Author Archives: Alan Power

THE GULAG ‘KNIGHT’ OF MORDOVIA (ADDENDUM)

“For a reader living in the free world the word “thief” perhaps sounds like a reproach? But you misunderstand the term. In the underworld of the Gulag the word is pronounced in the same way that the word “knight” was pronounced among the nobility – and with even greater esteem, and not loudly but softly, like a sacred […]

THE REBIRTH OF THE IRISH HIGH-KING, BRIAN BORU

DUBLIN: Old Norse; Dyflin, from the Gaelic An Linne Dhubh, adopted into Classical Irish as Dubhlinn; dubh, meaning ‘dark, black’, and linn, meaning ‘pool, pond’, referring to the murky tidal waters of medieval Dublin Bay, in the early eleventh-century, a Viking stronghold held by Sigtrygg Silkiskegg, the High-King of Dyflin and step-son of Brian Boru. […]

COLOURFUL CAMPO COMBINATIONS

Abbreviations:MMP (the MacMillan Project)RRP (the Rob Roy Project) PdA (Piezas de Ajedrez, an Argentinian Youtube channel) FADA (Argentinian Ajedrez Federation) FFS (let’s get a move on) I absolutely adore working week in and week out with different chess sets from different parts of the world and consider myself very fortunate in being able to do so. Many […]

MANAS, THE KYRGYZ & THE GREAT SILK ROAD: A sojourn into the small world of folk-art chess pieces in Central Asia

[The suffix, –stan is from Old Persian, also -istan or -ustan, meaning ‘land of’ or ‘a place where there are many of.’ Kyrgyz is pronounced krrr–Giz with a rolling ‘Scottish’ r and emphasized g. Manas is not pronounced ‘manners’ but m’Naz with a lingering zzz and emphasis on the n. You’re all caught up.] To […]