2 September 1973 – 50th anniversary of the death of J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted on 2 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the 50 anniversary of the death of J.R.R. Tolkien.

I owe a great deal to Tolkien, whose books formed a major foundation of my world view and my eventual life-choices.

The news of his death hit me hard, since I had a brief correspondence with him. My grandmother knew of my great interest, so she said, “Write him a letter!” I did. He responded. He took the time to write back to a American teenager, not even,  I was 12. I received the last letter from him, an aerogram (remember those?) a week after his death. In it he said that he couldn’t write much because he was about to go on holiday and the car was waiting. He died that night.

The older I get, the more I see in his works. They are gifts that keep giving. He was a great Catholic gentleman, scholar, and teacher.

Dear readers, if you have not read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, please do. Then The Silmarillion awaits.

Set aside the bad influence of the movies.   They got soooo much just plain wrong, apart from well…

Meanwhile, Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society posted this:

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Daily Rome Shot 781 – Wherein Fr. Z rants

Posted on 2 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Nice for Saturday!

Thanks to The Great Roman™!

The wonderful Benedictine monks of Le Barroux make great wine from the ancient vineyards of the Avignon popes. You can have some.  Get some and help them.  Win. Win.

Use FATHERZ10 at checkout

White to move and mate in 3.

Bobby Fischer v. Bent Larsen (Portoroz 1958)

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

As described at chess.com, the Champions Chess Tour 2023 (CCT) is “a massive chess circuit combining the best features of previous Champions Chess Tour editions with the Chess.com Global Championship. The tour comprises six events spanning the entire year and culminating in live in-person Finals.  With the very best players in the world and a $2,000,000 prize fund, the CCT is Chess.com’s most important event to date.”

Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana were eliminated on Friday in Armageddon deciders. Magnus Carlsen defeated Alireza Firouzja who drops down to the “fight to the death” bracket where Denis Lazavik and Nodirbek Abdusattorov will play and the winner will then tackle Firouzja. In Division 2 Ian won and Levon didn’t. In Div 3: Shakh and Bok won.

I just returned from Saturday morning OTB.  I got there a little late and had only two games, the first which I won by a spiffy tactic that lead to massive simplification in which I emerged with 2 rooks against my opponents lonely knight.  Pawns equal, but not for long and he resigned.  In the second game, with a long knight v bishop and two pawns each end game, I stumbled into a fork and I was “done”.  Those knights… are hoppy and forky.

Returning home, I found I was famished.  Famished also for a good museum.  I haven’t been to the Met for several years, so I arranged a virtual visit from old photos.  I shoot lots of photos in museums for, inter alia, this reason.  Hence, not having the chance to munch a hot dog with kraut and mustard before mounting the museum steps…

I would have gotten a sandwich from Pastrami Queen on Lex to enjoy in the park before going into the Met, but sometimes a hot dog will do.

Before I picked up this book (below), I checked my hand for yellow mustard.   Something newish from Peter Kwasniewski, which I have not yet delved into.  I like to read a good portion before recommending, but, considering the author and publisher (TAN) how bad can it be, right? o{];¬)

My old pastor Msgr. Schuler (a world-level authority and “activist” in the realm of Sacred Music after the Council) used to say that for music to be suitable for liturgical worship, it had to be both a) sacred and b) artistic.  Sacred in the sense of the musical idiom and the texts set.  Art in the sense of being both good (and, no, beauty is not just in the ear of the hearer or the eye of the beholder) and well-performed.    Think about those criteria and apply them to what you hear in most churches.

There’s a lot of chatter today from the papalotrous fanatics that anything that doesn’t adhere to their selective application of the secret knowledge only they possess about the true mean of “the Council”, then you are obviously against the Council.   Just on the point of music, I would shoot back SC 116 and then watch them choke on their own abundant spittle froth.

If parishes aren’t praying with Gregorian chant, if bishops and priests aren’t fostering Gregorian chant, SIXTY years after the Council, then it is THEY who are 60 years out of step with the Council.  The Council mandated Gregorian chant as having the first place in liturgical music in the strongest terms.   Wiping away some of the spittle, the fanatics will fight back.

“But Father! But Father!”, the fanatics will squeak, “The Council Fathers in Sacrosanctum Concilium talk about the use of other kinds of music and they provide for welcome flexibility which is obviously what the Holy Spirit wants.  And it doesn’t make any difference what the mere ink says in the documents as published!  The real message of the Council is between the words… in the change of tone from all the other Councils.  It’s a tone of welcoming and diversity, toleration that is also acceptance and then obliga… er… um… It’s the tone and the SPIRIT of the Council that chooses our welcoming music by drawing it forth from the community and it becomes the manifestory invitingness growing by walking together in … the … peripheries of … non-pastoreal … innovation and isn’t… IDEOLOGY!  But you …  If you don’t like our music then YOOOOU
HATE VATICAN II!”

You know, it’s the usual spittle-flecked nutty that results when you point out that they are little more than cracked Gnostics.

None of the provisions in SC 116 for other types of music eliminate or supersede or mitigate what SC 116 says.  We don’t have to justify the use of Gregorian chant.  The Church has done that for us.  Everyone who doesn’t learn it and use it must justify the use of something other than Gregorian chant.

I digress.

Good Music, Sacred Music, and Silence: Three Gifts of God for Liturgy and for Life

US HERE – UK HERE

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The Kids Are Old Rite by “Quis”

Posted on 2 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the official Parodohymnodist, inspired by this:

The Kids Are Old Rite by “Quis”

I don’t mind a little Latin in my Mass,
that’s fine, in fact it gives a little gravitas,
But to turn to the altar with candles alight,
seems to draw families in, the kids are Old Rite.
the kids are Old Rite.

Sometimes, I think the revolution’s lost,
bells chime, and burlaps banners all are tossed,
and I shed a few tears for those lost wasted years
‘Cuz despite all we’ve done, the kids are Old Rite
the kids are Old Rite

I know I should go to the Lord and confess,
for the plans that we laid have just made a big mess.

I don’t mind some incense and a little lace,
But these kids are turning up in every place,
if you shut down one Old Mass, there’s five other sites,
best to leave them alone, the kids are Old Rite
the kids are Old Rite.

Sometimes, I worry that the Council’s failed,
our Spes, and our Gaudium have been derailed,
then I read all the texts, and it’s in black and white,
the kids are the future, and they’re all Old Rite
the kids are Old Rite
the kids are Old Rite
the kids are Old Rite

Are you of an age that you do not know the song whence this is derived?

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SOME RECENT POSTS OF INTEREST AND COMMENTS, THANKS

Posted on 1 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Check out YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Here are some interesting older posts.

BOOK NOTE: An exciting development is the NEW translation of St. Augustine’s Confessions by Anthony Esolen.  This will be released soon by TAN.

US HERE – UK HERE

I am so very grateful to all of you who have sent things from my wishlist, for example CG who sent a rake and shovel for work I have to do.  Some things on the list are a “lighter fare” (it’s a “wish list”, after all) and some are not (it’s also a “needs list”). CG often sends tools and the like, though he also once sent some “precious” books.  I save the gift slips and try to keep them with the item, if practical, so I remember to say a Hail Mary for whomever sent it.  HOWEVER, sometimes items come without the gift slips.  That’s the only reason I wouldn’t write a thank you note.  Also, there are a few people whose emails are either full or rejecting notes, so I can’t get a note through to you.   Donations usually strike me like, “X, Okay, I can get a hair cut today!” (yesterday), “X. Yay! I can go to the priests’ conference!” (last month) “X. Get the neighbor’s lawn mowed while he is in the hospital” (Tuesday) “X.  Time to get the septic system taken care of” (Yes, that really happened this week.)  “X. Something for savings.”  “X.  More protein and fewer carbs at the grocery.”  Also, one of you kindly reached out and sent my mother a microwave.  Hers had died.  It is installed and running.  She was so happy for it.  And, for those who might recall mom’s recovery is going well, though slowly.

For my monthly and ad hoc donors… what can I say?  As always, please know that I often say Masses for the intentions of my benefactors.

Speaking of that, I received a note that one of my longtime readers and a monthly donor LB passed away.  She had continued the monthly donation that her husband, WB, had set up a long time ago.  He passed away last year.  I’ve kept their names on my day-of-the-month records of regular donors and I will continue to pray for them and remind other monthly donors to do so also.  Death does not remove you from my prayer list.  It seals you on it.

Finally, you who have remained as faithful “200!” and “100!” donors.  Thank you.  When I see that indication, it’s a morale boost.

One month from today, I set foot in Rome again for a while.  What my time there does for me is hard to explain, but – there – I can be more normally who and what I am.  It’s a tremendous gift and I thank you.  While I’m there I try extra hard to give you the good stuff.   I’ll try NOT to get dragged down by “walking together”, which will eventually be in full swing.  Pray that “something” happens and I can find a regular, affordable place there and get something going.  I’m invoking Ven. Mary Ward, St. Philip Neri, and especially St. Joseph.  Mary Ward has an amazing story.  I think she understands well my situation and will intercede for me.  And she lived when she was in Rome precisely in the area that is my adoptive neighborhood.

I think we all sense that the Church and her faithful are on the cusp of some rougher than usual times.  My belief is that the Church must undergo a Passion, just her Divine Spouse did.  It seems to be coming on, not just from the outside, but from the inside, which also makes sense.  If there was a Sanhedrin, there was also a Judas (1/12th of the bishops).

That said, of all the universes God could have created, He created this one, into which He called us into existence at exactly the right point in time and with exactly the right set of tools to carry out our little piece of His overarching, divine Plan. If we dedicate ourselves to our state in life, as it is hic et nunc, here and now, God will give us all the actual graces we need to fulfill our part in His economy of salvation. It is an honor to have been called by God to live in these difficult times.  WE are the team He has assembled for His purposes hic et nunc.  Fidelity and the pursuit of His will bring greater graces than if our paths were smooth.   We all have our mysterious roles.  Therefore, I consider it an honor to be supported by so many of you in both material means and in spiritual uplifting.  I will try to do my part well for you in return.

Meanwhile, forgive me, but I really have to do undertake this indignity from time to time.


Some options




If you are looking for alternatives to PayPal, try Zelle (which most US banks offer) and Wise (wise.com) which is also terrific for international operations, though it takes a bit to set up. There are other options too, slower, but reliable.

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A “Potemkin Synod” (“fake walking together”)

Posted on 1 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Run don’t walk to read a piece by a chap of whom I had not heard just a few short months ago.

Larry Chapp has a great piece on the great façade of the upcoming Synod on Synodality (“Walking together about Walking together-ity”).    He calls it a “Potemkin” Synod (“walking together”).

Young people or those of you from Columbia Heights might not be familiar with terms like “Potemkin village” (or “Manchurian candidate”…  let that rest).  A Potemkin village is a fake construction to make people think the situation is better than it is.  It comes from a story about Gregory Potemkin, a lover of Russian Empress Catherine II who had fake villages which were just facades constructed along their travel route to give a false impression that all was well.    In the sphere of debate one might think of “straw man” arguments.  You set up a false point and then knock it down while claiming a victory.

Here’s the piece at CWR by Larry Chapp… or just samples…

The false front is showing on this Potemkin Synod

The meaning of the Synod for many of its proponents is the elimination, or radical alteration, of “structures of exclusion,” chief among them the Church’s traditional natural law moral theology as exemplified in Veritatis Splendor. [KABOOM]

The Synod on Synodality is just around the corner in October and already one can feel the excitement building among rank-and-file Catholics for what promises to be the first time the Church has ever really listened to them. At least, that is what synodal cheerleaders like Austen Ivereigh and Massimo Faggioli are breathlessly announcing, claiming that the Holy Spirit has finally broken through the cracks in the ecclesial sidewalk and is ushering in a new era of “being Church”.

Never mind that only 1-2% of Catholics worldwide participated in the listening sessions. Never mind that the potted-questions they were handed were not the result of the scientific, well-established protocols for poll taking or opinion gathering. Instead, they were the product of ecclesiastics out of their depth and who thus framed leading questions such as: “What is your experience of exclusion and inclusion in the Church?”

[…]

Many of these Catholics feel thrown under the bus by this papacy as they struggle to raise their children in the pornified cultural septic tank, seeking to live by the Church’s moral and liturgical traditions—only to be scolded for their alleged “nostalgia” and rigidity. And, quite frankly, this angers me deeply since it is so manifestly inaccurate and unfair, and therefore lacking in charity.

But this should not be surprising since a Potemkin Synod requires a Potemkin villain as its putative foil. And so the call has gone out for a more inclusive Church in order to overcome the dragon of judgmental, finger-wagging, moralizing Catholicism which, apparently, has morality bouncers in the vestibule making people feel bad about themselves. However, this is certainly not the pastoral reality in the vast majority of parishes. The truth is actually the opposite, with empty Confession lines while the Communion lines are full.

Where is this “rigid” Catholicism of which the Pope speaks so often? Answer: it exists only in small and insignificant pockets, and therefore the bogeyman of moralistic Catholicism is just that: a fiction. But it is a useful Potemkin fiction meant to deflect from the deeper reality of the aims of the Synod by its most ardent supporters.

Meanwhile, so-called “Pride” Masses proliferate without the same kinds of punitive sanctions levied against traditionalists. And some European bishops are now beginning the liturgical blessing of same-sex “unions” without a peep from Rome. The Pope has made James Martin, SJ, a voting member of the synod and made Cardinal Hollerich—a prelate who has openly called the Church’s teaching on homosexuality to be wrong—the Relator General of the Synod.

Allowing such folks to have their say and even elevating them to positions of authority is already telling enough. But when one also sanctions more conservative voices at the same time the clear impression is given that this is a strange form of “inclusion” indeed. And when one couples this strangeness with the message of prelates like Cardinal McElroy—a papal favorite—a clear picture begins to emerge as to what is really meant by the “inclusion of everyone” mantra.

[…]

Posted in The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, What are they REALLY saying?, You must be joking! | Tagged ,
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Diocese of Orange: TLM cancelled

Posted on 1 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Remember, that the attacks on the Traditional Latin Mass are really attacks on the PEOPLE who desire it.

I received this from a reader…

How might one respond to this letter?   How about something like this.

Dear Father Quang,

Thank you so much for your letter of August 25, 2023. I am saddened by your decision and that of Bishop Vann, and will regrettably be forced to have the spiritual and liturgical needs of my family met elsewhere. Considering the added distance to St. Michael’s Abbey and the cost of fuel, I’m sure you will understand that my past financial contributions to the parish and the diocese will need to be curtailed. My family will also no longer be available to participate in the apostolates and programs which we have enjoyed these past many years. I hope you will be able to find volunteers to replace us.

I hope that one day you and Bishop Vann, as well as the authorities in the Holy See come to an understanding and appreciation of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on the apostolic authority of the bishop in governing his diocese (see Christus Dominus) and the rights of the faithful to seek and obtain reasonable liturgical and sacramental service from their local Church (see Sacrosanctum Concilium and Lumen gentium). Until that time, please know of my fervent prayers for you.

Sincerely,

Traditionis custodes is a manifestation of self-conscious defensive cruelty.

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Daily Rome Shot 780 – Remember: it’s a 1st Friday and the beginning of September

Posted on 1 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Photo by The Great Roman™

BTW… thanks to AFC for the monthly donations via Zelle.  I’ve tried writing thank you notes but they’ve been “undeliverable” (@charter.net).

Also, please in your goodness remember in your prayers Laura B, a long time reader, who died recently.  Her husband William, who died last year, and she were monthly donors.  I am very grateful for their support and I will remember them in my prayers monthly on the day their donations once came.

Meanwhile,…  white to move and win.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

This is great… My reaction…. “Ummm… yeah. What he said!”

And just because…

Yesterday in the Julius Baer Generation Cup, part of the Champion Chess Tour (lots of money at the end, $2 million prize fund) Magnus defeated Fabi and, alas, Alireza defeated Wesley.  Those two drop to the second bracket where they still have a chance if they simply win all the time and fight their way back from “underneath” to the final.  Also still on the winners side are Nodirbek, Nepo, Levon, Shakhriyar and Sam Sevian.

In game 2 against Fabi, Magnus played the Norwegian Rat Defense.  Really.  1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.e5 Nh5 4.Be2 d6 White didn’t develop a piece until move 9!

I didn’t know there was such a thing as the Norwegian Rat Defense.

The knockout tournament continues Friday 1 September 1 at 11:00 ET, 17:00 CEST

 

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SEPTEMBER: Our Lady of Sorrows – Think “rhomphaia”

Posted on 1 September 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This image of Mary is found in the the Basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome.

The month of September is traditionally a time for meditation on and veneration of Our Lady of Sorrows.   15 September, the day next to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, is the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Back in 2019 I published here Our Lady of Sorrows Project.

In the 12th c. German Benedictines began to develop the devotion of Our Lady in her moments of sorrow. In the 13th c, the Servite Order, founded near Florence, made the sorrows of Mary a central dimension of their devotion. They developed, among other things, a kind of rosary and a Black Scapular dedicated to Our Lady’s sorrows. Over the centuries Mary has been depicted not just as the Mother holding her dead Son, Pietà, but also as having seven swords, one for each moment of sorrow attested in Scripture and tradition, piercing her breast. Alternatively, you see her surrounded with images of those moments.

What are the traditional Seven Sorrows?

The Seven Sorrows

  • The prophecy of Simeon. (Luke 2:34–35)
  • The flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-23)
  • The loss of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:43–45)
  • Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary. (Tradition)
  • The Crucifixion of Jesus. (Matthew 27:34–50, Mark 15:23–37, Luke 23:33–46, John 19:18–30)
  • The Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Deposition. (John 19:34)
  • The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea. (Matthew 27:57–61, Mark 15:43–47, Luke 23:50–53, John 19:40–42)

The foundation of the devotion is in the first of the Sorrows, when ancient Simeon foreshadowed what Mary would “treasure in her heart”.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”

The word for “sword” here in Greek is rhomphaia which can be a large sword but is more accurately a curved blade on a short staff, slung on the back, used in close combat by Thracians.

Ancient reliefs show it to be almost like a Japanese odachi, though the odachi is a bit long. Interestingly, the odachi eventually was not used for battle, but became an exceptional temple offering. In any event, Luke uses the odd rhomphaia rather than machaira, the shorter sword of Luke 22:36, which the Lord at the end of the Last Supper instructs His apostles to obtain, the sword which the Lord said he came to bring (Matthew 10:34),  and with which Peter cut the ear of the servant of the High Priest (Matthew 26:52). The machaira is the sharp two-edged sword Paul references when describing the word of God (Heb 4:12).

No, in the Temple Simeon mentions the terrible, large curved slashing, thrusting weapon of a notably savage tribe, the rhomphaia.

This is the sword of awesome images in the book of Revelation, the “son of man” “the Alpha and Omega” in ch. 1 from whose mouth came a sharp rhomphaia, at whose feet John fell. This is the rhomphaia of the rider of the pale horse, Death in Rev 6, with power to slay a fourth of all living things. This is the sword of the rider of the white horse, Faithful and True, whose robe was dipped in blood, the Word of God, followed by the hosts of heaven (Rev 19).

To pierce with the rhomphaia, you would need to raise your arms high to thrust downward or, more horribly, keep them low to thrust upward, under the ribs, where the Lord was physically conceived, and into the heart, where He was spiritually conceived.

How terrible were the sorrows that pierced the “soul”, the “psyche”, the seat of feelings and desires, “the heart” of Mary?

Think rhomphaia.

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CWR’s Carl Olson nails it

Posted on 31 August 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At CWR, Carl Olson took on some words of Francis to Portuguese Jesuits – we saw something about that elsewhere – published in La Civiltà Cattolica especially about US “backwardists” and we poor benighted American’s and “ideology”.   Thus, he demonstrates his willingness to dialogue with everyone without a hint of dismissal or, quod Deus avertat, personal insults.

Olson’s opening is just right. My emphases:

Who is really trying to replace doctrine with ideology?

There you go again.” — Ronald Reagan, 1980

Pope Francis, addressing a group of Jesuits recently, said: “When you abandon doctrine in life to replace it with an ideology, you have lost, you have lost as in war.” He is correct. But not, I think, in the way he apparently thinks.

[…]

The timing of the interview is just as notable as the recycled and now all-too-familiar clichés about those who are “rigid,” “go backward,” and are “superficial”. While Spadaro is not very adept at mathematics or theology, he is a crafty operator who is undoubtedly looking toward the upcoming Synod in October in Rome. And I suspect this particular piece is meant to be something of a long stare at any U.S. bishops who might have the temerity to asks difficult questions about the endless process of the Synod on Synodality.

[…]

Olson concludes with:

And yet, ironically, I do take hope in Francis’s remark: “When you abandon doctrine in life to replace it with an ideology, you have lost, you have lost as in war.”

As mentioned before, “ideology” is never defined.  We are left to guess at it what it is coming from someone whose meanings are variable.  However, whatever they are, at moment, they, by gum, are right and – if you know what’s good for you – you will knuckle under and recognize their truthiness.

Meanwhile, “there you go again”!  Carter accused Reagan of being “against health care”, which is the perennial Dem trope, along with, “His party wants old people to eat cat food instead of getting their medication as they are being pushed off the cliff in their wheel chairs.”  Reagan, in fact, supported “health care” but in a different form, a different bill.

In other words Reagan’s opponent painted a picture which was, in effect, a lie.  But if you tell the lie over and over and over and over and over and over and, it eventually punches through people’s incredulity into, first, the realm of the possible, and then the probable, and the “truth” in their meta-universe.  The Big Lie.

Constantly throwing out “indietrismo” without any real basis is the same and it deserves: “There you go again.”  Hence, Olson got it right from the start.

BTW… that Carter/Reagan debate… a turning point… was also when Reagan wrapped up with this famous bit:

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We don’t have much “voting” in the Church – except in the case of radical “walking together”. However, use a little imagination and translate then Gov. Reagan’s speech into today’s ecclesial terms. Are we better off now than we were, say, two years ago? Since 16 July 2021? Are we better off now than, say, 2013?

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Daily Rome Shot 779

Posted on 31 August 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Photo by The Great Roman™

Meanwhile, white to mate in two.  How long did it take you?

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

As for this… this would never have entered my mind. That’s why I am not a super GM. Praggnanandhaa and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Playing blind fold, is one thing. Would playing pieces but without a board be easier?

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

In another tweet, there is a video of kids playing without a board in a chess school in Nigeria. Digging around, “Chess To School” is a non-profit, using the game of chess as a tool to educate children in slums and schools.” They are using chess with juveniles in prison to help them learn self-control, decision making, patience. Kids from slums are not having live online tournaments with, for example, a club in London. Very cool.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing a lot of “house stuff”. The price you pay, right?  At least the price I’ve paid.

So, … Please remember me when shopping online. Thanks in advance. US HERE – UK HERE  These links take you to a generic “catholic” search in Amazon, but, once in and browsing or searching, Amazon remembers that you used my link and I get the credit.

The Julius Baer Generation Cup is the fifth event of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. The tournament, taking place from August 30 to September 3, features three divisions, each a double-elimination knockout, where if you lose one match you drop to a lower bracket and can still win the tournament.  Division 1 played yesterday (8 players).  I am pleased that my guy Wesley So advanced.  So did Magnus, Fabi (barely), and Alireza.  In Division 2 (16), Nepo and Levon went forward.  In D3 (32), Shakhriyar who is always fun to watch.   HERE

Finally, supermoon… did you see it?

UPDATE:

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa aka Pragg went back to India today after his performances in the World Cup in Azerbaijan (2nd) and at the Team Rapid in Germany. This is how he was received at the airport.

 

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