title: Flexural strength

text: When an object is formed of a single material, like a wooden beam or a steel rod, is bent (Fig. 1), it experiences a range of stresses across its depth (Fig. 2). At the edge of the object on the inside of the bend (concave face) the stress will be at its maximum compressive stress value. At the outside of the bend (convex face) the stress will be at its maximum tensile value. These inner and outer edges of the beam or rod are known as the 'extreme fibers'. Most materials generally fail under tensile stress before they fail under compressive stress


title: Flexural strength

text: The flexural strength would be the same as the tensile strength if the material were homogeneous. In fact, most materials have small or large defects in them which act to concentrate the stresses locally, effectively causing a localized weakness. When a material is bent only the extreme fibers are at the largest stress so, if those fibers are free from defects, the flexural strength will be controlled by the strength of those intact 'fibers'. However, if the same material was subjected to only tensile forces then all the fibers in the material are at the same stress and failure will initiate when the weakest fiber reaches its limiting tensile stress. Therefore, it is common for flexural strengths to be higher than tensile strengths for the same material. Conversely, a homogeneous material with defects only on its surfaces (e.g., due to scratches) might have a higher tensile strength than flexural strength.


title: Flexural strength

text: If we don't take into account defects of any kind, it is clear that the material will fail under a bending force which is smaller than the corresponding tensile force. Both of these forces will induce the same failure stress, whose value depends on the strength of the material.


title: Flexural strength

text: For a rectangular sample, the resulting stress under an axial force is given by the following formula:


title: Flexural strength

text: This stress is not the true stress, since the cross section of the sample is considered to be invariable (engineering stress).


title: Flexural strength

text: The resulting stress for a rectangular sample under a load in a three-point bending setup (Fig. 3) is given by the formula below (see "Measuring flexural strength").


title: Flexural strength

text: Typically, L (length of the support span) is much larger than d, so the fraction formula_7 is larger than one.


title: Flexural strength

text: For a rectangular sample under a load in a four-point bending setup where the loading span is one-third of the support span:


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Volksgemeinschaft () is a German expression meaning "people's community", "folk community", "national community", or "racial community", depending on the translation of its component term "Volk" (cognate with the English word "folk"). This expression originally became popular during World War I as Germans rallied in support of the war, and many experienced "relief that at one fell swoop all social and political divisions could be solved in the great national equation". The idea of a "Volksgemeinschaft" was rooted in the notion of uniting people across class divides to achieve a national purpose, and the hope that national unity would "obliterate all conflicts - between employers and employees, town and countryside, producers and consumers, industry and craft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: After Germany's defeat in World War I, the concept of "Volksgemeinschaft" remained popular especially on the right wing of German politics, in opposition to the class struggle advocated by Marxist parties like the Social Democrats and the Communists. The German Conservative Party became the German National People's Party and the National Liberal Party reorganized itself into the German People's Party, with the new names intended partly as references to "Volksgemeinschaft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The concept was notoriously embraced by the newly founded Nazi Party in the 1920s, and eventually became strongly associated with Nazism after Adolf Hitler's rise to power. In the Nazi vision of "Volksgemeinschaft", society would continue to be organized into classes (based upon talent, property, or profession), but there would be no class conflict, because a common national consciousness would inspire the different economic and social classes to live together harmoniously and work for the nation. There was also an important racial aspect to the Nazi "Volksgemeinschaft": only people of Aryan blood could be members. This last stipulation marked a stark contrast with certain earlier uses of the term that had stressed not social Darwinian survival of the fittest but solidaristic mutual aid.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The word "Volksgemeinschaft" was probably first used in Gottlob August Tittel's 1791 translation of a text written by John Locke, synthesising the expression "in any place, generally". Among 19th century scholars who used the word "Volksgemeinschaft" were Friedrich Schleiermacher, Friedrich Carl von Savigny, Carl Theodor Welcker, Johann Caspar Bluntschli, Hermann Schulze, Wilhelm Dilthey, and Wilhelm Wundt. Most influential was perhaps Ferdinand Tönnies' theory in his work "Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft" ("Community and Society") of 1887. Decades later, in 1932, Tönnies joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany to oppose the rise of Nazism and protest against their use of his concept. He had his honorary professorship removed when Adolf Hitler came to power.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the Emperor Wilhelm II proclaimed before the "Reichstag" the "Burgfrieden" ("peace in the castle" or "truce in the castle", a kind of "unity within a besieged castle" for the duration of the conflict), announcing that henceforward all of the regional differences between the different states of the "Reich"; between rich, middle class and poor; between Roman Catholics and Protestants; and between rural and urban no longer existed and the German people were all one for the duration of the war. During the war, many Germans longed to have the sense of unity that the "Burgfrieden" inspired continue after the war, and it was during this period that many ideas started to circulate about how to convert the wartime "Burgfrieden" into a peacetime "Volksgemeinschaft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In the aftermath of World War I, the idea of "Volksgemeinschaft" was used to interpret economic catastrophes and hardship facing Germans during the Weimar Republic era as a common experience of the German nation and to argue for German unity to bring about renewal to end the crisis. It was invoked by the Jewish social anarchists Gustav Landauer (who was killed for his participation in the Bavarian Soviet Republic) and Erich Mühsam (who died in Oranienburg concentration camp) in articulating their vision of a peaceful, non-coercive mutualist society. However, it was subsequently adopted by the Nazi Party to justify actions against Jews, profiteers, Marxists, and the Allies of World War I, whom the Nazis accused of obstructing German national regeneration, causing national disintegration in 1918 and Germany's defeat in World War I.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: There is an ongoing debate among historians as to whether a "Volksgemeinschaft" was or was not successfully established between 1933 and 1945. This is a notably controversial topic of debate for ethical and political reasons, and is made difficult by the ambiguous language employed by Hitler and the Nazis when talking about the "Volksgemeinschaft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In the aftermath of the November Revolution of 1918 that marked the end of the German Empire and the beginning of the Weimar Republic, there was strong animosity amongst many Germans towards the Weimar Republic and the social democrats who sponsored its creation. This was combined with anxiety in the 1930s and with the severe economic crisis in Germany and abroad, in which many Germans faced unemployment. This situation resulted in increasing popularity for the Nazi Party, including amongst workers, small business owners, and others who desired a government that would resolve the economic crisis. While ascending to power, Hitler promised to restore faith in the "Volk" and to bring wholeness while accusing other politicians of tearing at German unity.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Upon rising to power in 1933, the Nazis sought to gain support of various elements of society. Their concept of "Volksgemeinschaft" was racially unified and organized hierarchically. This involved a mystical unity, a form of racial soul uniting all Germans, including those living abroad. Nevertheless, this soul was regarded as related to the land, in the doctrine of "blood and soil". Indeed, one reason for "blood and soil" was the belief that landowner and peasant lived in an organic harmony. Aryan Germans who had sexual relations with non-Germanics were excluded from the people's community.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The Nazis solidified support amongst nationalists and conservatives by presenting themselves as allied with President Paul von Hindenburg, who was considered a war hero of World War I in Germany. On 21 March 1933, special celebrations were held to mark the re-opening of the Reichstag following the Reichstag fire, and the Nazis called this event Potsdam Day. Potsdam Day was used to celebrate military tradition, the Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia, the sacrifices of World War I and the "hero of Tannenberg," President Hindenburg. The image of Hitler and Hindenburg shaking hands was reproduced on thousands of postcards, representing "the union of the new and old Germany," a way for the Nazis to portray themselves as connected to the aristocratic traditions of the past.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Having organized Potsdam Day to gain conservative support, the Nazis sought to gain the support of workers by declaring May Day, a day celebrated by organized labour, to be a paid holiday named the "Day of National Work" and held celebrations on 1 May 1933 to honour German workers. The regime believed that the only way to avoid a repeat of the disaster of 1918 was to secure workers' support for the German government. The regime also insisted through propaganda that all Germans take part in the May Day celebrations, not just workers, in the hope that this would help break down class hostility between workers and burghers. Songs in praise of labour and workers were played by state radio throughout May Day 1933, as well as an airshow in Berlin and fireworks. The Nazis added strongly nationalist themes to the celebrations, and Hitler spoke of workers as patriots who had built Germany's industrial strength and had honourably served in the war, while claiming that they had been oppressed under economic liberalism. Hitler praised the virtues of labor, and was quoted in the "Völkischer Beobachter" as declaring that "I only acknowledge one nobility—that of labour." The event proved convincing, as the next day the "Berliner Morgenpost", a newspaper which had been associated with the political left in the past, praised the regime's May Day celebrations. At the same time, however, the Nazis sought to destroy independent working class organizations, seeing them as incompatible with the trans-class unity of the "Volksgemeinschaft". On 2 May 1933, one day after the celebrations, the trade union movement was banned, and "stormtroopers sealed off and took over the operations of the socialist Free Trade Unions and incorporated them into what became the German Labor Front".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The Nazis continued social welfare policies initiated by the governments of the Weimar Republic and mobilized volunteers to assist those impoverished, "racially-worthy" Germans through the National Socialist People's Welfare organization. This organization oversaw charitable activities, and became the largest civic organization in Nazi Germany. Successful efforts were made to get middle-class women involved in social work assisting large families. The Winter Relief campaigns acted as a ritual to generate public feeling. These efforts also served to reinforce the racial ideology of the Nazis and the idea that the "Volksgemeinschaft" was a racial community, because Jews and other non-Aryans were excluded from social welfare benefits, as were Germans who opposed Nazism or who were deemed "unfit" for other reasons.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The "Volksgemeinschaft" was intended to create a sense of uniformity amongst its members; Fritz Reinhardt, state secretary for the finance ministry, introduced numerous tax breaks for lower and middle class Germans, narrowed pension gaps between blue and white collar workers, and lowered the entrance standards for civil service exams. The ubiquitous uniforms within Nazi organisations were intended to suppress visible class differences in dress and create an image of unity. Between 1933 and 1939, upward mobility was twice as likely as between 1927 and 1933. The Second World War assisted in this, as social status and class did not affect whether one received Reich services. Wartime rationing was implemented in an egalitarian manner, which greatly pleased the working class – a secret wartime report by the Social Democrats stated that "the working classes thoroughly welcome the fact that 'the better off' have, in practical terms, ceased to be that."


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Nevertheless, in many ways the Nazi "Volksgemeinschaft" served only as a symbolic unity, while real differences of status and wealth continued to dominate daily life. The Nazis disparaged sophisticated forms of address such as "gnädige Frau" ("gracious lady") and the associated practice of kissing a lady's hand, but Hitler was routinely shown engaging in that same practice in press photographs. Old titles of nobility were shunned, but the Nazi Party hierarchy created numerous new titles. Elegant evening dress and other public displays of wealth were sometimes derided and sometimes encouraged. The Nazi Party claimed to administer justice impartially to all ethnic Germans regardless of their social origins, and Nazi propaganda emphasized instances where upper class individuals were found guilty by the courts as evidence of this, but at the same time the Nazi Party provided many opportunities for corruption and vested interests among its members. On one occasion the arrest of a "Reichsbank" director was widely publicized by the Nazi press, while his subsequent release was never mentioned.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Nazis gave a great deal of prominence to this new "folk community" in their propaganda, depicting the events of 1933 as a "Volkwerdung", or a people becoming itself. The "Volk" were not just a people; a mystical soul united them, and propaganda continually portrayed individuals as part of a great whole, worth dying for. A common Nazi mantra declared that ethnic Germans must put "collective need ahead of individual greed" and oppose class conflict, materialism, and profiteering in order to ensure the survival of the "Volk"—a widespread sentiment in this era. To exemplify and encourage such views, when the "Hitlerjugend" and "Bund Deutscher Mädel" collected donations for "Winterhilfswerk" (Winter Relief), totals were not reported for any individuals, only what the branch raised. The "Winterhilfswerk" campaigns themselves acted as a ritual to generate public feeling. Organisations and institutions such as Hitlerjugend, Bund Deutscher Mädel, Winterhilfswerk, but also the Reich Labour Service and, above all, the Nazi party were portrayed as exemplifications and concrete manifestations of the "Volksgemeinschaft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Hitler declared that he knew nothing of bourgeois or proletarian, only Germans. "Volksgemeinschaft" was portrayed as overcoming distinctions of party and social class. The commonality this created across classes was among the great appeals of Nazism.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: After the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler, in the trial, omitted his usual pre-putsch anti-Semitism and centered his defense on his selfless devotion to the good of the "Volk" and the need for bold action to save them. The Versailles settlement had betrayed Germany, which they had tried to save. Thereafter, his speeches concentrated on his boundless devotion to the "Volk", though not entirely eliminating the anti-Semitism. Even once in power, his immediate speeches spoke of serving Germany. While the Reichstag fire was used to justify anti-Communist and anti-Semitic violence, Hitler himself spoke on a new life, honor, and unity in Germany. Similarly, the Night of the Long Knives was justified as a peril to the people so great that only decisive action would save them. Goebbels described Hitler after that event as suffering "tragic loneliness" and as a Siegfried forced to shed blood to preserve Germany.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Devotion to this "Volk" is common in Nazi propaganda. An account, for instance, of a SA brawl depicted its leader as uncouth and therefore a simple, strong, and honest man of the people. "Sturmabteilung" speakers were used, in part, for the appeal of their folksy manner. One element of Horst Wessel's life that was fictionalized out of the movie "Hans Westmar" was the willful provoking of violent conflicts with Communists; Westmar preaches class reconciliation, and his death unifies students and workers. These ideas were also propagandized to the "Sturmabteilung", whose violent, rebellious and confrontational past had to be transformed into a community organization to be useful in a Germany where Nazis held official power.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: This unity was what justified Nazi propaganda; its pejorative connotation had sprung solely from its selfish use, and the Nazis' honorable goal, the unity of the German people, made it honorable for them.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: It also justified the one-party state as all that was needed in a society with a united will, where Hitler implemented the will of the "Volk" more directly than in a democracy. Attacks on Great Britain as a plutocracy also emphasized how the German, being able to participate in his "Volk", is freer than the Briton.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In his pamphlet "State, Volk and Movement", Carl Schmitt praised the expulsion of Jews from political life without ever using the term "Jew" and using "non-Aryan" only rarely, by praising the homogeneity of the people and the "Volksgemeinschaft" ensuing; merely Gleichschaltung was not sufficient, but Nazi principles must continue to make the German people pure. Even Carl Jung's "collective unconscious" was preferred to Freudian concepts because of its communal element.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The "Volksgemeinschaft" was also depicted in films on the home-front during World War II, with the war uniting all levels of society, as in the two most popular films of the Nazi era, "Die grosse Liebe" and "Wunschkonzert". The "Request Concert" radio show, on which the latter film was based, achieved great popularity by broadcasting music claimed to be requested by men in the armed forces. Attempts to get women of "better classes" to take factory jobs were presented as breaking down class barriers and so helping create a true people's community. Failure to support the war was an anti-social act; this propaganda managed to bring arms production to a peak in 1944.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Nazi legal theory divided all Germans into two categories, namely the "Volksgenossen" ("National Comrades") who belonged to the "Volksgemeinschaft" and the "Gemeinschaftsfremde" ("Community Aliens") who did not. In addition to the duties and responsibilities shared by those in the community, the National Comrades were expected to build and create a "Volksgeist" (""Volk" spirit") that would encompass the best aspects of the German people. As such, community aliens could not belong, since they were deemed an undermining element in the very foundations of the "Volksgemeinschaft".


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The modern German historian Detlev Peukert wrote the following about the purpose of Nazi social policy:


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: The goal was an utopian "Volksgemeinschaft", totally under police surveillance, in which any attempt at nonconformist behaviour, or even any hint or intention of such behaviour, would be visited with terror.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Criminals, if deemed unable to be part of the people's community, were severely punished, even executed for crimes that did not provide for the death penalty, such as doubling the sentence the prosecution asked for when a defendant had not helped put out a fire, thus showing a disregard for the life of his "Volksgenossen" and community. In support of this, Peukert quoted two articles from the projected "Law for the Treatment of Community Aliens" of 1944, which though never implemented owing to bureaucratic quarrels showed the intentions of Nazi social policy:


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In their desire to establish a total state, the Nazis understood the importance of “selling” their ideology to the youth. To accomplish this, Hitler established Nazi youth groups. Young boys from 6–10 years old participated in the "Pimpfen", similar to the cub scouts. Boys from 10–14 years old participated in the "Deutsches Jungvolk", and boys 14–18 years old participated in the "Hitler Jugend" (Hitler Youth). The two older groups fostered military values and virtues, such as duty, obedience, honor, courage, strength, and ruthlessness. Uniforms and regular military drills were supplemented by ceremonies honoring the war dead. Most importantly, the Hitler Youth did their utmost to indoctrinate the youth of Germany with the ideological values of Nazism. Youth leaders bore into the youth a sense of fervent patriotism and utter devotion to Hitler, including military training so as to be ready to join the Wehrmacht. By 1939, when membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, each new member of the Jungvolk was required to take an oath to the Führer swearing total allegiance.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Young girls were also a part of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Girls from 10 to 14 years old were members of the "Jungmädelbund", while girls fourteen to eighteen belonged to the "Bund Deutscher Mädel". Hitler youth girls were instructed in the principles of service, regimentation, obedience, and discipline. Girls were taught to be dutiful wives and mothers. Members of the "Bund Deutscher Mädel" were educated in the skills needed for domestic chores, nursing, and hygiene.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: In the early years of the Nazi regime, bonfires were made of school children's differently colored caps as symbolic of the abolition of class differences. But by the end of the 1930s, most Hitler Youth officials were recruited from wealthier families, and the use of differently colored sashes had returned to schools.


title: Volksgemeinschaft

text: Daily life in Nazi Germany was manipulated from the beginning of Nazi rule. Propaganda dominated popular culture and entertainment. Finally, Hitler and the party realized the possibilities of controlling Germany's youth as a means of continuing the "Reich" as they wanted the generation of Germans to follow to be dedicated to the strengthening and preservation of the German "Volk" and of the "Greater German Reich".


title: Asha

text: Asha (; also arta ; ) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'order' and 'right working'. For other connotations, see meaning below. It is of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, "aṣ̌a/arta" represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism". The opposite of Avestan "aṣ̌a" is "druj", "deceit, falsehood".


title: Asha

text: The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius" of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta ("Aṣ̌a Vahišta", "Arta Vahišta"), "Best Truth". The Middle Persian descendant is "Ashawahist" or "Ardwahisht"; New Persian "Ardibehesht" or "Ordibehesht". In the Gathas— the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism, thought to have been composed by Zoroaster —it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the 'Best' epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta, only once in the Gathas is 'best' an adjective of "aṣ̌a/arta".


title: Asha

text: Avestan "" and its Vedic equivalent "" both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian "*ṛtá-" "truth", which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European "*" "properly joined, right, true", from the root "*".


title: Asha

text: It is unclear whether the Avestan variation between "aṣ̌a" and "arta" is merely orthographical. Benveniste suggested "š" was only a convenient way of writing "rt" and should not be considered phonetically relevant. According to Gray, "ṣ̌" is a misreading, representing – not /ʃ/ - but /rr/, of uncertain phonetic value but "probably" representing a voiceless "r". Miller suggested that "rt" was restored when a scribe was aware of the morpheme boundary between the /r/ and /t/ (that is, whether the writer maintained the "–ta" suffix).


title: Asha

text: Avestan "druj", like its Vedic Sanskrit cousin "druh", appears to derive from the PIE root "*", also continued in Persian دروغ / "d[o]rūġ" "lie", German "Trug" "fraud, deception". Old Norse "draugr" and Middle Irish "airddrach" mean "spectre, spook". The Sanskrit cognate "druh" means "affliction, afflicting demon".


title: Asha

text: In Avestan, " druj-" has a secondary derivation, the adjective "drəguuaṇt-" (Young Avestan " druuaṇt-"), "partisan of deception, deceiver" for which the superlative "draojišta-" and perhaps the comparative "draoj(ii)ah-" are attested (Kellens, 2010, pp. 69 ff.).


title: Asha

text: "Aṣ̌a" "cannot be precisely rendered by some single word in another tongue" but may be summarized as follows:


title: Asha

text: It is, first of all, 'true statement'. This 'true statement', because it is true, corresponds to an objective, material reality that embraces all of existence. Recognized in it is a great cosmic principle since all things happen according to it.


title: Asha

text: "This cosmic [...] force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, 'la parole conforme', and Righteousness, action conforming with the moral order."


title: Asha

text: The correspondence between 'truth', reality and an all-encompassing cosmic principle is not far removed from Heraclitus' conception of Logos.


title: Asha

text: Both Avestan "aṣ̌a/arta" and Vedic "ŗtá-" are commonly translated as "truth" as this best reflects both the original meaning of the term as well as the opposition to their respective antonyms. The opposite of Avestan "aṣ̌a/arta" is "druj-", "lie." Similarly, the opposites of Vedic ' are ' and "druh", likewise "lie".


title: Asha

text: That "truth" is also what was commonly understood by the term as attested in Greek myth of: "Isis and Osiris" 47, Plutarch calls the divinity Αλήθεια "Aletheia", "Truth."


title: Asha

text: The adjective corresponding to the noun "aṣ̌a/arta", "truth", is Avestan "haithya-" ("haiθiia-"), "true", the opposite of which is also "druj-". Avestan "haithya-" derives from Indo-Iranian "*sātya" that in turn derives from Indo-European "*hs-ṇt-" "being, existing". The Sanskrit cognate "sátya-" means "true" in the sense of "really existing." This meaning is also preserved in Avestan, for instance in the expression "haiθīm var"ə"z", "to make true" as in "to bring to realization."


title: Asha

text: Another meaning of "reality" may be inferred from the component parts of the "aṣ̌a/arta": from (root) "ŗ" with a substantivizing "-ta" suffix. The root "ŗ" corresponds to Old Avestan "ar"ə"ta-" and Younger Avestan ə"r"ə"ta-" "established", hence "aṣ̌a/arta" "that which is established."


title: Asha

text: The synonymy of "aṣ̌a" and "existence" overlaps with the stock identification of Ahura Mazda as the creator (of existence itself). Truth is existence (creation) inasmuch as falsehood is non-existence (uncreated, anti-created). Also, because "aṣ̌a" is everything that "druj-" is not (or vice versa), since "aṣ̌a" is, "druj-" is not.


title: Asha

text: This notion is already expressed in the Avesta itself, such as in the first "Yasht", dedicated to Ahura Mazda, in which the "fifth name is the whole good existence of Mazda, the seed of Asha" ( "Yasht" 1.7). Similarly, in the mythology of "Gandar"ə"βa", the 'yellow-heeled' dragon of the "druj-" that emerges from the deep to destroy the "living world (creation) of Aṣ̌a" ("Yasht" 19.41)


title: Asha

text: In the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism ("good thoughts, good words, good deeds"), Vohu Manah is active in good thoughts, Sraosha in good words and Aṣ̌a in good deeds. ("Denkard" 3.13-14). Aṣ̌a is thus "represented as active and effective."


title: Asha

text: Subject to context, "aṣ̌a/arta-" is also frequently translated as "right working" or "[that which is] right". The word then ("cf." Bartholomae's and Geldner's translations as German language ""Recht"") has the same range of meaning of "right" as in the English language: truth, righteousness, rightfulness, lawfullness, conformity, accord, order (cosmic order, social order, moral order).


title: Asha

text: These various meanings of "right" are frequently combined, such as "the inexorable law of righteousness," or as "the eternal fitness of things that are in accord with the divine order."


title: Asha

text: As (the hypostasis of) regularity and "right working", "aṣ̌a/arta-" is present when Ahura Mazda fixed the course of the sun, the moon and the stars ("Yasna" 44.3), and it is through "aṣ̌a" that plants grow ("Yasna" 48.6).


title: Asha

text: "Right working" also overlaps with both Indo-European "*ár-" "to (properly) join together" and with the notion of existence and realization (to make real). The word for "established", "ar"ə"ta-", also means "proper". The antonymic "anar"ə"ta-" (or "anar"ə"θa-") means "improper" In Zoroastrian tradition, prayers must be enunciated with care for them to be effective. The Indo-Iranian formula "*sātyas mantras" ("Yasna" 31.6: "haiθīm mathrem") "does not simply mean 'true Word' but formulated thought which is in conformity with the reality' or 'poetic (religious) formula with inherent fulfillment (realization)'".


title: Asha

text: The kinship between Old Iranian "aṣ̌a-/arta-" and Vedic "ŗtá-" is evident in numerous formulaic phrases and expressions that appear in both the Avesta and in the RigVeda. For instance, the "*ŗtásya" path, "path of truth", is attested multiple times in both sources: Y 51.13, 72.11; RV 3.12.7, 7.66.3. Similarly "source of truth," Avestan "aṣ̌a khá" and Vedic "" (Y 10.4; RV 2.28.5)


title: Asha

text: The adjective corresponding to Avestan "aṣ̌a/arta-" is "haiθiia-" "true". Similarly, the adjective corresponding to Vedic "ŗtá-" "truth" is "sátya-" "true". The opposite of both "aṣ̌a/arta-" and "haithya-" is "druj-" "lie" or "false". In contrast, in the Vedas the opposite of both "ŗtá-" and "sátya-" is "druj-" and "ánŗta-", also "lie" or "false".


title: Asha

text: However, while the Indo-Iranian concept of truth is attested throughout Zoroastrian tradition, "ŗtá-" disappears in post-Vedic literature and is not preserved in post-Vedic texts. On the other hand, "sátya-" and "ánrta-" both survive in classical Sanskrit.


title: Asha

text: The main theme of the Rig Veda, "the truth and the gods", is not evident in the Gathas. Thematic parallels between "aṣ̌a/arta" and "ŗtá-", however, exist such as in "Yasht" 10, the Avestan hymn to Mithra. There, Mithra, who is the hypostasis and the preserver of covenant, is the protector of "aṣ̌a/arta". RigVedic Mitra is likewise preserver of "ŗtá-".


title: Asha

text: Asha Vahishta is closely associated with fire. Fire is "grandly conceived as a force informing all the "other" Amesha Spentas, giving them warmth and the spark of life."


title: Asha

text: In "Yasht" 17.20, Angra Mainyu clamours that Zoroaster burns him with Asha Vahishta. In "Vendidad" 4.54-55, speaking against the truth and violating the sanctity of promise is detected by the consumption of "water, blazing, of golden color, having the power to detect guilt."


title: Asha

text: This analogy of truth that burns and detecting truth through fire is already attested in the very earliest texts, that is, in the Gathas and in the "Yasna Haptanghaiti". In "Yasna" 43–44, Ahura Mazda dispenses justice through radiance of His fire and the strength of aṣ̌a. Fire "detects" sinners "by hand-grasping" ("Yasna" 34.4). An individual who has passed the fiery test ("garmo-varah", ordeal by heat), has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth and love with serenity ("Yasna" 30.7). Altogether, "there are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery tests in all." According to the post-Sassanid "Dadestan i denig" (I.31.10), at the final judgement a river of molten metal will cover the earth. The righteous, as they wade through this river, will perceive the molten metal as a bath of warm milk. The wicked will be scorched. For details on aṣ̌a's role in personal and final judgement, see "aṣ̌a" in eschatology, below.


title: Asha

text: Fire is moreover the "auxiliary of the truth," "and not only, as in the ordeal, of justice and of truth at the same time." In "Yasna" 31.19, "the man who thinks of "aṣ̌a", [...] who uses his tongue in order to speak correctly, [does so] with the aid of brilliant fire". In "Yasna" 34-44 devotees "ardently desire [Mazda's] mighty fire, through aṣ̌a." In "Yasna" 43–44, Ahura Mazda "shall come to [Zoroaster] through the splendour of [Mazda's] fire, possessing the strength of (through) aṣ̌a and good mind (=Vohu Manah)." That fire "possesses strength through "aṣ̌a"" is repeated again in "Yasna" 43.4. In "Yasna" 43.9, Zoroaster, wishing to serve fire, gives his attention to "aṣ̌a". In "Yasna" 37.1, in a list of what are otherwise all physical creations, "aṣ̌a" takes the place of fire.


title: Asha

text: Asha Vahishta's association with "atar" is carried forward in the post-Gathic texts, and they are often mentioned together. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, each of the Amesha Spentas represents one aspect of creation and one of seven primordial elements that in Zoroastrian tradition are the basis of that creation. In this matrix, "aṣ̌a/arta" is the origin of fire, Avestan "atar", which permeates through all Creation. The correspondence then is that "aṣ̌a/arta" "penetrates all ethical life, as fire penetrates all physical being."


title: Asha

text: In the liturgy Asha Vahishta is frequently invoked together with fire. ("Yasna" l.4, 2.4, 3.6, 4.9, 6.3, 7.6, 17.3, 22.6, 59.3, 62.3 etc.). In one passage, fire is a protector of "aṣ̌a": "when the Evil Spirit assailed the creation of Good Truth, Good Thought and Fire intervened" ("Yasht" 13.77)


title: Asha

text: In later Zoroastrian tradition, Asha Vahishta is still at times identified with the fire of the household hearth.


title: Asha

text: In addition to the role of fire as the agent of Truth, fire, among its various other manifestations, is also "the fire of judicial ordeal, prototype of the fiery torrent of judgement day, when all will receive their just deserts 'by fire and by Aṣ̌a' ("Y" 31.3)."


title: Asha

text: In the Avesta, the "radiant quarters" of "aṣ̌a" is "the best existence", i.e. Paradise (cf. "Vendidad" 19.36), entry to which is restricted to those who are recognized as "possessing truth" ("aṣ̌avan"). The key to this doctrine is "Yasna" 16.7: "We worship the radiant quarters of "Aṣ̌a" in which dwell the souls of the dead, the Fravašis of the "aṣ̌avan"s; the best existence (=Paradise) of the "aṣ̌avan"s we worship, (which is) light and according all comforts."


title: Asha

text: 'Aṣ̌a' derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as 'Airyaman', the divinity of healing who is closely associated with Asha Vahishta. At the last judgement, the common noun "airyaman" is an epithet of the "saoshyans", the saviours that bring about the final renovation of the world. The standing epithet of these saviour figures is <nowiki>'</nowiki>"astvat"ә"r"ә"ta"<nowiki>'</nowiki>, which likewise has "arta" as an element of the name. These saviours are those who follow Ahura Mazda's teaching "with acts inspired by aṣ̌a" ("Yasna" 48.12). Both Airyaman and Asha Vahishta (as also Atar) are closely associated with Sraosha "[Voice of] Conscience" and guardian of the Chinvat bridge across which souls must pass.


title: Asha

text: According to a lost Avestan passage that is only preserved in a later (9th century) Pahlavi text, towards the end of time and the final renovation, Aṣ̌a and Airyaman will together come upon the earth to do battle with the Az, the daeva of greed ("Zatspram" 34.38-39).


title: Asha

text: The third "Yasht", which is nominally addressed to Asha Vahishta, is in fact mostly devoted to the praise of the "airyaman ishya" ("airy"ә"mā īšyo", "Longed-for "airyaman""), the fourth of the four great Gathic prayers. In present-day Zoroastrianism it is considered to invoke Airyaman just as the "Ashem Vohu", is the second of the four great Gathic prayers, is dedicated to Aṣ̌a. All four prayers (the first is the Ahuna Vairya, the third is the Yenghe Hatam) have judgement and/or salvation as a theme, and all four call on the Truth.


title: Asha

text: It is Airyaman that – together with fire – will "melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river" ("Bundahishn" 34.18). In Zoroastrian tradition, metal is the domain of Xshathra [Vairya], the Amesha Spenta of "[Desirable] Dominion", with whom Aṣ̌a is again frequently identified. Dominion is moreover "a form of truth and results from truth."


title: Asha

text: In "Denkard" 8.37.13, Asha Vahishta actually takes over Airyaman's healer role as the healer of all spiritual ills and Airyaman then only retains the role of healer of corporeal ills. Although Airyaman has no dedication in the Siroza, the invocations to the divinities of the Zoroastrian calendar, Airyaman is twice invoked together with Aṣ̌a. ("Siroza" 1.3 and 2.3)


title: Asha

text: "Aogemadaecha" 41-47 prototypes death as a journey that has to be properly prepared for: As mortals acquires material goods as they go through life, so also should they furnish themselves with spiritual stores of righteousness. They will then be well provisioned when they embark on the journey from which they will not return.


title: Asha

text: Aṣ̌a's role is not limited to judgement: In "Bundahishn" 26.35, Aṣ̌a prevents daevas from exacting too great a punishment to souls consigned to the House of Lies. Here, Aṣ̌a occupies the position that other texts assign to Mithra, who is traditionally identified with fairness.


title: Asha

text: Although there are numerous eschatological parallels between Aṣ̌a and Aši "recompense, reward" (most notably their respective associations with Sraosha and Vohu Manah), and are on occasion even mentioned together ("Yasna" 51.10), the two are not etymologically related. The feminine abstract noun "aši/arti" derives from "ar-", "to allot, to grant." Aši also has no Vedic equivalent.


title: Asha

text: In Zoroastrian cosmogony and , which—though alluded to in the Gathas—is only systematically described in Zoroastrian tradition (e.g. "Bundahishn" 3.12), "aṣ̌a" is the second (cf. "Yasna" 47.1) of the six primeval creations realized ("created by His thought") by Ahura Mazda. It is through these six, the Amesha Spentas that all subsequent creation was accomplished.


title: Asha

text: In addition to Asha Vahishta's role as an Amesha Spenta and hence one of the primordial creations through which all other creation was realized, Truth is one of the "organs, aspects or emanations" of Ahura Mazda through which the Creator acts and is immanent in the world.


title: Asha

text: Although Vohu Manah regularly stands first in the list of the Amesha Spenta (and of Ahura Mazda's creations), in the Gathas Asha Vahishta is the most evident of the six, and also the most commonly associated with Wisdom (Mazda). In the 238 verses of these hymns, Aṣ̌a appears 157 times. Of the other concepts, only "Vohu Manah" "Good Purpose" appears nearly as often (136 occurrences). In comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether.


title: Asha

text: Although a formal hierarchy is not evident in the Gathas, the group of six "divides naturally into three dyads." In this arrangement, Aṣ̌a is paired with Vohu Manah. This reflects the frequency in which the two appear (together) in the Gathas and is in turn reflected in Zoroastrian tradition. In "Bundahishn" 26.8, Vohu Manah stands at the left hand of God, while Aṣ̌a stands at the right.


title: Asha

text: Yasht 1, the hymn dedicated to Ahura Mazda, provides a list of 74 "names" by which the Creator is invoked. In the numbered list of "Yasht" 1.7, 'Asha Vahishta' "Best Truth" is the fourth name. A later verse, "Yasht" 1.12, includes 'Aṣ̌avan' "Possessing Truth" and 'Aṣ̌avastəma' "Most Righteous". In "Yasna" 40.3, Ahura Mazda is "aṣ̌aŋāč" "having "aṣ̌a" following".


title: Asha

text: One of Haoma's stock epithets is "aṣ̌avazah-" "furthering "aṣ̌a"" ("Yasht" 20.3; "Yasna" 8.9, 10.1.14, 11.10 et al.). Atar "possesses strength through "aṣ̌a"" ("aṣ̌a-ahojah", Yasna 43.4).


title: Asha

text: In the Zoroastrian calendar, the third day of the month and the second month of the year are dedicated to and named after "aṣ̌a" and Asha Vahishta (calledارديبهشت "Ordibehesht" in Modern Persian both in Iranian Calendar and Yazdgerdi calendar).


title: Asha

text: A special service to "aṣ̌a" and Aṣ̌a, known as the '"Jashan" of Ardavisht', is held on the day on which month-name and day-name dedications intersect. In the "Fasli" and "Bastani" variants of the Zoroastrian calendar, this falls on April 22.


title: Asha

text: Rapithwin, one of the five "gah"s (watches) of the day, under the protection of Aṣ̌a. ("Bundahishn" 3.22) This implies that all prayers recited between noon and three invoke Aṣ̌a. Noon is considered to be the "perfect" time, at which instant the world was created and at which instant time will stop on the day of the final renovation of the world.


title: Asha

text: In the winter months, the "daev"ic time of year, Rapithwin is known as the "Second Havan" (the first Havan being from dawn to noon), and with the first day of spring, March 21, Rapithwin symbolically returns. This day, March 21, is Nowruz


title: Asha

text: Nowruz, the holiest of all Zoroastrian festivals is dedicated to Aṣ̌a. It follows immediately after Pateti, the day of introspection and the Zoroastrian equivalent of All-Souls Day. Nowruz, Zoroastrianism's New Year's Day, is celebrated on the first day of spring, traditionally understood to be the day of rebirth, and literally translated means "New Day". The first month of the year of the Zoroastrian calendar is Farvadin, which is dedicated to and named after the Fravašis, the ancestral higher spirits.


title: Asha

text: "The underlying idea of the dedication" of the second month of the year to Asha Vahishta "may be revivification of the earth after the death of winter."


title: Asha

text: On Kushan coins, Asha Vahishta "appears as Aṣ̌aeixšo, with a diadem and nimbus, like Mithra in the same series."


title: Asha

text: ""Arta-" (Mid. Iranian "ard-"), representing either the Av. divinity Aṣ̌a or the principle "aṣ̌a", occurs frequently as an element in Iranian personal names."


title: Asha

text: Middle Iranian "ard-" is also suggested to be the root of names of the current day Iranian cities of Ardabil, Ardekan, Ardehal and Ardestan.


title: Beth Greene

text: Beth Greene is a fictional character from the American horror drama television series "The Walking Dead", created by season two showrunner Glen Mazzara, and was portrayed by Emily Kinney. She is the daughter of veterinarian and farmer Hershel Greene and the younger half-sister of Maggie. The character has no specific counterpart in the comic book series on which the show is based.


title: Beth Greene

text: Described as a source of optimism and hope for the group, often singing to help boost morale, Beth is soft-spoken and a devout Christian teenager. After the loss of her mother, Beth attempts suicide but ultimately chooses to live. During the initial outbreak and beyond, Beth is a sheltered girl, but is eventually forced into hard laboring survival after the downfall of the prison, a place that had been a safe haven. She forms a close bond with fellow survivor and group member Daryl Dixon. Her final arc revolves around being held captive under the service of Officer Dawn Lerner in Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and the subsequent efforts of Rick's group to find and rescue her become the primary driving force behind the first half of the fifth season.


title: Beth Greene

text: Beth Greene is Hershel's (Scott Wilson) second daughter and Maggie's (Lauren Cohan) younger, half-sister. She is introduced in the second-season episode "Bloodletting", alongside her family and boyfriend, Jimmy (James Allen McCune) when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group come to the family farm. Along with her family, she believes members of her now reanimated family to be sick, until the events of the mid-season finale "Pretty Much Dead Already" where she is forced to watch the undead her family kept in the barn get shot, and in the episode "Nebraska", her own reanimated mother being put down after attacking her. This event drives her nearly to suicide in the episode "18 Miles Out", but she decides to live. After the group are forced to leave the overrun farm in the second-season finale "Beside the Dying Fire", in which several of her loved ones, including her boyfriend are killed, she is forced to deal with the apocalyptic world.


title: Beth Greene

text: Beth becomes more self-assured and becomes a contributing member to Rick's group. She sings to help boost morale and spreads optimism among her survivors upon finding a place to live at the prison in the third-season premiere "Seed". When Hershel's leg is amputated after a walker bite in the episode "Sick", Beth chides Maggie for being pessimistic about his chances of survival. Beth devotes much of her time to assisting Hershel throughout his recovery, and also becomes a caretaker for Judith after Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies)'s death in the episode "Killer Within".


title: Beth Greene

text: Beth has developed a relationship with one of the prison newcomers, Zach (Kyle Gallner). When he is killed in a walker attack in the season premiere "30 Days Without an Accident", she quietly accepts his fate. She opens up to fellow survivor Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) about this loss, and proclaims she doesn't cry anymore. In the episode "Isolation", Beth continues to attempt to repress her sadness to Maggie when the deadly virus at the prison spreads, infecting Glenn (Steven Yeun) and endangering Hershel, who goes to the sick ward to help. During the Governor's (David Morrissey) attack on the prison in the episode "Too Far Gone", Beth and Maggie watch in horror as Hershel is decapitated during the battle, then the sisters are separated and Beth flees with Daryl. In the episodes "Inmates" and "Still", Beth and Daryl travel alone together, where the two come into conflict over the likelihood of other survivors. Beth confronts Daryl on his emotional detachment, forcing him to open up and show faith in the other people who could still be alive. He begins to teach her how to use a crossbow in the episode "Alone" where the two have found a mutual respect for one another. However, this newfound bond is quickly disrupted by walkers swarming the house, forcing her to escape outside where she gets kidnapped.


title: Beth Greene

text: Beth spends her time at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, starting with the fifth-season episode "Slabtown". She has been taken in by a group of police officers led by Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods). Kept against her will in a dangerous environment where she is mistreated and abused along with the other patients and wards, Beth devises a plan with Noah (Tyler James Williams) to escape, which involves escaping through the elevator. While Noah is successful, she finds herself caught fighting walkers and is eventually disarmed by the officers who find her. Later, Dawn shows signs of respect for Beth once she takes Noah's place as her ward but Beth openly tells her that she will find another way to escape. As Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) is wheeled into the hospital injured from a car accident in an attempt to rescue her along with Daryl, Beth devises another plan to retrieve medicine to save her life in the episode "Crossed". In the mid-season finale "Coda", a hostage exchange occurs when Rick's group, who have captured two officers, demand Beth and Carol back. The exchange runs smoothly until Dawn demands that she needs Noah back. However, the group protests. Dawn claims she needs Noah because Beth took his place and she needs him back. Noah reluctantly agrees as does the group until Beth hugs him goodbye before turning to Dawn. She tells Dawn she "[gets] it now", that her act of kindness was a masquerade in order to keep Beth under her subservient order. Beth defiantly plunges a concealed pair of surgical scissors into Dawn's shoulder, causing Dawn to reflexively shoot her in the head by accident, and in turn prompting Daryl to kill Dawn in retaliation. Daryl lifts Beth's corpse and brings her out in time to see that the other survivors have returned, which include Maggie who breaks down in tears seeing Beth killed after only finding out she was alive.


title: Beth Greene

text: In Rick's final episode "What Comes After", Beth's voice is heard asking Rick, “What’s your wound?” during a lucid dream state. Beth's corpse appears alongside the corpses of past characters in Rick's hallucination.


title: Beth Greene

text: Emily Kinney was cast as a recurring character in Season 2 of "The Walking Dead", where she portrayed Beth Greene. Beth is introduced as the 16-year-old sister of Maggie Greene, while Kinney was 25 years old at the time of casting. The second-season episode "18 Miles Out" deals with the aftermath of Beth's suicide attempt. IGN's Eric Goldman commended the development presented in the episode; "While there's no denying that Beth was pretty much a non-entity until this episode, I did like a lot of her material here with Maggie—especially when Maggie said she couldn't handle another funeral and Beth told her, 'You can't avoid it,' which is of course a very sad, very true statement, given the circumstances they're in." Gary Roszko of "The Huffington Post" affirmed that Beth's interactions with Lori were clichéd, comparing it to "an after school anti-suicide special". "New York" Starlee Kine was much more pessimistic about the storyline than the general consensus and assailed the melodramatic nature of it. "We just aren’t going to care about the potential death of a character we don’t know," she iterated. "Or if it refused to learn that lesson, maybe it could’ve then learned this one: We are very tired of watching survivors of a still undefined and non-wondered-about apocalypse talk other survivors into not giving up."


title: Beth Greene

text: After being on the show for two years, Kinney received a promotion to series regular for season 4, along with Chad Coleman and Sonequa Martin-Green. The fourth-season episode "Still," which focuses only on Beth and Daryl, garnered praise in particular from television commentators, with viewers of the series having shipped Beth and Daryl as a couple. Writing for IGN, Roth Cornet commended the "Still" episode, stating that "Daryl and Beth revealed themselves to be more perfect a fit than any of the other combinations" and that "[t]hey brought out a raw honesty in one another that yielded what were some of the most grounded and engaging character moments of the season. They are two sides of a coin, and that's not something that had been entirely clear prior to this entry." She additionally commented positively on Kinney's acting, saying it was: "...the strongest acting we've seen from Emily Kinney, particularly in that final exchange on the porch." Kinney said that the show was never clear on whether Beth and Daryl had a romantic or brother-sisterly connection, but that "it was a situation where they were getting to know each other. First, they were just trying to get along" because they did not see "each other's point of view very well" and, later, "as the story went along they maybe became friends" and "it started to sort of go, 'Oh, what more could this be? Could it keep going into something else?'" In his review for Grantland praising the fifth season as a whole, Andy Greenwald had particular praise for the characters of Beth and Tyreese, citing their newly established complexities and character evolution in the fifth season.


title: Beth Greene

text: Regarding Beth's death, critics agree that Dawn did not intentionally shoot her, and that it was rather an accident or a matter of reflex, commenting on Dawn's surprised expression at the trigger having been activated. Alan Sepinwall of HitFix stated that because the season had mostly neglected that Maggie and Beth are sisters, Beth's death in "Coda" does not have the emotional impact it could have when Maggie breaks down in grief at the sight of Beth's lifeless body. Matt Fowler of IGN said that although Beth's death was predictable, it "felt like a "big" moment and it's always wrenching to see other characters react to the death of their loved ones" and that although he liked Beth, he "still mostly felt bad about her death because Daryl and Maggie (who seemed to have to be reminded this week that Beth being gone at all was a topic she should care about) felt bad about it." Fowler ultimately gave the episode a 7.6 out of 10. Kinney said she understood Maggie not expressing much concern about Beth's whereabouts because it is "a world where they're losing people a lot. And if you're going to survive, you can't sit around mourning for very long," and that Maggie likely had unseen moments where she worried about Beth. Zach Handlen of "The A.V. Club" stated that the episode ends in "a shocking finale which reminds us that, whatever else it's learned, the show still hasn't given up on its most beloved trick: killing people because it can. Beth's sudden death was a shock, no question, although I imagine some viewers were expecting just such a gut-punch."


title: Beth Greene

text: Rob Bricken, writing for io9, commented negatively on Beth's death. He criticized the deaths of Dawn and Beth as a "wasted opportunity", citing the "childish, ridiculous logic" Dawn had for demanding Noah back even though she had "zero leverage", and Beth's "inexplicable, dumb decision" to stab Dawn in the shoulder. He wondered: So what the hell was [Beth] trying to do? Get Dawn killed indirectly? Free the hospital from her idiotic non-control? Commit suicide by idiot? Whatever she was trying to accomplish — presumably getting rid of Dawn in some manner — weren't there many, many other ways to do it that didn't involve her almost certainly getting shot or potentially turning the hostage trade into a bloodbath? We'll never know, because Beth is dead.


title: Beth Greene

text: For her performance as Beth in the fifth season, Kinney was nominated in 2015 for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The World Chess Championship 2018 was a match between the reigning world champion since 2013, Magnus Carlsen, and the challenger Fabiano Caruana to determine the World Chess Champion. The 12-game match, organised by FIDE and its commercial partner Agon, was played at The College in Holborn, London, between 9 and 28 November 2018. The games were broadcast on worldchess.com and by NRK.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The classical time-control portion of the match ended with 12 consecutive draws, the only time in the history of the world chess championship that all classical games have been drawn. On 28 November, rapid chess was used as a tie-breaker; Carlsen won three consecutive games to retain his title and became four-time world champion.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Caruana qualified as challenger by winning the 2018 Candidates Tournament. This was an eight-player, double round-robin tournament played in Berlin on 10–28 March 2018.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Players qualified for the Candidates Tournament as follows (age, rating and world ranking are as of March 2018, when the tournament was held):


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana was held from 9 to 28 November 2018 in London, United Kingdom, at the Cochrane Theatre of The College in Holborn.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The match was organised in a best-of-12-games format. The time control for the games was 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, an additional 50 minutes added after the 40th move, and then an additional 15 minutes added after the 60th move, plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. Players were not permitted to agree to a draw before Black's 30th move.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The tie-breaking method consisted of the following schedule of faster games played on the final day in the following order, as necessary:


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The prize fund was 1 million euros net of all applicable taxes. Had the match been decided in the classical portion it would have been divided 60% vs 40% between winner and loser. As the match went to a tiebreak the split was more even at 55% vs 45%.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Prior to the match, Caruana and Carlsen had played 33 games against each other at classical time controls, of which Carlsen won 10 and Caruana 5, with 18 draws. The most recent game, during the 2018 Sinquefield Cup tournament, resulted in a draw.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The World Chess Federation also showcased an "alternative logo", which depicts two figures with overlapping legs holding a chessboard. The image received controversy for appearing provocative and even "sexy". When the head of World Chess, Ilya Merenzon, was asked to speak on the topic, he said that "it's about two people fighting", but later added that "it would be nice to bring a little bit of sexual appeal into chess".


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The match was held under the auspices of FIDE, the world chess federation, with the organisation rights belonging to Agon, its commercial partner.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Following the previous championship match in 2016, the president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, said that the next venue would be in London or somewhere in Asia. Japan, South Korea and Singapore all said they were prepared to host the match. In November 2017, London was revealed as the host.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The Chief arbiter was Stéphane Escafre from France, and deputy arbiter was Nana Alexandria from Georgia. The appeal committee was composed of International Grandmasters and was chaired by Alexander Beliavsky (Slovenia) with Nigel Short (England) and Jóhann Hjartarson (Iceland) also present. The FIDE Supervisor was Ashot Vardapetyan, an International Arbiter from Armenia.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The match took place at The College in Holborn, Central London, an impressive Victorian building with a glass dome on the roof. The interior was refitted for the match to provide an elevated rectangular playing space that was to be sound-proof and set behind unidirectional glass so that the players were separated from the audience: the players could be seen, but they would not see the spectators who stood in near total darkness. To attend the event, ticket prices ranged from £45 to £100. It was also broadcast online, with IM Anna Rudolf and GM Judit Polgár providing commentary.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The first move of each game of the match was ceremonially performed by guests invited by the organisers. Among the guests were movie stars Woody Harrelson (who also made the first move in game one for the previous championship match in New York) and Tom Hollander; Ellisiv Reppen, partner of Jan Gustafsson, who was part of Carlsen's team in New York; Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; Sergey Karjakin, the previous challenger for the chess championship; Daniel Weil, the person who designed the pawn he moved, as well as the rest of pieces and the chessboard; and Lucy Hawking, daughter of physicist Stephen Hawking. For the first five minutes of actual game time, photographers were allowed to remain in the playing space to take photos.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The games were analysed live by the Sesse computer, running Stockfish. The computer uses a 20-core 2.3 GHz Haswell-EP CPU, which is significantly more powerful than most personal computers.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The seconds of the players were revealed after the match. Carlsen was helped by Peter Heine Nielsen, Laurent Fressinet, Daniil Dubov, Jan Gustafsson and Nils Grandelius. Caruana's seconds were Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Ioan-Cristian Chirila, Alejandro Ramirez and Leinier Domínguez.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: On 13 November 2018, a two-minute video showing Caruana's preparation for the match showing a list of openings, possibly revealing some of Caruana's opening preparation, was uploaded onto the Saint Louis Chess Club's YouTube channel. The video was quickly removed, but screenshots from the video were disseminated on the Internet. They revealed that Caruana's team was focusing on particular games, and openings—openings that deal primarily with how Caruana would defend as Black against 1.d4 or 1.e4; including variations of the Queen's Gambit Declined, Petrov's Defence, and the Grünfeld Defence with a fianchetto.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The first game was a marathon draw, lasting 7 hours. At the time, it was the fourth longest game in a world championship, after Game 5 of the 1978 championship (124 moves), Game 7 of the 2014 championship (122 moves), and Game 14 of the 1908 championship (119 moves). (Since then, this has been surpassed by Game 6 of the 2021 championship, with 136 moves, making the game the fifth-longest World Championship game.) Caruana opened with 1.e4, and Carlsen responded with the Sicilian Defence, with Caruana playing the Rossolimo Variation, an opening with which he had lost against Carlsen in 2015. After 15 moves, it was clear that Carlsen had won the opening duel, with White having no clear way to improve his position while Black still had plans. Caruana started to consume a lot of time, but failed to neutralise Carlsen, with the result that Carlsen had a strong position after 30 moves and Caruana was in serious time trouble. Carlsen had a winning position several times between moves 34 and 40 but, despite a significant time advantage, failed each time to find the winning continuation, and after 40...Bxc3 Caruana was able to reach a drawn endgame. Carlsen continued to play for a win but Caruana was able to hold the game, despite being a pawn down in a rook endgame. The players finally agreed to a draw after 115 moves.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 2 began as a Queen's Gambit Declined with Caruana opting for the rarely played 10...Rd8. Caught by surprise, Carlsen avoided the most critical continuation and soon found himself far behind on the clock, a reversal of fortunes from Game 1. Caruana was clearly in the driver's seat, but Carlsen was able to "beg for a draw", successfully navigating to a drawn pawn-down rook endgame. The game was drawn by agreement after 49 moves.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 3 was a 49-move draw, beginning again with the Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence. Caruana deviated first with 6.0-0, against which Carlsen chose a rare continuation. White maintained some pressure, but it was not serious. On move 15 Caruana suffered a "blackout" and played Bd2, missing that Black does not have to exchange rooks. This lost all the White pressure, and a few moves later with neither side having any concrete plan, Caruana exchanged all the and went into a slightly inferior endgame, where Black possessed a bishop for White's knight as well as a slight advantage. Carlsen tried, but Caruana was never in real danger of losing.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 4 was a 34-move draw that began with the English Opening, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto variation. Carlsen came up with the first new move, 11.b4, but Caruana was prepared with the immediate rejoinder 11...Bd6. Several logical moves later Carlsen had the opportunity to create an imbalanced position with 15.b5, but declined (see diagram). After 15...Bd7 stopping the pawn break, it became difficult for either side to come up with concrete plans, and the game was soon drawn. This was only the second time Carlsen opened with c4 in a world championship match, the first being a victory against Viswanathan Anand in game 5 of the 2013 World Chess Championship.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 5 was a 34-move draw, beginning once again with the Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence. This time play transitioned to the little-used Gurgenidze variation, which was prepared by Caruana before this match began, forcing Carlsen to spend a lot of time thinking early on. In fact, the variation with 7...a6 was last played at the top level in 2007. It was not until 13. ...Qa5 that Caruana began to seriously think about his next move. Although Caruana had caught Carlsen in his preparation, Carlsen navigated the complications accurately, and emerged not only unscathed, but with a slightly superior position. Nonetheless, Caruana was able to defend without many problems, and the players agreed to a draw after the 34th move.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 6 was an 80-move draw. Carlsen began with 1.e4, while Caruana defended with the Petrov Defence, one of his favourite openings. Both players blitzed out the opening, reaching a dry and drawish middlegame. However, Carlsen played somewhat carelessly and Caruana was able to sharpen the position by opening the center. By move 26 it was apparent that Black was for choice. Carlsen defended by giving up a knight for three pawns, two of which were connected passed pawns on the , and forced an opposite-color bishops endgame. Caruana was able to take one of the pawns, but Carlsen had strong counterplay and it was unclear how Caruana could make progress. On move 67 Carlsen made a subtle error that allowed Caruana a forced mate in 30 moves, found by Sesse. However, the line was subtle and difficult to find. Grandmasters had trouble explaining the idea after the game: Garry Kasparov wrote that no human could have found it, although Caruana's second Rustam Kasimdzhanov wrote: "Maybe the move was indeed difficult to see. But it was not impossible. However, to find such a move you have to believe that you can win this endgame. And even if it is objectively drawn you can still try some tricks". After this last opportunity Carlsen made no further mistakes and held the draw.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: For Game 7, Carlsen once again had the white pieces (the order switched at the halfway point) and he repeated the Queen's Gambit Declined of game 2. The first nine moves followed game 2, until Carlsen deviated with 10.Nd2. However, Caruana was well-prepared and had his counter ready. Carlsen temporarily sacrificed a pawn to exert some pressure on the Black , but when the opportunity arose to open the game with 15.Nce4 (diagram) – which would have compromised Black's king position but made it awkward to recapture the sacrificed pawn – he didn't sufficiently believe in his position to press ahead. Carlsen later said that playing 15.0-0 was an admission that White had no advantage. After White recaptured the sacrificed pawn the position was symmetrical. Carlsen made some attempt to win the game, but although he was able to establish an outpost for his knight on d6, he had to trade every other piece to achieve it, and the game fizzled to a draw on move 40.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: In Game 8 Caruana had the white pieces and once again opened with 1.e4. Just like the other three games before in this situation, Carlsen responded with the Sicilian Defence. Unlike the previous three games, Caruana played an Open Sicilian. Carlsen responded with the Sveshnikov Variation.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: By move 20 the position was very open and sharp with Black's king feeling a little exposed. Caruana found the very good 21.c5, sacrificing a pawn to further open the center and create a passed d-pawn. Engine analysis showed this position to be winning for White. Unfortunately for Caruana, 23.Rad1 was a little too slow for this position (23.Rae1 seizing the open e-file immediately was preferred) and 24.h3? gave away all of his advantage. Four-time U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura reacted immediately and negatively to 24.h3, with disapproving facial expressions and harsh comments that he didn't like the move at all. Eight-time Russian champion and chess commentator Peter Svidler was also shocked by the move, suggesting this move was an attempt by White to deny Black any counterplay by preventing him from advancing his g-pawn, but engine analysis showed the position to be equal after Carlsen responded with 24...Qe8. Caruana soon realised that he had lost his advantage, and forced a draw before Black's and extra pawn could make an impact. Play eventually ended after 38 moves in a draw after 3 hours and 43 minutes of play, with equal and Caruana unable to promote his passed d-pawn.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Game 9 began with the English Opening, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto variation, following Game 4 until Carlsen deviated with 9.Bg5. Although Black's position was not terrible, it soon became clear that White had much easier plans and Black didn't have much counterplay. As a result, Caruana played the exchange 17...Bxf3 Sesse gave Carlsen a +0.75 advantage after this move, which was also criticised by human commentators such as U.S. grandmaster Robert Hess. However, both Caruana and Carlsen later defended the move. While it leads to a lasting and comfortable White advantage, Black manages to simplify the position, as well as gains the chance to reach an opposite-coloured bishops endgame.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: After the exchanges, White had good attacking chances, thanks to a safer king and opposite-coloured bishops. Carlsen advanced his h-pawn, trying to pry open Black's king position. However, 25.h5? was too hasty, and Caruana responded with 25...gxh5! followed by pawn thrusts 26...f5! and 27...h4! that also exposed White's king. Black now had enough counterplay and the two players exchanged off rooks and queens into a drawn opposite-coloured bishops endgame. Carlsen kept playing on but there was never any realistic hope for a win unless Caruana blundered catastrophically. With this draw, the match set a new record for most consecutive draws to begin a World Championship match. The 1995 Classical match began with eight consecutive draws before Viswanathan Anand broke through against Garry Kasparov for a win.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: This game began with the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence, and followed Game 8 until Caruana deviated with 12.b4. The game entered a complicated middlegame where both sides had a lot of possibilities, and then became even more complicated when Carlsen played 21...b5! Both sides took risks and it was possible that either side could win, with Black launching a strong kingside attack while White gained a passed pawn on the queenside, a potential endgame trump if he survives the attack. Carlsen was able to force Caruana to weaken his king position, but was not able to break through the pawn shield. Although the attack failed, Carlsen had forced White's pieces to passive squares, and was able to neutralise White's passed b-pawn as a result. After Carlsen liquidated the b-pawn, Caruana emerged with an extra pawn in the endgame, but there were too few pawns remaining for White to hope to break through.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Caruana's second Rustam Kasimdzhanov later revealed that Caruana had forgotten his preparation in this game.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Carlsen opened with e4 for the second time in the match, with Caruana once again playing Petrov's Defence. Caruana was very well prepared, and Carlsen was unable to get an opening advantage, despite the fact the variation with 9...Nf6 being visible in the leaked opening preparation video. After an early queen trade, Caruana forced an opposite-coloured bishops endgame with 18...Ne5! After further liquidating the d6-pawn, his only weakness, Caruana even had the liberty to give up a pawn. Carlsen kept playing, but his only chance to win was for Caruana to blunder, which he did not. The game was drawn in 55 moves.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: This game began with the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence, and followed Games 8 and 10 until Carlsen deviated with 8...Ne7. The game entered a complicated middlegame which Carlsen showed better understanding of than Caruana. Former world champions Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik both disapproved of Caruana's 18.f3 and 21.Rh2 idea, thinking that it just created weaknesses for Black to play against. Indeed, Carlsen was able to quickly push his central pawn majority while stalling Caruana's queenside. By move 25 he had a better position. However, Carlsen was unwilling to take risks. He did not play the challenging 25...b5, opting for the more prudent 25...a5 instead. Although White's position remained miserable, after 29...a4? Caruana was able to place his queen on b4 and stop the b5 pawn thrust. Black still had a superior position and a clear plan while White remained passive, but Carlsen offered a draw, opting to go to the tiebreaks.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: It surprised some that the game ended with Carlsen having a stable long-term advantage with no risks, as well as more time on the clock. Kramnik was especially critical, saying he was shocked that Carlsen could decline to play on. At the press conference, Carlsen explained his decision with an earlier recommendation of his team to avoid any potential risks.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Before the tiebreak, it was expected that Carlsen would be advantaged because of his prowess at rapid time controls. Although the rating gap between Carlsen and Caruana in classical chess was a mere 3 points, in rapid chess it was 91 points. However, Carlsen's performance in the classical games, and the way in which he offered a draw in a favourable position in game 12 led Kasparov to opine that Carlsen appeared to be losing his nerve.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The game began with the English Opening as with Games 4 and 9, with Carlsen deviating with 3.g3, entering the Bremen, Smyslov system. Carlsen offered the c4-pawn for more active queenside play, and, by move 12, had compromised Black's queenside pawn structure. By Black's 25th move, Carlsen was able to regain the sacrificed pawn and trade into an endgame with an extra pawn. However, the position was still not winning until Caruana's 37...Kxe4 mistake allowed Carlsen to create two connected passed pawns on the kingside and win the game.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: This game began again with the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence and followed Game 12 until Carlsen deviated with 11...Qb8. The game developed into a complex middlegame. Caruana, behind in the tiebreak, played courageously with the pawn break 21.c5, opening the position before having castled. However, Carlsen coolly navigated the complications and then pounced when Caruana blundered, first with 26.c7? and then 28.Nd5? which, after 28...Kh7 avoiding the threatened knight fork, led to a position in which White could not defend his major pieces on the c-file. Caruana resigned.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: With his back to the wall, Caruana responded to 1.e4 with the Sicilian Defense, the only time he played the opening in the match. Carlsen, however, deftly used the fact that a draw was equivalent to a loss for Caruana, constantly forcing Caruana to avoid simplifications. Around move 34, Caruana had plenty of ways to draw the game at his disposal, but could not play them. In the end Caruana's desperate attempts to stir up complications led to a final mistake 43...Ne6?, allowing Carlsen to push his c-pawn through to promotion. Caruana resigned one move after the promotion.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: Both players were gracious in the press conference after the match, and each praised his opponent. Caruana said the results showed that Carlsen is the strongest player in the world, while Carlsen said Caruana had just as much right as he has to call himself the best player in the world in classical chess. Carlsen's strategy to draw game 12 and win the tiebreaks had been vindicated, a point he emphasized in the press conference. Carlsen said he was very happy for having overcome such a strong obstacle, and would work to get better in the future. For his part, Caruana lamented the fact that one needed to find one's best form to win a tiebreak, which he was not able to do, but looked forward to making another title attempt in the future.


title: World Chess Championship 2018

text: The 12-game streak of draws in the classical portion of this match was one of the reasons behind FIDE's decision to extend the 2021 world championship to 14 games.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series "That's Life!" for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and founded the charities ChildLine, promoting child protection, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she set up in November 2012.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen has been recognised for her contribution to television and society. She was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 1991, a CBE for services to children in 2006, and in the 2015 New Year Honours, was made a Dame for services to children and older people through ChildLine and The Silver Line. She is Patron for the charity Operation Encompass and a Trustee for the charity Silver Stories both charities created and run by husband and wife David Carney-Haworth OBE and Elisabeth Carney-Haworth OBE.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, to Katherine Flora Rantzen ("née" Leverson, 1911–2005) and Henry Barnato Rantzen (1902–1992). Her family is Jewish. She has one younger sister, Priscilla N. Taylor. She attended Buckley Country Day School in New York, leaving in 1950. She was educated at North London Collegiate School, an all-girls independent school in Edgware, North London. She studied English at Somerville College, Oxford, where one of her tutors was Mary Lascelles. At Oxford she performed with the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), became Secretary of the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) and joined the Oxford Theatre Group, performing in Oxford and Edinburgh.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen was the subject of an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on 3 September 2008. Her paternal line was traced back, as far as the 1760s, to an established Jewish neighbourhood in Warsaw. Tracing Rantzen's forebears was greatly helped by the rarity of the surname "Rantzen" (even in Warsaw) and the survival of records in Warsaw. In the late 1850s, her great-great-grandfather emigrated to Britain and settled, as a cap-maker, in Spitalfields, a slum district of London's East End. Rantzen's great-grandfather moved to a more comfortable neighbourhood with the help of his brother-in-law, Barney Barnato (born Barnett Isaacs), who had become extremely wealthy as a diamond merchant in South Africa. Her father's middle name was Barnato.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: On her wealthy maternal side, Rantzen's great-grandfather, Montague Leverson, was one of the founders of the West London Synagogue. Montague Leverson was the maternal grandfather of British composer Gerald Finzi. Rantzen is also related to Ada Leverson, a British writer and friend of Oscar Wilde, who was portrayed by Zoë Wanamaker in the 1997 film "Wilde". She is first cousin once removed of the novelist and translator Michael Meyer.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: After training in secretarial skills, Rantzen was recruited by BBC Radio as a trainee studio manager. She began her television career as a clerk in the programme planning department, then obtained her first production job working as a researcher on the BBC1 late-night satire programme "BBC-3" (1965–66). Having worked as a researcher on a number of current affairs programmes, she moved to the award-winning BBC2 documentary series "Man Alive" in the mid-1960s.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 1968, Rantzen, at the time a researcher for "Braden's Week" (hosted by Bernard Braden), became a presenter because the producer of the programme decided to put the researchers onscreen. Braden decided to return to his native Canada in 1972, to present a similar TV show there; the following year, the BBC replaced "Braden's Week" with "That's Life!" with Rantzen as the main presenter.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: "That's Life!" ran on BBC1 for 21 years from 1973 to 1994, becoming one of the most popular shows on British television, reaching audiences of more than 18 million. During that time, it expanded the traditional role of the consumer programme from simply exposing faulty washing machines and dodgy salesmen, to investigating life-and-death issues, such as a campaign for more organ donors, which featured Ben Hardwick, a two-year-old dying of liver disease whose only hope was a transplant, and the investigation of a boarding school, the headmaster of which was a paedophile who employed several paedophile teachers.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: To lighten some of these very serious themes and issues, "That's Life!" also had some humorous spots, such as readings of amusing misprints sent in by viewers; it also featured comic songs that often matched the theme of each show, specially written and performed by artists such as Lynsey De Paul, Victoria Wood, Richard Stilgoe and Jake Thackray.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 1976, Rantzen devised the documentary series "The Big Time", which launched Sheena Easton's singing career.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: "That's Life!" was influential in many different ways, not least in the introduction of the videolink for child witnesses in court procedures, and it was responsible for the launch of ChildLine in 1986, the first national helpline for children in danger or distress. Rantzen had suggested the "Childwatch" programme to BBC1 Controller Michael Grade after the death of a toddler who had starved to death, locked in a bedroom. The aim of the programme was to find better ways of detecting children at risk of abuse; to that end, viewers of "That's Life!" who had themselves experienced cruelty as children were asked to take part in a survey detailing the circumstances of their abuse.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen suggested that after that edition of "That's Life!", the BBC should open a helpline for children, in case any young viewers suffering current abuse wished to ring in to ask for help. The helpline was open for 48 hours, during which it was swamped with calls, mainly from children suffering sexual abuse they had never been able to disclose to anyone else. This gave Rantzen the idea for a specific helpline for children in distress or danger, to be open 24/7 throughout the year, the first of its kind in the world. The "Childwatch" team consulted child care professionals, who agreed that children would use such a helpline, but said it would be impossible to create. Nevertheless, the team obtained funding from the Department of Health and the Variety Club of Great Britain, both of which donated £25,000. Ian Skipper OBE, a noted philanthropist who had already helped Rantzen set up a special fund in memory of Ben Hardwick, agreed to underwrite the helpline's running costs for the first year. Rantzen and the team went to BT to ask for premises for the charity and for a simple freephone number, both of which were provided.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: The "Childwatch" programme screened on 30 October 1986 and, based on the results of the survey, launched ChildLine with a specially written jingle (by B. A. Robertson) which featured the free phone number 0800 1111. On that first night in October 1986, fifty thousand attempted calls were made to the helpline. ChildLine now has twelve bases around the UK, including two in Northern Ireland, two in Scotland and two in Wales. The NSPCC merged with ChildLine in 2006, enabling it to expand in an effort to meet demand. The helpline has now been copied in 150 countries around the world.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 2013, Rantzen set up The Silver Line, a charity to benefit elderly people, by combating isolation and loneliness, to provide information and advice and to offer a free confidential helpline. In addition, The Silver Line offers a telephone befriending service, in which trained volunteers conducting remote work make regular weekly calls to older people. It also offers Silver Letters and conference calls, discussion groups called Silver Circles.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 1988, Rantzen created a television series called "Hearts of Gold", celebrating people who had performed unsung acts of outstanding kindness or courage. Its theme tune was written by her close friend Lynsey De Paul, and was released as a single.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: After "That's Life!" finished its 21-year run in 1994, she presented her own talk show, "Esther", on BBC Two from 1994 to 2002.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 2006, Rantzen took part in the BBC Two programmes "Would Like to Meet" and "Excuse My French", and was selected to present a new consumer affairs show with former "Watchdog" presenter Lynn Faulds Wood, under the title "Old Dogs New Tricks". She made a documentary for ITV called "Winton's Children" about Sir Nicholas Winton, who (as was first revealed on "That's Life!") had rescued a generation of Czech children from the holocaust and was later nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. After the death of Rantzen's husband, film-maker Desmond Wilcox, she made a landmark programme on palliative care, "How to Have a Good Death", for BBC Two. Recently she has campaigned on behalf of hospice care and better care for the elderly and terminally ill. She has also campaigned to raise awareness of ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), as her eldest daughter Emily has suffered from the condition. She created the 'Children of Courage' segment for the BBC's "Children in Need" programme.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen was for a time a director of That's Media, which provides local TV programmes. In 2016, she was made an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In addition to her television career, as a patron or vice-president of 55 charities, she mainly concentrates on working for children, vulnerable older people and disabled people. Much of her voluntary effort is for ChildLine as a volunteer counsellor on the helpline, and as a fund-raiser and spokesperson for children, and latterly working to set up the new helpline for isolated and vulnerable older people. ChildLine currently has 12 centres around the UK, 1,500 volunteer counsellors and answers around a million calls and on-line contacts from children each year. Rantzen chaired ChildLine's Board of Trustees for twenty years, and since ChildLine merged with the NSPCC in 2006, she has served as a Trustee of the NSPCC, as well as being President of ChildLine. In 2013, she also became the Vice-President of Revitalise, a charity providing those with disabilities, and their carers, with short breaks and holidays. Rantzen is also patron of Erosh, a national charity which promotes good quality sheltered and retirement housing and provides resources for its members who support older people.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: She appeared in the 2008 series of ITV show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!", and was the fifth celebrity to leave the camp. She has been the face of the Accident Advice Helpline since 2003.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 2018, she presented a new Channel 5 consumer advice show called "Esther Rantzen’s House Trap", a 4-part series similar to BBC's long-running "Watchdog" programme, with hidden cameras trying to trap rogue traders in the homes of a number of undercover actors. Unlike "Watchdog", these actors were all people of an advanced age with each episode focusing on a different trade, such as locksmiths, where older people were likely to being preyed upon.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: On 26 May 2009, on Stephen Rhodes's BBC Three Counties Breakfast Show, Rantzen announced her intention to stand as an independent candidate for Parliament, if the incumbent Labour MP Margaret Moran stood for Luton South again. This statement was made against the backdrop of the Parliamentary expenses scandal and Moran's expense claims for £23,000 to eliminate dry rot in her second home in Southampton. Two days later, Moran announced she would not stand at the next general election, but Rantzen said she was still considering standing herself and confirmed her candidacy on 28 July 2009. Rantzen stood for election in Luton South against eleven other candidates, of whom four were independent. At the May 2010 election, Rantzen came fourth with 4.4% of the vote, behind the three main parties. In accordance with UK parliamentary electoral process, Rantzen lost her deposit, as only candidates receiving over 5% of the total votes cast have their deposit returned. Labour Party candidate Gavin Shuker won the seat with 34.9% of the vote, the Conservatives got 29.4% and the Liberal Democrats 22.7%.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In August 2014, Rantzen was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" expressing their hope that Scotland would vote against independence from the United Kingdom in the referendum on that issue.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In "", broadcast on 3 October 2012, Rantzen, after seeing the interviews the programme contains, supported the women allegedly abused by the then late BBC broadcaster Jimmy Savile.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: She told "Channel 4 News": "If anybody had had concrete evidence, I think and hope the police would have been called in. But all they had was gossip – and gossip isn't evidence."


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Abuse campaigner Shy Keenan, writing in "The Sun" newspaper, subsequently claimed that, using a different name, she had told Rantzen 18 years earlier of allegations that she had heard about Savile. Rantzen has denied hearing specific allegations and said she had no recollection of a conversation with Keenan.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Writing for "The Daily Telegraph" before the broadcast, Katy Brand also criticised Rantzen for failing to act on rumours she had heard about Savile. Pete Saunders, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, at Keenan's request, temporarily asked for all references to Rantzen to be removed from the charity's website, but subsequently defended Rantzen and said she would continue as a patron.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 1966, at the age of 26, Rantzen had an affair with the Scottish politician Nicholas Fairbairn (1933–1995) . She wrote:


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 1968, Rantzen started an affair with Desmond Wilcox, who was the head of her department and married to Rantzen's friend Patsy who also worked at the BBC. After several years they decided to live together, and informed BBC management of their relationship. Management's solution was to move the entire production team of "That's Life!" out of Wilcox's department. The new arrangement meant that Rantzen and Patsy were now working in the same department, embarrassing Rantzen and causing further pain to Patsy. Patsy Wilcox had always refused to divorce her husband, but agreed when Rantzen became pregnant. After Rantzen and Wilcox married in December 1977, BBC management moved her back into the General Features department run by him.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: By that time, "That's Life!" was achieving huge audiences ratings, and reaching the number one position, gaining more viewers than "Coronation Street". This created tension among colleagues in General Features, who ascribed the success of the programme to Wilcox's relationship with Rantzen. They complained to management, quoting the BBC's regulation that husbands and wives should not work in the same department.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: As a result, Desmond Wilcox resigned, and set up his own independent production company, making award-winning documentaries such as "The Visit", which included a series of programmes about "The Boy David". For these, as well as previous films, he received many international awards, including the Grierson Life-Time Achievement Award in 2001. Wilcox and Rantzen had three children – Miriam (formerly known as Emily, b. 1978), Rebecca (b. 1980), and Joshua (b. 1981).


title: Esther Rantzen

text: In 2001, Patsy's daughter Cassandra Wilcox gave an interview in response to comments Rantzen had made about Patsy in her autobiography, alleging amongst other things that Rantzen had long harboured animosity towards Patsy.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours for services to children and young people, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to children and older people through ChildLine and The Silver Line.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: Rantzen has also received a number of professional awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in Film and Television organisation, the Royal Television Society's Special Judges' Award for Journalism, their Fellowship, and Membership of their Hall of Fame. She was the first woman to receive a Dimbleby Award from BAFTA for factual presentation. She received the Snowdon Award for services to disabled people.


title: Esther Rantzen

text: On 31 May 2018 she was granted arms by the College of Arms, through Letters Patent of Garter and Clarenceux Kings of Arms.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The humphead wrasse ("Cheilinus undulatus") is a large species of wrasse mainly found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, Napoleon fish, Napoleonfish, "so mei" 蘇眉 (Cantonese), "mameng" (Filipino), and "merer" in the Pohnpeian language of the Caroline Islands.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The humphead wrasse is the largest living member of the family Labridae. Males, typically larger than females, are capable of reaching up to 2 meters and weighing up to 180 kg, but the average length is a little less than 1 meter. Females rarely grow larger than one meter. This species can be easily identified by its large size, thick lips, two black lines behind its eyes, and the hump on the foreheads of larger adults. Its color can vary between dull blue-green to more vibrant shades of green and purplish-blue. Adults are usually observed living singly, but are also seen in male/female pairs and in small groups.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The humphead wrasses can be found on the east coast of Africa around the mouth of the Red Sea, and in some areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Juveniles are usually found in shallow, sandy ranges bordering coral reef waters, while adults are found mostly in offshore and deeper areas of coral reefs, typically in outer-reef slopes and channels, but also in lagoons.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The humphead wrasse is long-lived, but has a very slow breeding rate. Individuals become sexually mature at five to seven years, and are known to live for around 30 years. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, with some becoming male at about 9 years old. The factors controlling the timing of sex change are not yet known. At certain times of year, adults move to the down-current end of the reef and form local spawning aggregations (groups). They likely do not travel very far for their spawning aggregations.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The pelagic eggs and larvae ultimately settle on or near coral reef habitats. Eggs are 0.65 mm in diameter and spherical, with no pigment.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: Very opportunistic predators, "C. undulatus" preys primarily on invertebrates such as mollusks (particularly gastropods, as well as pelecypods, echinoids, crustaceans, and annelids) and fish. Because half of echinoids and most pelecypods hide under the sand, wrasses may rely on fish excavators like stingrays, or they themselves may excavate by ejecting water to displace sand and nosing around for prey. Like many other Red Sea wrasses, humphead wrasses often crack sea urchins (echinoids) by carrying them to a rock in their mouths and striking them against the rock with brisk, sideways head movements.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: Adults are commonly found on steep coral reef slopes, channel slopes, and lagoon reefs in water deep.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The species actively selects branching hard and soft corals and seagrasses at settlement. Juveniles tend to prefer a more cryptic existence in areas of dense branching corals, bushy macroalgae or seagrasses, while larger individuals and adults prefer limited home ranges in more open habitat on the edges of reefs, channels and reef passes.


title: Humphead wrasse

text: The humphead wrasse is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list and in Appendix II of CITES. Its numbers have declined due to multiple threats, including: