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WELCOME TO ICC!
The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is the longest running, most popular,
and best place to play chess on the Internet. Nowhere else can you find as many
chess enthusiasts ready for a quick round of blitz, a short chat, an impromptu
tournament, or simply enjoying the wealth of Chess.FM shows and live event coverage.
It is not uncommon to find more than 3,000 chess players hanging out on ICC
where more than 100,000 games are played each day.
There's no mistaking that we're at the start of the Magnus Carlsen era in the game, as the 19-year-old Norwegian world No.1 continues to dominate his peers by winning yet another super-tournament.
In his last five major outings, Carlsen has come 1st at Nanjing Pearl Spring, 2nd at the Tal Memorial in Moscow, captured the World Blitz crown, 1st at the London Chess Classic...and now 1st place at the Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament in the Netherlands!
While Carlsen's +4 winning score of 8.5/13 was good enough for outright victory in the first major of the year, his performance in doing so was far from convincing as he's yet to mature into the dominating style of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.
He also had a bit of luck on his side down the homestretch. In the final round, he struggled to draw against Fabiano Caruana, who could well have scored an upset win to ruin the script. That plus a bizarre final round finish from early leader Alexei Shirov, who was down to his final seconds and agreed a draw against Lenier Dominguez in a totally won position (see GM Gawain Jones' choice for our final GOTD below) could have changed the outcome of Carlsen's Corus.
Shirov had the conciliation of being back in the big-time with a share of 2nd equal with Kramnik on 8/13. Other standout results include US Champion Hikaru Nakamura grinding a tough last round victory over Sergy Tiviakov to come equal 4th-5th alongside Anand on a +2 score of 7.5/13.
In the coming months, Chess.FM will be back on the air for Linares, Spain (12-25 Feb), the Amber tournament in Nice, France (13-25 March), the Topalov-Anand World Championship match, Sofia, Bulgaria (23 April - 12 May), and then the US Championship in St. Louis (13-25 May) - so if you want all the best in live grandmaster commentary from these major events with the likes of Peter Svidler, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Jon Speelman and Gregory Kaidanov etc, then don't delay and sign-up today to be an ICC member by clicking here
Apart from the live coverage, Chess.FM also brings you our popular Game of the Day service from each of these events. As a sample of what you can expect as a benefit of being a member of ICC, below we've made all of our GOTDs from Carlsen's Corus to non-members - this is a once-only offer and will not be repeated for all those other major events on the horizon.
Joining Mig in the Chess.FM hot-seat for round two was a very special guest in five-time Russian champion Peter Svidler (and also for an hour, GM Jan Gustafsson). Top-flight commentators is one of the many reasons to be a member here at ICC - and for non-members to tune-in to what ICC members will be getting every round of Corus, we're bringing you the full 5-hour rebroadcast of Mig & Svidler's round two action from Corus. To listen in full, click here.
Macauley Peterson was also in the press room at Corus bringing us all the latest news & gossip and a round-up of all the best video action - and he'll be on the road for all those other major events on the horizon! You can view his free video player from Corus by clicking on the image below - some of the highlights include Anand Plays Spoiler, a Vladamir Kramnik interview, segments of his Carlsen post-mortem, and a special 19min worth of Hikaru Nakamura's post-mortem of his win over Shirov! You can also follow Chess.FM on our Twitter page http://twitter.com/ChessFM.
Final Standings after Round 13
N
Name
FED
FIDE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
PTS
TPR
1
Carlsen, Magnus
NOR
2810
.
0
½
½
½
1
1
½
1
½
½
1
½
1
8½
2822
2
Kramnik, Vladimir
RUS
2788
1
.
½
0
1
½
½
½
½
½
½
1
½
1
8
2801
3
Shirov, Alexei
ESP
2723
½
½
.
0
0
½
½
1
½
1
½
1
1
1
8
2806
4
Anand, Viswanathan
IND
2790
½
1
1
.
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
7½
2770
5
Nakamura, Hikaru
USA
2708
½
0
1
½
.
0
½
½
½
½
1
1
1
½
7½
2777
6
Karjakin, Sergey
UKR
2720
0
½
½
½
1
.
½
½
½
½
1
½
½
½
7
2748
7
Ivanchuk, Vassily
UKR
2749
0
½
½
½
½
½
.
½
½
½
½
1
½
1
7
2746
8
Leko, Peter
HUN
2739
½
½
0
½
½
½
½
.
½
1
½
0
½
1
6½
2717
9
Dominguez, Leinier
CUB
2712
0
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
.
½
½
½
1
½
6½
2719
10
Caruana, Fabiano
ITA
2675
½
½
0
½
½
½
½
0
½
.
½
½
1
0
5½
2665
11
Short, Nigel D
ENG
2696
½
½
½
½
0
0
½
½
½
½
.
0
½
½
5
2634
12
Van Wely, Loek
NED
2641
0
0
0
½
0
½
0
1
½
½
1
.
1
0
5
2638
13
Tiviakov, Sergei
NED
2662
½
½
0
½
0
½
½
½
0
0
½
0
.
1
4½
2613
14
Smeets, Jan
NED
2657
0
0
0
½
½
½
0
0
½
1
½
1
0
.
4½
2614
ICC had the New In Chess trivia, where each day an ICC member won a 1-year subscription to New In Chess magazine. There was the also Game of the Day trivia sponsored by USCF Sales, where each day an ICC member can win a $70 gift certificate for the USCF Sales store.
Now is the time to join ICC for the best in all the live chess action from Corus here at Chess.FM. To join ICC, please click here.
Ronen's Opening Survey: "Alekhine's defense"
Feb 08, 2010
The new year brings with it a new Ronen Har-Zvi here on Chess.FM, as we rebrand his poplar weekly show from "New Idea In…" to "Ronen's Opening Survey". And in the first of his new series, our opening expert GM Ronen Har-Zvi shows just how best to handle the sometime difficult Alekhine's Defense with White's most reliable weapon of (1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 d4 d6) 4 Nf3 - a solid line used by all the top players that continues to score big for White.
National Master Dan Heisman is a name that is synonymous with excellence in chess coaching and teaching. Dan authors the award-winning Novice Nook column (winner of three Chess Journalists of America "Best Instruction" awards), aimed at improving adults, for chesscafe.com that are clearly written and offer very practical advice and tips on how to improve your game. More info about Dan can be found here.
In the new Improve Your Chess IV series, Dan provides instruction by reviewing amateur games played on ICC and showing where the players went wrong and how to improve.
Three-time U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin brings you a new show every Friday at 15:00 Server Time. Joel is regarded by many as one of the best commentators and analysts' we have in the game today -- so if you want to get ahead of the game, get ready to tune-in!
GM Boris Alterman's "Gambit Guide": Polugaevsky Gambit
Feb 04, 2009
In his weekly Gambit Guide series on ICC, Boris investigates gambits old and new and show that, while some may not be actively played on the grandmaster circuit these days, they are all exciting to play and at the same time instructive as they teach us all about natural development of the pieces and tactics in chess. GM Boris Alterman has an official blog where, among other things, he'll be discussing some of his choices for his Gambit Guide.
Lev Polugaevsky (1934-1995) was one of the strongest players in the world from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. He was the originator of the meticulous opening study style Kasparov was later on to perfect and bring to great heights.
In a bruising 1980 candidates' match against Viktor Korchnoi, Polugaevsky scored a valuable win with a powerful opening novelty against the Queen's Indian Defence (1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. 0-0 Bb7 6. d4 0-0) that involved a pawn sacrifice with 7. d5!? - a line that subsequently was given the stamp of approval by Kasparov and christened the 'Polugaevsky Gambit'.
And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman reviews the latest standing of the Polugaevsky Gambit.
GM Larry Christiansen is a three-time U.S. Champion and one of the most dangerous and respected attacking players of his generation. He is a feared competitor and attacker who authored two popular books that showcase his aggressive
style: Storming
the Barricades and Rocking
the Ramparts. Each week on the show, Larry
will feature various attacking motifs and themes and showing
you how best to play for mate.
This week (Tue., 2 February) joining IM John Watson on Chess Talk will be English grandmaster and author Gawain Jones.
In 1997, Gawain Jones, then 9-years-old, hit the headlines by being featured on the front page of The Guardian newspaper when he became the youngest player in the world to beat an International Master in an official tournament game. He quickly rose through the junior ranks to gain his grandmaster title and represent England at full international level. As an emerging author, he wrote Starting Out: Sicilian Grand Prix Attack and co-authored The Benoni and Benko.
Gawain is temporarily based in Wellington, New Zealand, and plays in major events there and also in Australia. He also recently became a commentator on ICC Chess.FM team.
"There are more than 300 places to play chess on the internet but, as with nightclubs, there is only one place the 'A list' gravitates to: the Internet Chess Club." — The Sunday Telegraph (London)
WELCOME TO ICC! 
Carlsen's Corus
to non-members - this is a once-only offer and will not be repeated for all those other major events on the horizon.
London Chess Classic
Regular ICC Events
ICC
Newsletter
January 28, 2010
In this issue:
Corus: Homestretch
Tournament Sleepless - 3 tournaments, 5 rounds of 3 0
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