  Linares!
Linares!
But first there comes Morelia!
Morelia! and its famed butterfly sanctuary, as the second
super-tournament of the year gets underway - the annual
Morelia/Linares tournament, split between Mexico and Spain.
 The
eight-player, double round-robin has a stellar field that
includes (in rating order): Vishy Anand (India), Veselin
Topalov (Bulgaria), Alexei Shirov (Spain), Peter Leko (Hungary),
Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Teimour
Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Magnus Carlsen (Norway).
The Mexican leg runs February 15-23
in Morelia, with the second leg running February 28 -
March 7 in the tournament's spiritual home of Linares, Spain.
The ICC
Chess.FM team of Mig Greengard and our GM commentators
Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Ronen Har-Zvi, John Fedorowicz,
Nick De Firmian, Jon Speelman, and Gregory Kaidanov will
bring you each round all the move-by-move live action.
We'll also have the New In Chess trivia
contest (where each day you can win a 1-year subscription
to New In Chess), each round a Game
of the Day video, our roving reporter Macauley
Peterson's on-site videos from both Morelia and Linares,
and a special
Linares preview video - free for all - from our opening
day commentator, GM Ronen Har-Zvi.
On ICC, finger
Linares08 Official site: www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx
Round 1 Results
| N |
FLAG |
FIDE |
WHITE |
RES |
BLACK |
FIDE |
FLAG |
| 1 |
 |
2739 |
Shirov |
0-1 |
Anand |
2801 |
 |
| 2 |
 |
2714 |
Carlsen |
½-½ |
Ivanchuk |
2787 |
 |
| 3 |
 |
2755 |
Leko |
1-0 |
Radjabov |
2742 |
 |
| 4 |
 |
2769 |
Topalov |
1-0 |
Aronian |
2741 |
 |
|
Round 2 Pairings
| N |
FLAG |
FIDE |
WHITE |
RES |
BLACK |
FIDE |
FLAG |
| 1 |
|
2801 |
Anand |
- |
Aronian |
2741 |
|
| 2 |
|
2742 |
Radjabov |
- |
Topalov |
2769 |
|
| 3 |
|
2787 |
Ivanchuk |
- |
Leko |
2755 |
|
| 4 |
|
2739 |
Shirov |
- |
Carlsen |
2714 |
|
|
Free Game of the Day
| ROUND |
DATE |
GAME |
HOST |
|
1
|
2/15/08
|
|
GM Ronen Har-Zvi
|
Participants | Morelia-Linares - Cat. XXI
| N |
FLAG |
NAME |
FED |
FIDE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
PTS |
| 1 |
|
Shirov |
ESP |
2739 |
|
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
0 |
0 |
| 2 |
|
Carlsen |
NOR |
2714 |
. |
|
. |
. |
. |
. |
½ |
. |
½ |
| 3 |
|
Leko |
HUN |
2755 |
. |
. |
|
. |
. |
1 |
. |
. |
1 |
| 4 |
|
Topalov |
BUL |
2769 |
. |
. |
. |
|
1 |
. |
. |
. |
1 |
| 5 |
|
Aronian |
ARM |
2741 |
. |
. |
. |
0 |
|
. |
. |
. |
0 |
| 6 |
|
Radjabov |
AZE |
2742 |
. |
. |
0 |
. |
. |
|
. |
. |
0 |
| 7 |
|
Ivanchuk |
UKR |
2787 |
. |
½ |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
. |
½ |
| 8 |
|
Anand |
IND |
2801 |
1 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
1 |
|
|
GM Ronen Har-Zvi: "New Ideas
in the Slav and Semi-Slav Defences" part 10
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In a series of new opening videos for ICC Chess.FM, GM Ronen Har-Zvi investigates the latest developments and trends that will keep you up-to-date in the rock-solid Slav and Semi-Slav Defences.
Click "Play
Video" for a free 5 minute preview of both of
Ronen's latest videos. To listen to the full videos,
sign
up for membership!
|
"Chess Talk" with IM John Watson
 Tune-in
for Chess Talk with IM John Watson on ICC Chess.FM. John's weekly 60+ minute show (members only) will feature an interview with leading chess personalities.
This week, John's guest is IM David
Levy. As a player, David played board 1 for Scotland
at the 1972 Skopje Olympiad, and a former Scottish champion
in 1968. He is also the author of over 40 books on chess
and computers - some of his early chess works being classics,
such as The Sicilian Dragon, Sacrifices in the Sicilian
and Gligoric's Best Games 1945-1970.
David is also an internationally recognized
expert on artificial intelligence. He has been a central
figure in computer chess practically since the term was
invented and is president of the International Computer
Games Association. Lately, he's become famous for his controversial
new book, Love
and Sex With Robots, that's seen him make many media
appearances in the US over the last month, such as Comedy
Central's The
Colbert Report.
Find below a selection of free 5 minute preview of John's latest shows. To listen to the full shows, sign up for membership!
Attack with LarryC!
 New
at ICC Chess.FM - Attack With LarryC! A
weekly 30 min+ show on Wednesdays at 15:00 EST
(and available on-demand thereafter for members), featuring
three-time U.S. Champion Larry Christiansen, one of the
most dangerous and respected attacking players of his generation.
Larry is a feared competitor and attacker who authored two popular books that showcase his aggressive style: Storming the Barricades and Rocking the Ramparts. And each week on his show, Larry will feature various
attacking motifs and themes and showing you how best to play for mate.
Click "Play
Video" for a free 5 minute preview of Larry's latest
video. This video is just one of the many benefits of being
a full member of ICC - so, sign
up for membership!
Ask the Renaissance Man
 |
|
Tune-in for "Ask the Renaissance Man" with National Master Dan Heisman every Thursday at 21:00 EST. You send in the questions and Dan provides the answers every week on his Q&A
show. Questions on tournament rules, opening play, chess books, chess politics, current events, and more!
Click
"Play Video" for a free 5 minute preview of Dan's
latest show. To listen to the full show, sign
up for membership!
|
Boris Alterman's Gambit Guide
 |
|
New at ICC Chess.FM - In his new
weekly video lecture series for ICC, Boris
Alterman's Gambit Guide, Boris will investigate
gambits old and new and show that, while some may
not be actively played on the grandmaster circuit
these days, they are all exciting to play and at the
same time instructive as they teach us all about natural
development of the pieces and tactics in chess.
Show Previews:
Danish Gambit Part 1 Part
2
Evans
Gambit Part 1 Part
2
To listen to the full show, sign
up for membership!
|
Israeli GM Boris Alterman is best known as a leading chess advisor for the multi-title winning chess software program (Deep) Junior, where he specialized in developing its opening book.
GM Joel Benjamin "Game of the Week"
 Three-time
U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin starts his
weekly show every Friday at 15:00 Server Time. Click "Play
Video" for a free 5 minute preview of Joel's latest
show. To listen to the full show, sign
up for membership!
Joel is regarded by many as one of the best commentators and analysts' we have in the game today, and each Friday he will be giving us his insight and spin with his selection of Game of the Week.
This is a not-to-be-missed 30-minute video is exclusively for ICC members only -- so if you want to get ahead of the game, get ready to tune-in! By popular demand and requests from members, ALL
of Joel Benjamin's GOTW videos are available. Enjoy! |
|
ICC Quiz #4311
White Mates in 2
To play this puzzle on
the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 4311
Then type: play trainingbot
| 
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ICC Quiz #5161
White mates in 4
To play this puzzle on
the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 5161
Then type: play trainingbot
|
American Grandmaster: Four Decades of Chess Adventures
- Joel Benjamin
 Joel
Benjamin is one of the most prominent faces in the
history of US chess. At thirteen years of age he broke
Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest ever national
master, and this was followed by countless tournament
successes. Perhaps most famously, in 1997 he hit the
headlines when he became the chess consultant for
IBM's Deep Blue computer, which made history by beating
World Champion Garry Kasparov in an epic encounter.
In American Grandmaster, Benjamin
takes the reader on a journey through chess adventures
spanning more than thirty years. Tracing through his
own career, from being a prodigy in the 'Fischer boom'
era thorough to an experienced Grandmaster with many
titles, Benjamin is in a unique position to highlight
the major changes that have occurred both in US and
international chess throughout the last four decades.
192 pages
Price SPECIAL
ICC OFFER $22.50 - 
Buy
now!
Best of Chess Informator - Anand (PC-CD)
 A
compilation of the best games of the current world
champion from the Chess Informant series. Biographical
information and tournament reviews accompany 100 games
that have been selected as the best from his career.
A total of 1052 games with 456 annotated by Anand
are included. Repertoire trees for both White and
Black allow you to examine Anand’s opening arsenal,
and a ‘Play Like Anand’ section demonstrates
his combinational, defensive and endgame technique.
In 4 different formats.
Price $33.95
-
Buy
now!
|
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How To Play Chess Endgames - Karsten Muller & Wolfgang Pajeken
 In
this companion volume to Fundamental Chess Endings,
Muller and Pajeken focus on the practical side of
playing endgames. They cover all aspects of strategic
endgames, with particular emphasis on thinking methods,
and ways to create difficulties for opponents over
the board.
Using hundreds of outstanding
examples from modern practice, the authors explain
not only how to conduct 'classical' endgame tasks,
such as exploiting an extra pawn or more active pieces,
but also how to handle the extremely unbalanced endings
that often arise from the dynamic openings favoured
nowadays. All varieties of endgames are covered, and
there are more than 200 exercises for the reader,
together with full solutions.
352 pages, large-format
Price $32.95
-
Buy
now!
Informator 100
 The
100th edition of Informator - still going strong after
42 years!
Brings together a thoroughly refined
selection of 451 annotated games and 489 game fragments
from events held between May 1st and August 31st 2007.
Over 90% of the games are annotated by the players
who played them. There are also the most interesting
endings, combinations, studies, ten best games and
the ten most important theoretical novelties from
the previous volume. Events covered include Sofia,
USChampionships, La Habana, Elista, Dortmund, Biel
and the Russia - China match. Contributors include
Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Leko, Morozevich, Adams
and Polgar.
Price $36.00
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now!
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #4311
1.Nh6+ Kg7 2.Ndf5#
JediCarlos - kmt, ICC 2005
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #5161
1.Qh6+ Ke8 2.Ng7+
Kf8 3.Nh5+ Ke8 4.Nxf6#
alexy1 - neznam1, ICC Blitz 2004
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