5 stars of the chess world

Bobby Fischer (1943 - 2008)

American Bobby Fischer might or might not have been the best chess player of all time, but he's definitely one of the most unusual and mysterious. He was known as a child prodigy of chess and became the eleventh World Chess Champion in 1972. He then became argumentative with the World Chess Federation and went into reclusion, not professionally playing another match until 1992. During the last years of his life he moved around the globe frequently and was known to speak badly of his native country and to make anti-Semitic remarks. Eventually his U.S. passport was revoked, but Iceland gave him citizenship. He died in that country in 2008.

Garry Kasparov (1963 - )

Russian Kasparov is another chess champion considered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time, if not thebest player of all time. In 1985, he became the youngest ever World Chess Champion, and then held onto the title until 1993. In 1993 he did not lose the championship, but entered a disagreement with the World Chess Federation; Kasparov then created is own chess organization, the Professional Chess Association, and was champion of that group until losing in 2000. He holds the world record as the ranking No. 1 world chess champion. On five occasions he has faced off with against a super computer, with mixed results. Kasparov officially retired from chess in 2005. He is the author of numerous books on chess, and has entered the world of politics in his homeland of Russia.

Veselin Topalov (1975 - )

This Bulgarian chess master was world champion in 2005, lost it in 2006, and is now in line to play for the World Chess Championship in 2009. One of the most famous matches Topalov has been involved in was a 2006 game against Vladimir Kramnik, a Russian. Accusations were made that Kramnik was cheating during the match, possibly by taking multiple bathroom breaks to use a computer for help in the game. The match was delayed while multiple rulings and appeals were handed down by chess officialdom, but eventually the game continued and Kramnik won.

Anatoly Karpov (1951 - )

Another Russian, Karpov was world champion from 1975 to 1985 then was World Chess Federation world champion from 1993 to 1999. He has not officially retired from chess, but since the mid-1990s has been more involved in Russian politics. He is famous for an ongoing rivalry with fellow Russian Kasparov and for a proposed match with Bobby Fischer that never occurred.

Viswanathan Anand (1969 - )

Anand, an Indian, is the current World Chess Federation world champion and has been since 2007. He was also champion from 2000 to 2002. He holds the world record for being the first world champion to have won a title in three different formats of the game. Later this year, 2009, he faces a tough opponent in Veselin Topalov for the world championship title.

Six serial killers who were never caught

We don't even know the faces of these notorious, mysterious figures, let alone their real names.

Jack the Ripper

Let's start with the most famous serial killer of all time, Jack the Ripper. This murderer operated in the Whitechapel area of London, England, in 1888 and is credited with at least five victims, though more (or even fewer) is possible. His main targets appeared to be prostitutes. It has never been fully confirmed, but several letters sent to London police were said to have been from Jack the Ripper, though the veracity of these letters has often been questioned. Similar murders, showing a penchant for mutilation and butchery, against prostitutes had happened in London before 1888 and continued on later, though none of those have been directly linked to this killer. Numerous suspects have been named as Jack the Ripper over the years, though the truth remains unknown more than a hundred years later.

The Zodiac Killer

Like the others listed here, the identity of this serial killer has never been known for sure, though there has been at least one strong suspect who died in 1992. The Zodiac Killer was active in California in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s. He killed at least five people, though in letters to police and the media, he claimed to have killed many more. Two of his victims survived, though none could ever tell police who the killer was, though there were some basic descriptions offered. During one attack, this killer was known to have worn a bag over his head, making identification difficult. He also played a cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement, mailing cryptic notes and coded letters to police, newspapers and television stations. Police at the time also thought it possible the Zodiac Killer took credit for disappearances and murders of which he was not truly connected. The final murder count will likely never be known.

Cleveland Torso Murderer

Between 1935 and 1938, 12 to 15 murder victims are suspected of having been killed by the Cleveland Torso Murderer, who received his name because he usually dismembered his victims. There has been some evidence and speculation that similar killings were going on as early as the 1920s and into the 1950s in the northern Ohio region (and some in Pennsylvania), but none of these others have definitively been tied to this one killer. Of those thought to have been slain by the Cleveland Torso Murderer, 12 are considered definite victims of this killer, while others are still somewhat questionable. Only two of the victims have ever to be identified. There have been two suspects tied to these murders. The first one was arrested by law enforcement officers and died in jail, police brutality being suspected. The second, and arguably stronger, suspect was a doctor who was institutionalized in 1938 and died in a hospital in 1965; this doctor was known to have been a member of a medical unit that performed amputations during World War I.

Axeman of New Orleans

This serial killer was active in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, in the years 1918 and 1919. His victims are numbered at 12. He first attacked a sleeping couple in their home on May 12, 1918, killing both, and then continued apparently at random to kill with an ax until mysteriously stopping in October of 1919. Mystery has always surrounded this serial killer, and continues to do so. Some eyewitnesses thought they saw more than one possible suspect at the scene. There were also a few hints of organized crime being involved, especially since the Axeman's early victims were Italian-Americans. Then there's also the odd letter on March 13, 1919 that was supposedly from the Axeman and arrived at the local newspapers; the letter stated that the Axeman would kill again at 15 minutes past minute on the night of March 15, 1919, but would spare any New Orleans households where jazz music was playing. Newspaper reports from the time say that March 15 was filled with jazz music all over the town, and no one was murdered. There has never been a solid suspect or suspects in the case of the Axeman of New Orleans.

Phantom Killer

The murderer dubbed the Phantom Killer first struck in Texarkana, Texas, on February 23, 1946, attacking a young couple in a vehicle, but killing neither. From then until May 4 of that year, at least five people were killed and three others attacked. All are alleged to have been victims of the Phantom Killer. Who was this murderer? It is still not known. On May 6, a man's mutilated body was found on railroad tracks near Texarkana, and some believed he might have been the killer even though a coroner reported the man had been stabbed repeatedly before coming to rest on the tracks. Another suspect was a small-time burglar and car thief, though no strong evidence was never found against him. It has been so long, it is not likely the Phantom Killer is still alive.

Phantom of Heilbronn

This is the only female killer to make this list, and it's only hypothesized that's she's a she, and it's also possible she might not even exist. The Phantom of Heilbronn is the given name for an unknown assailant who shot and killed a female police officer in Heilbronn, Germany, in 2007. DNA evidence has linked this mysterious killer to possibly as many as 60 other crimes, at least six of them murders, in Germany, Austria, France and possibly other parts of Europe. Most recently, in March 2009, police investigators came to a surprising conclusion: the so-called Phantom of Heilbronn doesn't exist at all. How could this happen? Supposedly the cotton swabs used by police to collect DNA evidence were contaminated before being shipped to law enforcement, which could explain the same DNA being found at so many crime scenes. Still, there are those who are skeptical and believe a female killer is still on the loose in Europe and has been operating since the early 1990s.

10 most common nouns in English

Believe it or not, there actually are people who keep track of the most common words used in the English language.

Who are these people?

They're the folks behind the Oxford English Dictionary, the Oxford University Press and Oxford Online.

And, in 2006 a study done by Oxford University Press researchers found lots of curious information when looking at newspapers, magazines, websites, dictionaries, blogs, books and more.

For example, they discovered what are the 10 most commonly used nouns in the English language.

You remember nouns, right? To keep it simple, a noun is a person, place or thing.

So, what are the 10 most common nouns in English?

Here they are, in order of most common first:

1.) Time

2.) Person

3.) Year

4.) Way

5.) Day

6.) Thing

7.) Man

8.) World

9.) Life

10.) Hand

Interesting that all of those words are each one syllable, and that all of them are derived from Old English, according to Oxford University Press research manager Angus Stevenson.

Writing links

Why newspapers are important

What is the longest novel ever written?

Writing for a Living, a blog for online writers

Think you know your Christian Bible? Try this quiz

Are you a Christian or perhaps just a student of history and religion who has spent plenty of time reading the Holy Bible? If so, test your knowledge by answering the 25 questions to this quiz. Some questions are easy, but others might be hard, even tricky.

1. What is the name of the first man created by God?
2. Who said, "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you?" Text taken from New International Version.
3. How old was Sarah when she died?
4. What is the name of the mother of Moses?
5. What book lies between the Book of Judges and Samuel 1?
6. How many Gospels are there in the Bible?
7. How many times does the word "Trinity" appear in the Bible?
8. In an attempt to kill the messiah, King Herod orders all male toddlers slain in what town?
9. What town is the childhood home of Jesus?
10. What man first announces Jesus' coming during Jesus' lifetime?
11. How many books are there in the Old Testament?
12. In what language was the New Testament originally written?
13. In what year was the first edition of the King James Bible printed?
14. How many times does Eve's name appear in the Bible?
15. How many of each animal did Moses bring aboard the ark?
16. Who was the mother of Isaac?
17. What is the fourth book of the Bible?
18. Who followed Moses part of the way up Mount Sinai where Moses would receive the Ten Commandments?
19. The Ten Commandments are initially outlined in the book of Exodus, but what other book of the Bible also contains a slightly different outline of the Ten Commandments?
20. According to tradition, who wrote the Book of Psalms?
21. What is the name of the ruler of the Persian empire at the beginning of the Book of Esther?
22. Who was Philemon?
23. Where was John when he received his first vision for the Book of Revelation?
24. Was Luke one of the twelve apostles?
25. What is the sixth book in the New Testament?

For answers to this quiz, check out this link.

Answers to Bible quiz

For the questions to the quiz, go here.

1. Adam
2. Job in the Book of Job, 42:5
3. 127
4. Jochebed
5. Book of Ruth
6. 4
7. 0
8. Bethlehem
9. Nazareth
10. John the Baptist
11. It depends upon what church you ask. Most protestant churches have 39 books in the Old Testament while most other churches have 51.
12. Koine Greek
13. 1611
14. 5
15. 0, Moses didn’t bring any animals aboard the ark, it was Noah who did so and he brought 2 of each animal
16. Sarah
17. Numbers
18. Joshua
19. Deuteronomy, 5:6-21
20. David
21. Ahasuerus
22. Leader of the Colossian church whom was written by Paul of Tarsus in the Epistle of Paul to Philemon
23. Greek island of Patmos
24. No, but he was a companion of Paul
25. Romans