His signature.

He paced regally, the zenith of the arch
Beautiful as a greek god, an artist's dream
Gazing at infinity, oblivious to the tourists' march
Magnificently quiet, sans whisper or scream
Clad in fine, dark leather, disdainful his stride
Animated his demeanor, exuding vitality and verve
His stare intense, furious like the tide
Life throbbing in his every sinewy nerve

Defiant his swagger, like a stallion's-untame
Repeatedly he reined his mane-uncontained
Mounting with easy grace, he crowned the scarlet frame
Supremely in balance, in a moment time-unstained
Like an acrobat's, mesmerising, his back-flip
Like a shooting star, or a missile misguided -
he plunged, vanishing into a statistical blip.
Cars blazed noisily past the bridge, so prided

" Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why, why do you do it? Why, why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is, do you even know? Is it freedom or truth, perhaps peace - could it be for love? " - Agent Smith, 'The Matrix Revolutions'



My purgatory of the mundane

I bear the cross
of the middle path;
Sometimes I obsess
over the trees, and sometimes
the forest springs into relief,
for me
Have tipped my hat, to the good;
raised toasts to the devil
Drooled over form
and embraced substance
Have not drowned
nor floated - neutrally buoyant,
amidst unquiet waters
Having learned to hold dearly,
I never learned
to hold tightly enough
Longings rise from my heart,
without scraping its bottom.
I soar, but ducked under clouds
Icarus I am not, only
my wings are torched, seared like his.
Having torn down
inner constructs, eagerly,
am restrained
by walls without
I am king, and vagabond
in my imposed prison, fettered
by captive captors
Accursed,
forever denied me the simple joys
of the immoderate

Diwali celebrations Oct 13, 2006 at Club Oracle (Second half)
If you wanna watch me dance some :)

Credits to my coworker Chinmaya Hegde for capturing the whole medley on video!

Letting go

Undreamt dreams, unformed memories
Unsaid words, of what could be
Shards of the heart, desires frothing over
Wistful wishes, my fistful of sky
Tender imprints on my mind's canvas
I offer as oblation
into the fire within

Vlad the impaler!

http://www.kramnik.com/default.aspx

Check out some chess games played by interesting people:

Napolean vs. The Turk

Kasparov vs. Sting

Humphrey Bogart vs. NN

Einstein vs. Oppenheimer

Ooh. Groovy! Check out this fight that apparently Nigel and Gata had while kibitzing on the 11th game of the championship match on playchess.com. Very intriguing.

"Nigel Short (Observers): Gata, in our 1994 match you delivered a written protest to the arbiter accusing me of visiting the bathroom too often. Was that done to disturb me, or because you thought I had a desktop hidden in the cubicle?

Gata Kamsky (Observers): ask me something i can remember nigel

Nigel Short (Observers): I remember it well, Gata.

Gata Kamsky (Observers): all i remember is that you started talking to me during the game

Nigel Short (Observers): Yes, and the arbiter had overheard a conversation between your father and yourself immediately after the game. He told you to complain. You said that there was nothing to complain about. And yet within the hour there was yet another written protest about me cheating during this match.

Nigel Short (Observers): I guess Daddy had his way

Gata Kamsky (Observers): i would be careful with making assumptions

Gata Kamsky (Observers): back then i didn't understood your dirty psychological tricks nigel

Nigel Short (Observers): I was also accused of "looking at Anand too much"

Nigel Short (Observers): and what a pity that the match organisers failed to erect a wall on the stage , like you insisted that they must

Gata Kamsky (Observers): nigel you had your chance against garry no?

Gata Kamsky (Observers): so stop complaining

Nigel Short (Observers): I do remember the death threat from your father, delivered in an extremely irate manner about 2cm from my face.

Nigel Short (Observers): you won that match by dirty tricks, Gata. And you know it.

Gata Kamsky (Observers): so talk to my father about it

Gata Kamsky (Observers): lol

Gata Kamsky (Observers): looks like a draw to me

Nigel Short (Observers): "Talk to my father"? Why not "talk to Danailov"? we can all benefit from hiding behind our henchmen

Gata Kamsky (Observers): nice try nigel

Gata Kamsky (Observers): trying to do others all work for you?

Susan Polgar (Observers): I think a $1 million match between Gata and Nigel is in order.

Nigel Short (Observers): they have relevance, Susan. It is the only time in my career I have accused of cheating. I was accused repeatedly. There are obvious similarities with the current match.

Nigel Short (Observers): the only thing that Danailov has not done is to physically threaten Kramnik with death

Gata Kamsky (Observers): i have no idea what you're trying to drag me and my dad back into nigel

Nigel Short (Observers): No doubt you would prefer to remember the result, rather than the manner in which it was attained, Gata.

Gata Kamsky (Observers): you mean your little dirty tricks ?

Gata Kamsky (Observers): we can go all day, you have your opinion and i have mine. So let's leave it at that

Nigel Short (Observers): It is funny, how you are the only person to have observed that I am a cheat, Gata. Indeed the protests and accusations went on even when you were 3-0 up. I must have been the most inept cheat in history.

Jon Levitt (Observers): I missed this argument..it sounds personal

Gata Kamsky (Observers): nigel

Gata Kamsky (Observers): i don't want to talk about it, but if you want to do something about this, we can settle this like real men, outside. I'll be waiting

Jon Levitt (Observers): a duel?

Nigel Short (Observers): Yes. That is exactly how your Dad wanted to settle it too.

Gata Kamsky (Observers): it is YOUR problem

Gata Kamsky (Observers): but your insinuations are insulting me

Gata Kamsky (Observers): so put up or shut up

Nigel Short (Observers): Your comments reveal a complete abdication of responsibility. A player is 100%responsible for the actions of his delegation."

A user posted this on www.chessgames.com:

"Monday 2nd of October 2006

Dear Vladimir,

Through absolutely no fault of your own, you have suffered the consequences of an unprecedented combination of unethical behaviour from your opponent and glaring incompetence, for lack of a stronger word, on the part of the Appeals Committee.

In spite of evidently unfair treatment, which has not only resulted in your being forfeited one game, but also being subjected to petty attacks and ridiculous accusations from the opposing camp, you have agreed to continue the match for the sake of reunifying the chess world. This is a very impressive decision. It testifies to your remarkable sense of honour and is worthy of your true status of World Champion.

Regardless of the final result of this match you have earned the deepest respect of your fellow Grandmasters and colleagues as well as countless chess fans around the world. Thank you for being a model sportsman in a time and place where so many circumstances turned against you. You deserve to win.

With unfailing support,

GM Joel Lautier (France)
IM Almira Skripchenko (France)
GM Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)
GM Laurent Fressinet (France)
GM Nigel Short (Greece)
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
GM Pavel Tregubov (Russia)
GM Pentala Harikrishna (India)
GM Yannick Pelletier (Switzerland)
WGM Sophie Milliet (France)
GM Lev Alburt (USA)
WIM Anna Hahn (USA)
GM Rustam Dautov (Germany)
GM Yasser Seirawan (USA)
GM Emanuel Berg (Sweden)
GM Helmut Pfleger (Germany)
WIM Olena Boytsun (Ukraine)
GM Vladimir Barksij (Russia)
GM Bartlomiej Macieja (Poland)
IM Maxim Notkin (Russia)
GM Alexander Baburin (Irland)
GM Tony Kosten (England)
GM Alexander Khalifman (Russia)
IM Ilias Kourkounakis (Greece)
WGM Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine)
GM Konstantin Landa (Russia)
GM Michal Krasenkow (Poland)
GM Boris Gelfand (Israel)
GM Alexander Huzman (Israel)
GM Harry Schüssler (Sweden)
GM Jon Levitt (England)"


It gladdens me to see this rallying of top players to offer support to Kramnik, and their unequivocal position in this matter. There is still hope for chess, after all.