ICC Newsletter - Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Vol I Issue VIII - February 15, 2006

Corus Tournament 2006

Vallejo Pons and Ponomariov Tie for First at Cuernavaca

GM Francisco Vallejo Pons and GM Ruslan Ponomariov held each other to a 56 move draw in the final round at Cuernavaca and ended the tournament tied for first place. Both players finished the tournament with a final score of 6.5 points. American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura defeated GM Cheparinov in the final round to take clear third after two straight draws in rounds seven and eight.

Congratulations to GM Vallejo Pons and GM Ponomariov!

Final Standings:
6.5 GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (23 Spain 2650)
6.5 GM Ruslan Ponomariov (22 Ukraine 2723)
6.0 GM Hikaru Nakamura (18 USA 2644)
5.5 GM Lenier Dominguez (22 Cuba 2638)
5.0 GM Lazaro Bruzon (23 Cuba 2650)
4.5 GM Andrei Volokitin (19 Ukraine 2665)
4.0 GM Ivan Cheparinov (19 Bulgaria 2625)
3.5 GM Sergey Karjakin (16 Ukraine 2660)
2.0 IM Manuel Leon Hoyos (16 Mexico 2428)
1.5 GM Ruben Felgaer (24 Argentina 2607)

Download all of the games.

White to mate in three

Problem #382 **
submitted by CastleWalls

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 382

Then type:
play trainingbot

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Blitz Turnier Clock - Clock

Informator 94 - 452 annotated games

Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack - Video

King & Pawn Endgames - Video

Understanding Chess Strategy - Software

Starting Chess - Book

Slot-In Demonstration Board - Board

Garde Chess Clock - Clock

Grunfeld Defence - Book

Grandmaster Video Magazine #6 - Video

Albin Counter Gambit - Video

Chess Mentor for Advanced Players - Software

Touch Chess - Computer

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Surprise in Chess - Book

Check out the new $10 section !

Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian $16.95 - by Chris Ward
	Ideal for those wanting to understand the basics of the Nimzo-Indian. It is one of the soundest and most popular defences against 1.d4.

Endgame Challenge $24.95 - by John Nunn
	John Nunn presents 250 challenging positions where your task is to find a cunning way to win or draw. In many cases the odds against success seem overwhelming, yet by using all the tactical resources in the position it is possible to achieve the goal.

Chess Results, 1901-1920 $32.95 - Gino de Felice
	This comprehensive chronological reference lists the results of men’s chess competitions all over the world. From the famous to the lesser known, both individual and team matches from 1901 through 1920 are remembered here. Entries record location and, when available, the group that sponsored the event.

Live Coverage: Ciudad de Linares International Chess Tournament

The ICC will once again be covering the tournament referred to as the "Wimbledon of Chess". The Ciudad de Linares International Chess Tournament (called "Linares" for short) will be taking place February 18th through February 26th, 2006.

Cuernavaca Young Masters
Ciudad de Linares International Chess Tournament

This year the first half of the tournament will be taking place in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. The second half of the tournament will be held in Linares, Spain. This year's tournament has a fantastic prize fund of 380,000 Euros.

Tournament details can be found on the ICC and on the Linares official web site.


New ICC members get a free issue of New in Chess! That's right! Sign-up as a new member of the ICC and you will receive a free issue of New In Chess magazine. New In Chess is one of most popular chess magazines with excellent analysis and commentary from some of the top grandmasters in the world. Join ICC. Read more about New In Chess magazine.

Coming Soon! The U.S. Chess Championships will begin on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006. The AF4C has once again organized what is sure to be an exciting event. This year's tournament will be a nine rounds with the championship match being played on Sunday, March 12th. The field of 64 is now complete. Overall first place will be taking home a prize fund of $25,000 USD! The Roberts Family has also announced they will again sponsor a $5,000 prize for the player who displays the most fighting spirit.
ICC and ICC Webcast will be having live coverage of this exciting event. Be sure to log on to the ICC on these dates for master analysis and fun live coverage. Visit the official web site for the AF4C.

Game commentary from IM Malcolm Pein IM Malcolm Pein writes for the Daily Telegraph.
Volkov,S (2629) - Georgiev,K (2645) [E25] Gibtelecom Masters Gibraltar ENG (9), 01.02.2006 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 This is Volkov's pet line against the Nimzo-Indian which aims to take the e4 square 4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.e4 Ne7 [9...Qxc3+ 10.Bd2 Qe5 11.Ne2 Nf6 12.Bc3 Qg5 (12...Qxc5 13.Rc1 wins) 13.Qd6] 10.Be3 0-0 11.Qb3 Qc7 12.Rb1 Nd7 13.Qc4 Ne5 14.Qb5 f5 White is a pawn ahead but underdeveloped 15.Be2 Bd7!? 16.Qxb7 Qa5 17.Bd4 N7c6 18.Qa6 Qd8 19.exf5? [19.f4 Ng6 20.Nh3 e5 is a mess but White will castle and his bishops should work well on the open board] 19...Nxd4 20.cxd4 Qh4+ 21.Kf1 [21.g3 Qxd4 22.Qd6 Qc3+ 23.Kf1 Bc6!] 21...Qxd4 22.Qd6 Qe3 23.Re1 Rxf5 24.Ba6 [24.Bc4 Nxc4 25.Rxe3 Nxd6 26.cxd6 Rb8 27.Kf2 Rb1] 24...Qxa3 25.Bb7? [25.Rxe5 Rxe5 26.Qxe5 Qxa6+ 27.Ne2 was a better chance but even in the endgame the black a pawn will be strong] 25...Bb5+ 26.Ne2 Raf8 27.Be4 Nxf3! completely crushing, if 28.Bxf5 [28.gxf3 Rxf3+ 29.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 30.Kg1 Qf2#] 28...Rxf5 29.Qxe6+ Rf7 30.Qc8+ Rf8 31.Qe6+ Kh8 32.Qe7 Re8 33.Qxe8+ Bxe8 34.Rd1 [34.gxf3 Qxf3+ 35.Kg1 Bc6] 34...Kg8 35.h4 Nd2+ 36.Ke1 Ne4 37.Rh3 Qxc5 38.Nd4 Bh5 0-1

Blumenfeld Gambit by Pein & Przewoznik – Until very recently the Blumenfeld Gambit stood condemned by theory.
Chess Strategy by Gufeld & Kalinichenko – Finding the right plan requires the correct evaluation of the position.
Chess Endgame Training by Bernd Rosen – This is an endgame manual with a difference.
Batsford Chess Puzzles by Leonard Barden – For nearly half a century Leonard Barden has delighted readers of his newspaper columns with his chess puzzles.

See these and many more new books

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

ICC Puzzle Solution

1.Rc8+ Qxc8 2.Qd6+ Rxd6 3.Ne5#