with International Grandmaster Ilya Smirin (FIDE 2630)
Beginning Friday (Oct 20), GM Ilya Smirin will conduct office hours over the ICC (Internet Chess Club).
Fridays, 3-4pm EST (19-20 GMT).
Open to everyone, these office hours are part of the Master Preparation Chess Course made available by UMBC via a variety of internet technologies (see ICC NEWS 237, 251).
During these office hours, anyone may ask questions to GM Smirin. To participate, log into the ICC, enter channel 4 (+ch 4) and observe the UMBC vs. UMBC examination game. To ask questions, send messages to UMBC. If your question involves a position, we recommend that you prepare the position in a named game stored on ICC, to be loaded by GM Smirin. You are welcome to join the ensuing discussions by kibitzing with thoughtful comments.
Questions will be accepted on the theme of the week, as determined by the MBone lecture broadcasts from Wednesday and the previous Friday. For example, the first office hours will focus on isolated and hanging pawns.
Following the office hours, we invite you to watch the MBone lecture broadcast, beginning at 4:30pm EST (20:30 GMT). For information on how to view the MBone broadcasts, see the Master Preparation WWW pages accessible from http://umbc.edu/chess
Please bear with us (especially during this first office hour) while we iron out the many technical and logistical problems involved with this experiment in distance education. We welcome your comments and suggestions.