7th Golden Cleopatra Open
The Golden Cleopatra Open 2003 was held from June 1st to 12th at the Eastern
Company Club, which is located about three miles from the Pyramids. It was a
ten round Swiss System with 153 players, including six GMs, one WGM, 25 IMs
and six FMs. There were a total of 19 players from 11 countries, 134 from Egypt.
The new Fide time control were used: 90 min for all game + 30 second a move
added to the clock.
Edvins Kengis finished in first place, beating Spartak Vysochin and local player
Essam El Gindy on tiebreak score. Here are the final standings after 10 rounds.
The prizes for each player are given in US Dollars.
Name Fed T. Rat tot T.B. Prize
1 Kengis, Edvins LAT GM 2581 8 21719 915
2 Vysochin, Spartak UKR GM 2551 8 21382 815
3 El Gindy, Essam EGY IM 2473 8 21031 770
4 Kosten, Anthony C. FRA GM 2545 7.5 42.5 550
5 Rausis, Igors BAN GM 2533 7.5 42.5 500
6 El Arousy, Abdul Hameed EGY IM 2314 7.5 42.5 450
7 Abdelnabbi, Imed EGY IM 2446 7 43.5 250
8 Malakhatko, Vadim UKR GM 2503 7 42.5 200
9 Ismail, Hamed EGY 2314 7 42.5 200
10 Belezky, Sasha UKR IM 2403 7 42 200
11 Szuhanek, Ranko ROM IM 2427 7 41.5 175
12 Hassan, Sayed Barakat EGY IM 2325 7 40.5 175
Here are all 279 games of the Golden Cleopatra Open 2003 in archived CBV
fomat (36 KB) and as a zipped PGN
file (68 KB).
During the tournament we asked the organisers whether we could get some pictures,
not just of the players but of the country in which they were playing. After
all how many tournaments are held in Egypt? There was no reply, until after
the tournament was over. Today we received the following "report"
(should we call it an essay, a cultural monograph, a picture tour guide?) from
Mohamed El-Zahaby, one of the organisers of the tournament. At the end of this
treatise you will find pictures of the playes and the chess – if you are
still interested in such mundane affairs.
Ancient Egypt
Pharonic Egypt started around 3000 B.C. It became a united country under the
rule of the Pharaoh Narmer and lasted till about 300 A.D. The last Pharaoh was
a Roman emperor named Garerius. So as a civilization, Ancient Egypt flourished
for more then 3000 years.
Let me tell you a little about the land we are going to visit. It was the perfect
place for one of the worlds greatest civilizations to take root. The geography
around the Nile Valley provided one of the most important factors in the longevity
and productivity of the culture. Surrounding the peaceful Nile valley were impenetrable
obstacles that protected the Egyptians far better then any army could. To the
east, invaders would have to cross mountains and the Red Sea, on the west there
were cliffs that gave way to a large expanse of desolate and barren desert.
They were vulnerable only from the north and the south. From the north by way
of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai Peninsula and from the south via the
Nile itself.
This protection gave the Egyptians perhaps the single most important element
in building a great and powerful civilization... time. Time to learn agriculture
and animal husbandry. Time to develope a code of laws to live by, and deities
to worship. And time to create art, a beautifully written language, music and
dance.
The Nile River, along which most of the people of Egypt lived, stretches more
then 4000 miles, but the Egyptians only knew about 1000 miles of it, and that
was at the height of their empire. Along the river there is a thin ribbon of
land that was nourished by the annual flooding of the Nile, it is lush, and
many crops were crown there. The ribbon varies from a couple miles wide in some
places and nonexistent in others. The Egyptians called this place Kemet "the
black land" because of the richness of the soil. This is the land where
Osiris taught mankind to be civilized. This is Egypt.
Egypt from Space
View of Egypt and adjacent countries photographed by the Apollo 17 astronauts
on their trip to the Moon. (9 December, 1972)
Panoramic view from a Space Shuttle of the entire Sinai Peninsula and the nearby
Nile Delta. The Suez Canal, at the top of the scene just to the right of the
Delta, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez on the west side
of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba is on the west where they both
flow into the Red Sea. (13 October, 1984)
The Nile Delta contains some of the richest farm land in the world. The capital
city of Cairo is at the apex of the delta. Giza, home of the Great Pyramid,
is just to the left of the city of Cairo and the Suez Canal is just to the right
of the delta. The large dark patch in the lower left is the Faiyum Oasis. Photographed
by a Space Shuttle crew with the aft end of the shuttle in view. (13 October,
1984)
When this photograph was taken during the STS-56 mission of the Space Shuttle
Discovery, the crew was about to capture an astronomy satellite (gold object)
above the Nile River Valley. This view reveals the landscapes of the Sinai and
the Gulf of Suez on the right. The Nile River Valley and the base of the delta
dominate the scene, while the leaf-like appearance of the Faiyum Oasis is clearly
seen to the west of the Nile. The city of Cairo is at the base of the delta.
The photograph's coverage extends to just south of the town of Asyut. (17 April,
1993)
The waters of Lake Nasser back up behind the Aswan High Dam in this Space Shuttle
view. The dam is just visible at the top of the picture. (8 August, 1992). The
controversial dam was built to provide cheap hydroelectric power and to regulate
the historically uneven flow of the Nile River.
Philea
South of the city of Aswan lies the beautiful temple complex of Philae (pronounced
"feel-i"). Its main temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis and its
construction was undertaken during the third century B.C. Philae was the last
bastion of ancient Egyptian religion and hieroglyphic usage. It is also a superb
example of threatened cultural heritage being saved in the face of modern civilization's
march to change the environment.
The island of Philae and its temples came under threat at the turn of the century
when the British erected the Aswan Dam at the First Cataract. Philae began to
spend some of its time beneath the backed-up flood waters of the Nile. The Dam
was progressively raised in the following decades, but the final nail in the
coffin for the island of Philae came with the construction of the Aswan High
Dam in the 1960s. The temples were destined to disappear forever beneath the
river's waters.
Fortunately, Philae was saved from drowning. In 1977, a coffer dam was constructed
around the temples and the water was pumped out. Then the temples were carefully
dismantled with every block assigned a number and its position noted. A nearby
higher island called Agilkai was modified to resemble Philae and the temples
were resembled. In 1980, Philae was once again opened to the public.
Today, Philae is one of the highlights of any visit to Aswan. To reach it,
one can take an organised excursion booked through a travel agent or hotel.
Alternatively, take a taxi to the boat landing at Shellal on the east side of
the old Aswan Dam. From there, a short boat trip can be arranged to the island.
If time permits, a night visit for the Sound and Light Show is very worthwhile
as the temples look stunning under floodlights. Shows are presented in English,
French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Arabic. The language and time
schedule should be checked before going.
Ancient Egyptian Lives
Our knowledge of everyday life in ancient Egypt has been derived largely from
depictions on the walls of tombs and other written records, including thousands
of fragments of limestone (ostraka) from the New Kingdom which include letters,
legal matters and student writing exercises. Here we look at some of the information
gleaned from both these sources and artefacts.
Food producers
Many
Old Kingdom tombs at Saqqara depict scenes of activities such as hunting, fishing
and cattle herding. Small sculptures from the Old Kingdom also depict various
activities such as bread and beer making.
By the Middle Kingdom, some tombs contained wooden models of servants working
in granaries, baking bread, ploughing fields and sailing boats. One major wooden
model in the Cairo Museum shows a landowner seated under a canopy with his officials
as his stock are paraded past him (right).
Other models illustrate workers weaving and fishing with nets suspended between
boats.
In the New Kingdom tombs of officials and craftsmen, scenes often show fields
being harvested, followed by the winnowing and threshing of grain.
Scribes are sometimes depicted in such scenes noting the quantities of grain
for the purpose of taxation. In return, the administration oversaw the construction
of irrigation canals and dykes to make best use of the annual flooding of the
Nile.
Grape-picking is shown in some paintings and the tomb of Sennefer, an 18th-dynasty
mayor of Thebes (modern Luxor), has a large part of its ceiling painted to depict
vines and clusters of grapes. Grapes were eaten and also used for wine production,
the best quality coming from the Delta region.
Many types of vegetables were included in the diet, some being onions, garlic,
melons and peas. They also ate plenty of fish, ducks, pigeons, geese and quail.
Fishermen
used nets and fishing hooks (right) that would not look out of place in a modern
fishing tackle shop. Fish were much more plentiful in the Nile than they are
today.
To keep themselves going, the Egyptians liked beer and bread made from barley
and emmer wheat.
Craftsmen
Some of our present knowledge of the ancient crafts of boat building and sculpturing
comes from wall paintings, as well as actual preserved examples of boats and
partially completed statues.
Various
tradesmen were required to meet the demand for manufacturing furniture and other
items for both the home and the tomb, the house of eternity. While Egyptian
houses were sparsely furnished, the standard of work seen in surviving furniture
from wealthy tombs can be very high.
Carpenters used saws, wooden mallets, chisels and a tool called an adze for
carving wood, as seen at left in an ancient model of a workshop in the Cairo
Museum.
Egypt's craftsmen also produced statues, amulets and various other items from
bronze. One preserved illustration shows the production of a stone statue of
a pharaoh by men involved in polishing the stone, painting and carving hieroglyphs.
Superb gold and silver work has been found that has been worked to perfection
by jewellers. They also made necklaces containing elements made of faience (a
glazed material) that were molded to look like flowers, leaves and fruit. Men
and women often wore large decorative earrings.
Artists painted some beautiful scenes in tombs but, like sculptors, they were
mainly anonymous craftsmen rather than artists producing art for art's sake.
Very few names of artists survive, although the style of someone's work is sometimes
recognisable to experts.
Dwellings
Whilst temples, the houses of the gods, were built of stone to last, the homes
of ancient Egyptians were made of mud-brick – even the palace of the pharaoh – as these were not intended to last forever. Supports for the roof were in
the form of palm logs and wood was usually used for doorways.
Houses
in the towns could be multi-storey to make the most of limited land. Homes would
have been sparsely furnished. Some of the country villas of the rich were equipped
with gardens and a decorative pool in which sweet-smelling lotus flowers would
grow. The pool also was stocked with fish from the Nile. Palm trees would have
provided welcome shade in the hot summers.
At the site of Deir el-Medina (right) in Upper Egypt, one can see the lower
walls and preserved layout of a New Kingdom village. It was inhabited by the
workers who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Personal appearance and health
With
the dry and dusty conditions often encountered in Egypt, appearance and cleanliness
were important. Hair was often kept short and wigs made of human hair would
be worn for special occasions.
Bronze mirrors were used when applying makeup. The one on the left has a handle
with the image of the goddess Hathor.
Examples of cosmetic containers, such as the one on the right, survive from
tombs.
Kohl, an eye-paint made from powdered galena (lead ore), and green copper oxide,
was used around the eyes and applied with an applicator stick.
Clothing was generally in the form of simple linen tunics which were woven
very finely. Their light nature was ideal for the hot climate. Sandals were
made from plaited palm leaves.
Doctors were well respected in ancient Egypt and surgeons used various knives,
tweezers and needles. Surviving medical papyri list many treatments for ailments
suffered by the Egyptians. Honey was often applied to wounds, however, not all
treatments sound like they would have made one feel better. For example, swallowing
a dead mouse to cure a bad cough may have been slightly off-putting!
Time to play
Children had toys to play with and some of the surviving examples would give
much pleasure to young children today. Toys included dolls, spinning tops and
some that had moving parts operated with a string, e.g. cats or crocodiles with
moving jaws.
The
Egyptians enjoyed games, including a board game called senet. Examples of senet
survive in the form of rectangular boxes on top of which are 30 squares, some
of which were meant to represent hazards. Small draws in the box contained the
gaming pieces.
The game of Senet was played by two people, either on the top of a box with
inlaid squares, as shown here, or on grids scratched into a stone surface. Players
threw knuckle-bones or throw-sticks to determine their moves. Some squares represented
bad luck and others good
Tut-Ankh-Amun's tomb was well equipped with senet board games – he may have
intended to spend a lot of time playing!
Various playing pieces for ancient Egyptian gamesfortune.
Ball games also were popular as they are with children in modern Egypt. The
game involved going piggy-back and throwing the balls.
The gameboard of Tut-Ankh-Amun
Date: New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. Material: Gilded Ebony,
Ivory
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Senet or "passing" was an extremely popular game among ancient Egyptians,
royalty as well as laymen. It also assumed a religious connotation as it began
to symbolize the passage of the deceased through the netherworld. This derived
from the game's main goal as the two players would each try to advance their
own pieces, while blocking or eliminating those of the opponent's as determined
by the sticks or dice thrown before each move. The gaming board itself had 30
spaces on the rectangular board. This one above is the largest of four boards
found in Tut-Ankh-Amun's tomb. The gaming pieces belong to the smaller ones as
the larger pieces were stolen by tomb robbers.
Music
Music was obviously enjoyed, judging by the many paintings of musicians playing
at banquets. Instruments included tambourines, oboes, lutes and harps.
Female dancers and musicians are shown in some New Kingdom paintings wearing
only their jewellery.
Music and song would have played a large role in the rituals of temples in
ancient Egypt.
Islamic Egypt
Cairo – Tombs of the Mamelukes
Arabic Museum, Cairo
The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan (left) and the al-Rifâ`î-Masjid
(right)
View of the qibla wall (Sultan Hasan Masjid)
Khan el-Khalili
How could a market in Egypt be responsible for the founding of the United States?
Khan el-Khalili, once known as the Turkish bazaar during the Ottoman period,
is now usually just called the 'Khan', and the names of it and the Muski market
are often used interchangeably to mean either. Named for the great Caravansary,
the market was built in 1382 by the Emir Djaharks el-Khalili in the heart of
the Fatimid City. Together with the al-Muski market to the west, they comprise
one of Cairo's most important shopping areas.
But more than that, they represent the market tradition which established Cairo
as a major center of trade, and at the Khan, one will still find foreign merchants.
Perhaps, this very market was involved in the spice monopoly controlled by the
Mamluks, which encouraged the Europeans to search for new routes to the East
and led Columbus, indirectly, to discover the Americas!
During its early period, the market was also a center for subversive groups,
often subject to raids before the Sultan Ghawri rebuilt much of the area in
the early 16th century. Regardless, it was trade which caused Cairo's early
wealth, even from the time of the Babylon fort which was often a settlement
of traders.
Lots of colorful brass
Egyptian Museum
On the 6th day of the tournament the players visited the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo, which containes the greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the
world. It is a place of true discovery and, even after many visits, one continues
to make new and delightful discoveries.
To be sure, the museum can be daunting in the sheer numbers of its antiquities
on show, but there is an order within its layout and it is a dream come true
for anyone wanting to study Egyptian antiquities.
The museum's ground floor follows the history of ancient Egypt. Upon entering
through the security check in the building, one looks toward the atrium and
the rear of the building with many items on view – from sarcophagi and boats
to enormous statues.
Upstairs on the first floor (i.e.second level) are thousands of smaller items
from the span of Egyptian history. Of course, everybody wants to see the treasures
from Tutankhamun's tomb – these occupy a large area along almost two side of
the upper floor. Chariots, gloves, jewellery, the famous mask – many of the
antiquities from his tomb are displayed here.
Tutankhamun's Innermost Coffin
Tutankhamun's tomb contained four gilded shrines nested one inside the other.
All four of these shrines are on display in the museum. They are lined up in
order of decreasing size. The innermost of these covered a stone sarcophagus
which remains in the tomb.
Inside the stone sarcophagus were three coffins – the innermost being made
of 110 kilograms of solid gold. Inside that lay the pharaoh himself wearing
the famous gold mask (at right). Tutankhamun remains in his tomb to this day.
Pictures from the tournament
The winner, 44-year-old Latvian GM Edivns Kengis
Top scorer Essam El Gindy from Egypt, receiving his prize
GM Igors Rausis, 42, from Latvia
GM Spartak Vysochin, 28, from the Ukraine
Egyptian player Ali Farhat
WGM Anna Zozulia, 23, from the Ukraine
GM Vadim Malakhatko, 26, from the Ukraine
GM Tony Kosten, 44, England
Dutch GM Harmen Jonkman, 28, who makes our tournament
calendar
IM Ranko Szuhanek, 28, from Romania
Players in front of the Golden Cleopatra logo
IM Mihai Grunberg, 27, from Romania
