Are you ready for it? I mean really, really ready for it? Then you don't have long to wait now, as we start the official countdown for this week's launch of the inaugural ICC Openwith $3,500 in prize money. ICC members will not only get the chance to hone their skills on some of the world's top GMs and IMs, but they will also get the opportunity to win cash prizes within their own rating band!

We've got something for everyone in the 1st ICC Open, ranging from the hardened-pros of GMs and IMs to tournament players and the occasional club player with an Open, U2200, U2000, U1800 and U1600. Four qualifying tournaments (with a time control of 3 0 throughout) will be held here on ICC on Friday and Saturday, 3rd-4th June, starting at 3pm and 8pm EDT - so book those dates and times in your calendar now, and don't dare miss the chance to play in the 1st ICC Open.

Class prize-winners will be determined by their best score in one qualifier and competitors can play in as many qualifiers as they like. The Open will be contested in a grand winner-takes-all knockout final that all ICC members can watch live on Sunday, June 5th, starting at 3pm EDT.

All times are server time (EDT, New York Time, UTC/GMT -5 hours).

This is an event that is restricted only to ICC members. GMs and IMs receive free membership on ICC, and for non-titled players membership starts from just $24.95. You can join ICC now on a free 7-day trial membership by going towww.chessclub.com/tryicc/register/- but entry into the 1st ICC Open will only be allowed on a full membership.

For condition of entry, rules and full schedule of the 1st ICC Open, go to the official site athttp://www.chessclub.com/activities/ICCopen2011/.

First it was the iPhone and then it was the iPad - and now adding to our winning-stable of mobile applications comes the new release of Chess at ICC for the Android! Join our vibrant and continually growing community of players, ranging from beginners to Grandmasters - who are all ready for you to watch, play or learn from, 24 hours a day!

The Android Invasion of ICC is taking place now - and you can get the app today tounlock a free 1-month trial membership! Current members can also use their username without needing to open a further account, but you are still eligible to take advantage of the 1-month free offer by creating a second username to play and experiment on!

• Play: Seek/offer rated and unrated. Also view seeks posted by other users. Sort seek list by username, rating or game time. Able to filter the seek list.
• Chat with Friends, in the lobby and other popular channels
• Observe top-rated grandmaster games on ICC and sort by category, showing only rating categories you are interested in observing.
• Events: Participate in official events on ICC; including watching top relayed elite tournaments from around the world, playing in the rating pools, playing TrainingBot and ProblemBot games, and much, much more!
• Fully functional console, for more control on the playing server
• Timestamp to avoid lag problems
• Confirm move feature to help avoid mouse-slips.
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

ICC has also made its Newsletter service available now on an RSS feed for you to get all the latest news on ICC online activities - get it now to keep in touch with ICC!

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