Chessville - An Introduction to Correspondence Chess, Part Three

Chessville
...by Chessplayers, for Chessplayers!

Today is

Site Map

If you have disabled Java for your browser, use the Site Map (linked in the header and footer).

Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints

Advertise
with
Chessville!!

Advertise to
thousands
of chess
fans for
as little
as $25.

Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

An Introduction to
Correspondence Chess
Part 3

By Steve Ryan

From Part 1 of this series we learned the basic premise of correspondence chess (CC). In Part 2 we looked at the fundamental rules of CC. Today we're going to look at some of the "venues" to play CC.

As alluded to previously in this series many “venues” exist that will allow you to play CC with any degree of competitiveness from a casual game with Uncle Harry to attaining titles such as International Master, International Grand Master and even the “world” championship (more on this topic below). As it turns out, as well as my regular league games in the International E-mail Chess Club (IECC) I have a game going with my neighbour across the street and another with my niece in a different city. I hope to persuade both of them to join the IECC or at least some sort of “official” organization. Now don’t misunderstand me here, if you want to stay with private offhand games, then you do exactly that. If you feel like a little more competition, then you have lots of room for that as well.

Any Internet search will reveal hundreds of sites devoted to CC and I can’t possibly mention them all here. A lot of them have resulted from someone just wanting to start their own CC organization (occasionally for profit) or perhaps as a result of dissatisfaction with existing organizations or maybe you just want to try your hand at creating your own web site. Nobody can stop you from starting your own league, but you run the risk of “re-inventing the wheel” if you do. Take a look around first and see what we already have.

In general though you may classify existing CC clubs as either e-mail/postal clubs or the more recent development of “server”-based clubs. I will briefly describe only the 3 largest CC clubs. In order of size - the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), the International E-mail Chess Group (IECG) and my personal favourite the International E-mail Chess Club (IECC).

ICCF: Undoubtedly the “granddaddy” of them all by virtue of the number of members and the length of time it has existed. The ICCF has the official recognition of FIDE as the granter of the only legitimate “World Championship” title in Correspondence Chess. We will not discuss rival organizations to FIDE (who don’t seem to have much interest in CC anyway) so for my money FIDE comes in at number one. The ICCF operates both postal and e-mail tournaments and plans to offer each type as long as the demand exists for them.

The ICCF operates through a system of “national affiliates” in about 60 member countries. In my own country of Canada, for example, the CCCA (Canadian Correspondence Chess Association) has the ICCF national affiliate designation. The ICCF has a complex administrative structure. The major divisions consist of 4 “Zones”:

Zone 1:Europe. Zone 2: Latin America
Zone 3: North America/Pacific Zone 4: Asia

In Zone 3, for example, the member countries consist of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, and the USA.

Each of these zones will have their corresponding Zonal Directors and so on down the line to people who do the day-to-day administrative work like the organization of matches, compilation of results, calculation of ratings, etc. Unlike clubs such as the IECC or IECG, some officials receive small honorariums for their work (usually no more than a few hundred dollars per year) so whether or not they qualify as “volunteers” depends on your definition. Provision of these honorariums, the production of printed club magazines and other administrative expenses mean the national affiliates must charge modest membership fees.

Progression “through the ranks” to earn titles depends on winning tournaments of increasing difficulty against other players of higher and higher ratings. Since I am primarily a “recreational” chess player I have never paid serious attention as to how these tournaments work, but I will provide web sites in a future article so you can look things up for yourself. Take my word for it though, you won’t receive any kind of title or win any championship without a tremendous amount of work unless you happen to have the qualities of a “genius”.

The ICCF administrative structure has evolved with time and has, I believe, become overly complicated in certain aspects. Surprisingly enough, in spite of the many member countries, some of the national affiliates nevertheless have relatively small total memberships which, in turn, requires them to put more emphasis on the larger tournaments. As strange as that may seem, they just don’t have enough demand for a lot of private matches and smaller events of that type. They do the best they can with the resources they have, no doubt about it, but I regard ICCF membership as geared toward the competitive players and less so towards the “recreational” ones.

I see one encouraging note on the ICCF web page toward more cooperation and unity among CC organizations. The ICCF views its future primary role as an “umbrella” organization. Despite the lack of a definite plan (or at least any they have revealed to ordinary members) if the ICCF acting as an “umbrella” for CC clubs does indeed somehow manage to bring a bit more order to a chaotic universe, then count me in.

The IECG: With over 10,000 members the International E-mail Chess Group comes in at #2 and operates as a 100% volunteer-based organization and does not charge fees of any kind. The IECG features tournaments such as “class” events, 2-game matches, Quads and Thematic Tournaments. A “Thematic” tournament involves nothing more than a series of pre-arranged moves to which all players agree. The “real” game starts at the end of this sequence. Thematic events, as the name implies, illustrate some particular opening. All players should know that these clubs do not “teach you to play chess”. You must already know the rules of the game beforehand.

Unfortunately, from my point of view, the IECG has established its own version of the “World” championship in direct competition with the ICCF. I see no point in this exercise as it diminishes the validity of the title. Why they chose to establish a “world” championship instead of a “club champion” remains a mystery to everyone but them.

The IECC (International E-mail Chess Club) has a membership of about 4300 but I like it best because of the friendly atmosphere and the wide variety of tournaments. (Editor's note...Steve is the IECC Journal Editor.) The IECC tournament schedule includes 1-game matches, 2-game matches, Class events, Thematic Events, Swiss Events, Knockout Tournaments, and Pyramid Games. As I stated before, even though I consider myself a “recreational” player you will still encounter very stiff competition in the IECC should you desire it. The IECC has a unique “time keeping” system in that it allows 30 days for the ”Last 10” moves (1-10, 2-11, 3-12 etc). The IECC does not have its own version of the “world” championship” or even its own “club” championship”.

Both the IECC and IECG have some form of “tutorial” or “New Member Program” which guides prospective members in learning the rules of E-mail chess as established in each organization. You must complete this program before joining any regular tournaments.

I should also mention that OTB and CC have a great many “switch hitters” or players that enjoy both forms of the game though a certain amount of condescension may exist that views CC as an “inferior” type of play. More on that later.

Part 4