You may say that he lifted the spirits of the masses, and was an icon of perseverance, and so on. But in reality apart from the commercial stint that has been attached to cricket, what benefit did the common man get from his work? Moreover, how can our country really afford to support playing games (Common Wealth Games included), when people who actually support the country, our farmers, are dying out of neglect. Sachin’s 50th century, received worldwide recognition and several laurels from our political leaders, but even after several thousands of farmers have already died out of despair, not even a single constructive effort has actually reached the poor souls. God bless Tendulkar … but God save India.

I would not really point fingers at specific people here, because we all are culprits in giving importance to things which were absolutely useless. We hear of several people of making a career in sports, but what does the person actually do. Just improve his physical performance and play games throughout his life. If that is one’s idea about productive work, then imagine the chaos if all of our population do the same. With that, I am not saying sports, arts, literature, etc. are completely useless and should not be a part of our lives. These are things, which are the essence of a complete life, and which give a new meaning to life. But over emphasis of these things and giving undue importance to these things is not something that will brighten our prospects.

The Rankings and Titles of Chess Players

Initiated by the FIDE, the best players are awarded with specific titles. Firstly, the Grandmaster, also known as the International Grandmaster, is usually awarded to world-class masters of chess. This title, apart from the World Champion, is the highest title that a chess player can achieve. However, before FIDE gives this title to a player, he must have a rating of
at least 2,500 at one time in the Elo chess rating. More so, the player must also have three favorable results in competitions involving other Grandmasters, including those masters from countries apart from the applicant’s.

Next is the International Master. With the minimum rating of 2,400, the International Master has the same conditions as the Grand Master and is also less demanding. The FIDE Master is usually gained by players who have achieved a FIDE Rating of equal to or more than 2,300. The CM or Candidate Master, on the other hand, is awarded to those who have a FIDE rating of at least 2,200.

These titles are open to both men and women. There are also separate women-only titles, like the Woman Grandmaster, available.

Composers and solvers of chess problems are also awarded with International titles. Additionally, national chess organizations can also award titles generally to advanced players, who are still under the level required for international titles.

Some of the Best Chess Players of All Time

Probably one of the greatest natural talents of all time, Capablanca was sometimes extremely lazy and refused to read chess textbooks. Still, he made considerable contributions to the opening theory. He managed to score 318 wins, 249 draws and 34 losses in matches and tournaments played between 1909 and 1939. Capablanca was known for his ability to accurately and instantly evaluate chess positions. Additionally, he liked to control the position and focus on elements, which he felt were necessary to gain victory.

Considered as the greatest tactician of all time, Kasparov was the world champion title holder for 15 years. He held the title from 1985 to 2000, when he was beaten by Kramnik. However, he dominated major tournaments from the beginning of his reign as world champion until 2001. He was known to have the ability to see everything in all positions. Moreover, he was also exuberant and had a photographic memory.

Botvinik is the only player to hold the world title in three separate occasions. He was also a scientist, which is a profession that usually showed through his play style. The style used by Botvinik was to make closed positions by flank maneuvers and movements.

Steinitz is known for his many bizarre chess positions, which made him an unpredictable and dynamic adversary. It was also believed that over the course of twenty years, he stood higher above his contemporaries than any other masters. He has the best tournament record up to his defeat in the world championship event in 1894. His greatest asset in chess games was his flexibility as a master of tactical and positional strategies.

Early Chess Rules

During the 16th century, the rules of modern chess took form in Italy. Since then, the rules of the game have evolved continuously. Going back centuries in the past, before the modern rules even took form in Italy, chess was played very slowly, with some games lasting for several days. There are other variations of the rules that began to change the shape of the game during the 1300s. The most notable, though originally unpopular, change in the rules was the ability of the pawn to move two squares during the first move instead of one.

After 1475 A.D., there are new modifications in the rules that further led to the evolution of the game. For instance, the queen was introduced and made a powerful new piece. This eventually led to the additional value attached to the previously considered minor tactic called the pawn promotion.

In Chaturanga, the war elephant has also evolved into the bishop, thus providing more range. The noticeable changes in the rules also gave way to the rise of figures that are “unwarlike”. Eventually, chess moved closer to the court and ordinary household due to the departure of pure military symbolism to the game, which was noticeably prevalent in India and Persia.

Rise of the Modern Chess Rules

Specifically during the Middle Ages, a new set of rules for the game had emerged. Within this principle, both the rook and the king acquired the privilege to castle, which is a variation of the move, called Castling. Since the pawns were given the chance to move two squares during the first move, the en passant rule was consequential. More so, the pawns gained the capability to be promoted to a higher rank if they were able to reach the eighth rank.

Aside from those rules, there are other three guidelines that were introduced, which eventually changed through the years. Firstly, there was the stalemate rule that forever changed the outcome of chess games several times. Secondly, the threefold repetition was also added. Lastly, the fifty move rule was also added, in which a draw can be claimed if there has been no evident pawn movement and capture of any piece during the last fifty numbers of moves.

Since then, the rules of the chess game have been slightly altered until the early 19th century, during which the game reached its current form. Nowadays, the fundamental chess rules are widely accepted among both international and national chess governing bodies, like the USCF or the United States Chess Federation and the FIDE or the World Chess Federation.

However, even if the rules of the chess game has evolved, the basic objective of the game remains the same – to threaten the opponent’s most valuable piece, the king, with a checkmate.

Three finger Technique Origin

Though, this method has been extensively researched and propagated by them as their own, its origin is far more ancient than Mr. Jose Silva himself. This is one of the finger or hand mudras, which were popular in ancient Indian culture and were passed down from generation to generation by the word of mouth. I agree that Silva three finger method is not just about the hand mudra and it adds a lot of other spiritual factors to it. There is also a lot of ingenius concepts apart from the three finger method in Mr. Jose Silva’s teachings. But as regards this method, I felt it should be appropriate to give the ancient sages some more credit for this divine technique.

3 Finger Method – Scientific Basis

According to modern medical science, the hand is heavily supplied by nerve cells. The sensory and motor neurons supplying the hand occupy a majority of the portion of the brain. This helps greatly in the fine control of fingers of the hands to perform complex movements. However, it has now been postulated that the reverse is also true. Finger movements or pressure on some trigger points (basis of Acupressure and Acupuncture) can control the function of the other parts of the brain by facilitating the networks of the nervous system. Thus, the three fingers method is a method based on modern scientific approach, which has its roots in ancient culture !

Three Finger Technique Uses

Improvement of concentration is one of the main benefit of the three fingers method. It was primarily used in the ancient times for enhancement of memory during the learning phase of life. It not only helps in increasing the grasping power of a person, but also leads to better recalling of learned facts. Thus, it is a good practice to use the three finger technique while learning new things as well as during an exam when we need to recall the learned things quickly. A person can utilize the benefits of the three finger method even with a single hand if the other hand is busy writing or performing some other activity. Thus, the three finger technique is an indispensable method for the academic life of a student !

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What is the Beats Theory ?

According to Physics, beats are periodic variations in sound produced when 2 sources of slightly different frequencies are heard together. The more the difference between the frequencies of the 2 sounds, the more is the frequency (repetition) of beats that will be heard. When the frequencies of sound approach to similarity (when their frequencies match as in playing the same note of music), the number of beats reduces and we get a louder sound called resonance. Resonance is sort of an amplification of the individual sounds of the 2 sources, due to matching of the frequencies.

We all know that musical notes are nothing but characteristic frequencies of sound which we have conveniently named to A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#. Thus, each of the 12 notes of music is a specific frequency and can be produced on a multitude of instruments. The naming of the frequencies has helped in the reproducibility and comparability of playing the same music on a variety of instruments. So making this short, the phenomenon of resonance and beats can be used for acoustic guitar string tuning.

Acoustic Guitar String Tuning

Tuning of an acoustic guitar is normally done with a standard protocol of using the notes EADGBE, starting with the fat string. There are many alternate tunings available, like dropped D, open G, Hendrix, Pentatonic, and so on. Lets not get into all that because it is highly advanced stuff. But before you tune your guitar you need to know the reason for tuning your guitar.

• Standardize the sound of each string
• Achieve a harmonious sound for chords
• Training your ear to recognize correct notes

So it is very important to tune your guitar before playing so that you develop a certain amount of familiarity towards the common notes.

How to use Beats in Guitar String Tuning ?

It is very simple !

Normally, a person plays the string to be tuned, listens to the sound and adjusts the tuning pegs accordingly to increase or decrease the tension in the string. This changes the frequency of the string and this process is repeated until the desired musical note is reached. The strings of a guitar are named 1st to 6th from bottom to top, so the fattest string is 6th and the thinnest string is 1st. The 5th fret of the string above the string to be tuned, is used as a reference for the note, except for the 2nd string for which we use the 4th fret of the 3th string. This is with respect to the relative positions of the notes on the fretboard, which one has to be familiar with by now.

In using beats theory, instead of playing one string we play 2 strings at a time. Say we want to tune the 4th string of the guitar, so we play the 4th and the 5th fret of 5th string together. If the guitar string is already tuned, you will hear a single loud sound. If not you will hear a sort of a tremolo type of sound, which is alternate variations of sound that we were talking earlier, the beats. Your goal for tuning the string is to eliminate the beats and have a clear loud resonant sound with the 2 strings. So adjust the tension of the strings until your objective is reached. Do this for all strings and that gives you a completely tuned guitar without the need of a musically trained ear.

The technical nature of this method eliminates all possibilities of error and subjective nature of the skill needed for tuning. Hence, it can be used by beginners and experts alike for accurately tuning an acoustic guitar or rather any other stringed musical instrument.

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Easy Guitar Music – Lessons, Notes, Licks, and Tabs

Easy guitar music is something, which you can learn now and play right at the next moment. So grab your guitar and plectrum and play as you read.

1. Pipeline:

This is the first tune that i learned to play and is probably the simplest of the lot. Just focus on the upper fat strings of your guitar and play along these tabs.

E------------------------------------------------------|
B------------------------------------------------------|
G------------------------------------------------------|
D------------------------0-2-0-2-4-2-0-2-0-4-2-0-2-0---|
A-------2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2----------------------------2-|
E---0--3-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3-------------------------------|

E----------------------------|
B----------------------------|
G----------------------------|
D--0-2-0-4-2-0-2-0-4-2-0-2-0-|
A-2--------------------------|
E----------------------------|

2. Wish You Were Here (Intro) by Pink Floyd:

Well its quite surprising that its a Pink Floyd song, but the intro is really simple if you can just hold a G major chord. All the notes are just played by holding a G major chord or lifting your finger and playing the open string. And you thought this was difficult !

  	Strum a few Times   Strum a few Times
e---------------------3-------------------3---|
B---------------------3-------------------3---|
G---------------------0-------0-----------0---|
D-------------0--2----2----2-----2--0-----0---|   * 2
A------0h2------------0-------------------2---|
E---3-----------------x-------------------3---|

		(Skip the first note ONLY on this repeat):

             Strum a few Times   Strum a few Times
e---------------------3-------------------3---|
B---------------------3-------------------3---|
G---------------------0-------------------2---|
D-------------0--2----2----2--0-----------2---|   * 2
A------0h2------------0----------2--0-----0---|
E---3-----------------x-------------------0---|

         Strum a few Times
e-----------------3---|
B-----------------3---|
G-----------------0---|
D-----------------0---|
A---0—2p0------2--2---|
E---------3-3—-3--3---|

More tabs will be added soon to make you shine like a rock star right from the first day of guitar playing.

Related Articles:

Acoustic Guitar String Tuning by Beats Theory

Psychiatric or mental disorders form a highly complicated sector of human diseases. The need for an accurate diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders has forever been on the rise. Disorders, like anxiety and depression, are so much a part of our daily lives, that it becomes difficult for a person to discern when they actually cross the line. Moreover, every person has a unique line, rather a limit of tolerance. It is the subjective nature of this line between mental well-being and mental disorder that tends to mask this problem for months to years. Thus, several mental disorders have roots to incidents that can hardly be recalled by a conscious mind !

Several medications are being promoted for the uplift of those affected by depression. However, one must understand that, even though many of them are over the counter medications, it is not recommended for self medication. Taking anti-depressants or mood stabilizing drugs on your own is equivalent to and can itself cause addiction, leading to a further complicated mental disorder. Categorizing patients into different diagnoses and giving appropriate therapy at particular stages of treatment is the job of a psychiatrist.

Lamictal or lamotrigine was approved for use in epileptics, at least a decade before it began to give good results in depression. Although it primarily targets bipolar depression, use in routine cases of depression has also given satisfactory results. Apart from the lesser incidence of side-effects, lamictal is also known to induce an “alerting effect”, which helps greatly to wipe out depressing thoughts.

Lamictal is known to act by inhibiting sodium channels in the neurons and by modulating the effects of excitatory neurotransmitters, like glutamate and aspartate. This leads to neutralization of the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, which is a key process for producing depression. Thus, in a way, lamictal does act at the root of depression !

The very beginning of this plea, is a very humble realization of being in darkness. The acceptance of ones defeat against life’s overwhelming forces. It is only when someone knows and accepts one has fallen, is when that person actually starts thinking about getting up. Remembering the supreme authority beyond our reach is only possible when one is humbled by defeat. Hence, this time is really important, a time that creates the possibility of recognizing our wrong path and the need for correction. A humble defeat is several times worth an ignorant victory. Its only after this step is when the failures begin to form stepping stones, to begin a journey of endurance towards the path of light !

Thus, with the divine blessings of our prabhu, we begin the journey of words and sentences to form an orchard of knowledge, to give fruits and shade to our kin for an eternity.