ICC Newsletter - Friday, June 30, 2006

Vol I Issue XXVII - June 30, 2006

Russian Champion Wins AeroSvit

GM Sergei Rublevsky(RUS 2687), the current Russian Champion, proved he's still on top of his game this week by winning the AeroSvit International Chess Tournament in Foros, Ukraine. With 5 out of 7, including a 7th round win over 20 year old Indian hope Pentaela Harikrishna (IND 2680), Rublevsky had a clear edge in the tournament. This edge allowed the Russian 32 year old to quickly draw his last four games and win the tournament with 7.5 points, half a point ahead of 2nd ranked Ukrainian Vasily Ivanchuk (2731). His rating performance of 2824 and the prize of $15,000 was surely a great comfort for the Russian Champion, after his poor efforts for his nation in the recent Chess Olympiad losing his last three games.

In the final round GM Vasiliy Ivanchuk(UKR 2731) had a chance to catch Rublevsky and share first place prize with a win over his opponent GM Alexei Shirov(ESP 2699), but it wasn't to be. Both players agreed to a draw on move 80 in an interesting Rook and Pawn vs. Bishop and Pawn endgame. Ivanchuk settled for second place.

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov(AZE 2699) was awarded the prize for best game and a check in the amount of $4,000 USD for his win over Rublevsky in round one. Be sure to check out this nice game where Mamedyarov begins a Queen attack as early as move 11.
The Azerbajani also won the prize for the most wins with Black in the tournament, making him take home prize money of $6,000 USD.

GM Pentala Harikrishna(IND 2680) won the best combination prize and a $2,000 USD check for his game against Mamedyarov. This is another very nice attacking game in which Harikrishna gives the black king a terrible time with a knight sacrifice on move 25.

With the exception of Ivanchuk, AeroSvit was of great disappointment for the Ukrainians as three of their big hopes GM Sergey Karjakin, GM Ruslan Ponomariov, and GM Andrei Volokitin finished at the bottom of the crosstable. Ex-world champion and first ranked Ponomariov has to be very disappointed scoring only 4.5 points out of his 11 games!

The tournament was an excellent show to watch on the ICC and there are plans for it to return again next year. We'll be watching. AeroSvit proved it can be one of the hottest tournaments of the year.

Final Standings

7.5  GM Sergei Rublevsky(RUS 2687)
7.0  GM Vasiliy Ivanchuk(UKR 2731)
6.5  GM Viorel Bologan(MDA 2666)
6.0  GM Alexander Grischuk(RUS 2719)
6.0  GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov(AZE 2699)
6.0  GM Alexei Shirov(ESP 2699)
5.0  GM Alexander Areshchenko(UKR 2660)
5.0  GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu(ROM 2695)
4.5  GM Sergey Karjakin(UKR 2661)
4.5  GM Ruslan Ponomariov(UKR 2738)
4.0  GM Pentala Harikrishna(IND 2680)
4.0  GM Andrei Volokitin(UKR 2660)

The ICC had live relay coverage of the event. You can find more details about the tournament on the ICC tournament page or on the official web site.

ICC Webcast also had live audio coverage of the last four rounds. You can catch replays of the coverage this weekend on the ICC Webcast site.

You can also download all of the games played.

White to mate in three

Problem #735 **
submitted by marag

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 735

Then type:
play trainingbot

The World's Best Chess Shop

Special Offers from the ICC store

Starting Out: Rook Endgames - Book

Unstoppable Benoni Attacks - Video

Better Chess Now: Positional Inspiration - DVD

Chess Mentor Deluxe - Software

Junior Master Chess Computer - Computer

Luxury Wooden Chess Table - Set

Chronos II Touch Timer - Clock

Victory in the Opening! - Book

Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack - Video

How to Play the Najdorf Vol. 1 - DVD

Understanding Chess Strategy - Software

Excalibur Saber IV - Computer

Regulation Tournament Set - Set

Blue Turnier Clock - Clock

Chess Traveller's Quiz Book - Book

Check out the new $10 section !

Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games Volume 2 $35.00 - by Igor Stohl
	Garry Kasparov has dominated the chess world for more than twenty years. His dynamism and preparation have set an example that is followed by most ambitious players. Igor Stohl has selected the best and most instructive games from Kasparov's later years, and has annotated them in great detail.

Starting Out: Closed Sicilian $20.95 - by Richard Palliser
	The Closed Sicilian is an ideal weapon for players who wish for an aggressive way to attack the Sicilian but have neither the time nor the inclination to learn the mass of theory associated with Open Sicilians. In the Closed Sicilian an awareness of the typical themes is far more important than memorizing variations.

100 Best Chess Games of the 20th Century, Ranked $30.00 - by Andrew Soltis
	Originally published in 2000 in hardback and now resurfacing as a large-format paperback. How does one determine the "best" chess games? After all, one man's meat is another man's poison. Andy Soltis has used five criteria: the overall aesthetics, the originality, the level of opposition, the soundness, accuracy, and difficulty of the game.

See these and many more new books IM John Watson's book reviews at TWIC, updated regularly.


Carlsen and Shipov Lead Midnight Sun
GM Magnus Carlsen (2646) of Norway and GM Sergei Shipov (2576) of Russia lead the Midnight Sun Chess Challenge in Tromsø, Norway after six rounds of play. The tournament has 78 players, all from Europe, competing in the event. Of the 78 players there are eight GMs, one WGM, one IM, and four FMs. The tournament is a nine round Swiss event offering a prize fund of 11,000 Euros.
Midnight Sun Chess Challenge Playing Venue
The rising prodigy, Carlsen, won his first four games defeating Anders Hobber (NOR), Lars M Andreassen (NOR), Joanna Dworakowska (POL), and GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (NOR). His draws came against GM Michal Krasenkow (POL) in round five and GM Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU) in round six. Russian grandmaster, Shipov, won his first three games and his sixth round game defeating Ida Lahlum (NOR), Torben Soraas (NOR), Johannes Kvisla (NOR), and Tobias Pettersson (SWE). His draws came at the hands of Rozentalis and Krasenkow, just like with Carlsen. Due to the nature of the Swiss system both players games will start getting a little tougher now that the later rounds are approaching. Top 10 Standings After Round 6 1 GM Magnus Carlsen 5.0 2 GM Sergei Shipov 5.0 3 GM Michal Krasenkow 5.0 4 GM Eduardas Rozentalis 4.5 5 GM Leif Erlend Johannessen 4.5 6 GM Kjetil A. Lie 4.5 7 FM Jon Ludvig Hammer 4.5 8 IM Eirik T Gullaksen 4.5 9 IM Joanna Dworakowska 4.5 10 GM Ralf Akesson 4.5 The ICC is having live relay coverage of the event. You can find more details about the tournament on the ICC tournament page. You can also download all of the games played so far.


Tiviakov Wins Dutch Championships This week in Hilversum, Netherlands, GM Sergei Tiviakov (2669) won this year's Dutch Championship. Finishing the championship with 9.0 out of 11, Tiviakov had eight wins, one loss and two draws. He finished a full point ahead of the nearest challenger GM Ivan Sokolov(2676). His only loss came at the hands of GM Jan Smeets (2535). Congratulations to Tiviakov! Final Standings 9.0 GM Sergei Tiviakov(NED 2669) 7.5 GM Ivan Sokolov(NED 2676) 7.0 GM Friso Nijboer(NED 2584) 7.0 GM Loek van Wely(NED 2655) 6.5 GM Daniel Stellwagen(NED 2543) 5.5 GM John van der Wiel(NED 2511) 5.5 GM Jan Werle(NED 2529) 5.0 GM Erwin l'Ami(NED 2565) 4.5 GM Jan Smeets(NED 2535) 3.0 IM Jeroen Bosch(NED 2465) 3.0 GM Jan Timman(NED 2616) 2.5 IM Yge Visser(NED 2480) You can get more details on ICC's coverage of the event on the ICC tournament page and the tournament's official web site. You can also download all of the games played in the tournament.


Game commentary from IM Malcolm Pein IM Malcolm Pein writes for the Daily Telegraph.
Kramnik,V (2729) - Bruzon,L (2652) [D52] 37th Olympiad Turin (12), 03.06.2006 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 h6 10.Bh4 0-0 10...c6-c5 is another plan 11.a3 [more dynamic than 11.Bd3 e5 12.0-0 Re8 Threatening e5-e4 played in Alekhine-Bogulyubow WCC 1929] 11...Bxc3 12.bxc3 Qxa3 13.e4 Ne7 [An improvement on 13...N5b6 played in Kramnik - Lobron, Frankfurt 1995 The knight is needed near the king 13...N5b6] 14.Bd3 Ng6 15.Bg3 e5 [15...b6 16.0-0 Bb7 17.e5 c5? (17...Qe7 18.Be4 Rfe8 19.Qd3 Ndf8 20.h4) 18.d5! Bxd5 19.Ra1 Qb3 20.Rfb1] 16.0-0 There is no need to hurry White has the centre and the two bishops 16...Re8 17.Rfe1 Qa5 17...Qe7 18.Qb2 [18.Qc2!?] 18...Qd8 19.Bb1 a5 20.Rcd1 a4 21.Ba2 Blocking the a pawn and threatening the black king 21...Qe7 22.Qc1 Ra5 [The rook proves vulnerable 22...b5 was better 23.h4 exd4 24.Nxd4 (if 24.cxd4 b4 25.h5 Ngf8 26.Qxc6 Ra6 27.Qb5 b3 28.Bb1) 24...Nde5] 23.Qd2 exd4? Losing patience 24.Nxd4 Coming to f5 24...Qc5 [24...Nde5 25.f4; 24...Ndf8 25.Nf5 Qf6 26.Nd6 Rd8 27.f4 and e4-e5] 25.Bc7! Ra8? 26.Bxf7+! Kxf7 27.Qa2+ Kf8 [27...Kf6 loses to 28.Bd8+!! Rxd8 29.Qe6+ Kg5 30.Nf3+ Kf4 (30...Kh5 31.g4#) 31.g3+ Kxf3 32.Rd3+ mates] 28.Ne6+ Rxe6 29.Qxe6 Ne7 30.Re3 [Apparently Bruzon hoped to obtain the position from the previous note after 30.Bd6 Qg5 31.Re3 Ne5 but Kramnik changes the move order nailing the knight to d7 in view of the threat at Rd8] 30...Ke8 31.Rf3 Qh5 32.Bd6 Black resigned as mate is inevitable.[32.Bd6 Qg5 33.Rf7] 1-0


It's Your Move by Chris Ward – In this highly original and instructive test yourself book, Grandmaster Chris Ward presents a selection of carefully chosen puzzles for you to solve. Hot on the heels of his very successful 'It's Your Move' and 'Improvers It's Your Move', comes 'It's Your Move: Tough Puzzles', which this time aims to rack the brains of even the most experienced chess players. Creative Chess Strategy by Alfonso Romero – A Spanish grandmaster explains how creativity can be used to overcome technical obstacles on the chessboard. Once they have obtained an advantage, too many players make the mistake of assuming that the exploitation of this advantage will just be a matter of technique, requiring accuracy but little imagination. Main Line Caro-Kann by Neil McDonald – The Caro Kann has always been one of the most widely played openings among club and tournament players. This handy battle manual deals with the critical main line positions after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4. Highly-regarded author Grandmaster Neil McDonald offers a comprehensive survey of the state of opening theory for both White and Black players, explaining the basic elements, strategies and tactics for both sides. The Petroff by Lasha Janjgava – The Petroff has for a long time been regarded as a very solid defense, while it is quite common for Black to launch an early counterattack, often gambiting a pawn to do so. For many years, the Petroff enjoyed a steady following, with Karpov, Ivanchuk, Timman, Anand and in particular Yusupov among its supporters at the top level. Since 1998, however, the Petroff's popularity has soared, following its adoption by FIDE Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who has played it regularly and considerably reinforced its theoretical standing.

ICC Puzzle Solution

1.Bc4 dxc4 2.Ra1 Kxb5 3.a4#