

The breathtaking ball room of Hyatt Regency at Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala

The games too will feature different ambiances, offering a variety of playing conditions. The first two days' rounds have been planned in floating houseboats.

Could this be your tournament hall?

The third day, the games have been planned at the famousMarari Beach resort, at a beautiful location of a long sandy strip of beach surrounded by palm groves.

Thatched-roof houses in style of the local fisher-folk abodes, are unique attractions of Marari

While the fifth day's games have been planned at the Crowne Plaza Kochi hotel, the last two rounds will be in another unique location, Rasa Gurukul Heritage Village, a beautiful riverside retreat among the coconut and spice groves.

A bird's eye view of Rasa

Strewn across the itinerary are some of the unique experiences of Kerala which the organisers are offering for the players. A few of the best tourist attractions of the state are included among the list of visiting locations, typically in every afternoon and the rest day.

Athirapilly Waterfalls, an unforgettable experience

Fort Kochi, a nostalgic ambience of a bygone era

The historic Chinese fishing nets of Fort Kochi

Kerala also being a land with a rich heritage, the organisers have promised some of the ancient arts of the state to be staged during the event.

Kathakali performance

'Kathakali', an ancient art form of Kerala, with elaborately colourful makeup, masks and costumes, which blends dance, music and acting, with dramatization of stories from the Indian epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Mohiniyattam, a delicate and feminine dance form

Kalaripayattu, an ancient battlefield martial art of the land, with unique weapons and combative techniques

The organisers aim to market the tournament with a complete package of entry fees, accommodation for sevennights, food (not includingalcohol) and light refreshments between games, tickets for travel, sightseeing, activities & cultural shows, airport transfers and a friendly tournament. The packages have been pegged at:

Since space on the boats is limited, the total entries are capped at100 applicants.

The itinerary with more details of the tournament and the registration process can be found atchesshouseboat.org. The organisers can be contacted at info@chesshouseboat.org, passedpawn@gmail.com and at +919446230888 (Mobile).

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Chess on an Indian house boat - Chessbase News

Perhaps only rivaled by the question if chess is a sport, athletics or just a game (Vik-Hansen, 2013) the role of luck in chess seems to captivate and intrigue players, non-players, professionals and amateurs alike.

The mere possibility of luck seems to contradict and undermine our perception of chess as a rational activity where skills and proficiency alone, in contrast to say dice or card games where luck is assumed to even out in the long run, are supposed to decide the outcome. In other words, chess is perceived as an activity where the players control the chain of events to such an extent that by training and effort we improve and thus control the result or outcome.

However, the notion of no luck in chess is, perhaps surprisingly, inextricably linked to a notion of free will, an idea of control, which yet further is linked to a concept of consciousness and a conscious I. Therefore, our first task is to clarify what sort of agency, or control, would exclude luck from playing a part in chess.

Human agency might be summarised as (1) action, (2) thinking and (3) perception, and we start off with action.

Regarding agency, much debated is the mind/body duality where the problem is to account for how mental states, or properties, like seeing colours, experiencing pain, tasting or smelling something, can cause physical limbs (arms and legs) to movea duality that might be summed up in two hitherto unreconciled principles:

The causal closure of the physical domain, which states that every physical effect or event has a physical cause. In a physical system, like a human body, only physical causes can move the meat (Kim, 1993, p. 280; Vicente, 2006, p. 150)

The causal relevance of the mental domain, where the question is how mental properties or states can move the meat.

A problem with the term conscious when describing actions [consciously + verb], is ambiguity, as the term may refer to common/shared knowledge, censorship, introspection, personal identity (the I as the totality of all our mental states and the answer to what or who owns these mental states) (Gundersen, 2004, pp. 8-11) or free will as an ability to act freely and unconstrained.

Examples from chess discourse, chess literature and the chess press might lure us to think that consciousness pervades all mental life but far from it because we cannot be conscious of what we are not conscious of (Jaynes, 2000, p. 23). Jaynes (2000, p. 23; Nrretranders, 1999, p. 174) compares our impression of the ubiquitousness of consciousness with a flashlight searching for something in a dark room that is not lighted and has to conclude, since there is light in whatever direction it turns, there is light everywhere.

Despite huge time gaps when the flashlight is not on, to the flashlight itself it seems it has been on all the time, and similarly, we are conscious far less of the time than we think because we are not conscious of the gapsthe timewe are not conscious of (Jaynes, 2000, p. 24).

As with the blind spot (Jaynes, 2000, p. 25; Nrretranders, 1999, p. 180), in the field of vision we do not noticethe optically insensitive region on the retina void of visual cellsboth because the spot is located on different places in the right eye and the left eye and our brain and visual experience fill in the gaps, consciousness fills in the time gaps in the stream of consciousness and gives the illusion of continuity (Jaynes, 2000, p. 25)

Since free will hardly can be thought independently of consciousness and a conscious I, it begs the question if a non-physical consciousness could cause physical limbs to move, and if so, why not ask paralysed patients in wheelchairs to use their free will and make a conscious decision and just get up? Do we blame the paralysed for being weak-willed?

However, assumed consciousness cannot initiate actions or physical movements, neurophysiologist Benjamin Libet (1985), in the wake of his experiments in the early 80s, suggested consciousness, even if not the initiator, still could lay down a veto, depending on how disciplined it is.

How often have we not caught ourselves saying I was about to say/dobut caught myself, where our mind has initiated an impulse for us to say or do something but we stop, or veto the impulse from running to action. Because we cannot be conscious of what we are not conscious of and free will hardly can be thought independently of consciousness and a concept of a conscious I, neither can we know how much of the time free will is not at work; we only know when it is at work; during the veto.

A rare and striking illustration of the veto gave the blitz game Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian in the eighth round of the 6th Norway Blitz 2018.

Aronian as Black onmove 52 was about to recapture Carlsens pawn on g4 but within a fraction of a second, with pawn in hand and hovering half way over Carlsens pawn, he catches himself and the brain initiates another impulse whereupon he with a slower movement passes by Carlsens pawn and Carlsen resigns.

Aronian was about to play the auto-pilot move, recapture since Carlsen first captured a pawn

Carlsens brain, on the other hand, initiated a blunder impulse, i.e. an impulse that if converted to action (move in our context) leads to a mistake, where Carlsen was not in time to become conscious of what he was about to; he was not in time to catch himself.

Actions are one thing, but what about thinking? Can we think what we want/will?

In the early twentieth century, Marbe (2012/1901) and Watt (1906) demonstrated that thinking and judging, the supposed hallmarks of consciousness, arenot conscious at all (Jaynes, 2000, p. 38). We do our thinking before we know what we are to think about. We do not know what we are thinking until were thinking it and only its preparation, materials, and end result are consciously perceived (Jaynes, 2000, p. 39).

Could we (consciously) select the best preparations and best materials for the actual thought processes, we would control the thought processes as well as the end result. In chess, thinking manifests itself in cognitive activity as diverse as assessment, analyzing and calculating. We are, of course aware of or conscious of the fact that we are assessing a position, analysing or calculating certain moves or variations but the processes are all subconscious, since, with access to all the (perfect) information right in front of us, we would not misjudge a position, analyse or calculate poor moves or bad variations on purpose.

Since the 1950s it has been known that only a fraction (1-40 bits) of the 11,121,000 bits of the information flooding through our sense organs makes up a conscious experience (Zimmerman, 1986), and neurophysiologist Hans H. Kornhuber (1988) states:

Thus, there is a great deal of information reduction in the nervous system. Most information flow in the brain is, by the way, unconscious. The soul is not richer than the body; on the contrary, most of the processing in our central nervous system is not perceived. The unconscious (which was discovered and elucidated long before Freud) is the most ordinary process in the nervous system. We just look at the results, but we are able to direct the focus of attention.

The brain, and not we consciously, controls the influx of information, selects and organises the relevant information units into a coherent conscious experience and if we could direct our focus at will, how to explain errors, mistakes, blunders, mishaps or slip-ups? The phrase having our attention or interest caught implies that something outside our consciousness does the catching. If we could direct our focus at will, why not focus on what we should focus on? Homework, chores, poverty, trapped knights and rooks en prise? (Parenthetically speaking, how come we let our knights get trapped or we leave our rooks en prise if we at will could direct the focus of our attention?)

Delineating human agency into action (the veto), thinking and perception, when our veto depends on how disciplined our consciousness is, our actions may be said to have three possible sources: (1) Intracerebral (brain/mind alone), (2) external (impressions/information solely from outside) or (3) interplay between internal and external factors where we, because we cannot get behind our consciousness, as it were, are in no position to distinguish, isolate or separate different types of causes from one another. We are not conscious of the preceding causes leading up to the moment of action we are conscious of.

However, our delineation of human agency suggests that the brain by subconscious physical processes plays chess when triggering moves, whereas we (consciously) play chess by the veto, i.e. when aborting or stopping our brains suggestions.

Winning the lottery as an example of luck might be considered paradigmatic, caused by a coinciding of several causes/circumstances/events, intracerebral as well as external:

(Chance in lottery does not consist in the drawing but in the picking of the numbers, as the drawn numbers do not occur by chance, i.e. are uncaused, but result from causes beyond our control.)

We may now summarise our findings so far:

(1) Actions subconsciously initiated, (2) the information units pouring through our senses, (3) the minds processing of the information, (4) the selection and organization of information into a conscious experience and (5) external causes/circumstances resulting in our winning the lottery, suggest a tentative and general definition of luck and unluck:

Luck: unpredictable. favourable outcome(s) where we neither control the causes at work or how they work together (certain outcomes presuppose certain events) and an ability not to abort impulses leading to unpredictable, favourable outcomes (picking the right lottery numbers and not handing in the ticket) and to abort ill-conceived impulses leading to unfavourable outcomes (blunders in chess).

Unluck: (unpredictable) unfavourable outcome(s) where we neither control the causes at work nor how they work together and are unable to abort the chain of causes (often in the shape of ill-conceived impulses (blunders in chess).

Case in point: We avoided the avalanche because we missed the ferry when our friend called to tell us he had won the lottery on the same day his wife said she would divorce him after his old parrot for the umpteenth time bit her in her wooden leg.

However, chess appears essentially different from playing the lottery but if in control, how to explain:

If mistakes are not made on purpose but still happen, are we suggesting our limbs move without us knowing?

If the better player (on paper) always is in full control, always wins and luck plays no role:

Victory against weaker players (on paper) would be a forgone conclusion, a matter of course, so why play at all (Beyond getting the formalities out of the way)? Unless the players are equally rated, will the games be called off?

We would never end up in worse positions against weaker players (on paper) in the first place.

There is no need for happiness, rejoice or celebration when winning games, tournaments and matches, since the result, again, would be a forgone conclusion and a matter of course. (Imagine a deadpanned reaction like, Hold your applause. Of course I won, Im better.)

However, applause, celebrations, congratulations, high-fives, rejoice, smiles, and feeling of relief after winning or drawing lost games against equally strong (on paper) or weaker players (on paper) and games against lower rated opponents still being played, are all visceral testimony to a realisation that there might be gaps and glitches in perception and neural networks; the result or outcome is not a given or foregone conclusion, as ratings per se only measure past achievements. The only possible praise or compliment appears to be a measured: Good for you, when we cannot take credit for our achievements or anything but appreciate we got to experience the pleasure of success.

If chess moves and lottery numbers as well result from a coinciding of intracerebral and external causes/circumstances beyond our control, how does playing chess differ from playing the lottery?

The boundaries of human agency and control summarised as (1) action, (2) thinking and (3) perception, and our veto depending on how strong or disciplined our consciousness is, distinguish luck in chess from lottery luck as:

Unpredictable, favourable outcome(s) of causes and circumstances beyond our control, internal as well as external, but not in the lottery sense of the word as the brain/mind as a physical system is more stable/consistent than the drawing of lottery numbers, yielding different numbers every week.

Ability not to abort impulses leading to unpredictable, favourable outcomes and to abort ill-conceived impulses leading to unfavourable outcomes (blunders). (If we did control the veto-moment, we would never let ill-conceived impulses run to action.)

Happens over the board (OTB-luck) when gaps and glitches in our control, i.e. time gaps we are not conscious of, provide our opponents with chances and possibilities we later come to call luck, since, if conscious (no gaps), we would in not on purpose present our opponents with such chances and possibilities the first place. (These gaps, paradoxically, do not lend themselves to dating (since we are not conscious of them) but are manifested or expressed by our moves.)

If we were in control of both internal and external causes and circumstances underlying our moves, the better player (on paper) would always win against weaker players (on paper) as a matter of course but, as we know, the better player does not always win and our definition may explain why: Better players have full control most of the time, no control some of the time but never full control all the time.

When better/stronger players (again on paper) do not have control, there are gaps or glitches in their perception (they see the board but dont perceive it (Vik-Hansen, 2016)) or in the causal nexuses or causal chains in their physical neural network system (a.k.a. the brain/mind in the shape of processing the information) and in these gaps and glitches precisely lies weaker players (on paper) chance for improvement by defeating or drawing the better/stronger player.

We might say that one causal network (the weaker player) exploits the gaps and glitches in another causal network but where neither player consciously or volitionally controls the causal neural network, neither their own nor their opponents.

(In the contention that the better player always wins, there is a logical trap: If a weaker player (on paper) in a single game defeats the stronger player (on paper), the weaker player indeed turned out better. In other words, if the better player (on paper) does not always win against weaker players (on paper) they are by definition not better. How many games are better players (on paper) required to win against weaker players (on paper) to be recognised as generally better?)

Luck defined as gaps and glitches in perception as well as causal neural networks and unpredictable, favourable outcome(s) of causes and circumstances beyond our control, internal as well as external suggests, that luck in chess is not limited to play over-the-board but applies to (away-from-the-board) analysis or situations as well, illustrated by the following snippets from Kasparov and Anand:

Kasparov (2003, p. 208) on Laskers 59th move against Rubinstein (St. Petersburg, 1914): The last critical position in this amazing game. Here, with the help of a computer, I was fortunate enough to discover something.

Anand (2012, p. 187) commenting on Blacks 18th move in the 9th match game against Kasparov in their PCA World Championship match in 1995: I was surprised that he was prepared to go down this line [following a Scheveningen Sicilian from Cuijipers-De Boer, Dutch Championship, 1988] so blithely.It was lucky I didnt know about this game, or I might have abandoned the whole line!

Our definition suggests why luck and objectivity (IM Grnn as quoted in Fosse, 2017, Det beste og verste med sjakk [The best and worst with chess], para. 3) are not mutually exclusive: Objectivity merely signifies that moves and variations in principle, impartially and universally can be tested independently of individual subjectivity bias caused by perception, imagination, emotions, preferences or convictions, not that we control the unfolding of the events.

Along the same lines falls Valakers rejection of luck (Valaker, 2010) because chess is supposed to be a battle between brains/minds. However, dismissing luck ignores the human factor former world champion Lasker (1868-1941) encourages us to take into account when stating chess being a battle between brains/minds, as the battle does not imply our controlling the processes in the brain/mind.

In light of our analysis and definition of luck in chess, the axiom often ascribed to Capablanca (Winter, 2016), The good player is always lucky, may be said to be playing for three results(1) nonsense, (2) tongue in cheek and (3) deep insightand may serve to illustrate Italian programmer Alberto Brandolinis (2013) Bullshit Asymmetry Principle (or Brandolinis law), stating that the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it, (he principle can be sharpened by differentiating between different types of nonsense or bullshit: some types taking longer to refute than others) captured also by the old proverb, a lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.

If a good player is always lucky, were not talking luck and although the contention there is no luck in chess are only six small words, it takes quite an amount of analysis and elaboration to prove it problematic, if not flat out groundless.

Grnn (as quoted in Hiby, 2016) praises Carlens queen sacrifice 50.h6+ against Karjakin (New York, 2016), as something that happens to people who deserve it, as a reward for good play, and according to Hillarp-Perssonannotating Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi (London Chess Classic, 2017), luck usually comes to those who deserve it, which opens for worthy and unworthy recipients of luck. However, since the chain of causes leading up to the luck moment is beyond our control, luck is something we do not deserve but merely something that happens us (Good for you).

Accepting and coming to terms with the fact that luck indeed is an inherent component of chess and that we do not possess the control traditionally ascribed to conscious agency, may, as the presence of luck grants us adequate space to distance ourselves from our misery and cushion the blow, help us lower the bar of expectations and help us deal better with defeats and better cope with tension.

Concluding our analysis, we bid the reader farewell with the winged words of late Dutch grandmaster Donner (2006, p. 86):

Chess is and will always be a game of chance. How now, sir? I hear you cry. Isnt it precisely the best and noblest aspect of the game of chess that the chances are equal and that the players control everything themselves? Yes, gentlemen, quite, but who can control himself?

Among his philosophical interests, Rune Vik-Hansen nurtures a passion for the question of free will and has over the last decade suggested how it might be relevant to playing chess. Drawing upon philosophy and recent findings on brain and consciousness, Vik-Hansen offers an original and fresh approach to classical chess problems and has in great depth explored different aspects of chess playing, from analyzing blunders to questioning the concept of pattern recognition.

| Photo: Anniken Vestby, Troms

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Chess and Luck - Chessbase News

In 2019, we redesignedChessBase Magazine adding a new more accessible layout, and revamped theMega Database 2020 layout as well. Then there's the new Fritz 17 with multiple engines including Fat Fritz, arguably the strongest chess playing entity on the planet as we head into the new year.

We've implemented several improvements to the FritzTrainer line of instructional videos, notably adding Mac compatibility to our flagship releases. An independent iPad version is also available. Now we've asked prolific reviewer Davide Nastasio, who's probably spent more time with the FritzTrainers than just about anyone, for his top picks of the year. Here are ten video series not to be missed!

For coaches and chess teachers the series of FritzTrainers by Pert on typical mistakes is fundamental in Nastasio's opinion.

Within the video series there are several chapters, and each chapter comprises a theme for games played between players rated between 1000-1600. Several games are explained and then there are many interactive examples for the viewer to have a go at themselves.

In every game of chess, there comes a moment when one is confronted with the question: what should I do now? Often, the solution involves more than finding just one single move, and you are rather challenged to work out a complete plan instead. In order to make an effective plan, one needs to delve deeper into the position just determining which pieces are good and bad normally is not enough to find your way.

Five key elements of positional play are discussed which help you formulate the right plan:

After going through the 12 examples from the theoretical section, its time for you to get actively involved! The author has collected no less than 50 instructive examples with multiple questions to test your positional understanding. On top of that, another 50+ examples have been added in a separate database, while there is also a new feature in the Fritz app to play out various positions.

The current World No.2, being a 1.e4 player his entire life, has shared his deep knowledge about the Ruy Lopez in a 3-DVD series, acclaimed by amateurs and professionals alike. In 2018, Fabiano Caruana achieved one of the most prestigious honours in the history of the game: he qualified for a match for the World Chess Championship. He lost, but left many surprised as to how he out-prepared and out-played Magnus in the classical portion of the match.Read the review.

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The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

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The London System with 2.Bf4 Reloaded

Over the last couple of years nearly all the worlds elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The Ginger GM takes a look at all the latest developments whilst t

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Why bother learning hundreds of complex variations when you can play a simple yet deadly opening the London System with 2.Bf4. Over the last couple of years nearly all the worlds elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The Ginger GM takes a look at all the latest developments whilst teaching you all the basics that you need to know in order to play this opening with success.

Following his first bestseller on the London System, Williams new work not only updates previous analyses but is also packed with new and original ideas which can be used even at the highest level - a must for players who want results, yet do not have much time on their hands. If youre not a practitioner of the London System yet, in fact the only question remains: Why Not?

The London System is becoming increasingly popular, both at grandmaster and club level. The theory of the opening is developing quickly, with new things being tested all the time. This, in return, gives rises to fresh tactical ideas which should belong to the basic arsenal of any London devotee after all, tactics remains the be-all and end-all of the game. On this DVD, Simon Williams shows all the complications in the London System one has to know as White, giving you the tactical tools for a successful practice the player who knows the typical motifs has an advantage over the board. Using the interactive FritzTrainer format which invites the viewer to answer questions by entering the moves on the screen, the Ginger GM, intensively and systematically, makes your familiar with a multitude of typical tactical finesses in positions of the London System. Of course, those who dont yet have this opening in their repertoire can also profit after all, a sharp combinatorial vision is always useful in chess.

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Is Bird's opening an audacious attempt by chess mavericks? Or a slightly offbeat way for White to get an advantage in today's hyper-engine-analyzed opening landscape? Can the Bird's be a way to disorient our opponents using a lesser-known opening? The Bird's is an opening for players who are free spirits. IM Lawrence Trent in his latest work addresses this need, covering all of Black's answers, and proudly finding new moves in old lines. If you are a club or a tournament player, searching for a surprise weapon, the Bird's can give a boost to your wins! Read the review.

Always wanted to play like a World Champion? Search no further! With Magnus Carlsen using the Sveshnikov variation as his weapon of choice in the World Championship match against Fabiano Caruana, this DVD could not be better timed. The Dutch grandmaster Erwin LAmi (former second of Veselin Topalov and currently seconding Anish Giri), guides you through this dynamic opening variation. The DVD offers a complete overview of this fascinating opening that has inspired generations of chess players!

See also:Fast and Furious: The Sveshnikov surge

Nastasio noticed a flaw in many chess biographies of world champions. They all have an index for the opponents, they have an index for the openings, but there is no index for the interesting endgames. Often we find a 400 or 500 page biography with tons of games, yet no idea how to find typical middlegame themes or endgames to learn from. In the latest FritzTrainer from GM Karsten Mueller, however, you'll find the world champions' best endgames, each deconstructed using Mueller's great endgame insight and teaching experience.Read the review.

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Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik

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For a player who wants to learn a wide range of different middlegame positions, the English should definitely be high on the list. Flexibility in move orders can mean the difference between quiet or aggressive play.Marin, who previously authored one of the biggest literary works on the English opening and has now brought his experience to the video format in a new, updated repertoire. Glimpse his deep knowledge, acquired through years of practice, in order to gain confidence in this new opening weapon suitable in every type of setting, from long time control tournaments to online blitz.Read the review.

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Top FritzTrainers of the year - Chessbase News