 GibTelecom Blitz Qualifier Tournament 2009 on ICC!
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The Internet Chess Club (ICC), in conjunction with the Gibtelecom Chess Festival, are offering ICC members a unique opportunity to win a round trip ticket, hotel room, breakfast and an automatic seat to the exclusive 7th Gibtelecom Chess Festival, running January 27 to February 5 2009 at the Caleta Hotel, one of Gibraltar's best hotels.
You will be joined by many of the world's leading Grandmasters, in what is hailed by many as one of the best chess events in the world! This Blitz Tournament Qualifier is open to all ICC members.
The winner of this package will be determined in a two-stage tournament event on ICC. The time control will be 3 0 in the whole tournament. For full details, please click here.
There will be two qualifiers to the knockout finals. You can play in as many qualifiers as you like. All qualifiers will have 11 rounds, swiss pairings. The games are rated in the Blitz category. Latejoining is possible until round 8, but half point byes are only available for the first five rounds.
- Qualifier 1: Saturday, December 13 at 8:00am
- Qualifier 2: Saturday, December 13 at 6:00pm
- Finals: Sunday, December 14 at 1:00pm
All times are server time (EST, New York Time). Type "date" on ICC and compare to your local time.
For more information regarding Gibtelecom 2009, please click here.
Russian Woes and The Oldest Olympian
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Have you read and viewed the latest two entries on Chess.FM's exciting new blog? Svidler on Russian's woes is a 4 min audio interview by Macauley Peterson, as the five-time Russian champion rebuts former World Champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov, who both raised concerns about the present state of the Russian Olympiad Team after failing to win a medal in Dresden.
Also not to be missed is The Oldest Olympian, as Jonathan Hilton talks to Olympiad legend Bill Hook of the British Virgin Islands, who at 83 was playing in his 17th Olympiad. In this 5 min video, Hook talks about his career and his best-selling memoir for New In Chess, Hooked on Chess.
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Anyone can read the blog, but ONLY ICC members can exchange comments. Other features in the blog include Macauley Peterson's video reporting direct from Dresden, where he's given Chess.FM scoops on the Kamsky-Topalov match. There's also audio and video from Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Boris Gelfand (Israel) , Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Boris Spassky (France), Fabiano Caruana (Italy), Varuzhan Akobian (USA), Irina Krush (USA), Alejandro Ramírez Álvarez (Costa Rica), David Smerdon (Australia), Baadur Jobava (Georgia), Wang Hao and Hou Yifan (China), and Georg Meier (Germany).
En Passant - IM Bob Wade OBE (1921-2008)
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ICC was saddened to hear that IM Robert "Bob" Wade OBE, regarded by many as the doyen of British Chess, died last week in London of complications from pneumonia, aged 87.
A three-time New Zealand champion, Bob was born in Dunedin, New Zealand 1921. Early in his career though, he emigrated to the U.K. and became British champion at Chester 1952, and again in 1970 at Coventry. He represented England in seven Olympiads between 1954 and 1972.
From 1969, Bob edited Batsford Chess Books - a famed series known to all that launched a publishing boom for chess material in English across the world. He also had an extensive chess library that was consulted by authors, journalists and top players alike - and he even supplied secret files on Taimanov, Larsen, Petrosian and Spassky for Bobby Fischer, on his road to capturing the world title in 1972 (and also his 1992 rematch with Spassky).
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But arguable his greatest contribution was that in laying the foundations for the English chess explosion, as he and Leonard Barden successfully groomed a stable full of young players to top grandmaster level, resulting in England, during the mid-1980s being the main threat to the Soviet dominance in the game.
Bob was awarded his OBE by the Queen of Gt. Britain for his services to chess in 1979. A couple of Bob's acclaimed books as author include Soviet Chess and (in conjunction with Kevin O'Connell) The Games of Robert J. Fischer. Bob Wade: Tribute to a Chess Master was released last year highlighting his playing career. With a ready quick wit, he was one of the most likable and trusted personalities on the chess scene and will be sadly missed by all in the game.
In a special audio tribute on the Chess.FM blog, Macauley Peterson interviews GM Jon Speelman and IM Malcolm Pein on the life and times of Bob Wade OBE. To listen to this special tribute, click here. A fuller obituary of Bob's outstanding career and service to the game can be found at Mark Crowther's TWIC. Other obituaries come from Malcolm Pein at The Daily Telegraph, Leonard Barden at The Guardian. There's also an interesting 1999 interview with Bob Wade by John Saunders at the British Chess Magazine.
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Mondays: GM Ronen Har-Zvi's
"Unusual Queen Pawn
Openings"
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In his
“New Ideas in....” regular
video series for ICC Chess.FM,
GM Ronen
Har-Zvi investigates
the latest developments and
trends in those downright
annoying and unusual Queen Pawn
openings that avoid the main
battle-lines with 2 c4.
Are you searching for a
quick-fix against the
Colle-Zukertort, Torre Attack,
London System, QB Attack with 2
Bg5, Stonewall Attack or
perhaps the King's Fianchetto
Attack with 1 d4 2 Nf3 3 g3
(without c4)? Then look no
further as Ronen gives you an
easy-to-play antidote to all
those annoying 1 d4
openings.
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 |
Part 6 |
Part 7 |
Part 8 | Part 9 |
Part 10 |
Part 11 |
Part 12 |
Part 13 |
Part 14 |
Part 15
To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
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Tuesdays: Chess Talk with
IM John Watson
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 Tune-in for
Chess Talk with IM John Watson on
ICC Chess.FM. John's weekly
60+ minute show will feature an
interview with leading chess
personalities. All shows run on
demand for members after
airing.
This week (Tue., Dec 2), returning to join IM John Watson on Chess Talk will be IM Malcolm Pein, chess entrepreneur and one of Britain's leading chess journalists. Malcolm writes daily on chess for The Daily Telegraph and each week for The Sunday Telegraph, two of Britain's top national newspapers. He is also Executive Editor and owner of Chess Monthly and Executive Director and proprietor of The London Chess Center. His expert views on the game are often sought for radio and television.
Latest Show Preview:
IM Malcolm Pein 12.02.08
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Wednesdays: Attack with
LarryC!
 New at ICC Chess.FM -
Attack With LarryC! A
weekly 30 min+ show on
Wednesdays at 15:00
EDT (and available on-demand
thereafter for members), featuring
three-time U.S. Champion Larry
Christiansen, one of the most dangerous
and respected attacking players of his
generation.
Larry is a feared
competitor and attacker who authored
two popular books that showcase his
aggressive style: Storming the
Barricades and Rocking the
Ramparts. And each week on his
show, Larry will feature various
attacking motifs and themes and showing
you how best to play for mate.
Click "Play Video" for a
free 5 minute preview of Larry's latest
video. By popular demand from members,
we are now archiving previous
Attack with LarryC shows. This
video is just one of the many benefits
of being a full member of ICC. To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
Thursdays: Ask the
Renaissance Man
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Tune-in
for "Ask the
Renaissance Man" with
National Master Dan
Heisman every Thursday
at 21:00 EDT. You send in the
questions and Dan provides the
answers every week on his
Q&A show. Questions on
tournament rules, opening play,
chess books, chess politics,
current events, and more!
Click "Play
Video" for a free 5 minute
preview of Dan's latest show.
To listen to the full show,
sign up for
membership!
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And this week for
non-members, you can listen to the full
show for free by clicking here. To listen to all the shows in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
Thursdays: Boris Alterman's
Gambit Guide
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In his
weekly video lecture series for
ICC, Boris Alterman's
Gambit Guide, Boris
investigates gambits old and
new and show that, while some
may not be actively played on
the grandmaster circuit these
days, they are all exciting to
play and at the same time
instructive as they teach us
all about natural development
of the pieces and tactics in
chess. GM Boris Alterman has
just opened his official
blog where, among other
things, he'll be discussing
some of his choices for his
Gambit Guide.
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Latest Show
Previews:
Janisch Gambit Ruy Lopez Part I
To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
Israeli GM Boris
Alterman is best known as a
leading chess advisor for the
multi-title winning chess software
program (Deep) Junior, where he
specialized in developing its opening
book.
Fridays: GM Joel Benjamin
"Game of the Week"
 Three-time U.S.
Champion GM Joel
Benjamin starts his weekly
show every Friday at 15:00 Server Time.
Click "Play Video" for a
free 5 minute preview of Joel's latest
show. To listen to the full show,
sign up for
membership!
Joel is regarded
by many as one of the best commentators
and analysts' we have in the game
today, and each Friday he will be
giving us his insight and spin with his
selection of Game of the Week.
This
not-to-be-missed weekly video series is
exclusive for ICC members only. To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today! By popular demand and
requests from members, ALL of Joel Benjamin's
GOTW videos are available.
Enjoy!
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Susan Polgar Mastering the French - Part 1
On this 3 Part DVD series Susan Polgar will share with you her experiences, exciting battles, and won games from the first opening she ever learned at the early age of 4. Although the French can be complex, the main benefit is there are not many long and forceful lines compared to other openings.
Susan will teach you the key to learning the French, to understand the pawn strategies, tactical motifs and basic plans.
So join Susan as well as some of world's elite grandmasters such as Victor Korchnoi, Nigel Short and Alexander Morozevich in playing this fun and exciting opening defense.
Part 1 of 3
Price:
$20.95 -
 Buy
now!
Build Up Your Chess with Artur Yusupov 2 - Beyond the Basics
Renowned chess teacher and grandmaster Artur Yusupov continues his complete course of chess improvement.
Volume 1, The Fundamentals, showed club chess players the basic ideas they should know. Now Volume 2, Beyond the Basics, sets off on the road to mastery.
Yusupov guides the reader towards a higher level of chess understanding using carefully selected positions and advice. This new understanding is then tested by a series of puzzles.
Soft cover, 338 pages.
Price:
$28.95 -
Buy
now!
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Grandmaster Repertoire 1.d4 Volume 1 - Boris Avrukh
Grandmaster Repertoire is a new series of high quality books based on the main lines, written by strong grandmasters. The aim is to provide the reader with a complete repertoire at a level good enough for elite tournaments, and certainly also for the club championship.
1.d4 Volume One covers the openings after 1.d4 d5 2.c4, particularly the Catalan, Queen's Gambit Accepted, Slav, and other Queen's Gambit lines.
Boris Avrukh is a grandmaster from Israel. He is an Olympiad gold medallist, former World Junior Champion and analysis partner of World Championship finalists.
Soft cover, 449 pages.
Price:
$28.95 -
Buy
now!
Beat the KID - Jan Markos
The King's Indian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious and popular replies to 1.d4 so White needs to be well prepared.
Jan Markos shows the way with three seperate repertoires for White. Each of the lines he explains has a different style, ranging from solidly positional to wildly attacking.
Jan Markos is a young grandmaster from Slovakia who has won many international tournaments.
Soft cover, 191 pages.
Price:
$28.95 -
Buy
now!
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