Trivia Contest 2021

[SomeInternetBloke]

𑁛𑁖 *johnny ringo voice* well alright then lunger ...

[HighlyIrregular]

Had he blundered in this high-stakes game, this Grandmaster would surely not have lived until he was 80, nor even half as long. Who was he and what was the game?

Marvel's Grandmaster's game against Death? Marvel Comics is about 82 years old now.

[Ferrus]

𑁛𑁓

Brazil and France

[HighlyIrregular]

𑁜

I feel like John Clay can handle this one.

[Utisz]

𑁛𑁖 *johnny ringo voice* well alright then lunger ...

Had he blundered in this high-stakes game, this Grandmaster would surely not have lived until he was 80, nor even half as long. Who was he and what was the game?

Marvel's Grandmaster's game against Death? Marvel Comics is about 82 years old now.

Not the one!

𑁛𑁓

Brazil and France

Correct! 10 points.

𑁜

I feel like John Clay can handle this one.

Only time will tell ...

[Ferrus]

𑁗

Curve is catenary (thanks to the physics of hanging chains) shifted to origin so c*cosh(x) - c.

Arch length of c*cosh(x) - c = I_a^b cosh(x) = sinh(x)

(derivative in arclength term cancels out constant)

Therefore c*(sinh(1) -sinh(-1)) = 2

Therefore c*2.35 ≈ 2
c ≈ 2.35/2 ≈ 0.85

So curve is approximately 0.85*cosh(x) - 0.85

0.85*cosh(1) - 0.85 or 0.85*cosh(-1) - 0.85 ≈ 0.46

[Ferrus]

𑁔

At Oklo a site was flooded with groundwater then that acted as a natural neutron moderator to the uranium deposits and therefore formed a natural nuclear reactor.

[Ferrus]

𑁛𑁖

Clallam county, Washington State. Has been bellwether (neutered ram, a wether, with bell used to lead flock of sheep) since 1980.

[Ferrus]

𑁚

Ossip Bernstein, died 80. Was arrested by the Cheka in Odessa in 1918 due to supposed counterrevolutionary activities and due to be executed by firing squad. However at the last minute the commanding office upon finding out his identity as a chess player offered his life if he could win a game of chess against him, which he did, thus saving his life.

[Ferrus]

𑁓

L'Atelier Rouge by Henri Matisse.