Linares! Linares! A Journey into the Heart of Chess was how author Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam described the annual gathering of minds in the Andulasian town of Linares - and we're now at the countdown stage to yet another edition of the venerable Spanish super-tournament.
Veselin Topalov, who skipped Corus last month and a potential clash with World Champion Vishy Anand, will be the top-rated player of Linares 2010. Will he risk all by trying to win big in an attempt to retain the #1 spot from Magnus Carlsen, or, like Anand at Corus, will he play it safe and hide his preparation for their upcoming showdown in April in Sofia?
Either way it won't be easy for the Bulgarian ace, as he will have to face a tough field in the double round category 21 tournament that includes FIDE Grand Prix winner Levon Aronian (Armenia), 2009 World Cup winner Boris Gelfand (Israel), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Russian Champion and 2009 Linares winner Alexander Grischuk (Russia), and last but not least the local hero Francisco Vallejo.
Chess.FM will also be on the air throughout, bringing you all the best of the live action from LInares. We'll have the regular live broadcast with Mig, Macauley and Jennifer Shahade sharing the hot seat as hosts and being joined by the expert Grandmaster Chess.FM team of Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Varuzhan Akobian, John Fedorowicz, Ronen Har-Zvi, Jon Speelman, Ben Finegold and Alex Yermolinsky.
During each of our main Chess.FM events coming in the next few months, we'll also have the New In Chess trivia, where each day an ICC member can win a 1-year subscription to New In Chess magazine. There's also Game of the Day trivia sponsored by USCF Sales, where each day an ICC member can win a $50 gift certificate for the USCF Sales store.
Now is the time to join ICC for the best in all the live chess action from Linares, Amber, Anand-Topalov to the US Championship here at Chess.FM. To join ICC, please click here.
Linares Countdown