It's that time of the year again when the cream of world chess collectively close their eyes and move quickly as they meet at the grandiose Hotel Palais de la Mediterranée on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, France, for the 19th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament.

Twelve of the world's top grandmasters from eight countries will take part in this hotly-contested annual contest. On offer is a 216,000 Euro ($296,000) total prize-fund. The event is organized by the Association Max Euwe, and generously sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Van Oosterom from Monaco.

This year's field is as strong as ever, and includes (in rating order): Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Alexander Grischuk (Russia - a late replacement for Alexander Morozevich), Peter Svidler (Russia), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Sergey Karjakin (Russia), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba), and Jan Smeets (The Netherlands).

And each day here at ICC, the Chess.FM team will be back in action to cover every round. Mig & co-host GM Ronen Har-Zvi will be joined by GMs Larry Christiansen, Joel Benjamin, Jon Speelman, and Nick De Firmian, who will also be providing our GOTD service.

Also on the video scene in Amber will be the inimitable double act of Macauley Peterson (Chess.FM) and Peter Doggers (Chessvibes) - and both promise they'll be providing amazing behind the scenes coverage of the event! And to get you in the Amber mood, Macauley has posted on the Chess.FM YouTube page a brief look back at the 2009 event - go check it out now at http://www.youtube.com/user/ICCchessFM

This is one event you will not want to miss! Live coverage begins each day on ICC at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). There's also a New In Chess trivia and GOTD trivia each day where you can win prizes! Check out all the links below and don't forget to book your ringside seat now on ICC by becoming a member by clicking here.

ICC: finger Amber10

Official site: http://www.amberchess2010.com/

Get set for the annual extravaganza that's "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas", the biggest, grandest and best online tournament, hosted only here on ICC - and play gets underway today!

The total prize fund amounts to EUR 7,600 (about $10,400), with Euro 2,000 (roughly $2,700) first prize, plus additional class prizes and ICC membership prizes for amateur players. Entry is completely FREE but you DO need to be a member of ICC (and register) to play!

This is one of the most important Internet chess tournaments in the world with the last four editions boasting an entry of over 5,000 players from all over the world. Will previous two-time winner, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, go for a third title in four years, or will defending champion GM Dmitry Kononenko (Dako) join the untitled online blitz maven by becoming the second player to win back-to-back titles? Other top grandmasters who have vied for the title in the past include: Shahriyar Mamedyarov, Tigran L. Petrosian, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Kiril Georgiev and Sergey Shipov.

As in previous editions, the playing system is as follows: twelve 12-round Swiss qualifiers using the playing rate of 3 minutes per game. Qualifiers are held twice a day from March 12th to March 17th, with the finals being held on March 19th & 20th. The 12 qualifier winners plus the 20 best scores qualify to go forward to the 32-player KO final.

Even if you are not aiming to win a prize, this tournament gives you a unique chance to meet world class players! We hope that Dos Hermanas will become the internet chess tourney of the year once again. Make sure to register early only at the official site below! Your registration is valid for all qualifiers, but you do not need to play all.

Full rules, guidelines and registrations can be found at our special Dos Hermanas website.

Please download the latest versions of Dasher (1.3) or BlitzIn (2.7) to play.