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● ICC Weekly Newsletter ● Vol. III - issue X ● Friday, March 7, 2008 ●it

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Carlsen Rises Anand wins, Carlsen rises...

The Morelia-Linares super-tournament has now concluded in Spain - and everyone agrees it rated as one of the most entertaining and interesting elite event of recent years!

New In Chess!Those were more or less the words world champion Vishy Anand used as he talked to Macauley Peterson for Chess.FM after his final round game on Friday, after he successfully held off the challenge of the young pretender to his throne, Magnus Carlsen, to win for the second successive year.

While we rightly congratulate Anand for taking the title by just half a point from Carlsen (who fought till the bitter end against Radjabov to try to seal a final round win to tie with Anand), we also have to recognize the performances of late from the young Norwegian that will see yet another seismic shift in his rating.

With his results at Corus and Morelia-Linares, Carlsen is set to become a new permanent force in the top ten for years to come. His new rating in the upcoming April list is rumored to be as high as world #5, and knocking heavily on the #4 spot. Messers. Kramnik, Anand, Topalov & Morozevich look set to be nervously looking over their collective shoulders if the Carslen rating tsunami continues!

Final Standings | Morelia-Linares - Cat. XXI

N FLAG NAME FED FIDE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PTS
1 ESP Shirov ESP 2755   ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 5 ½
2 NOR Carlsen NOR 2733 ½ 1   ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 8
3 HUN Leko HUN 2753 ½ ½ ½ 1   0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 5 ½
4 BUL Topalov BUL 2780 0 1 0 0 1 1   1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 7 ½
5 ARM Aronian ARM 2739 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1   ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 7 ½
6 AZE Radjabov AZE 2735 0 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½   ½ ½ ½ ½ 7
7 UKR Ivanchuk UKR 2751 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½   ½ ½ 6 ½
8 IND Anand IND 2799 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½   8 ½

Macauley Video Coverage

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In Transit - Macauley's having a hard time getting to Morelia
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First kNight - Aronian, Carlsen, Topalov
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Aronian Strikes Back - Aronian stuns Anand on the black side of a sharp Marshall
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Winning with White, Holding with Black: Topalov takes the lead
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Tennis with MAGNUS - Aronian & Sargissian join Carlsen and his father Henrik
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When Blunder Strikes - Ivanchuk's second, Hoyos, and Vassily's time pressure melt down
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Magnus Carlsen LIVE on Chess.FM - Magnus chats with Mig & Macauley after his Round 5 win
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A Spoiled Novelty - Leko's deep think (with Mig, LarryC & 2007 footage from ChessVibes.com)
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Heading to Linares - Anand, Carlsen, Radjabov, Shirov and Topalov reflect on the first half
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Round 8 GOTD UPDATE - Radjabov explains why he offered the draw
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To Thine Own Clock Be True - Ivanchuk's latest time control incidents
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Ljubo's Take - GM Ljubojevic wraps up Round 10: Was it a boring day?
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Leko Snares Carlsen - Peter Leko explains his marathon Round 11 win
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GOTD Update: Carlsen Amazed - Topalov blunders again, giving Carlsen the point in Round 12
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BONUS: Free Day 3 - Macauley challenges Magnus to tennis and lives to blog the tale
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Waiting for a Winner - Topalov in the hunt, but goes home to contemplate tiebreak possibilities

Free Game of the Day

ROUND DATE GAME OF DAY VIDEO HOST
1
2/15/08
GM Ronen Har-Zvi
2
2/16/08
GM John Fedorowicz
3
2/17/08
GM Nick De Firmian
4
2/19/08
GM Larry Christiansen
5
2/20/08
GM Joel Benjamin
6
2/22/08
GM Larry Christiansen
7
2/23/08
GM Joel Benjamin
8
2/28/08
GM Jon Speelman
9
2/29/08
GM Ronen Har-Zvi
10
3/1/08
GM Larry Christiansen
11
3/3/08
GM Larry Christiansen
12
3/4/08
GM Gregory Kaidanov
13
3/6/08
GM Larry Christiansen
14
3/7/08
GM Gregory Kaidanov

 Junior Engine Special

Now you can super-charge ICC Dasher and obtain the most reliable analysis from the World Champion "Junior" chess engine. Junior is considered by many to be the strongest and most human-like of all the computer engines. Deep Junior drew a match with Kasparov, won a match with Radjabov, and, last summer, won a FIDE-organized match against Deep Fritz 4-2.

We are offering Junior at an EXCLUSIVE price for ICC-members only. The single-processor version (Junior) is available for $29.95 and the multi-processor version (Deep Junior) is available for $49.95. These prices are less than half of what you might pay from other vendors!

Even better, during the month of March only, if you sign up for a new ICC membership or renew an existing membership for a year or more, we'll take a further $10-20 off, bringing the price down to $19.95 for Junior and $29.95 for Deep Junior! All you need to do is sign up or renew online before purchasing Junior.

Once you are a member, it's easy to buy:

1) Download ICC Dasher 1.2.2 (Windows) for free

2) Sign into the ICC using Dasher

3) Select Purchase Junior Engine from the Web menu

After purchasing, you can download Junior to your computer for immediate use.

Junior integrates with ICC Dasher, allowing you to analyze your games or "Play vs. Computer" offline. Dasher 1.2 is a new release with more than 70 improvements over version 1.1, including player statistics, chat coloring, Vista compatilility, Atomic Chess support, and much more.

Junior FAQ | Dasher 1.2.2 Release Notes
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ICC Chess.FM
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GM Ronen Har-Zvi: "New Ideas in the Slav and Semi-Slav Defences"

GM Ronen Har-Zvi  

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 Ronen's latest video. To listen to the full videos, sign up for membership!

"Chess Talk" with IM John Watson

John Watson ShowTune-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. All shows run on demand for members after airing.

This week (Tue., 4 March.), making a return to join John on his show is author, player & coach, IM Jeremy Silman. As a player, Jeremy is the winner of several past American, National & U.S. Open tournaments. He is best-known though to us as an award-winning writer on the game, with over 38 well-received books to his name.

Among those were several critically acclaimed titles, such as Benko's Life, Games, And Compositions (with co-author, Pal Benko), the modern instructional masterpiece How to Reassess Your Chess, its popular sequel The Reassess Your Chess Workbook, and the best-selling The Amateur's Mind. His latest book, Silman's Complete Endgame Course, recently won the Chesscafe.com 2007 Book of the Year award.

Find below a selection of free 5-minute previews of the latest shows. To listen to the full shows, sign up for membership!

Attack with LarryC!

Attack with LarryCNew 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

Heisman  

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

Boris Alterman  

In his new weekly video lecture series for ICC, Boris Alterman's Gambit Guide, Boris investigates 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   Part 3   Part 4
Cochrane Gambit Part 1
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"

GM Joel Benjamin Game of the WeekThree-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!

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Celebration Recap!

1 0 Bullet ChampionshipsIn last week's Celebration Tourney for Ehab's 500th tournament, we had a close finish in the 25 round 3 0 Blitz tourney. The winner, Dan-Tucker won by tiebreak points over 2nd place finisher mursu. Both players finished with a score of 17.5/25. Enpasante finished 3rd with a score of 17.0/25. Thanks to all of the 186 players who turned out to play in this special tourney and congrats to Ehab on this milestone!

Timeodds Battle!

Every Sunday evening at 17:00 server time, Olive hosts a 9 round 2 0 unrated Timeodds tourney! If you've never played Time-odds, the basic idea is that lower rated players are given extra minutes, while the higher rated player in each match starts with only the stated amount of time (2 0 in this case). It's unrated, so there's no risk, and it's always a fun time! "help Timeodds" and "finger TimeOddsBattle" for more info!

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March Marathon!

It's here! This weekend is Marathon Weekend! In case you've never had the pleasure of playing, here are the details: The Marathon begins at 12:00 on March 8th and continues until 12:00 on March 9th. During that time, continuous tournaments will be held in five categories. Flash hosts over 1800 1 0 bullet, Olive has the under 1800 1 0 bullet, Tomato runs under 1600 5 0 blitz, Cooly hosts the over 1600 5 0 blitz, and Slomato runs 15 0 standard chess. The top 3 finishers for most total points and most total games played win prizes! "help Marathon" for full details.

TomatoTourney Tip of the Week:

Tiebreakers! Sometimes a tournament will finish where 2 or more players have exactly the same score. How do the bots determine the winner? If you "tell <bot> grid" you'll get the whole grid of the tournament followed by each player's tiebreak points. These points are the sum of the score of all a player's opponents (with .5 per round given for rounds a player missed). If the tiebreak points are even, then the player who played opponents with a higher average rating is placed first. In the event that all of this is even, then the bot chooses randomly which player wins. In most instances the tiebreak points settles the issue, and in nearly all remaining cases, the average rating tiebreak does the job. For full information, "tell tomato help tiebreaks".

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Secrets of Opening Surprises Volume 8 - Bosch

ICC StoreReady-to-go chess opening ideas.

Readers of this series can ignore large areas of the ever expanding chess opening theory. They can concentrate on these surprising ideas, because SOS variations deviate very early from the regular lines in mainstream openings. Ideal for players who don’t have enough time to keep abreast with main line theory. Appears twice a year.

144 pages.

Price $21.95 - it  Buy now!

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Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings Volume D 4th Edition on CD-ROM

ICC StoreContents CD: 1. d4 d5 & 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 followed by 3… d5:

Queen’s Gambit (Slav, QG Accepted, Orthodox, Tarrasch, Tartakower, etc.), Gruenfeld, Queen’s Pawn, etc. Games and analyses from Chess Informants 1-88 Important game entries from recent tournament practice

New Volume D of Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is available on CD for the first time ever, bringing you some additional features: Database tree; Test Your Skills (234 instructional examples); and Chess Informant Expert 5.1 (Full version)

Amatzia Avni is an Israeli psychologist who is a FIDE Master both over-the-board and of composition. He has written several original and critically acclaimed books.

Published by Quality Chess, 233 pages

Price $54.95 - it  Buy now!

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New in Chess magazine 2008/1

ICC StoreThe Return of the Jedi

For the second time the town of Khanty-Mansiysk in what was once Russia’s Wild East hosted the World Cup. A total of 128 players were welcomed with warm Siberian hospitality, although they may also have wondered why they were once again competing in this distant out-of-the-way place where there’s hardly any interest in chess. At the end of seven gruelling rounds none other than Gata Kamsky defeated Alexey Shirov in the final to win the 120,000 dollar first prize and to gain the right to play a match against Veselin Topalov. Misha Savinov watched the action from the bustling first rounds right through to the lonely final and gives a blow-by-blow account of a survival race that ended with an epic comeback.

Price $10.95 - it  Buy now!

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Chess Informator 98-100

ICC StoreIn CIE, PGN, CBH & CA formats

Trademark sections included

The Chess Informants 98-100 in 4 different formats CD brings a selection of 1,296 fully annotated theoretically important games and 1,479 accompanying game fragments played between September 2006 and August 2007.

Trademark sections brings the voting for the ten best games and the ten most important theoretical novelties from Chess Informants 97, 98 & 99, theoretical surveys in ECO format (C 19, B 80 & D 44), the most interesting combinations (54) and endings (36) from recent tournament practice, studies (27), tournament standings and crosstables, and the best of Boris Gelfand’s, Yasser Seirawan’s and Aleksandar Matanovic’s creative output.

Price $60.00 - it  Buy now!

Don't miss Special Offers from the ICC store!