 The semi-Berlin Challenge
A great week of chess is just over. The interesting and enthralling match between #3 Vladimir Kramnik and #2 Levon Aronian finished with the result of 3.0-3.0. IT was an event that we could call "The semi-Berlin Challenge" instead of "The Zurich Challenge": 3 games out of 6 were indeed played with the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez, and two with the QGD semi-Slav. Aronian started off by winning game 1 in a convincingly way, then drawing game 2 and losing game 3. The only short draw - within three hours of play - occurred in game 4, but the two aces pleased the audience by playing a Rapid (25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment) that was entertaining and sharp, with Aronian prevailing. The rapid game did not count toward the match result. ICC members had a lot of fun with live commentary by our "dream team": GMs Ronen Har-Zvi, Alex Yermolinsky, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Yasser Seirawan, Ben Finegold and Jon Ludvig Hammer. GM Suat Atalik from Istanbul has provided the Game Of the Day service, analyzing for ICC members every game of the match.
But it's already time to move on! The US Championship and the World Chess Championship Match in May are approaching. ICC will have live commentary for both the events. The US Championship is a very strong event, with an impressive line-up, that includes GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, our ICC host Yasser Seirawan, and many other strong GMs. And May, with these two big event, will lead us to one of the strongest chess tournament ever: the Tal Memorial, that this year has been scheduled in June. It will be a very hot Summer in ICC! Don't miss the action - ICC is "the place" to follow and enjoy the great chess season!
 Join ICC today by clicking here to make sure you don't miss any of the action!
Download your copy here!
A new useful feature in Dasher 1.5.5 is the ability to hide your opponent's rating until after the game. To activate this new feature, visit the Playing tab in Settings and checkmark "Hide opponent's rating until after the game".
This feature is useful if you feel that you play differently against players with different ratings, e.g. fearful against higher rated players or overconfident and too fast against lower rated players. By temporarily hiding the opponent's rating it will encourage you to play your best against everyone and to examine and respect their moves objectively.
It will also encourage you to play players of different strengths and styles without prejudicing you as to what kind of result you expect. For example, it may prevent you from offering a draw in a winning position against a higher rated player just because you are afraid of losing or want to gain rating points. Instead you will be encouraged to play for a draw or win based on the position. Not least, this feature can also enhance your perception of playing just for fun or challenge by allowing you to not worry as much during the game about the effect of ratings.
If your game was rated, your rating still will be calculated the same as before, based upon your result in the game. If your game was played non-rated (unrated), then as before your rating will not be affected.
USA vs. BRAZIL!
On April the 25th the ICC, with the patronage of its Vice President Mr. Martin Grund, hosted a very nice online match between two schools: the Colegio Bom Jesus (BRA) and the Dalton School (USA) for boys and girls 12 years old and under. It was the first time that the Colegio Bom Jesus participated to an online chess match, which made the event an historical one. The kids took it very seriously, and by using the ICC for Mac interface, connected to the ICC to face their opponents.
 
The Brazilian school had the kids wear a special t-shirt, which added "official character" and sense of belonging to the event. It's always good to see young men and women approach a chess competition, supported by their teachers and parents. Chess is a way to improve kids' concentration faculties, and you can tell how focused the kids were!
 
The match has been a successful event, and ICC is proud to be of help for this kind of initiative. If your school or organization is interested in a similar match, please visit our contact page and send an email to Mr. Martin Grund!
CHESS.FM: FREE VIDEO!
The Zurich Challenge started with a convincing victory by world #2 Levon Aornian. A QGD semi-Slav, where the Armenian ace was able to outplay the strong Russian. GM Suat Atalik analyzes the game in this interesting video, with his unique style, that makes everything look easy to understand.
Join ICC today by clicking here to make sure you don't miss any of the videos!
Chess.FM calendar
2012: ICC iPad App Upgrade
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.
ChessFM Videos
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 popular Chess.FM service - many members agree that the live Chess.FM commentary plus GOTDs from our elite tournament coverage, and our regular weekly shows alone is worthy of their membership fee.
Join ICC today by clicking here to start enjoying all the ICC videos! |
ICC Network
Whether you want to hashtag us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, YouTube our Chess.FM videos, catch our RSS feed, or just simply want to drop us a note by email, then there are many ways for you to stay in touch with all the latest developments and happenings on ICC - for news, views, videos and reviews, keep in touch with ICC by clicking one of our networking icons.
|
|
