The European Project: the future of the EU.

[Hrothbern]

Just consider who wrote it... It would be strange if it were bad.
I'd say asking average children to make proper use of a three tempi advantage (chess: the magical game where matter can actually be converted into energy) would be pushing it. By comparison, the f7 sacrifice would look IMHO much prastical in their eyes - I don't read/understand Dutch; the book does not cover it, I'd suppose?

Ahhhh
Max Euwe !
Dutch worldchampion chess in the 30ies. His older opponents were people like Capablanca (I love that guy), Lasker, Aljechin.
My father had some old chess books written by Max Euwe.
Max Euwe was BTW teacher Math at a secondary school for girls. Some didactic qualities were there.
He was also of the (rare) opinion that playing a game of chess was not about playing against your opponent, but about understanding the situation at the chess board.
That delivered me a split personality. I studied chess like Euwe, I played like that with my friends, but in competition I played only to destroy the self-confidence of my opponent, and pick up the spoils after that.
Me badass and jerk.

 

[Kyriakos]

Ahhhh
Max Euwe !
Dutch worldchampion chess in the 30ies. His older opponents were people like Capablanca (I love that guy), Lasker, Aljechin.
My father had some old chess books written by Max Euwe.
Max Euwe was BTW teacher Math at a secondary school for girls. Some didactic qualities were there.
He was also of the (rare) opinion that playing a game of chess was not about playing against your opponent, but about understanding the situation at the chess board.
That delivered me a split personality. I studied chess like Euwe, I played like that with my friends, but in competition I played only to destroy the self-confidence of my opponent, and pick up the spoils after that.
Me badass and jerk.

Byzantine chess is better.

 

[Lillefix]

Byzantine chess is better.

Looks like drunken British chess.

 

[Kyriakos]

Looks like drunken British chess.

The central circle is (afaik) not used in play, so in effect you have to defend from two sides. Also various pieces move differently (I think the Queen only moves for one tile each time, and only diagonally)

 

[EnglishEdward]

https://www.instructables.com/id/Byzantine-Or-Circular-Chess-How-to-Setup-and-play/

Yes, it lacks the changes to piece moves introduced during the rennaisance/reformation.

 

[Kyriakos]

Would I be correct in assuming that no pierce may move into the central round circle?

https://www.instructables.com/id/Byzantine-Or-Circular-Chess-How-to-Setup-and-play/

 

[Hrothbern]

The central circle is (afaik) not used in play, so in effect you have to defend from two sides. Also various pieces move differently (I think the Queen only moves for one tile each time, and only diagonally)

A radical change
normal chess is mostly about conquering, controlling the centre.
Here there is no centre !

The other (practical) advantage is that you do not need to learn chess openings 20-30 moves deep.
I "solved" that issue by playing the Bird opening as white (f2-f4).
Suboptimal, but do-able.

 

[Kyriakos]

A radical change
normal chess is mostly about conquering, controlling the centre.
Here there is no centre !

Going by the site I posted, there was also a variant (not sure if historical) called "Citadel", where the central circle apparently is split to four spaces and is accessible. But afaik traditional byzantine chess treats the center as a high mountain or sea.

 

[innonimatu]

The EU's attempt to coerce Switzerland to surrender sovereignty is apparently not going according to plan:

The EU’s long-telegraphed decision to let Switzerland’s financial market equivalence expire was intended to coerce Bern into signing a comprehensive framework agreement with Brussels to replace the 120 bilateral trade agreements negotiated between the two states since 1992. The new agreement, under which the Swiss would adopt many EU rules automatically, has been under negotiation for years, was signed by the Swiss government but roundly rejected by the Swiss parliament and cantons.
The EU’s ban on financial equivalency for Switzerland also has another purpose: to send a stark warning to the British government of the risks a no-deal Brexit could pose to the UK’s financial markets.
...
Some believe that by “weaponizing” Europe’s financial services, the EU may have significantly overplayed its hand. Frank Stocker, the financial editor of German newspaper Die Welt. “(The EU Commission) believed they had found the perfect leverage in a recent dispute with Switzerland. But as “Nestlé & Co.” are mainstays of just about any European investment portfolio and can no longer be traded in the EU, EU investors now have little choice but to trade them in Switzerland using a Swiss-based bank or broker, Stocker says. As a result, the Swiss stock exchange, rather than being squeezed of funds, could end up receiving additional inflows of capital — the exact opposite of what the EU wanted to achieve.

 

[Ajidica]

Wait, so you want the EU to open its financial services to yet another money laundering jurisdiction and tax haven?

 

[innonimatu]

You think that Ireland, Cyprus, the Dutch Antilles, etc are not enough?

This is not about blocking any financial malefactors, because the EU was quite willing to do a financial services agreement if Switzerland gave in on different demands.

 

[mitsho]

This has nothing to do with money laundering, it's about the mutual acceptance of equivalency. It's a technical aspect of the financial markets having been taken up by Juncker after he returned angrily from a trip to Berne some years ago. He thought he could finish a deal, but since we have 7 presidents instead of one, they'd first needed to have a meeting by themselves which was not possible on that trip. So Juncker got angry and wanted to retaliate.

And then came Brexit and the EU can't really continue negotiating until that mess has been cleared so that bourse equivalency has been taken hostage. Nobody likes that, neither the Swiss nor the EU commission... You also have to see it in connection to the framework agreement between CH and the EU which has also been kinda holed up by Brexit and the (European) Trade Unions.

It's a huge topic here in Switzerland, probably the biggest political one for nearly a year now. Interesting that nobody outside has heard about it. (and that's probably the message the EU commission wants to send to Britain).

Not sure I explained that eloquently... But the take of that wolfstreet blog was new to me, interesting. They'll find a way to trade all they want, the rich always do, it's just a bit more complicated for them.

 

[Kyriakos]

Pretty funny to see the german government not agreeing with the german committee of legal experts which presented its assessment that the never paid war reparations to Greece have legal merit/are outstanding. Respect of law is only good when it supports Germany, yet again
Seems likely this issue will end up in the court of the Hague.

 

[EnglishEdward]

...the framework agreement between CH and the EU which has also ....

Pardon me, but what is CH in this context?

 

[Kyriakos]

Pardon me, but what is CH in this context?

Likely Canton governments.

 

[uppi]

Pardon me, but what is CH in this context?

Confoederatio Helvetica - Switzerland

 

[Lillefix]

When I go through customs I've sometimes wondered what people not in the know makes of this sign:

 

[Hrothbern]

Pardon me, but what is CH in this context?

CH is the country where they use CHF as currency

As side note... Switzerland has kind of an issue with its own country name because of all these different languages there.
On their post stamps you just see Helvetia as elegant solution.
From the celtic tribe, group of celtic tribes, living there, and named Helvetii by the Romans.

 

[Kyriakos]

CH is the country where they use CHF as currency

As side note... Switzerland has kind of an issue with its own country name because of all these different languages there.
On their post stamps you just see Helvetia as elegant solution.
From the celtic tribe, group of celtic tribes, living there, and named Helvetii by the Romans.

That is what they are called in Greek too.

Likewise, Netherlands is called Hollandia, Scotland Scotia, Germany Germania and so on.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Pardon me, but what is CH in this context?

Coagulated Hobbits.