WCL Newsletter Vol. II - issue VIII Friday, February 23rd, 2008
	In this Issue: Chess is Living Titled players challenge you ! Live on WCL Prizes Tournament & QR Highlights Dasher - Tip of the week WCL : The Community Past issues

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Titled players challenge you ! If you want to see your name in the NewsLetter, it is VERY easy : just play the Events and win! Played this week Some results of the week   Keep an on the scheduled Events, connect in time, then, jump in!  On Dasher, click in menu bar - Window - Activities then select the Events tab. That is where you find most of the info about... guess what... EVENTS ! Under (To)day Events, you find scheduled events, MasterChallenge, Simul, etc. But also the live games that are broadcasted. Under them are the "tomorrow events" as far there is no last minute change. But above the Today Events, there is a line name "scheduled events with titled players this week" and it opens a webpage.  vs is becoming the usual time control for Master Challenge but, for people over 2000, the time control is 1 0 1 0.   So, for players who have a provisional rating in bullet, MasterChallenge will take in consideration their rating average in other sections. Masters have more fun to play that way and chances for players to win are greater so... everybody is happy !  Let's see the results of the week: Thursday, february 14th | 15:00 EST  GM Viktor Gavrikov was on the field! 15 wins with a time control of 1 1 vs 2 1.   Lecture Friday February 15th | 15:00 EST   IM Sasha Belezky gave an interesting and educational lecture on .  The main topic was : how to find the weak point in your opponent's game.  SashaBelezky(IM) kibitzes: an idea of todays topic was to show on tactical examples a general principle that in order to win we have to create an advantage in power/forces on one part of the board. LindaMartell kibitzes: Thank you for your time Sasha, I appreciate your generous patience:-) SashaBelezky(IM) kibitzes: in different positions it can arise near a King... in other - a bad situation of piece(s). SashaBelezky(IM) kibitzes: so, remember to find critical point and use it by creating pressure with your pieces. DaleHaessel kibitzes: thx, for lesson - we need more people doing these lessons tamky70 kibitzes: Thxs Sasha - a good range of examples to demonstrate your topic SashaBelezky(IM) kibitzes: it was an interesting time and I am thankful for your active participation SashaBelezky(IM) kibitzes: I hope that next time I shall be able to satisfy more experiences players galacticman kibitzes: thankyou sasha , very useful and invaluable JonHecht kibitzes: Thank you :)  During this full hour, members can chat with the Master, ask questions and give their spin on the games, suggesting some sidelines or variations. A real contact between the players and the Master!  Those live lectures should be available soon in Audio. Saturday February 16th | 10:00 EST  GM Alex Finkel played a 23 games MasterChallenge drawing to MarcoC and losing to Alpen Saturday, February 9th | 15:00 EST  WGM Anna Zatonskih played a DoubleTrouble but with a tough Time control for such an event so she won 26 games, drew to JoshMcClellan and LaMontR, then lost to Predestinedpawn x2, RdgMx, DusamAdamec, VAIBHAVBHAT x3, Lena x5, Lakesides and Coolbreis. Sunday, February 17th | 14:00 EST  IM Vlado Jakovljevic played a 23 games Master Challenge, losing to Lena, MaryDawson, EduardoAbramson, Omarchesab, VAIBHAVBHAT ad drawing to Conquiscador. Monday, February 18th | 15:00 EST  IM Sasha Belezky won 23 games and lost 4 to AndrewGreen, Lena, RdgMx and VAIBHAVBHAT. Tuesday, February 19th | 19:00 EST  IM Branimir Maksimovic played 20 games in the MasterChallenge. One loss to VAIBHAVBHAT.  IM Branimir Maksimovic is often connected on the server and you can follow him or even challenge him. Wednesday, February 20th | 15:00 EST  IM Sasha Belezky kindly replaced a missing GM and jumped in the MasterChallenge. He played 21 games, losing to Lena, MaryDawson, coolbreis, VAIBHAVBHAT and MaryDawson (I have the feeling I wrote already this name somewhere..) the the played 22 games in his MasterChallenge, result 15 wins, losses to RdgMx x2, Lena, nixen, MaryDawson, VAIBHAVBHAT, coolbreis), and one draw for RdgMx. Wednesday, February 20th | 19:00 EST  GM Alex Finkel played a DoubleTrouble with a slow but equal for both sides, time control 2 1 2 1. So less games were played but 2 hours of interesting chess. 16 wins, 2 draws by Lena and Darrellmac2, 3 losses Sigmon, Vaibhavbhat,Brock Thanks to all the players, Members and Masters, and Congratulations to the Winners. Rules and descriptions of all Titled Events can be found here Banter played this week:  During the 25 5 game, the two Masters whisper their thoughts and their plans. Of course, they can't read what their opponent is planning. Always interesting to try to understand how a Master thinks!  When the game finishes, the players review the game together, exploring other lines and analyzing their mistakes. IM Goran Vojinovic vs FM Dragan Drasko 1 - 0 IM Branimir Maksimovic vs GM Dejan Antic ½ - ½ These games have been recorded with the player's comments and can be rebroadcasted on demand.  TGIF This Friday evening, (Feb. 16), Dragan Stamenkovic was facing GM Dejan Antic. IM Dragan Stamenkovic vs GM Dejan Antic.Ten games were played and the final score is 5 - 5 (8 decisive games and 2 draws).  Don't miss this weekly battle! Be there next friday at 20:00 EST!  Simul Results  Don't miss the registration! To make sure you'll be warned of the beginning of the registration for the simul, just do "tell simulbot alarm". Beware, that is a toggle command, so, if you send the command twice, that will switch the alarm off. Saturday, February 9th | 19:00 EST   GM Dejan Antic played the regular Saturday's Simul. New experience for him on . 11 players joined the fun. GM Dejan Antic drew one vs bernikok and won the others.  bernikok's game was one of the 2 games reviewed by GM Dejan Antic at the end of the Simul. Tuesday, February 12th | 19:00 EST  GM Ronen Har-Zvi gave his simul to 12 players and analysed in a typed lecture the game he played vs versuchversuch.  The simul was full but, that is always sad, one the the players didn't start his games and lost by forfeit. That means also that he took the seat of someone else who tried to latejoin. That is why it is important to register as soon as possible and not wait the simul starts to latejoin. Ronen won his 12 games.  If you join by mistake, that may happen, please do "tell simulbot leave" before the games start... Or, better, since you are in, just play ! ;-)  GM Ronen Har-Zvi chosed to analyse versuchversuch's game for 2 reasons. First it was an interesting game but also because of the sportmanship of the player who offered a takeback to Ronen after a bad and obvious mouseslip which would have cost the Queen. RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: offered takeback by himself! RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: this is what I would have done and what I would expect everyone to do! RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: I give all credit and resepct to Versuchr for his way! RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: ok and now chess RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: this is a basic idea... white has very strong initiative now RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: as he is clearly strong player RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: and a Gentelman! RonenHar-Zvi(GM) kibitzes: thx for following see you next week Piece-Odds Friday, February 15th | 15:00 EST  IM Dragan Stamenkovic played his first Piece-Odds on .  14 wins, 3 losses to robertbancod, Vaibhavbhat and BRock. Tuesday, February 19th | 15:00 EST  GM Vitali Golod was back for his favorite event.  Undefeated in the previous events, he lost one game this time to jjq. By the way he won the 16 others.  Of course, only members can play, so become a member!  In Pieces odds, the master will suffer the handicap of a piece determined by your blitz rating despite the rating displayed is your wild rating. The time control is 2 0 2 0. The limits can be adjusted and are not always the same, even for the same Master. For example:  U1200 Queen down  U1400 Rook on a file missing  U1650 Bishop on c file missing  U1850 kNight on b file missing  U2200 f pawn missing  Above?... well... show us you deserve your rating ;-) Site Pro : FM Dragan Drasko   FM Dragan Drasko was born 1976 and became a Fide Master in 2000. Born in former Yugoslavia, he now lives in Canada, you can find more details on his FIDE card here. Current rating 2329.  About his style: he likes to play strategical and positional but, for those who met him in MasterChallenge, you know he can be very tricky.  Some results : although he doesn't play anymore in tournaments since 2002, he won a lot in the past, also in Team Champ. But, no doubt he could have reach higher title and why not, GrandMaster like his brother GM Milan Drasko.  "One of the best coaches online!" he affirms with humour and modesty (otherwise, he would have say THE BEST). But this fan of StarWars can really make a Jedi from any padawan who follows his lessons.  Lately, his matchs against IM Dragan Stamenkovic in TGIF were very exciting events. He shows his talents on in lots of MasterChallenge too but also in BanterChess and TGIF, or even Simul.  So, don't miss his next event! On , March 1st at 15:00 Server Time, FM Dragan Drasko will play a DoubleTrouble! 2 full hours of bullets. May the force be with him Events Scheduled This Week (Saturday Feb. 23rd, March 2nd)  Saturday  10:00 EST MasterChallenge  15:00 EST DoubleTrouble  19:00 EST Simul + analysis  GM Viktor Gavrikov  GM Victor Mikhalevski  IM Miodrag Perunovic  Sunday  14:00 EST MasterChallenge  18:00 EST Battle of the Week  GM Daniel Fridman  GM Yuri Solodovnichenko vs  GM Dejan Antic  Monday  15:00 EST MasterChallenge  19:00 EST MasterChallenge  WGM Anna Zatonskih  IM Irina Krush  Tuesday  15:00 EST MC Pieces-Odds  19:00 EST Simul+Analysis  GM Vitali Golod  GM Ronen Har-Zvi  Wednesday  15:00 EST MasterChallenge  19:00 EST MasterChallenge  GM Daniel Fridman  IM Miodrag Perunovic  Thursday  10:00 EST MasterChallenge  15:00 EST MasterChallenge  19:00 EST BanterChess  IM Goran Vojinovic + PRIZE (see below)  GM Michael Roiz  IM Miodrag Perunovic vs  IM Dragan Stamenkovic  Friday  15:00 EST Lecture  19:00 EST MC Pieces-Odds  20:00 EST TGIF  GM Victor Mikhalevski  GM Larry Christiansen  GM Dejan Antic vs  IM Dragan Stamenkovic  Saturday  10:00 EST MasterChallenge  15:00 EST DoubleTrouble  19:00 EST Simul + analysis  IM Goran Vojinovic  FM Dragan Drasko  IM Martha Fierro  Sunday  14:00 EST MasterChallenge  18:00 EST Battle of the Week  GM Viktor Gavrikov  IM Irina Krush vs  GM Dejan Antic   Live on World Chess Live Morélia - Linarès Tournament  Since Feb 14th, the Super Tournament Morelia/Linares is running. Don't miss a move of that event on and watch the eight top GM battling in the first part of that super tournament. Are present : 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 part runs 14-23 February in Morelia, with the second part running February 28 - 8 March in Linarès where, originally the tournament was created and held.  The relay team will provide you, in collaboration with ICC a live coverage of this really great event. You will have access, to ICC Chess.FM's commentaries by Mig Greengard & Macauley Peterson (whose daily video report will be available on ICC webpage. The team is composed of GM like Joel Benjamin, Ronen Har-Zvi, Larry Christiansen, Nick De Firmian and John Fedorowicz.  You can also watch the Game Of The Day (GOTD), available in Event Window.

Cross Table after Round 5

N NAT NAME FED FIDE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PTS 1 Shirov ESP 2739   ½ ½ 1 ½ - - 0 2.5 2 Carlsen NOR 2714 ½   ½ 1 - - ½ 0 2.5 3 Leko HUN 2755 ½ ½   - - 1 0 0 2 4 Topalov BUL 2769 0 0 -   1 ½ 1 1 3.5 5 Aronian ARM 2741 ½ - - 0   ½ 1 1 3 6 Radjabov AZE 2742 - - 0 ½ ½   ½ ½ 2 7 Ivanchuk UKR 2787 - ½ 1 0 0 ½   - 2 8 Anand IND 2801 1 1 1 - 0 ½ -   3.5

Valentine's Day

Our Happy Valentine's Day Tournament winners are:
 1st RdgMx
 2nd VAIBHAVBHAT
 Random Draw winner : direstraits

26 players joined that 3 minutes, 12 rounds tournament. Thanks to all and may they find (or keep) their Valentine!
"tell tournamentbot grid 4284" for entire grid

Highlights

Events with Prize by IM Goran Vojinovic Every Thursday at 10:00 EST  During February and March 2008, IM Goran Vojinovic will offer a weekly MasterChallenge in the early afternoon, (european time). Among the players who will play him, the best winner will be awarded by a free lesson given by IM Goran Vojinovic.  The Serbian International Master is actually rated 2474 and could beat his previous peak (2482) very soon.  He belongs to those who believe in WCL and wants to help the site to develop in Europ.  The dates are not yet determined, so keep an eye on WCL events and don't give away the chance to get free lesson from a great teacher! Result of Thursday, February 21st : 18 wins, so, this time again, the winner of the free lesson is NO_PLAYER. Better luck next Thursday ! Rules : the games will be played in 2 0 2 0 time control. In case of several losses, the best winner will be determined this way 1st tiebreak: The player who won the most games in that MasterChallenge. 2nd tiebreak: The player with the lowest rating. Predict a Move Started since January 1st, PAM (Predict-a-Move) is rolling. Every day at 13:00 EST, you can join the line just type "tell PAM-bot join". The rule is simple. A game played by 2 masters is chosen in a database and the members have to guess what is the move that has been played by white as well as black. Any guess within the 30 first seconds give you 25 points. The right guess gives 75 points, so, the right guess found in less than 30 seconds means 100 points. Of course, it is not allowed to search the game in a database in order to guess(?) the move. We hope you understand that cheating is just detrimental. You can join, leave and come back without losing your points. Here come the names of the top 3 in the PAM played from Thursday, February 14th to Wednesday, February 20th:  Thursday  1. Janos07 5200 pts  2. Zoraidax 4850 pts  3. teve15 4650 pts  Friday  1. Alstone52 2600 pts  2. Starglowwizard 2525 pts  3. moonlightwizard 2225 pts  Saturday  1. timm 3825 pts  2. Warrenkeith 3200 pts  3. andykohalmi 3125 pts  Sunday  1. timm 4675 pts  2. Zoraidax 3975 pts  3. Antares12 3950 pts  Monday  1. Alstone52 4025 pts  2. Zoraidax 4000 pts  3. andykohalmi 3925 pts  Tuesday  1. Alstone52 4125 pts  2. timm 3800 pts  3. ChessLover2 3750 pts  Wednesday  1. ChessLover2 3625 pts  2. Alstone52 3425 pts  3. Zoraidax 3400 pts  Each day, around 20 persons join this events and kibitz their thoughts via PAM-bot. So Join us and have fun!  In case of tiebreak, the system is very simple, it is the registration order which decides, so, be there at the very beginning!   Dasher - Hints and tips   Following a mutiboard Event  First make sure you have the latest version, actually 1.1.6. Click on the Help in menu bar and select About Dasher. It will display your actual version and if it does show you the 1.1.6 you have to download here.  The Morélia-Linarès Super Tournament gives us the opportunity to show you how to optimize the board in order to follow all the games AND the analysis and commentatories of the GM Team conducted by Mig Greengard of Chess.FM.  Clik on settings icon in the menu bar, then chose playing tab. There, unmark movelist, unmark show captured pieces, select tiny clock and OK. Close that popup window and click at the top of you board on the toggle-kibitz icon. Now, in the Event Window (Window-Activities-Events) click on the name of the Event. Here it is Live Coverage Morelia-Linares and the 4 boards are displayed. You resize them and drag them to get what you see on the pic. So you can follow ALL the games at once!  Only thing missing: commentatories and analysis board! In the menu bar, Web - Chess.FM and that opens the audio and the board on which the GM explain the sidelines and variations.  Anyway, remember the channel 1 is there to receive your questions. The "click-way" would be, Help in menu and select Ask a question.  We are here to help you and let you have fun playing chess !    : The Community  We need you ! As already said above, is growing ! We need Helpers, we need more Tournament managers, so if you like chess and if you enjoy to help people to play chess and give them fun in playing in the best conditions, apply for Helper and/or for Tournament Manager. Go in Event Tab of the Activities Window and, at the bottom, you'll find the forms to fill. Don't forget that thing : if you are friendly with people, people will be friendly with you (well... almost !) You can also click on "I want to become a Helper" or on "I want to be a Tournament Manager"  Feel free to share your opinion and your wishes. We want to know what kind of event you like, in tourneys, in event vs titled players. We also need to know what is the best hour for you (of course, regarding where you live in the world) and how much time you can spend on for an event. You can find the list of scheduled events, tourneys and broadcast of the coming week in the event window .   Well, we need to know who you are and where you are from in order to schedule the right events at the right time. Questions and some answers: Solution : It seems that the puzzle submitted in the issue dated January, 25th was more difficult than I thought. 1.Bc1 d6 (only move) 2.Rd2!! Kf4 (only move) and finally 3.Rd4 # with a double check. Wild : Atomic chess will is back with the release 1.2.0 of Dasher actually under testing. Coming with it an other wild is back : the Two Kings. To know more about the rules of those two popular wild, type "help wild". Ask your Tournament Manager in channel 221 to set up Atomic or any other wild tourney! Rating graph : What is the problem with supplying a personal progress graph for World Chess Live? I considered this an important feature of Chess live and was disappointed when it wasn't carried over when the changes were made. No worries, it will be done. Guests : You have dowloaded Dasher and you can actually plays vs the computer when you are not connected but, if you want to play on line, you must be a member. Log in as a guest just allows you to ask questions. In case of problem to validate your membership, password lost, please contact . Games of the day / Videos : they are available for members only (so join us !) with your and password handle. Mac / Linux :I adore the dasher program but I can't downloaded with my Mac OS X 10.5.1 and sadly I only play with it in my laptop. There is an alternative interface to Dasher for people who chosed Mac or Linux, its called Sonia. Time Control : Set up a game with time control like 40 moves in 60 minutes + extra time like on an OTB is possible when the game is in tourney mode, so you may need a Admin Tournament Manager to do it. What time is it ? : On , the events refers to the Server Time EST (New-York time), that is GMT-5 or PST+3. To check the Server Time (and see if your didn't forget to have lunch) you can type /Date in main tab and see the server time.  Two important addresses : If you have any suggestions, ideas or questions, feel free to contact us. We will give you a personal answer or publish it in this part if many of you are concerned by a topic. We collect also infos regarding members of . If you have played a tourney OTB, if your club organizes an event or anything else, we can mention it. Some of you may have questions relatives to login, lost password, membership then contact support. We answer as soon we receive your mail.

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