Nicholas Tam

Duke: "Playing bop is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing." We do both. — Inter alia: literature, cinema, history/philosophy of science, ludology.

[Christian McBride @mcbridesworld]

My Sonny Rollins story seems unlikely, but it happened. https://t.co/EpBTU6mBi6

[Sonny Rollins @sonnyrollins]

"The Greatest Ever Is Gone": Mark Stryker on Sonny Rollins for Ethan Iverson's Transitional Technology: https://t.co/iKkbJaEqad

[Richard Brody @tnyfrontrow]

A word in memory and honor of Sonny Rollins, who was so powerful that, playing alone, he was a band; he contained multitudes: 
https://t.co/EMPBAbbSUh

[Benedict Rogers 羅傑斯 @benedictrogers]

This is disgraceful. #China's #CCP seem to have infiltrated UK police as 'interpreters'.

Chinese dissident says he was berated by ‘pro-regime’ interpreter for UK police

Hong Qi, who orchestrated protest against Communist government, claims interpreter on 101 call launched political tirade

https://t.co/zBARPBazrR

[Nick Levine @status_effects]

New work with @AlecRad and @DavidDuvenaud:

Have you ever dreamed of talking to someone from the past? Introducing talkie, a 13B model trained only on pre-1931 text.

Vintage models should help us to understand how LMs generalize (e.g., can we teach talkie to code?). Thread:

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

The outpouring of love for Danny and the countless testimonials to the impact of his friendship, kindness, and love of chess from so many say more about the magnitude of this terrible loss than I ever could. A bright star forever in the sky. RIP.

[William Poulos @W_Poulos]

I’m not usually affected by the deaths of people I don’t know personally, but this one hurts.

Chess Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has passed away, aged 29.

I never met him, but I’ve spent hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours watching his videos. I got back into chess during the Covid lockdowns, and I wouldn’t have fallen in love with the game without his generous, witty, and instructive lessons.

A history graduate from Stanford, Naroditsky was the most articulate and lucid commentator and teacher in chess. He was rare: a Twitch streamer and YouTube creator without a hint of ego. Everything he did was in the service of the game he loved.

He knew how to instruct weaker players like me. Commonly in his videos he’d say “you might be tempted to play…” followed by the exact terrible move I would have played, and then he’d explain why it was so bad.

I hear his voice and his idioms in my head when I play: is the opponent’s threat genuine or only a “paper tiger”? Can you set up a defence so that the opponent’s attack is “biting on granite”? Can you see a follow-up to your “sexy move” or have you succumbed to “onemove-itis?”

I’ll never be able to play as well as he did, but his videos always gave the impression that, with enough patience and effort, one day I might be able to.

It might be strange to have a teacher younger than you, but it’s even stranger to find out that he’s gone.

Remember Philip Larkin’s lines at the end of his poem “The Mower”:

"we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time."

Memory eternal

[Jennifer Shahade @JenShahade]

A very sad day. RIP to a wordsmith, a chess genius, and most importantly a kind person.
https://t.co/v2epsY2i23

[Charlotte Chess Center @CLTchesscenter]

The Naroditsky family shares the sad news of Daniel’s unexpected passing. Daniel was a talented chess player, educator, and beloved member of the chess community. We ask for privacy as the family grieves.

[Samuel Bickett @SamuelBickett]

The Hong Kong courts have reached a new Orwellian low. In July 2019, a pro-Beijing mob rampaged through Yuen Long, brutally attacking passengers. Among the victims was democratic leader Lam Cheuk-ting. Today, the court sentenced Lam to years in prison—as a perpetrator.

For the unfamiliar, here’s what really happened: https://t.co/n4Hd3H3bmG

[Christ Church Picture Gallery @ChChGallery]

Lewis Carroll collection given to his Oxford college in surprise US donation https://t.co/8NcLmPHKHi

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

40 years (!) ago, a day that lives in chess infamy! https://t.co/BZOLlZ9uVi

[Christ Church @ChCh_Oxford]

We're delighted to reveal that Christ Church has received one of the world's largest private collections of materials from Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll. 🖋️

(1/5)

[Quanta Magazine @QuantaMagazine]

David Hilbert envisioned a “complete” mathematics, a firm foundation from which all mathematical truths could be derived. But researchers later showed that math is actually riddled with undecidable statements. Another important problem has now been deemed undecidable, according to two new proofs. https://t.co/eJ8kUT5Roo

[Ethan Mollick @emollick]

The initial invention of chess computers boosted the ability of expert human players as they learned to play better by learning from machines.

But, contrary to expectations, the superhuman chess AIs of the deep learning era, like Stockfish, have not had the same positive impact.

[Nicholas Tam @NicholasTam]

@Jorosar @chesscom I remember you from London Barcraft a dozen years ago when you were first putting your streaming presence together. Very pleasantly surprised to see you on the main team for this event! It will be a treat to hear your commentary again under dramatically longer time controls.

[Samuel Bickett @SamuelBickett]

New from @AhTo_comic. Hong Kong writes “love” 愛 with a heart 心 in the middle, while China writes it without (爱). After Hong Kong 47 prison sentences today, Ah To draws the heart being removed from “I love Hong Kong” to make it a mainland Chinese character, and puts it in prison.

[Hong Kong Democracy Council @hkdc_us]

Gwyneth Ho, who was sentenced today in the #HK47 trial to 7 years in prison for running in a primary election has just had this statement posted on her Facebook page. It's the first public statement from her in a long time.
Read it in full here: https://t.co/fparCdyZS6

[Shibani Mahtani @ShibaniMahtani]

It has taken nearly four years to get to this point: the sentencing of 45 of the original 'Hong Kong 47'. Our story here, looking at the sentences -- 10 years for Benny Tai, who is now 60 -- and implications.
https://t.co/Lc0SuU66cl

[Holmes Chan @holmeschan_]

#BREAKING: Hong Kong jails legal scholar Benny Tai for 10 years for subversion, the longest sentence handed out so far under the city's national security law.

Tai and 44 others were earlier found guilty in Hong Kong's largest national security trial.

More to follow.🧵