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I

ICCA: International Computer Chess Association. The association which organizes the World Computer Chess Championship held every three years, and the World Microcomputer Chess Championship held every year.

ICS: Internet Chess server.

IGM: International Grand Master

Illegal move: A move which is in violation of the Laws of Chess. If an illegal move is discovered during the course of a game, the game will be returned to the point it was before the illegal move was made. The player who made the illegal move must move the piece he had previously moved illegally, if he can make a legal move with that piece. Otherwise, he is permitted to make any legal move.

Illegal position: A position which is not the result of a series of legal moves. Thus, an illegal move necessarily leads to an illegal position. Other sources of illegal positions include: incorrect positioning of the Chess board and incorrect arrangement of the Chessmen either at the beginning of the game or at the time an adjourned game is resumed. If it is possible, the position must be corrected, otherwise a new game must be played.

IM: Abbreviation for International Master.

I mmortal Game: Famous game played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky.  This game established a glittering reputation for Anderssen and an example of the KIs-BS Gambit which was played at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand (one of London ’s finest chess salons).

Indian Defenses: A family of openings in which Black replies 1...Nf6 to White's 1. d4. There does not seem to be much agreement on the origin of the term, but most historians believe it derives from the style of play in India where, because Pawns did not have the right to make a two-square initial move, games tended to be leisurely and conservative.

Initiative: Term to describe the advantage held by the player who has the ability to control the action and flow of the game thus forcing the opponent to play defensively. A player able to make threats to which his opponent must react, he is said to "possess the initiative."

Inner Pawn: Kmoch's term for a P awn on any file except the a- or h-file.

Inside Chess: Chess magazine founded in 1988, with Yasser Seirawan as editor. It is published in Seattle, Washington (USA).

International Arbiter: A title first awarded by FIDE in 1951. A candidate is nominated by his federation, and may be selected by the qualification committee if he: has a complete knowledge of the rules of Chess and FIDE regulations; is objective; has knowledge of at least two FIDE languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian); has experience in controlling four important tournaments, two of which must be international.

International Chess Magazine: A Magazine founded and edited by Wilhelm Steinitz and published in New York from 1885 to 1891. Steinitz wrote most of the material himself.

International Grandmaster: Title established in 1950 and awarded by FIDE. FIDE has detailed requirements for the title, which is awarded to only the best players in the world. A player with a FIDE Grandmaster title, often abbreviated GM, usually has an Elo rating of at least 2500.

International Master: Title established and awarded by FIDE, often abbreviated IM. An IM is a stronger player than a FIDE Master, but not as strong as an International Grandmaster, and usually has an Elo rating of at least 2400 .

International Rating list: A list of the world's strongest players, compiled by FIDE using the Elo rating scale. It was first published in July 1971.

International Woman Grandmaster: Title established in 1976 and awarded by FIDE to the world's strongest women players.

Internet Chess Server: Any of several computers on the Internet (an international computer network) which permit computer users to play real-time Chess games with other players on the Internet. People connected to the ICS can also observe other games in progress and communicate with each other.

Interpose: To place a piece or a Pawn between an enemy attacking piece and the attacked piece.

Interposition: The movement of a piece in between a piece which is attacked and its attacker.

Interspan: Kmoch's expression to denote the number of squares on a file that separate P awns of opposite color. The greatest interspan occurs at the beginning of the game.

Interzonal Tournament: One tournament in a series of competitions held by FIDE to select a challenger to the World Champion. Winners of the 14 Zonal championships compete in the Interzonal tournaments, which were first held in 1948. The top players from the Interzonals play in the Candidate matches which conclude when a challenger emerges.

Isolated Pawn: A P awn whose adjacent files contain no P awns of the same color. An isolated P awns is weak because it, and the square in front of it, cannot be defended by other P awns.

IWM International Woman Master.