GERARD ALEXANDER: EUROPE’S NEW SPEECH LAWS ATTACK DEMOCRACY

Dallas Morning News, TX
April 16 2006

Three disturbing trends now under way in Europe together represent
the greatest erosion of democratic practice in the world’s advanced
democracies since 1945.

First, anti-Nazi laws are being adopted in places where neo-Nazism
poses no serious threat. Second, speech laws have been dramatically
expanded to sanction speech that “incites hatred” against groups
based on their religion, race, ethnicity or other characteristics.

Third, these incitement laws are being interpreted so loosely that
they chill not just extremist views, but mainstream ones, too.

The result is a serious distortion and impoverishment of political
debate.After 1945, Germany passed strict anti-Nazi laws. Given what
had happened between 1933 and 1945, it seemed like airing pro-Nazi
or anti-Semitic views was the equivalent of shouting “Fire!” in the
crowded theater of Austria and Germany’s troubled cultures. As it
turned out, of course, neo-Nazis proved too marginal even to come
close to posing a danger to Germany or Austria’s new democracies,
with real neo-Nazis never winning even 5 percent of the vote. So the
necessity for these restrictions became less clear with time.

But instead of being pared back, anti-Nazi legislation spread,
gradually expanding to cover other historical events. In 1993, the
eminent Princeton historian Bernard Lewis told France’s Le Monde that
he questioned whether the mass murder of Armenians in Turkey was the
result of a predetermined – that is, genocidal – plan. Dr. Lewis was
later found guilty in a civil suit for having not been “objective”
regarding events that the European Parliament and other bodies had
officially certified as a “genocide.” Genocide-denial laws can now
be used to sanction professional historians whose research leads them
to unacceptable findings.

And the anti-Nazi slope has proved more slippery than that. Denial
laws have been supplemented by new laws that are even more prone to
sanctioning reasonable people.

Especially since the 1970s, Western Europeans have been passing
bans on any speech that “incites hatred” based on race, religion,
ethnicity, national origin and other criteria. This is spreading
to the European Union level, where a stream of rules now prohibits
the broadcast, including online, of any program or ad that incites
“hatred based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation” or – crucially – is “offensive
to religious or political beliefs.”

The real danger posed by Europe’s speech laws is not so much
guilty verdicts as a chilling of political debate, as people censor
themselves in order to avoid legal charges and the stigma and expense
they bring. And the most serious chill is not of fringe racists but
of mainstream moderates and conservatives when anti-incitement laws
are allowed to sanction speech that causes “offense.”

After all, two views tend to cause offense in our day and age. The
first is the speech of bigots who denigrate members of other groups.

The second is speech by modern moderates and conservatives who believe
that problems like poverty, delinquency and poor health can often be
traced to bad choices and dysfunctional subcultures. And problems have
sooner or later been disproportionately concentrated within groups
of every race, ethnicity and religion. Identifying these causes is
a prerequisite to improvement. That isn’t bigotry, but it sometimes
causes offense to sensitized members of affected groups.

Laws against any speech that causes “offense” have the insidious effect
of conflating bigoted speech and constructive criticism. The result is
the stigmatization of certain kinds of thinking about social problems
and public policy that American conservatives, moderates and even many
liberals recognize as a legitimate part of serious debate. These speech
laws won’t ultimately silence extremists, whose careers won’t end
if they’re called bigots. But they can silence reasonable people who
don’t want that label and don’t want a scandal. Mainstream European
journalists, politicians and academics have already been charged
under these laws for just such constructive criticism.

The good news is that Europeans are questioning their illiberal
speech laws as never before. Such skepticism received a huge boost
from the events surrounding the Danish cartoons of Muhammad. Many
Muslims are insisting that European governments ban such cartoons
as they ban other “offensive” speech. In response, some Europeans
ask whether their governments shouldn’t get out of the business of
banning political speech altogether.

Europeans of all political stripes should seize this opportunity
to reverse the most dangerously illiberal trend in the world’s
advanced democracies. That would cease to make Europe a role model
for censorship and restore it as a model of core democratic rights,
expanding and not contracting Europe’s moral authority in the world.

Gerard Alexander is associate professor of political science at the
University of Virginia. A longer version of this essay appeared in
The Weekly Standard. His e-mail address is [email protected].

COMING UP IN SALT LAKE CITY: THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Paul H. Johnson
Staff Writer

The Record, NJ
April 16 2006

It’s like a big family

NEW MILFORD — The Hovnanian School got its start 30 years ago in the
basement of St. Vartanantz Church in Ridgefield by Armenian parents
looking for a way to teach their children about their home country’s
culture, language and history.

Today, the school’s lush River Road campus offers instruction in
English, Armenian and French to more than 200 students from New Jersey
and New York attending preschool to eighth-grade.

“The founders certainly wanted to give students an opportunity to
learn the culture and language of Armenia as well as give them the
opportunity to be good American citizens,” said Anahid Garmiryan,
principal since 2000.

The school is named after New Jersey real estate developer Vahak
Hovnanian, who was the principal donor.

At the school, children take classes in English and Armenian and
learn traditional Easter songs and dances.

“Language is a really big deal,” Garmiryan said. Armenian is taught
as early as preschool, alongside lessons in French and English.

“They learn it much more naturally and easily,” she said. “By the
time they are older, they are often fluent in all three languages.”

French teacher Angelique Chartrain, whose 3-year-old son, Helios,
attends the preschool, said the children enjoy it. “They come up to me
and say bon jour and comment ca va.” Chartrain teaches the students
French every day in 15-minute intervals, while entire classes are
taught in English and other lessons completely in Armenian.

Chartrain, who is not Armenian, said she is glad her son is attending
the school.

“Now he knows three languages,” she said. “It’s great for him.”

Garmiryan said the school was founded because many Armenians were
worried that they wouldn’t be able to teach their children about the
culture of Armenia, a country of nearly 3 million in the Caucasus,
bordered by Turkey, Georgia and Iran. About 50,000 people of Armenian
descent live in Bergen and Passaic counties, Garmiryan said.

The school works to impart a sense of Armenian culture and history
to its students. The country dates its history to prehistoric times
and Armenia has its own distinct language and alphabet. During World
War I, genocide killed about 1 million Armenians. Those deaths are
commemorated every April 25.

The Hovnanian School will host a 30th anniversary gala in the fall.

In November, it installed a replica of the Armenian alphabet on the
building facade written on obsidian stone. Miriam Miller Kaprieliam,
a parent, is helping to raise funds to install a garden learning
center on the grounds.

When the school was founded 30 years ago, most of the parents were
new immigrants or the children of recent immigrants, Garmiryan said.

“Now it’s more third- or fourth-generation parents,” she said.

Kaprieliam, of Haworth, said her daughter, eighth-grader Alexandra,
attends the school to better relate to her father and Armenian
grandparents.

“I wanted her to have a way to communicate with them,” said Kaprieliam,
who is not Armenian. “It’s an excellent education. It’s like a big
family.”

Students say they have a fierce attachment to the school and its
unique mission.

“The Armenian community is very close,” said eighth-grader Emmadora
Boutcher of Teaneck. She said she’s not Armenian, but her family sent
her to the school to learn different languages.

“My grandmother found this school,” she said. “She really liked how
you could learn two languages.”

“Everybody in this school knows each other,” said Varak Baronian of
New Milford, an eighth-grader. “It’s like a second home.”

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LOOK WHAT THE BUNNY LEFT!
By Sheryl Marsh
Daily Staff Writer

The Decatur Daily, AL
April 16 2006

Why eggs during Easter?

While Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead,
the holiday has elements with pagan origins such as decorated eggs
and cute little bunnies.

For centuries people have used the egg as a symbol of fertility and
new life. That concept – like the bunny, which is another fertility
symbol of new life – predates Easter but has been assimilated into
the Easter celebration.

Children throughout the world will participate in Easter egg hunts
today, although many searched for eggs last week.

The egg hunt makes Easter a big day for small children; however,
grandmothers like Deborah Adams of Hartselle try to instill in the
little ones that Jesus is the main focus of the day.

She and her husband, Wayne, plan to have their four grandchildren –
Anna Grace Cobb, Mary Katherine Cobb, Tyler Cook and Kaleigh Baker
– today.

“After church we’ll hide Easter eggs for the kids, but that’s just a
part of it,” said Adams. “We teach them that the main reason we have
Easter is because of the resurrection of Jesus.”

Easter eggs were originally painted bright colors to represent
spring. They were also used in egg-rolling contests or given for gifts.

Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians and Hindus believed that
the world came into being with a giant egg. Most cultures around the
world consider the egg a symbol of new life and rebirth.

The Rev. Richard Lawson, rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church, said
Americans share the belief of other cultures that the egg symbolizes
new birth or new life. A story is behind colored eggs.

“I remember a story being told of a Christian saint being before
a Roman emperor who denied Jesus’ resurrection,” said Lawson. “She
pointed to an egg that God changed into a colored egg as a sign of
Jesus’ resurrection.”

Various cultures have unique decorating methods.

Austrian artists create patterns through fastening ferns and small
plants around the eggs and then boiling them. This results in a white
pattern once the plants are removed.

Germany and other countries pierce the ends of eggs with a needle
and blow the contents into a bowl. Then, they dye the hollow eggs
and hang them from shrubs and trees during Easter week.

Armenians decorate using the same process, but decorate the eggs
with pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary as well as other religious
designs.

Americans dye eggs and decorate them with various designs.

Some cultures play egg games. Romans celebrate Easter by running races
on an oval track and giving eggs as prizes. Also, like Americans,
they hold Easter egg hunts.

Children join in a search Easter morning to find eggs the Easter
bunny hid while they were asleep. Older children help the younger
ones look for eggs throughout the house.

Easter egg hunts are a community celebration of the holiday. Eggs
are hidden in public places and all the children in the community
are invited to participate, similar to the way Americans hunt eggs.

Normally, Marsha Keeney of Decatur would help hide eggs for her
grandchildren outside, but this year they will do like the Romans
and hide them inside.

Keeney said they have not been in their new home long, and “we have
landscaping to do, so we’ll hide them inside the house.”

Easter bunny

The Easter bunny reportedly originated as pre-Christian fertility
lore in Germany in the 1500s. Like the egg, the rabbit, one of the
most fertile animals known, served as a symbol of new life during
the spring season.

German settlers introduced the Easter bunny to American folklore
after arriving in Pennsylvania Dutch country in the 1700s.

The children built nests in their homes, barns or gardens. Boys used
caps and girls used bonnets to make the nests. Later, Easter baskets
became a tradition as Easter caught on throughout the country.

Adams and other grannies look forward to such traditions each year.

“I started giving my girls Julie and Jennifer personalized eggs and
a bunny each year when they were little. I still do that for them
and for the grandchildren.”

Some information for this story came from “Easter on the Net.”

SCOWCROFT LEADS SALT LAKE SYMPHONY
By Edward Reichel

Deseret News, UT
April 16 2006

When Barbara Scowcroft steps onto the podium next Saturday to conduct
the Salt Lake Symphony, she’ll be making history. She is the first
woman to lead the orchestra in its 30-year history.

Barbara Scowcroft “I don’t want to make an issue out of it, but I think
it’s an interesting fact,” Scowcroft said. “But I’m really thrilled
to be conducting the Salt Lake Symphony. They’re a wonderful group
of players.”

The centerpiece on Saturday’s program is Franz Schubert’s magnificent
Ninth Symphony, appropriately nicknamed, considering its length, the
“Great.” “It’s taxing and takes a lot of stamina, but it’s a fabulous
work,” Scowcroft said.

She added that there is so much to be uncovered in the Ninth.

“Schubert was influenced by Beethoven, and so you really have two
different styles in here – Beethoven’s drama and Schubert’s undulating
lyricism. The music is delicately textured, yet it contains an
enormous message.”

Also on Saturday’s concert will be the U.S. premiere of Dana Paul
Perna’s “. . . songe de voix perdues . . . ” (“. . . dream of the lost
voices . . .”) for flute and strings. Salt Lake Symphony principal
flute Laurel Ann Maurer will be the soloist.

“It’s a very beautiful piece,” Maurer said. “Dana’s music is
interesting, because it’s a mixture of modern techniques and
impressionism that blend with his Americanism. I love it.”

Perna wrote the piece in 2002 for Maurer, who premiered it in
Armenia. “I was scheduled to do a chamber orchestra concert in Armenia
in December of that year. So I called on some composers I’ve worked
with in the past to see if they had anything for flute and strings.”

When Maurer contacted Perna, he said he didn’t have anything but he
wanted to mull the idea over in his mind. “And what he came up with
was this beautiful piece of music.”

Laurel Ann Maurer The immediate genesis of the piece was the first
anniversary of 9/11. “That made a deep impact on Dana,” Maurer
said. “It reminded him of all the victims of Sept. 11 who died in
New York and Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. It made him think
of the victims’ children, who now can only hear the voices of their
parents in their dreams.”

Scowcroft, who is a member of the first violin section of the Utah
Symphony, has always been interested in conducting and has been
expanding her podium engagements in recent years. Besides guesting with
the Salt Lake Symphony this season, she is also the music director
of the Utah Youth Symphony and, since 2000, resident conductor of
the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas.

She has also led the festival chamber orchestra in concerts at the
Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyo.

In addition to the Schubert and Perna pieces, Saturday’s concert
will also include the “Bacchanale” from Camille Saint-Saens’ opera
“Samson et Dalila.”

RUSSIA DOMINATES PIG OLYMPICS
By Natasha Rotstein
Special to The Moscow Times
Vladimir Filonov

The Moscow Times, Russia
April 18 2006

It wasn’t exactly the Turin Games, but there was plenty of
international rivalry at the third annual Pig Olympics.

Out of a field of 12 pigs in the roughly 4-meter sprint, the Russians
dominated, capturing first and second place, with the French taking
third. The Ukrainians, Chinese, Canadians and Latvians went home
without medals.

With 300 people in attendance, the Sunday spectacle was one of the
main draws at ZooRussia 2006 at Crocus Expo, which featured numerous
merchants hawking organic dog food, kitty litter and poodle vests.

Kostik Rystish Shvain, 2 1/2 years old, won the race.

“He’s the smartest, fastest, slyest and bravest of all,” Kostik’s
manager, Konstantin Petrunin, explained.

Petrunin is a deputy director for Euroweg Zerno, one of the companies
that sponsored pigs at the race. Euroweg Zerno, like the other
sponsors, specializes in agriculture-related products.

The 4-meter race was one of three events at the Olympics. The other
two were a race in which the pigs pushed a football across a field,
and a swimming event.

Kostik’s trainer, Vladimir Nishylov, said Kostik, a dark-haired pig
of Armenian extraction, had endured a rigorous daily regime of running
and “football practice.”

In the football-race event, Yelena Prikrastynaya, who lacks Kostik’s
speed but has great technical ability, led the Russians to a 16-3
victory.

Meanwhile, Deniska, also a Russian, captured first place in the
swimming competition, held in a small wading pool. Nelson, from South
Africa, and Yelena Prikrastnaya came in second and third, respectively.

Tatyana Kolchanova, one of the organizers of the Olympics, noted that
all the pigs in the competition, in fact, were Russian born and bred
and had been trained at Lyhavitza, outside of Moscow. But they have
sponsors from different countries.

Kostik’s owners said they had no plans to slaughter him. But Kolchanova
said on a more ominous note that the pigs would simply be sent to
their sponsors’ home countries.

SENTENCED AZERI OFFICER’S DEFENDERS POISED TO FIGHT TILL THE END

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006

Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
The Hungarian court’s decision issued on Thursday to sentence an
Azeri officer to life in prison indicates Europe’s attitude toward the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, said MP Azay
Guliyev, member of the Coordination Council for Ramil Safarov’s Rights.

Ramil Safarov was convicted of killing an Armenian serviceman during
a NATO course in Budapest in a lengthy trial that many in Azerbaijan
labeled as unfair.

“I believe it was a ruling issued on Azerbaijan as a whole. It aims
to defeat the country in the Garabagh conflict,” Guliyev said.

Guliyev said the Council plans to renew the tactics in its activity.

It will also work to ensure a high-level representation of Safarov’s
rights in the court of appeals where the case will be filed.

The MP said the Committee suggests that Azeri judiciary bodies
immediately start talks with their Hungarian counterparts.

“The Budapest court’s ruling does not mean we have lost completely. I
believe that if Safarov’s rights are further properly protected,
it is possible to achieve a fair decision in the court of appeal.”

The Coordination Council on Friday forwarded an appeal to the Hungarian
higher legislative bodies, the Council of Europe, OSCE and other
influential international organizations. It voiced hope that the
court will take into account the Azeri officer’s condition at the
time of the incident, as well as Armenia’s occupation of 20% of Azeri
territories and the atrocities committed by Armenian troops against
innocent people, including the Khojaly massacre. “Unfortunately,
this has yet to happen,” the statement said.

The forensic expertise was conducted four times. Armenians insisted
on the accuracy of the first examination indicating that Safarov’s
actions were premeditated, while the defense says he was in emotional
distress when reacting to the Armenian officer Gurgen Markarian’s
insults, which is confirmed by the second and third one.

AZERIS CONDEMN HUNGARIAN COURT’S HARSH RULING

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006

Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani public has strongly condemned the Hungarian court’s
harsh sentence issued on Thursday for the Azerbaijani officer charged
with murdering an Armenian serviceman during a NATO course in Budapest.

Ramil Safarov was sentenced to life in prison after a lengthy trial
that was deemed by many in Azerbaijan as biased. The defense plans
to appeal the case.

The Azeri Defense Ministry came out against the ruling. A spokesman
for the Ministry Ilgar Verdiyev termed the decision as “far from being
objective”. He said that just like during the trial, all the expenses
to be incurred in the higher court would be assumed by the Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry declined to issue a statement concerning Safarov’s
verdict. Its spokesman Tahir Taghizada said that since the proceedings
were a legal issue, the Ministry is not inclined to comment to avoid
escalating tension.

Taghizada said the Ministry will continue dealing with the issue and
further step up its efforts to appeal the case.

“We have been working closely with the Azeri embassy in Hungary with
regard to the trial,” he added.

The hard-line Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has launched a
serious of public actions in Baku and the countryside in protest at
the harsh verdict. At a rally on Friday, its chairman Akif Naghi and
two more protesters were detained.

“The Hungarian court issued an unjust verdict to our citizen
Ramil Safarov. Armenians bribed the court, and the Azeri public and
authorities should come out against this. We demand that this unfair
decision be altered, otherwise, our protests will continue,” Naghi
said prior to the detention.

The chairwoman of the permanent parliamentary commission on human
rights Rabiyyat Aslanova condemned the verdict as well.

“It is very unfortunate that the court handed down such a ruling. But
this will not stop our activity. Certainly, we will take the case
to the court of appeal. I believe the public representatives should
express their attitude on the issue as well,” the MP said.

Another parliament member, Malahat Hasanova, blamed the Azeri
legislative body and public organizations of inaction.

“The parliament and NGOs have failed to do anything to defend
Safarov,” Hasanova told journalists. She said the Azeri-Hungarian
inter-parliamentary friendship group has taken no steps in this area
either. Women’s organizations operating in the country were left out
of these efforts as well, said Hasanova.

The MP condemned some statements suggesting that Azerbaijan break up
its relations with Hungary.

“On the contrary, ties should be forged between the public in the two
countries, while MPs and NGO representatives be invited to Azerbaijan
soon,” she said, suggesting that Hungarians be briefed on the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict during such visits.

Safarov’s father has approached organizations dealing with his son’s
defense.

“The life imprisonment sentence is a punishment handed down to the
Azeri public as a whole. We should not give way to the mistakes we
have made so far, as Armenians always capitalize on them,” Sahib
Safarov said.

AZERI YOUNGSTERS BLAME ARMENIANS FOR HUNGARIAN COURT’S UNFAIR VERDICT

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006

Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
Azeri youngsters have come out vehemently against the Hungarian
judge’s decision to sentence officer Ramil Safarov to life in prison
for killing an Armenian serviceman during a NATO course in Budapest.

A thousand students taking to the streets convened in front of the
Azizbayov monument downtown Baku chanting “Free Ramil” slogans.

The protesters said Armenians contributed a great deal to achieve
the unfair verdict and vowed to make them pay a bill for this.

The demonstrators concluded the action with a march to the Cemetery
of Martyrs.

BAKU URGES BUDAPEST TO HAND OVER SAFAROV

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted April 17 2006

Baku, April 14, AssA-Irada
The Justice Ministry will file a motion with the Hungarian
ministry over handing over the Azerbaijani officer convicted to life
imprisonment after killing an Armenian serviceman during a NATO course
in Budapest, an official has said.

“No matter how serious the punishment may be, Hungary, a signatory to
the international convention on extradition, must ensure that Ramil
Safarov is sent back to Azerbaijan,” the chief of the ministry’s
department for international legal cooperation, Zavar Gafarov,
told journalists.

“The 1983 convention of the Council of Europe provides that a
convicted person must be allowed to serve his term in his home
country. Both Azerbaijan and Hungary have signed the convention. We
will take advantage of this provision of the convention and file such
a petition,” he said.

KASPAROV’S STAR SLOWLY FADES
by Deen Hergott, Citizen Special

Ottawa Citizen, Canada
April 15, 2006 Saturday
Final Edition

It has been a full year since former world champion Grandmaster Gary
Kasparov announced his retirement at the annual Linares tournament in
2005, and he has finally dropped off the FIDE rating list as top-rated
in the world (FIDE 2812) through inactivity.

Current ranking leaders are Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov and Indian
GM Viswanathan Anand, at 2803 and 2802 respectively. Both have passed
the phenomenal 2800 mark, and are in striking distance of Kasparov’s
record. Third place belongs to rising star Armenian GM Levon Aronian,
with 2756, nearly 50 rating points behind the leaders. There are 17
players over 2700 on the April 2006 list.

Top Canadian is GM Kevin Spraggett, who has made his home in Portugal
for nearly two decades — he is at 2578.

Topalov played a match with top Romanian GM Dieter Nisipeanu
earlier this month in Bucharest. There were four games at standard
tournament time controls. Topalov won both games with the White pieces
convincingly to post a 3-1 match victory.

– – –

The 7th European Individual Chess Championships run to April 17 in
Kusadasi, Turkey. Leaders at the midway point (after seven rounds):
1-3. GMs Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Zdenko Kozul (Croatia), and
Predrag Nikolic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), all 5.5 points. There are
nine players in the chasing group on 5/7.

GM Thomas Luther (Germany) –Ivanchuk: Sicilian, Taimanov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7

This particular move order is actually the Bastrikov variation
named after the Soviet player born in the 1910s, but Russian GM Mark
Taimanov, a 1970s world championship candidate, did much to popularize
it, so it is generally known after him. The Open Sicilians with 2…e6
are highly transpositional, and the Taimanov is closely linked to
the Paulsen and Kan variations as well.

6.f4 a6 7.a4 Nf6 8.e5 Nd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Nf5 d6!? 11.exd6 Bxd6 12.Nxd6+

While not crystal clear, Luther makes a practical decision as 12.Nxg7+
Kf8 13.Nh5 Bf5! leaves Black with many active pieces and an open
e-file to begin a King hunt.

12…Qxd6 13.Bd3 Qc5 14.Qe2+ Kd8!

Of the top players, Ivanchuk is one of the most creative. Sometimes
his profoundness lands him in trouble, but his ideas are nearly
always fascinating.

15.Qf2 Re8+ 16.Kf1 d4!

Whose King is more exposed? Ivanchuk intends to find out and spurns
the Queen trade.

17.Qh4+ f6 18.Qxh7 Nb4 19.Bd2 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Bf5 21.Qxg7 Bxd3+ 22.Kg1
Rc8 23.h4 Re2 24.Rh3 Be4!

Ever vigilant, Black carefully avoids 24…Rxd2? 25.Rxd3! Rxd3 26.Qh8+,
and 27.Qh7+ forking the rook on d3.

25.Qxf6+ Kc7 26.Rc1 Bc2

Only move, but White’s bishop is in mortal danger now.

27.b4 Qc4 28.Rg3 Rxd2 29.Qe5+ Kb6 30.Rg7 Ka7 31.b5 d3 32.Kh2 Re2!

33.Qd6 Re6 34.Qd7 Qxf4+ 35.g3 Qf2+ 36.Kh1 Qf3+ 37.Kg1 Re2

With mate on b7 covered, Black weaves his own net.

38.b6+ Kb8 White Resigns.

Write to international chess master Deen Hergott c/o The Citizen,
1101 Baxter Rd., Box 5020, Ottawa K2C 3M4. E-mail: [email protected] .