ICC Newsletter - Friday, January 27 2006

Vol I Issue V - January 27, 2006

Corus Tournament 2006

After 11 rounds of action GM Anand and GM Topalov are battling at the top of this year's exciting Corus Tournament. Topalov took the lead in round ten by defeating GM Aronian, while GM Anand took a draw with GM Mamedyarov. In round 11 GM Topalov took a draw against GM Ivanchuk and GM Anand took a draw against GM Tiviakov keeping both players in the same position. Is the current FIDE Champion going to pull of another big tournament win at the boards?

GM Topalov showed the world last September at the FIDE Championship in San Luis, Argentina, that he is a true threat to the world's top players. GM Topalov finished with an amazing 10 points and a performance rating of over 3000! In a press conference after Topalov's shocking win in San Luis, Anand said "What can I say? Topalov will not be keep this [3000 performance rating] tournament after tournament".

Will these two hold on for an explosive battle at the finish?

STANDINGS:
8.0 GM Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria 2801)
7.5 GM Viswanathan Anand (India 2792)
6.5 GM Michael Adams (England 2707)
6.5 GM Boris Gelfand (Israel 2723)
6.5 GM Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine 2660)
6.0 GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine 2729)
5.5 GM Peter Leko (Hungary 2740)
5.0 GM Loek van Wely (Netherlands 2647)
5.0 GM Levon Aronian (Armenia 2752)
5.0 GM Sergey Tiviakov (Netherlands 2669)
4.5 GM Etienne Bacrot (France 2717)
4.0 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan 2709)
3.5 GM Ivan Sokolov (Netherlands 2689)
3.5 GM Gata Kamsky (USA 2686)

Download all of the Corus games played up through round ten!

Follow the latest tournaments live on ICC and listen to the action on ICC Webcast

White to mate in three

Problem #359 **
submitted by brian101002

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 359

Then type:
play trainingbot

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Gibtelecom Chess Festival

ICC will be having live relays of the Gibtelecom Chess Festival fom Tuesday January 24th to Thursday February 2nd, 2006.

Gibtelecom Chess Festival

The tournament games will begin at 9:00am ET with the exception of the last round. The last round will begin at 6:30am ET. This tournament is a 10 round swiss-system tournament. Players in the tournament include GM Alexei Shirov, GM Vladimir Akopian, GM Nigel Short, GM Alexander Areschenko, GM Zahar Efimenko, GM Emil Sutovsky, GM Kiril Georgiev, and GM Zoltan Gyimesi.

Prizes for this tournament are in British pounds:
1. 6,000 £
2. 4,000 £
3. 3,000 £
4. 2,000 £
5. 1,500 £
6. 1,000 £
7. 5,00 £

1 British Pound = US$1.78 Euro 1.45 (January 23)

For more details on this tournament and the ICC replay coverage visit finger Gibralter06.


New to ICC? Most non-members of ICC are eligible for a free trial membership. This would entitle you to all privileges of membership for seven days! As a member, you will be able to listen to the ICC Webcast's coverage of the Corus 2006 tournament, play chess as a member on ICC, and join the army of kibitzers watching and chatting about the games. Don't miss this unforgettable experience. Click this link to apply now! Read more about ICC at the Official Site.

Continued Corus Coverage on the ICC
Corus 2006 Wijk aan Zee, Holland January 14th - January 29th Web site: http://www.coruschess.com ICC is continuing the exciting Corus relay coverage this week. Thursday the 26th is a rest day, followed by three more days of action with the last round being on Sunday the 29th. ICC's relay has been keeping up with all three groups which has included 21 boards!

Game commentary from IM Malcolm Pein
Adams,M (2707) - Topalov,V (2801) [B85] Corus A Wijk aan Zee 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Topalov has inherited Fischer's and then Kasparov's mantle as the defender of the Sicilian Najdorf. 6.Be2 Topalov's ascent has been based to some degree on combatting the English Attack 6.Be3 so Adams goes for quieter lines 6...e6 The pure Najdorf move is 6...e5 but interestingly Kasparov did not favour it either perhaps because Karpov was so successful against it. 7.0-0 Be7 8.a4 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Adams is comfortable in this kind of Sicilian, he has beaten many of the world's finest including Kramnik 11...Re8 Kasparov's patent preparing Bf8 or sometimes e6-e5 12.Bf3 Bf8 13.Qd2 [13.Nb3 was Adams-Topalov San Luis 2005 which was drawn. 13.g4 is also possible] 13...Na5 [13...Rb8 Adams-Anand Linares 2005] 14.b3 A perfectly sensible move. Many games have seen 15.Qf2 Nc4 15.Bc1 14...Rb8 [14...Bd7!? for example 15.g4 Rac8 16.Nde2 Bc6 17.g5 Nd7 18.Rad1 b6] 15.Rad1 Nc6 [15...b6 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Nd7 18.Bf4 Nxe5 19.Qe3 f6 20.Ne4 with the initiative] 16.Bf2 Nd7 Anticipating e4-e5 [16...Bd7 17.g4?! Nxd4 18.Bxd4 e5!] 17.Bg3 Eyeing the black pieces on the g3-b8 diagonal 17...Nxd4 18.Qxd4 b5?! The pawn becomes a weakness. 20...b6 with Bb7 and Rbc8 is solid and playable 19.axb5 axb5 20.b4! g6 [20...Qc4 21.Be2! Qxd4 22.Rxd4 Ba6 23.Ra1 Rb6 24.Bf2 Threatening Rd2] 21.e5! d5 [21...dxe5? opens two files for white rooks 22.fxe5 Bg7 23.Be2 Bxe5 (23...Nxe5 24.Nxb5 Qxc2 25.Rd2 Qc6 26.Bxe5 Bxe5 27.Qxe5) 24.Nxb5!; 21...Rb6!? Topalov 22.Ne4] 22.f5! The attack is based around freeing the e5 pawn because e5-e6 can be devastating. At the same time there are threats of fxg6 and Qf4 attacking f7 22...gxf5 [22...Qb6 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Qf4 Re7 25.Bh4] 23.Nxd5!! Qc4 [23...exd5 24.e6 Qb6 25.exf7+ Kxf7 26.Bh5+ wins] 24.Qd2! h6 [24...exd5 25.Qg5+ Kh8 (25...Bg7 26.Bxd5 Qg4 27.Bxf7+ Kxf7 28.Rxf5+) 26.Bxd5 Qg4 (26...Qe2 27.Bxf7 Re7 28.Qg8#) 27.Qxg4 fxg4 28.Bxf7 Re7 29.e6 Rb7 30.exd7 Rbxd7 31.Rxd7 Rxd7 32.Be6 Rd8 33.Rxf8+ Rxf8 34.Be5+ Rf6 35.Bxf6#] 25.h3!! Ruling out Qg4 defences and asking Black if he has a constructive move 25...exd5 There was little choice [25...Bg7 26.Nf6+; 25...Bb7 26.Ne3 wins the Nd7; 25...Kh8!? 26.c3 (26.Bf4? Bb7!) 26...exd5 27.Bxd5 Qc7 28.Rxf5] 26.Bxd5 Qxb4 27.c3 Qc5 [27...Qa3 28.Rxf5 Re7 29.Rxf7 Rxf7 30.e6 Kh8 31.exd7 Rxd7 32.Be5+ Bg7 33.Qxh6#] 28.Rxf5 The threats against f7 are too strong 28...Re6 29.Rxf7! Nb6 [29...Kxf7 30.Qf4+ Ke7 31.Bh4+ Ke8 32.Bxe6] 30.Rdf1 Nxd5 Giving up the queen but if [30...Bg7 31.Qf4 Qxd5 32.Rxg7+ Kxg7 33.Qf8+ Kg6 34.Qf7+ Kg5 35.Rf5#] 31.Rxf8+ Qxf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 33.Qxd5 White is only one point ahead with queen and four pawns for two rooks but opposite coloured bishops always favour the side with the safer king in the middlegame and Black's king is wide open and skewers and forks abound 33...Ke8 34.Bh4 Bd7 35.Bf6 b4 [35...Bc8 36.Qd8+ Kf7 37.Qc7+] 36.Qe4 [Also 36.Qd3 Rxf6 37.exf6 bxc3 38.Qg3] 36...Bc8 [36...bxc3 37.Qg6+ Kf8 38.Qg7+ Ke8 39.Qg8#] 37.cxb4 Rb7 38.Qg6+ Kd7 39.Qxh6 Kc7 [39...Rxb4 40.Qd2+ Kc6 41.Qxb4] 40.Qf4 Adams has 'hoovered' or should I say 'Dysoned' and the h pawn is about to leave platform H3 40...Kb8 41.h4 Rc7 42.h5 [42.h5 Rh7 (42...Bb7 43.h6 Rc2 44.h7) 43.h6 Bb7 44.Qg5] 1-0

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Dynamics of Chess Strategy by Vlastimil Jansa – Jansa's book explores the stages of play between the opening and the planning in the early middle game.
Secrets of Chess Transformations by Drazen Marovic – One of the most important skills in chess is the ability to transform one type of advantage into another.
Excelling at Technical Chess by Jacob Aagard – Aagaard arms the reader with several endgame weapons that every strong technical player has in his toolbox.

See these and many more new books

IM John Watson's book reviews at TWIC, updated regularly.

ICC Puzzle Solution

1. Nh6+ Kh8 2.Qg8+ Rxg8 3. Nf7#