How many classical texts are there?

I've said this before, but we are sure lucky of having the wonderful texts from classical antiquity come down to us. But, lucky, by how much? How many texts do we have? Had I been asked this question not long ago I'd have guessed that maybe around 300, but now I see we much more than that.

Let's see:

Collection	Year Started	Published volumes	Language
Loeb Classical Library	1911	532	English	http://www.hup.harvard.edu/collection.php?cpk=1031
Collection des Universités de France (Collection Budé)	1920	>800	French	http://lesbelleslettres.giantchair.com/collections/?collection_id=17
Bibliotheca Teubneriana	1849	2009 (?!)	German	https://www.degruyter.com/view/serial/36366#
Biblioteca Clásica Gredos	1977	411+	Spanish	http://www.editorialgredos.com/biblioteca_clasica_gredos

There's usually some regret about how much we might have lost (eg from the Library of Alexandria), but I read somewhere that for the texts that were considered valuable, it was made sure to make copies out of them, so we can be confident that not only do we have hundreds of texts, but most belonging of the upper tiers as well.

A defense of the classics

Ancient classics don't really need a defense of mine. This has been taken up by others on better footing and with much better style. The funny thing is that I've not come across said defenses. Since I cannot read one, I decided to pen my own. The immediate incentive came from reading Spencer's What Knowledge is Most Worth, where he shows that at his time, knowledge of the classics was ornamental for the most part. This need not be. Classics are not the dusty tomes you find in hinterlands of libraries that no one wants to read. They are a fountain of fantastic virtues:

• They are quite fun.

• They are readable. This might come to a surprise to some, but the classics are quite readable. For the most part there are some obscure reference to persons and events, but these can be cleared by a good annotated edition, or can be pieced together after a while (Pompey? Who's that? Oh, that one!), or then again many can be just passed over without much loss.

• I read once that English men of the Empire era profited from the classics education in that the texts made them ready to understand other cultures.

• They give examples of shining personalities (both good and bad) from when the world was younger and purer. We've got Socrates and Xerxes and Alexander and Caesar and Cicero and Seneca and so many others.

• They provide a common frame of reference.  These are (should be) known across the world and their most salient aspects can be called upon to make a point or illustrate certain topic.

• They give structure and sense to the world. Our society is built on the persons and history we read out of them.

• Morally interesting.

• Can give a lifetime of enjoyment.

• They are basis to (all) later texts. As explained in the Great Books post, ancient texts a built upon by later writers. So to speak, they are the root of the matter.

• It is a wonder to have them at all. Ever read the Name of The Rose? In a very real sense it a shame to have these survived for millennia and not profit from them.

• They also shed light on biblical times and texts, since the Bible events (I'd say from Ezra on) developed within the very same sphere on which the classical. Plus, the early church fathers grew, thrived, and built on within it.

• You can learn style from them.

Finally,

• You don't have to learn Greek or Latin. These are now translated to all major languages.

The only problem I find for English readers is the apparent lack of a good annotated collection, other than the Loeb Classical Library out there. The Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries appear to be an alternative (I've not flipped through one yet), but each and every title is outrageously expensive.

L'art du faire mat

In one of Danny Kopec's books he makes the comparison of baking a cake with a mate: first you visualize what it would look like, you follow the proper steps, and voila! you get the tasty results. To that end one must know what the fan of possible end results looks like and choose the practical ones for a given situation.  Enter  L'art du faire mat  (The Art of the Checkmate) by french champions by Renaud & Kahn which gives a whole catalog of mating patterns in a readily accessible way.

Each mating pattern is identified by number and, when present, by historical name. Isn't it much better to have these possibilities at one's fingertips, than to try to grasp in the darkness for  half-seen, half-remembered figments? This is what makes  this book  both practical and powerful. All is laid down on the table and the mechanisms laid bare.  Each pattern is also illustrated by stripped down diagram and with sample annotated games showing how each mate can be arrived at.  Interspersed there are 80 exercises of moderate difficulty. On the board the result is that you see what you have before you in a given situation and options readily pop up in your head.

When I first got this book, it was given to me by the owner of my local chess club who would assign it to newcomers as the first one to study. Yet, I'm sure it will benefit anyone who hasn't brushed up on the basics lately.

To make the most of the book, I would recommend you to get a dedicated mate solving book or software. With it you can put to practice what you just learned. One of the more popular ones is Reinfeld's 1001 brilliant ways to mate.

Reinfeld's book is categorized into different broad themes such as sacrificing the Queen, and storming the castled position and the problems themselves are well mixed enough to present a good challenge. Except for the last part, which is formed by composed problems, the book as a whole is a good companion to the Renaud & Kahn.

Here's an idea that you can try for yourself: take the 1001 and after solving each problem, try to equate the mating pattern to the Renaud & Kahn number scheme. I did, and from the start I began to feel how the patterns got a better impression on me, than if I had just read L'art , gave it the thumbs up, and stowed it away. Now I find it is easier to come up with a mating pattern with the material available on the board and call it by name. Oftentimes, the answer for a set situation pops immediately, which, I believe would be the prime objective. Be warned however, that not all Reinfeld's problems can be neatly fit into the Renaud & Kahn's scheme. Other than the regular mating sequences  described R&K, there are other sequences which ultimately result in so basic patterns that the French authors didn't think there while to describe them or that rely on a tactical motif such as a pin or a deflection of a defending piece, and mates that rely on bringing the King to the open chasing it around the board. These last ones, at least for me, are the most devilish and depend much more on the use of force than on regular set patterns. On the whole, the mix feels well balanced and can challenge ambitious lower rated players and refresh more experienced ones.

De-essing part 6: miscellany

Here are some few extra tips for the vinyl de-essing problem. None address the underlying problem but do give some symptom relief. 

Treble

This easy solution does remove the edge of those pesky esses a bit, although it also deadens the playback by reducing brightness; however, my ears tell me there's a net benefit. Also you don't have to turn it all the way down to hear some effect.  Not perfect by any stretch, but the functionality is already there. If your system supports it, EQ control by frequency is better still, because you can isolate the annoying bands more precisely.

Stylus force

This is not really a solution, but may work for some special purpose. Just ramp up the stylus force and you may get a better "read" from the groove. This is not recommended for everyday use however as it will wear out the vinyl in no time.

Get another

Some Lps of your collection are worn out already a no fiddling will get their music to what you remember. Why no just get another? Unless it is some kind of unique item, Ebay and Discogs more often than not will have a good copy around of your favorite album even if its decades old.

Tube amp

Not tried this one myself, but maybe a workaround is going entirely digital with the media and playing it through a tube amp (which I hear they are making a comeback) for the warmth.

Kancolle and history

I admit it. I am one of those persons who rewatch a movie or tv show and hope something different to happen when the set plot doesn't satisfy me. Mostly it is because it is sad or tragic, but always because it stings and when it is real history, specially so. Apparently I'm not alone experiencing this feeling as some others have taken matters into their hands and re-rewritten events of history to take the edge off of what cannot be changed in reality.

Case in point is that of Kantai Collection, or Kancolle for short. In it the characters, or the players in case of the of the game, relive famous events from the Pacific War from the losing Japanese perspective, and allow them to get the outcomes they want. This franchise consists of the flagship game, manga, an anime series and who knows how much else. I'll center my impressions only on the anime as it is the only one I've tried and because, as in case of Koihime Musou, the game looks like an enormous time-waster, despite, or because of its unalloyed fun.

Not to worry: what I've got from the anime is good stuff and quite good. In it the characters embody the spirits of old time Japanese warships and fight the mysterious Abyssals which have risen from the depths to menace the seas. Taken at it's face value, the premise works. But looking through the thin veil the Abyssals can be equated with the US Navy circa 1942 and the protagonists with the Japanese Navy at the time. These last even share the names of the actual ships and some of their historical quirks (poi). Seen this way the the show lends itself for an even richer immersion to the actual historical theater, which leads me to my next point.

Interplanetary fructose

I'm rereading right now Schaub's The Year of No Sugar and it inspired me to write some verses.  What if other races on the comos subsisted on fructose instead of glucose? Here's my Calvin & Hobbes-esque take on it:

So they finally came Set to fulfill their aim Their presence long suspected Narrow-minded for a change In no cultural exchange Were they interested Advanced in technology Pastry cooking and what-not-logy They also loved sweets Tarts and cakes Smoothies and crepes These were their feasts Their biology different (this much was evident) Could only process fructose Scoured for it the universe

Glucose made them fat None of them wanted that Fructose was their stuff of dreams Sugar they knew Was unhealthy to not a few Made them burst their seams Piled their ships with Earth cookies, Soft drinks, candy and licorice All high with high fructose Promised they'd come back No fear of them to attack Peace and sweetness their cause And back they came  No longer tame Their spoils had spoiled Earth's reputation was now soiled

The final couple of verses need some rework, which I'll figure out later. For the actual chemistry check out Schaub's book (Two word summary: avoid fructose!). BTW, the documentary "Fed Up" pairs real well with it.

Chess books: when more isn't

My old chess teacher used to say that of all that has been written throughout history the most belongs to human health. The runner-up is chess. I'm not quite sure about the authenticity of this, but the fact is that chess literature is huge, and if one adds the software that has been published over the last couple decades, the amount of learning material is staggering.

It appears to me that there is a very strong, yet subtle, temptation to assume that drawing more from this fountain of material translates to actual improvement. If you're anything like me your eyes go wide open when you browse that chess section in your local library or online, or looking through a catalog (USCF has one). One wants to just grab a basket, make a list and pile on. Ask around and you're bound to find without too much trouble a person that can have well over a hundred books solely devoted chess. There are even some pretty impressive private chess libraries out there. The biggest in my hometown that I know of had 5000 volumes belonging to a local master. An uncorroborated story I heard is that the Polgar sisters toured it with glee when they  happened by once. (for the record my chess library currently has about two dozen volumes + 7-8 software titles)

Now the problem, as you already know, is that one cannot digest all the material. One has the pure honest intention to read each book right away or 'some day' when one is handing the cash, but somehow one never gets around to it. Sure, some titles do get completed, but the chess library grows even faster. And not to mention non-chess responsibilities have first dibs on one's time. One of the RPPR podcast hosts not long ago said something to the effect that when one buys books, one kinda thinks that one is also acquiring the time to read them. Put another way, there's a famous quote that says that life is too short for chess.

Still, even if we know or suspect that the book won't be read soon, there's an urge to own. A fuzzy feeling wells on oneself by just knowing that we have the title at hand and that their contents can be had at command. A closely related aspect is that of collecting. There's no chance in the completion of this set, but just building the library like a deck of (trading) cards gives a perhaps no small amount of pleasure.

Notable titles are also morale boosters. After playing some player on a tourney he bragged just to see my reaction that he had Dvoretsky's manual. He may have had it, but I doubt that he had actually gone through it and it certainly didn't help him on that game. Remember how in one of the Calvin & Hobbes strips Calvin tells Hobbes he wears branded shirts because it gives him the psychological advantage of believing he is sponsored? I find that likewise having chess books gives you the psychological advantage of believing you've read them (same idea with owing the Great Books).

Of course it doesn't really work that way. My high school physics teacher once told us of certain student that had the most basic of calculators and how he routinely got better grades than those who had space-age ones with all the bells and whistles.

In closing I'd like to take the opportunity and call on the Chessbase/Fritz people to aim future efforts to the enhancement of their Fritz Gui Full analysis function. The engine arms race can be considered over and now some of the only distinguishing features and value of chess guis is their natural language analysis. At their time, Fritz 4 and Fritz 5.32 came up with pretty interesting nested output. Nowadays it seems to me that Fritz 13 (the latest I own or fiddled with) just spits out single liners and has become stingy with variations, exclams and useful commentary. What's the use of having a personal GM, when he doesn't express himself as we would wish? Maybe it is my settings or my hardware, but this looks downhill. If they could bring back the old magic to just this feature, that would be pretty revolutionary once again. I'd overpay for that.