How Well Do You Know Me?

I've been neglecting these good ol' tags long enough to forgo any more. So I shunned my laziness and got down to work :)

This tag is from Damon Lord at Damon Lord's Blog.

It's the Six Things You Didn't Know About Me Meme- I guess I get to know how well you guys know me :P

First, the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (I am not doing this. Sorry, Anyone who wishes, is free to pick up the tag :)
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1. I wear Spectacles- What else do you expect?? With me sitting on the net for hours and reading so many books...nerdo, eh? But the power of the specs ain't very high. Just something around -2.  

2. I have a twin Brother- Yup! I bet you guys didn't know that at all. But yes, though he isn't as intelligent as me....we are fraternal twins (faces and nature don't match- ROFL!) I'm a full one minute elder to him.

3. My Birthday is celebrated by the whole world - Yup, me and my brother share our birthdays on 1st Jan (New Year).  We are born extrememly lucky, eh? I won't be posting a birthday post, coz I wanna see now how many of you remember to wish :)

4. I'm a national level chess player and taekwondo black belt- Yup, though I don't play both now....coz of more studies and inclination towards net.

5. I watch STAR ONE at 8:30 to 9:30- Guess what do I watch?? Any idiot-box lover??

6. I study in a girls convent school, my brother in a boys convent school and mom teaches in co-ed- LOL! Isn't that funny? Three people in the house and all going to different school!

Something Different!

Hi friends! This post of mine is not the usual story or poem but something I had been longing to write. I have written three entirely things in this post and hope you all have something in it for all of you! ENJOY :D

My Hidden Hobby

I am sure that I have not told you anything about my interest in drawings & paintings. Recently, one of the readers appreciated me about my art thinking that it was done by a professional, I was very much delighted. No....nothing big, I am just an amateur artist, along with being a budding blogger!

So when my dad presented me with a digital camera on my last birthday, I could not resist the temptation of digitizing some of my drawings (and I have also include them in some of my posts).So today, I thought I would put them before you for you all to judge. Actually, I hope you all can bear with it...LOL! I have put some of my paintings throughout this post!

A Great Start Of The Year

I recently received an award from a fellow Indian blogger and a very good friend, Anoop. He has made the beginning of the year prosperous for me by giving me the 'Bloggers Of The World Award'. Anoop, a lovely motivator and the owner of a fabulous blog has given me a really pleasant surprise (as he says it was for him too! ) Thank you for the honor, dear Anoop!

Online Chess

I had earlier mentioned that I have avid interest in chess. For those who do not know, I would like to mention that I am a National Chess Player (recently played the under-12 age group and earlier under-7 age group etc.) and had faired well in all these tournaments. My role models were the International Women Grandmasters like Koneru Humpy and Susan Polgar. I too wanted to become like one of them.

But of late due to my writing commitments, lethargy, laziness, distraction, studies, blogging or whatever reason you may suggest, I have reduced practicing chess these days. But last month, when my good friend, excellent blogger and a real chess enthusiast, Nikita encouraged me to play chess. She asked me to register with the online chess platform Chess.com and I could neither resist the temptation nor refuse her request. So I have registered with chess.com and here is my profile in that. Nikita, in her beautiful blog Chessalee shows many interesting games from Chess.com, which is delightful to follow!

Though I have finished about 15-20 games only (with around 10 in progress), I am glad that I could win more than 80% of the games I played (of which most of them are experienced grown-up players :D). Chess.com is a wonderful platform to lay your hands on, of course, if any of you are interested in chess. Any other chess enthusiast reading my blog is free to invite me for a game!

Silence & Bang = Chess Boxing!

Do you people remember one of my earlier posts “Chess – A Game Of Brainees”? I think now I have to rethink about the concept. Recently while I was scanning the newspapers, I stumbled upon a bizarre game – Chess Boxing!

Sounds great, huh? I then did some research on this topic and am now sharing my knowledge with you.

Chess Boxing, what’s that? A French film director & cartoonist Enki Bilal invented this game in 1992. He wrote a famous graphic novel titled “Froid Equateur” in which the plot revolves around his imaginative chess boxing. Later a Dutch artist Lepe Rubingh was inspired by this and thus brought this concept to life.

This game is played by a 4 minute round of chess, followed by a 2 minute round of boxing. It consists of upto 11 alternative rounds of chess & boxing. There is a 1 minute break in between for the players to change their gears.

Now you must be wondering how the winner is decided? The game is decided by checkmate or knockout. If the match is a draw, then the better boxer wins.

This sport already has an internationally recognized association called the World Chess Boxing Association. The game is based on the motto “Fighting is done in the ring and wars are waged on the board”.

So now you guys too get ready to exercise your brain & be smashed out too!!

A Game of Brainies !

Do you people know that I play chess too? This time I am here to encourage you to join this game!!

The history of chess states that chess was invented in my country-India (which I proudly reckon). I am sure that you would have heard that chess is a real boring and time-consuming game to indulge yourself into, but this is not so. With the invention of a chess clock you can play a very fast and exciting game of even 5 or 3 minutes!!!

Now that I have cleared one of your misconceptions but you still aren’t motivated then read on………

O.K. Now it’s time to motivate you further! This is especially for students because this game (I bet) is really beneficial for them.

The game of chess is really good for a healthy mind. Only reading does not make you intelligent so you should learn to play chess too!! It makes your brain sharp and active. It increases your concentration level too. It helps in enabling your brain to think hard before you choose a particular option. Thus, it helps you in planning your next move. Focusing, visualizing and analyzing are other significant benefits of learning this game!! If you are scared to play cricket, football or soccer because the ball may hit you hard then chess is indeed the right game for you!!!

Did you know that recent researches in the U.S show that chess improved the reading and math’s grades of school going students? In various schools chess is the part of the math’s curriculum and teacher’s vow that this has improved the grades of 55 % of the students !!

Now I am sure that I must have motivated you enough! So don’t waste your time, Go and learn to play the game today itself. (Need help? Feel free to contact me!!!)