Morelia-Linares 2007 - Introduction

Morelia-Linares 2007 February, 17-25 [16:30 EST]   The most important tournament in the world starts on Saturday in Morelia (Mexico). For over 30 years, Linares (now Morelia-Linares) has been the strongest and most exclusive chess tournament in the world, and this year's edition begins 17th of February in Morelia until the 25th, and then all the players and their entourage travel to Linares (Spain) for the second leg, scheduled for March 2nd-10th.

There has been a last-minute withdrawal. Teimour Radjabov, last month's co-winner at Corus, has cancelled his participation after being traumatized following a robbery in his father's bedroom. Apparently his laptop with all his preparation for the tournament was stolen; and on op of that, he felt he did not receive enough support from the organizers following his ordeal. Luckily, former three-time Linares winner Vassily Ivanchuk was on-hand to replace him at short notice.

The participants are: Veselin Topalov, always one of the best in the world; People's champion Vassily Ivanchuk, the last-minute replacement for Radjabov, who will clearly be unprepared but it won't be the first time that a late entry wins the event; Levon Aronian, looking to repeat his performance winning last year; Vishy Anand, who is always a well-prepared and solid player in these elite events; Peter Leko, who opted to take a rest from Corus, in an effort to re-charge his batteries; and finally Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich and Magnus Carlsen, all very talented, but also slightly erratic players.

"Drawing of lots" ceremony at Morelia [photo: John B. Henderson - ICC]

Where can you follow this great event? On the ICC, of course! We have the best live coverage team of knowledgeable IM's and GM's in English and Spanish: clearly your only option.

Chess.FM coverage
ICC will have daily live commentary of the second major of 2007, hosted by Mig Greengard, who will be joined by former World Chess Champion, GM Susan Polgar, with IM Jennifer Shahade, GM Jon Speelman, GM Larry Christiansen, GM Joel Benjamin, and GM Gregory Kaidanov.

R	Replay (english)	L	Live (english)	L	Live (español)	L	Live (français)

Sat, Feb 17 - R1 LISTEN HOST GUEST L 16:30 EST Mig Greengard GM Gregory Kaidanov L 16:30 EST GM Miguel Illescas R 23:00 EST Mig Greengard GM Gregory Kaidanov Sun, Feb 18 - R2 LISTEN HOST GUEST L 16:30 EST Mig Greengard GM Gregory Kaidanov L 16:30 EST IM Alejo de Dovitiis R 23:00 EST Mig Greengard GM Gregory Kaidanov On the server: Type "tell webcast english" or type "tell webcast espanol"

The New in Chess Trivia Contest! Chess.FM [16:30 EST] ICC and New in Chess presents The New in Chess Trivia Contest! Tune-in to Mig on ICC Chess.FM for our round-by-round coverage of Morelia-Linares 2007, and each round you could win a 1-year subscription to the world's best chess magazine. For more information and rules, visit our help page.

You have more information in the ICC LIVE COVERAGE page.
Consult the ICC Chess.FM lineup.
Read the rules and prizes of the New in Chess Trivia Contest.
Also, visit the official website (Spanish).
Subscribe today to the New in Chess magazine for only $44.