Daily Archives: January 17, 2020

Customer Data Platforms and Analytical CRMs Share the Same DNA – CMSWire

Posted: January 17, 2020 at 3:45 am

PHOTO:Duncan Hull

Salesforce created the customer relationship management (CRM) software market as we know it today, and with the rise of Salesforce CRM for B2B sales teams, CRM became a sales tool that tracks opportunities through various sales stages. But CRM's humble beginnings date back to the 1980s, when the market for contact management software was starting to heat up. ACT! was a key player in this growing market, followed by companies such as Goldmine that competed with ACT! for a share of a massive market opportunity. The technology soon morphed into salesforce automation, and in the '90s was firmly established as an irreplaceable tool for sales teams.

CRM was later reclaimed by marketers and B2C brands to bring together customer journey data. If all that data was on one CRM, theoretically, marketers could gain insights from the data and use it to power automated engagement. However, CRM posed some limitations (limited integrations, no real-time capabilities) and this demand for insight into and activation of centralized customer data is what gave rise to customer data platforms (CDPs).

CDPs excel at creating a single view based on customer journey data from multiple sources, then cleansing, deduping and stitching it together to provide marketers with accurate data from which they can derive important customer insights to make important business decisions, and use this data to intelligently orchestrate experiences across channels.

As CRM platforms evolved, they diverged into two disparate types, operational and analytical:

Related Article: Customer Data Platforms Shine Where CRMs Fail

We, and other CDP vendors, owe a lot to the popularity of analytical CRM platforms. In many ways, CDPs are essentially an analytical CRM advanced to meet the scale, configurability, and real-time needs of todays enterprise brands. CDPs are now more popular than ever, growing 65% in 2018. According to the CDP Institute, industry revenue reached $740 million, up more than 50% from 2017. By the end of 2019, revenue was expected to exceed $1 billion.

One of the key reasons CDPs have gained so much market traction is because of the need for an analytical CRM, which is capable of handling real-time web events. The idea of an analytical CRM / customer data platform is not a new concept. In one form or another, it has existed for the last 50 years, defined as customer databases or marketing databases.

In the past, these traditional databases coupled with marketing service providers have been somewhat able to meet the analytical CRM needs of marketers. But as the size, shape and currency of customer data exploded with the growth of the internet, use of smartphones, and thousands of marketing tools and customer engagement channels, a traditional database with a services team enhancing it was no longer sufficient. This, plus the need to compete with Amazon by providing hyper-relevant customer experiences, paved the path for the CDP.

Todays customers now have endless transactional, profile-based, and event data sets that are important for marketers to understand. And this massive size of data, along with the need for marketers to be able to leverage data in real-time which traditional analytical CRMs didnt support drove analytical CRM systems into the cloud and was the impetus for the CDP industry.

The market for CRM platforms and CDPs diverged and now serve different purposes and use cases. Whats new about CDPs is they are built on modern SaaS architecture to be infinitely scalable, with high performance, and to support real-time use cases while giving marketers, data scientists, business users and anyone within the organization who needs it, direct access to customer data and intelligence. CDPs are the best that an analytical CRM has to offer, with all the benefits of an extensible SaaS platform, fast data processing, and modern APIs.

Related Article: Keep Your Eye on CDP Platforms: They'll Be Worth $1B by 2019

Omer Artun is the Chief Science Officer at Acquia. He was previously the founder and CEO of AgilOne, which was acquired by Acquia in December 2019.

Read the original post:
Customer Data Platforms and Analytical CRMs Share the Same DNA - CMSWire

Posted in DNA | Comments Off on Customer Data Platforms and Analytical CRMs Share the Same DNA – CMSWire

Tia Mowry Breaks Down In Tears After Finding Out Results Of DNA Ancestry Test – MadameNoire

Posted: at 3:45 am

Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN

We know that Tia Mowry-Hardrict, one half of the famous Mowry twins of course, is the child of a Black mother (Bahamian by the way) and a white father (European, Irish as far as she knew), but she shared some new insight into where her family comes from by revealing her recent DNA test results.

She didnt specify who was behind the particular DNA test she did, but she did show fans the steps she took from start to finish, sharing the results of her test four weeks later on her YouTube show, Tia Mowrys Quick Fix.

As it turns out, her fathers people are British, Irish, German, French and Scandinavian.

As for her moms side, Tia found out that her mothers people originated from West Africa, specifically Ghana and Nigeria.

What up my Nigerians! she remarked. One of my really, really good friends is Nigerian. Its just so amazing to really know the fine details of where your ancestors were from.

Still, the 41-year-old actress said she did the test because she wanted to find out more about where her father came from.

One of the main reasons why I wanted to do this is because as Ive gotten older, Ive been more intrigued with who I am and where I come from, she said. Ive always known some information about my moms side, but I didnt know a lot about my dads side. My dad is white and when my mom and my dad got married, on my dads side, there wasnt a lot of support until now.

Shes since found family members on her dads side on social media, even meeting a second cousin in person. Shes also gained, through her results, a great sense of pride in her ancestors and their show of strength, from the Irish migrating to the U.S. during their great famine to her Nigerian and Ghanaian predecessors overcoming slavery. At one point, Tia teared up when breaking down the gratitude she has for both sides of her family.

I have both sides of me that are just badass, she said. That explains why I am such a go-getter and why Im jut so aggressive in whatever I want and I just dont give up.

She also learned about her susceptibility to certain health issues because of her familys background.

My results said slightly increased risk for late onset Alzheimers, she revealed. I got chills because my great grandmother, she actually passed from Alzheimers. She ended up getting it when she was in her 90s.

She also found out that she has increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, which she said explained in a sense why she ended up with gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her daughter, Cairo. Instead of freaking out about what was shared, Tia confidently said that she was glad to have the information.

With that information I now can do whatever I need to do to try to prevent that from happening, she said of the different health issues shes at risk for.At first I was really nervous about receiving this because you just never really know whats going to be revealed, she added. But again, as Ive gotten older, Im really starting to believe that knowledge is power. So the more information I know, even though sometimes that can be scary, you can do something about it.

The whole video was very interesting, because who doesnt love to learn about all things ancestry? Check out her DNA results from her own mouth below:

Go here to see the original:
Tia Mowry Breaks Down In Tears After Finding Out Results Of DNA Ancestry Test - MadameNoire

Posted in DNA | Comments Off on Tia Mowry Breaks Down In Tears After Finding Out Results Of DNA Ancestry Test – MadameNoire

Best Documentaries of ’19 – Fort Worth Weekly

Posted: at 3:44 am

Whats the deal with documentaries made up only of found footage? Apollo 11 and Amazing Grace have been on a great many lists of the best docs this year, and while their footage holds immense value, I like a little more craftsmanship and context in my nonfiction films. (It looks like the Oscar voters do, too.) I also like a sense of humor, as you can see from the list below.

1. Hail Satan? Evangelical Christians loyalty to Donald Trump in the face of everything has made Satanism look appealing like never before. This often hilarious film by Penny Lane (and, yes, thats her real name) profiles the Satanic Temple and their masterful acts of trolling by insisting that their religion be represented when state governments put up monuments to Christianity. The Satanists demonstrate how many Christians think religious freedom is only for them. Id join the Temple, but I think Id be out of place, because the Satanists seem much nicer people than me.

2. One Child Nation. No one in Wang Nanfu and Lynn Zhangs film will say that Chinas decades-long one-child policy was anything other than a shining success for the country. They do this even while they lay out plenty of evidence that it was a disaster that resulted in broken families and parents murdering their baby girls. Stories of women being dragged kicking and screaming to abortion clinics are told by the people who did the dragging. Its all framed through Wangs stories of raising her own children in America, a country she notes is trying to outlaw abortion entirely and take control of womens bodies just like the Chinese government.

3. Honeyland. This multiple Oscar nominee was supposed to be an informational video about beekeeping put out by the government of North Macedonia. However, Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanovs project grew into something much greater, starting with Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljumas breathtaking photography of the countrys mountainous rural areas. Turkish-descended beekeeper Hatidze Muratova initially welcomes the large Turkish family who moves into the trailer next door, but then they move into the honey business, too, and their bees kill all of hers. Hatidze is a compelling and funny character in this story of nature and bad neighbors.

4. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blach. Gotta give props to a movie that informed me so much about a subject that I am supposed to be well-informed about. Pamela B. Greens film measures the life and times of one of the very first film directors of either gender and how the mostly male community of French film critics and historians tried to erase her from the record after her death. A host of movie celebrities make the case that she deserves to be recognized alongside her colleagues Georges Melis and the Lumire Brothers in the pantheon of film pioneers. Thats mixed with Guy-Blachs colorful life. She taught Lois Weber, the first American woman director, who promptly repaid her mentor by stealing away her husband.

5. Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened. Two documentaries about the ill-fated music festival came out last January, but Chris Smiths is the only one eligible for this list and has footage from every stage of the planning, such as it was. Watching this film is like having the fiasco unfold before your eyes, as Billy McFarland and Ja Rule think that if they just will their logistically complicated rich-people party to happen, it will materialize amid a cloud of likes on Instagram. If youre big on schadenfreude like me, this is vastly entertaining.

6. American Factory. This Oscar nominee starts with a Chinese auto glass manufacturer taking over a shuttered GM plant in Dayton, Ohio, and declaring theyll rejuvenate the area. Oh, but if you know the differences between Chinese and American capitalism, you know how this will end. Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert chronicle how it all comes apart, as American managers are replaced and workers chafe against new bosses who care nothing for workers safety or time spent with families. The CEO comes away embittered, saying Americans are lazy, incompetent, and mentally slow for wanting these things. Hes wrong theyre just not used to being treated like their Chinese counterparts.

7. For Sama. Waad al-Kateab begins her documentary by filming her baby girl doing baby things, as many mothers have done. Then a tank shell hits the building that shes in, and her husband asks on his daughters behalf, Mama, why did you give birth to me? Its a fair question as al-Kateab and co-director Edward Watts document raising a child in Aleppo, Syria, while its being bombed daily by Bashar al-Assads Russian allies. This Oscar nominee tells the story of this stupidly courageous couple whose love of their hometown makes them film its destruction for baby Sama, who grows up not even reacting to the sound of explosions nearby.

8. At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal. Before gymnastics takes center stage at the Summer Olympics, lets remember that while Larry Nassar molested hundreds of little girls, the sports governing body did everything to protect this monster and nothing to protect the elite athletes whom he did his best to ruin. Erin Lee Carr finds plenty of blame to spread to the U.S. Olympic Committee, law enforcement, and Michigan State University. Her interviews with the victims so many victims remind us what it took to get the truth out.

9. Cunningham. Oh, look! This movie is playing this week at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (see: Night & Day). Alla Kovgans biography of the choreographer Merce Cunningham relies heavily on extensive footage from the mans interviews about his work. What really earns this film its spot on the list is its beautifully filmed performances of Cunninghams dances, restaged in forest clearings, highway tunnels, and other unlikely locales. Try to see this in 3-D.

10. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. You can pay tribute to the late American novelist by watching Timothy Sanders-Greenfields documentary that includes extensive interviews with the personable Nobel laureate before her death. Theres plenty of stuff about how this black woman forced her way into the white male literary canon by writing African-American stories, but youll also learn about her work as a book editor at Random House, where her work (with sometimes unlikely collaborators such as Muhammad Ali) was scarcely less groundbreaking.

Honorable mention: Alex Holmes Maiden A.J. Eatons David Crosby: Remember My Name Joshua Riehls The Russian Five Ed Perkins Tell Me Who I Am Midge Costins Making Waves: The Art of Sound in Cinema John Chesters The Biggest Little Farm Viktor Kossakovskys Aquarela Martin Scorseses Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story Jill Magids The Proposal Lauren Greenfields The Kingmaker Max Lewkowicz Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles Rob Garvers What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Matt Wolfs Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project Andrew Slaters Echo in the Canyon Sydney Pollack and Alan Elliotts Amazing Grace.

View original post here:

Best Documentaries of '19 - Fort Worth Weekly

Posted in Modern Satanism | Comments Off on Best Documentaries of ’19 – Fort Worth Weekly

Sam Dunn: The Journey of the World’s Most Famous Headbanger – Daily Hawker

Posted: at 3:44 am

Arguably the worlds most famous metalhead, Canadian Sam Dunn is an anthropologist, former bass player in the metal band Burn to Black, and an award winning documentary maker. A man of many talents, Dunn is most famous for his documentary films based around heavy metal music. Most fans of heavy metal music are familiar with the work of Sam Dunn.

Sam Dunn was born on March 20th, 1974 in Victoria , British Columbia, Canada. In Metal: A Headbangers Journey, Dunn described the city as the land of the newly wed and the nearly dead. He called himself a banger, rocker, punk, skid etc. He developed his love for metal music during his time as a teenager in Victoria.

Sam Dunn studied Anthropology at the University of Victoria. He also obtained a masters degree from York University where his thesis was focused on Guatemalan refugees. .

The documentary film that brought Sam Dunn in public eye was Metal: A Headbangers Journey. The documentary was loved and appreciated by heavy metal fans all across the globe. It also received widespread critical acclaim and went on to win a Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Documentary. Sam Dunn also made the Grammy-nominated Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage and Super Duper Alice Cooper. The latter went on to win the award for Best Feature-Length Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards. Sam Dunn continued working in the field of heavy metal and collaborated with vh1 to bring the biggest ever TV series on the history of heavy metal, Metal Evolution. Dunn served as the co-director and host for the show. It went on to reach #1 on VH1 Classic (USA) and M3 (Canada). Sam Dunn also co-directed the famous Netflix original series Hip-Hop Evolution. The show has gone on to become a great success and has won a Peabody, an International Emmy, and a Canadian Screen Award. In 2015, Sam Dunn also released Satan Lives, discussing the impact of Satan on popular culture.

This was the first documentary film released by Sam Dunn. It was released in the year 2005. Dunn co-directed it with Jessica Wise and Scot McFadyen. The film followed Sam Dunn on a journey which documented the origins, culture and appeal of heavy metal in popular culture. The documentary explored the most prominent and notorious themes present in heavy metal music: violence, death, religion and Satanism, gender and sexuality. The documentary also delved into some key traits and idiosyncrasies of heavy metals various subgenres such as thrash metal, death metal, black metal, glam metal, progressive metal and power metal. For the purpose of this documentary film, Sam Dunn even created a family-tree style flow chart which documented all the subgenres of heavy metal and their relationship with each other.

The Metal Family Tree from Metal: A Headbangers Journey

The film also discussed the various aspects of the heavy metal culture along with people such as DePaul Universitys Professor of Sociology, Deena Weinstein. She spoke at great lengths about the relevance and symbolism of the colour black and the true meaning of the testosterone fuelled hypermasculinity of heavy metal. Sam Dunn also attended Wacken Open Air, the most well renowned heavy metal festival of the world. He also spoke to Twisted Sisters Dee Snider about the PMRCs attack on heavy metal music in the 1980s.

Sam Dunn co-produced and directed Global Metal. The documentary was released in 2008. Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen embarked on a global journey to see the impact of heavy metal music all across the globe, especially outside of Europe and North America. The whirlwind journey featured Sam Dunn travelling through India, China, Japan, Indonesia, the Middle East and South America. Sam Dunn discussed some unusual metal scenes from the underbelly of heavy metal. Those scenes ranged from Indonesian death metal to Israeli Oriental metal and Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal, etc. The film showed a truly global community of metalheads who took the essence of heavy metal and added their own cultural twist to it. As it is in the West, heavy metal music also helps create a form of cultural expression for the people who are fed up in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.

Sam Dunn has called Iron Maiden his favourite band of all time on many occasions. This 2009 documentary, co-written and co-directed by Dunn and McFadyen chronicled Iron Maidens 2008 World Tour in which vocalist Bruce Dickinson flew a converted Boeing 757 from country to country.

This documentary on one of Canadas most famous rock bands Rush, premiered on April 29th at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It went on to win the Audience Award at the festival.

Sam Dunn went on to produce the biggest ever series on heavy metal music for vh1 Classic. The series, called Metal Evolution premiered on November 11th, 2011. The series was created after feedback about Metal: A Headbangers Journey. Some people said they wished that film was eight hours long, Dunn said. The 11 part series featured the following episode. The 12th episode, titled Extreme Metal, was released online through crowdfunding.

1.Pre Metal

This episode features Sam Dunn discussing about the ultimate progenitor of metal music: Rock n Roll. Sam Dunn also talked about early blues musicians and their impact in the development of metals style.

2. Early Metal Part 1: US Division

Metal morning in America begins with the clank of cars and guitars and the burning of draft cards, Including the likes of Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, The Frost, Iggy & The Stooges and the explosive MC5 and of course KISS.

3. Early Metal Part 2: UK Division

The UK wasnt about to cede rock & roll dominance to America. This episode documented how early blues-influenced British bands cranked up the amps and used distorted guitars to give the first pre-metal sounds from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and of course Black Sabbath who most consider the first ever heavy metal band and are recognized for laying the blueprints of what became an entire genre of music. These bands tended to stay away from the label of heavy metal for a major part of their career and only called heavy metal a part of what they did. It wasnt until the arrival of Judas Priest that the term heavy metal was fully embraced and given a distinct look.

4. New Wave of British Heavy Metal

The movement began to grow and was spearheaded by the likes of Motrhead, Diamond Head and gained even more momentum when Iron Maiden began packing local clubs and later went on to sell millions of albums. The media and record labels could no longer ignore these bands and this became a major force in music that had to be reckoned with and was dubbed as the new wave of British heavy metal. Other notable acts which were part of this included Saxon, Tygers of Pan Tang, Angel Witch, Raven and Praying Mantis. The NWOBHM bands started losing their popularity in the wake of the rising glam metal scene in America. The glam metal bands featured a more polished, mainstream friendly sound which the raw NWOBHM bands couldnt keep up with. However, NWOBHM did end up igniting the fire which led to the birth of the subgenre of thrash metal in America.

5. Glam

Sam Dunn made it abundantly clear that he loathed Glam Metal during his days as a teenager in the 80s. He even went on to compare Glam bands to boybands. In this episode, Sam Dunn met some key figures associated with the glam metal movement such as such as Mtley Cres Vince Neil, Dokkens George Lynch and Van Halens Michael Anthony. These former stars divulged their side of the story and revealed the attitudes, influences and decisions which dictated their lives and careers on L.A.s storied Sunset Strip. On the flipside, Dunn also interviewedScott Ian from Anthrax and Slash from Guns N Roses who discussed the reasons behind the vilification of glam.

6. Thrash

This episode featured the subgenre of metal which took metal straight into its most extreme form and gave birth to some of the biggest bands in the history of metal viz. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.

7. Grunge

While grunge has widely been credited to fueling the demise of heavy metal from popular music, Sam Dunn still believes that it is associated with metal in some ways. Dunn discussed the impact of early metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin in the formative years of most grunge musicians. Also featured in the episode were the circumstances that led to the rapid decline of grunge.

8. Nu Metal

If hair metal was the antithesis of heavy metal purists in the eighties, that was delegated to nu metal in the late nineties. Likewise, if the keyboard was an instrument that such purists felt had no place in a heavy metal band, that disdain was now held by the incorporation of the turntable. Early influences came from bands such as Anthrax and their 1991 collaboration with Public Enemy, Faith No More, even thrashers whose riff-driven hooks were described as groove metal. Sepulturas Roots album was also credited as an influence on Nu Metal. This spawned the rise of a new genre of music influenced by two seemingly opposing forces: hip hop and hard rock. Nu metal broke ground and gave way to bands like Korn, Deftones, Rage Against The Machine, and Limp Bizkit. At the height of its popularity the show documents the unfortunate events that conspired in Woodstock in 1999 which included performances by Korn, Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit leading to nu metals decline soon thereafter. Yet the mantle has still been carried on by acts such as Linkin Park and Disturbed, among others.

9. Shock Rock

Unlike any other genre profiled on the show, Shock Rock is defined by its visuals and public image, not by its sound. The genres roots were traced back to Screamin Jay Hawkins and Arthur Brown. This episode focused on metals impact in pushing the envelope when it came to disturbing and horrific imagery and its place as Public Enemy #1 to conservative America. Shock Rock as we know it, started with Alice Cooper in the 1970s. It was made more (for the lack of a better word) shocking by early black metal pioneers Venom and Mercyful Fate (featuring the vocal histrionics of lead singer King Diamond) in the 1980s. The episode also discussed Marilyn Manson, who was made a scapegoat for the Columbine High School massacre of 1999. Slipknot and Rammstein are also featured.

10. Power Metal

Completely alien to the genre, Sam Dunn sets off to find out what its all about, and why its so unfamiliar to him. Dunn analyzed the difference between power metal and traditional heavy metal and traced the genres roots to continental Europe. Also discussed in the episode are the ties of Power Metal to Classical Music and the way in which power metal flourishes with metal festivals such as Germanys Wacken Open Air and Slovenias Metal Camp. Power Metal figureheads such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Kai Hansen were interviewed in this episode.

11. Progressive Metal

The series finale showcased the subgenre of progressive metal. This subgenre was heavily influenced by 70s progressive rock, which used textured sounds and intricate arrangements while incorporating the rock element in its own distinctive way. Modern progressive rock most often cites the influences of the percussive guitar-playing of Steve Hackett of Genesis, and the instrumentals of Yes. Progressive Rock came to the forefront with the Canadian band Rush which is profiled in one-on-one interviews with the bands 3 members, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart while on tour in Cleveland, Ohio. The nineties introduced the groundbreaking, innovative sounds of bands like Tool, Queensrche, Dream Theater, Mastodon, Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan.

12. Extreme Metal: The Lost Episode

Produced after the original series aired, this episode covers Florida Death Metal, Norwegian Black Metal, Grindcore, and other extreme subgenres. The episode was produced with the help of donations through IndieGoGo.

Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyens Banger Films has a Youtube channel Banger TV All Metal.

The channel features regular album reviews, subgenre discussions (Lock Horns) and contests such as Shredders of Metal. Sam Dunn and Banger Films are currently working on creating a Netflix style streaming service, which will specialize in streaming heavy metal related content.

Read the original here:

Sam Dunn: The Journey of the World's Most Famous Headbanger - Daily Hawker

Posted in Modern Satanism | Comments Off on Sam Dunn: The Journey of the World’s Most Famous Headbanger – Daily Hawker

Video: Should The Government Spend Money On Colonizing Mars? Hear From Everyday People And Visitors In USA | Hollywood Insiders Messages From America …

Posted: at 3:43 am

Photo/Video:Colonization of Mars/D Mitriy[CC BY-SA]/Hollywood Insider YouTube Channel

Should we focus on saving our home Earth first or should we spend billions on colozing Mars? All of us have heard the loud American politicians, their tweets and their slurs but how many of us have heard what the people/civilians in America think? What do people in America think? What are messages from civilians in USA to refugees? Most of the people in America are nothing like the politicians in America so it is important to make sure that world sees more of America and its people than just the loud politicians, regardless of them being republican/democract or any other political iteration.Hollywood Insiders Messages From America asked American and visitors their response to the question Should The Government Spend Money On Colonizing Mars? The current state of politics in America with the 2020 elections shows to us that Hollywood Insiders Messages From America series is more relevant and needed now than ever before. The 2nd season of Messages From America aims to continue to show the views, perspectives and messages from the everyday people/civilians in America. Most of the people around the world usually form an impression of America and its people based on a sitting President whether it be Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama or currently Donald Trump. That is over 7 billion people around the world that think the President of America represents the 325 million plus people in America. What is worse that they believe that Americans might be very much like their President? Which is far from the truth. Most civilians and everyday people in America are far from politics and are nothing like the loud politicians that represent them.

Click here for episode 1 of season 2:Do You Choose Human Rights Or Religion?

Click here for episode 2 of season 2: Who Is President For 2020? Pete Buttigieg? Joe Biden? Kamala Harris? Donald Trump? Bernie Sanders?

Click here for episode 3 of season 2: WATCH: Would A Presidents Sexuality Matter To You? A Lesbian, Gay, LGBTQ President? Pete Buttigieg?

Click here for episode 4 of season 2: WATCH: Do You Support Universal Healthcare?

Click here for episode 5 of season 2: WATCH: Do People In Usa Support Gun Control?

Click here for episode 6 of season 2: If Your Child Told You They Were Gay/Lesbian, What Would You Do? Prince William Confirms He Would Completely Accept His Gay Children

Click here for episode 7 of season 2: Is Climate Change An Urgent Issue Or Not A Worry For 100 Years?

Click here for episode 8 of season 2: What Do You Want To Say To Refugees?

President Donald Trump and his team do not reflect the American people in their entirety. By that same account, neither can any President in the future or has any President in the past ever reflected the American people in their entirety. Messages From America series hopes to show to the world what the American people that are civilians (not politicians) have to say on important issues. Usually, the world only knows the words and actions of US POLITICIANS, but seldom see what the people in America truly think about important issues. Other countries see only one side, without knowing that not all Americans agree with their politicians. This series aims to show what the rest of America, the people in America truly feel.

We at Hollywood Insider utilize our mission statement as our compass, which you can read more of by clicking here.

Here is a snippet: Hollywood Insider focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, so as to utilize media as a tool to unite and better our world, by combining entertainment, education and philanthropy, while being against gossip and scandal.

To view the previous season please choose from the videos below:

Season 1 | 7 Episodes

Guide below:

Episode 1: What Is Your Message To Refugees?

Episode 2: Should Religion Be Utilized To Govern America?

Episode 3: Human Rights Or Religion?

Episode 4: If You Are President For One Day, What Would You Change?

Episode 5: Should USA Invest In Space Force or Education/Healthcare For All?

Episode 6: Do you support Trumps Zero-Tolerance Immigration Policy?

Episode 7: Universal Healthcare In USA?

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are of the individuals themselves and do not reflect those of Hollywood Insider or interviewer/crew.

By Hollywood Insider Team

More Interesting Stories FromHollywood Insider

Beauty Standards That Haunt/Ruin Our Lives: The Self-Love Society Needs to Find Away From Photoshopped Superstars In Media

WATCH: Do People In America Choose Human Rights Or Religion? Season 2 Of Hollywood Insiders Messages From America Episode 1

WATCH: If Your Child Told You They Were Gay/Lesbian, What Would You Do? Prince William Confirms He Would Completely Accept His Gay Children Hollywood Insiders Messages From America Episode 6

Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIOf United Queendom Of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019| From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Marlon Brando & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond

See the rest here:
Video: Should The Government Spend Money On Colonizing Mars? Hear From Everyday People And Visitors In USA | Hollywood Insiders Messages From America ...

Posted in Mars Colonization | Comments Off on Video: Should The Government Spend Money On Colonizing Mars? Hear From Everyday People And Visitors In USA | Hollywood Insiders Messages From America …

NASA to send a probe to Europa to find alien life by 2040 – The Jerusalem Post

Posted: at 3:43 am

As space travel becomes more and more refined over the years and with commercial space travel flights seemingly around the corner, more and more people are asking where in outer space is it suitable for life to exist.The most popular locations are usually planets close to a sun, possessing water and some semblance of an atmosphere. Mars, the fourth planet in the Solar System, has traditionally been the most popular location for either alien life or the possibility of human colonization in the future.However, while Mars expedition plans have been in the works for years, NASA announced plans to build a space probe to send to another location in the 2030s, according to a news.co.au report.The target for this probe, however, is one that is possibly more suitable for life than the Red Planet: Europa.Rather than a planet, Europa is one of Jupiter's moons; and despite being smaller than Earth's moon, it possesses surprising qualities that may make it one of the most suitable locations for life in outer space. The moon has a thin atmosphere; a hypothesized molten core similar to Earth's for heating; and an ice crust, giving the possibility that there are oceans underneath the ice.The idea of Europa being home to life is nothing particularly new, and has been a staple of science-fiction for many years most notably in the book and film adaptation of 2010: Space Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clark. However, a discovery by NASA in 2018 of water plumes supported earlier evidence of the hypothesized oceans of water beneath the ice. The announcement of the probe called the Europa Clipper was followed later by the European Space Agency's announcement of the development of their Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), slated to be sent by 2029, according to the report.These probes to Europa are a gamble, but according to some scientists, successfully finding life seems highly likely.Discovery now seems inevitable and possibly imminent, said University of Melbourne researcher Cathal OConnell, according to news.co.au.It seems inevitable other life is out there, especially considering that life appeared on Earth so soon after the planet was formed, OConnell continued. And the definition of habitable has proven to be a rather flexible concept too.A discovery, if it came, could turn the world of biology upside down.But not aside from biology, a discovery of extraterrestrial life even only microscopic bacteria would have profound religious ramifications, as the discovery of life in space could represent a "second genesis," according to O'Connell.But as difficult as getting probes to Europa and having them successfully land there, the biggest challenge is actually getting below the ice crust, which is likely as hard as granite.Drills wouldn't be enough for the job, and scientists are currently experimenting with a slew of possible methods including lasers and even a nuclear reactor to melt through.After that, the challenge would be going into the ocean.Europa isn't the only moon that scientists had considered a possible home to alien life, with some of Saturn's moons, specifically Titan and Enceladus, to be possible homes, due to possessing a thick atmosphere with visible large bodies of liquid and plumes of salt-water, respectively. However, Titan seems less likely, after a probe sent in 2004 determined the bodies of liquid were composed of methane, rather than water.Of course, life does exist in outer space, after Israel's Beresheet moon lander dumped thousands of microscopic tardigrades, also known as "water bears," onto the Moon.

Read the original:
NASA to send a probe to Europa to find alien life by 2040 - The Jerusalem Post

Posted in Mars Colonization | Comments Off on NASA to send a probe to Europa to find alien life by 2040 – The Jerusalem Post

May the Space Force be With You: New Chief of Space Operations Sworn In – ClearanceJobs

Posted: at 3:43 am

Today Vice President Mike Pence formally swore in General John Jay Raymond as the new Chief of Space Operations at the White House. Raymond, who was named commander of the United States Space Command last August, assumed his duties on December 20, 2019, after the White House signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act that officially launched the new branch of the military.

The Space Force was created to organize, train and equip military personnel with a primary focus on space operations. In June 2018, the White House directed the Pentagon to begin planning for the Space Force as a sixth independent military service branch, making it the first new military service in more than 70 years. The last new branch of the military was the United States Air Force, which was created in 1947.

President Trump has touted the Space Force as the largest ever investment in the United States military.

Details of the Space Force were released by the Department of Defense in August 2018, and a proposal to Congress was sent in March 2019, calling for a service that would fall under the Air Force in much the same way that the United States Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy. The proposal also included the designation for a new position, the undersecretary for the Air Force for space, which is a civilian position that would answer to the secretary of the Air Force.

The creation of this new service will cost a reported $2 billion over five years, and require upwards of 15,000 personal.

In August of last year the Pentagon activated a new U.S. Space Command, led by General Raymond, but this was not reactivation of the former Space Command, which existed from 1985 to 2002.

The U.S. Air Force has historically had the Space Command under its operational control, said Arun Kumar Sampathkumar, industry manager for aerospace & defense at Frost & Sullivan.

With the new announcement for a potential space force, the DoD now requires to plan and form a dedicated service out of the Space Command, Sampathkumar told ClearanceJobs.

While critics of the Space Force have warned that this could militarize space, the fact is that the U.S. military and other nations have long been involved in some way or another in the region that lies above the heavens. Much of this goes back to the original space race with the Soviet Union that followed the Second World War.

In the 1950s President Eisenhower approved the launching of satellites with both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy competing, said John M. Logsdon, professor emeritus at the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University.

Project Vanguard, the program managed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), was among those that led the early efforts. It also highlighted how the military played a crucial role in the early exploration of space.

The military does a variety of military things, Logsdon told ClearanceJobs. In the 1950s there was a decision to create a civilian agency to hand the science and exploration, which are not military things.

As a result there have been two parallel programs for more than 60 years with only some cooperation, added Logsdon. The military is involved with the early warning systems, communication and notably space satellites.

They are not doing the exploration and the military is not involved in human space flights, explained Logsdon. The military has been doing those military things, and Space Force is just a way to do it better. It is an organization change, not a change in what the military does or will do. The image of Storm Troopers in space, or leading the colonization of Mars is pure fantasy.

If it isnt leading the colonization to Mars or patrolling Earths orbit, the question becomes what the role of Space Force will be? The answer will fall back to those military things that the military already does.

The rising demand for forward looking missile launch detection capability can be delivered by space assets, said Frost & Sullivans Sampathkumar. The missile defense domain is gaining prominence, and military stakeholders across the globe are working towards improvised missile defense mechanisms. The U.S. DoD is also working towards such an enhanced missile defense capability.

Moreover, while the civilian side of space remains concerned about sustainable space operations, the military domain is more concerned that covert space activities aiming at deactivating or destroying in-orbit military space assets might become possible, and remain undetectable, owing to the rising space traffic, especially in the low Earth orbit (LEO) space.

There is also the issue of budgets, and the fact that there remains only so much money to go around.

The formation of a separate service requires significant investment which will cut into the defense budgets should a dedicated allocation get delayed, Sampathkumar told ClearanceJobs. The administrative overhead of transferring Space Commands activities to Space Force will also impact the military operations in terms of resources and operational readiness until the Space Force is built and deployed.

It is also important to note that the United States is not alone in having military involvement in space. The Russian Space Forces existed as an independent organization within the Russian Military of Defense from 1992 to 1997, and again from 2001 to 2011. In 2015, it was then reestablished as a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

There is also the French Commandement de lEspace, CdE (Joint Space Command), which is a joint formation of the French Armed Forces. And Japans Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced last year that it would assign 100 military personnel to its Space Domain Mission Unit.

The militarization of space is not the same as the weaponization of space, but there remains a danger of a new space arms race.

Entities such as Space Force will remain a deterrent as military presence from one force will drive the other forces to follow suit and this cascading effect might open the doors for the next arms race, globally, said Sampathkumar.

Military objectives will largely remain protecting assets in space closer to Earth, and making sure necessary deterrents are in place, he added. Militarization will not directly impact it as space exploration is more towards deep space missions targeting mining of surface and sub-surface materials from distant planets/asteroids. The presence of a space based surveillance capabilities can help detect any hostile activity conducted by space exploration players within the systems coverage area but beyond that the impact of military space assets will remain insignificant on deep space missions.

This type of activity likely wont occur in 2020. This year, at least, will likely consist of finding out how Space Force will work with the Air Force, NASA and the rest of the government.

Working with others is the challenge that General Raymond will have, said Logsdon. To work with the different government agencies and NASA, and how it will affect those organizations is the first task at hand.

More here:
May the Space Force be With You: New Chief of Space Operations Sworn In - ClearanceJobs

Posted in Mars Colonization | Comments Off on May the Space Force be With You: New Chief of Space Operations Sworn In – ClearanceJobs

Xavier Litt: Chess shows that humans and AI work better together – Irish Examiner

Posted: at 3:42 am

Chess teams that pair humans with machines beat humans alone and beat unaccompanied machines. The lesson is that workers should not fear being replaced by technology, says Xavier Litt.

While Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg hails artificial intelligences potential to make the world better, many others are far more cautious.

Tesla boss Elon Musk has warned against machines taking over the world. Reluctance to technical progress is not a new phenomenon.

In 19th century Britain, the Luddites, worried about being replaced by technology, sought to destroy textile machinery.

The fear persists, all the more since AI is improving by the day, including at tasks previously thought of as exclusive to human intelligence.

In 1997, the IBM computer Deep Blue spectacularly defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov for the first time.

Many commentators were shocked by the prowess of AI in a strategy game often referred to as the king of games.

AI has moved beyond being a super calculator and most advanced machines will be prominent in strategic thinking and creativity.

While many people worry about being overtakenby some form of Skynet, the artificial intelligence defence system from the Terminator film franchise, the last 20 years of computer usage in the game of chess actually suggests the future could be a lot more positive.

Chess was one of the first areas tackled by AI, making it an interesting case study. In hindsight, AI brought chess and its human players to previously unattainable heights.

Advanced chess computers helped humans improve their own skills. Nowadays, top chess players spend most of their time analysing the game via computers.

AI can be used to re-evaluate positions that were previously misunderstood or to rule out moves that are inefficient and focus, instead, on more promising game plans.

This evolution occurred despite critics lamenting the end of chess when the machines first defeated man in 1997.

Though it was feared at the time, chess players have not given up on the game.

They trained harder and became stronger than players of the past. Rather than competing against AI, chess players utilised it.

The benefit of teaming up with AI is illustrated by a new game mode, cyborg chess.

It is named after the cybernetic organism, an entity with both organic and mechanical body parts.

As in a typical chess match, the human players face each other across a chessboard, but in cyborg chess they also each have a computer, running chess engines.

While AI is superior to the human brain in a one-to-one chess contest, human players still contribute to the team.

Humans may let the machines make most of the calculations, but, ultimately, they have their own understanding of the game.

In some situations, human players make better decisions than machines, and successful cyborg chess players know when they can let the machine decide on the move to play, and when they shouldnt.

Hence, the best cyborg chess team is higher ranked than the best chess engine. This means that the association of human intelligence and AI outperforms stand-alone AI.

Another crucial teaching of cyborg chess is that there is a specific skill set for collaboration with AI.

The ability to work efficiently with AI matters more for cyborg chess players than their standalone strength in chess. Several cyborg chess competitions were not won by the strongest attending chess players.

For instance, in the PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament in 2005, three chess grandmasters could notdefeat the team Zacks, comprised of two average club players using less powerful AI than the grandmasters.

However, the latter were extremely well-prepared. They had trained extensively with several chess engines and had selected the one they understood the most.

In a one-to-one game againsta grandmaster, these two amateurs would have less than 1% chance of winning.

Hence, this stunning performance suggests that although mastering chess is a valuable skill for cyborg chess, it is not the main skill.

Instead, fruitful collaboration with AI is the key skill.

This example teaches us that humans and machines have complementary capabilities.

Machines supervised by humans are often capable of doing more than machines or humans on their own.

This is becoming common in many fields: plane pilots assisted with auto-pilot programmes, computer-assisted surgeons for complex surgeries, and many others.

AI will increasingly be used in the near future and automated tasks will bring forth new jobs.

A recent study of the Institute for the Future and Dell Technologies states that 85% of jobs that will be occupied in 2030 do not exist yet; just as countless jobs that exist today were unimaginable 20 years ago.

These new jobs will most certainly revolve around this specific human-machine collaboration skill.

Since machines first defeated humans 20 years ago, the evolution of chess suggests that AI need not be feared; it can be embraced and pave the way for continuous improvement in all fields.

The key is to switch from competition to collaboration with AI. Businesses should neither turn away from AI nor simply replace employees with machines.

Success will come from creating adapted teams of men and machines working together.

We humans should primarily focus on improving our understanding of AI by honing our human-machine collaboration skills.

Xavier Litt is chief executive of Skylads, an AI-driven, digital marketing research lab and technology provider

Read the original post:

Xavier Litt: Chess shows that humans and AI work better together - Irish Examiner

Posted in Chess Engines | Comments Off on Xavier Litt: Chess shows that humans and AI work better together – Irish Examiner

Ju vs Goryachkina all tied at the half – Chessbase News

Posted: at 3:42 am

The Women's World Championship match between defending World Champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksanda Goryachkina is proving to be a tough struggle. The first three games ended in draws, but they were hard fought.Then the pair traded wins, before a sixth-game drawbrought the first half, played in Shanghai, to a dead-heat close. Let's get caught up:

Report on Games 1 & 2All stories on the Women's World Championship

After the first rest day, Goryachkina took the white pieces and once again played1.d4 as in game one, but this time asemi-Tarrasch defence came on board.The opening's popularity was revived severalyears ago by the likes of Vladimir Kramnik, and later picked up by Chinese starsWang Hao and HouYifan.

Semi-Tarrasch: A universal weapon against 1.d4

Even though the Semi-Tarrasch cannot offer a complete repertoire against 1.d4, being conditioned of Whites move order, it is an excellent complement to the Nimzoindian Defence. Throughout history, great players like Fischer, Kortschnoj and Kramnik have included the Semi-Tarrasch in their repertoire which strongly speaks about its safe character and Blacks possibilities for counterplay. GM Mihail Marin presents a complete Semi-Tarrasch repertoire for Black, explaining the main strategic ideas of the resulting structures.

More...

The structure resembles the Gruenfeld defence andusually continues as Ju played7...cxd4 8.cxd4 b4 9.d2. White has a strong pawn centre, against Black's queenside majority. After the opening, the game was roughly balanced with both sides looking for some way to gain an edge.

Der WM-Kampf der Frauen

On the 23rd move, Black decided againstwhat was in retrospect a good option.

After 23.d3, Black was able to play 23...e5 here. Since 24...xf3 is a huge threat, 24.dxe5 xd3 is practically forced and White's centre would have lost much of its dynamic potential. Instead, Black opted for 23...dc8.

A few moves later, the players reached this position:

After 31.c4, 31...c5 was the right reaction, but Ju played 31...exd5 and lost a pawn after the intermediate move 32.xb6!b7 33.xd5. Even so, it was not enough to win. After exchanging the remaining major pieces, Goryachkina went into a rook endgame with her extra pawn and pressed until move85, but to no avail.

The match was tied at 1:1.

Aleksandra Goryachkina stares down her opponent

Ju took the leadwith a win in the fourth game. At first, it looked as if this game would also end in a draw, but the world champion pull out the point in a pawn endgame.

Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbook 2019

How do you play the Queen's Gambit Acceptedt? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 195 000 games, most of them played by engines.

More...

Ju returned to her regular opening move 1.d4 after surprising with 1.e4in game two. Her young Russian opponent chose a variation of the Queens Gambit Accepted via transposition.

Black did not play 5...f5 here, leading to a Slav, but instead 5...e6. After 6.e3 c5, Black lost a tempo compared to the main line (c7-c6-c5 instead of c7-c5 in one move), but having provokeda4, can aim to exploit the hole onb4. This idea came from Vladimir Alatortsev in the 1940s, was then forgotten before being picked up again by players from Vietnam in the early 2000s. In the past, this might have been called the "Vietnamese variation". This line became popular after Vladimir Kramnik used it in 2004 in a game of his World Championship match against Peter Leko and earned a quick draw. After that, other top players had confidence in this idea, not least of whom was Magnus Carlsen.

Ju Wenjun lines up her next move

After a few natural developing moves, the playersreached this position:

The main move here is 10.e2. Instead, Ju liquidated her isolated pawn with 10.d5, which is a common motif in this type of position, but often also releases the tension. That was the case here too, but White kept a slight initiative and reached an endingin which her own king was a little more secure.

Soon the last minor pieceswere exchangedand the drawing chances in the queen-onlyendgame apparently increased. However as has been a hallmark of this competition so far the players fought on.

White has advanced herpawn to a6, which gives the queen a base on b7. With 44.f3 she activatesthe king. The game is still objectively balanced, but Black is under pressure. A few moves later this position was on the board:

Chess Endgames 3 - major piece endgames

The third part of the endgame series tackles queen endings, rook against minor pieces, queen against rook and queen against two rooks. Queen endings are not nearly as mysterious as they appear at first sight. Knowing a few rules of thumb and principles will make things very much easier for you.Over 7 hours video training.

More...

Black covered her a-pawn with 50...e7, allowing the transition to the pawn endgame. However, this is lost.

She could have still defended with 50...e8. If 51.xa7 then 51...d5 with perpetual check.

Instead, after 51.xe7 xe7 52.g4 d6 White is winning.

(52...hxg4+ 53.xg4 e6 54.f4 f5+ 55.g5 f7 56.h5 gxh5 57.xh5 f6 58.h6 +-)

53.gxh5 gxh5 54.e4 c6 55.f4(55.f5? b5 56.xf6 b4 57.f4 xb3 58.f5 c4 is not enough.)

55...b5 56.d5 +- f5 57.d6 b6 (57...xa6 58.c6 leads to the game. [Not 58.xc5 a5 59.c4 b6 60.d4 a5 61.e5 b5 62.xf5 b4 63.g5 xb3 64.f5 a4 65.f6 a3 66.f7 a2 67.f8 a1 with draw.]58...a5 59.xc5 +-)

58.d7 a5 59.c7 xa6 60.c6 a5 61.xc5 a6 62.b4 b7 63.d5 1-0

A fierce fight arose as early as the opening:

4.e5 is by far the most common move but Goryachkina choose 4.cxd5.

12...e4 was the first new move, and it looks more ambitious that 12...e6 which came before (e.g. Nepomniachtchi vs Anand, Batumi 2018):

13.xb7 This looks like the only good move for White.13...c8 Black can handle the dangers on the a4-e8 diagonal and the pawn deficit is not yet a factor.14.g5(Here 14.g5 was the better move. Not only is there a mate threat on f7, but also e5-e6 or f2-f3 are in the cards. Perhaps the bishop retreat to e6 really is better.

Ju tooksome bold decisions for example when she decided to go into an endgame down the exchange:

21...cxd4!? The world champion gets a strong pawn in the middle of the board as compensation, but21...g6 was a more cautious alternative.

Thingsmight have worked out for the Chinese, but forone last mistake:

29...g6 only after this move is Black in truly dire straits.(After29...d5, White would have to be careful:30.g4?! [30.e8 is better]d3 31.d1 d2 32.h2 e5=).

30.f4! Goryachkina, still had some work to do, but was on the path to victory, restoring equality to the match score.

The Russian bouncing back in Game 5

The game offered an interesting insight into the interaction between bishops and pawns. A bishop which is hemmed in by its own pawns on the same colour squaresis generally considered "bad". On the other hand, these pawns are also defended by the bishop and thus protected from theopposing army. And pawns so anchoredhave the ability to constrict an opposing bishopof the same colour. The players had to deal with such questions, mindful of the associated opportunities and risks.

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

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.

More...

Concentration before the "kick-off"

Iranian arbiter Shohreh Bayat is the first and only international category A arbiter in Asia. She is also the only female general secretary of a sports association in Iran. She is currently the chief arbiterin the Women's World Championship match. This should be cause for celebration inthe Iranian chess community.Yet now Bayat may be unable to return home!

Video interview with Bayat in 2019

As the German news media ARD Tagesschau reports,Iranian websites loyal to the hardline religious leadership were hostile towards Bayat, alleging that she did not properly wear a hijab or Islamic headscarf during the match as required for Iranian women, and implying that she was engaged in some sort of political protest.

In fact,Bayat dutifully worea headscarf, but in an elegant and unobtrusive way, commonfor many young Iranian women,especially when visiting countries where the custom is unusual and certainly not compulsory.

Bayat rejects the assumption that she was engaged in any sort of politicalprotest. Yet, the Iranian Chess Federation even went so far as to request a written apology from its official representative and instruct her to wear a particularly formal headscarf from now on.

Instead, Shohreh Bayat boldly took another approach: she omitted the headscarf completely.

Bayat, with long brown hair freely flowing

Speaking to ARD:

"I asked the Iranian Chess Federation to assure me in writing that I could return to Iran without worrying about my security," she says. "When I didn't get an answer to that, it was clear to me that it was not safe for me to return, and that it made no difference whether I wore the headscarf or not."

Nigel Short, as Vice President, FIDE's official representative at this World Cup, expressed concern for referee Shohreh Bayat and stressed that FIDE was very happy with her performance.

With the departure of Alireza Firouzja, the Iranian Chess Federation has just lost its greatest talent of all time and is now in the process of alienating another high-ranking chess personality. It's a dark time for this burgeoning chess power.

Click or tap any result to open directly viaLive.ChessBase.com

"Vladivostok" that means something even to people who are usually not geography buffs. The end point of the "Trans-Siberian Railway" lies in the far east of the Russian expanse, on the coast of the Sea of Japan, not far from the only 19 km long land border between Russia and North Korea. The second half of the World Championship match between Ju and Goryachkina will be played in Vladivostok starting Thursday.

As the Russian city is still further east than Shanghai, chess fans who want to watch the live broadcast of the games from Europe will have be up bright (or dark as it's January after all!) and early at6:30 in the morning. In New York, night owls can tune in a half past midnight!

Commentary by GM Nigel Short & WGM Zhang Xiaowen | FIDE chess on YouTube

Klaus Besenthal contributed reportingTranslation from German: Macauley Peterson

Originally posted here:

Ju vs Goryachkina all tied at the half - Chessbase News

Posted in Chess Engines | Comments Off on Ju vs Goryachkina all tied at the half – Chessbase News

Tata Steel 2: Wesley So beats Anand as five lead – chess24

Posted: at 3:42 am

Wesley So took time out to thank the Lord for an early winafter Vishy Anands bishop sacrifice backfired in Round 2 of the Tata SteelMasters. There were also wins for Vladislav Artemiev over Nikita Vitiugov,Daniil Dubov over Vladislav Kovalev and Jeffery Xiong over Day 1 hero Jordenvan Foreest, with those four winners catching Alireza Firouzja in the leadafter the 16-year-old missed a great chance to beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda. MagnusCarlsen remains on 50% after a 31-move draw against Yu Yangyi that left him justtwo games short of setting an undisputed unbeaten streak.

You can replay all the games and check out the pairings fromthe Tata Steel Masters using the selector below:

And heres the days commentary from Peter Svidler and JanGustafsson:

Remember there are two offers available when you Go Premiumduring Tata Steel Chess!

In Round 2 of the Tata Steel Masters the only complete non-eventwas the game of World Champion MagnusCarlsen, who played the Najdorf against Yu Yangyi but got absolutely nothing. He commented later that obviouslyits not inspiring:

I tried to be clever in the opening and I feel like I justended up tricking myself and he was a bit better, but he didnt play the mostambitious way and then it just petered out to a draw.

In a way the 31-move draw suited both players. Yu Yangyi gotback on track after losing in Round 1, while Magnus is now just one good resultagainst Jeffery Xiong away from matching Sergei Tiviakovs claim of a 110-gameunbeaten streak.

That draw left 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja with an opportunity to move a full point ahead ofthe World Champion, who seemed to catch Jan-KrzysztofDuda off-guard by playing the Queens Gambit Accepted. Duda offered anearly queen exchange only to end up worse with White by move 7 and lateradmitted the best that could be said of his performance was that hed survived:

Its kind of a miracle, isnt it? Today I was basicallymissing everything. I even missed 23Nc2!after 23.Kc4?, which is of coursekindergarten level, but I was lucky enough to draw.

For a second day in a row Duda was in deep trouble, with thetwin threats of Ne3+ and Na3+ hard to parry, but after 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rf3 and a few inaccurate moves from Alireza thedanger had passed. It was even White who had any winning chances by the time adraw was agreed on move 39.

The longest game of the round saw Anish Giri pressing for a win against Fabiano Caruana in a sharp theoretical line of the Nimzo-IndianDefence thats covered in Jan Gustafssons ARepertoire against 1.d4: Part 3: The Nimzo-Indian Defence:

Here Jan suggests 13Bxc3 in his repertoire, while Caruanainstead went for 13gxf4. As isoften the case in modern chess, all the mayhem ultimately only led to aslightly better endgame for White, though when Giri picked up a pawn he wasabsolutely within his rights to press until a draw was agreed on move 63.Afterwards Anish mentioned a very interesting idea suggested by Fabi for move23:

23.f4! is a pawn sacrifice to gain complete control in thecentre, while after 23.hxg3 Bxe5 24.Rd7material was equal and White was better, but some of the tension had beenreleased.

In any case, that meant Anish Giri had started this yearsWijk aan Zee by getting the better of opening struggles against the world numbers 1 and 2. Anish commented:

Thats good, but its early to say. So far the tournamentjust started and I think the people in the lead are not the ones who are goingto eventually win, so basically the standings are irrelevant.

That brings us to the days four wins:

We mentioned in ourpreview that you could make a case for WesleySo being Magnus Carlsens most likely challenger in Wijk aan Zee, given theUS star has won the event before and doesnt have the distraction some of hisrivals have of preparing for the Candidates. That case has been strengthened byWesley revealing in the post-game interview that he now has a second workingfor him again, since Wesleys previous peak coincided with his work withVladimir Tukmakov. The unnamed second wasnt the first person Wesley thanked,however:

Id like to thank the Lord for an early win Hopefully thiswill be a better year than last year, because last year around the middle ofthe year I wasnt playing very well, but then in December I was playing a bitbetter, also online I was playing a bit better, and then today I won, sohopefully its a good sign that good things are coming to my chess. Also Idlike to thank my second who works with me online, but I cant name him yetbecause we didnt agree on that, but actually this was his idea, this 7.h3, 8.Bb3.

Our commentary team noted that it was an uncommon way tohandle the Giuoco Piano position in the game nowadays, and a crisis arose onmove 12:

Vishy Anand herethought for almost 12 minutes before going for what Wesley called the totallyunexpected sacrifice 12Bxf2+!?.Afterwards Wesley said 12Qe8 was the best, when its almost totally equal,while he said that Vishy mentioned the interesting 12Nd5!? after the game.

Wesley had looked at the sacrifice in advance until 13.Kxf2 Ng4+ 14.Kg1 Ne3 15.Qe2 Nxc2 16.Rb1,but he said he didnt look deeply, and this may be one of those cases wheredeeper analysis was required to accurately assess the position. Wesley knewthe computer liked his position a lot, but in fact the advantage drains away asyou continue the lines, and it was with some justification that he feared arepeat of the 2004 Kramnik-Leko World Championship match. Back then Peter Leko founda hole in Vladimir Kramniks preparation at the board and went on to score awin that could have altered chess history. In this case, however, the hole wasonly that the position seems still to have been completely equal until 22.Qxe5:

Here Black can hold with 22Nxg2! and is only in troubleafter 22Raf8?!, which Wesley metwith 23.Qg3 rather than the computerssuggested killer, 23Qg5! Peter Svidler took that as a cue to reflect on theinfluence of engines on modern chess:

Challenge accepted! In this case the difference seems to bethat in the game after 23.Qg3 Blacksbest defence is 23R8f6 with Rg6 next, but after 23.Qg5 h6 24.Qg3 Black nolonger has that option, since without a pawn on h7 the rook would be en priseon g6.

That was ultimately academic, since Vishy played 23Qe2?!, missing Wesleys devastatingreply:

Black would have good chances of survival if not for 24.b4!!, threatening both Rb3 and Bb2.Vishy thought for almost 17 minutes but there was nothing to find, and after 24Rxg2+ 25.Rxg2 Nxg2 26.Qg4 Black resigned rather than trying to play on in what would have been ahopeless ending.

There was a pattern in Round 2, with the other three winsfor the players with the white pieces also owing a lot to successful openingplay. Daniil Dubov played a nearnovelty with 7.Qf4 and felt he wasmore or less winning when VladislavKovalev played 10Qxd6!? insteadof 10Bxd6:

Daniil had a 50-minute advantage on the clock by this stage,and although he was kicking himself I think in general I played like anidiot! he begins his post-game interview the plan he followed gets the computersstamp of approval. Kovalev was playing on increments by move 22 while Dubovstill had 50 minutes, and the Belarusian duly collapsed under the pressure. Vladislav hastherefore started with 0/2.

There was a similar pattern in Xiong-Van Foreest. Jorden, who started the day as co-leader, hadblitzed out most of his moves in a 3.Bb5+Sicilian, but 19Rc3? was a mistakethat saw him respond to 20.Bf2! withan epic 54-minute think.

That meant that even when he got back in the gamelater on he was doomed by the clock situation:

30Kf8! and Black has a playable position, but good luckfinding such only moves with under two minutes on your clock. Jorden insteadplayed 30Bh4? and Jeffery, whostill had almost half an hour, replied 31.g3!,when it was game over. Heres Jeffery talking about the game and his upcoming clash withMagnus Carlsen in Round 3:

Weve arguably left the days most impressive game to last,as 21-year-old Russian VladislavArtemiev scored a remarkably smooth win over his compatriot Nikita Vitiugov. Artemiev identifiedthe innocuous-looking 12a5?! as a bigmistake:

He set about proving that immediately with 13.Nb3! and the later plan of 16.Be3! and 17.Bb6! to target the weakness. It was fitting that the game endedwith Vladislav finally putting the pawn out of its misery with 50.Nxa5:

Artemiev had more trouble with everyday matters!

Yes, its my first visit in Wijk aan Zee and its a newexperience for me. Ok, the weather is cold, but Im from Russia and its usualfor me. Ok, and one problem is many shops close early, so I cannot go after theround, but still its not a big problem. I will have a few free days and I doit here Shopping, maybe souvenirs forfamily and maybe some milks or drinks.

That leaves a 5-way tie for first between Xiong, Dubov, So,Artemiev and Firouzja, though with 11 rounds to go that means almost nothingyet!

Once again there were only wins for veterans in theChallengers, if you can call 31-year-old RaufMamedov and 34-year-old Jan Smeetsveterans and in this field, you probably can!

The win by Smeets over 15-year-old rising star Nodirbek Abdusattorov was particularlyimpressive given that Jan has essentially quit top-level chess since he lastplayed in Wijk aan Zee in 2013. Im glad to be back, he said, adding, Ofcourse I want to qualify for the Masters now! How would he expect playing inthe top group to go? To be frank, I think I would suffer like hell in the Mastersgroup!

Games to look forward to in Round 3 includeCarlsen-Xiong (Magnus won their previousgame in the 2017 Isle of Man Open), Anand-Giri and Firouzja-Artemiev.Follow all the action live here on chess24 from 13:30 CET: Tata Steel Masters | Tata Steel Challengers

See also:

Read the original here:

Tata Steel 2: Wesley So beats Anand as five lead - chess24

Posted in Chess Engines | Comments Off on Tata Steel 2: Wesley So beats Anand as five lead – chess24