ICC Chess.FM

	3:00pm ICC Oct 13, 2008 12:00pm PDT Oct 13, 2008 1:00pm MDT Oct 13, 2008 2:00pm CDT Oct 13, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 13, 2008 20:00 BST Oct 13, 2008 21:00 CEST Oct 13, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 13, 2008	GM Ronen Har-Zvi
	3:00pm ICC Oct 14, 2008 12:00pm PDT Oct 14, 2008 1:00pm MDT Oct 14, 2008 2:00pm CDT Oct 14, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 14, 2008 20:00 BST Oct 14, 2008 21:00 CEST Oct 14, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 14, 2008	Chess Talk with IM John Watson
	3:00pm ICC Oct 15, 2008 12:00pm PDT Oct 15, 2008 1:00pm MDT Oct 15, 2008 2:00pm CDT Oct 15, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 15, 2008 20:00 BST Oct 15, 2008 21:00 CEST Oct 15, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 15, 2008	Attack with LarryC! video series
	3:00pm ICC Oct 16, 2008 12:00pm PDT Oct 16, 2008 1:00pm MDT Oct 16, 2008 2:00pm CDT Oct 16, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 16, 2008 20:00 BST Oct 16, 2008 21:00 CEST Oct 16, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 16, 2008	GM Boris Alterman
	9:00pm ICC Oct 16, 2008 6:00pm PDT Oct 16, 2008 7:00pm MDT Oct 16, 2008 8:00pm CDT Oct 16, 2008 9:00pm EDT Oct 16, 2008 02:00 BST Oct 17, 2008 03:00 CEST Oct 17, 2008 9:00pm EDT Oct 16, 2008	Ask the Reinassance Man NM Dan Heisman
	3:00pm ICC Oct 17, 2008 12:00pm PDT Oct 17, 2008 1:00pm MDT Oct 17, 2008 2:00pm CDT Oct 17, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 17, 2008 20:00 BST Oct 17, 2008 21:00 CEST Oct 17, 2008 3:00pm EDT Oct 17, 2008	GM Benjamin "Game of the Week" GOTW
	9:30am ICC Oct 18, 2008 6:30am PDT Oct 18, 2008 7:30am MDT Oct 18, 2008 8:30am CDT Oct 18, 2008 9:30am EDT Oct 18, 2008 14:30 BST Oct 18, 2008 15:30 CEST Oct 18, 2008 9:30am EDT Oct 18, 2008	India with Arvind Aaron

 Topalov of the World!

Info on ICC ICC LIVE Webcam (Off the air) Official Site bilbaofinalmasters.com

In a dramatic finale to the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao last weekend, Veselin Topalov outplayed Vassily Ivanchuk to not only win the record-breaking $215,000 first prize but also turbo-boost his rating to become the new World #1. With four wins, five draws and one loss, the Bulgarian proved to be the big in-form player in the richest tournament-ever, as he took the title by a big margin ahead of Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian, with the Norwegian teenager taking second place and $100,000 on tiebreak ahead of the Armenian. The rating surge took Topalov to the top of Hans Arild Runde’s virtual live rating list - and with the official cut-off date for FIDE’s October list falling a few days after Bilbao, this mean Topalov once again tops the official world rankings to be published next week. But all eyes were also on the opposite end of the table at Bilbao. Vishy Anand slumped big-time to finish last, as he ceded his coveted #1 spot to first Carlsen, Ivanchuk and then Topalov in the same week(!) - not exactly the best of preparations for the world champion with the first defence of his title coming up next month in Bonn, Germany, against challenger Vladimir Kramnik. Chess.FM had unrivaled coverage throughout Bilbao with Mig Greengard hosting our live coverage each day, supported by his regular GM sidekicks of Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Nick de Firmian, Ronen Har-Zvi, Gregory Kaidanov, not to mention our very special guest commentator, four-time Russian champion Peter Svidler. We also had American Chess Journalist of the Year, Macauley Peterson giving us his unique video spin of all the action from Bilbao. During our live broadcast, there’s also the New In Chess Trivia contest, where each day you could win ICC membership extensions and the top prize of a one year subscription to the best chess magazine in the world, New In Chess! You can view some of the highlights with our special 5 min preview clip from live Chess.FM during Bilbao - click here to discover just what all our members are raving about and what you are missing by not being a member of ICC! The same Chess.FM team, plus more surprise top commentators will be here on ICC giving all our members the best move-by-move action from the “Battle in Bonn”, as Anand and Kramnik square off October 14th to November 2nd in their 12-game, $2 million plus world title match. Why not join all the action here at ICC Chess.FM by signing up for your 7-day trial membership now - don’t delay, sign-up today!

XII 'New In Chess' Trivia Contest winners

The XII 'New in Chess' TRIVIA Contest! ICC Chess.FM ICC and New in Chess present The XII 'New in Chess' Trivia Contest! Tune-in to Mig on ICC Chess.FM for our round-by-round coverage of the Grand Slam Finals in Bilbao, Spain, and each round you could win a 1-year subscription to the world's best chess magazine in the New in Chess TRIVIA Contest! For more information and rules, visit our help page.

 Wang Bang in Amsterdam!

It looks as if a “Wang Bang” in Amsterdam could provide another defining moment for Chinese chess. Nineteen-year-old Wang “Bang” Yue, China’s exciting and explosive young teenage sensation, is blowing away the opposition in the Rising Stars vs. Experience match in the Dutch capital, and looks to be on the brink of a major breakthrough into the elite arena. After getting off to a perfect start of six wins, Wang was held to his first draw by Norwegian GM Simen Agdestein before getting back to his winning ways by beating GM Artur Jussupow. In the penultimate round, he found himself fighting for a draw - and getting - against the one and only, the venerable Viktor Korchnoi.

Now on 8/9, and a tournament performance rating of 2940, Wang has (so far) increased his Elo rating by a seismic 33-points and now looks destined to become the first Chinese player in history to enter the world’s elite Top 10. And already his rise in status hasn’t gone unnoticed. Jeroen van den Berg, Tournament Director for the world famous Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, approached Wang in Amsterdam with an invite to play in next January’s Grandmaster ‘A Group’ alongside superstars Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Carlsen and Topalov. In the 'Scheveningen' team match in Amsterdam, sponsored by NH Hotels, in conjunction with the Monaco-based Association Max Euwe, the Rising Stars team leads the Experience team by a one-sided score of 30-15 with the final round left to play. Wang’s performance though has overshadowed that of his fellow teammate, Ivan Cheparinov, who has also had a stellar tournament being unbeaten on 7/9, with a full point separating the two going into the final round. This is important because the Rising Stars’ player with the top score also gets an automatic invitation to another prestigious tournament on the elite circuit, that being next year’s Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament in Nice, France. ICC Chess.FM's Macauley Peterson (voted Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America - Congratulations, Macauley!) brings us his inimitable spin on this intriguing match-up, with daily videos throughout, along with Peter Doggers of ChessVibes.com. Check out their videos below.

 Looking Tal in Moscow

Books and songs were written about him; and the ongoing Tal Memorial in Moscow further reminds us of the legacy of the incomparable Soviet-Latvian attacking genius Mikhail Tal, who died in 1992, aged just 56. They called him the "Magician from Riga," and even to this day, the compliment "You played like Tal" is regarded as the highest praise we can give to anyone who wins a dazzling attacking game. And in Moscow right now, the player today most likened to Tal, Russia's Alexander Morozevich, is leading the Tal Memorial at the midpoint. With an uncompromising style of fighting chess that makes him a big crowd-pleaser, “Moro” stunned the former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, in round three, with a 31 move victory to take the outright lead, and now enjoys a half point lead over the chasing pack on 3.5/5 going into Saturday's rest day.

XI 'New In Chess' Trivia Contest winners

The XI 'New in Chess' TRIVIA Contest! ICC Chess.FM ICC and New in Chess present The XI 'New in Chess' Trivia Contest! Tune-in to Mig on ICC Chess.FM for our round-by-round coverage of Tal Memorial Tournament 2008, and each round you could win a 1-year subscription to the world's best chess magazine. For more information and rules, visit our help page.

 GM Peter Svidler Special on Chess.FM

Four-time Russian champion Peter Svidler joined the Chess.FM team for their round five live coverage of the Tal Memorial. In this exclusive, 90 minute rebroadcast video, Svidler dissects the days play and discusses major chess issues of the day. Don't miss it!

 Mainz 2008

Anand showed why he's still the world's number one player by beating Magnus Carlsen decisively in the final of the Grenke Leasing Rapid World Championship. Macauley spoke to Magnus after the event.

Kosteniuk & Nakamura top Mainz Chess960. Macauley wraps up the Women's Chess960 World Championship and the FiNet Open.

Viswanathan Anand is in Mainz for the Rapid World Championship. Macauley brings you video from the opening press conference and a preview of what's to come all weekend long.

Game of the Day Video Commentary
Chess.FM presents GM Ronen Har-Zvi on Mainz 2008:
Watch video -- Round 1: Morozevich-Anand and Polgar-Carlsen
Watch video -- Round 2: Carlsen-Anand and Anand-Morozevich
Watch video -- Round 3: Anand-Carlsen and Carlsen-Anand

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Hikaru!  After winning the recent ICC-Mainz Chess960 qualifier, U.S. Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (Smallville) lived up to his Superman-themed handle by going on to win the FiNet Chess960 crown at the Mainz Chess Classic in Germany! 

The FiNet Chess960 Open started though on a somber note with a one minute silence in respect of Bobby Fischer, the former world champion who died earlier this year and who endorsed his own version of shuffle chess used in Mainz.

And among the 83-player field, there were 44 grandmasters with the average rating of the top 10 players being 2687!  Players like Sergei Movsesian and Pavel Eljanov, who have a 2700+ rating and once again some players came to Mainz who have a 2650+ rating like Sasikiran, Najer, Kasimdzhanov, Almasi, Motylev, Fressinet, Tregubov and Bareev. 

But ICC qualifier Hikaru Nakamura, a dark horse tipped by many to do well,  took first place on tiebreak ahead of Motylev and Movsesian, as all three finished in equal first on 9/11. Congratulations Hikaru on picking up yet another major European title!

The Mainz Chess Classic includes a cornucopia of tournaments and Opens in traditional and Random Chess featuring a whole galaxy of chess stars old and new - and we urge you to checkout the links below to follow all the results from this extravaganza. 

All of which is just a warm-up act for the main event now underway, the Grenke-Leasing Rapid Chess World Championship featuring the current World Champion and world #1 Vishy Anand, the young Norwegian pretender Magnus Carlsen, Russian maestro Alexander Morozevich and the strongest female player of all time, Judit Polgar. ICC will be relaying the games from this event live each day, and also not to be missed is GM Ronen Har-Zvi GOTD from Mainz. Full ICC schedule.

Chess.FM's Macauley Peterson is also in Mainz and he'll be bringing you video reports on all the action and news.

More Links:

• Official web site: in English and in German
• Event Overview
• Detailed schedule in PDF: Part one + Part two
• Daily schedule of events in PDF
• Registration
• FiNetChess960 Open
• ORDIX Open
• Mini FiNer + Mini Ordix
• Accomodation

 World Open Video

Four players tied for First in the 36th Annual World Open in Philadelphia (July 6), but Evgeny Najer (Russia) from Moscow, earned the World Open title by winning an Armageddon-style blitz playoff over Parimarjan Negi (India). Both players had edged out Alexander Moiseenko (Ukraine) and Lubomir Ftacnik (Slovakia) on tie-breaks to reach the playoff. All four took home over $12,000 for their efforts! Macauley spoke to Najer, Negi, and Moiseenko after the critical last round and filed this report:

Dortmund 2008

With a late push at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Peter Leko took the honors and clear first with his +2 winning score of 4.5/7.

Dortmund went Leko’s way after a penultimate round victory over the unlikely German overnight leader Jan (GodGusti) Gustaffson. A last round draw with Arkadij Naiditsch secured the Hungarian No.1 the title (his third at Dortmund), a half point ahead of the chasing pack.

Dortmund has usually belonged to Vladimir Kramnik, who has won or shared first there eight times, including the last two editions. But, worryingly in his penultimate outing before taking on Vishy Anand in a title challenge in October, there was a reversal of fortunes for the former world champion.

Kramnik’s normally dependable Petroff was again blown away, this time in the final round by Vassily Ivanchuk, as he turned in a traumatic -2 (where he’s normally ‘Mr. +2’) to finish second from last - easily the Russian’s worst performance ever, as he lost in the process 15 Elo-points to slip to world No.6 on Hans Arild Runde’s Live Ratings at www.chess.liverating.org.

And if you thought Kramnik’s performance was bad, then spare a thought for his sometime second '(Un)Lucky' Loek Van Wely. The Dutch No.1 imploded completely with four successive losses in the last four rounds to finish on 1/7 and slam-bang in the cellar with a dismal tournament performance rating of just 2388.

On ICC: finger Dortmund08