Happy freaking October, everyone. Congratulations, weve made it ten months through 2020 seven months essentially through a once in a lifetime pandemic. Good for you no seriously, good for you. It has been a hell of a challenging year, but eventually it has to end and get better.

There have been hundreds of think pieces on 2020, but this isnt going to turn into one of them. Just know that youre doing amazing, ok?

Now, onto the more lighthearted stuff I fucked up. I missed last weeks Take 5. It is what it is, Ive got no excuse. So, dear reader, forgive my mistake? I promise to make it up to you with these five songs below.

Maybe promise is too heavy handed, but you know, whatever. Onwards my noble steed.

Julia Michaels Lie Like This

This is a classic case of artist who doesnt need our attention but we cant stop listening so youre gonna read about it in Substreams Take 5. What a song. Try not to listen once and start tapping your foot. Its easily catchy, and not overly-complicated. Some people think simple pop music isnt good not in this house, baby. Were already dying for more, and you should be, too.

glimmers For Me Its You (feat. Jack Wachtel)

The Atlanta-based pop-rock glimmer is a lot of fun. Vocalist Maggie Schneider has been kicking it in the music industry for a very long time; theres a few people that come to mind who truly deserve to reap the rewards of the grind, and Schneider is one o them. For Me Its You isnt necessarily a new song, as it first appeared acoustically on her debut EP, Insomniac, but it got re-imagined and re-released under glimmers. But, its a refreshing take on the acoustic track and the end result is pop-rock gem. Trust us.

Wallows Virtual Aerobics

When will I ever stop talking about Wallows and including them in these? Probably never. As long as theyre making music, Im in. Virtual Aerobics continues Wallows dominate run on the indie genre, and while it doesnt stray too much from their developed sound, why would it? Sometimes forced change is worse than just doing that you love. That sentence wasnt meant to be as deep as it turned out, but here we are. Virtual Aerobics is a nice, consistently beating indie/alt song, and if youve liked Wallows before, youll love it. If you havent liked their stuff so far, you might not, but couldnt we all use an excuse to watch Dylan Minnette and co. do aerobics?

The Snuts Always

Banger. After. Banger. Its just what Scotlands The Snuts do best. I first heard of the band last year with their single Maybe California, and knew that they were gonna be a fun band to keep an eye on. While Always is a bit of a different sound for the band, The Snuts pull it off well. What is it in the water that makes bands from the U.K. so consistently good at making alternative/indie/rock? Theres gotta be something that we simply are missing. Maybe its the haggis in Scotland. Someone find out for us.

Hotel Etiquette Sex Questions

At least a few times a week I go outside and stare at the sky and yell, God, why did you take Pentimento away from us? Its a bold strategy for me as a non-believer, but I mean, anything is worth a shot, right? I would forgive 2020 for all its done and potentially convert into a believer for a Pentimento reunion. We may not get that save for the one-off show and a new song last year but luckily weve got the next best thing: a new project! Hotel Etiquette is Pentimentos Mike Hansens newest project, and its probably the best thing were gonna get. They dropped an EP, Sex Questions, earlier this year which includes the title-track making a lyrical reference to Pentimento and this past Friday dropped a split EP with Fake Space. If you like more aggressive alt-rock, then Hotel Etiquette will be for you. Then promptly work your way back through Pentimentos catalogue as 2015s I, No Longer is the best Jimmy Eat World record not written by Jimmy Eat World. An endless amount of thank yous to Substream veteran Joel Funk for making me aware of this project.

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Take 5: The songs you need to know this week: (October 5th, 2020) - Substream Magazine

WELLINGTON Elyse Beras relationship with Zumba did not start out well.

The Wellington residents first try at the fitness class, which combines aerobics and Latin dance, fell flat. The instructor just wasnt engaging.

Then Beras found Jamie Tizol.

More: Annual Wellington Holiday Parade called off over coronavirus concerns

The effervescent Zumba instructor drew Beras into the high-energy workouts something Tizol continues to do with new students, now in a virtual format using the Zoom video conferencing platform, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

She makes every individual feel, You can do it with me, and Im going to show you how, Beras said.

Tizol has earned praise from her students at the Wellington Community Center, with people heaping acclaim on the 43-year-old instructor for her engaging personality and skill as an instructor.

More: Wellington honors service groups as 'backbone' of weekly food distribution

But something else about Tizols virtual classes is getting the attention of Wellington residents.

When Tizol moved from her physical classroom at the community center to a virtual classroom using the Zoom video conferencing platform, it opened up an opportunity for her dedicated students, like Beras, to share the classes with friends and family around the country.

Its helped them connect, stay in touch and see each other in a fun setting each week, Beras said.

She could get a person thats dying up to dance, she said.

More: Chiari malformation: Wellington woman's journey inspires her to advocacy

Tizol joined Wellingtons slate of community center instructors in 2016. She teaches four virtual classes: Zumba, Zumba Gold for people age 55 and older, Zumba Gold chair for people who may not be as mobile, and Zumba Toning, which incorporates a small amount of weight.

Moving from in-person classes to Zoom was seamless for Tizol, said Jenifer Brito, Wellingtons Community Services specialist, who organizes and directs senior programs.

Were so lucky to have her, Brito said.

With 20 to 35 people per class, Tizol still finds a way to make each class personal for her students, Brito said.

More: Coronavirus has made cancer treatment even lonelier. Here's how you can help.

She really loves what she does, and it really shines through, she said.

Wellington has received a flood of calls from grateful students over the past few weeks, Brito said.

Shes bringing family members together during this time, she said. Thats special.

For Tizol, each class is a gift.

I look forward to it every day, to see their smiling faces, she said.

More: Former Wellington resident pens 'guidebook' on breast cancer fight

Tizol began teaching Zumba about 15 years ago while living in Virginia. Growing up, she had a passion for dancing and music, and when a friend introduced her to the lively workouts, she fell in love.

When she and her family moved from Virginia to Wellington six years ago, she had to start fresh with a new group of students.

It was fate that she met Mary Ann Thompson, a Zumba fanatic who lived nearby and knew of a local gym that needed a Zumba instructor.

Now 70, Thompson remains a loyal attendee of Tizols classes. She was thrilled when the courses resumed after pausing in March because of the pandemic.

Its just been wonderful, Thompson said.

In videos on her YouTube channel and Facebook page Zumba with Jamie Tizols energy practically radiates through the screen.

Her personality pops as her ponytail swings to the beat. Tizol never breaks hersmile something her students note in their descriptions of her when asked what makes Tizol such an effective Zumba instructor.

She has one of those welcoming and engaging personalities, Thompson said.

She makes you feel just as good and healthy and energetic as if you were 19, Beras said.

As Tizol leads her students through stretches, her pit bull mix, Sasha, frequently makes an appearance. In one recent Zumba Gold Chair class, Sasha insisted on trying repeatedly to get Tizol to throw a tennis ball.

Shes become our mascot, Tizol said, laughing.

While the virtual classes allow her students to remain connected to their friends and family around the country, theyve done the same for her.

Tizols mother lives outside the area and joins classes, she said.

But the classes also allow Tizol to see the faces of the sisterhood of health-conscious students shes grown in her time leading courses at the community center.

I love it, she said, adding, And I love seeing new faces.

Her classes are for everyone, she said. New students shouldnt be afraid theyll miss a few steps here or there. It could take two or three classes to pick things up, she said.

Most important is I just want you to keep moving and just having a good time, Tizol said.

That movement over the years has been a benefit both mentally and physically for Tizols students. In addition to the solid friendships that have been built in her classes, Beras is among those whose health has improved. For Beras, it came with improved bone density.

I want to grow to be 100 years old with Jamie, Beras said. Its wonderful. I dont want this to stop.

Virtual Zumba

Want to attend one of Tizol's classes? For a full course schedule and more information, go to http://www.wellingtonfl.gov/virtualrecreation.

kwebb@pbpost.com

@kristinawebb

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Zumba via Zoom: Wellington virtual fitness classes a hit thanks to instructor - Palm Beach Post

With the percentage of people in the United States increasing for overweight and obese individuals, there are a few that will try to lose weight. Hopefully these individuals will start a program to lose weight before the problems that seem to follow overweight and obese people set in. Once problems like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure occur, the weight loss program needs special care.

The three basic methods to lose weight involves exercise and diet. One method is diet alone, another is exercise alone, and the third is a combination of diet and exercise. Each has a benefit as well as a few problems trying to follow one or the other of the programs.

The most common is to try and diet to lose weight. Eating fewer calories means taking in less food, or limiting food choices. One problem with the diet alone program is that the weight loss is from both fat and muscle which can be misleading when you check the scale for weight loss. Not all the weight loss is from fat. The second problem with dieting alone is that when you take in less food, the basic metabolism slows down. The metabolism is how much energy is used to carry you through the 24-hour day. The only way to continue to lose weight is to eat less food. With less food, less muscle mass, slower metabolism, and some fat loss, the persons energy becomes less and more problems arise. The fact that individuals that try the diet alone method to lose weight have an 85 percent failure rate.

One other point to mention with the diet alone method is the selection of food the person chooses. For instance, a gram of fat has 9 calories, a gram of carbohydrate has 4 calories, a gram of protein has 4 calories, and any alcohol has 7 calories per ounce. Labels can be misleading in terms of serving size and how it is listed on the container. You need to look at the total calories of fat and compare it with the total calories of a serving. A good example is looking at the 1 percent fat milk label. The 1 percent is for the volume of fat in the serving, not the percentage of fat in a serving.

With the exercise only program a person has a variety of choices. Should you do strength training such a lifting weights, or try aerobic programs such a walking, running, swimming, or bicycle riding. Then the choice of how intense should the program be needs to be selected. Run fast, run slow, walk, or ride a bike. Should I lift heavy weights or stick with lighter weights? An example of a program of strength training will show that a gain of one pound of muscle will increase your BMR (basic metabolic rate or how fast you burn calories) by 10 15 percent. Comparing that with the diet alone program where your BMR slows down, and burns food more slowly, the difference in weight loss can be significant.

The end result of calories burned from running three miles is about the same whether you run fast or slow. If you run a 6 minute pace for 18 minutes, or a 10 minute pace for 30 minutes, the end result is very close to the same. Some physiologists recommend duration over speed. One point to counter that recommendation is that a faster pace increases the heart rate and muscle involvement and will take longer to slow down to a normal rate. Some physiologists state that a good strength workout can elevate the BMR for up to 24 hours after a workout. The one major point is that any movement program works to burn calories and the choice becomes which program the person will follow.

The third choice of combining diet and exercise programs seems to work best. While the diet may slow the BMR, the exercise program will increase the BMR, and make the result an equal benefit. The other benefit is that with diet alone both fat and muscle is lost. With the addition of an exercise program most of the weight loss is fat alone because of the gain in muscle. The choice between aerobics versus a strength program finds that they benefit each other. The increase in aerobic capacity helps the person work out longer, and the increase in strength helps the person run farther and faster. For the senior citizen, one of the major causes of injury is falling. The increase in strength goes a long way in preventing falls and the resistance also increases bone strength. As the saying goes, Variety is the spice of life. My favorite advice to people is, just move and things will take care of themselves.

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Losing weight through dieting, exercising or combination methods - San Marcos Daily Record

Shihan Michael Cindis recently opened Pan African Shotokan Karate Federation Dojo in Selcourt held a seminar on Saturday morning. Cindi previously operated as the chief instructor at the Kwa-Thema Shotokan Dojo at Kenneth Masikela Secondary School The dojo was moved to Selcourt after the hard lockdown meant they could no longer use the school premises. The dojo boasts six black belt fighters, but is eager to get as many new karatekas as possible.

Also read: Karateka presteer by jaarlikse funksie

On Saturday, seasoned and newly recruited karatekas were shown the ways of sensei Abdul Dawoods special shotokan. Dawood comes from East London and is well known for his focus on technique and discipline. Students lined up and were given warm-up drills before Dawood showed them new moves. Brave volunteers stood up in front to spar with Dawood where they quickly learned his unique techniques and moves. Later in the afternoon, the karatekas were given a Tai Chi lesson by Dawood.

Also read: Springs karatekas bring home a handful of medals

Tai Chi is a non-contact form of karate and focuses more on health benefits then self defence. In addition, the dojo offers women self-defence classes, childrens classes, Koshiki, karate, Kududo (weapons) and aerobics. Cindi wants his students to know as many forms of karate as possible to unlock their full potential. Anyone of all ages and experience are encouraged to join the dojo. For more information, contact Cindi on 073 212 9444. To register for aerobics classes, contact Ruth Nkosi on 078 613 4463.

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Seasoned and new karatekas taught Tai-Chi - Springs Advertiser

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I'm going to keep it real: the mainstream image of "fit" is too narrow. Literally. We still live in a world where being perfectly thin and toned with a six pack is the pinnacle. And while fitness should be accessible to everybody, most of these images don't represent every body. They largely leave out people of different sizes, genders, abilities, races, ages, and other identities. The push to achieve this fit ideal can overly-dominate gym culture, causing many to feel excluded from the community, to harshly judge themselves and others, ignore their body's boundaries, or avoid the gym altogether (just to name some potential harms).

Thankfully, there are many gyms looking to create more inclusive spaces so that anyone who walks through their door feels welcomed. But since "inclusivity" is such a buzz word nowadays, it can be tough to decipher which organizations are actively mindful in the mission or simply putting up a rainbow flag for show. To help navigate, its important to be clear on what inclusive means.

"For me an inclusive fitness space means having trainers who respect and honor pronouns and educate themselves on how body and gender dysphoria can show up in each individual, says Ilya Parker, P.T.A., C.M.E.S, a social justice advocate and the owner of Decolonizing Fitness. It means having practitioners to provide safe and supportive environments where all clients feel cared for and respected. It also means creating an environment of accountability.

One good example of gauging an organizations sense of accountability is seeing diversity among their leadership and reading whats written in their policies, says Chrissy King, a strength coach and creator of the Body Liberation Project. I think its really important to have a clear anti-racism and diversity inclusion policy, she says. Setting up the understanding of the community agreements for people that are coming into the space as members or staff matters a lot.

There are also a lot of other factors these gyms consider when it comes to creating a more inclusive environment such as having gender-neutral bathrooms and equipment for people with disabilities, King adds. However, its vital to be aware that even when gyms make the effort to build more welcoming environments, there's no way to guarantee that every person will feel completely safe and supported. So it's good to have options to explore which communities are best for your body, mind, and spirit.

To narrow your search, Ive found 20 incredible fitness organizations who are dedicated to inclusion and flipping the fit script. Heres to celebrating all bodies and all the ways they like to move!

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1 Radically Fit Oakland

Location: Oakland, CA

This Bay Area gym is focused on providing offerings for "all queer, trans, POC, big bodied, and fat identified folx and their allies, regardless of experience or ability." Radically Fit currently has online classes such as Trans/Gender Non-Conforming Body Alignment, Embodied Dance, strength and conditioning for BBQ's (Black and Brown Queers). They also offer sliding scale memberships.

2 The Fit In

Location: Brooklyn, NY

The Fit In is all about community and treating everyone like family. This Black-owned space features many BIPOC women instructors who specialize in Pilates, HIIT, and other modalities. My favorite part about their classes is the music. Prepare to get down to Beyonc, some Afro pop, or 90s hip hop when you hit your squats.

3 Everybody Los Angeles

Location: Los Angeles

Everybody Los Angeles has nearly everything, including an outdoor gym patio with battle ropes, weights, stationary bikes, and more. They have a wide variety of online classes, too, like Pilates, yoga, dance aerobics, and strengthening. They have sliding scale memberships, which is in alignment with their mission to create affordable, accessible, and adaptive fitness offerings for all.

4 Nonnormative Body Club

Location: Philadelphia

Founded by certified personal trainer, Asher Freeman, the intention of this group is to is "to remind people that our bodies belong to us, and we have every right to inhabit, nourish, and celebrate them as they are." They offer virtual personal training and virtual group classes such as: Mobility Mondays and bodyweight circuit training. There are also trans wellness resources as well as a database of other home workout offerings by BIPOC, trans, fat, and disabled trainers.

5 joyn

Location: Online

joyn has a bunch of body positive classes that not only look like a ton of fun, you can do them in the comfort of your home. They have kickboxing, yoga, dance, meditation, and more. If you want to try what they have to offer, some of their classes are free. I don't know about you, but have my eye on "Intro to Waacking."

6 Autonomy Movement

Location: Austin, TX

This wellness initiative is a size-inclusive, body-positive fitness studio. It was founded by Kim Gould, a licensed therapist who specializes in eating disorders and body image issues. In their classes, the instructors are trained in autonomy-specific motivational language to teach in a mindful way. Autonomy Movement also offers personal training, mental health counseling, and intuitive movement resources.

7 Body Image for Justice

Location: Jamaica Plain, MA

Justice Roe Williams started BI4J to gather the LGBTQIA community together to support the health and well-being of its members. Williams hosts workshops and is currently teaching bodybuilding and strength classes.

8 13th Flow

Location: Chicago

13th Flow is run by some of the most intelligent, socially-minded, coaches in the midwest: former pro CrossFit athlete and social worker, Elisabeth Akinwale and longtime strength and conditioning coach Kevin Brathwaithe. Their gym is focused on functional training with fluidity by meeting each individual where they are at, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Right now, 13th Flow has online programming for $13 a month and online classes.

9 Decolonizing Fitness

Location: Online

Decolonizing Fitness is not a gym, but an incredible resource for people to find queer and trans affirming spaces. They also provide tons of information for coaches, trainers, gym owners, and other people who are interested in unlearning toxic fitness culture.

10 Strive and Uplift

Location: Seattle, WA and Boulder, CO

Strive and Uplift is a strength and conditioning community that is focused on working with individuals at all fitness levels. They are dedicated to using non-gendered language while actively taking feedback from members to shape the values of the gym culture. Strive and Uplift has a variety of courses from bodyweight flows to kettlebell training. They also offer a sliding scale program for memberships.

11 Women's Strength Coalition

Location: Online

The Women's Strength Coalition has been a force in the powerlifting community by pushing for the creation of spaces where everyone can #SharethePlatform. They've hosted fundraising powerlifting meets all over the country to give to social-justice oriented nonprofits, and even started a woman-owned gym called Strength for All in NYC. They are currently not offering any classes, however, their website has a decent directory of affiliate gyms who are aligned with WSC's mission.

12 Dean Crossfit

Location: Brooklyn, NY

This Black-owned box is passionate about health and wellness as well as social justice. Unlike a lot of CrossFit gyms, they offer classes at different levels so that athletes at various fitness degrees can participate in a way they are most comfortable. They have a beautiful outdoor space, as well as a highly-equipped indoor facility. If you're more interested in working out in your living room, then Dean CrossFit also has something for you, too.

13 Push Fitness

Location: Salem, OR

This studio is for the moms! The instructors at PUSH specialize in prenatal and postnatal fitness, all the while celebrating this beautiful phase in life. They currently offer personal training, strength, Kinstretch classes, and more.

14 The Underbelly

Location: Online

The Underbelly was founded by the renowned Jessamyn Stanley, a yoga teacher and body positivity advocate. Here you can select from countless flows taught by Stanley herself, and it only costs $9.99 a month!

15 BLAQUE

Location: NYC

BLAQUE is seeking to create a boutique fitness space that is welcoming to all, but centers around the BIPOC experience. While they are not offering classes at the moment (you can only join their waitlist), their Instagram features plenty of movement tips, health and culture conversations, as well as beautiful pictures Black and Brown people living their best lives.

16 DANCE CHURCH

Location: Online

When I tried DANCE CHURCH for the first time, I felt like at child at play. Their guided improvisation dance classes are a space where you can truly let go and be who you are all the while breaking a sweat. It's pure jubilee. Join in.

17 the be.come project

Location: Online

The people of the be.come project believe that you should workout because you love your body, not because you're trying to fix that or shed this. This online program is "a body-neutral, I-can-do-it, go-on-and-love-yourself approach to boutique fitness in an accessible 25-minute routine." Each week, you practice the same routine so you can master the movements and enhance your mind/body connection. You can join for $35 a month.

18 solcana fitness

Location: Minneapolis

The three pillars of Solcana Fitness are: joyful health, community, and accountability. It's a functional training gym that is queer-friendly and social justice oriented. One of the latest online workshops is focused on helping people break away from harmful diet culture and embracing the awesomeness of your own body. Check out their page for virtual offerings and in-person classes.

19 Pop Gym

Location: NYC

Pop Gym is centered on empowering people not just in fitness but in their daily lives. They offer various types of programming at little to no cost such as yoga, self-defense, and deescalation workshops. They also have a bunch of health and wellness resources for the LGBTQIA community such as a directory of friendly facilities to train and exercise.

20 GumboFit

Location: Chicago

If you're a runner in Chi-town, you want to check this group out. The Nike-sponsored team of running enthusiasts are empowering BIPOC of all levels on the track, the trails, and the streets. The other cool thing about GumboFit is that they have their own media brand dedicated to exploring culture and politics within the Black diaspora. If you're curious about running with them, here's the good news: it doesn't cost anything to sign up.

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20 Best Inclusive Gyms and Fitness Spaces - Body Positive Workouts - GoodHousekeeping.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of peoples interests online, whether thats playing Dungeons & Dragons over Zoom or taking virtual workout classes. But at least one of these interests, online chess, dates back at least 1,000 years. Why is playing chess online so popular?

You love badass games. So do we. Let's play together.

Chess is a deceptively simple gameeasy to learn, but hard to master, as one adage goeswhere each player has 16 pieces. These are eight pawns, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and a king and queen. The board has 64 squares, like a checkerboard, and is easy to refer to using a classic grid notation system used in maps and even the game Battleship: A, B, C, ... along one axis and 1, 2, 3, ... along the other.

The Amazing Math Inside the Rubiks Cube

What this all means is that in order to play a game of chess online, you can work with two players who each have a complete chess set and send moves in word form. Even for the pawns, which are identical, players say knights pawn, bishops pawn, and so forth. That means the earliest online chess players were able to do the same thing: noting moves using grid notation and relative terms for their pieces.

Many of the most masterful chess games require very few moves, compared with how amateurs tend to play. High-level chess players think many steps ahead and can often telescope what their opponents will decide to do. And since each piece has a restriction, like pawns that can only move one square unless its their first move and take other pieces only diagonally, chess is a popular subject for study by game theorists, statisticians, combinatoricians, and more.

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The mathematical nature of the moves has made chess a popular thing to program, and chess-playing artificial intelligence has advanced beyond human players in key ways. A computer first beat a human in 1996, and after a few high-profile incidents, chess tournaments are kept very secure to prevent any kind of computer-aided cheating. Chess engines can run in tandem and give insights as viewers watch major chess matches online.

For a long time, people playing chess online in predecessor systems like bulletin boards could exchange short strings of characters that indicated their moves. You can do this with just lettersK for king, Q for queen, and so forthwith N for knight, since K is already in use.

The Long, Winding History of Rock Paper Scissors

But online chess players, at least, have had another option since at least 1995, when documentation from Unicode confirms the chess pieces were part of the character set likely from the very first version of Unicode. Like card suits, logic and math notation, and certain map and public safety symbols, the people who designed computer fonts knew users were likely to need these special characters to put into newspaper chess columns, for example, or for the actual printing of maps without separate typesetting.

Today, that means almost any online chess arena can introduce full notation with all pieces represented in their real grid. That means games can be pretty low-techno one needs plug-ins or rendered artwork, and exchanging moves is only a few technical steps past sending them back and forth in emails or even the mail. And when much of online chess takes the form of speed matches played in 3 or even 1 minute (!), the less technical overhead, the better.

AI Is Now the Champion of Computer Chess

If you want to wade into online chess, check out Chess.com for both games and a ton of lessons and help as you get started. The Free Internet Chess Server dates back decades, with browser games and an option to download their app. And Lichess, which is "just" 10 years old, is an open-source chess platform that hosts a million games a day.

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Chess Online: How to Play and Win Chess | Chess Tips & Strategies - Popular Mechanics

In a recent meeting at the St. Louis Chess Club, a key question was asked: When can we return to over-the-board tournaments? Chess players, always eager to test their mettle in competition, have made do with online play, but there is nothing quite like planning your attack while sitting across from your opponent.

Following CDC guidelines and state and local requirements is a must. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of all members of our community. With that in mind, we decided to test the waters, as long as our tournaments have no more than eight competitors and the event concludes in under two hours. The club recruited its first field of eight participants for the Secret Action Quads, the online edition of the longstanding Friday Action Quads.

For the first time since March, the clocks began to run at the St. Louis Chess Club. As the name would imply, quads are tournaments in which players are divided into groups of four. To keep the pace lively, players had a little over 20 minutes to finish each round. Our eight players were ready for battle.

In a contentious fight in the first quad, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and his opponent, Michael Pugachev, each had five seconds left. Orlando, with just a bishop and knight on the board, was helplessly trying to deliver the toughest checkmate in chess. Pugachev was keeping his king out of the corner and doing his best to force a draw but unfortunately ran out of time and lost the game. He quickly quipped, Do you even know how to checkmate with a bishop and knight? Orlando just smiled and said, "Guess we'll never know, but I'll gladly take the win on time. Orlando went on to sweep the competition and take first place that evening.

In the second quad, STLCC staff member Tracee Stewart dominated the competition. Tracee has been a regular host of weekly free chess lessons available on the STLChessClub Twitch and STLChessClubYouTube Channel during the pandemic. She gave a warm welcome to the visitor Bruce Brodly with an astounding checkmate. Tracee essayed an opening novelty on Ben Simon, the clubs videographer and producer, and capped off the wonderful night by defeating Michael Pugachevs mother, Lucy, who was making her tournament debut. Tracee also won $36 and a slew of rating points.

While it was a little tough to gauge your opponent through a mask and a Plexiglas barrier, it was refreshing to play a human eye-to-eye instead of across the internet void. Win or lose, everyone went home happy and enjoyed the camaraderie that live chess brings to the table.

For more information about upcoming programs and events (both in person and online) at the St. Louis Chess Club, please visit - saintlouischessclub.org/events.

Mike Kummer is an International Arbiter and assistant manager at the St. Louis Chess Club. He has worked at the Chess Club since its grand opening in 2008.

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On Chess: Returning To Over The Board Chess Tournaments - St. Louis Public Radio

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley is a man who hardly needs an introduction to the readers of Chess Life or Chess Life Online. While he is famous today for his energetic style broadcasting events for the Saint Louis Chess Club, Ashley has been a giant of American chess for many years now. He isthe first Grandmaster of African descent, has been a successful scholastic coach, and he organized some of the most lucrative and interesting large Swiss tournaments in American history.

Maurice Ashley, US Chess Hall of Fame honoree (courtesy WCHOF)

Because his career has been so varied and spanned so much of recent chess history, we thought Maurice Ashley would be the perfect person to write our October cover article on International Master Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest IM in the world. His story is utterly fascinating.

Ashley knocked the assignment out of the park, putting young Abhi's story into the proper context, and painting a much fuller picture of the role played by his family in his success than has been previously shown.

Our interview, recorded on September 29, 2020, tries to cover the full range of Ashley's history and accomplishments. I had a great time recording it, and I want to thank Maurice for taking an hour of his time to talk to me for this podcast.

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October Cover Stories with Chess Life: GM Maurice Ashley - uschess.org

The rediscovery of a film is seldom as fascinating a story as the film itself, but thats the case with Chess of the Wind (Shatranj-e Baad), directed by Iranian film-maker Mohammad Reza Aslani. It was only screened twice in Tehran in 1976, once to a cinema of hostile critics, and then to an empty cinema the bad reviews had done their work. The rediscovery of this film is great for me, says Aslani, now aged 76, and still living in Tehran. But it also allows audiences to view Iranian cinema from another perspective, and to discover other auteur film-makers who have been marginalised because of the complexity of their films.

Critical of the Shahs royalist government, the film also featured strong female leads and homosexuality, which didnt endear it to the Ayatollah Khomeinis regime either. In the politically tumultuous years that followed the Iranian revolution of 1979, the film was banned, and then presumed lost. Critics in Iran at the time of its release claimed the film didnt make sense, that my father was just trying to make an intellectual film, to imitate European cinema, says the directors daughter, Gita Aslani Shahrestani. But Aslani Shahrestani was determined not to let her fathers legacy languish. A writer and academic based in Paris, she was uniquely suited to the task. About seven years ago I was working on my PhD about auteur cinema in Iran, and this film was part of it, so I started to look for the film.

Having searched the international film archives without finding a copy, Aslani Shahrestani turned to her brother Amin based in Tehran to help in her investigation. Nothing could be found in the Iranian laboratories and archives either. It seemed that Chess of the Wind was lost for good. Then, browsing in a junk shop in 2014, Amin spotted a pile of film cans. On enquiring what they contained, the proprietor said he didnt know; they were simply on sale as a decorative element. Like something out of a fairy tale, on opening them Amin discovered a complete copy of his fathers long-lost film. Still banned in Iran, the print was smuggled out of the country via a private delivery service to Paris, where work began on restoring the film, overseen by Martin Scorseses non-profit organisation, The Film Foundations World Cinema Project, in association with the Cineteca di Bologna.

Chess of the Wind is a gothic family tale, following the (mis)fortunes of a paraplegic heiress played by Fakhri Khorvash, her angular face a study in controlled despair. Seeking to maintain her fragile independence, shes beset on all sides by predatory men her stepfather, his nephews, the local commissar who all seek to prise her fortune from her. Shes aided against them by her handmaiden, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo (nominated for an Oscar for her role in House of Sand and Fog). An erotic tension between mistress and maid adds spice and complexity to the proceedings.

The opulent, claustrophobic interiors are reminiscent of Persian miniatures. Theres also something of the gothic horror of Edgar Allan Poe. The influence of European cinematic masters like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti and Robert Bresson is also apparent; the camera lingers on hands as they roll cigarettes, serve food, and feed gunpowder down the barrel of a gun, finding beauty in these simple actions. The sound design also stands out: wolves howl and dogs bay as they circle the house, ratcheting up the sense of menace; crows caw, jangling the nerves; heavy breathing makes the characters isolation in this haunted house increasingly oppressive. The soundtrack an early work by trailblazing female composer Sheyda Gharachedaghi takes inspiration from traditional Iranian music, and sounds like demented jazz.

Initial reactions to the restored film have been rapturous, to the delight of its director. I was not expecting such a positive reaction, says Aslani. Of course, Im very happy this film is finally being viewed fairly, and not through a lens that values populist cinema and propaganda.

Robin Baker, head curator of the BFI National Archive, who programmed the film in this years BFI London film festival, says, I think this film will have an impact on the world film canon its ambition on so many different levels is extraordinary. It has a resonance far beyond an Iranian cinema niche. I found it genuinely shocking at times. I think it will confound so many peoples expectations not only of the cinema, but also of the culture of Iran. I can confidently say that audiences wont have seen anything quite like this, no matter what their taste in cinema.

Sadly, Aslanis film-making career was a casualty of Irans political upheavals. Before Chess of the Wind, which he directed aged 33, Aslani had made two short films: a documentary (Hassanlou Cup, 1964), and a wry political allegory critical of the Shahs government (The Quail, 1969). Hed also directed the first season of a television series (Samak Ayyar, 1974) that was roundly criticised for its idiosyncratic, uncommercial style. Afterwards, he remained in Iran, continuing to work within the Iranian film industry. Hes since made more than 10 documentaries, an experimental piece (Tehran, A Conceptual Art in 2011) and another feature film, The Green Fire (2008), but his output has been severely curtailed both practically and conceptually by his situation. Yet he still has plans.

I hope to make another feature, says Aslani. Ive had a script for 10 years, but because Ive been labelled uncommercial and unentertaining in Iran, nobody wants to risk producing it. Its a historical film about one of the greatest Iranian poets, and the style of the film again recalls Persian miniatures, western painting and the cinema of Visconti and Bresson.

Meanwhile, Chess of the Wind is a reminder of his talent, and acts as a touching tribute by Gita Aslani Shahrestani to her fathers legacy. When he saw the restoration he said it was like seeing a therapist, that it reminded him why hed wanted to be a film-maker in the first place, says Aslani Shahrestani. He was really happy. He regrets nothing. He said the film was like a baby hed lost, and now theyre reunited.

Chess of the Wind is available for free on the BFI Player from 1013 October as part of the London film festival.

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'Audiences wont have seen anything like this': how Iranian film Chess of the Wind was reborn - The Guardian

When John Arthur brings his students to the states annual chess competition, he can guess how theyll react. They dont ooh and aah over the fancy chess boards with glass pieces. And theyre not focused on how big or cool the convention space is.

Instead, they look around at the other students and one of them will say something like: Were the only brown kids here. And theyre often right, Arthur said.

Its part of why Arthur, who is Korean, takes his class to the tournament each year. Most of his sixth graders at Meadowlark Elementary in downtown Salt Lake City are kids of color. And he wants them to learn that they belong and can claim those spaces as their own, he said, especially where they have not traditionally been represented.

Its a proud moment for me," Arthur said, when I see them take charge at the competition anyway.

Arthur is in his eighth year of teaching at Meadowlark. Many educators leave the west-side school after completing their first three provisional years on the job, he noted, and transfer to the east side. But Arthur said he loves the opportunity to teach students who look like him and to give them opportunities, like chess and debate, that they might not traditionally have.

And on Thursday largely because of that dedication his students got to watch as this time he won his own competition and was crowned Utahs Teacher of the Year.

Wow. Are you kidding me? Arthur asked as the state superintendent sneaked up behind him while he was teaching his class on Zoom. She carried a big check for $10,000 and a bouquet of balloons.

The kids' faces lit up on the screen, with several clapping. Congrats, they shouted. Good job, Captain, added one boy, calling the teacher by the nickname the kids have for him. Arthur choked back tears as he paced back and forth between the superintendent and the students on the screen, not sure if he should keep teaching the reading lesson hed started.

To accept the honor, though, he was asked to say a few words in a separate video call with members of the Utah Board of Education. So his students took a quick recess, and Arthur threw on the tuxedo jacket he wore at his wedding. He said his mom, Suka, bought it for him with the hopes that hed wear it again when I won an Oscar or did something like that, he said with a laugh. This is as close as Im going to get.

As one of five finalists, Arthur had packed the jacket with him to his classroom Thursday on the off chance he won which he didnt think would happen, so on bottom, he still wore a pair of gym shorts. Still surprised at the honor, he told the board members, Im COVID chic.

In seriousness, though, he said: Children are the best people, and teaching is the best job. Theres just no better way to spend the day.

His focus, he said, has been on helping students of color succeed because he believes theyre often left behind. Hes served for years as the Asian American representative on the state boards access committee, which advises on education equity policies. With his role as Teacher of the Year, he intends to advocate for more minorities in the states teaching force, as well as more culturally responsive practices in the classroom.

When kids come back post-COVID, I want them to see teachers who look more like them, he added. And weve just got to make sure that were constantly shining a light on kids who might otherwise be forgotten.

Growing up, he said, he was a shy Korean boy who didnt often speak up in class. It wasnt until middle school that Arthur had a teacher who focused on him and tried to get him involved in academics. At that point, his ninth grade teacher, Mrs. Anderson, pushed him to join the Model United Nations club. It changed his trajectory, Arthur said. And thats what he hopes to do for his students with chess which he teaches on the first day of class each year.

I feel this award is so well deserved, Utah Board of Education member Janet Cannon commented on the videoconference.

With the title, Arthur also gets a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet President Donald Trump and the chance to compete for the title of national Teacher of the Year. He succeeds last years Utah Teacher of the Year, Lauren Merkley, and will stand next to Rae Boren from Copper Hills High and Emma Moss from Eastmont Middle School, who were named runners-up.

Thanks for all you do, all of you, added member Cindy Davis.

We sacrifice our bodies and minds and souls, Arthur added. We give everything in service to our kids and to the education of our students.

He teaches in Salt Lake City School District, the only one in the state to have started classes entirely online this fall. He jokes that hes a lot more like Tom Cruise in Minority Report now, with all the technology hes hooked up to while hes instructing. But hes glad the district prioritized safety, and he tries to incorporate a lot of the same things he would if his class was in person.

For one, he carries a camera around the classroom so students get a sense of what it looks like. The biggest thing he wants them to see are the posters hes hung up. There are pictures of towering mountain peaks, some covered in snow, others with a line of climbers making the way to the top.

Its because Arthurs mantra for the class is: We climb, we rise, we help.

His goal for his students is to teach them to work hard to get to the mountaintop, both in class and life. But they all have to assist one another and reach it together. No lesson is done until everyone in the room understands. If one student finishes the math assignment early, the expectation is that she finds another kid who would like her help. If a student is struggling, Arthur reminds him that he only gets to the peak step by step.

He is not a normal teacher, Felicia Raybourne, the mother of one of Arthurs former students, wrote in his nomination for Teacher of the Year. He is there to help kids through life. He makes sure his students understand everything they are learning no matter how much extra time it takes.

When the class completes a lesson together, Arthur declares: Champs, we made it to the top of the mountain. His student call him The Captain because of that. And he calls them his crew.

He lets them pick out their own nicknames, too. Part of that is to have fun. Part of it is to let them embrace who they want to be, he said. One girl goes by Gucci Banana. Theres also a kid that likes to be called Bacon, one named Beef and another called Shadow.

When you have a Big Boi 27 in your class, its hard not to smile, Arthur said. But it gives you a little bit of confidence. When I step in the building, for instance, Im The Captain. Its like an alter ego or a superhero. I want to empower these kids to feel the same.

He also shows them clips about hard work from Cool Hand Luke and runs a YouTube channel where his class annually makes a music video. And its also got clips of them discovering bugs, smashing eggs in a science project and dancing in the classroom.

He loves the district, he said, and wants to see it improve. And he wants all students to get the education they deserve.

Winning Teacher of the Year, he said with a laugh, is kind of like the next move in the chess game to accomplishing those goals.

Read more here:

Why Utah's new Teacher of the Year wants his students of color to play chess - Salt Lake Tribune