The March Madness has begun!

The ICC Open 2017, the most awaited online tournament of the year, has taken off!

The first weekend is over, and the ICC Open 2017 has already proven to be THE Blitz online tournament!
 On the open day, Saturday at 2 PM EDT, 419 players joined the huge event, for 11 rounds of pure chess thrill.

Strong GMs had to cross their Kings and Queens with amateurs, ready to give them a hard time, in the 3 0 games.

After a couple hours of fight, four strong players emerged victorious, to gain access to the 32-player KO that will be held on April the 22nd, at 2 PM EDT (20:00 Paris, Berlin, and Rome - 19:00 London).

GM Dubov Daniil (RUS), IM Mykola Bortnyk (UKR), GM Hrant Melkumyan (ARM) and GM Alan Pichot (ARG).

But that was only the start of the March Madness.

On Sunday, at 7 PM EDT, 438 players showed up to play the second qualifier!

Again, 4 strong blitzers came out of the hard selection, but all the players enjoyed their time.

GM Safarli Eltaj (AZE), GM Rajaram Laxman (IND), IM Alizreza Firouzja (IRI) and  GM Abasov Nijat (AZE) are the four players that gained access the 32-player KO.

Here is the schedule for the next Qualifiers:

• Qualifier 3:      Saturday, March 25, at 2pm EDT (19:00 Europe)
• Qualifier 4:      Sunday, March 26, at 7pm EDT (Monday, 01:00 Europe)
• Qualifier 5:      Saturday, April 1, at 2pm EDT (20:00 Europe)
• Qualifier 6:      Sunday, April 2, at 7pm EDT (Monday, 01:00 Europe)
• Knock-Out:      Saturday, April 22, at 2pm EDT (20:00 Europe) - KO with 32 players (24 from the qualifiers plus 8 seeded players)
• Finals:             Sunday, April 23, at 2pm EDT (20:00 Europe) - Semifinals with 4 players and Final match (5 games at 3 0 and 5 games at 3 2)

Reminder: Europe is switching to Daylight Saving time on Sunday, March the 26th at 02:00. Time difference between Central Europe Time and US Eastern Time (New York), gets back to be 6 hours.


Don't miss this amazing event!

If you are not an ICC member, get an account NOW and join thousands of chess lovers!
 

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And to get yourself in shape, watch and enjoy these two FREE videos!