"Ray Gordon" wrote in message
...
Not junior or women's title, either. Love the reference to
Judit Polgar winning the Hungarian championship in 1960!!

Given the fact that Judit Polgar was born in 1976, her *reported* victory
in 1960 might well be evidence of her supernatural precocity in chess. :-)

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory...ORTS&oid=54959

Wonder girl bags H.K. title
By Manny Benitez TODAY Chess Columnist

A 13-year-old Eurasian girl, Anya Corke, has won the National Chess
Championship of Hong Kong, scoring 9.5 points from 11 games.

The only child of an English father and a British-Chinese mother, Anya

Congratulations to Anya Corke.

To comment on an issue of journalistic practice, I have to say that I do
not understand why describing Anya Corke's 'racially mixed' background in
such detail was necessary or relevant to writing a news story about her
victory in the Hong Kong chess championship. (By the way, it's hardly
unusual--or 'newsworthy'--to find 'Eurasians' who reside in Hong Kong.)

If GM Joel Lautier were to win France's chess championship, then should
the French media emphasise the fact that he's 'Eurasian', the son of a
French father and a Japanese mother? Would the news story begin like this?
"A (his age) Eurasian man, Joel Lautier, has won the national chess
championship of France. The son of a French father and a Japanese mother,
Joel Lautier..."

I doubt that would happen in Joel Lautier's case,
so why should it have happened in Anya Corke's?

For the record, I do *not* regard Manny Benitez's description of
Anya Corke's racial or ethnic background to be a racist comment.
But I wonder why he considered it important enough to lead his story about
Anya Corke's winning a chess tournament by describing her 'racial' background.

By the way, I have been waiting for Jerzy Ciruk to write here and express
his personal objection against Manny Benitez for "tr(ying) to make racial
divisions between chessplayers" (to quote what Jerzy Ciruk wrote about
Ian Burton on 8 July 2004). In the RGCM thread "Garry Kasparov's Diary",
Jerzy Ciruk recently accused Ian Burton of having a racist motive, as
Mr Burton understood Mr Ciruk to say, in asking a question about which
Jewish players had participated in a FIDE tournament in Libya.

But Jerzy Ciruk, who likes to claim that he opposes 'racism' in chess,
has written nothing to complain about the new Hong Kong chess champion
Anya Corke's unprovoked identification as 'Eurasian' by the news media.

So why would Jerzy Ciruk evidently have a 'double standard'?

On one hand, Jerzy Ciruk has vehemently denounced the exclusion of the
Israeli players--*which I also believe was wrong*--from the FIDE World
Championship tournament in Libya, and Jerzy Ciruk has repeatedly accused
both the Libyan government and FIDE (not to mention some other writer(s)
in the chess newsgroups) of anti-Jewish 'racism'. In fact, as Roman
Parparov, a member of Israel's Chess Federation board (Would Jerzy Ciruk
like to denounce him too as an anti-Jewish 'racist'?), has written here,
several Jewish players did compete in the FIDE tournament in Libya.
As far as I know, those Jewish players have *not* made any complaints that
the Libyans ever discriminated against them because they were Jewish while
they were playing in the FIDE World Championship tournament in Libya.

Of course, I am *not* asserting that Libya is free of anti-Jewish prejudice.
Indeed, the United States, for example, is *not* free of anti-Jewish prejudice.
But I do *not* know of any evidence, or even of any specific complaints, that
the Jewish players in Libya suffered from any 'racist' discrimination while
playing there recently. In my view (though perhaps not in Jerzy Ciruk's),
it's unfair to condemn all Arabs (or even all Libyans) as anti-Jewish
'racists' in all cases on the basis of sweeping stereotypes rather than by
citing specific evidence of anti-Jewish prejudice in those specific cases.

On the other hand, after I have asked him to comment on that matter,
Jerzy Ciruk has *not* criticised the United States government for excluding
players from Iran and Syria from participating in the FIDE world championship
tournament in Las Vegas. Given his evidently continuing refusal to criticise
that exclusion of Iranian and Syrian players--which stands in contrast to
Jerzy Ciruk's many vehement criticisms of the exclusion of Israeli players--
I have to say that Jerzy Ciruk seems to condone or approve of the United
States's exclusion of players from Iran and Syria (and perhaps other
countries perceived as hostile) on the basis of their nationalities
from participating in a FIDE tournament in the United States.

--Nick

could be the world's youngest person -- and a girl at that -- ever to win a
national chess crown (Hong Kong, a former British colony, is now a special
administrative region of China, with its own national chess federation
separate from that of the mainland).

Hong Kong's wonder girl is its first female chess champion. She swept
through the 11-round tournament with nine wins, one draw and only one loss.
The first girl to wear her country's national chess crown was Judit Polgar
of Hungary, who did it at 15 in 1960, enabling her to break by three months
American legend Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest person to earn the
grandmaster's title.

Corke, whose parents are lecturers at the University of Hong Kong who moved
to the former British colony from France three years ago, was adjudged
second best junior, next only to Wen Gehua of China, in the Bangkok Open,
won by GM Joey Antonio.

As Hong Kong champion, she is expected to be its board one player in the
upcoming 36th World Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Majorca, Spain, in October.
A Filipino engineer, Edwin Borigas, finished fourth in the Hong Kong title
series, next to Corke, Brian Dew and Jeff Leclercq. Borigas played on board
one in the Asian Cities held in Tagaytay three months ago. ...

Nick wrote:

znntpol.grp.

Given the fact that Judit Polgar was born in 1976, her *reported* victory
in 1960 might well be evidence of her supernatural precocity in chess. :-)


;P


Manny Benitez TODAY Chess Columnist

A 13-year-old Eurasian girl, Anya Corke, has won the National Chess
Championship of Hong Kong, scoring 9.5 points from 11 games.

The only child of an English father and a British-Chinese mother, Anya

Congratulations to Anya Corke.


Yeah, congrats. Anya..


'Nick the invertebrate, suede-shoe wearing, 5th column left-leaning &
beard-wearing scumbag' then goes on to whine, opine & hiss thus:





To comment on an issue of journalistic practice, I have to say that I do
not understand why describing Anya Corke's 'racially mixed' background in
such detail was necessary or relevant to writing a news story about her
victory in the Hong Kong chess championship.

It's called 'human interest' - Nick, yawwn..

(By the way, it's hardly
unusual--or 'newsworthy'--to find 'Eurasians' who reside in Hong Kong.)


How right you are, you little witch-hunter you..


If GM Joel Lautier were to win France's chess championship, then should
the French media emphasise the fact that he's 'Eurasian', the son of a
French father and a Japanese mother?

Don't know if they should, but have no doubt certain elements in the
media would, 'people' like you for example..


Would the news story begin like this?
"A (his age) Eurasian man, Joel Lautier, has won the national chess
championship of France. The son of a French father and a Japanese mother,
Joel Lautier..."


No idea, let's hope not. yhaawn..



I doubt that would happen in Joel Lautier's case,
so why should it have happened in Anya Corke's?


Yes, yes..

(she nagged him to death, which is not the same thing as being bored
stupid)


For the record, I do *not* regard Manny Benitez's description of
Anya Corke's racial or ethnic background to be a racist comment.
But I wonder why he considered it important enough to lead his story about
Anya Corke's winning a chess tournament by describing her 'racial' background.


(poor bobby, banged up in some antiseptic nip gaol. Perhaps jerome will
be so kind as to send him some chess-mags & maybe a carton of
krispy-kremes)..




By the way, I have been waiting for Jerzy Ciruk to write here and express
his personal objection against Manny Benitez for "tr(ying) to make racial
divisions between chessplayers"


Oh, I understood Jerzy was more intent on highlighting an ongoing
campaign of discord & diviseveness, purveyed here with mind-numbing
regularity, under the guise of high-minded self appointment..



(to quote what Jerzy Ciruk wrote about
Ian Burton on 8 July 2004). In the RGCM thread "Garry Kasparov's Diary",
Jerzy Ciruk recently accused Ian Burton of having a racist motive, as
Mr Burton understood Mr Ciruk to say, in asking a question about which
Jewish players had participated in a FIDE tournament in Libya.

But Jerzy Ciruk, who likes to claim that he opposes 'racism' in chess,
has written nothing to complain about the new Hong Kong chess champion
Anya Corke's unprovoked identification as 'Eurasian' by the news media.


??, I confess I don't understand this, what? is 'Eurasion' now an insult
word? or is it only if you 'say' it as one or conversely, 'take' it as
one? I don't have time for this 'crassness' - provocation in this
context is irrelevant..


So why would Jerzy Ciruk evidently have a 'double standard'?

On one hand, Jerzy Ciruk has vehemently denounced the exclusion of the
Israeli players--*which I also believe was wrong*--from the FIDE World
Championship tournament in Libya, and Jerzy Ciruk has repeatedly accused
both the Libyan government and FIDE (not to mention some other writer(s)
in the chess newsgroups) of anti-Jewish 'racism'. In fact, as Roman
Parparov, a member of Israel's Chess Federation board (Would Jerzy Ciruk
like to denounce him too as an anti-Jewish 'racist'?), has written here,
several Jewish players did compete in the FIDE tournament in Libya.
As far as I know, those Jewish players have *not* made any complaints that
the Libyans ever discriminated against them because they were Jewish while
they were playing in the FIDE World Championship tournament in Libya.

Of course, I am *not* asserting that Libya is free of anti-Jewish prejudice.

Oh good, yawnn..

Indeed, the United States, for example, is *not* free of anti-Jewish prejudice.

Indeed, yaaawwwnnn..

But I do *not* know of any evidence, or even of any specific complaints, that
the Jewish players in Libya suffered from any 'racist' discrimination while
playing there recently.

Jolly good..


In my view (though perhaps not in Jerzy Ciruk's),
it's unfair to condemn all Arabs (or even all Libyans) as anti-Jewish
'racists' in all cases on the basis of sweeping stereotypes rather than by
citing specific evidence of anti-Jewish prejudice in those specific cases.


Quite so.. yhawwwwwwwwwnnnn



On the other hand, after I have asked him to comment on that matter,
Jerzy Ciruk has *not* criticised the United States government for excluding
players from Iran and Syria from participating in the FIDE world championship
tournament in Las Vegas.

Good one, trolls should not be fed..


Given his evidently continuing refusal to criticise
that exclusion of Iranian and Syrian players

Yes, yes indeed - diddums..

--which stands in contrast to
Jerzy Ciruk's many vehement criticisms of the exclusion of Israeli players--
I have to say that Jerzy Ciruk seems to condone or approve of the United
States's exclusion of players from Iran and Syria (and perhaps other
countries perceived as hostile) on the basis of their nationalities
from participating in a FIDE tournament in the United States.

--Nick

Jeez, thank God for that! - Nick's so far up Tariq Ali's sphincter his
rattle won't rattle..


could be the world's youngest person -- and a girl at that -- ever to win a
national chess crown (Hong Kong, a former British colony, is now a special
administrative region of China, with its own national chess federation
separate from that of the mainland).






..




Hong Kong's wonder girl is its first female chess champion. She swept
through the 11-round tournament with nine wins, one draw and only one loss.
The first girl to wear her country's national chess crown was Judit Polgar
of Hungary, who did it at 15 in 1960, enabling her to break by three months
American legend Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest person to earn the
grandmaster's title.

Corke, whose parents are lecturers at the University of Hong Kong who moved
to the former British colony from France three years ago, was adjudged
second best junior, next only to Wen Gehua of China, in the Bangkok Open,
won by GM Joey Antonio.

As Hong Kong champion, she is expected to be its board one player in the
upcoming 36th World Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Majorca, Spain, in October.
A Filipino engineer, Edwin Borigas, finished fourth in the Hong Kong title
series, next to Corke, Brian Dew and Jeff Leclercq. Borigas played on board
one in the Asian Cities held in Tagaytay three months ago. ...

(Nick) wrote in message . com...
"Ray Gordon" wrote in message
...
Not junior or women's title, either. Love the reference to
Judit Polgar winning the Hungarian championship in 1960!!

Given the fact that Judit Polgar was born in 1976, her *reported* victory
in 1960 might well be evidence of her supernatural precocity in chess. :-)

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory...ORTS&oid=54959

Wonder girl bags H.K. title
By Manny Benitez TODAY Chess Columnist

A 13-year-old Eurasian girl, Anya Corke, has won the National Chess
Championship of Hong Kong, scoring 9.5 points from 11 games.

The only child of an English father and a British-Chinese mother, Anya

Congratulations to Anya Corke.

To comment on an issue of journalistic practice, I have to say that I do
not understand why describing Anya Corke's 'racially mixed' background in
such detail was necessary or relevant to writing a news story about her
victory in the Hong Kong chess championship. (By the way, it's hardly
unusual--or 'newsworthy'--to find 'Eurasians' who reside in Hong Kong.)

If GM Joel Lautier were to win France's chess championship, then should
the French media emphasise the fact that he's 'Eurasian', the son of a
French father and a Japanese mother? Would the news story begin like this?
"A (his age) Eurasian man, Joel Lautier, has won the national chess
championship of France. The son of a French father and a Japanese mother,
Joel Lautier..."

I doubt that would happen in Joel Lautier's case,
so why should it have happened in Anya Corke's?

Nor does it usually happen in Hikaru Nakamura's case.
He's usually just described as "Japanese".


For the record, I do *not* regard Manny Benitez's description of
Anya Corke's racial or ethnic background to be a racist comment.
But I wonder why he considered it important enough to lead his story about
Anya Corke's winning a chess tournament by describing her 'racial' background.

By the way, I have been waiting for Jerzy Ciruk to write here and express
his personal objection against Manny Benitez for "tr(ying) to make racial
divisions between chessplayers" (to quote what Jerzy Ciruk wrote about
Ian Burton on 8 July 2004). In the RGCM thread "Garry Kasparov's Diary",
Jerzy Ciruk recently accused Ian Burton of having a racist motive, as
Mr Burton understood Mr Ciruk to say, in asking a question about which
Jewish players had participated in a FIDE tournament in Libya.

But Jerzy Ciruk, who likes to claim that he opposes 'racism' in chess,
has written nothing to complain about the new Hong Kong chess champion
Anya Corke's unprovoked identification as 'Eurasian' by the news media.

So why would Jerzy Ciruk evidently have a 'double standard'?

On one hand, Jerzy Ciruk has vehemently denounced the exclusion of the
Israeli players--*which I also believe was wrong*--from the FIDE World
Championship tournament in Libya, and Jerzy Ciruk has repeatedly accused
both the Libyan government and FIDE (not to mention some other writer(s)
in the chess newsgroups) of anti-Jewish 'racism'. In fact, as Roman
Parparov, a member of Israel's Chess Federation board (Would Jerzy Ciruk
like to denounce him too as an anti-Jewish 'racist'?), has written here,
several Jewish players did compete in the FIDE tournament in Libya.
As far as I know, those Jewish players have *not* made any complaints that
the Libyans ever discriminated against them because they were Jewish while
they were playing in the FIDE World Championship tournament in Libya.

Of course, I am *not* asserting that Libya is free of anti-Jewish prejudice.
Indeed, the United States, for example, is *not* free of anti-Jewish prejudice.
But I do *not* know of any evidence, or even of any specific complaints, that
the Jewish players in Libya suffered from any 'racist' discrimination while
playing there recently. In my view (though perhaps not in Jerzy Ciruk's),
it's unfair to condemn all Arabs (or even all Libyans) as anti-Jewish
'racists' in all cases on the basis of sweeping stereotypes rather than by
citing specific evidence of anti-Jewish prejudice in those specific cases.

On the other hand, after I have asked him to comment on that matter,
Jerzy Ciruk has *not* criticised the United States government for excluding
players from Iran and Syria from participating in the FIDE world championship
tournament in Las Vegas. Given his evidently continuing refusal to criticise
that exclusion of Iranian and Syrian players--which stands in contrast to
Jerzy Ciruk's many vehement criticisms of the exclusion of Israeli players--
I have to say that Jerzy Ciruk seems to condone or approve of the United
States's exclusion of players from Iran and Syria (and perhaps other
countries perceived as hostile) on the basis of their nationalities
from participating in a FIDE tournament in the United States.

--Nick

could be the world's youngest person -- and a girl at that -- ever to win a
national chess crown (Hong Kong, a former British colony, is now a special
administrative region of China, with its own national chess federation
separate from that of the mainland).

Hong Kong's wonder girl is its first female chess champion. She swept
through the 11-round tournament with nine wins, one draw and only one loss.
The first girl to wear her country's national chess crown was Judit Polgar
of Hungary, who did it at 15 in 1960, enabling her to break by three months
American legend Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest person to earn the
grandmaster's title.

Corke, whose parents are lecturers at the University of Hong Kong who moved
to the former British colony from France three years ago, was adjudged
second best junior, next only to Wen Gehua of China, in the Bangkok Open,
won by GM Joey Antonio.

As Hong Kong champion, she is expected to be its board one player in the
upcoming 36th World Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Majorca, Spain, in October.
A Filipino engineer, Edwin Borigas, finished fourth in the Hong Kong title
series, next to Corke, Brian Dew and Jeff Leclercq. Borigas played on board
one in the Asian Cities held in Tagaytay three months ago. ...

michael adams wrote:
Nick wrote:
(much snipped, which may be read in my earlier post)
On the other hand, after I have asked him to comment on that matter,
Jerzy Ciruk has *not* criticised the United States government for
excluding players from Iran and Syria from participating in the FIDE world
championship tournament in Las Vegas. Given his evidently continuing
refusal to criticise that exclusion of Iranian and Syrian players--which
stands in contrast to Jerzy Ciruk's many vehement criticisms of the
exclusion of Israeli players--I have to say that Jerzy Ciruk seems to
condone or approve of the United States's exclusion of players from
Iran and Syria (and perhaps other countries perceived as hostile) on the
basis of their nationalities from participating in a FIDE tournament in
the United States.

Jeez, thank God for that!

Thanks to 'Michael Adams' for corroborating my impression that some writers
in the chess newsgroups disapprove of Libya's exclusion of players from Israel
and approve of the United States's exclusion of players from Iran and Syria
(and perhaps some other countries perceived as hostile).

In terms of Western media coverage and political interest, one Israeli's life
tends to receive much more attention than the lives of an Iranian or a Syrian.

- Nick's so far up Tariq Ali's sphincter his rattle won't rattle.

Actually, it could be easier for me to get in touch with John Pilger,
an anti-racist Australian journalist whom I can respect.

http://pilger.carlton.com/

"...certain lives had (Western) media value while others are expendable.
The killing of those of 'us' counts as a crime; the rest are unpeople."
--John Pilger (The New Rulers of the World, p. 137)

That's quite true, and my heart's more with 'the rest (who) are unpeople'.

Some members of my family have been forcibly expelled from the nominally
Western democratic country of their birth (yes, they arrived there legally)
because that country's explicitly racist laws and policies (which have been
amended now) would not permit them to live there.

FIDE's motto is 'gens una sumus', but that stands for an ideal, not a reality.

--Nick

Nick wrote:


Actually, it could be easier for me to get in touch with John Pilger,
an anti-racist Australian journalist whom I can 'despise'.



'Pilgerism' is a word bandied about now & again. My understanding is
that it's a fancy way of saying 'lying' - or to be more gracious,
telling only that part of the story designed to get the hand-wringers up
hand-wringing with all due anguish. You will forgive me substituting the
last word (in 'your' above sentence) with one of my own..







http://pilger.carlton.com/

"...certain lives had (Western) media value while others are expendable.
The killing of those of 'us' counts as a crime; the rest are unpeople."
--John Pilger (The New Rulers of the World, p. 137)

That's quite true, and my heart's more with 'the rest (who) are unpeople'.

Some members of my family have been forcibly expelled from the nominally
Western democratic country of their birth (yes, they arrived there legally)
because that country's explicitly racist laws and policies (which have been
amended now) would not permit them to live there.

FIDE's motto is 'gens una sumus', but that stands for an ideal, not a reality.

--Nick

On 18 Jul 2004 15:28:28 -0700, (Nick) wrote:

To comment on an issue of journalistic practice, I have to say that I do
not understand why describing Anya Corke's 'racially mixed' background in
such detail was necessary or relevant to writing a news story about her
victory in the Hong Kong chess championship. (By the way, it's hardly
unusual--or 'newsworthy'--to find 'Eurasians' who reside in Hong Kong.)

I don't pretend to be an expert in these things but when I was in Hong
Kong last March the question of non-Hong Kong born mixed
Caucasian-Chinese athletes taking part in the Asian Games and Olympic
Games was very much in the news.

Given the speculation in the article about Anya Corke playing in the
Olympiad this might be the source of the writing you're reacting to.

Hong Kong currently has some odd citizenship regulations involved
non-native Hong Kongers aimed primarily at men who have mistresses
inside Mainland China (along with in most cases wives in Hong Kong)
who have fathered children with their mistresses. The objective seems
to be to avoid giving these children - who are citizens of the Peoples
Republic of China - residency rights in Hong Kong.

I don't know if that's the reason but it would fit in with the news
stories I saw when over there in the spring.

The Horny Goat wrote in message
. ..
(Nick) wrote about an article by Manny Benitez
on the 2004 Hong Kong chess championship tournament (won by Anya Corke):

To comment on an issue of journalistic practice, I have to say that I do
not understand why describing Anya Corke's 'racially mixed' background in
such detail was necessary or relevant to writing a news story about her
victory in the Hong Kong chess championship. (By the way, it's hardly
unusual--or 'newsworthy'--to find 'Eurasians' who reside in Hong Kong.)

Mr Craver, I expect that you would know that it's hardly unusual to find
immigrants from Hong Kong who reside in or near Vancouver, British Columbia.

I don't pretend to be an expert in these things but when I was in Hong Kong
last March the question of non-Hong Kong born mixed Caucasian-Chinese
athletes taking part in the Asian Games and Olympic Games was very much
in the news. Given the speculation in the article about Anya Corke playing
in the Olympiad this might be the source of the writing you're reacting to.

Perhaps, except that there's no apparent correlation between the placements
of those comments in the news story by Manny Benitez. The writer begins his
article with a detailed description of Anya Corke's Eurasian background, and
then he does not mention anything about her playing for Hong Kong in the Chess
Olympiad until near the end of his story, in an evidently unrelated context.

Hong Kong currently has some odd citizenship regulations involved non-native
Hong Kongers aimed primarily at men who have mistresses inside Mainland China
(along with in most cases wives in Hong Kong) who have fathered children with
their mistresses. The objective seems to be to avoid giving these children -
who are citizens of the Peoples Republic of China - residency rights in Hong
Kong. ...

'Residency rights in Hong Kong' is known as 'right of abode' under the law.
Hong Kong is not a sovereign state, so it has no authority to make its own
'citizenship regulations' as such.

--Nick