Swinging Swede

I'm a big Spain supporter and I'm of course I'm happy but I do feel for you. It's a gut wrenching way to lose. Thanks. As it turned out, the lost point doesn't really matter, since Sweden would have needed a draw against Russia tonight anyway. Russia gets its big star Arshavin, who hasn't played so far, back. We'll see how much of a difference he makes.

Austria tried and did what they could with the material they have, but they just don't have the individual skilfulness needed. At least they didn't finish last in their group. Nice goal by Ballack.

I missed that in all the Magnus excitement. The funniest novelty in the Petroff was the one Anand played against Zapata back in the 80s: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Bf5?? 6.Qe2 1-0! You're right about Karjakin being overshadowed. In any other time in history having a +2700 Elo at the age of 18 would be seen as incredible, but he has the bad timing of achieving that at the same time the 17-year-old Carlsen is going for +2800 (and possibly +2900 according to some).

After a draw in the sixth round, today saw another victory for Carlsen (as Black against Nisipeanu). He is now at 2795. If he beats Onischuk (who is -3) tomorrow as White, we will have a new #1. Meanwhile there's a tournament going on which Carlsen is leading by two points with a +3000 performance Elo, but everyone is looking at the live rating now.

From the Internet Archive: Prima/Manone Discography

Amazing finish! One of the most dramatic I have ever seen! And yes, an unbelievably stupid thing to do by the Turkish goalkeeper. Since they had done all their substitutions, a midfielder had to play the last couple of minutes in the goal. Imagine if Czechia had equalized and there had been penalty kicks!

Swedish media have just reported that Esbjörn Svensson died in a diving accident yesterday. He was 44. E.S.T. had just completed a new album the group was very pleased with, which was supposed to come out in September.

I remember a certain Austria-Germany match in the 1982 World Cup...

Yes, rub it in!

1-2 in the 93rd minute. Ouch. Without Ibrahimovic Sweden just became a much less dangerous team in the second half. His replacement Rosenberg didn't achieve much. Yet it was so close. Just one minute left. Still, Sweden should have a decent chance to go through against Russia in the last match. But if they finish second, they will face Holland in the quarter final...

So far, so good.

Sweden-Spain in an hour!

You can see the personnel in the discography at the Duke Ellington Panorama: Ellington Sessions

History is being made right now. After another two wins, today against Shirov, Carlsen is now already #2: 1 Anand 2798 2 Carlsen 2792 3 Kramnik 2788 4 Morozevich 2788 5 Ivanchuk 2778 6 Topalov 2777 If he continues like this he will overtake Anand's spot as #1 and break the 2800 barrier before the tournament is over. He is 17! He's improving so fast now that he seems to be ready already. The Kramnik-Anand match runs a risk of being obsolete in deciding who's the best in the world. Not to mention the relevance of Topalov-Kamsky of course. The way he wins the games now is scary also. There are no opening novelties being unleashed; he just enters virtually equal endings and then wears them down. I just couldn't believe that he would win that position with opposite-coloured bishops against Shirov today, and yet he did it again. Imagine where he would be if he also worked up an arsenal of opening novelties like the other top GMs...

You can say that again! After the third round in the Aerosvit tournament, where he has started with 2½/3, Carlsen is now back at 4th place with a record 2784(!). He only needs to gain another 4 Elo points to advance to second place. It's not out of the question that he could be #1 before he turns 18. He's just 14 Elo points from the first place. On a sadder note, Armenian GM Karen Asrian, 2630, has died in what seems to be the type of sudden death that has happened to several athletes in recent years. Asrian, who earlier this year won the Armenian championship for the second year in a row, was only 28.

Listened to a few samples, and based on my memories of many other Tatum recordings, especially the well-recorded late solo Granz albums and the fantastic stuff recorded at a party at Ray Heindorf's house, the note-to-note relationships sound "off" in terms of time and attack -- too raw, abrupt, and clattery, lacking in shading/nuance. Thanks, Larry. If the software can't recreate the original recording more accurately than that, this attempt must be considered a failure, albeit an interesting one.

Sweden beats the reigning European Champions!! And surely 2-0 was one of the most beautiful goals ever!

Yes, that could be a problem, but Larsson is well-liked in the group and in this case everybody seems to be happy that he is back. He has also said that he now intends to continue in the national team and play the qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup.

Not generally, but Larsson may be the exception. When he signed with Barcelona in 2004 the physical examination showed that his values were what would be expected from a much younger body, and when Manchester United borrowed him in early 2007 they were so impressed that they wanted to keep him. Said Sir Alex Ferguson last year: ""He's been fantastic for us, we tried everything we could to get him to stay longer".

Speaking of Sweden, the legendary Henrik Larsson, soon 37, who twice has retired form the national team, is back again. He played in the Swedish national team way back in the 1994 World Cup, and scored two goals then. This is his 6th big championship. Larsson is teamed at the top (?) with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored both goals in Inter's last match of the Italian league and thus secured the 2008 Scudetto for the club. Ibrahimovic has often been somewhat of a disappointment in the national team though. He has played reasonably well, but not been able to score much. Hopes are high this time though.

Bobbi Humphrey!!! Just kidding. That does look like some kind of Rare Groove batch. I wil certainly get the Wilson and the two Three Sounds. What is Howlin' for Judy? Thanks for the info, btw.

I think your friend may have sighted this new release from the Andorran label Essential Jazz Classics:

AMG review by Ken Dryden plus sound samples of all tracks can be found here: Piano Starts Here: Live at the Shrine/Zenph Re-Performance I won't dismiss this release without having heard it and made a comparison with the original. I'm interested in what others who have listened to it have to say. I also wonder if in the future with improved technology it will be possible to recreate other instruments. How about ODJB or King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in hi-fi stereo for example? I realize that this will be more difficult for many reasons, but the possibilities are fascinating to think about.

He drove the car the fatal night when Frank Teschemacher died. That must have haunted him, and allegedly some Chicago musicians blamed him for Tesch's death. It took a decade before he reemerged on the scene in the 40s. Great musician though.

I just realized that the excitement over this release made me temporarily forget about Cotton Club 1938. I hope that one comes out too. The Zurich 1950 is surely one to get as well. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of Ellington recordings one has; there is always more to get!