 New Year, New Tournament
We ring in 2009 with a new tournament on the international calendar, as the Aker Chess Challenge (the main event of the Gjovik International Festival) runs January 2-5, in Gjovik, Norway.
The four superstars in action for this inaugural event include: Local hero Magnus Carlsen, five-time Russian champion Peter Svidler, American ace Hikaru Nakamura, and Kjetil Lie of Norway.
The rapid contest - similar in format to the Mainz Classic, with a double round tournament followed by final and bronze finals - is part of a larger chess festival, held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Gjovik chess club.
Chess.FM's Macauley Peterson is in Gjovik to cover the event for ICC - and you can find his video reports soon at the Chess.FM Blog. ICC also has live relay of all the action, with rounds starting at 7:15AM and 8:45AM ET. For further details of ICC coverage, click here. The official Gjovik site can be found here.
En Passant: IM Mark Diesen (1957-2008)
|
ICC was saddened to hear that IM Mark Diesen died suddenly prior to Christmas, aged 51, in Conroe, Texas. A former native of Buffalo, New York, Mark was a World Junior Chess Champion in 1976, the US Junior Co-Champion, the Louisiana State Champion in 1986, 1987, 1988, Texas State Champion, Southwestern Open Champion, and an active chess coach in Houston. He was active here also on ICC under the username "Diesen", both as a player and a former Chess.FM lecturer.
Our thoughts at this time are with his wife, Melinda, and daughters Gina, Amy and Sarah. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the U.S. Chess Trust, PO Box 838, Wallkill, NY 12589, 800-388-5464.
|
|
Mondays: GM Ronen Har-Zvi's "Yugoslav Attack, Dragon Sicilian"
 |
In the latest of his "New Ideas in...." series for ICC Chess.FM, GM Ronen Har-Zvi investigates the latest developments and trends in the ultimate test of the Sicilian Dragon, the Yugoslav Attack with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 0-0 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4.
The Sicilian Dragon is back in vogue once again thanks to its recent addition to Magnus Carlsen's ever-growing arsenal. Years ago, Bobby Fischer gave his seal of approval to the Yugoslav attack, stating it was simply a case of preying open the h-file and sac, sac...mate! But this caveman approach in the Yugoslav Attack is well-worked out, as GM Ronen Har-Zvi shows that the Dragon still breathes fire for black with plenty of counter-play.
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4
To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
|
Tuesdays: Chess Talk with
IM John Watson
|
 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 30), joining IM John Watson on Chess Talk will be Jan Gustafsson, one of Germany's top grandmasters and a leading ICC player as GodGusti.
Jan, who was born in Hamburg in 1979, has played for his local club HSK since he was 11, and has stayed faithful to the outfit professionally in the German Bundesliga since season 96/97. The 2008 Dortmund Sparkasson tournament saw Jan surprise the elite field coming second, and also performing well in the recent Dresden Olympiad on top board for the host nation.
Also throughout the holiday season, we are re-running a "festive four" top interviews on Chess Talk with Jorge Sammour Hasbun, Fabiano Caruana, Andy Soltis and Peter Heine Neilsen.
Latest Show Preview:
Jan Gustafsson 12.30.08
|
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
 |
|
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!
|
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
 |
|
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.
|
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.
Latest Show
Previews:
Milner-Barry Gambit French Defence Part I
To view all the videos in full, sign-up for your free trial membership today!
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!
|
Mastering the Chess Openings (Volume 3) - John Watson
In this highly-acclaimed and popular series, John Watson helps chess-players achieve a more holistic and insightful view of the openings. He explains not only the ideas and strategies behind the specific openings, but also the interconnections of chess openings taken as a whole.
This third volume moves on to flank openings. Watson provides in-depth coverage of the English Opening, while drawing upon many themes from the first two books. Patricularly in the context of reversed and analogous forms of standard structures, we understand why certain ideas work and others don't, and experience the concept of 'Cross-Pollination' at work in even more varied froms than seen in earlier volumes.
Soft cover, 351 pages.
Price:
$28.95 -
 Buy
now!
Dangerous Weapons: Flank Openings - Palliser, Vigus and Kosten
In this book, three renowned opening experts get together to take a revolutionary look at Flank Openings. Instead of travelling down well-trodden and analysed paths, they concentrate on fresh or little-explored variations, selecting a wealth of 'dangerous' options for both colours. Whether playing White or Black, a study of this book will leave you confident and fully-armed, and your opponents running for cover!
Soft cover, 254 pages.
Price:
$22.95 -
Buy
now!
|
|
|
|
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 medalist, former World Junior Champion and analysis partner of World Championship finalists.
Soft cover, 449 pages.
Price:
$28.95 -
Buy
now!
How to Play against 1 e4 - McDonald
It's not easy finding a good opening to play against 1 e4, especially if you don't have endless time available to study the latest theoretical developments. This book provides a solution. Neil McDonald advocates his favourite opening - the very popular French Defence - but chooses a repertoire for Black that requires only the minimum amount of move memorization. The lines he selects are easy to learn and play - perfect for those who are unwilling to be slaves to opening theory. But there's also something here for more experienced players, as McDonald goes on to offer a second repertoire based on counter-attacking lines against 3 Nc3 and 3 Nd2.
Soft cover, 238 pages.
Price:
$24.95 -
Buy
now!
|
|
|
|
