LIVE: Essent Chess Tournament

The 10th edition of the Essent Chess Tournament will take place from October 22nd - 28th. The tournament us played in the Dutch city, Hoogeveen, Netherland, and there are several competitions: a Crown Group (main event), a strong Essent Open, an Amateur Tournament, and other interesting competitions.

The players in this year's event are top-level GMs: Veselin Topalov, Judit Polgar (best female player), Ivan Sokolov and Shakhryar Mamedyarov (best junior). They will play a double round robin tournament. All the games are played with special glass pieces.

The rate of play for the Open is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 1 hour extra time for the completion of the game. October, 25th is a Rest Day.

Webcam-1 at the Play hall

Already 90 players have registered in the Essent Open, which features a first prize of 3.000 euros. The minimum rating for this event is 2100. The rate of play for the Open is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 1 hour extra time for the completion of the game.

The main highlights of the event will be to see how Veselin Topalov performs after losing the World Championship against Kramnik, and also the reappearance of Judith Polgar after some time of inactivity.

The ICC will be having live relay and Webcast coverage of the Essent Chess Tournament 2006.

• ICC web page of Essent 2006.
• ICC Webcast schedule.
• For more information visit the official site.

LIVE: Magistral Ciutat de Barcelona 2006

 The ICC will be have live relay and Webcast coverage of the Magistral "Ciutat de Barcelona" 2006. The tournament takes place from October 19th-27th in Barcelona, Spain. Some of the GMs participants are: Ivanchuk, Timman, L. Domínguez, Granda and Korneev.

• ICC LIVE COVERAGE page of Ciutat de Barcelona 2006.
• For more information visit the official site.

Halloween "Horror Double Bill" on the ICC!

 Celebrating Halloween, ICC presents two special Thematic tournaments: On October 26th, 9pm server time, we will take a look at the "Halloween Gambit" (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5!?). And the following week, on November 2nd, 9pm, you will have the chance to examine the "Frankenstein-Dracula variation" (1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. Nb5 g6 7. Qf3 f5 8. Qd5 Qe7 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8).

Both thematic tournaments have a time control of 15 0 and will have 4 to 5 rounds, depending on number of participants, swiss pairings. To play, log in before 9pm on either day, and do "tell slomato join". Enjoy!

• For more information about Thematic tournaments, visit our help page.

U.T. DALLAS versus BELGRADE [7.5-8.5]

This Internet chess match represents a matching of wits of one of the youngest universities in the State of Texas against the venerable 200 year-old University of Belgrade in Serbia. The event was celebrated on the ICC.

• ICC LIVE COVERAGE page of U.T.DALLAS versus BELGRADE.
• Download the games of the Match in PGN.
• For more information visit the The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Chess Program.

The Game of The Century - 50 YEARS ON

by John B. Henderson

FIFTY years ago this week, a game played by an unknown 13-year old boy from Brooklyn shot across the globe that was to literally take the chess world by storm – and to this day, it is regarded as being one of the most iconic games ever played.

The boy in question was, of course, none other than Robert James “Bobby” Fischer, and the sheer brilliance of his stunning sacrificial victory over the highly-experienced Donald Byrne, played at the Lesson J. Rosenwald Memorial in New York City, led to the game being immediately hailed by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review as “The Game of the Century”.

It was a breath-taking game that established Fischer as one of the great prodigies of all time, and it was a game that signaled the start of his meteoric rise in the game. And, such was its impact, the game even featured prominently in leading Soviet chess magazines of the day; with Russian patriarch Mikhail Botvinnik, after seeing the game, being reported to have said: “We’ll have to start keeping an eye on this boy.” The “Fischer file” was thus opened by the Soviets with the rest, as they say, being history.

One mystery surrounding the game asked by many fans is why it didn’t feature in Fischer’s timeless tome My 60 Memorable Games (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1969). The reason is simple. Bobby published the game in Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1959); an early collection of 34 lightly-annotated games that concluded with his famous win over Donald Byrne – My 60 Memorable Games only covered a 10-year period from 1957 to 1967.

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 d4 0–0 5 Bf4 d5 6 Qb3 dxc4 7 Qxc4 c6 8 e4 Nbd7 9 Rd1 Nb6 10 Qc5 Bg4 11 Bg5? The start of Byrne's sensational demise, according to many annotators - but how was he to know what was to come from one so young?

Position after 11. Bg5?

11... Na4!! From a seemingly innocuous position, suddenly Fischer produces a thunderbolt out of the blue that was described by three-time British champion Jonathan Rowson, in his book Understanding The Grünfeld, as, "One of the most powerful chess moves of all time." It was to prove to be the precursor to an even more spectacular queen sacrifice on move 17 that overnight brought Fischer world-wide fame.

12 Qa3 12 Nxa4 Nxe4 wins by force, e.g. 13 Qxe7 Qa5+ 14 Nc3 Nxc3 15 bxc3 Rfe8. 12 ..Nxc3 13 bxc3 Nxe4! 14 Bxe7 Qb6!

15 Bc4! To his credit, Byrne keeps his wits about him and finds the most active defence to the myriad of threats and pins. The alternative doesn't offer any resistance: 15 Bxf8 Bxf8 16 Qb3 Nxc3! 17 Qxb6 axb6 18 Ra1 (No better is 18 Rd2 Bb4 19 Rb2 Ba5) 18 ..Bxf3 19 gxf3 Ba3 20 Kd2 Bb2 21 Re1 Nd5 and White is doomed in the ending.

Position after 15. Bc4!

15... Nxc3 16 Bc5 Rfe8+ 17 Kf1

Position after 17. Kf1

17... Be6!!! The shot that was heard around the world - the move that announced Fischer was the real deal and a World Champion in the making. To have the chutzpah to play such a move from one so young, he would have had to have foreseen the Queen sacrifice from as far back as move 11. Ruben Fine liked this move so much he gave it an unheard of FOUR exclamation points in his book The World's Great Chess Games.

18 Bxb6 18 Qxc3 Qxc5! exploits even more pins. But the crux of the position is the threat of the forced Philidor smothered mate with 18 Bxe6 Qb5+ 19 Kg1 Ne2+ 20 Kf1 Ng3+ 21 Kg1 Qf1+ 22 Rxf1 Ne2#. 18... Bxc4+ 19 Kg1 Ne2+ 20 Kf1 Nxd4+ 21 Kg1 Ne2+ 22 Kf1 Nc3+ 23 Kg1 axb6 24 Qb4 Ra4 25 Qxb6 Nxd1 26 h3 Rxa2 27 Kh2 Nxf2 The hard graft is done, and now watch how Fischer supremely orchestrates his pieces to work in unison - a sign of good technique and a portent of greater things to come from the 13-year old.

Position after 27... Nf2

28 Re1 Rxe1 29 Qd8+ Bf8 30 Nxe1 Bd5 31 Nf3 Ne4 32 Qb8 b5 33 h4 h5 34 Ne5 Kg7 35 Kg1 Bc5+ 36 Kf1 Ng3+ 37 Ke1 Bb4+ 38 Kd1 Bb3+ 39 Kc1 Ne2+ 40 Kb1 Nc3+ 41 Kc1 Rc2# 0–1

ICC Quiz #929
submitted by Breaker

White mates in 2

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 929
Then type: play trainingbot

ICC Quiz #933
submitted by Presumptuous

White mates in 2

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 933
Then type: play trainingbot

Official DVD of the Chess Olympiad Turin 2006

The Organising Committee has immortalised the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin from 20 May to 4 June. Throughout the fortnight a professional camera team produced footage of what was going on and most of this has never been seen before.

  Price $27.00 - Buy now!

Roman's Lab - 36 DVDs

In each DVD, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili discusses topics such as how to avoid and create opening traps, searching for novelties and the advantages and drawbacks of a sharp repertoire. This DVD serie is by far the best ever made to teach absolute beginners how to play the world's greatest game.

  List $700.00 - Our Price $500.00 - Buy now!

Modern Morra Gambit - Hannes Langrock

Attack the Sicilian Defense aggressively with the Morra Gambit. Starting with 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3, it is well suited for players striving for tactical and uncompromising play, as White’s better development often leads to a dangerous initiative.

  Price $24.95 - Buy now!

Learning Chess the Easy Way - Susan Polgar

This DVD is by far the best ever made to teach absolute beginners how to play the world's greatest game. Susan Polgar with the aid of great graphics and animation will teach you how to play the world's most prestigious game.

  Price $24.95 - Buy now!

Petrosian vs the Elite - Keene and Simpole

Raymond Keene, Britain’s senior grandmaster, believes that chess history has been unfair to world champion Tigran Petrosian, whose brilliantly subtle style of play and long record of tournament successes were unjustly overshadowed by the much-publicized career of Bobby Fischer.

  Price $20.95 - Buy now!

Carpathian Warrior - Lalic & Okhotnik

A new series dedicated to aquainting readers with new discoveries in opening theory. The first volume is devoted to the Philidor and Pirc and is unique in that the authors outline a new, ultra-aggressive systems; called the 'Left-Hook' based on the Austrian Attack: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.a3!?

  Price $38.95 - Buy now!

Solution to ICC Quiz #929
submitted by Breaker

1. Ne7+! Kh8; 2. Ng6+ #

Solution to ICC Quiz #933
submitted by Presumptuous

1. Rh5! gxh5; (1...Qxe7; 2. Qxh7 #) 2. Qf6+ #