Category Archives: Sports

A FORCED MATE OF 51 MOVES.

A FORCED MATE OF 51 MOVES. There was a computer program called “Stockfish” running in real time on a supercomputer during the championship games. Oliver Roeder points out that in the second game, Stockfish found a forced checkmate of 51 … Continue reading

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IS ARMAGEDDON CHESS FAIR?

IS ARMAGEDDON CHESS FAIR? The asymmetry in the Armageddon rules raises the question of fairness. (A football fan might remember the discussion of how much of an advantage it was for a National Football League team in the old days … Continue reading

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ARMAGEDDON CHESS.

ARMAGEDDON CHESS. Oliver Roeder had written in this earlier post on FiveThirtyEight that he was intrigued by the possibility of the championship being decided by an Armageddon game. Roeder’s post was entitled “Rooting For Armageddon At The World Chess Championship”. … Continue reading

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MAGNUS CARLSEN DEFEATS SERGEY KARJAKIN.

MAGNUS CARLSEN DEFEATS SERGEY KARJAKIN. Magnus Carlsen has defeated Sergey Karjakin in 16 games to win his third world chess championship. This article by Oliver Roeder on the FiveThirtyEight site describes the course of the match. Roeder says: “The 12 … Continue reading

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THE CULTURAL DIVIDE ON PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

THE CULTURAL DIVIDE ON PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. It turns out that there have been a lot of analyses of the “heel” role that Donald Trump played in the campaign, as a Google search shows. Many of these analyses seem to be … Continue reading

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HOW TRUMP PLAYED “THE HEEL”.

HOW TRUMP PLAYED “THE HEEL”. Reeves quotes the wikipedia entry which describes the “heel” role: “…heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner by breaking rules… Others… exhibit unlikeable, appalling and deliberately offensive and demoralizing personality traits such … Continue reading

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HOW THE MEDIA PLAYED THE FOIL TO TRUMP’S “HEEL” CHARACTER.

HOW THE MEDIA PLAYED THE FOIL TO TRUMP’S “HEEL” CHARACTER. This article by Elspeth Reeve on the New Republic site in August, 2015 (after the first Republican Presidential debate) shows how the media—and I— misunderstood what role Trump was playing. … Continue reading

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WHY CALLING IT TARGETING IS A MISTAKE.

WHY CALLING IT TARGETING IS A MISTAKE. I have posted a number of times about the dangers, especially the possibility of concussions, from a football player’s delivering a blow with the top of his helmet to an opponent in a … Continue reading

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“UNTIL YOU JUST POUND THEM INTO THE TURF….UNTIL THEIR HEAD HURTS”.

“UNTIL YOU JUST POUND THEM INTO THE TURF….UNTIL THEIR HEAD HURTS”. With the information that has come out about head injuries in football, I find it hard to watch professional football any more. I have watched only one NFL game … Continue reading

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WHEN I PLAYED CHESS AGAINST A GRANDMASTER.

WHEN I PLAYED CHESS AGAINST A GRANDMASTER. I posted here about Magnus Carlson playing chess against two denizens of Washington Square. Kids, I once played chess against Bent Larsen. It was in the early 1970’s when Bobby Fischer was considered … Continue reading

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