Video games in Belgium

This article is about the video game market and culture in Belgium.
Consumer availability.
Distribution.
Distribution in Belgium is usually done by publishers that cover the entire Benelux, although some of the publishers' offices are located in Belgium. Since not every publisher has a separate office for the Benelux, certain publishers take care of multiple labels, including those of other publishers.
Rating.
Belgium supports the PEGI rating system but there is no legislative basis. PEGI was developed and is owned by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe which is based in Brussels.
Sales.
In 2011, the Belgian consumer bought 6.54 million games. More than 84% of those games were console games. The sales generated a revenue of 220 million euro, which means they stayed stable compared to 2010.
Belgium's appearance in video games.
Belgium as a setting.
Belgium is not often used as an originally created setting for video games, although it does appear in some types of simulation games.
The famous Battle of the Bulge is featured in the following video games:
Video games based on Belgian works.
Many video games are based on Belgian comic books:
Video game development.
Representation.
The Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) is the organization that represents the interests of the music, video and video game industries in Belgium.
The Flemish Games Association (FLEGA) represents the Flemish video game industry, the Walloon Games Association (WALGA) represents the Walloon video game industry.
Game developers from Belgium.
There are 64 game developers registered with the Flemish Games Association. Some of the game development studios in Belgium include:
Education.
Other.
Syntra LIMBURG offers multiple video game courses.


Dominos (video game)

Atari's Dominos is a one, two or four-player video action game packaged in its own distinctively styled upright cabinet that rest directly on the floor. A 23-inch TV monitor is mounted in the top front of the cabinet, with the monitor viewing screen tilted back from vertical. The TV monitor viewing screen is covered with plexiglas panel. "Dominos" came in an upright two-player cabinet as well as a four-player cocktail cabinet. All cabinets were produced in 1976 and originally released in 1977.
Gameplay.
Gameplay is a variation of the snake genre, in which players compete by surrounding each other with lines of dominos. Players change direction via a set of four directional buttons representing up, down, right, and left respectively. A player loses when they hit a wall, their own dominos, or their opponent's, at which point all the dominos in their line "fall" down. At the end of each round, a point is awarded to the winner of that round until the end point goal is reached. The point goal can be 3, 4, 5, or 6 points.


Borderline (video game)

 is a vertically scrolling shooter-maze game released by Sega as an arcade game in 1981. The player controls a jeep and has to destroy enemy refineries. There are four stages with different gameplay. The first stage plays like a vertically scrolling shooter. In the second stage, the player maneuvers his Jeep through underbrush, and enemies can only follow on its path, a concept later found in Namco's "Dig Dug" (1982).
"Borderline" was reissued later in the year with slightly altered graphics as Star Raker. "Borderline" was later a launch game for the SG-1000 in 1983. It was also converted for the Atari 2600 under the name Thunderground, released by Sega's home division; it was one of the last games Sega released as a third-party developer for Atari. The SG-1000 and Atari 2600 ports received positive reviews from critics.
Reception.
E.C. Meade and Jim Clark of "Videogaming Illustrated" magazine reviewed the Atari 2600 version "Thunderground" in 1983. Despite the original "Borderline" predating "Dig Dug" and "Mr. Do!" (1982), the reviewers were under the impression that "Thunderground" was a "semi-clone" of "Dig Dug" and "Mr. Do!" Despite this, they gave it positive reviews. Meade gave it an A rating; she said "there "are" superficial similarities to "Dig Dug" and "Mr. Do"" but "Thunderground" "is a semi-clone with "muscle"!" She called it "a real challenge" to play, stating "What a game!" Clark gave it a B rating, calling it "a thrilling game" and very "good stuff" but said "the sense of deja-vu detracted from its appeal" while also commenting on its "violence" though he didn't "think anyone will be too bothered."
French magazine "Tilt" reviewed the SG-1000 version of "Borderline" in 1984. They gave the game an overall rating of 5 out of 6 stars, while giving 5 stars for the graphics and 4 stars for the sound.


Faux Pause

Faux Pause is an American television program that aired in 1998 on Game Show Network. Co-hosted by Mary Gallagher and Sean Donnellan, "Pause" consisted of jokes and skits done while watching certain episodes of game shows, in a similar fashion to "Mystery Science Theater 3000".
In a 2013 Facebook post, Frank Nicotero, who wrote for the show, said that there were a total of 22 episodes.
Featured shows.
Note that this is believed to be an incomplete list.
Reception.
Reception towards "Faux Pause" was poor, with "Time" Magazine's Joel Stein calling the show "stunningly bad", as well as the rest of GSN's original programming at the time.


Right Fourth File Rook

In shogi, Right Fourth File Rook (右四間飛車 "migi shikenbisha") is a Static Rook opening in which the rook is positioned on the fourth file if played by Black or the sixth file if played by White.
Typically, Right Fourth File Rook develops the right silver into a Reclining Silver attacking structure.
Right Fourth File Rook vs Fourth File Rook.
A Right Fourth File Rook strategy may be played against a Ranging Rook position such as Fourth File Rook. In a Right Fourth File Rook vs Fourth File Rook game, each player's rook will be directly opposing each other on the fourth file supported by attacking silvers. Below shows an example of Black's Right Fourth File Rook against White's Fourth File Rook.
1. P-76 P-34, 2. P-26 P-44, 3. S-48 R-42. The first six moves are standard Static Rook vs Fourth File Rook piece development. (See: Left Silver-57 Rapid Attack vs Fourth File Rook for explication.)
4. P-46. The Right Fourth File Rook opening starts by advancing Black's fourth file pawn.
This allows an opening for the left silver to pass through the front line of pawns.


Armor Attack

Armor Attack is multidirectional shooter designed by Tim Skelly and released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. It was licensed to Sega in Japan. The vector graphics of "Armor Attack" present combat between the player's jeep and enemy vehicles in an overhead, maze-like view of a town. The buildings are not drawn in the game, but are an overlay that sits on top of the monitor. The overlay also tints the vectors green.
"Armor Attack" was released for the Vectrex in 1982.
Gameplay.
One button rotates the jeep clockwise, while a second button rotates counterclockwise. A third button simulates the gas pedal and moves the jeep forward. A fourth button is used for firing a rocket launcher that shoots straight ahead. The player can have two rockets in the air at a time.
Tanks periodically spawn from different locations on the edge of the screen and drive towards the player. The tanks always travel along horizontal or vertical lines, unlike the freely moving jeep. Tank turrets move to track the player, allowing them to shoot in any direction. Tanks normally take two hits to kill, and the player can have only two rockets on the screen at a time. The helicopter spawns from any point, and approaches the player in looping paths flying over the jeep and periodically firing. If hit, the helicopter spirals in. Destroying the helicopter rewards the player with an extra life.
The player can be killed by being shot by either the tanks of helicopter, or by colliding with the tanks. In two-player mode, the players can not kill each other. Gameplay periodically speeds up to increase the difficulty.
Reception.
David H. Ahl of "Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games" praised the "amazing realism" of the enemy helicopter in the Vectrex version.


Skedaddle

Skedaddle ( ) is a children's game show that aired in Fall 1988 for six weeks as a part of "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" block of shows. It was hosted by guest star Ron Pearson, and created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show was executive produced by Hanna and Barbera, along with Jay Wolpert for the autumn season being aired for eight months.
Premise.
Six groups of Two teams of four children (always the "Sludge Puppies" in red and the "Drainiacs" in yellow) each competed in a game similar to "Hot Potato" to answer questions and win prizes. The studio was set up to resemble a cartoonish sewer.
Gameplay.
One team selected one of three costumed dinosaur characters (named Slam, Dunk, and Seymour, AKA: "The Down and Dirty Dinosaurs", who were the block's hosts that autumn), who would come out from his lair with a small object, such as a top hat. The object corresponded with a question which had a numerical answer. To answer the question, the team had to toss the object back and forth from player to player within 15 seconds. As soon as the number of passes equalled the team's guess, the player with the object ran to the middle of the studio and honked a bicycle horn.
If the team's guess was correct, they received points equal to the correct answer. If they were wrong, ran out of time, or threw the object out of bounds during play, they received nothing; in addition, the chosen dinosaur spun a "wheel of torture", which caused that team to get slimed with some by-product poured into the sewer (for example, the "ice cream parlor" would cover the contestants in melted ice cream).
After four rounds, the team with the most points won the game and went to a bonus round.
Bonus round.
Three stools were set up in a row, and one of the dinosaurs stood above each with a bucket. Each player on the team was asked a question and given three answers to choose from. The player sat on the stool that corresponded with his or her guess, and the dinosaur turned the bucket over above the player's head. If the contestant was right, the bucket would be empty and the player would score; however, if the player was wrong, the bucket would be filled with green slime, which would end up all over the contestant. Getting four correct answers before all four team members getting slimed won the grand prize during a great flooding of the studio getting slimed, and Ron Pearson appointed star competitor. After Ron is drowned, the studio will explode of a giant sliming, covering one of six groups.


Richard Griffith (chess player)

Richard Clewin Griffith (22 July 1872 in London – 11 December 1955 in Hendon, London), was an English chess player, author and editor.
Education.
He was educated at Charterhouse School.
Competition Performances.
He won the British Chess Championship in 1912, at Richmond, at his only appearance in the event.
Writings About Chess.
Also in 1912, he was the original co-author with John Herbert White of the famous chess book, "Modern Chess Openings", which has gone into many editions up to the present day.
He was the editor of the "British Chess Magazine", from 1920 to 1937, and again for some months in 1940.
British Chess Federation.
During World War II Griffith was the honorary treasurer of the British Chess Federation, and a member of its council and executive.
Profession.
By profession, he was a metallurgist for an assaying company.


DragonRaid

DragonRaid is a Christian fantasy game that was created by Dick Wulf in 1984. It is generally considered a role-playing game, although the game's official sites describes it as "a cross between simulation exercises and traditional role-playing games". Its primary focus is to help Christians to become discipled in the teachings of the Bible. Its terminology and design assumptions are particularly pitched toward evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity.
Description.
Using an allegorical fantasy RPG setting, players are able to play the roles of "TwiceBorn" LightRaiders and practice Scriptural principles in a group setting. The fantasy backdrop (called "EdenAgain") is similar to J. R. R. Tolkien's Arda and C. S. Lewis' Narnia.
It uses a mechanical system called the Adventure Learning System, and is (as of 2006) the only role-playing game to use that system. In the ALS system, the rule set used by the game master (called the "Adventure Master") to operate the environment and non-player characters is significantly different from the rule set used by the players to operate their personal characters. In particular, enemies roll a smaller die than the players (d8 versus d10), making it markedly more likely that PCs will succeed in their actions than their antagonists. This also has the effect of making random failure more likely for NPCs than for PCs, as the lowest value on an eight-sided die comes up 12.5% of the time, compared to 10% of the time for a ten-sided die.
The ludic experience is included in a more global pastoral or religious frame, for example the Adventure Master has to be a figure of authority (an adult, a dad, a pastor). The game design introduced different resolution rules for the player characters and for the non-player characters.
Criticisms.
A review on rpg.net asserted that the game was criticised both by secular role-players (for its overtly proselytising content), and by Christian anti-roleplaying groups like Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons. The website christiangaming.com similarly states that "DragonRaid became a victim of some well-meaning but mistaken Christian organizations that condemned it as having evil content".
DragonRaid Second Edition.
An updated version, with updated rules and resources was in development as of September 2018, under the guidance of James R. Hannibal.


Trapped! (TV series)

Trapped! is a 2007-2010 children's Halloween-themed adventure game show that was broadcast on the BBC from 28th September 2007 to 4th November 2010.
Plot.
The show as a whole is set in a dark, six-floored gothic fairy tale tower which, from the opening titles, is situated on a small island in the middle of the sea. Every episode is introduced by "The Caretaker" (Simon Greenall), a former world traveler who only came there for one good night's sleep prior to his imprisonment by a mysterious invisible female person known as "The Voice" (performed by Eve Karpf and Faith Brown). To earn his freedom, the Caretaker must trap as many children (or as referred to in the show as, "Unfortunates") as the Voice deems worthy in groups of six brought to the tower by another captive, "Wiley Sneak" (Olly Pike) who uses rowing boat for transport (For which the caretaker refers to as a "Bobbing Craft".). The children summoned are then imprisoned at the top of the tower to journey to the bottom, with each floor eliminating one child, having been left behind and "Trapped" on the floor forever. The last one left standing, having moved though all floors until they reach the bottom, will be awarded with "the key of freedom" to escape from the tower and return home via the Bobbing Craft. The Caretaker observes the events while isolating in the attic of the tower using his "Watch Tank", a globe type device with a glass shell that inside, projects a 360° overhead view of the entire tower and the events happening within, all while providing narration and instructions.
"Trapped!" (2007–2009).
Six "Unfortunates" begin at the top of "the tower" to complete one challenge per floor. They each wear a listening device known as a "Whisper Clip", and prior to every challenge, one Unfortunate is chosen through their Whisper Clip as the Saboteur. It is then that unfortunate's job to sabotage the challenge without being detected by the other contestants, along with guidance from The Voice. Wiley Sneak demonstrates how each challenge is done while The Caretaker provides instructions with voiceover, in stock segments before each saboteur is selected.
After every challenge, if the team do pass the challenge, the rest of the team minus the Saboteur move down one floor inside the tower, with that child being eliminated and "Trapped" on that floor in the tower for the remainder of the programme. If the team do fail the challenge, however, every child votes for whoever they think was the Saboteur, and the one with the most votes is "trapped" on that floor in the tower instead. "Draw Straws" are used in the event of a tie, with whoever draws the shortest straw being the one trapped.
This repeats on a floor-by-floor basis until there are only two Unfortunates remaining. The final round is a timed, alternating memory-based quiz, (known as "The Fight For Freedom",) consisting of a series of questions based on the events of the Unfortunates' time in the tower throughout the course of the episode. Whoever has the higher score wins the game, and leaves the tower, along with the Key Of Freedom.
"Trapped!: Ever After" (2010).
For 2010, changes were made to the format of the programme, particularly in areas of themes, the games and interaction with the Unfortunates. As well as introducing a brand new attic for the Caretaker, recaps were made of previously trapped unfortunates on higher floors of the tower and the appearance of the Voice was revised. The final round was also changed into a "best-of-seven" quiz - get one question correct and you take one step towards the Key of Freedom. Get the question wrong and your opponent takes a step towards the Key Of Freedom.
Music.
The music is written by Dobs Vye, a composer who specialises in writing for television.
Online Video Game.
In 2009, a multiplayer online game was released after the end of the third series. This game contained a selection of the challenges from the programme, slightly edited to fit the format. Players must first select an Unfortunate to play as, and then move along. They are either chosen to be a "saboteur" in secret, or just get shown a picture of a clock and an otherwise blank screen. The voice gives hints to the saboteur throughout each separate game as to how to ruin the challenge. If the team passes, then they vote, but the saboteur is trapped; and if they fail, then whoever gets the most votes is trapped on the following tower floor. In the event of a tie, then two spotlights flash over the drawing players until only one spotlight remains on. The player under the remaining spotlight is trapped in the tower forever. The cartoon-style characters used in the game parody the opening. As of 2021, the game is no longer available to play on the CBBC website.


Vadim Zvjaginsev

Vadim Zvjaginsev (; born 18 August 1976 in Moscow) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He played for the gold medal-winning Russian team in the 1997 World Team Chess Championship and in the 1998 Chess Olympiad.
He graduated from Moscow State University (Faculty of Economics) in 1996.
Career.
Zvjanginsev won the European under-16 championship in 1992. Two year later, he tied for first place in the Reykjavik Open with Hannes Stefánsson and Evgeny Pigusov.
In 1997, at the FIDE World Championship, which took place in Groningen, he single-handedly knocked out most of the U.S. contingent. In consecutive rounds, he defeated Joel Benjamin, Gregory Kaidanov and Yasser Seirawan, before losing to fellow Russian GM Alexey Dreev in round 4. In the same year Zvjanginsev won the Vidmar Memorial in Portorož.
In 2000, he was first at Essen (ahead of Dreev and Klaus Bischoff) and triumphed there again in 2002 (this time ahead of Leko). At the Mainz Chess Classic in 2003, he finished joint second behind Levon Aronian, repeating his placing the following year. At the Russian Championships of 2005, he took 3rd place at the Kazan qualifier and finished joint 4th at the Superfinal. In 2006, he tied for 2nd at the Poikovsky Karpov Tournament, behind Alexei Shirov.
In 2002, Zvjanginsev took part in the Russia vs Rest of the World match, held in Moscow.
He won the Russian Cup knockout tournament in 2011 by beating Denis Khismatullin in the final. In the 2013 Chigorin Memorial in Saint Petersburg, Zvjanginsev tied for 1st–11th with Pavel Eljanov, Dmitry Kokarev, Maxim Matlakov, Alexander Areshchenko, Denis Khismatullin, Oleg Korneev, Dragan Solak, Sanan Sjugirov, Ivan Bukavshin and Ildar Khairullin. In the 2016 Aeroflot Open, he tied 3rd-10th with Vladimir Fedoseev, Gata Kamsky, Daniil Dubov, Mateusz Bartel, Sanan Sjugirov, Maxim Matlakov, and Mikhail Kobalia.
In team competitions, he took team and individual silver medals at the 1997 European Team Chess Championship. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad, while still only an International Master, he helped the Russian second team obtain a team bronze medal. In the 1997 World Team Chess Championship Zvjanginsev won two gold medals, team and individual playing second reserve board. With the main Russian team, in 1998 and 2004, he contributed respectively to team gold and team silver medals at the Chess Olympiad.
Playing style.
Zvjaginsev has been described as a very aggressive, tactical player. Viktor Korchnoi in an interview described him as a very original player, with an unusual view on life, which is reflected in his chess. He has been known to unleash the occasional outlandish opening novelty in order to catch his opponent off guard and avoid established theory and home preparation. At a number of recent events, he even rolled out his own startling antidote to the Sicilian Defence, which renders the game a battle of wits from the very start. The revolutionary 1.e4 c5 2.Na3!? surprised the entire chess world, not least top grandmasters Khalifman and Ponomariov (both former FIDE World Champions), whom Zvjaginsev defeated with his creation.
Notable games.
The following game demonstrates Zvjaginsev's opportunistic, tactical style. White probes black's defences on the kingside, the queenside and ultimately in the centre, forcing a series of weaknesses that spell disaster.
Zvjaginsev (2635) – Seirawan (2630) [D63] FIDE WCh KO Groningen NED (3.4), 16.12.1997
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 a6 9.b3 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.Bf5 g6 13.Bh3 Re8 14.0-0 Nf8 15.Ne5 N6h7 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.g3 Qd6 18.Bg2 Rd8 19.Qc2 Ne6 20.Rfd1 Kg7 21.Qb2 f6 22.Nd3 Nhf8 23.b4 g5 24.Nc5 bxc5 25.bxc5 Qc6 26.e4 Red7 27.exd5 Rxd5 28.Nxd5 Rxd5 29.Rb1 Nd8 30.Qe2 Qd7 31.Rxb7 Nxb7 32.c6 Qxc6 33.Qe7+ Kg8 34.Qe4 1–0
In the following game Zvjaginsev unleashes a stunning sacrificial attack:
Cifuentes-Parada – Zvjaginsev, Wijk aan Zee Open 1995
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Be2 Bb7 8.0-0 Be7 9.Rd1 0-0 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Qc7 12.Nc3 c5 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5 a6 15.Nh4 g6 16.Bh6 Rfe8 17.Qd2 Bd6 18.g3 b5 19.Bf3 b4 20.Ne2 Ne4 21.Qc2 Ndf6 22.Ng2 Qd7 23.Ne3 Rad8 24.Bg2? (see diagram)
24...Nxf2! 25.Kxf2 Rxe3! 26.Bxe3 Ng4+ 27.Kf3 Nxh2+ 28.Kf2 Ng4+ 29.Kf3 Qe6! 30.Bf4 Re8 31.Qc4 Qe3+!! 32.Bxe3 Rxe3+ 33.Kxg4 Bc8+ 34.Kg5 h6+ 35.Kxh6 Re5 0–1
Here is another Zvjaginsev brilliancy, this time against super-grandmaster Vladimir Malakhov:
Malakhov (2700) – Zvjaginsev (2654), 5th Karpov Tournament, Poikovsky 2004
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 e5 7.d4 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 Bd7 11.b3 c6 12.Bb2 Qb6 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.c5 d5 16.Nb6 Rad8 17.Bc3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bxa5 Nf5 20.Nc4 Qb8 21.Bxd8 Rxd8 22.b4 Be6 23.Qe1 Nd4 24.Na5 Qc8 25.Rd1 Bh6 26.Kh1 Bf4 27.a4 Bd5 28.Bc4 Nf3! 29.Qe2 Nxh2 30.Bxd5 cxd5 31.f3 Nxf1 32.Rxf1 e3 33.c6 d4 34.Rd1 Bg3 35.f4 e4 36.Nb3 d3 37.Qxe3 Qg4 38.Rb1 Qh4+ 39.Kg1 Qh2+ 40.Kf1 Qh1+ 41.Qg1 (see diagram) 41...e3!! 42.Qxh1 e2+ 43.Kg1 d2 0–1


Sega Race TV

Sega Race TV is a racing game for the Sega Lindbergh arcade system board. It was released on February 19, 2008 in Japan, July 4, 2008 in the US and on March 13, 2009 in Europe.
Featured cars.
The eight cars featured in the game are Ford Mustang GT, Chevrolet Camaro Concept, Chevrolet Corvette C3 Stingray, Plymouth HEMI Cuda, Mazda MX-5, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Ruf RK Roadster, Plymouth Prowler and Mercury Convertible, all exist in convertible forms. All can be customized, and customized cars can be obtained through passwords in an arcade cabinet.
Development.
This was the only game Yu Suzuki was successfully able to complete after his departure from Sega AM2, the other two projects that he worked on "Psy-Phi" and "Shenmue Online" were never released.
Sega Race TV was Suzuki's last game with Sega, after which he established his own studio YS.NET and subsequently retired from the company.


Mickey Huang

Mickey Huang Tzu-chiao (; born 30 March 1972), also known as Jiao Jiao, is a Taiwanese comedian, television host, Master of Ceremonies and actor. He has worked for many television stations, such as ETTV Drama, CTS, and FTV. He is also a radio DJ, entrepreneur and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the long-running show "Super Sunday" (超級星期天) in the late 1990s and early 2000s with Chang Hsiao-yen, Harlem Yu and Pu Hsueh-liang. He became Master of Ceremonies for Golden Bell Awards in 2006 and 2017, Golden Melody Awards in 2012, 2015–2017, Golden Horse Awards in 2015-2016 and Golden Note Composition Awards every year since its inception in 2010. He also hosted KKBOX Digital Music Awards from 2010-2017 except in 2012.
He married actress Summer Meng on March 5, 2020 after 6 years of dating.
As a writer and Facebook blogger, he has tendencies to write his statuses in long block-form poems with a set number of characters per line.


Emil Josef Diemer

Emil Joseph (Josef) Diemer (15 May 1908, in Radolfzell – 10 October 1990, in Fussbach/Gengenbach) was a German chess master.
Biography.
Emil Joseph Diemer was born in 1908 in the German town Radolfzell, in Baden. In 1931, he was out of work and joined the German Nazi party, where he became an active member. He was present at all important international chess events, and became the "chess reporter of the Great German Reich". His articles often appeared in Nazi publications.
In 1942-1943, he played correspondence and tournament games with Klaus Junge.
After the war, he continued his chess journalism, sold chess books, and gave simuls, but the stigma of his Nazi past made it difficult to support himself in this way. As a middle-tier master, his successes in chess were few. In 1953, he was expelled from the German chess federation, whose officials he had accused, in a press campaign, of "homosexuality and corruption of innocent youth".
It was not until 1956, in the Netherlands, that Diemer finally enjoyed real success, winning the Reserves Group of the Hoogovens tournament and later the Open Championship of the Netherlands.
He became less interested in chess, and increasingly interested in Nostradamus, the famous 16th century French clairvoyant: he claimed to have cracked Nostradamus's secret code, and over 25 years, is said to have mailed over 10,000 letters on the subject. In 1965 he was committed to a psychiatric clinic in Gengenbach. The clinic's director, believing that chess was excessively stressful for Diemer, banned him from playing the game. In 1971, however, this ban was rescinded, and Diemer's membership in the German chess federation was also reinstated. Diemer now played first board as member of a German chess club team. Still lacking financial independence, however, he continued to stay in Gengenbach as a semi-residential patient of the hospital until the end of his life.
Diemer played many unorthodox openings, like the "Diemer-Duhm Gambit" (1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6 3.c4) and the "Alapin-Diemer Gambit" (1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Be3), but is most famous for his refinements to an old idea by Armand Edward Blackmar (1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3), commonly known as the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3).


Amar Opening

The Amar Opening (also known as the Paris Opening, or the Drunken Knight Opening) is a chess opening defined by the move:
Analogous to calling the Durkin Opening the "Sodium Attack," this opening could be called the Ammonia Opening, since NH3 is the chemical formula for ammonia. The Parisian amateur Charles Amar played it in the 1930s. It was probably named by Savielly Tartakower who used both names for this opening, although the chess author Tim Harding has jokingly suggested that "Amar" is an acronym for "Absolutely mad and ridiculous".
Since 1.Nh3 is considered an irregular opening, it is classified under the A00 code in the "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings".
Assessment.
Like the Durkin Opening, White develops a knight to the edge of the board, where it does not control squares. Black's most common reply is 1...d5 which threatens 2...Bxh3, ruining White's pawn structure. White usually plays 2.g3 to prevent this, when Black can continue to occupy the center with 2...e5.
World champion Magnus Carlsen used the Amar Opening to defeat Aleksey Dreev in a game played at rapid time controls in the 2018 online PRO Chess League.
Named variations.
There are several named variations in the Amar Opening. The most well-known one is known as the Paris Gambit: 1.Nh3 d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4 Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4. In the Paris Gambit, White allows Black a firm grip on the center, and also gives up . Therefore, the gambit is considered dubious. The only named variation in the Paris Gambit is the Gent Gambit: 5.0-0 fxg3 6.hxg3. This variation was first played by Tartakower against Andor Lilienthal in Paris, 1933.
There is also one named subvariation in the 1...e5 variation, known as the Krazy Kat: 1.Nh3 e5 2.f3 d5 3.Nf2.


Veniamin Sozin

Veniamin Innokentevich Sozin (, 1896–1956) was a Russian chess master, author, and theoretician.
Chess career.
Sozin was an active player during the 1920s and 1930s, competing in four Soviet chess championships. Following the third Soviet Championship in 1924, in which he finished a creditable ninth with a score of 9/17, Sozin was awarded the title of Master of Sport; however, he was unable to maintain this level of performance, and was one of several players whose title was revoked in 1935.
Opening theory contributions.
Sicilian, Sozin Attack.
The Sozin Attack (also known as the Sozin Variation or the Fischer–Sozin Attack) consists of the move 6.Bc4 against the . Sozin was not the first to play this move – examples can be found dating back to the 19th century; however, he was one of the first to develop the plan of advancing the f-pawn to f5 to put pressure on Black's e6-square after the usual response 6...e6.
Sozin played this line during the 1930s, and it became popular from the 1950s, when it was frequently employed by Bobby Fischer. Fischer refined and advanced its theory, leading to the alternative name "Fischer–Sozin Attack". While the classic Sozin involves castling, another important continuation called the Velimirovic Attack involves the setup 7.Be3, 8.Qe2, 9.0-0-0 with a view to initiating a sharp attack on Black's kingside.
A similar line may be played against the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, in which Black plays 5...a6 rather than 5...Nc6; in this case 6.Bc4 is sometimes referred to as the "Sozin–Najdorf". While this line may transpose into a classical Sozin Attack, Black has other options, for example he may choose to develop the queen's knight to d7. This line was also favoured by Fischer, who frequently followed it up with an immediate 7.Bb3.
Semi-Slav, Meran, Sozin Variation.
In 1925, Sozin published analysis of the move 11...Nxe5 (rather than the previously played 11...axb5) in the ("ECO" D49) in the Queen's Gambit Declined. The move was introduced into play by Yakov Vilner, who defeated Efim Bogolyubov with it in the 1925 Soviet Championship. The move has since become standard.
Publications.
Sozin was a noted chess theorist and writer, contributing many articles to the Moscow magazine "Shakhmatny Vestnik" and writing two books.
References.
Bibliography


Professor Quiz

Professor Quiz was radio's first true quiz program, broadcast with many different sponsors from 1936 to 1948 on CBS and ABC. The program featured Professor Quiz, his wife Betty and his son, Professor Quiz Jr. The program's announcer was Robert Trout.
It began May 9, 1936, sponsored by George Washington Coffee, on a limited CBS hook-up from Washington, D.C., expanding to the full network on September 18, 1936 from New York. George Washington Coffee also sponsored "Uncle Jim's Question Bee", radio's second quiz show which began four months after the debut of "Professor Quiz". Arthur Godfrey was a host of the program in 1937. The series moved to ABC on January 24, 1946, continuing until the last program on July 17, 1948.
Contestants who asked a question which Professor Quiz could not answer received $25 in silver dollars. The quizmaster, Professor Quiz, was Dr. Craig Earl, a pseudonym for Arthur E. Baird.


Gridlock (game show)

Gridlock was an Irish television game show, hosted by Derek Mooney, that premiered on RTÉ on September 14, 1998. "Gridlock" replaced the long-running series "Blackboard Jungle", which was hosted by Ray D'Arcy.
The show lasted only one season. There were three teams of two people, each team representing a secondary school. One player on each team would answer general knowledge questions, while the other would try to achieve "gridlock" on a puzzle diagram.


Ponziani Opening

The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been discussed in the literature by 1497. It was advocated by Howard Staunton, generally considered the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, in his 1847 book "The Chess-Player's Handbook". For some decades, it was often called "Staunton's Opening" or the "English Knight's Game" as a result. Today, it is usually known by the name of Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani, whose main contribution to the opening was his introduction, in 1769, of the 3...f5
The opening is now considered inferior to 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez, and 3.Bc4, the Italian Game, and is accordingly rarely seen today at any level of play. Black's main responses are 3...Nf6, leading to play, and 3...d5, leading to play. Ponziani's countergambit 3...f5!? was successfully played in the grandmaster game Hikaru Nakamura–Julio Becerra Rivero, US Championship 2007.
History.
The Ponziani is one of the oldest known openings, having been first discussed in chess literature by no later than 1497. It was mentioned in both of the earliest chess treatises: the "Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con ci Iuegos de Partido" by Lucena and the Göttingen manuscript. Today the opening bears the surname of Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani. Although Ponziani did analyze the opening in 1769, his principal contribution was the introduction of the 3...f5!? Later the opening was favored by Howard Staunton, who in "The Chess-Player's Handbook" (1847) called it "so full of interest and variety, that its omission in many of the leading works on the game is truly unaccountable. ... it deserves, and, if we mistake not, will yet attain a higher place in the category of legitimate openings than has hitherto been assigned to it."
Nomenclature.
Staunton cumbersomely referred to the opening as "The Queen's Bishop's Pawn Game in the King's Knight's Opening", as did George H. D. Gossip in "The Chess Player's Manual" (1888, American edition 1902). Napoleon Marache, one of the leading American players, similarly called it the "Queen's Bishop's Pawn Game" in his 1866 manual. In their treatise "Chess Openings Ancient and Modern" (1889, 1896), E. Freeborough and the Reverend C.E. Ranken called it "Staunton's Opening". In an appendix to later editions of Staunton's work, R.F. Green, editor of "British Chess Magazine", also called it "Staunton's Opening", directing those seeking a definition of "Ponziani's Game" to the former name. Green referred to 3...f5 as "Ponziani's Counter Gambit". Chess historian H. J. R. Murray in his celebrated 1913 work "A History of Chess" called the opening simply the "Staunton", explaining that he was using "the ordinary names of the Openings as used by English players of the present day". James Mason in his treatise "The Art of Chess" (Fourth Edition c. 1910?) referred to the opening as the "Ponziani–Staunton Attack". The famous German "Handbuch des Schachspiels", which went through eight editions between 1843 and 1916, called it the "Englisches Springerspiel" (English Knight's Game). The Reverend E.E. Cunnington in "The Modern Chess Primer" (Thirteenth Edition 1933) referred to it as the "Ponziani Opening (sometimes called Staunton's)".
Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, in his 1895 treatise "The Modern Chess Instructor" (Part II), called the opening the "Ponziani Opening", as did his successor, Emanuel Lasker, in "Lasker's Manual of Chess". Similarly, Frank Marshall in "Chess Openings", the authors of "Modern Chess Openings" (Second Edition 1913), and Siegbert Tarrasch in "The Game of Chess" (1931, English translation 1938) called it "Ponziani's Opening". William Cook in "The Chess Players' Compendium" (Fifth Edition 1910) called it "Ponziani's Game", while Francis Joseph Lee and Gossip in "The Complete Chess – Guide" (1903) called it "Ponziani's Knight's Game". Contemporary authors likewise call it the "Ponziani Opening", "Ponziani's Opening", or simply the "Ponziani".
Introduction and overview.
The Ponziani is rarely played today except as a surprise weapon, because Black has the pleasant choice between easily and attempting to obtain an advantage with sharper play. White's third move prepares to build a powerful with 4.d4, a logical objective also seen in the more popular Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano. However, 3.c3 is somewhat premature because the move: 1) takes away the most natural square for White's , 2) temporarily creates a on d3, and 3) a pawn rather than a piece, leaving White behind in development and not well placed to meet a counterattack in the . Moreover, unlike in the Giuoco Piano, where White's d4 advance attacks Black's on c5, in the Ponziani d4 will not gain a . On the positive side, the move 3.c3 creates a second diagonal for the white queen.
As early as 1904, Marshall wrote that, "There is no point in White's third move unless Black plays badly. ... White practically surrenders the privilege of the first move." More recently, Graham Burgess called the Ponziani "a relic from a bygone age, popular neither at top level nor at club level". Bruce Pandolfini has said, Curiously, every great teacher of openings who investigated the Ponziani has concluded that it leads to interesting play and deserves to be played more often. Yet it has never captured the fancy of chessplayers in general, and it remains to be seen whether the Ponziani is an opening of the past or of the future.
In "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur", Max Euwe and Walter Meiden wrote, "What should one do with this opening? It is no opening for beginners, because tactics predominate in the play. There are no simple strategic principles to govern the general lines in this opening."
Variations.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 the main continuations are:
Illustrative games.
Here is a quiet draw typical of the 3...Nf6 line:
While this game was agreed drawn there are good winning chances for White in this type of endgame.
The variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nge7 has been attributed to Reti due to him having tried it against Tartakower and lost. Recent analysis gives White the edge, i.e. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nge7 4.Bc4 (immediately targeting f7) d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 and now either 6.0-0 or 6.Qb3 lead to a White advantage. Also playable for White is 4.Bb5 which transposes to a line of the Cozio Defense to the Ruy Lopez.
Here are two games illustrating the wild tactical play that often develops in the 3...d5 4.Qa4 f6 5.Bb5 Ne7 line:


Last Duel (video game)

Last Duel: Inter Planet War 2012 (a.k.a. Last Duel) is a vertically scrolling shooter released in arcades by Capcom in 1988. It was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Plot.
Taking place in the year 2012 of an alternate galaxy, "Last Duel" involves the struggle between two planets Mu and Bacula. On planet Bacula, a strong warrior tribe known as the Galden rose to immense military power and literally conquered all of the societies on the planet. Unsatisfied with conquering just one planet, the Galden decided to conquer a neighboring terrestrial planet, Mu. Using advanced bioships, star fighters and motor vehicles, the Galden invaded Mu, destroying many of its cities and taking the planet's ruler Queen Sheeta hostage.
The remaining royal guards of Mu are deployed in space fighters that can transform into cars to rescue the queen and crush the Galden forces.
Gameplay.
The player alternated per level between using car and space ship. The vehicle had two main attacks one of which varied depending on the form the vehicle took. In car mode, the vehicle could jump over pot holes and enemies while in ship mode, the vehicle would perform a barrel roll making it temporarily invincible and altogether dangerous.
The player could select Power-Ups that including a large, slow firing laser, a twin-shot, a wide shot and options that provided side attacks; Speed-Ups were only available in ship mode. Every driving section was timed and if the player was unable to reach the boss on time, they would lose a life. However, the moment the player encountered the boss, the timer would disappear.
Reception.
The Spanish magazine "Microhobby" game the following scores: Originality: 20% Graphics: 70% Motion: 70% Sound: 60% Difficulty: 80% Addiction: 50%
Legacy.
"Last Duel" was re-released in the "Capcom Classics Collection - Volume 2" for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable.


The Marriage Ref (British TV series)

The Marriage Ref is a comedy panel game that aired on ITV from 18 June to 30 July 2011 and is hosted by Dermot O'Leary.
Format.
Three couples share their argument with the host and celebrity guests. After hearing both sides of the argument, each celebrity guest considers the strength and viability of the information presented, weighing in with their opinion. In the end, while the host may be swayed by the opinions of the celebrity guests, he is free to make his own to determine who is the victor in the debate.


Pat Gibson

Patrick Gibson (born 19 July 1961) is an Irish quizzer. On 24 April 2004 he became the fourth contestant to win the £1m jackpot on the quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". He is a multiple world champion in quizzing and one of the world's most successful quiz players. He is best known for winning several quiz shows and being a panellist on "Eggheads". He was born, raised and educated in Ireland but currently lives in the United Kingdom and competes as part of the England quiz team. As of 5 December 2018, Gibson is currently the No. 1 ranked quizzer in the world.
Early life and education.
Pat was born in Galway in 1961. He moved to Letterkenny, County Donegal in the early 1970s. He was educated at Scoil Colmcille and St Eunan's College in Letterkenny. Pat holds an engineering degree from University College Galway. He emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1980s, where he trained as a COBOL computer programmer.
TV quiz shows.
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".
On his one million pound question, he still had his 50:50 and phone a friend (he had used the Ask-the-Audience lifeline on the £64,000 question). The question was "Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?" Gibson used the 50:50 first, where B. "Belmont Stakes" and D. "Preakness Stakes" disappeared. He then used his phone-a-friend option, phoning Mark Kerr (a highly ranked British quiz player and winner of TV's "Brainiest Estate Agent" title, as well as winner of £250,000 on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire") who said he was 90% sure the answer was Arlington Million, which was Pat's original instinct. Gibson had acted as Kerr's phone-a-friend during his appearance on the show during the same series (15), broadcast weeks before Gibson's success. He correctly answered 'Arlington Million' to win £1 million.
"Mastermind".
In 2005 he was crowned champion of "Mastermind": his specialist subjects included "Father Ted", the books of Iain M. Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino.
On 6 August 2010 he was crowned Mastermind Champion of Champions with a winning score of 36 points with no passes. Jesse Honey also scored 36 but had 2 passes.
"Brain of Britain".
On 25 December 2006 he won the BBC Radio 4 quiz show "Brain of Britain", becoming only the fourth person after Roger Pritchard, Kevin Ashman and Chris Hughes to win both that and "Mastermind".
In 2008 he finished third in BBC Radio 4's Brain of Brains, behind Egghead Chris Hughes and the eventual winner, 2008 World Quizzing Champion Mark Bytheway.
"Eggheads" and "Are You an Egghead?".
Gibson competed in both the first and second series of "Are You an Egghead?", a series seeking a new panellist to join the resident team on the BBC Two / 12 Yard quiz show "Eggheads". In the first series, he was beaten in the quarter-finals by friend Mark Kerr. He returned for the second series in 2009, and won the final broadcast on 23 November 2009, beating fellow "Mastermind" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" winner David Edwards and thereby claiming a place on the Eggheads team.
National and international quizzing championships.

He has amassed 25 international medals (7 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze), the second highest total ever (behind Kevin Ashman with 27) and is ranked the second strongest player in the World/Europe. In 2007 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship. In pairs competitions he partners Ian Bayley and they have won the British and European titles.
In 2010 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship achieving an all-time high score of 180/210, defeating both Kevin Ashman and Belgian Ronny Swiggers who tied at 169/210. Gibson retained the World Quizzing Championship title in 2011 with a score of 186/210, a 10-point margin over Kevin Ashman, and won again in 2013 with a score of 172/210.
Despite being originally from Ireland, Gibson competes for the England team.
Domestic competition.
Pat plays in the Summer in the Orrell and District League for the Millstone team, and in the winter in the Ormskirk league for Collywobblers.


Vasily Panov

Vasily Nikolayevich Panov (, November 1, 1906 – January 13, 1973) was a Soviet chess player, author, and journalist. Winner of the Moscow City Championship in 1929, he also played in five USSR Chess Championships from 1935 to 1948. His greatest tournament victory was Kiev, 1938. He was awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1950. The website Chessmetrics.com, which assigns retroactive ratings to older players, ranks Panov as 21st in the world in 1948. This ranking is higher than many Grandmasters.
Panov is best known for his chess writings and theoretical work on the openings. He was chess correspondent for "Izvestia" from 1942 to 1965. His many books include a beginners' guide, biographies of Alekhine and Capablanca, and "Kurs debyutov" (1957), Russia's best-selling book on the chess opening.
Contribution to openings.
Panov contributed greatly to the theory of the Caro–Kann Defence and the Ruy Lopez. A variation of the Caro-Kann starting with the moves 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 is known as the Panov Attack (sometimes Panov–Botvinnik Attack). He is also credited with a sound variation of Alekhine's Defence for White, 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3, known as the Panov Variation.


Deal Ya No Deal

Deal Ya No Deal is an Indian adaptation of the popular international "Deal or No Deal" format, which is owned and produced by Endemol International.
It premiered on 23 November 2005 on Sony Entertainment Television and aired on three nights each week. The first series had a set similar to the UK version, and the theme song and music cues were the same as those used in the Dutch version. Contestants held the cases. There is a top prize of 10,000,000 rupees (about $142,000 USD), and the lowest prize was originally a breath freshener, called a Chlormint, but the lowest prize was later 25 paise (a paisa is the Indian counterpart to a cent/penny), although the Chlormint would remain as a prize throughout the entire series. It was hosted by Madhavan, but he quit after fulfilling his 35-episode contract, and was replaced by Mandira Bedi.
The second series premiered in late January 2006 and had a set virtually identical to the Australian version, except there were 22 briefcases. In this series, when the contestant picked a case, the contestant that held the case could guess the amount in it. If they guessed correctly, they would win Rs. 50,000.
After the second series, Mandira Bedi quit, citing time constraints as the reason for her departure. Therefore, the third season of the series, which premiered in April 2006, was presented by new host, Rajeev Khandelwal, and aired once weekly. The third series features a new set and new graphics that are virtually identical to those used on the US show. Even though it was a lot similar to the US version, the third series did not have any games that carried over and did not show previous offers when it was time for the offer. Models were also introduced to hold the briefcases, instead of the contestants in series 1 and 2. In this series, once Rajeev, the host, calls out the name of the contestant, he asks them a question with 2 possible answers. If they give the correct answer, they will get to play. At the end of most episodes of series 3, Rajeev ended by saying, "Keep Smiling!" This version ended in July 2006, as it was believed viewers couldn't connect with the concept.
Season 4 on &TV.
Season 4 of this show was aired from 5 September 2015 to 29 November 2015 and will air on Sat-Sunday nights at 8:00pm on &TV.


Crime Fighter

Crime Fighter is a role-playing game published by Task Force Games in 1988.
Description.
"Crime Fighter" is a "TV cop show" police role-playing system, map-oriented, with counters to move around to indicate positions of cars and characters. The rulebook includes rules for character creation, movement, and combat, and a "Sourcebook" section giving background on police procedures and running a campaign. Two introductory scenarios and five cardstock floor-plan sheets are included.
Publication history.
"Crime Fighter" was designed by Aaron Allston, and published by Task Force Games in 1988 as a boxed set containing a 64-page book, a contents sheet, six cardstock sheets, a map, two cardboard counter sheets, and dice.


Galaga Legions DX

 is a 2011 twin-stick shooter video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to "Galaga Legions" (2008), and is the fourteenth entry in the "Galaxian" series. The player controls the AEf-7 "Blowneedle" starship in its efforts to wipe out the Galaga forces before they destroy all of mankind. The objective is to clear each of the game's nine stages in the quickest time possible by destroy waves of enemies. The Blowneedle has a pair of satellites that can be pointed at enemies to shoot them down. New additions have been made to the core gameplay, such as a "slowdown" effect when the player is about to collide with an enemy.
The game was developed by the same team behind "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX", headed by director Tadashi Iguchi and producer Toshiko Tamura. Iguchi thought the original "Legions" tried too hard to be original and only appealed to a niche audience, deciding to make the game appeal towards more casual players with simple controls and a focus on frantic gameplay. The team focused heavily on high-score battles as a callback to video game tournaments from the early 1980s, and to appeal towards both veterans and newcomers to the "Galaxian" series. It was the second game released under the Namco Generations label, and was made to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original "Galaga" arcade game.
Upon release, "Galaga Legions DX" was met with mostly favorable reviews from critics. Reviewers praised the game's graphics, frantic gameplay and improvements made over its predecessor, although would criticize its lack of content and for not being as well-refined as the first game. A Windows Phone version of the game was released in 2012. The Xbox 360 version was made available on the Xbox One in 2016 as part of the system's backwards compatibility lineup. It was the only other game released under the Namco Generations label, as it was discontinued a year after the game's release in 2012.
Gameplay.
In "Galaga Legions DX", players control a starship named the AEf-7 Blowneedle in its mission to eradicate the hostile Galaga forces. Players traverse through ten different stages, which are divided up into four sections each and become progressively difficult. Players can begin at any level they choose. Each section consists of multiple waves of enemies, with players needing to destroy as many as they can before the time limit runs out. Player score and progress is tallied up in a bar graph displayed upon completion of each section, culminating in a final area where players must destroy a boss.
Gameplay of "Legions DX" has been compared to similar twin-stick shooters such as "". In each wave, players must destroy large formations of constantly-moving enemies while avoiding collision with them or opposing projectiles. If the Blowneedle is about to collide with an enemy or shot, a slowdown effect is applied that gives players a chance to escape before dying. The objective is to clear each section as quick as possible, with bonus points awarded for destroying enemies under a par time. Enemies fly in pre-determined patterns, indicated by blue neon lines drawn across the screen. Most formations feature large, orbular ships that explode when shot, which can be used to cause chain reactions and easily wipe out larger enemies. The Blowneedle is equipped with two satellites, which can either be pointed in any direction or fixated to the side of the player. Flying closer to enemy formations enables "Focus Fire", which increases the Blowneedle's movement and shooting speed. Destroying circular Black Hole Bombs sucks in all on-screen enemies, who join the player's side and provide additional firepower.
The game features two different play modes: Adventure, where players take on each level in a linear format, and Championship, a score-attack mode where players try to get the highest score in any stage they choose. Before each game beings, players can select a difficulty option and a cosmetic skin, which alters the game's visuals. Many of these replace the Blowneedle and enemies with sprites from other "Galaxian" games, alongside those from other older Namco games including "Pac-Man", "Mappy", "Dig Dug", and "Rally-X".
Development.
After completing work on "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" (2010), Namco Bandai Games director Tadashi Iguchi began drafting plans for a sequel to one of his previous projects, "Galaga Legions" (2008). Originally released for the Xbox 360, "Legions" was a modernized update to Namco's "Galaxian" series of shoot 'em ups. While the game sold well and was received favorably by publications, a common complaint was its drastic departure from the gameplay of the original "Galaxian" and "Galaga", both of which were fixed overhead shooters. Acknowledging the criticism, Iguchi started production of a sequel that was much more accessible to new players.
Iguchi directed development of "Galaga Legions DX". The majority of the developers behind "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" assisted him in production, such as producer Toshiko Tamura. The project goal was to create a game that was intuitive and welcoming to both newcomers and franchise veterans, and to find a balance between simplicity and complexity in its gameplay. With the original "Galaga Legions", Iguchi felt that it trying to be original instead distanced it from previous "Galaxian" games, resulting in a niche target audience. Iguchi's experience with developing "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX", a well-received update to the original "Pac-Man", provided him with a basic idea of how "Galaga Legions DX" should be designed. The game's design was themed around the word "crush", referring to the destruction of large hordes of enemies in the original. Simplicity was a focal point for the project, as the development team didn't wish to create something too easy it lacked difficulty or something too complex it confused players.
A number of changes were made to the gameplay structure of "Legions" to accommodate the team's design goals. The level progression system, a linear series of stages in the original "Legions", was omitted and instead allows players to select whichever stage they choose. Iguchi didn't enjoy the first game's progression for having only one specific way to clear stage formations, believing the new non-linear structure allowed for variations within each level to accommodate different playstyles: "We want it to be both intuitive and flexible. There shouldn't be one specific way of clearing the game or obtaining a high-score." The controls were also simplified so that players were able to focus on the gameplay.
Among the new design choices for "Legions DX" was its heavy focus on earning high scores and competing with other players, as the team believed part of the rise in popularity of the shooter genre came from high-score tournaments. Iguchi in particular suggested it would ignite a "competitive spirit" within players, fueling them to compete against others for the highest-score possible on leaderboards. Other additions include improved visuals, reworked enemy patterns, and a slowdown feature that takes effect when the player is about to collide with an enemy. Like "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX", the development team hoped to make the game "more exhilarating and satisfying" than before, and to feel like a proper evolution of its arcade game predecessors. The game was described as an "enemy curtain shooter", as the way enemy formations closed in on players resembled the movement of curtains. Composer Akihiko Ishikawa, whose works include "Ninja Assault" and "The Idolmaster" series, scored the soundtrack.
Release.
Namco Bandai Games teased "Galaga Legions DX" on November 16, 2010. The company revealed that the game would be the second title released under its Namco Generations series of classic game updates, which included "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" and the later-cancelled "Aero-Cross". Namco Bandai released a teaser trailer in April 2011, where it announced the game would coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original "Galaga". A playable demo was demonstrated at E3 2011.
"Galaga Legions DX" was released for the Xbox 360 on June 29, 2011 worldwide through the Xbox Live service. The PlayStation 3 version was released for the PlayStation Network on August 3, 2011 in North America and Japan, and on August 10 in Europe. To commemorate its release, an update for both "Taiko no Tatsujin 14" and "Taiko no Tatsujin Plus" included one of the game's songs, "Doom Noiz", as a playable track. A version for Windows Phone was released on September 4, 2012, which uses touch-screen thumbsticks for movement. On April 27, 2016, the Xbox 360 version of "Galaga Legions DX" was re-released through Xbox One's backwards comparability lineup.
Reception.
By the end of 2011, "Galaga Legions DX" sold 19,755 units on the Xbox 360, significantly less than its predecessor. The game itself was received favorably, holding a 74/100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic.
David Wolinsky of "GamesRadar+" praised it for being more approachable than to the original "Legions", saying that it was much faster and it made the player "feel like a badass" while destroying large waves of enemies. He concluded by stating the game is a "mighty fine diversion worth sinking your teeth into." Jim Sterling of "Destructoid" said the game appealed to both hardcore and casual fans for its addictive gameplay and content, heavily praising the game's puzzle-solving techniques, easy approach and graphics. Carolyn Petit of "GameSpot" called it "a worthy bearer of the Galaga title", applauding the game's lowered difficulty, graphical style and addictive gameplay. Daemon Hatfield of "IGN" praised its graphics and selectable game skins, and for its strategy-based gameplay, while Sammy Barker of "Push Square" applauded the "fantastic" presentation and its "risk-and-reward" mechanic.
Despite its praise, many would argue the game was not as refined as its predecessor and still lacked in content. Hatfield was the most critical, saying that the game's content left with little to offer for its price point, expressing disappointment towards its lack of replay value and for bearing little resemblance to the original "Galaga". He went on to say the game was not much of an improvement over the first "Galaga Legions" and that only one playthrough showed off all it has to offer. Barker stated it was not as refined as "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" and disliked its large emphasis on pattern memorization, saying that it led to repetition, while Wolinsky criticized the game's lack of extra content. Sterling suggested that the game could have used more gameplay modes and longer levels, feeling it has room for improvement.


Trompowsky Attack

The Trompowsky Attack is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
White prepares to exchange the bishop for Black's knight, inflicting doubled pawns upon Black in the process. This is not a lethal threat; Black can choose to fall in with White's plan.
The Trompowsky is a popular alternative to the more common lines after 1.d4 Nf6 beginning 2.c4 or 2.Nf3. By playing 2.Bg5, White sidesteps immense bodies of opening theory of various Indian Defences like the Queen's Indian, King's Indian, Nimzo-Indian, as well as the Grünfeld Defence.
The opening is named after the one-time Brazilian champion Octávio Trompowsky (1897–1984) who played it in the 1930s and 1940s. However, chess master William Allen Ruth developed the opening simultaneously in the 1930s, and was well-known by locals in Pennsylvania as the "Ruth Opening". The Trompowsky has also been called "The Zot".
Julian Hodgson and Antoaneta Stefanova are among several grandmasters who often employ the Trompowsky. World Champion Magnus Carlsen has occasionally employed the Trompowsky, notably in the first game of the 2016 World Chess Championship against Sergey Karjakin.
Main lines.
Black has a number of ways to meet the Trompowsky, some of which avoid doubled pawns, while others allow them. The most common Black responses are discussed here.
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5.
White can also play 2. Bg5 after 1. d4 d5. This is known as the Pseudo-Trompowsky, Hodgson Attack, Levitsky Attack, Queen's Bishop Attack, and Bishop Attack, and is covered in ECO code D00. Play can transpose to the Trompowsky if Black plays 2...Nf6.


Catalan Opening

The Catalan is a chess opening where White adopts a combination of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, although the opening can arise from various move orders (see transposition). "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings" ("ECO") codes E01–E09 are for lines with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, and others are part of E00.
Black has two main approaches to choose between: in the Open Catalan Black plays ...dxc4 and can either try to hold on to the pawn with ...b5 or give it back for extra time to free their game. In the Closed Catalan, Black does not capture on c4; their game can be somewhat for a while, but is quite .
The Catalan is generally seen as a safe way for White to get a small advantage.
History.
The Catalan derives its name from Catalonia, after tournament organisers at the 1929 Barcelona tournament asked Savielly Tartakower to create a new variation in homage to the area's chess history. It had been played a few times before Tartakower's usage in the tournament, however: Réti–Leonhardt, Berlin 1928, for instance, transposed into an Open Catalan. The opening cemented itself in the repertoire of leading players of the thirties and forties, such as world champions Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine & Mikhail Botvinnik as well as top grandmasters such as Salo Flohr, Paul Keres & Samuel Reshevsky.
The Catalan came to prominence at the top level when both Garry Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi played it in their Candidates Semifinal match in London in 1983: five games of the eleven-game match were Catalans.
In 2004, Ruben Felgaer won a tournament celebrating the 75th anniversary of Barcelona 1929 and the birth of the Catalan Opening, ahead of Grandmasters (GMs) Viktor Korchnoi, Mihail Marin, Lluis Comas and Viktor Moskalenko and International Master Manel Granados. Each game in the tournament, which was also held in Barcelona, began with the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6.
With its use by Vladimir Kramnik, the Catalan has gained a good deal of attention by high-level GMs in recent times. Kramnik played the opening three times in the World Chess Championship 2006. The Catalan was also played four times by Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010; in both instances the opponent was Veselin Topalov, and in each instance White scored two more points than Black.
Open Catalan, Classical Line.
The Open Catalan, Classical Line begins 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 Be7. White trades the pawn for a lead in . Without the d5-pawn, White's bishop hinders Black's development. The Open Catalan line has been a favorite of Anatoly Karpov and Efim Geller as Black and Oleg Romanishin with the white pieces. Usually, White will recover the pawn with Qc2 and a4, Ne5, or Qa4. In order to hold the pawn, Black will have to seriously weaken the queenside with ...a6 and ...b5. The "ECO" code is E05.


Yes or No (game show)

Yes or No() is a version of "Deal or No Deal" airing in South Korea on south korean broadcasting company tvN in 2006. The prizes range from as little as 10 won (about US$0.01 and S$0.01, less than €0.01 and £0.01) to as much as 100,000,000 won (about US$104,000, €83,000, S$130,000, and £55,000). The show is currently hosted by Shin Dong-yup (), a famous comedian in Korea.
The top prize was won by Lee Chang-geun (이창근) on the episode aired on June 23, 2007.
Comedian Park Su-hong () also won 100,000,000 won when the top prize was raised to 200,000,000 won on October 9, 2007. He donated his winnings to CJ Donors Camp.
Prizes.

Differences from Deal or No Deal.
The player is given several chances to change his/her bag and open it right away.
In later episodes, there are red lines which contain the five highest price ranges.
In the red line version, two players will play in the first three rounds; the second player will open the last case.
If all of the red line amounts are opened before round 3 ends, the second player will get the opportunity to play the real game.
Variation.
A variation of the show was embedded in a variety show called Idol World. Super Junior-T played the game and there were only 10 cases. The prize goes from ₩10 (about US$0.01 and ¥1, less than €0.01 and £0.01) to ₩1,000,000 (about US$1,073, ¥116,000, €723, and, £521). They rejected all the banker's offers of ₩52,000, ₩50,800 and ₩50,000, and finally won ₩100,000 in their case. The board is shown below:


Fault Milestone One

Fault Milestone One is a visual novel video game developed by Alice in Dissonance and published by Sekai Project. It was first released in Japan for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in 2013, with an English version localized and released by Sekai Project the following year. Versions for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 were later released in 2020.
"Fault Milestone One" follows the royal guardian Ritona, who uses magic to escape the kingdom of Rughzenhaide, along with princess Selphine, after it gets attacked by mercenaries. The two arrive in a strange country unfamiliar to them halfway across the world, and follows their attempt to return home. It is the first entry in the "Fault" series, and was followed by "Fault Milestone Two" in 2015. Considered a "kinetic novel", the game is mostly linear and features minimal gameplay interaction.
The game was directed and written by Munisix, with artwork by Hare Konatsu. The story was initially based on a pitch for a role-playing game delivered to Munisix; being underwhelmed with it, he reworked it until it according to him no longer resembled the original idea. When Alice in Dissonance were approached by Sekai Project about an English localization, they wanted to add some polish first. They financed the localization, as well as ports for other platforms through a crowdfunding campaign in 2014. The game was a commercial success and received positive reviews from critics.
Overview.
"Fault Milestone One" is a linear visual novel with no player interaction aside from one player decision early in the game that affects some dialogue. The game focuses on telling a story, with the player being an observer. The player has access to an in-game encyclopedia detailing concepts seen in the game. The game is set in a world where the art of using magic, called "manakravte", exists and is used in almost every aspect of life. However, not everywhere on the planet has high concentration of mana. These places, called the "Outer-Pole", have instead had advances in science and medicine. The story follows the manakravter Ritona, the royal guardian for princess Selphine of the kingdom of Rughzenhaide. Among other characters are Rune, a girl from the Outer-Pole, and her brother Rudo, the head of a major company.
Development.
"Fault Milestone One" was developed by Alice in Dissonance as the first work under "Project Written", the name of their operations. It was directed and written by Munisix, with character designs and other art by Hare Konatsu. The "Milestone" in the title comes from how Alice in Dissonance wanted to do something different from the commonly-used word "Episode"; as the story is about a journey, they found "Milestone" thematically fitting. While Munisix is a native speaker of English, he chose to write the game in Japanese, stating that his reason for this was that he had had more exposure to the visual novel medium in Japanese than in English, also saying that he would have used English if he were to write a movie script. According to him, the writing is the aspect that takes the most time during the production, with a lot of time spent on coming up with ideas and turning them into "something consistent". Describing himself as a disorganized person, he has said that they have had to delete whole segments due to him overlooking some aspect of the game's world.
The game's story originally began as a pitch for a role-playing game that was delivered to Munisix at some point in the 2000s. It included the premise of a princess defeating an enemy that had devastated her homeland, as well as character names and personalities, and asked Munisix to write a story. Munisix found the pitch underwhelming, but still worked on it, attempting to make it more interesting; while he was working on it, the person who had delivered the pitch stopped contacting him. Not wanting to abandon the work he had put into the project, Munisix continued with the project, making several changes to the point where it no longer resembled the original pitch. Among these were additions to the game world and cast, including the creation of Ritona and the Outer and Inner-Poles, the concept of the "path down", and a motivation for the game's antagonist. He also changed the structure of the story so that it could work as a manga or as "a better game than it was intended to be".
Munisix wrote the main characters to be strong women who can "more than adequately do" what male characters from shōnen manga can, intending for both male and female players to be able to look up to them. He did not consider the characters' sexual or affectionate attractiveness to be a primary goal, and intended for them to be "gritty and cool" rather than "cute and lovely". He based Rune's condition on psychopathy. He aimed to give each part of the game world its own feeling: Rughzenhaide and the Alliance were made similar to the Age of Enlightenment, but with an information technology (IT) revolution that did not require computers. According to Munisix, the names of characters and locations came about naturally, with no time spent on any naming scheme. He tried to write slice-of-life scenes for the game, but felt that they were not compelling or convincing, stating that the tense situations the main characters are in throughout the story leave little room for levity, as they need to get home alive and constantly have to consider potential dangers.
For the game's character design, Munisix initially gave Konatsu specifications of what each character would look like; as they kept working on the "Fault" series, they "found a rhythm", with Konatsu designing the characters according to their personality and function. They go through multiple prototypes, with some designs turning into other characters, and some clothes being reused on other characters. Due to misunderstandings, Konatsu initially designed Rune as a male character. Munisix had imagined Rune as looking "girly", wearing a skirt and having long, black hair. However, when Konatsu redid the design, elements of the original male design remained, with Rune being given pigtails and pants, which Munisix later said that he preferred over his original concept. Some locations that did not exist in the original draft, such as the Zhevitz family manor, were added to the story late during the game's production when Alice in Dissonance was low on money. Because of this, they had to resort to using stock background images.
Release and localization.
The game was originally released in Japan on August 12, 2013. The English video game publisher Sekai Project found out about it while looking for new groups in the Japanese video game market by reading Japanese news sites focusing on doujin games, and found "Fault Milestone One" to stand out from the rest. They contacted Alice in Dissonance and organized a meeting in Tokyo, where they discussed the licenses that would be needed to publish the game in the West; the only one required was for the music. As Alice in Dissonance felt that the game required some more polish before getting an international release, they decided to finance development of improved character sprites, new cutscenes and an English translation through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
Sekai Project launched the campaign in June 2014, with the goal to raise $5,000 by July 18; by the end of the campaign, they had managed to raise 34,662, allowing for the production of Android and PlayStation Vita ports, an artbook, and the prequel game "Fault: Silence the Pedant". Originally, Munisix had planned to handle the localization himself, but due to the success of the crowdfunding campaign he was instead able to focus on developing the sequel "Fault Milestone Two". By December 2014, the English translation was finished, with Sekai Project working on finishing the production. The director's cut version was released in Japan on August 17, 2014, and internationally in both English and Japanese on December 15, 2014. In July 2016, the game was updated with a new English translation intended to be "100% faithful" to the Japanese version of the game, and more consistent in tone with "Fault Milestone Two" due to them sharing the same translator.
While Sekai Project had initially begun work on porting the game to the Unity game engine themselves in order to release the game on the PlayStation Vita, they announced in February 2016 that they had instead decided to contract an outside company to do the PlayStation Vita port. The game was also released for the Nintendo Switch on October 3, 2019, and the PlayStation 4 on May 22, 2020. Both console versions are to get a limited physical release, done in a partnership with Limited Run Games. An update in March 2018 replaced most character and background art with higher quality ones, as well as a new score composed by Luiza Carvalho. These updates were also included in the console versions.
Reception.
According to Munisix, the game was a commercial success, with the series selling over 480,000 copies by September 2019. The Steam release had an estimated total of 108,000 players by July 2018. It was met by a wide range of reviews, with some critical and some positive. Jenni Lada at "PC Gamer" included the game on a list of "the best visual novels for beginners".
Geoff Thew at "Hardcore Gamer" was disappointed with the lack of player choices, saying that experimenting with various consequences is "the whole draw of visual novels"; for visual novels without branching stories, he thought that puzzle gameplay mechanics are required to keep the player interested, and that without either, it could have instead been a manga or light novel. Andrew Barker at RPGFan questioned why the single player choice was included, calling it pointless and "almost a tease for players wishing they had more control over the events". Thew called the artwork lackluster, with the world and characters looking "ugly and flat"; he liked the shading, but said that the proportions are off for most characters, particularly the men, and that perspective is handled incorrectly. Barker said that the presentation felt low-budget: he called the character design excellent, with elegant character artwork, but found the background art and music to be dull and lifeless. Thew liked the music, calling the atmospheric songs used in dramatic scenes "powerful and subtle", but found the music used in comedic scenes annoying. However, he was disappointed with the game's localization, calling it stiff and unnatural, and full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. He also found problems with the game's tense, as it switches between present and past, and how the narration sometimes switches from Ritona's perspective to a "detached, omniscient third person". Meanwhile, Barker thought that the translation was well done, and that the script was mostly free of errors; he did however find it to read awkwardly at times, with unnatural-sounding dialogue. Ethan thought that Sekai Project had done a good job with the game's presentation, calling it a "professional package". A writer for Impress Watch liked the presentation, praising the character art, the graphics and the user interface.
The game's story received mixed reception. Thew enjoyed the premise and Rune's history, calling it "interesting and thematically resonant", but found it too disconnected from the main story. Barker liked the story; he said that it, while poorly paced, is compelling as a standalone story, but that it does not work as a first episode, with the characters and setting not being established properly. Thew found the game world interesting, calling the detailed magic system fascinating, but felt that the exposition of it was overly long and clunky, and unnecessary due to the included encyclopedia that already explains it. Meanwhile, Barker felt that the world and setting was not explained enough, with the move from "swords and sorcery to medicine and robotics" not feeling believable due to being poorly explained. Impress Watch did however like the world building, calling it unique and believable, and commenting that it made use of magic without turning it into a miraculous power that can accomplish anything. Ethan at Siliconera felt that the story did not begin strongly, with the conflict in the beginning not being explained, but liked the main story arc about Rune, saying that it "hooked [him] something fierce". He liked the structure, with a full narrative that ties up at the end, comparing it favorably to the first episode of the visual novel "World End Economica". Both Thew and Barker called the characters clichéd; Thew felt that it is acceptable to use archetypes, but that the game treats them as if they are unique and difficult to comprehend. Barker cited Rudo as an exception, who he felt was more interesting and had realistic motivations. Ethan commented on the lack of sexual content, saying that while he does not mind the existence of it, it was not needed in "Fault Milestone One" in his opinion, and that he appreciated how the developers had not felt the need to include it anyway.


Leonard Ross

Leonard "Lenny" M. Ross, (July 7, 1945 – May 1, 1985) was an American teacher, lawyer, and government official who was famous for his celebrity as a child prodigy and television game show contestant. Ross's game show winnings, totaling $164,000 (), were for two months in the spring of 1957 the highest ever earned on a United States television game show.
Early years.
Ross was born to Pauline Ross on July 7, 1945. Ross was known as a prodigy and a genius. At age seven, he gained national attention by passing a federal examination for a ham radio operator's license. At ten, he became known as the "whiz kid" who won $100,000 on "The Big Surprise", a television quiz show. Many of the questions he correctly answered concerned the stock market. As a prize, he became the first guest to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. At eleven, on February 10, 1957, Ross won $64,000 on "The $64,000 Challenge." This total made Ross the highest winner of game show prize money for two months, until passed by another child contestant, Robert Strom, on April 16.
At 14, Ross was graduated from high school and immediately matriculated at Reed College. In his senior year, he transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles to be closer to his family.
At 18 years of age, in 1963, Ross entered Yale Law School. While there, he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. He began seeing a psychoanalyst to manage his neurotic tendencies. He graduated at 20, and went on to study at Yale's graduate school of economics for three years. Reports conflict on whether he graduated or if he failed to write his doctoral dissertation.
Career.
Ross was awarded a teaching fellowship at Harvard in the early 1970s. He then went on to teach at Columbia Law School. He also became involved in politics and held positions of public service. After resigning from Columbia University, Ross joined the California gubernatorial campaign of Edmund Gerald Brown Jr., (Jerry Brown), becoming a part of the "issues and ideas staff". Later, he would aid in creating Mr. Brown's first budget. In 1975, Ross accepted an appointment to the California Public Utilities Commission under California Governor Jerry Brown, making him one of the youngest members of the commission. The appointment was to last six years, but Ross resigned after just two. He then went on to serve President Jimmy Carter in the State Department. There, he worked as an advisor to a former professor at Yale, Richard Cooper, who was the under-secretary for economic affairs. Ross resigned from this position after one year and slipped into a deep depression.
In 1978, while in Boston, Ross was awarded a foundation grant to do a monograph on nuclear proliferation. Upset about a failed romance, Ross attempted suicide and was admitted to McLean Hospital, a private psychiatric clinic outside Boston. Upon his release, he moved back to California and joined the faculty at Boalt Hall, the University of California law school on the Berkeley campus. He resigned from the faculty in 1984 following a brief stay in the hospital after students found him under his car, rehearsing his lecture, in the parking lot of the school. He then went on to work for a small law firm in San Francisco, where he was to be the "idea man" with no strenuous legal work, but the deterioration of his mind made concentrating an impossible task.
During his career, Ross tended to co-author books and articles with partners who would see the work through to completion—a task which was near impossible for Ross with his racing mind. He co-wrote a book about students' legal rights during the Vietnam War draft called "The Lottery and the Draft: Where Do I Stand?". With Peter Passell, a fellow professor at Columbia University, Ross co-wrote "Retreat from Riches: Affluence and Its Enemies" about a national policy of rapid growth being the only way to reduce poverty in America. In April 1972, Ross co-authored a strenuous attack on the newly published book, "The Limits to Growth", in the "New York Times".
In total, Ross co-wrote or wrote three books on economics, articles for the "New York Review of Books" and "The New York Times", and a popular compendium of the best of everything from pizzas to police precincts called "The Best."
Death.
Ross's life unraveled as his mood swings and impatience with himself and the world became uncontrollable. Ross was aware his mental state was deteriorating and aggressively sought out physical solutions for his mental ailments. Convinced his emotional problems had a physical cause, Ross spent a considerable amount of time in medical libraries researching new and unorthodox treatments to cure himself. Among the treatments he tried were elaborate drug regimes, shock treatments, and brain surgery. The surgery, a cingulotomy, was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and consisted of snipping a circuit in the limbic system. The surgery failed to alleviate his depression.
Those around Ross attempted to intervene and help. His friends lent him money and tried to find him jobs that were better suited for his mental state. In April 1985, Ross moved in with his brother, Daniel, accepting Daniel's and his mother's help. On May 1, 1985, at 39 years old, Ross committed suicide in the pool of Capri Motel in Santa Clara, California.
After his death, a psychiatrist who had treated Ross remarked, "the early fame and brilliant success of his youth ruined him. Being a child prodigy is an enormously powerful event that disrupts normal development."
Ross never married and left no children. He is remembered as a "true genius, a sweet, likable and generous man."