"Recommendation [for the ICC]: Excellent! Best service for your money. Suitable for beginners to Grandmasters." — Grandmaster Roland Schmaltz, The Complete Chess Server Guide (2004)
The 2009 edition of the unique Rising Stars vs. Experience NH Tournament, in collaboration with the Monaco-based Association Max Euwe and NH Hotels, will take place 20th-31st August in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam.
The 'Experience' team has been strengthened this year to include Peter Svidler (Russia), Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark), Alexander Beliavsky (Slovenia), Loek van Wely (The Netherlands) and Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Serbia).
The 'Rising Stars' this year has Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (Italy), Jan Smeets (The Netherlands), Daniel Stellwagen (The Netherlands) and Hou Yifan (China).
This 'Scheveningen' team tournament also has the added attraction of the highest-scorer in the Rising Stars team receiving an automatic invite to the 2010 elite Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Nice, France.
Play gets underway each day at 7:30am EDT (last round 6:00am), and Chess.FM will have daily commentary with Mig and the GM team of Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Nick de Firmian and Gregory Kaidanov. We'll also have the New In Chess and House of Staunton trivia contests', where each day ICC members can win major prizes.
Also in the press room in Amsterdam will be Macauley Peterson, who along with Peter Doggers of Chessvibes will be providing exclusive video coverage of the tournament. Check in at the official site at www.nhchess.com.
'New in Chess' TRIVIA! ICC and New in Chess present The
XI 'New in Chess' Trivia Contest, where each day an ICC member will win a 1 year subscription to NIC!
Game of the Day Email Trivia! ICC and The House of Staunton present the Game of the Day e-mail trivia, where each day an ICC member will win a $75 gift certificate.