This trilogy by @IanWToll is simply phenomenal. These are amongst the best to date literature on the topic that covers in detail the macro and micro levels of the conflict. Toll’s ‘slant,’ if you will, is from the naval perspective because that’s his bag.
Like Hirohito’s War, I’d say they are difficult to approach unless you are certain you want to know an awful lot about these events, I think they run some ~2,000 pages in total. But they are some of my favorite books I’ve ever read. 12/10
Game eight of the world championship was another rich encounter with multiple twists and turns. Following a painful loss in the previous game, Ding Liren attempted to mount yet another comeback by allowing the Nimzo-Indian and making use of 9.Ra2!?, an unorthodox rook move that created a lot of excitement among several top-ten players after the game. Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian tweeted about it instantly, both "happy" to see it played in such a high-stakes game. Peter Svidler called it "a very rare" idea, and Caruana referred to it as "pure modern chess analysis based on modern engines." After the game, with a touch of Xiangqi speak, Ding himself called it a "cannonball in my preparation because it can be very powerful," as it was backed by deep computerized research in connection to 12.h4. Ian Nepomniachtchi's trouble started with 21…Nh4 and 22…Bxe4, a losing move. Ding's powerful 24.Rd2! put him on a very uncomfortable defensive. Daniil Dubov opined that the Russian's team should not have allowed Ding Liren to play such a dangerous line at this juncture in the match. It was too perilous indeed. Arguably the most important moment in the game was move 26: facing multiple attractive choices, some diabolically misleading, he settled for 26.d7, which maintained a chunk of his advantage but a win was not trivial. Instead, continuing the queen’s rook odyssey with 26.Rd3! Rd8 27.Rh3 would have netted him another remarkable comeback. A second critical moment was Nepomniachtchi's 31…Qh4, a move he called a "bluff," although he admitted he realized that Ding could escape a perpetual check only after he made the move. Considering that 31…Qf8 would surely lose, both Dubov and Svidler called it "by far the best chance even if it’s losing by force." Fearful of yet another damaging time-related crisis, Ding stopped his calculation halfway through and did not take the rook, thus missing a sensational king walk that would have won the day (32.Qxd8 Qe4+ 33.Re2 Qb1+ 34.Kd2 Qb2+ 35.Kd3 Qb1+ 36.Rc2 Qd1+ 37.Ke4 Qxc2+ 38.Bd3 Nd6+ 39.Ke5). By comparison, 26.Rd3 was infinitely easier to find and calculate. Finally, with his advantage significantly dwindled, Ding's 37.Bf3? was an error that allowed Nepomniachtchi to escape with 37…Nxf2!! and save the day. Vishy Anand, who referred to the the game as "a titanic struggle," concluded: "Ding deserved more for his courage, but Nepomniachtchi defended brilliantly when he needed to. Nerves are a significant factor. This match is for the ages." In regard to White's creative rook play in this game, Dubov referenced the first game of the 1960 world chess championship between Tal and Botvinnik. It broke down some stereotyped thinking about king safety and traditional rook play. That classic game is worth replaying on a rest day (FIDE/David Llada).
Update: You can (and should) still choose “I Don’t Need a Refund” even if you cancelled your Tweetbot or Twitterrific subscriptions, if they still have time left on them:
@GBInVivo @hubermanlab Same here. My life changed for the better and I adopted more healthy lifestyle after listening to @hubermanlab podcast, which is also my top podcast on @pocketcasts
😢 R.I.P.
Fred Brooks was the author of "The Mythical Man Month" a book that was hugely influential on so many of us. Also his paper "No Silver Bullet" would be on most people's shortlist of most influential papers.
In all the years covering Najib, his 2014 trip to a Chanel store in the Ala Moana Center best captures his nature. He was visiting Obama in Hawaii, but had to go home to Malaysia because of floods. His wife was angry for cutting her holiday short…
The idea that ingesting some alcohol is better than none is wrong. Past 2 drinks per week, the negative health effects start to surface. The “red wine as a source of key micronutrients” arguments flop. Do as you like but know what you’re doing. More here: https://t.co/Z8xpZ5lr9c
The Effects of Alcohol; How Bad Are They?
*what alcohol does to your body
*tools to get through hangovers
*how to identify your propensity for alcoholism.
https://t.co/dJnsnlNk1P
A Masterclass by Dr. Huberman on Tools to Leverage Your Brain
The post is a summary of @hubermanlab episode #80, and I gotta say it was one of my favorites.
https://t.co/FVVYVBjIFY
🧵Short thread for the summary of the summary
There are few threats of total human extermination:
1. A meteor hitting Earth
2. An alien civilization
3. A misaligned Artificial General Intelligence
Only #3 is possible in the next decades, and 2 new facts make it even more probable (scary!):