27th March, 2003

PERHAPS the purists prefer trudging down to a drafty hall on a wet
evening, but one of the most vibrant chess clubs in the world can be
accessed from the comfort of your own home - and with a 24-7 service!
The Internet Chess Club (ICC) has a reputed worldwide membership of over
25,000 logging in at www.chessclub.com, <http://www.chessclub.com,> where, for an annual fee of $49
($24 for students, and there's a seven-day free trial period for all),
they host a variety of events that caters for all levels of play from
Grandmaster to beginner.

The ICC is radically changing the way chess enthusiasts play, learn, and
communicate. Once logged on (and usually with a nom de guerre, such as
"PORTER", the Russian GM Vladimir Potkin, who recently won the Dos
Hermanas ICC event), members can play games and get a rating, watch
grandmasters play while discussing the game, take lessons, play in
tournaments, play in simultaneous exhibitions, try chess variants or
simply play a top chess program.

Today the ICC is firmly established as the premier on-line chess club.
PC Computing Magazine includes the ICC in its annual "Best of the Web"
list, and the activities of the ICC have been described by Forbes,
Newsweek, The Economist, the New York Times, Chess Life, and New in
Chess.

Online tournaments hosted by the ICC, such as the recent Dos Hermanas
event, which attracted an entry of 1,117 players from 75 countries, are
proving popular. Top British player Luke McShane, who plays under the
highly-original title of "MCSHANE", reached the quarterfinals of the
5,000 euro event, before losing out to defeated Argentinean finalist GM
Pablo Zarnicki - who must have had nerves of steel as the kitchen sink
was being thrown at him to find all the accurate moves. If 24 ..Kxg8, 25
Rg6+ mates.

L McShane - P Zarnicki
Dos Hermanas ICC, (3.2)
French Tarrasch
1 d4 e6 2 e4 d5 3 Nd2 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ndf3 Qb6 8 a3 a5
9 b3 Be7 10 h4 0-0 11 Bd3 f5 12 Be3 cxd4 13 cxd4 Bxa3 14 g4 Bb4+ 15 Kf1
fxg4 16 Ng5 Ndxe5 17 Bxh7+ Kh8 18 Kg2 Nd7 19 h5 Nf6 20 Qd3 Ne7 21 h6 Bd7
22 Bf2 gxh6 23 Rxh6 Bb5 24 Bg8+ Kg7 25 Rh7+ Kxg8 26 Qc2 Rac8 27 Qb1 Nf5
28 Rh1 Qc6 29 Ra2 Qc1 0-1

JOHN B HENDERSON