Vachier-Lagrave - Istratescu lead French Championship after 7

Round 7 results

Dorfman, Iossif	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	½
Fressinet, Laurent	- Istratescu, Andrei	½
Feller, Sebastien	- Edouard, Romain	½
Bricard, Emmanuel	- Bacrot, Etienne	½
Bauer, Christian	- Le Roux, Jean-Pierre	½
Shchekachev, Andrei	- Hamdouchi, Hicham	1-0

Standings after 7 rounds

1.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	2722	4½
2.	Istratescu, Andrei	g	2645	4½
3.	Fressinet, Laurent	g	2698	4
4.	Bacrot, Etienne	g	2710	4
5.	Edouard, Romain	g	2587	4
6.	Dorfman, Iossif	g	2578	3½
7.	Feller, Sebastien	g	2666	3½
8.	Bricard, Emmanuel	g	2502	3½
9.	Hamdouchi, Hicham	g	2628	3
10.	Bauer, Christian	g	2637	2½
11.	Shchekachev, Andrei	g	2537	2½
12.	Le Roux, Jean-Pierre	g	2517	2½

Official website: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/

Arun Prasad wins Paris Championship

GM Arun Prasad Champion of Paris
633 participants from 35 countries competed in the four groups

The 86th Paris Chess Championship was held from 2nd to 10th July at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, 82 avenue Georges Lafont 75016 Paris. The Championship was played in 4 Groups and was open to all players of FIDE federations.

- FIDE Open: 9 rounds with rating above 2200
- A Open: 9 rounds with rating from 1800 to 2300
- B Open: 9 rounds with rating from 1400 to 1900
- C Open: 9 rounds with rating under 1500

Indian Grandmaster Arun Prasad defeated his compatriot SP Sethuraman in the last round and won the main tournament with a total of 7.0 points. Earlier co-leaders Sergey Fedorchuk and Magesh Chandran Panchanathan made a draw and a loss respectively and slipped down the rankings. Fedorchuk shares the second place with GM Ruben Felgaer.

In this same open, Sochacki Christophe earned his first GM norm and Christopher Debray his third IM norm.

The A Open was convincingly won by Belgian Albin Dal Borgo (8.0 points, full point ahead of the rest of the field). The trophy in the B Group goes to the French Thaymour Bonneville and finally C Open was won by the young Daniel Pietras from Poland.

633 participants from 35 countries competed in the Championship. Full crosstables.

Official website / Chess and Strategy Blog

Read from popherald.com: 'Brancusi, Constantin’s 135th birthday à la Google Doodle style'. Also, cool images with his modernist sculpture artwork on maximum cards, stamps and postcards from Romania and France.

Please read: http://www.popherald.com/brancusi-constantin-google-doodle/5019

You, and me, and everybody else on "God's Green Earth" could make our own interpretations and comments upon the artwork of the "father of the modern[ist?] sculpture", Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ].
It would be interesting and inciting, in the variety of the different and even contradictory opinions of ours.

Let's read what Constantin Brâncuşi himself said:
"Brâncuşi on his own work

(French) "Il y a des imbéciles qui définissent mon œuvre comme abstraite, pourtant ce qu'ils qualifient d'abstrait est ce qu'il y a de plus réaliste, ce qui est réel n'est pas l'apparence mais l'idée, l'essence des choses." [15]		"There are idiots who define my work as abstract; yet what they call abstract is what is most realistic. What is real is not the appearance, but the idea, the essence of things." [DORIN'S underlining]
(French) "Ne cherchez pas de mystères; je vous apporte la joie pure."[citation needed]		"Don’t look for mysteries; I bring you pure joy."
(Romanian) "Am șlefuit materia pentru a afla linia continuă. Și când am constatat că n‑o pot afla, m‑am oprit; parcă cineva nevăzut mi‑a dat peste mâini." [16]		"I ground matter to find the continuous line. And when I realized I could not find it, I stopped, as if an unseen someone had slapped my hands."
(Romanian) "Muncește ca un sclav, poruncește ca un rege, creează ca un zeu."[citation needed]		"Work like a slave; command like a king; create like a god."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brancusi

Most "net surfers" might not have the interest and the patience ("the stomach"...or "the brain"? Aw, come on! People lack time and interest, most of the time - not the grey matter) to read an ENTIRE article, such as from wikipedia.org, on ANY subject whatsoever. Elementary, dear "Whatso"...
What I am trying to do is to provide such oh-so-busy readers with at least a meaningful fragment from such an article - again, on ANY subject.  In this case, about Constantin Brâncuşi.


"Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His abstract style emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Famous Brâncuşi works include the Sleeping Muse (1908), The Kiss (1908), Prometheus (1911), Mademoiselle Pogany (1913), The Newborn (1915), Bird in Space (1919) and The Column of the Infinite (Coloana infinitului), popularly known as The Endless Column (1938). Brâncuşi is considered a pioneer of modernism."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brancusi

Now, if you want to read more, at wikipedia.org or any other source, please do so.
Otherwise, the above quotes are what I am submitting to your attention, just in case you want to read at least that, as a nutshell, as the crux of the matter, as the essence of this artist.

Romania-France joint-issue stamps about Constantin Brancusi; notice that the maximum card above has a Romanian stamp and First Day of Issue pictorial postmark.

The maxicard below has a French stamp and corresponding postmark.

I saw this in a visit to Washington, D.C.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Art_Washington

No, this is not Pisa - the photo from the postcard was not verticalized properly in manufacturing.

Now, the same  The Column of the Infinite (Coloana infinitului), photographed in even more vivid colors by the company Kruger (then- West Germany):

The problem with the wonderfully-colored Kruger postcards is that they obviously used a highly-acidic, quickly-deteriorating paper for postcard backing - just look how it appears now, after some 30 years:

That should teach YOU a lesson, you people who EXPECT and DEMAND that ALL your stamps, postcards, labels and any other paper memorabilia MUST resist for a long time.

Be happy if your LIFE resists for a long time, and don't expect the acidic paper items to do the same.

A smart thing to do is to scan or photograph whatever paper item is worth the effort, and immortalize it, until the next TUNGUSKA-level global cataclysm. :)

In the above image, you see a series of 3 stamps, and 2 more stamps (obliterated/ postmarked/ circulated) from another series, which series I apparently don't have anymore (I had the complete series when I was living in Romania; I have also visited the Targu-Jiu statuary complex that you see in the blue stamps above).

See that series here, in a cool website whose webmaster is my fellow stamp collector/ philatelist, the Romanian-Swiss Victor Manta:

http://www.artonstamps.org/Countries/Romania/Brancusi/romanian3.htm

See that 40 bani stamp above, "The Kiss" sculpture, on a pink background?

I have intentionally posted it here, at the end, for MEME purposes.

Let's say that this is my entry for today at Happy Pink Saturday meme! :)

I apologize if anybody considers that my...entry is too long, but, hey! It's Brancusi! :)

========================================

Happy Pink Saturday!

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}

Vive La France! Fragment from http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard, translated into French

This is the chosen fragment, in English:

Maximaphily

Maximaphily is a branch of philately, or stamp collecting, that means collecting maximum cards.
I do NOT make a strict distinction between Philately and Stamp Collecting, despite "academic belief" that there is.  I'll detail that in another post.
Generally, a maximum card is a postcard, with a stamp and a postmark on the picture side. Ideally, all these 3 elements should be concordant, but not identical.

Anybody can collect them, just like collecting simple stamps. But that's too passive.
The fun and challenge are in CREATING YOUR OWN maximum cards! Then you can exchange some with partners/friends from around the world!
I do that, and it's very interesting! :)

The traditional way is to comply with the rules of FIP (International Philatelic Federation). http://www.maximaphily.info
The non-traditional way, as I call it, is to follow nobody's rules! Unless YOU want it, of course.
I call DORINCARD any postcard that was personalized by adding a stamp and a postmark, on the picture side of the postcard. Traditional way, or not. :)

------------------------

With translate.google.com, and edited by me:
English to French translationShow romanization

Maximaphilie
Maximaphilie est une branche de la philatélie, ou la collectionnement des timbres, cela signifie collectionner des cartes maximum.
Je ne fais pas une distinction stricte entre la philatélie et à la collectionnement des timbres, en dépit de la «croyance académique» qu'il existe. Je vais detailler dans un autre article.
En règle générale, une carte maximum est une carte postale, avec un timbre et un oblitération de la poste sur le côté image. Idéalement, tous ces 3 éléments doivent être concordantes, mais non identiques.
Chacun peut les collectionner, tout comme collectionner des timbres simple. 
Mais c'est trop passive.
Le plaisir et le défi sont la création de votre carte maximum propre! Ensuite, vous pouvez échanger avec quelques partenaires et amis du monde entier! Je fais cela, et c'est très intéressant! :) La voie traditionnelle est de se conformer aux règles de la FIP (Fédération internationale de philatélie). http://www.maximaphily.info
La manière non traditionnelle, comme je l'appelle, est de suivre les règles de personne! Sauf si vous le voulez, bien sûr.
Je nomme DORINCARD chacune carte postale qui a été personnalisé par l'ajout d'un timbre et d'un oblitération, sur le côté de photo de la carte postale. 
Manière traditionnelle, ou non. :)

Contribute a better translationHere, Eric Contesse kindly gave a better translation:[Please visit Eric's blog, very informative, interesting, in French and English: http://timbredujura.blogspot.com/ ]"Bonjour Dorin,
here is an exact version in French of your post :

La Maximaphilie est une branche de la philatélie, ou de la collection de timbres, qui consiste à collectionner les cartes maximum.
Je ne fais pas de distinction stricte entre la philatélie et la collection de timbres, en dépit de la «croyance académique» qui existe. Je détaillerai cela dans un autre article.
En règle générale, une carte maximum est une carte postale, avec un timbre et une oblitération apposés sur le côté illustré de la carte. Idéalement, ces 3 éléments doivent être concordants, mais non identiques.
Tout le monde peut les collectionner, de la même façon qu'on collectionne des timbres. Mais cela manque de créativité.
Le plaisir et le défi consistent à créer vos propres cartes maximum ! Vous pouvez ensuite les échanger avec quelques partenaires et amis du monde entier ! C'est ce que je fais et c'est très intéressant ! :) La voie traditionnelle est de se conformer aux règles de la FIP (Fédération internationale de philatélie). http://www.maximaphily.info
L'autre façon de procéder, est de ne suivre aucune règle ! Sauf si vous le souhaitez, bien sûr.
J'appelle "DORINCARD" toute carte postale qui a été personnalisée par l'ajout d'un timbre et d'une oblitération, sur la face illustrée de la carte postale. 
En faisant appel aux règles traditionnelles, ou non. :) "

Joint-issue stamps France-Romania about "Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose works, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for numerous modernist sculptors."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brancusi

These are from Monaco, not France, but they still are in the francophone and francophil world, n'est-ce pas? :)

Merci, Bartholdy et France! "Je me souviens..."

"France is a member state of the European Union, the largest one by area. It is also the third largest in Europe behind Russia and Ukraine. It would be second if its extra-European territories like French Guiana were included. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong economic, cultural, military and political influence. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France

---------------------------------------------------------------

Philately (stamp collecting) in general, and maximaphily in particular, as a confluence of domains: learning, writing, web design, business administration, etc.
http://dorincard.blogspot.com
http://dorinco.webs.com
http://www.squidoo.com/dorincard
http://www.delcampe.com/stores/dorinco
http://www.zazzle.com/dorinco*/
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/

=====================

Happy PFF!

Please visit http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Le Château de Fougères - postcard from France, that I'd like to make into a maximum card! :)

This is an example of a wonderful postcard that could be made into a maximum card.

Did France ever issue a stamp with this castle? Let me know. :)
============
Update: my philatelic partner/friend Eric Contesse says YES, France issued this in 1960:

Thank you, Eric! :)
======
Visit Eric's very nice and educational blog:
http://timbredujura.blogspot.com/
===========
Now, the tough question is: who can create such a maximum card for me? :)
If not, I might have to go there in person. Oh, well...:)

From the blog "Lady Liberty Patriot": The Plague Of Worry

Lady Liberty Patriot: The Plague Of Worry

Aside from the Worry/rocking chair idea above, here's an unrelated maximum card about the Statue of Liberty.