 The Mainz Attraction!
ICC members can win a round trip ticket to Mainz
 The Internet Chess Club, in conjunction with Chess Tigers, organizers of the popular annual Mainz Chess Classic in Germany, are offering ICC members next week a unique opportunity to win a round trip ticket, 600 Euro ($811) cash, hotel room and breakfast and automatic seat in the FiNet Open, the biggest Chess960 (FischerRandom) Rapid Chess Tournament in the world.
You will be joined in the FiNet Open by many of the world's leading grandmasters, in what is hailed by many to be the best series of rapid tournaments in the world! This event is only open to ICC members and to those who sign
up for a free trial 7-day membership of the ICC after 5th July - so don't delay, sign-up here
today! For
further information on last year's 2006 Mainz Chess Classic, click here
Playing schedule
Qualifier 1: Saturday, July 7th, 2pm
Qualifier 2: Sunday, July 8th, 2pm
Qualifier 3: Monday, July 9th, 3pm
Qualifier 4: Tuesday, July 10th, 6pm
Qualifier 5: Wednesday, July 11th, 5pm
Qualifier 6: Thursday, July 12th, 4pm
The final of the last 32 players will take place on Saturday, July 14th, 2pm, and the final of the last 8 players will take place on Sunday, July 15th, 2pm.
For the full playing schedule, rules and total prize-fund, click here
 Local heroes rule the roost at AeroSvit!
  Vassily "Chucky" Ivanchuk's phenomenal year continues at the
AeroSvit-2007 tournament, as he took the title just a half point ahead of his young compatriot Sergey Karjakin - who scored a long overdue breakthrough performance - as both dominated from start to finish much to the delight of the home fans.
It's just a pity that Big Chucky won't be playing in Mexico City in the upcoming World championship tournament in September alongside the likes of Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Alexander Morozevich et al. He's playing at his peak right now; and certainly would have been a force to contend with among such an austere lineup, had he been eligible to play in Mexico City.
Nevertheless, the likelihood of a Ukrainian domination of the top spots on their home turf shows that they yet again could be a force to reckon with come next year's Dresden Olympiad, where experienced chess swashbuckler Ivanchuk will lead the charge for gold with "breakthrough boy" Karjakin by his side.
JOHN B. HENDERSON
| Nº |
FLAG |
FED |
FIDE |
NAME |
PTS |
| 1 |
 |
UKR |
2729 |
GM Vassily Ivanchuk |
7.5 |
| 2 |
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UKR |
2686 |
GM Sergey Karjakin |
7.0 |
| 3 |
 |
ESP |
2699 |
GM Alexei Shirov |
6.0 |
| 4 |
 |
RUS |
2736 |
GM Peter Svidler |
6.0 |
| 5 |
 |
USA |
2663 |
GM Alexander Onischuk |
6.0 |
| 6 |
 |
NLD |
2674 |
GM Loek van Wely |
6.0 |
| 7 |
 |
CUB |
2678 |
GM Lenier Dominguez |
5.5 |
| 8 |
|
RUS |
2680 |
GM Sergei Rublevsky |
5.0 |
| 9 |
|
RUS |
2708 |
GM Dmitry Jakovenko |
4.5 |
| 10 |
|
UKR |
2686 |
GM Pavel Eljanov |
4.5 |
| 11 |
 |
IND |
2690 |
GM Krishnan Sasikiran |
4.0 |
| 12 |
 |
ROM |
2693 |
GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu |
4.0 |
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 Take the Ronen Challenge
Friday & Saturday, [20:00 EDT | 02:00 CET]
 Former
world under-16 junior champion GM Ronen Har-Zvi has a reputation of being
one of the toughest simultaneous masters on ICC.
Each Friday and Saturday, at 20:00 EDT, Ronen will take on 30 all- comers (restricted to 2150 Elo or below) in a series of twice weekly simuls (time control 45 20), with the winners receiving a 3-month membership extension and going forward to the second grand prize final on Saturday, 30 June 20:00 EDT, with a prize of a 1-year membership extension going to anyone who can beat Ronen in the final. Do you have what it takes for the Ronen Challenge?
Read
the full announcement
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  John Watson Chess & Book Show
Tuesdays [21:00 EDT | 03:00 CET]
 New
on ICC Chess.FM! Tune-in
for The John Watson Chess & Book Show on Tuesday, 26 June at 21:00 Server Time.
Each week, John's 90-minute show will be reviewing all the latest titles and discussing books with his guests
This week's guest will be John Saunders, editor of the British Chess Magazine. The pocket-sized magazine, known more affectionately around the world as the BCM, is the world's oldest chess magazine in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since including during World War I and World War II. John, who took control of the magazine in 1999, is only the tenth editor of the BCM
This show will be made available
for 7-days ONDemand for members
Chess
FM page on our website
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  Wild 17 (Losers) Championship Finals Recap!
 
Congratulations to BeautifulDay for winning the 1 0 Losers Championship this year (11.0/12 score)! BeautifulDay won two key matches against runner-up Chickenman to win the title. On the 3 1 side, BeautifulDay lost the deciding match against this year’s champion, Hogwarts (9.0/11)! Excellent job by both of our champions, and we look forward to the 2008 championship! For full details on the finals, tell tomato grid 302355 and 302354.
July Marathon On Deck! Yes indeed, it’s Marathon time once again. Mark your calendars for the weekend of July 14-15. Beginning at 12:00 noon on Saturday, and ending at 12:00 noon on Sunday, ICC is proud to host 24 consecutive hours of non-stop tournament action! There will be several categories being contested. In 5 0 Blitz, there will be an u1600 section along with an over 1600 section. In 1 0 Bullet, there will be an u1800 section to go with the 1800+ section. Finally, there will be a 15 0 Standard section for all ratings. Prizes will be awarded for best and most in all categories. See “Help marathon” for full details!
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 Tourney
Tip of the Week:
Tourney Status! When you type “Tell 220 tourney” to see which tournaments are going on, you’ll see one of four terms next to each bot. None means that there is no tourney going on in that particular bot. Open means the tourney has not yet begun and you can join by typing “tell <bot> join”. Late means the tourney has already started, but you can still get in by typing “tell <bot> latejoin”. Closed means that the tournament is too far along to be joined at this point. Join or latejoin a tourney today!
Good luck!
Friday Unrated Blitz! Like playing blitz, but prefer to play an unrated tourney? Well, this is the tourney for you! Every single Friday, without fail, a 5 0 swiss 7 round tourney opens in Tomato! The fun begins at 18:00 server time, so get there a few minutes early and “tell tomato join”! See you there!
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ICC
Quiz #3122
submitted by Weave
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3122
Then type: play trainingbot
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| ICC
Quiz #3130
submitted by leondar
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3130
Then type: play trainingbot
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 Dortmund comes to an end on Sunday!
  The elite annual German even takes place 23rd June to 1st July 2007.
The field for the 2007 edition includes: Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Viswanathan Anand (India), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Peter Leko (Hungary), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany), Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Evgeny Alekseev Russian)
Visit the official
website of the event. |
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Spanish Team Championships underway!
  The semifinals of one of Europe's top national team championships are about to be completed
The first group played in Lugo, Galicia, last week while the second group is now underway in Torrelavega until Sunday July 1st.
The super strong club Magic already earned on spot to the finals. Their line-up looks mightily impressive, featuring Aronian, Mamedyarov, Adams, Ponomariov, Akopian, Shirov, Rublevsky, Sargissian and Cheparinov!
Visit the official
website of the Spanish Chess Federation
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Understanding Your Chess - James Rizzitano
 Rizzitano presents lessons from his own experiences that will be most relevant to club and tournament players. He shows how by analyzing their own games, players can gain a greater understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and he explains they can shape their approach to chess to make the most of their abilities. Major topics include: Developing a reliable and coherent opening repertoire; The importance of understanding opening theory rather than simply memorizing it; Theoretical novelties: finding your own, and facing the opponent's; Opening selection depending upon the nature of the game and event; Risk management and 'playing for a win'; Competing successfully against higher-rated opposition; Accumulating small advantages: a safe method when the opponent plays for a draw; The power of the initiative: lighting a fire and keeping it burning. Read
more
Price $24.95 - Buy now!
How to Beat 1. d4 - James Rizzitano
 Rizzitano, author of Understanding Your Chess, presents a full repertoire for Black against 1 d4, based on the Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA). The QGA is an extremely popular opening amongst players of all levels, as it gives Black free development and counterpunching potential, especially if White takes up the challenge and tries to set up a broad pawn centre. Rizzitano has chosen to recommend dependable main lines of the QGA, and throughout emphasizes how Black can create winning chances and White's typical ways to go wrong. The repertoire is completed by a set of weapons against White's alternatives to offering the Queen's Gambit, ranging from the stolid Colle to the weird Hodgson Attack and the reckless Blackmar-Diemer.. Read
more
Price $27.50 - Buy
now!
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Chess Explained: The Taimanov Sicilian - James Rizzitano
 Chess Explained is a new series of books about chess openings. They are not theoretical works in the traditional sense, but more a series of lessons from a chess expert with extensive over-the-board experience with an opening. You will gain an understanding of the opening and the middlegames to which it leads, enabling you to find the right moves and plans in your own games. It is as if you were sitting at the board with a chess coach answering your questions about the plans for both sides, the ideas behind particular moves, and what specific knowledge you need to have.
The Taimanov Sicilian is one of the most flexible options for Black in the Open Sicilian. Black avoids committing himself to a rigid set-up, and tailors his response once White has shown his hand. This can lead to a great variety of central structures, and the player with the better understanding of typical Sicilian themes will often emerge victorious - Taimanov positions need to be understood well in order to be played well. Many of the post-war World Champions have used the Taimanov, and amongst the current world elite, Anand has played it most frequently. This book covers the Paulsen set-up with ...Qc7 in addition to the 'pure' Taimanov with ...Nge7.. Read
more
Price $18.95 - Buy now!
Roman's Lab Vol. 41-45 series.
 Big savings for ICC members on the acclaimed Roman's Lab DVD series by GM Roman Dzindzichashvili! You can save $5 on any 3 DVDs or $10 on any 5 DVDs by Roman. You can also save $24.80 by buying the latest Vols 41 thru 45.
Vol. 41: New Lines & Novelties in the Scotch and f4 Sicilian; Vol.
42: New Lines & Novelties for White against the Pirc & Center Counter, the Black side of the Scandinavian Defense and Accelerated Dragon; Vol. 43: New Lines & Novelties for White against the Caro Kann, Alekhine & French Defense; Vol. 44: New Lines & Novelties for White in Grand Prix, French, Hippo, Latvian & Philidor; Vol.45: New Lines & Novelties for Black in the Accelerated Dragon and King's Indian. Read
more
Price $74.95
- Buy
now!
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3122
submitted by Weave
1.Nxh7+ Kg7 2.fxe8=N+ Kg8 3.Rf8#
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3130
submitted by leondar
1.h5+ Kh6 2.Nxe6+ and 3.Qxg7#
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