 Chuckster
Takes Mtel!
Despite a late rally from three-time local winner Veselin Topalov, Vassily “Chucky” Ivanchuk of Ukraine held on for a resounding victory at the Mtel Masters last weekend in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Crowd favourite Topalov’s bid for a fourth successive title spectacularly backfired in the penultimate round, as he surprisingly lost to Chinese back-marker Bu Xiangzhi. And in the final round, Ivanchuk easily sealed a remarkable victory by beating Topalov's
second, Ivan Cheparinov.
Ivanchuk, 39, who began his career in the pre-computer era, proved to be unstoppable after getting off to a perfect flying start of 5/5. His winning score of 8.5/10 was a full 1.5-points ahead of Topalov; with a Tournament Performance Rating in the process of 2977 that will see him crashing into the world top ten in the next rating list.
Now, as winner of the Mtel Masters, Chucky hits the big-time yet again and goes forward in early September to join Levon Aronian (Corus winner), Vishy Anand (Linares winner), the winner of next month’s tournament in Mexico City, and two as-yet-to-be-named wildcards in the $630,000 Grand Slam final in Bilbao, Spain.
Checkout all of ICC Chess.FM's FREE videos and picture gallery below - and don't miss Macauley Peterson's exclusive interview with winner Ivanchuk just minutes after he sealed victory at the Mtel Masters!
| ROUND
|
DATE
|
GAME
OF DAY VIDEO |
HOST |
|
1
|
5/8/08
|
|
GM Joel
Benjamin
|
|
2
|
5/9/08
|
|
GM Larry
Christiansen
|
|
3
|
5/10/08
|
|
GM Larry
Christiansen
|
|
4
|
5/11/08
|
|
GM Ronen
Har-Zvi
|
|
5
|
5/12/08
|
|
GM Ronen
Har-Zvi
|
|
6
|
5/14/08
|
|
GM Joel
Benjamin
|
|
7
|
5/15/08
|
|
GM Joel
Benjamin
|
|
8
|
5/16/08
|
|
GM Larry
Christiansen
|
|
9
|
5/17/08
|
|
GM Nick De Firmian
|
|
10
|
5/18/08
|
|
GM Nick De Firmian
|
| JOHN HENDERSON'S PHOTO GALLERY |
|
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|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
NAME |
ELO |
FED |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
PTS |
| 1 |
Cheparinov, Ivan |
2695 |
BUL |
|
0 0 |
0 0 |
.5 .5 |
.5 .5 |
1 1 |
4.0 |
| 2 |
Ivanchuk, Vassily |
2740 |
UKR |
1 1 |
|
1 .5 |
1 .5 |
1 .5 |
1 .5 |
8.0 |
| 3 |
Topalov, Veselin |
2767 |
BUL |
1 1 |
0 .5 |
|
1 1 |
.5 .5 |
1 0 |
6.5 |
| 4 |
Aronian, Levon |
2763 |
ARM |
.5 .5 |
0 .5 |
0 0 |
|
.5 0 |
.5 .5 |
3.0 |
| 5 |
Radjabov, Teimour |
2751 |
AZE |
.5 .5 |
0 .5 |
.5 .5 |
.5 1 |
|
.5 1 |
5.5 |
| 6 |
Bu, Xiangzhi |
2708 |
CHN |
0 0 |
0 0.5 |
0 1 |
.5 .5 |
.5 0 |
|
3.0 |
|
Are
You A Member of the USCF?
In a new
sponsorship deal with the United States Chess Federation, ALL current
members of the USCF will qualify for a free 6-month membership! For new
WCL members, simply check the USCF Member box and enter your USCF
membership number and PIN on the WCL
registration page. If you're already registered with WCL, go
to your
account page and use the USCF link at the bottom.
WCL is the new
sponsor of the USCF's
2008 Grand Prix and 2008 Junior Grand Prix. We're providing
prize funds of $20,000 and $7,500, respectively, and will also be
running Online Grand Prix events all year, beginning in April, open
only to USCF members. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now for your
FREE 6 month membership to World Chess Live and start winning those
Grand Prix points!
So what are you
waiting for? Come join the growing USCF community at WCL and take part
in all the activities.
|
IM Alex Lenderman: Caro-Kann, Advance variation
|
ICC Chess.FM presents IM Alex
Lenderman on the Caro-Kann Advance variation.
The Caro has a reputation of
being positional, but wild, complicated games
do arise from it - and mainly
from the Advance variation favored by
aggressive players such as Vishy Anand,
Alexei Shirov, Nigel Short and John Nunn. And in this new video for ICC
Chess.FM, Alex Lenderman teaches you all the nuances and tricks in his
favorite line against the Caro.
Free preview
Watch full video (members only)
To become a member subscribe today!
|
GM Ronen Har-Zvi "New Ideas
in the Marshall Attack"
 |
One of the world’s first Grandmasters
of chess, America’s Frank J. Marshall (1877-1944),
left behind a lasting legacy to the chess world with
his revered gambit against the Ruy Lopez – the
Marshall Attack with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4
Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5!
The Marshall Attack is one of the
most important openings in the history of chess and
is still deployed with regularity at super Grandmaster
level. In current theory the ideas and strategies
of both approaches are studied in-depth, and nowadays
experts have come to the conclusion that White has
no clear superiority in the main theoretical lines.
And in the latest of his "New Ideas in..."
series, GM Ronen Har-Zvi, takes a closer look under
the microscope at Marshall's revolutionary idea.
|
Click here for a free
5 minute preview of Ronen's latest video. To listen to the
full videoss, sign
up for membership!
Tuesdays: 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 will feature an interview
with leading chess personalities. All shows run on demand for members after
airing.
This week (Tue., 20 May), joining
IM John Watson on Chess Talk is 15-year-old grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, who
shot to fame as a youngster in the US by beating a number of age records of
Hikaru Nakamura.
Although having dual citizenship of
Italy and USA, Fabiano - who lives in Budapest with his family - now represents
Italy. Last year he won the Italian championship with a score of 9.5/11, leading
the field by three full points and a performance rating of 2740 to become the
youngest Italian champion ever. He also won the Corus 2008 C group with an
automatic invitation to the Corus 2009 B group. Many believe by early next year
he could be a member of the "2700 club".
Find below a
selection of free 5-minute previews of the latest shows. To listen to
the full shows, sign up for membership!
Wednesdays: Attack with
LarryC!
 New at ICC
Chess.FM - Attack With LarryC! A weekly 30
min+ show on Wednesdays at 15:00 EDT (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. By popular demand from members, we are
now archiving previous Attack
with LarryC shows. This video is just one of the many
benefits of being a full member of ICC - so, sign up for membership!
Thursdays: Ask the
Renaissance Man
 |
|
Tune-in for "Ask
the Renaissance Man" with National Master
Dan Heisman every Thursday at 21:00 EDT. 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!
|
Thursdays: Boris Alterman's
Gambit Guide
By
popular demand and requests from members, a full archive of all of Boris
Alterman's shows can be found by clicking
here.
Fridays:
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
not-to-be-missed weekly video series is exclusive 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!
|
|
May Marathon Results!
The top 3
finishers
in each category win prizes!
In
the
U1600 Blitz marathon, our top finishers were: Tschaturanga
78.5 pts, therev1957
35.5 pts, and mongmong 26.0
pts.
For the
1600+ Blitz, the top
finishers were: SeventhRank7
57.0 pts, akdog3 54.5
pts, and frank001
51.5 pts.
In the
U1800 Bullet, our top 3
were:
Silverthorn
169.0 pts, ehab 146.0
pts, and trapula 115.5 pts.
In
the 1800+ Bullet, the top finishers were: HorseTheWhite
202.5 pts, Ernani 104.0
pts, and olegsfo 87.0 pts.
And in
the Standard marathon, our top
finishers were:
akibael
30.0 pts, TerryMalloy
25.5 pts, and A-Ru 13.5
pts.
Congratulations
to all our prize
winners and thanks to all the players for participating!
|
|
|
|
3 3
Blitz
Championships!
Qualifiers
are coming
at you on June 14-19! Each
qualifier
will be 9 rounds of swiss, and the top 5 finishers in each qualifier
will
advance to the final. In
addition, the
top 3 finishers in the series of qualifiers who didn't otherwise
qualify will
also advance to the final. Will
anyone
be able to dethrone defending champion ItSoMR?
Stay tuned to
find out!
Monday Flash!
Every Monday at 21:00, a 9 rounds
1 0 swiss bullet will be held in Flash. Many of the top
bulleters on ICC show up for this event. So, join up and take
your shot at them! It's a fun tourney and takes less than half an hour
to play. See you there!
 Tourney
Tip: Is there Anywhere I can see a list of the weekly scheduled events
Sure
there is! Click this link to see everything happening on ICC for the next week.
|
|
Play 1. b4! - Yury Lapshun & Nick
Conitcello
Do you wish
to surprise your opponent on the first move?
Do you enjoy
playing creatively from the beginning of the game?
Look no
further than 1.b4!
With this aggressive pawn lunge White takes
the game into relatively unknown territory and forces Black players
onto their own devices.
This theory has been seriously neglected by chess literature... until
now. In this landmark book, Yury Lapshun and Nick Conticello take an
in-depth look at 1 b4 and its many variations. The authors use
illustrative games provide to highlight key ideas and tactics for both
sides. They also provide a practical and fun-to-play repertoire for
White, offering options against all of Black's main possibilities. Read
this book and confound your opponents with 1 b4!
Yury Lapshun is an International Master
and an experienced coach who has guided individuals and teams to
national championships.
173
pages
Price $22.95 -  Buy now!
Play the Slav - James Vigus
The Slav has
a well-deserved reputation as one of Black's strongest answers to 1 d4,
and it's no coincidence that it has been used by almost all the World
Champions in chess history. Put simply, the Slav is a classy opening,
one which combines reliability with the promise of dynamic counterplay.
In
this book, James Vigus presents a comprehensive and trustworthy
repertoire for Black. He outlines the main ideas for both sides and
highlights the tactics to watch out for. This book will provide you
with enough knowledge and skill to play the Slav with confidence in
your own games.
192
pages - soft cover
Price $22.95 - Buy now!
|
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|
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The Easiest Sicilian -Atanas Kolev
and Trajko Nedev
 The book presents a Black
repertoire with 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6, based on the most aggressive
Sveshnikov lines. It also covers The Rossolimo (3 Bb5) and Alapin (3
c3).
The material is completely up-to-date with games that were only played
in April 2008! The authors propose major novelties in practically all
topical lines. The repertoire avoids solid, but passive variations.
Instead, they are left as backup lines with the authors' preferring to
recommend the more challenging options.
"Currently I do not see any serious theoretical problems for Black"
claims Kolev in the foreword.
240
Pages, soft cover
Price $29.95 - Buy now!
Beating the Open games (new Ed.) - GM
Mihail Marin
 Many players would like to
play the main lines of the Spanish with Black, but fear answering 1.e4
with 1...e5 because of White’s great variety of deviations.
Acclaimed author Mihail Marin presents a 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, Giuoco Piano, Vienna, Spanish Exchange
Variation and even the notorious King’s Gambit.
Marin reveals his own opening repertoire, which he prepared for
high-level international competition.
Beating the Open Games, joined with A Spanish Repertoire for
Black, is the greatest repertoire book(s) ever written for players 1800
right to grandmaster. Marin's legend as a serious chess writer seems to
grow every time he puts his fingers on a keyboard.” IM Jeremy
Silman
336
pages, soft cover
Price $34.95 - Buy now!
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