Eideard

A 4-year-old Russian boy with pneumonia died during an exorcism ritual being performed by a Korean shaman, authorities said.

The family of the child had asked the female shaman and her husband to exorcise “evil spirits” they believed were affecting the boy, The Moscow Times reported Thursday.

The child stopped breathing during the ritual in the village of Sergeyevka in the far east of Russia on Saturday, the newspaper said…

The family intended to request help for the grandmother, who has diabetes, but the shaman told them the entire family was jinxed and the boy had put a curse on them, a police report said.

I’d comment, but.. What’s not obvious?

No, I’m not quite sure why I’m blogging this. Hell, why do I blog every dead chess player I can find?

No.. wait.. I know why I blog the dead chess players.

Here’s a piece from the New York Times: Art Linkletter

Andor Lilienthal: 1911-2010

Just three days after his 99th birthday the world’s oldest grandmaster has passed away. Andor Lilienthal was born in Moscow but spent most of his life in Hungary. In his long career he recorded wins against Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov, as well as players like Read the rest of this entry »

Vasily Smyslov– seventh world chess champion– dies at 89.

Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world chess champion, who was known for both the artistry of his play and the solidity of his technique, died Saturday at a hospital in Moscow. He was 89….

Mr. Smyslov … thought of chess as an art form and each game as more than just a struggle between two opponents. In his book, “Smyslov’s 125 Selected Games,” he wrote, “The content of a game should be a search for truth, and victory a demonstration of its rightness.” His games often sparkled with beautiful, small combinations that served strategic ends….

In 1953, Mr. Smyslov earned the right to challenge Mr. Botvinnik for the title after he won the candidates tournament in Zurich….

Mr. Smyslov was an intimidating opponent. He always appeared calm and in control. In the 1957 article about Mr. Smyslov’s victory over Mr. Botvinnik, Mr. Frankel wrote, “His apparent indifference has unnerved many an opponent.”

If you haven’t a copy of Bronstein’s tournament book of Zurich 1953, get it.

When I was about 15 years old, during a summer vacation break, I spent a month sitting outdoors with a chessboard and a copy of Rook Endings, coauthored by Grigory Levenfish and Vasily Smyslov. I was fascinated by the presentation’s structure and disciplined methodology.

Interestingly, what brought me to that book was a game against an inferior opponent in which, having achieved clear superiority, including materially, I felt helpless to do anything with it. Our failures (the game ended in a draw) often turn out to be some of our most instructive games. I really really enjoyed those days with that book!

Sir Bobby Robson has died at the age of 76. The former England manager, who had fought a long battle with cancer, passed away at his home this morning.

“It is with great sadness that it has been announced today that Sir Bobby Robson has lost his long and courageous battle with cancer,” read a statement released by Robson’s family. “He died very peacefully this morning at his home in County Durham with his wife and family beside him…

“It is difficult to accept such a person is no longer with us,” said the Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, who worked as Robson’s translator at Sporting Lisbon, and then as his assistant at Porto and Barcelona. “But he is immortal because he leaves in everybody who knows him a mark of his personality – a great coach but, more than that, a great person.”

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was similarly effusive in his praise, saying: “In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend, a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed.” Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair, a Newcastle supporter, described Robson as “one of the nicest, most caring and genuine people I ever met – a real Geordie gentleman.”

He will be sorely missed.

Even so, I’m betting that he’s the only guy in history who will
figure out a way to take it with him.

The Rev. Frederick Eikerenkoetter, known as Rev. Ike to a legion of followers here and across the nation to whom he preached the blessings of prosperity while making millions from their donations, has died. He was 74.

A family spokesman said he died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital, two years after he suffered a stroke from which he never recovered.

Rev. Ike’s ministry reached its peak in the mid-1970s, when his sermons were carried on 1,770 radio stations to an audience estimated at 2.5 million.

He also preached his philosophy of self-empowerment on television and the Internet, in books and magazines, and on audiotapes and videotapes.

From the stage of the former Loews movie theater on 175th St. in Washington Heights, which he restored and transformed into his United Church Science of Living Institute, Rev. Ike would tell thousands of parishioners “this is the do-it-yourself church. The only savior in this philosophy is God in you.”

He then would exhort the believers to “close your eyes and see green … money up to your armpits, a roomful of money, and there you are, just tossing around in it like a swimming pool.”

As payback for spiritual inspiration, Rev. Ike asked for cash donations from the faithful – preferably in bills not coins. “Change makes your minister nervous in the service,” he would say.

A lot of these guys, if you think back, reached their peak in the ’70s and ’80s. Yet just when I think they are, figuratively speaking, going to die off, a new crop of them, and a new crop of followers, comes along.