Carlsen Carnage Continues

While a near three-month lay-off for some elite players is almost compulsory to recharge their batteries between tournaments, for the teenage world number one, Norway's Magnus Carlsen, this must have seemed like an eternity for someone so youthful and bursting with energy.

It was therefore something of low-key, careful start for Carlsen at the 4th King's Tournament in Romania with three comfortable draws - but he soon found his rhythm with an explosive burst that we've now come to expect from him, as he dominated the tournament to win with relative ease ahead of Azeri Teimour Radjabov and Boris Gelfand of Israel

In the final round on Friday, all three Black games dominated with the highlight being Carlsen beating Wang Yue for a remarkable, +5 unbeaten final score of 7.5/10 to finish two full points clear of the field, with an incredible 2918 performance. The Carlsen carnage has now pushed his rating to 2826.4, according to dedicated Norwegian number-cruncher Hans Arild Rund at chess.liverating.org - that's a rise of 13.4 rating points from one tournament alone. That rating is the second highest in history, which was only surpassed by Garry Kasparov's peak of 2851 set in 1999. Carlsen is only 19 and still to reach his peak; it's not that far-fetched a scenario of him reaching 2900 if he can continue this level of performance over the next few years.

It was no small wonder then that resident Chess.FM pros GM Larry Christiansen and IM Mark Ginsburg selected five Carlsen games to feature in their Game of the Day selection from Romania. GOTD is a member-benefit here on ICC - but for non-members, we have below included a 5 minute free preview as a sampler of these wonderful grandmaster recaps of the day's action from top tournaments.

If you want to view the GOTD in full to witness five of the best from Carlsen, become an ICC member now by clicking here. Also not to be missed is the superb video coverage direct from the playing hall and press room from Peter Doggers of Chessvibes.com.

Official site: http://www.turneulregilor.com

Rd	Commentator	Game	Watch	Free preview
10	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Wang Yue vs. GM Magnus Carlsen
9	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Magnus Carlsen vs.GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
8	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Wang Yue vs. GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
7	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Teimour Radjabov
6	IM Mark Ginsburg	GM Ruslan Ponomariov vs.GM Magnus Carlsen
5	IM Mark Ginsburg	GM Boris Gelfand vs. GM Ruslan Ponomariov
4	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Teimour Radjabov vs. GM Boris Gelfand
3	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Ruslan Ponomariov vs. GM Teimour Radjabov
2	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Teimour Radjabov vs. GM Magnus Carlsen
1	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu vs. GM Teimour Radjabov

ICC Exclusive Chess Duels Offer

As you can see from below, ICC members are enjoying a two-part Chess Talk special with IM John Watson interviewing GM Yasser Seirawan on his new book Chess Duels. But we have another ICC exclusive - you can order the book, autographed by Yasser Seirawan, and with free shipping! Remember to enter the code: 'ICCYAS' at checkout for FREE SHIPPING.

To order Chess Duels exclusive ICC offer, click here. We only have 100 autographed books, so it will be first come first served! See below ICC members-only competition to win four copies of Chess Duels that will not only be autographed by Seirawan but will also be dedicated (to whomever) and dated.

Chess Duels ICC Competition

Thanks to publishers Everyman, ICC has 4 free copies of Yasser Seirawan's Chess Duels (that will be autographed and personally dedicated by Yasser) to be won in an exclusive, members-only competition. The trivia question is based on Yasser Seirawan's two-part interview on Chess Talk, and therefore only available to members of ICC. Non-members of ICC can sign-up for a free trial membership to take part in the competition - but if they win, they MUST become a full member to receive their prize. To join ICC to take part in the competition, click here now.

Chess Duels ICC Competition: What relaxation activity was Yasser Seirawan doing in 1992 when he first met Bobby Fischer? Send your answer by email to trivia@chessclub.com. Please include your ICC handle and your full name and address.

Entries will close on Tuesday, 6 July 2010. We will only allow one answer per entry, and the first four correct answers drawn from the hat will win. Winners will be notified by email and asked what they would like Yasser to write in the dedication to the book.

Featuring Chess.FM

One of the great benefits of ICC (apart from all the top-notch online play and tournaments) in recent years has been the upgrade in our Chess.FM service - many members agree that the live Chess.FM commentary and GOTDs from our elite tournament coverage alone is worthy of their membership fee. Also we have six regular weekly shows, one of which below being Chess Talk with IM John Watson.

Watson

Seirawan

GM Yasser Seirawan

Preview

Full show (Members-Only)

This week (Tue., June 22), joining IM John Watson for the second of a two-part special will be GM Yasser Seirawan.

One of the strongest and popular players in U.S. history, Yasser Seirawan is a four-time U.S. Champion who qualified for the World Championship Candidates series twice and is one of few players in the world to defeat both Kasparov and Karpov in tournament competition while they were still reigning World Champions.

Yasser is also acknowledged as one of the game's top commentators and lecturer, as demonstrated with his numerous television appearances on ESPN during the Kasparov vs Machine matches and also as the online commentator for ChessBase. He is also a leading writer on the game that includes his six books of the award-winning "Winning" series original published by Microsoft Press and now Everyman.