 Are you ready for the Mainz Shuffle?
Five players qualified from each of the 6 larger ICC events
 The Internet Chess Club, in conjunction with Chess Tigers, organizers of the popular annual Mainz Chess Classic in Germany, are pleased to announce a stunning success to their Chess960 online qualifiers!
All of last week, qualifiers were held on the ICC (and on our new service of World Chess Live), where 959 unique players (1546 in total over 10 events) battled it out for the coveted spots in the 32-player KO final, to be staged 14-15 July on the ICC.
Five players qualified from each of the 6 larger ICC events, 1 from the best cumulative score from all ICC events, and 1 from the 4 smaller WCL events. Of the 32 contesting the finals, 15 are GMs - five being FIDE top 100 players: Gata Kamsky (USA), Krishnan Sasikiran (India), Ivan Sokolov (Netherlands), Kiril Georgiev (Bulgaria) and Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Georgia) - and 11 IMs. The full list can be found here.
The overall winner will receive a round trip ticket, 600 Euro ($811) cash, hotel room and breakfast at the Hilton Mainz Hotel, by the banks of the Rhine, just 1 block from the picturesque Old Town, from August 15 to 20 (5 nights and 6 days!).
They will also receive an automatic seat into two of the biggest and most prestigious series of rapid chess tournaments in the world, playing alongside many of the game's top grandmasters: the 6th FiNet Open, the world's biggest Chess960 (FischerRandom) tournaments, and the 14th ORDIX Open, one of the strongest rapid tournaments in the world. While there, they will also have the best seats in the house for the main evening attraction: Anand, Kazimdzhanov, Aronian and Bacrot will battle it out for the GRENKELEASING Rapid World Championship and the FiNet Chess960 Rapid World Championship.
The final of the last 32 players on the ICC (www.chessclub.com) will take place on Saturday, July 14th, 2pm, and the final of the last 8 players will take place on Sunday, July 15th, 2pm.
JOHN B. HENDERSON
Further reference: Chess 960 Internet Championship 2007 at the
ICC Website
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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 third grand prize final on Saturday, 28 July at 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, 16th July 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
John's special guest this week is GM Andrew Soltis, chess author and columnist as well as a professional journalist. His humorous column Chess to Enjoy is one of the longest running in Chess Life, the publication of the United States Chess Federation. He has authored or co-authored over thirty books. Andrew is also a professional journalist for the New York Post.
This show will be made available
for 7-days ONDemand for members
Chess
FM page on our website
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  Featured June Prize Winners!
  Sleepless series monthly winners:
Best: 1. OF (1 month) 2. jasep 3. mika53 (2 weeks).
Most: 1. amb063 (1 month) 2. RexB 3. CleverNightly.
Early Morning Blitz monthly winners:
Best: 1. Irenaeus (1 month) 2. mala9 3. jasep (2 weeks).
Most: 1. Guchlu (1 month) 2. Katya 3. Zugzwang17 (2 weeks).
Congrats to our Sleepless and Early Morning Event winners!
5 0 Blitz Championships!
Qualifiers begin August 11th! There will be 2 sections; the open section, and the under 2000 section.
All qualifiers will be 9 rounds swiss style, with the top 5 finishers in each qualifier advancing to the final. Also, the top 3 players who didn’t otherwise qualify will advance to the finals. Will anyone be able to dethrone last year’s champion, akibael?
Stay tuned to find out!
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 Tourney
Tip of the Week:
Tiebreaks! We often get questions about how positions are decided in “tied” tourneys. When two players finish with the same score, the following tiebreaks are used:
1.- Sum of score of opponents (tiebreak points, can be seen with “tell <bot> grid”)
2.- Average Rating of opponents
3.-
Random number given at start of the tourney.
Most of the time, the first tiebreak is able to settle the issue. Sometimes, it comes down to the second tiebreak. Very rarely does the third tiebreak come into play. So remember to keep an eye on your tiebreak points as the tourney progresses!
Saturday Flash! Every Saturday at 16:00 server time, 10 rounds of 1 0 bullet are contested in flash! Many strong bulleters join up, so come on out and see how you stack up against them! |
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ICC
Quiz #3205
submitted by Humster
White mates in 2
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3205
Then type: play trainingbot
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| ICC
Quiz #3206
submitted by capablanka
White mates in 2
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3206
Then type: play trainingbot
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 Americas Continental Championship in Cali, Colombia
  Americas Continental Championship in Cali, Colombia
The fourth Americas Continental Championship is underway in Cali, Colombia.
This is a qualifier for the 2007 KO World Cup in Khanty Mansyisk, Russia, in November, and the winner of that plays either Topalov or Kramnik in a match for either the world championship or the right to play in the world championship match.
It's 11 rounds with no rest days, ending on July 20th. The top seven finishers go to the World Cup. Rapid games settle tiebreaks for the spots. First prize is $10,000.
Among the top grandmasters participating are Julio Granda, Geovanni Vescovi , Kevin Spragget, Jaan Ehlvest, Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Ivanov, Sergey Kudrin, Boris Gulko, Fernando Peralta, Ruben Felgaer, Alonso Zapata and many others.
Official site: http://www.fideamerica.com/index.php
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40th Biel Chess Festival 21st July-3rd August 2007
 The main GM is very strong in spite of defending champion Alexander Morozevich deciding not to play due to health reasons (some treatment he needs and from which he'll need to recuperate before the world championship in Mexico City). Players:
| Teimour Radjabov |
AZE |
2747 |
| Judit Polgar |
HUN |
2727 |
| Alexander Grischuk |
RUS |
2717 |
| Magnus Carlsen |
NOR |
2693 |
| Loek Van Wely |
NED |
2674 |
| Alexander Onischuk |
USA |
2663 |
| Bu Xiangzhi |
CHN |
2656 |
| Boris Avrukh |
ISR |
2644 |
| Alexander Motylev |
RUS |
2642 |
| Yannick Pelletier |
SUI |
2602 |
Event website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/
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My System - Aron Nimzovitch * NEW EDITION *
 Aron
Nimzowitsch was one of the greatest chess players of the 1920s and
1930s, ranked just behind the famous World Champions Alekhine and
Capablanca. His reputation as an author is higher still.
My System is at the top of a very short list of chess classics. Nimzowitsch’s
ideas have had a profound influence on modern chess thinking. Most
chess masters will at some point have studied Nimzowitsch’s
work, and not to have read My System is by many regarded as a shocking
gap in a chess player’s education.
The problem for an English-speaking audience has been that My System
was written in German more than eighty years ago. The commonly-used
contemporary translations have sounded dated for some time, and were
always questionable: the translators frequently toned down many passages,
fearing Nimzowitsch’s biting wit would be too controversial.
This edition uses a brand-new translation that recreates the author’s
original intentions. For the first time an English-speaking audience
can appreciate the true nature of a famous chess book. Read
more
Price $20.95 - Buy
now!
Improve Your Chess in 7 Days - Gary Lane
 No time to study but want to win more chess games? Improve Your Chess in 7 Days is packed with practical tips, hints on how to improve, learn from the champions and find out how to beat them - in just a week. With one short chapter for each day of the week, the book is ideal for social chess players and includes a sprinkling of chess cartoons to keep you smiling as you read:
Day 1 - So You Want to be Good?
Day 2 - Understanding the Openings
Day 3 - Strategy versus Tactics
Day 4 - Creating the Attack
Day 5 - Avoiding Blunders
Day 6 - Mastering the Ending
Day 7 - The Art of Swindling
With comments and advice after each move, this is as clear a guide to improving your chess as you will ever need. Read
more
Price $16.95 - Buy
now!
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Transpo Tricks in Chess: Finesse Your Chess and Win - Andrew Soltis
 In
chess, a transposition is a known position reached by a different
move order than usual – a less obvious way of getting to somewhere
you want to go, leading to confusion for your opponent.
Every chess
player has a number of them in his arsenal, and they are used most
often in openings. There are transpositional tricks in all openings,
but this is the first book devoted to them.
As the book covers all the key openings variations it can be used
by most chess players. The introduction explains what transpositions
are and why they're invaluable, followed by 8 chapters discussing
transpositions, illustrated by some notorious examples from top-flight
matches.
Chapters are divided by opening group – Double e-pawn
openings; Sicilian Defense; Other Semi-Open openings; Double e-pawn
openings; Indian openings; Other 1 d4 openings; Reti, English, 1
g3. The benefits and drawbacks of each set of move orders are discussed
throughout.
This is an ideal book for all club players and is written by one
of the best chess writers in the world today.
Read
more
Price $20.95 - Buy now!
Survival Guide to Competitive Chess, The - Emms
 In The Survival Guide to Competitive Chess, Grandmaster and experienced tournament player John Emms reveals the secrets of how to maximize your potential and improve your results.
Drawing upon his own over-the-board experiences, Emms tackles the all-important aspects of practical play: concentration and behaviour at the chessboard; playing for a win or a draw; winning good positions and saving difficult ones; handling time trouble; avoiding silly mistakes; understanding your strengths and weaknesses; building an opening repertoire; using chess computers and software; preparing for opponents; understanding and utilizing the finer points of the rules; and much more besides.
Read this book and play every game with the confidence that you really can give it your best shot. Read
more
Price $22.95
- Buy
now!
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3205
submitted by Humster
1.Qh2+ Qh4 2.Qxh4#
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3206
submitted by capablanka
1.Rg8+!! Rxg8 (or 1...Qxg8) 2.Nf7#
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