ICC Newsletter - Friday, July 14, 2006

Vol I Issue XXIX - July 14, 2006

Super-Magnus (15) Set to Become Norwegian Champion

With one round to go in the Norwegian Championship, taking place in the town of Moss one hour south of the capital Oslo, 15 year old prodigy GM Magnus Carlsen (2675) is on his way to becoming Norway's youngest national champion ever. Beating 3rd ranked GM Rune Djurhuus (2462) in round 8, he is now a full point ahead of his main rival and former trainer, GM Simen Agdestein (2575) before the 9th and last round Saturday 04:00 EDT (4:00 AM ICC time).

Agdestein, who holds the current record for becoming the youngest national champion at the age of 15, was defeated by Carlsen in round 7 in a very interesting game in the French Defence where Agdestein's exposed king was the decisive factor.

The 15 year old has now secured at least a playoff as he is one point ahead of Agdestein. However, he is surely interested in clinching the title once and for all. He lost the playoff in 2004 to tomorrow's round 9 opponent GM Berge Østenstad (2480) and Agdestein in 2005.

Standings After Round 8

1      7.0  Carlsen
2      6.0  Agdestein
3      5.0  Djurhuus Sahl Østenstad
4-10   4.5  Bae Johannessen S.Gabrielsen

The ICC is having 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 (Norwegian).

You can also download all of the games played in the tournament.

White to mate in two

Problem #337 **
submitted by thepeopleschump

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 337

Then type:
play trainingbot

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


Kramnik to Hold a Simul on ICC!
On Tuesday, July 25, 12:00 EDT, GM Vladimir Kramnik will hold a simultaneous exhibition on ICC. Because of the huge demand for seats, we will hold a tournament to determine the players who can take part. There will be several rating sections, so everyone will have a chance.
GM Vladimir Kramnik
The tournament is open to all non-titled players rated below 2200 Blitz on ICC. 9 Rounds 3 0, Swiss pairings, will be played. The tournament will start on Sunday, July 23, at 13:00 EDT. To play, show up some minutes before 13:00 EDT, and type "tell pear join" or use the entry in the Event list. In the tourney, all ratings will play together, but the winners of seats will be determined in four rating sections: U2200, U2000, U1800 and U1600. The first three in each section will receive a seat. If there are ties, the usual Tomato tie-breaks will be used (see "tell tomato help tie" on ICC). You can get more details on this event on the official Kramnik simul home page


II UPI Championship The Internet Chess Club presents the second edition of the UPI Championship, sponsored by the Spanish computer shop "Tiendas UPI" (Professional Computer Union). This is a human tournament. There will be eight qualifier tournaments, every Saturday at 15:00 EDT. These qualifier tournaments will be 9-round Swisses. The playing rate will be 3/1 (3 minutes per game with a 1-second increment after each move). The dates are: July 22nd and 29th, August 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th, September 2nd and 9th. The eight winners of the Swisses will progress to the KO (elimination) final stage which will be held on Saturday September 16th at 15:00 ICC server time. Prizes: The absolute winner will receive an exclusive Tiendas UPI laptop computer along with 1.000 euros in cash. In addition, ICC and CET (Chess Education and Technologies) are awarding membership extensions and Weekly Internet lessons (English or Spanish) for the winners of the following three rating sections (most accumulated points in all qualifiers). Under 2300 Section/Under 2000 Section/Under 1700 section: 1st: One year ICC + one year Weekly Internet lessons 2nd: Six months ICC + six months Weekly Internet lessons 3rd: Six months ICC + six months Weekly Internet lessons 4th: Three months ICC + three months Weekly Internet lessons 5th: Three months ICC + three months Weekly Internet lessons In addition ICC will raffle 12 six-month membership extensions between all members who finish at least one qualifier. You can get more details on this event on the official II UPI Computer Shop Championship page.

Live Coverage: Canadian Open The ICC will be having live coverage of the Canadian Open taking place in Ontario, Canada between July 15th and July 23rd. Titled players include GM Evgeny Bareev (RUS 2683), GM Alexander Moiseenko (UKR 2649), GM Mark Paragua (PHI 2604), GM Alexander Huzman (ISR 2585), GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE 2561), GM Mark Bluvshtein (CAN 2541), GM Walter Arencibia (CUB 2539), GM Abhijit Kunte (IND 2535), IM Fidel Corrales (CUB 2492), and IM Jesse Kraai (USA 2473). Times controls for this event are 150 30. Coverage Times: Round 1 14:00 EDT Saturday July 15 Round 2-9 18:00 EDT Sunday July 16 - July 23rd You can get more details on ICC's coverage of the event on the ICC tournament page and the tournament's official web site.


Game commentary from IM Malcolm Pein IM Malcolm Pein writes for the Daily Telegraph.
Shirov,A (2699) - Karjakin,S (2661) [E15] Aerosvit GM Foros UKR (3), 19.06.2006 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 Black loses a tempt to put the White bishop on a bad square 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Defending c4 and unmasking the Bg2 9...Nfd7 Necessary to shift the annoying knight, Nbd7 would lose the c6 pawn 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 b5 14.Re1 dxe4 15.Nxe4 bxc4 16.Qe2 Rb8 [16...c5 In round one Karjakin lost to Bologan after 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Rxc5 19.b4 Rb5 20.Rad1 Qc7 21.a4 and the rook had not good retreat because 21...Rbb8 (21...Rb6 22.Qg4 g6 23.b5 Bb7 24.Qd4 f6 25.Qd7 Qxd7 26.Rxd7 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 Bc5 28.Rc7 Ba3 29.Rxa7 with connected passed pawns) 22.Be5] 17.Bf1 Bb4 [17...Nb6 18.Nc5 Qc8 (18...Bxc5 19.dxc5 Nd5 20.Be5 Rb4 21.bxc4 with a huge advantage because if 21...Bxc4 22.Qg4 f6 23.Qxe6+ Rf7 24.Bc3) 19.Nxa6 Qxa6 20.bxc4] 18.Qd2 Qa5 19.Bxb4 Qxb4 20.Qf4! Rbd8 21.Rab1! Qa3 [21...Qb6 was safer, attacking d4 and if 22.Qe3 c3 but not(22...cxb3 23.Rxb3 Bb5 24.a4) ] 22.bxc4 Nb6 23.Rbc1 Qa5 [23...Qxa2?? 24.Ra1 Qb3 25.Rxa6] 24.Nc5 Now White's minor pieces dominate his pawns are secure and the black queen becomes short of squares 24...Nd7 25.Nb3! Qxa2 [25...Qb6 26.c5 Qb7 27.Na5 Qc8 28.Bg2 Bb5 29.a4 Bxa4 30.d5!] 26.Qe3! Rb8 27.Nd2! There is no defence to Ra1 and Reb1 27...c5 desperation 28.Ra1 Qb2 29.Rxa6 cxd4 30.Qe2 d3 31.Qe3 [31.Qxd3?? Nc5] 31...Ne5 32.Qxe5 Qxd2 33.Qe3 Qxe3 34.Rxe3 d2 35.Rd3 [35.Rd3 Rfd8 36.Rad6] 1-0

ICC Puzzle Solution

1.Qxd6+ Ke8 2.Qe7#