 Man
& Machine vs. Machine
 When
researchers in artificial intelligence began to look at
chess a half-century ago, they asked: "Can we teach
a computer to play well?" Today the question is more
like: "What can the machines teach us?"
Computers understand certain positions better than we do.
They've taught us that many "hopeless" positions
can be saved. They've shown that pawn-grabbing is not the
sin it was once thought to be. And they've also undermined
our faith in planning.
We've seen many computer vs human matches
and mismatches since that fateful day 11 years ago in New
York, when Garry Kasparov lost to IBM's Deep Blue.
Now get ready for a match with a difference: ICC's Deep
Junior 11 (running on a powerful multiprocessor platform)
gets set to face a formidable challenge as it takes on the
combined talents of GM Miguel Illescas and Junior 9 (running
on a single processor) on June 5th at CosmoCaixa
in Barcelona, Spain.
Miguel Illescas is a seven-time
Spanish champion and second to former world champion Vladimir
Kramnik. And his relationship with computers is a crucial
one - he was hired as a consultant by IBM for Deep Blue,
the machine that beat Kasparov in 1997.
Deep Junior 11 is a new (and soon-to-be-released
by ICC) multiprocessor version of the five-time world computer
chess champion programme, created by Israelis Amir Ban
and Shay Bushinsky, that also drew a six-game match
in 2003 in New York against Kasparov.
The match-up will pose some interesting questions: Apart
from the brute calculating force, how much more does this
latest version of Deep Junior 11 really understand the game?
And more importantly, at what point will the the human intervention
of one of the world's top grandmasters influence this intriguing
duel?
ICC will be following this match-up
live with Chess.FM in Spanish and English from the playing
venue. For further information go to http://www.chessclub.com/finger/Junior08
Other links: http://www.edami.com/home03.aspx?ID=151
and http://www.edami.com/download/CosmoCaixa_05-06-08_cas.pdf
ICC now has the exclusive rights to
new versions of Junior (both the multiprocessor Deep Junior
11, and single processor Junior 11), and soon after the
match it will be commercially available here from the ICC.
Oscar
Time Again
 It's
Oscar time again, as Vishy Anand picked up his fifth
title for best player of the year, voted on by chess journalists
and organised by the Russian magazine “64 Chess Review”.
The tradition started in 1967 with the
trophy being a woman standing underneath a parasol. Now
it’s the “Fascinated Wanderer”, a bronze
statuette named after a character drawn from 19th century
novelist Nikolai Leskov’s most famous work.
Only Garry Kasparov (12) and
Anatoly Karpov (9) have won more often than Anand.
Bobby Fischer won a trio of Oscars and Boris Spassky
twice. Among active players, Vladimir Kramnik has
two and Veselin Topalov one. Bent Larsen (the
first winner) and Viktor Korchnoi are the only other
winners.
But next year could well see a new name
on the Oscar roll of honor as Norwegian wunderkind, Magnus
Carlsen, 17, continues his extraordinary advance up
the world rankings. The teenage ace, now world number five,
has had a big start to the year with shared titles at Corus,
Linares and the first Fide Grand Prix in Baku.
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.
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IM Alex Lenderman: Caro-Kann, Advance
variation
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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.
Watch
preview
To listen to the full show, sign
up for membership!
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Mondays: GM Ronen Har-Zvi "New
Ideas in the Marshall Attack"
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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.
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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., 27 May), joining IM John Watson on
Chess Talk is three-time US champion, GM Lev Alburt.
Lev, born in 1945 in Orenburg, Russia, was a product
of the famed Soviet school of chess. He lived for
many years in Odessa, Ukraine, and won the highly
competitive Ukraine championship three-times, from
1972-1974. In 1979, whilst playing in a tournament
in West Germany, he opted to defect and turned to
the US where he has since forged an impressive career
as player, coach and author of a series of highly
praised and best selling chess books.
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
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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Survival Guide to Rook Endings - John Emms
 For
all chess-players - from beginners to grandmasters,
and whatever their style of play - one thing
is certain: rook endings will arise in a great
many of their games. Yet it is precisely in
this area of the game that many players give
away hard-earned points, either through lack
of knowledge or inadequate understanding.
Previous books on the subject
have been extremely technical and theoretical,
and therefore of little use to the practical
player. This one is different. John Emms provides
the essential specific knowledge, and explains
the key concepts, that will enable readers to
find the right plan in most common types of
rook ending. Rook endings are reached in roughly
one in five of all chess games. This volume
provides everything you need to know to play
rook endings successfully.
160 pages, soft cover
Price
$25.95 - 
Buy
now!
Practical Endgame Play: Mastering the Basics
- Efstratios Grivas
 How
can you improve your chess? It's not by chance
that the top players say: 'Study the endgame!'
This is because a great number of encounters
reach the endgame, and studying these positions
will teach you how to convert winning positions,
and how to save or even overturn inferior ones.
Moreover, it's a well-known fact that studying
endgames undoubtedly enhances other aspects
of your play.
Practical Endgame Play is
a comprehensive guide to all fundamental chess
endings, and a godsend for those looking to
improve their endgame play. Crucially, the emphasis
is just as much on practical play as it is on
theoretical understanding. Whenever an idea
is introduced, Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas
immediately illustrates it with a number of
entertaining and instructive examples, a considerable
number of which are drawn from his own over-the-board
experiences.
Price $24.95
-
Buy
now!
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Secrets of Spectacular Chess: 2nd edition
- Jonathan Levitt & David Friedgood
 In
the modern classic, Secrets of Spectacular
Chess, Jonathan Levitt and David Friedgood
shared their joy and appreciation of chess beauty,
engulfing readers with a wealth of amazing and
magnificent examples from the aesthetic side
of the game. More than this, they showed how
this fascinating subject could actually be analysed,
and how this could help players improve the
practical side of their game. Now the authors
have produced a much awaited and largely expanded
second edition, in which they present further
thoughts, provide many new mesmerizing examples
of games, studies and problems, and revisit
previous material to explain how the theory
has developed. This book captures the imagination;
read it and become hypnotized by the power and
beauty of chess!
192 pages, soft cover
Price $24.95
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Buy
now!
Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy
- McDonald
 Chess
Secrets is a brand new series of books which
uncover the mysteries of the most important
aspects of chess: strategy, attack, opening
play and gambits, classical play, endgames and
preparation. In each book the author studies
a number of great players from chess history
who have excelled in a particular field of the
game and who have undeniably influenced those
who have followed.
The chess world has been
blessed with some wonderful strategists, innovators
of the game with their instructive play and
profound teachings. In The Giants of Strategy,
Neil McDonald chooses his selection of the most
prominent ones and highlights the major contributions
they have made. He examines their differing
approaches and styles, and from Nimzowitsch
to Kramnik, how they followed in each other's
footsteps. A careful study of this book will
help you to understand and improve in one of
the most crucial elements of the game.
Published by Everyman,
256 pages
Price $23.95
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Buy
now!
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