"The best chess site on the Net." — Internet World Magazine
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.
Hou Wows!
The Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival ended in dramatic fashion last week with a tie for first place between rising Chinese starlet Hou Yifan and English veteran Nigel Short, with both top-scoring on 8/10 to finish a half point clear of the chasing pack of Michael Adams, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Viktor Bologan and Emil Sutovsky.
However the tournament rules dictate that, in the event of a tie, the players have to play a series of speed playoff games, not only for the title but also for the first prize of $31,000 - and this duly went to the former world title challenger Short, who beat Hou, 1.5-0.5. And in addition to the $31,000 first prize, Short also won a further $8,000 for the Commonwealth prize, awarded in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and only eligible to the top-scoring Commonwealth player.
Yet despite this being one of Short's best results in recent times, it was totally overshadowed by 17-year-old Hou's epoch-making performance on the Rock, as she not only pocketed the $19,000 second prize but also added herself a bonus of a further $16,000 for the best female performance - a prize that everyone expected Judit Polgar would easily win.
Reigning Women's World Champion Hou - who faced seven elite grandmasters rated 2700 or over - wowed the chess world with a performance that was pure Polgaresque in itself. As well as wins over chess legends Judit Polgar (the first time Polgar has lost to a woman since 1992 - to her eldest sister, Susan - when she was just 16) and Alexei 'Fire on Board' Shirov, she also beat Zoltan Almasi and Le Quang Liem, and drew with Adams and Mamedyarov for a tournament performance rating that went off the Richter scale for a woman at an astonishing 2872.
Hou is now the second highest rated female in the history of the game, and now closing in fast on Polgar. There has been speculative talk in the past year or so of a match between Polgar and Hou. Although Polgar has never competed in events limited to women, now suddenly the prospects of such a match-up has become "interesting".
Book of the Year
There are two chess book awards that are eagerly sought by chess authors, and that's those that come from the English Chess Federation and ChessCafe.com. Both are equally deserving awards, with each having their own particular merits and particular method of selecting the winners.
Late last year, the ECF judging panel voted for Nunn's Chess Endings Volume 2 by Dr. John Nunn for their2011 Book of the Year award. And it was announced last week that, after two international voting rounds, the ChessCafe Book of the Year for 2011 went to Invisible Chess Moves by Emmanuel Neiman and Yochanan Afek. And as you can see in the ad underneath our menu, publishers New in Chess were quick off the mark in capitalizing on their new title. Congratulations to Emmanuel Neiman, Yochanan Afek and New in Chess!
John Watson is on break the next two weeks. IM Mark Ginsburg will be stepping in with an excellent video series Upholding the Sicilian: Smith-Morra Gambit.
The Sicilian Defense is by far Black's most popular answer to 1 e4 at all levels of chess - but many White players prefer to avoid the main lines by playing one of the multitude of so-called ‘Anti-Sicilian' lines on offer. These alternatives to 2 Nf3 include the primitive but dangerous Grand Prix Attack, one or two wild gambits, and also some tedious and niggling variations such as the Alapin with 2. c3, the Closed Sicilian, the Moscow/Rossolimo with 3. Bb5(+) and the KIA which are all designed to stamp out any fun Black was envisaging when playing 1...c5.
But fear not, because there's an antidote to it all: "Upholding the Sicilian" by IM Mark Ginsburg, who in a new video series provides a reliable repertoire to all those annoying sidelines!
Each week, ICC sends a newsletter to its members, featuring the most important international chess news, in addition to the main ICC online activities. The list can be found here.
All events are free to ICC members unless noted. All times are Eastern Standard Time. Add 5 hours for GMT. Add 6 hours for CET.
Wednesday, February 08
00:00
Tournament All the scheduled Tournament of the Day
"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)
London Chess Classic 2011
Chess.FM Spotlight
ICC
Newsletter
Each week, ICC sends a newsletter to its members, featuring the most important international chess news, in addition to the main ICC online activities. The list can be found here.
Tournament All the scheduled Tournament of the Day
About Us
| Contact Us
| Privacy Policy
| Terms of Service