An Easter Miscellany
Easter readings, and a little chess, too.
If you’re a Western Christian, Christ is risen! If Orthodox, especially Greek Orthodox, Christos anesti! I generally post some Christian links every Easter, and this year will not be different.
First, something amusing. For a half-parody of Greek Easter, you’ll get a laugh out of this.
Second, something that is read in Orthodox Easter (Pascha) services every year is St. John Chrysostom’s Paschal Sermon. “Chrysostom” is not a last name; it’s an epithet that means “golden-mouthed”, given on account of his prowess as a preacher. Enjoy this brief sermon, which still reads well more than 1600 years later, and should bring encouragement to Christians of all branches and denominations, and to the curious, too.
Third: Speaking of Greeks (and Romans), here’s an interesting piece contrasting the “heroism” of Christian civilization with what came before, using the epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as a point of departure. As the historian Tom Holland has noted in Dominion, the morality of the Greco-Roman world is one very few of us would want to experience.
Fourth, for those who are less familiar with Christian thought. In the broader societal context it seems that Christmas is the most important Christian holiday - I was under that impression as a child - but it’s not. As George Weigel notes here, “Easter faith is that conviction on which the entire edifice of Christianity is built. Without Easter, nothing makes sense and Jesus is a false prophet, even a maniac.”
Fifth: This leads to an obvious question for those who aren’t believers: why buy it? A new book by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious offers an interesting apologetic. Most of the book defends the thesis of the subtitle - that one should be religious for both rational reasons and because it matters to one’s life, and that the best options for one’s religious pursuit are the major world religions. He concludes with a defense of his Roman Catholic Christianity, but there is no “hard sell”; indeed, he recommends that one start with the faith that is “closest” to where one is at the moment or that seems initially most plausible upon reading the book. Highly recommended.
Sixth: Here’s an article I’ve often recommended, here and elsewhere, a defense by Lydia & Tim McGrew of the rationality of belief in the resurrection of Jesus. That’s the event upon which Christianity either stands or falls; they make the case - surprise, surprise! - that it stands. Bonus: Here’s Lydia’s YouTube channel.
On to chess:
USCF Master and science writer (not necessarily in that order) Dana Mackenzie has written a new book based on some of his favorite blog posts. Entitled Did You Come Here to Play Chess or to Have Fun?, it looks like an entertaining and accessible work for those looking for an enjoyable read that doesn’t need to be “instructive”. (Though you might learn something anyway if you’re not careful.)
Tyler Cowen is an economist well-known for his Marginal Revolution blog, and he’s also an FM who won the New Jersey State Championship when he was just 15. Here are some of his brief reflections on his short career, and another post on his time as a chess instructor.
Grenke Classic: Magnus Carlsen won the last “Freestyle” (Chess960/Fischerrandom) event last week, defeating Hikaru Nakamura in the final, and now he’s leading another Chess960 event - this one an open tournament. He has 7/7 in the Grenke Open, a point ahead of Rauf Mamedov and Andrey Esipenko. Among those chasing from a greater distance are Leinier Dominguez, Vincent Keymer, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Niemann, and a number of other elite players you might scold me for omitting. The guy’s a beast.
Coming events: It’s not all Chess960 from now until the real Armageddon. Starting at the end of this week a Grand Chess Tour rapid & blitz tournament takes place in Warsaw, Poland. Unfortunately, quite a few of the absolute top players won’t be there, but with Praggnanandhaa R., Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and the intriguing up-and-comer Chihambaram Aravindh and others - including “old man” Veselin Topalov - it should still be plenty interesting. The week after that ends there will be another, even stronger GCT event, this time in classical chess, in Bucharest, Romania. The field for that tournament includes the World Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, Fabiano Caruana, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov as well as Pragg, Aronian, MVL, etc.