 Countdown to Mexico City!
You can win a trip to the the WC in Mexico City
 The clock is ticking down, and there are just seven days left until the start of the Mexico City qualifier - an exclusive event ONLY for full ICC members!
We have joined forces with the organizers of the forthcoming World Championship tournament in Mexico City for yet another unique online qualifier package. Starting August 4, and running until August 12, you will have a chance to win a trip to be a VIP guest at the the World Championships in Mexico City from September 13 until September 17, with a ringside seat to watch all the action involving Kramnik, Anand, Morozevich, Aronian, Grischuk, Leko, Svidler and Gelfand.
The package for the overall winner includes: $1500USD (to be paid out only on arrival in Mexico) to cover your airfares and other expenses.
Also included in the package is 4 nights (13-17 Sept.) at a top hotel in Mexico City, plus VIP tickets for the World Championships, and free entry into the "Copa Internacional de la Cd. De Mexico" Open.
Full details of all rules and regulations here. Remember, this exclusive package is only for full ICC members - so JOIN NOW if you want to get in on the action!
JOHN B. HENDERSON
8th Montreal International
  We're witnessing what many are describing as "the biggest meltdown of the modern era", as Nigel Short's nightmare continues at the Montreal International in Canada.
With five defeats, Short at least managed to save face with draws against Emil Sutovsky and arch-rival Gata Kamsky to finally get some points on the board - but the resulting damage of the "Short circuit"
has left the former world title challengers' rating in virtual free- fall with a TPR of around just over 2300!
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the table from Short, there's an unlikely sole leader in Dutchman Sergey Tiviakov, who on 5.5/7, has a half point lead over Vassily Ivanchuk with Kamsky in third place on 4.5-points.
You have more information in the ICC LIVE coverage page. Also, visit MonRoi website.
40th Biel Chess Festival
  In Switzerland, the 40th Biel Chess Festival is regarded as one of the major highlights of the summer attractions on the international circuit, with the eclectic mix in the top-billing grandmaster event always making for an exciting tournament.
After four rounds, Norwegian wunderkind Magnus Carlsen holds the joint lead on 3/4, after defeating his fellow overnight leader Alexander Motylev, alongside former US champion Alexander Onischuk, who so far has beaten top seed Alexander Grischuk and Loek Van Wely.
You have more information in the ICC LIVE coverage page. Also, visit the official 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 ICC Chess.FM. Each Tuesday at 21:00 Server Time, John's 90+ minute show will review the latest titles, followed by a discussion of books and other chess topics with his guests.
John's special guest this week (31 July) is International Master Malcolm Pein, chess entrepreneur and one of Britain's leading chess journalists. He writes daily for The Daily Telegraph and each week for The Sunday Telegraph, two of Britain's top national newspapers. Malcolm is Executive Editor and owner of Chess Monthly and Executive
Director and proprietor of The London Chess Center. His expert views on the game are often sought for radio and television.
This show is one not to be missed and will be made available for 7- days ONDemand for members.
Chess
FM page on our website
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  July Marathon Results!
  Most
games played Top Finishers for the marathon: Blitz U1600 – 1st
place – Titano. 2nd & 3rd place – aplmm1,
MichaelJames. Blitz O1600 – 1st place – littleboyblue. 2nd & 3rd
place – sanjunior, Superselector. Bullet U1800 – 1st
place – outbacker5. 2nd & 3rd place – spacecadet,
NeedingSleep. Bullet O1800 – 1st place – FytinFrank. 2nd & 3rd
place – PearlNecklace, nekochabo. Standard – 1st
place – ARSENAL. 2nd and 3rd place – TerryMalloy,
frank001. Congratulations to our Marathon
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:
Leaving a tourney – Every now and then, it’s
unavoidable that a player needs to leave a tourney they’ve entered. While
we encourage players to remain if at all possible, if you must leave you
can do so with the command “tell <bot> leave. For example,
if you were playing in the Scheduled Fischer Random on a Tuesday evening
and absolutely had to go, you could type “tell Wildone leave”. You
will then be removed from the tourney. Please don’t simply
disconnect, because then the manager is left wondering whether you will
return or whether they should forfeit you. The proper etiquette is
to simply use the “tell <bot> leave” command. *Be
Warned* -- you will receive dr points!
Sunday Ratings Limited Bullet! Every
Sunday morning at 10:00 server time, 2 tourneys will open for certain
rating categories. Olive will host a 2 1 7rd swiss tourney for under
1800 rated players. At the same time, a 1 0 9rd swiss will be open
for over 1700 rated players in Flash. Come on out and join a tourney
that you have a good shot at winning. Don’t miss all the fun!
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ICC
Quiz #3129
submitted by JediCarlos
White mates in 1
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3129
Then type: play trainingbot
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| ICC
Quiz #3131
submitted by capablanka
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3131
Then type: play trainingbot
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ICC
Quiz #3128
submitted by Laggovich
White mates in 4
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3128
Then type: play trainingbot
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| ICC
Quiz #3108
submitted by Mikenas
White mates in 5
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 3108
Then type: play trainingbot
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 US Open 2007
 For those of you who like big tournaments, the 108th U.S. Open starts soon in New Jersey very soon. It begins on July 28th, with the traditional schedule of one game a day at 7:30pm. There are, of course, other schedules to choose from.
This year's venue is the Crown Plaza Philadelphia-Cherry Hill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
You have more information in the ICC LIVE coverage page. Also, visit the official website. |
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Mainz Chess Classic
 
The annual extravaganza of the Mainz Chess Classic will soon be upon us, with the main event this year being a top-billing battle between Anand, Aronian, Kazimdzhanov and Bacrot for the GRENKELEASING Rapid World Championship and the FiNet Chess960 Rapid World Championship.
As ever, there will be grandmasters galore vying for the Ordix Open and the FiNet Chess960 Open, where among the line-up will be recent ICC Qualifier winner Tigran L. Petrosian of Armenia.
You have more information in the ICC LIVE coverage page. Also, visit the official website. |
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Spanish Repertoire for Black, A - Marin
 Here
is a world-class chess repertoire for Black against 1.e4. As the
title suggests, the repertoire is based on the respected Spanish
Opening, or the Ruy Lopez, as it is sometimes called. In his previous
book, Beating the Open Games, Grandmaster Mihail Marin dealt with
White’s options up to 3.Bb5. Now Marin provides all the answers
for Black after 4.Ba4.
This depth of chess expertise has rarely been
published for a mass audience before, as grandmasters usually prefer
to keep their secrets. The complexity of the material could have
been daunting, but Marin is also a master of explaining profound
ideas to a wide audience. Read
more
Price $25.95 - Buy
now!
Beating the Open Games - Mihail Marin
 Acclaimed
author and chess grandmaster Mihail Marin presents an opening repertoire
for Black against the Open Games. This means providing an answer
to 1.e4, but not considering the main lines of the Spanish Opening.
This includes openings such as the Scotch, the Vienna, the Spanish
Exchange Variation, and even the notorious King’s Gambit. Marin
uses his renowned writing skills to explain the ideas behind each
move, so Beating the Open Games escapes the standard opening book
trap of being a boring list of analysis. Marin has based the book
mainly on his own repertoire and reveals many original moves and
ideas. After studying this book the reader will not only have an
excellent repertoire but also a deeper understanding of chess. Read
more
Price $25.95 - Buy
now!
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Chess
Explained: The Meran Semi Slav - R. Vera
 Chess
Explained books provide an understanding of an 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.
Belying its solid classical appearance, the Semi-Slav is one of Black's
most aggressive responses when White opens with the queen's pawn.
In addition to discussing all
major lines after 5 e3, Vera also covers many subtle issues of move-order,
which are of great importance when trying to steer the game into
the desired channels. Read
more
Price $23.95 - Buy now!
Perfect Your Chess - Volokitin/Grabinsky
 Andrei
Volokitin is one of a rare breed of players: he achieved a ranking
in the world's top 20 while still a teenager, playing dynamic and
often brilliant chess. Although we cannot all aspire to emulate his
achievements, there is much that we can learn from his training methods,
his games and his general approach to chess. These topics are the
subject of this book, written in collaboration with his trainer.
The core material of the book is 375 positions where the reader is
given a task or asked a question. These tasks resemble those that
players regularly face over the board, and are especially useful
from a training viewpoint. Sometimes we are told we need to find
a combination, but often the task is simply to decide on a move.
It is for us to determine whether to play quietly or stake everything
on a sacrificial attack!
Read
more
Price $27.95
- Buy
now!
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3129
submitted by JediCarlos
1.Rxh6#
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3131
submitted by Llywelyn
1.Qxf4!! Exf4 2.Nxf4+ Kh4 3.Rg4#
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3128
submitted by Laggovich
1.Rxg7+!!
Kxg7 2.Qe7+ Kg8 3.Nf6+ Kh8 4.Qxf8#
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Solution
to ICC Quiz #3108
submitted by Mikenas
1.Qxf8+!! Kxf8 2.Rxf7+ Kg8 3.Rf8+ Kg7 4.R1f7+ Kh6 5.Rh8#
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