My Favorite Things

I have selected the following items only because I was very strongly influenced by them at some point.

Chess

§ Byrne-Fischer 1956 (“the game of the century”, by a 13 year old Bobby)

§ Kasparov-Topalov 1999 (“the longest combination in the history of chess”)

§ Spassky-Fischer 1972 (a great game by both players, Fischer wins)

§ Polugaevsky-Nezhmetdinov 1958 (a deep attack by RN, forces LP’s king to travel from g1 to a5, only to get mated there)

§ Kasparov-Kramnik 1996 (VK beats GK in an open tactical battle)

§ Kramnik-Kasparov 1994 (GK sacrifices queen and attacks the kingside with minor pieces)

§ Kamsky-Kramnik 1994 (another open battle, Kamsky wins)

§ Short-Kasparov 1993 (Short beats GK in 15 moves, Kings Gambit)

§ Karpov-Miles 1980 (Miles plays 1…a6 and wins)

§ Anand-Topalov 2007 (23^rd century chess)

§ Kramnik-Leko 2004 (a fantastic king march by Kramnik)

Jazz

§ My Favorite Things, by John Coltrane

§ So What, by Miles Davis

§ Oscar Peterson, Quartet, Soft winds

§ Vagif Mustafazade, e.g. Solitude

§ Cecil Taylor, e.g. Free Improvization #3

§ Turiya and Ramakrishna, by Alice Coltrane

§ Nina Simone, e.g. Feeling good, I put a spell on you

Poetry

Most favorite contemporary American poets: Billy Collins, W.S.Merwin, Ted Kooser, Mark Strand, Mary Oliver, Charles Simic

Most favorite classic Turkish poets: Nazim Hikmet, Orhan Veli, Edip Cansever, Cemal Sureya, Turgut Uyar, Can Yucel

Most favorite classic Russian poets: Akhmatova, Tsvetayeva