 Topalov
wins M-tel
Cometh the hour, cometh the local hero...
 And that local hero happens to be Veselin Topalov, who, with a trademark fight-
back, won a famous last-gasp victory to snatch the M-Tel Masters title.
After a slow start, Topalov rallied with a valiant
second-half surge to capture his third successive M-Tel Masters title
after he beat Krishnan Sasikiran in a tense, final round clash of the
leaders. Topalov overpowered the unlikely young Indian frontrunner
in a complex position to dramatically take the title with his lowly +1
score of 5.5/10, a half-point ahead of the field.
“My style is very risky so I'm used to losing,” said Topalov
during a live interview on ICC Chess.FM with Macauley Peterson following
his victory. “It's not such a big deal for me. It's not easy to
come back but it's just part of my game.”
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  Take the Ronen Challenge
Friday & Saturday, [20:00 EDT | 02:00 CET]
 Former
world under-16 junior champion GM Ronen Har-Zvi has a reputation of being
one of the toughest simultaneous masters on ICC.
Each Friday and Saturday, at 20:00 EDT, Ronen will take on
30 all- comers (restricted to 2150 Elo or below) in a series of twice weekly
simuls (time control 45 20), with the winners receiving a 3-month membership
extension and going forward to the first grand prize final on Saturday,
26 May 20:00 EDT. Five members - saluki, Zebbile, nevyn, primerpaso and
Ehab - have so far battled their way through to the finals and a chance
of a free 1-year membership extension. Do you have what it takes for the
Ronen Challenge?
Read
the full announcement
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 John Watson Chess & Book Show
Tuesdays [21:00 EDT | 03:00 CET]
 New
on ICC Chess.FM! Tune-in
for The John Watson Chess & Book Show on Tuesday, 29 May at 21:00 Server
Time.
Each week, John's 90-minute show
will be reviewing all the latest titles and discussing
books with his guests.
Two-time U.S. Women's champion,
WGM Jennifer Shahade, author of the eye-opening and
enlightening tome Chess Bitch, and Web Editor for
www.uschess.org, will be John Watson's guest on the
show this week.
This show will be made available
for 7-days ONDemand for members.
Chess
FM page on our website
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Position after 31...Kh6 |
Topalov,Veselin (2772) - Sasikiran,Krishnan
(2690) [E52]
MTel Sofia BUL 2007
This position came from what ultimately proved
to be the decisive game of the M-tel tournament. The Indian GM
Sasikiran had been leading for the last few rounds, and here, in
the final round, he led his opponent, Topalov, by a half point
- so he needed just a draw to secure clear first place. 32.Nxh5!? Typical
fighting chess from Topalov, who, with this highly unclear sacrifice,
tries to "mix it" in an all-out effort to win. 32...gxh5
33.Qg8! f5! To bring the queen to g7 34.Ng3 Ng7 Sasikiran
keeps defending very well [34...Qxe3+? 35.Kh2
Qxd3 (35...Ng7 allows mate in 3 after 36.Nxf5+ Nxf5
37.Qxf8+ and 38.Bxf5#) 36.Qh8+ Kg6 37.Qxh5+ Kg7 38.Nxf5+
Kf6 39.Qxe8+/-] 35.Bxf5 Ng6! 36.Bxg6 Kxg6 37.Nxh5 Qxe3+
38.Kh2
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Position after: 38.Kh2 |
As a direct consequence of his good defensive
play, Sasikiran is about to secure a draw that would have guaranteed
him a well deserved first place in this elite event. 38...Qe7?? A
tragic time trouble collapse! [The only safe route was 38...Qxd4!
39.Kg3 threatening 40.Nf4+ winning 39...Kh6! the move Sasikiran
missed! 40.Qh8+ Kg6 41.Qg8 (41.Nf4+? Kf7
42.Qb8 Nf5+ 43.Kg4 Ne3+-/+) 41...Kh6 when it seems that
White has nothing better than to accept the draw by repetition.] 39.Nf4+
Kf6 [39...Kf5? 40.Qh7+! Kxf4 41.Qh6+! Kf5 42.g4#] 40.g4 [40.h5!
looked stronger] 40...Qf7 41.Qd8+ Qe7 42.Qg8 [42.Qxb6
was probably possible, but, with his king so open, it's only
natural for Topalov to stay closer to where the action is rather
than divert his queen so far away.] 42...Qf7
43.Qd8+ [43.Qh7!?] 43...Qe7 44.Qxe7+Topalov
seizes his chance to play for a clearly superior endgame 44...Kxe7
45.Kg3 Ne6 46.Nxe6 Kxe6 47.f4 Bc8 48.f5+ Kf7 49.h5! Bd7 50.h6
Kg8 51.Kf4 Be8 52.Kg5! Kf7 53.h7 Kg7 54.h8Q+ Kxh8 55.Kf6 Bxb5
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Position after: 55...Bxb5 |
White can now take the bishop and win by
simply playing 56.axb5 a4 57.Kf7 a3 58.g5 a2 59.g6 a1Q 60.g7+
Kh7 61.g8Q+ Kh6 62.Qg6#. Topalov choses a more elegant continuation.
56.Ke7!
Bd3 57.f6 Bg6 58.f7 Bxf7 59.Kxf7
1-0
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  Tomato’s
300,000th Tourney Celebration Recap!
  The
exciting 15 round 3 0 Blitz celebration was won by INDIAN-ELEPHANT
(IM) with an impressive score of 13.5/15. He won
the all-important matchup against runner-up manest (IM) in
round 9 to take a lead he never surrendered the rest of the way. He
also collected the $130 first prize! Manest grabbed the $90 second
prize with a score of 12/15. MaestroASK (IM) managed
the same score as manest, but because of ties he settled for the
$70 third prize. VerdeNotte (IM) took fourth
place with a score of 11.5/15 and won $60. Olegsfo finished
in fifth place with a score of 11/15 and won the $50 cash prize! Congratulations
to all the winners and thanks to the more than 300 players who
showed up to celebrate 300k tourneys and counting.
3 3 Blitz Championships Coming! From
June 9th -14th, qualifiers will be held for the 2007 3 3 Championships! All
qualifiers will be 9 round swiss tourneys. The top 5 finishers
in each qualifier will join last year’s champion, dsc,
and the top 3 overall scorers who didn’t otherwise qualify
in this year’s final! There is also an u2000 section,
so come take your best shot and see if you can be this years 3
3 champion! Qualifier times are posted at the following website: |
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LittlePeasant
(GM) Challenge!
Have
you ever played a GM in bullet chess? Well, here’s
your chance to take on one of the best! LittlePeasant (ICC
best of 2638 in bullet) is ready to take your best shot. Every
Thursday at 15:00 server time, he joins a 9 round 1 0 swiss tournament
in flash designed for only one purpose: to give
you a chance to play a GM! Don’t miss out on your opportunity… see
you Thursday!
 Tourney
Tip of the Week: Bettingbot!
Bettingbot is a strictly for fun (no money involved)
betting service on ICC that allows you to bet on your favorite players
in all the ICC tourneys. Other events are even featured from time
to time, such as horse races, tennis events, playoffs of major sports,
and many other great events. Many ICC members enjoy the fun of Bettingbot,
so why not give it a try and further enhance your ICC tournament enjoyment? More
details at “help bettingbot” and “finger bettingbot”. Also
ask in channel 280 if you need assistance!
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 37th
Bosna tournament, now underway.
  The
traditional 37th Bosna tournament is taking place May 18th-28th
2007 in Sarajevo.
Double round robin with:
Alexander Morozevich (RUS 2762) Nigel Short (ENG 2691) Artyom
Timofeev (RUS 2658) Ivan Sokolov (NED
2655) Sergei Movsesian (SVK 2642) Borki Predojevic (BIH 2609)
Visit the official
website of the event. |
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FIDE Candidate matches
  16 strong grandmasters will compete for 4 spots in the next World Championship.
The Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Championship Tournament will take place in Elista, 26 May - 14 June 2007. The prize fund for each match of both rounds will be $40,000. The FIDE president will personally contribute $320,000 towards the total prize fund and a further $160,000 will be contributed by FIDE.
Visit the official
website of the candidate matches.
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How
to Defend in Chess - Colin Crouch
 Many
books discuss how to attack in chess, but good, resourceful defensive
play is also a vital ingredient in competitive success. However,
this is an area largely neglected in the literature of the game.
This book fills the gap admirably, by explaining the basics of defending
against direct offensives, and taking an in-depth look at how the
all-time greats have fended off their opponents' attacks.. Read
more
224 pages, Published by Gambit
Price $23.95 - Buy
now!
Philidor, The: A Secret Weapon - Christian Seel
 In
this updated English edition, Christian Seel presents a complete
repertoire against 1.e4 based on the Antoshin Variation (1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7) of the Philidor Defence.
Underestimated for a long time, this line is now a solid component
in the repertoire of world-class GMs such as Aronian, Nisipeanu and
Bacrot. Seel sets out the latest state of play in all important lines,
with thorough strategic and tactical explanations and is not afraid
to betray some of the secrets from his own analysis lab. Read
more
Price $31.95 - Buy
now!
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Starting
Out: The Colle - Richard Palliser
 This
book is a further addition to Everymans best-selling Starting Out
series, which has been acclaimed for its original approach to tackling
chess openings. International Master Richard Palliser examines the
fundamentals of the Colle, elaborating on the crucial early moves
and ideas for both sides in a way that is often neglected in other
texts. The reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes,
tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the Colle
and of opening play in general. Read
more
192 pages, Published by Everyman
Price $22.95 - Buy now!
Kasparov’s Sicilian Strategies - Raymond Keene
 In
this book Grandmaster Raymond Keene selects 39 critical examples
of Kasparov’s use of the Sicilian defence in top level competition.
He explains the strategy behind the opening and analyses the critical
variations in such a way as to allow the reader to build up a Sicilian
repertoire and develop it into a deadly arsenal for personal use.
The Grandmaster author takes special care to explain the ideas behind
the moves, in the belief that comprehension of the themes of a chess
opening will be of more value to the reader than memorisation of
reams of moves by rote. Read
more
Published by Hardinge Simpole
Price $28.95 - Buy
now!
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