I spotted the Closet GM - it is a good tournament - shadowed by this Isaerli attack on Gaza - as they let an Israeli play. I feel there is a case here for a protest against his inclusion in - he may be a wonderful person and a good player - but politics is politics.

After all we get oil from the Arabs - what do we get from Israel? - it's just that it is basically a US base used by them as a diversion when it suits them - the US pour huge amounts of cash into Israel to keep it going...

I see BTW that the NZ Master Wade was a Communist. Interesting what they like to keep quiet in the Chess World.

So far neither the NCF or FIDE have any initiatives about the rogue state of Israel.

I actually fell asleep and woke up and all the games were finished but even reading through the comments (afterwards) is amusing...

I'm not sure - but they made a film of it - it was somewhere in the North I think. The chief flight engineer was on board and they studied the manual!

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bd6 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 f6 8.b3 Ne7 9.h3 Ng6 10.Ba3 Nh4 11.Qe3 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 0-0 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Bxd6 cxd6 15.Qd3 Rd8 16.c4 Be6 17.Nc3 b5 18.Ne2 bxc4 19.bxc4 Qf7 20.Rac1 c5 21.Nf4 Rab8 22.Qc3 Rb4 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.Rxd5 Qb7 25.Qd3 Rb8?

This is not a good plan - the ending he heads for is probably lost - better such as 21.. ..Qc7 and even then Rb6 and just holding on

26.Rxd6 Rb1 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qb1+ 29.Qxb1 Rxb1+ 30.Ke2 Rc1 31.Rxa6 Rxc4 32.Ke3 Rc2

The ending is lost for Black - although many R + P endings are a draw with just one pawn up - I think the fact of having a central majority and an outside pawn decides here.

33.a4 Rc3+ 34.Kd2 Ra3 35.f4 h5 36.a5 Ra4 37.Kd3 Ra3+ 38.Kc4 Ra4+ 39.Kxc5 Rxe4 40.Rc6 Rxf4 41.a6 Kh7 42.a7 Ra4 43.Kb6 Kg6 44.Rc5 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic 2009"]
[Site "Queenstown, NZ"]
[Date "2009.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Paul Garbett"]
[Black "Mastrovilis"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. e3 f5 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. f4 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Be2 Nd7 12. Nxd7 Bxd7 13. c5 Bc7 14. b4 a5 15. bxa5 Rxa5 16. Rb1 Rxa2 17. Rxb7 Bc8 18. Rb2 Ra8 19. Qb3 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. Qb7 Rfa8 22. Bd2 Qd7 23. Rfb1 R6a7 24. Qb3 h6 25. Qc4 Kh7 26. Bc3 Bd8 27. Rb8 Rxb8 28. Rxb8 Bc7 29. Rb4 g5 30. fxg5 hxg5

IM Paul Garbett has played well here - holding the game up against the GM.

31. Ra4 Rb7 32. Rb4
Ra7 33. Ra4 Rb7 34. Rb4 Rxb4 35. Qxb4 Kg6 36. g3 Qc8 37. Qb3 g4 38. Qa2 Bd8 39. Qa7 Bf6 40. Kg2 Qd8 41. Kg1 Qd5 42. Qb8 Qa2 43. d5!??!!

Courageous, and imaginative, but risky (and probably sound) - but Paul could have just played say 43. Qb2=

click for larger view

Bxc3 44. Qg8+ ??

This loses. Gino Thornton correctly commented that 44. Qe8+! draws. And using Fritz (and playing carefully) it does.

Bg7 45. Qxe6+ (checkmate is now forced) Kg5 46. Qxc6 Qb1+ 47. Kf2 Qc2+ 48. Ke1 Bc3+ 49. Kf1 Qd1+ 0-1

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c5 6.e3 Nc6 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Nge2 Bg4 9.f3 Be6 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.Nxc3 Qxc5 12.Nb5 Rd8 13.Rc1 [13.Nc7+ Kf8 14.Bb5 d4 15.Rc1 Qb6 16.Qd3 Nf6] 13...Qe7 14.Qa4 g5 15.Bc7 Rd7 16.Bg3 Bf5 17.Kf2 Qf6 18.Nd4 Nge7 19.h4 g4 20.h5 0-0 21.Bh4 Qe5 22.Bg3 Qf6 23.Bh4 Qe5 24.Bg3 Qf6 ½-½

My computer gave an advantage for White but that is easy for me with a computer sitting 600 miles away! - in fact it is complex position and it is hard to see how White can gain ground - Johansen did the right thing. OTB chess is not computer chess! And draw with a 2600+ GM is nothing to cry about!!

Then later I picked up three of his books of poetry.

In addition I sold "Beautiful Losers" his novel for a reasonable amount...

Just now going through some poetry in big book I got from the library (with CDs) and while I have a wide knowledge of literature there are writers there I wasn't so familiar with - there are many of the "usual suspects" from Tennyson (recorded on Edison's wax cylinders) and to Whitman and on to Yeats, Joyce, Eliot to Laura Riding (one time lover of Robert Graves who is also on there) Bishop and so on but there are many I either didn't know or hadn't paid much attention to - such as St Vincent Millay, Louise Bogan, HD, Langston Hughes, Robinson Jeffers, May Swenson (wonderful reading voice she had and great poems)and many others; no Cohen though but I will find him reading somewhere for sure.

This shows the pernicious and obscene relationship of the US Imperialists to Israel and explains where the Israeli Militarists get their weapons etc

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (IPS) - The devastating Israeli firepower, unleashed largely on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during two weeks of fighting, is the product of advanced U.S. military technology.

The U.S. weapons systems used by the Israelis -- including F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles and a wide array of munitions -- have been provided by Washington mostly as outright military grants.

The administration of President George W. Bush alone has provided over 21 billion dollars in U.S. security assistance over the last eight years, including 19 billion dollars in direct military aid as freebies.

"Israel's intervention in the Gaza Strip has been fueled largely by U.S. supplied weapons paid for with U.S. tax dollars," says a background briefing released Thursday by the Arms and Security Initiative of the New York-based New America Foundation.

"The Bush administration has been unwilling to use its considerable influence -- as Israel's major military and political backer -- to dissuade the government in Tel Aviv from its pattern of claiming self-defence while perpetrating collective punishment, human rights violations and undertaking massively disproportionate attacks that harm and kill civilians," Frida Berrigan, senior programme associate at the New America Foundation, told IPS.

Besides military aid, the United States has contracted more than 22 billion dollars in arms sales to Israel in 2008 alone, including a proposed deal for 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, nine C-130J-30 military transport aircraft and four combat ships.

"So, when Israeli forces engage in combat in Gaza or the West Bank, they are more often than not using U.S.-designed systems that were either made in the United States or produced under licence in Israel," says the New America Foundation.

The two-week military onslaught has resulted in the deaths of over 700 Palestinians, including more than 300 civilians, mostly victims of U.S. weaponry.

In comparison, the Israeli death toll is about seven soldiers and four civilians, primarily due to "friendly fire", or victims of rocket attacks by Hamas.

Mouin Rabbani, contributing editor at the Washington-based Middle East Report, says the intimacy of the U.S.-Israeli military relationship, and the frequency with which Israel launches wars, means that the Israeli military also performs the function of testing newly-developed weapons systems in actual warfare, which is of value to both Israel and the United States.

"Twice over, in fact, because less effective versions of these same weapons systems are subsequently sold at hugely inflated prices to Arab states, which effectively subsidises the U.S. weapons industry and U.S. military grants to Israel," he told IPS.

Tracing historical links, Rabbani said Israel replaced South Vietnam as the primary recipient of U.S. foreign military aid in the 1970s and has maintained that status ever since.

He said that Israel is also permitted to participate in various U.S. weapons development programmes, meaning that in addition to weapons deliveries it benefits enormously from the transfer of military technologies.

"Israel also has access to various U.S. intelligence programmes and data, and the list goes on for quite some length," Rabbani added.

Last week, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Democrat of Ohio) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointing out that Israel's use of U.S. weapons in Gaza may constitute a violation of the requirements of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) of 1976.

The AECA outlines the conditions under which countries may use U.S. weapons systems, primarily for "internal security" or "legitimate self defence".

The letter says that Israeli forces have used U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter planes and Apache helicopters "to precede and to support ongoing ground actions such as the one in which 40 Palestinians were killed while taking shelter in a U.N. facility."

"Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable," he added.

Berrigan said that with the onslaught about to enter its third week, hundreds of Gazans killed and wounded, 10 Israelis killed and more wounded, Hamas continuing to launch rocket attacks and a grave danger that the conflict will widen to include Lebanon, President-elect Barack Obama "will step into a bed of molten hot quicksand on Jan. 20."

"It will be difficult for the new administration to turn the tide of U.S.-Israeli relations and challenge Israeli exceptionalism, but it is urgently necessary," she added.

Rabbani pointed out that given the level of U.S. military assistance to Israel, the deployment of these weapons in the current onslaught against the Gaza Strip, and U.S. political support for Israel during this crisis, Palestinians could be forgiven for insisting the U.S. shares direct responsibility.

"While I would by no means dismiss the issue of U.S. military transfers to Israel in their various forms and dimensions, the key issue is nevertheless the impunity with which these are used," he added.

It is this impunity, rather than the weapons transfers in and of themselves, that accounts for Israel's ability to sow widespread death and destruction throughout the Gaza Strip at will.

The top Aust players seemed younger overall than the kiwis...