ICC Newsletter - Friday, July 21, 2006

Vol I Issue XXX - July 21, 2006

Bareev Coming Up Short At Canadian Open

The Canadian Open began in Kitchener, Ontario Canada this past week with players from Israel, India, Russia, Cuba, the United States and many more. This tournament is an internationally renowned event that attracts grandmasters from around the world as well as Canada's top chess players. The entire event lasts for two weeks and includes many festive chess events as well as the Canadian Junior Championship.

The top seeded player at this year's event is the chess superstar GM Evgeny Bareev (RUS 2683). However, after six rounds, Bareev is having a tougher tournament than expected currently placed in 10th spot. The 24th ranked player in the world has four wins and two losses giving him 4.0 points out of 6. In round five, the current leader in the event GM Walter Arencibia (CUB 2535), defeated Bareev playing a beautiful game in which he held on to the Bishop pair all the way to the endgame. The two bishops proved to be too strong for Bareev. Arencibia now has five wins, one draw, and no losses giving him an excellent score of 5.5 out of 6.

Close behind is GM Alexander Huzman (ISR 2585) and GM Abhijit Kunte (IND 2535), both have 5.0 points out of 6.

In this year's open event 89 players have gathered to fight for the first place prize of $6000. Of the 89 players there are seven GMs, 10 IMs, seven FMs, one WGM, and one WFM.

Standings After Round 6

#   Name                       Rtng  St    Tot
1   GM Walter Arencibia        2535  CUB   5.5
2   GM Alexander Huzman        2585  ISR   5.0
3   GM Abhijit Kunte           2535  IND   5.0
4   IM Fidel Corrales          2492  CUB   5.0
5   IM Tomas Krnan             2399  CAN   5.0
6   GM Alexander Moiseenko     2649  UKR   4.5
7   IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon  2437  CAN   4.5
8   GM Hans Joachim Hecht      2394  GER   4.5
9   Nikolay Noritsyn           2354  CAN   4.5
10  GM Evgeny Bareev           2683  RUS   4.0

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.

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

Join the World's Top Players in the FIDE World Blitz Championship!

Have you ever wanted to be invited to play in the World Blitz Championship? Now is your chance! The Internet Chess Club is proud to be a sponsor of the upcoming FIDE World Blitz Championship alongside the Israel Chess Federation and FIDE. ICC will be hosting two qualifying tournaments, then playoffs, in which the best players will win two of only sixteen seats at this year's World Blitz Championship in Rishon Lezion, Israel. The winners will get to play against Anand, Leko, Svidler, Gelfand, Morozevich, Judit Polgar and several other of the top players in the world! ICC will also be crowning its own ICC World Blitz Champions, including class champions, where winners will be awarded valuable prizes and trophies! Besides an open section where seats in Israel's FIDE event are won, we will have class sections for U2200, U2000, U1800, and U1600. It's the largest prize tournament ever held on ICC. It's time to get your game on! Details, prizes, and rules will be announced soon.

Visit the FIDE World Blitz Championship website.

White to mate in two

Problem #438 **
submitted by Llywyllyn

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 438

Then type:
play trainingbot

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Starting Out: 1 e4 $22.95 - by Neil McDonald
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Meran System by Pedersen – The Meran (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3) . Contains 11 chapters on The Meran System with further 11 chapters on the Anti-Meran, making it ideal for players seeking to win with either colour. Ruy Lopez Explained by Gary Lane – In this lively instructor, Gary Lane provides back-to-basics information on how to gain an advantage from the opening, presenting the key ideas in a clear and easy-to-follow way. In this book you will find: basic elements and strategies, typical tactical motifs, logical middlegame plans and illustrative games with full commentary. Concise Chess Openings by Neil McDonald – Learning new chess openings can be an arduous task, even for seasoned players, never mind those with less experience. Finding the right openings to suit your style can be a very time-consuming task. In Concise Chess Openings, Grandmaster Neil McDonald provides the reader with a reliable and up-to-date reference work. Catastrophe in the Opening by James Plaskett – There are not too many feelings more satisfying in chess than winning very quickly by cleverly snaring your opponent in an opening trap. Conversely, all chess players, even budding World Champions, have experienced the utter humiliation of losing in exactly the same manner!

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


GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz Dies at 43
GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz passed away Friday, July 14, 2006 at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland due to liver problems. At the age of 43 Wojtkiewicz was one of the top players in the United States ranked 18th in the June 2006 rating list. "Wojo", as he was called by many of his friends and fans in the chess community, had just come off of a hot streak finishing first place in the last five tournaments he played in including the recent World Open in which he shared first place with 7.0 points.
GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz: 1963-2006
Born in Latvia on January 15, 1963, Wojo learned chess early on, becoming a master level player in his mid teens. He worked with and challenged some of the top players in the world. In 1986 his chess career was put on hold as he served a year and a half prison sentence in the Soviet Union for refusing to join the Soviet Army. Upon release in late 1987, Wojo moved to Poland and became a grandmaster in 1989. He went on to win the Polish Chess Championship two times (1989 and 1995). In the late 1990's Wojo decided to moved to the United States. Between 1998 and his death this past week, Aleksander left a mark on American chess that will not be forgotten. He played in 638 US rated events. He won countless tournaments, including the 1999 World Championship in Las Vegas. Wojo also won the $10,000 American prize for most Grand Prix points six consecutive times. Wojo's handle on the ICC was "happensreels". He was an active player on the ICC. In 2000 he won ICC's Oz.com sponsored online tournament, that included 64 grandmasters. Aleksander is survived by his son Josef and mother Tamara. He will be buried in Latvia next to his father.


Norwegian Championship Ends in a Tie With only one round to go and only a draw needed, GM Magnus Carlsen was sure to be crowned Norwegian Champion for the first time. However, it wasn't meant to be. In the final round of the Norwegian Championships Carlsen took on seven-time Norwegian Champion and 2004 winner GM Berge Østenstad, rated 200 points lower than the 15-year-old superstar. Magnus was fearless in the last round as he had won the Norwegian Blitz Championship the day before with the outstanding score of 18/19. However, against the skilled Østenstad the dubious piece sacrifice proved to be fatal, as Magnus got nothing but a bad position in the middle game that eventually proved to be lost. The young Norwegian lost on move 56, while Agdestein somewhat luckily beat 11th place holder FM Øystein Hole in a drawn position securing a tie with Carlsen. For the second year in a row, there will now be a playoff for the title. According to the tournament rules, this match will take place within two months. Download all of the games played in the tournament and visit the official home page.

Reminder: Kramnik Simul On Tuesday, July 25, 12:00 EDT, GM Vladimir Kramnik will hold a simultaneous exhibition on the 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. Read up on all the details of this exciting event coming to the ICC!

Reminder: II UPI Championship Don't forget the ICC will be presenting the second edition of the UPI Championship, sponsored by the Spanish computer shop "Tiendas UPI" (Professional Computer Union). 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. Read the full details on this fantastic tournament.

ICC Podcast and ChessWatch Have you tuned in to the weekly ICC Podcast? Each week Gene Venable offers up a new Podcast available on the ICC web site for your listening enjoyment. Each Podcast presents the week's latest chess news, gossip, stories, and more. The ICC Podcast can be downloaded via Mp3 or downloaded to your iPod or iTunes. Along with the ICC Podcast Gene Venable also offers his regular column ChessWatch which is updated regularly throughout the week. ChessWatch brings you interesting insight on chess tid-bits that are happening around the globe. You can enjoy both the ICC Podcast and ChessWatch on the ChessWatch home page located on the ICC's web site.

Live Coverage: Biel International Chess Festival The ICC will be having live relay coverage of the Biel International Chess Festival taking place in Biel, Switzerland July 24th through August 3rd. Playing in this tournament will be GM Alexander Morozevich (RUS 2731), GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE 2728), GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR 2675), GM Lazaro Bruzon (CUB 2667), GM Andrei Volokitin (UKR 2662), and GM Yannick Pelletier (SUI 2583). Live coverage will begin at 08:00 EDT, except for the last round which will start at 04:00 EDT. You can get more details on ICC's coverage of the event on the ICC tournament page and the tournament's official web site.

Live Coverage: Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting The ICC will be having live relay and live audio coverage of the Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting taking place in Dortmund, Germany between July 29th and August 6th. You'll be able to watch the games as they are played live and listen to expert commentary from some of your favorite masters as the games are happening. Live coverage will begin at 09:00 EDT, except for the last round which will begin at 07:00 EDT. Players in this event will be: GM Levon Aronian (Armenia 2761) GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russia 2743) GM Peter Svidler (Russia 2742) GM Peter Leko (Hungary 2738) GM Michael Adams (England 2732) GM Boris Gelfand (Israel 2729) GM Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany 2664) GM Baadur Jobava (Georgia 2651) 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.
Charbonneau,P (2510) - Anand,V (2803) [B44] 37th Olympiad Turin ITA (12), 03.06.2006 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 This line of the Sicilian leads to an acceptable Hedgehog formation.White loses many tempi with his knight which moves 6 times before finding a good square. 8...Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.Bf4 Bb7 12.Qd2 Ne5 13.f3 Qc7 14.Rac1 Rac8 15.Rfd1 Qb8 16.Kh1 Rfe8 Black's problem, particularly because being rated 300 points higher he wanted to win, is that White can prevent d6-d5 and b6-b5 and just await events if he wants indefinitely 17.Bf1 Kh8 18.Be3 Ba8 19.Bg1 Rg8 20.Qe3 One of the most effective ways of trampling on a Hedgehog is to pressure b6 and then prepare a gradual queenside push 20...Ned7 21.Nab1 g5 This plan was used by Bobby Fischer in a famous game played against Ulf Andersson in 1970 however Ulf had no play on the queenside. 22.Nd2 Bd8 23.b4 Bc7 24.Qe1 Rg6 25.Bd3 Ne5 26.Be2 Rcg8 [26...d5 27.cxd5 exd5 28.Bxa6] 27.Be3 Rh6 [27...Nh5 28.g3 Rh6] 28.Nf1 Rgg6 29.Qd2 Qg8 Abandoning the queenside 30.a4 Bb7 31.c5 dxc5 32.bxc5 bxc5 33.Rb1 Bc6 34.Bxc5 a6 is falling 34...g4 Without this move Black's play makes no sense but it fails 35.f4 g3 [35...Ned7 36.Be3 Ba5 37.f5 Nxe4 38.Qc1 Nxc3 39.fxg6 Nxe2 40.Qxc6] 36.fxe5 Nxe4 37.Nxe4 Bxe4 38.Bd3 Bxg2+ [38...Bxd3 39.Qxd3 gxh2 40.Ne3 wins] 39.Qxg2 gxh2 40.Bxg6 Rxg6 41.Ng3 [41.Qxh2?? Qa8+; 41.Qf3 Rg1+ 42.Kxh2 Bxe5+ 43.Kh3 Rg6 44.Rb4 also wins but is too scary for a human.] 41...Rxg3 42.Qe4 Rg4 43.Be7! [43.Be7 Rxe4 44.Bf6+ Qg7 45.Rb8+ Bxb8 46.Rd8#] 1-0

ICC Puzzle Solution

1.Qg4+ fxg4 2. Bf7#