We all know it: chess players want to get good results immediately, cutting short the learning process of chess basics and proceeding on to study opening theory.
Unfortunately, this violates the most important and significant study principle: go from the simple to the complicated. One does not start building a house from the roof: it is the foundation that is laid first.
Any battles, including chess battles over the board, are not won by the army that can just and only array itself on the battlefield according to earlier developed plans, but by the army that can also prove its skill and professional worth during the battle.
The first manual on chess basics is important. GM Boris Alterman's new classical course helps you get more familiar with the  most important tactical & positional elements of the game, and answers many questions on how to think in attack and defense situations.
There are interesting and essential topics through which GM Boris will guide you to improve and understand the subtleties of the game. Don't miss it!

In the first series of his new show, "Learn how to Win with GM Boris!", GM Alterman illustrates the power of passed pawns. As the great Aron Nimzowitsch said: "A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient."

GM Boris begins with the simplest positions, eventually tackling the most complicated ones revealing, with his easy to understand method, how to take advantage of passed pawns.
The main topics that GM Boris shares in his new course are:

• Passed pawns should be advanced as rapidly as possible
• Passed pawns are an advantage because an opponent's piece must block them
• The closer to the 8th rank, the better! Chess players say that a pawn on the 6th rank might be worth a piece, and a pawn on the 7th rank sometimes is worth a whole rook!

It is a slow and laborious process, but finally the chess elite events calendar for the first half of 2012 is beginning to shape up.

The good news is that Linares is back. The Grand Slam Chess Association confirmed that Linares will share the 2012 tournament with a Mexican city, starting most likely at the second half of April.

The venue and dates will be concreted soon.

The connection with Mexico is not new: in the past there was a cooperation with the city of Morelia, for three years. Apparently a similar concept, where two cities share the organization and finances, will be repeated.

Unfortunately Linares will not be honored by the presence of 4 elite GrandMasters: Anand, Aronian, Gelfand and Kramnik. Aronian and Kramnik will play an interesting - friendly - match April 21-28 in Zurich, Switzerland. Classical time control will be used, with a new twist for the show - if the game ends in a draw in under three hours, the players have to play a rapid game (25 minutes with a 10-second increment). The match is part of the preparation for the Candidates Tournament 2012. ICC Chess.FM will be on the air to cover the match.

ICC hero Hikaru Nakamura is back playing the National Championship, and it will be a tough battle, with a stellar field of many ICC's well known GMs:

With an average USCF rating of 2714 according to the USCF's January rating supplement, this marks the strongest field in the history of the event. The Championship will take place in the amazing Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, May 7 through May 20. ICC Chess.FM will work double-shifts to cover the World Championship match and the US Championship.

On a non-overlapping note, the European Individual Chess Championship 2012 will take place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria March 19 through April 1 (INFO). ICC will relay the top boards of this important European event, which presents a rather interesting field of participants (top players): Mamedyarov, Navara, Laznicka, Bacrot, Jobava, Caruana, Giri, Vitiugov, Malakhov, Jakovenko, Riazantsev, Vallejo Pons - all elite GMs with rating over 2700.

Despite the overlapping events, the 2012 chess calendar is out of balance, with only two elite events (Wijk aan Zee and Bazna - which will presumably take place in June) and one big tournament (the European Individual Championship) scheduled for the first half of the year, and many more for the second half, such as Biel, Dortmund, the Olympiad, the European Club Cup, the European Team Championship, the Tal Memorial, the London Chess Classic and the FIDE Candidates tournament.

But on ICC we will cover every single important and interesting event, no matter what!

2012 is the year of the great ICC giveaway, with FREE ICC apps for download! Everyone will be looking to play at the best online chess club with new holiday gifts of iPhones, iPads and Android phones. And here at ICC, such was the large response to our original free holiday offer we're extending it by making ALL of our mobile apps free for the time being.

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