Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation

Austin Lockwood  Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Some very absorbing debate and discussion today, and one or two interesting decisions:

• A flag fall will automatically end a game as a loss in all ICCF tournaments starting after 1st January 2015. Players will have 14 days to appeal.
• Players in team matches will be able to claim directly to tournament directors in team games.
• The "FIDE Laws of Chess" will not apply to correspondence chess from 1st January 2016; these rules will be replaced with "The ICCF Laws of Correspondence Chess".

The traditional blitz tournament was won by FIDE IM Gary Lane (AUS).

More tomorrow,

Austin

Austin Lockwood  Monday, October 13, 2014

The day started with the usual formalities and an opening speech by the ICCF President, Eric Ruch. Each delegate was then invited by the General Secretary to introduce himself and accept his voting card.

The morning was taken up with awards, including all title awards, which were moved from later in the week to allow visitors and accompanying people to participate in the full day partner programme offered by CCLA.

Unfortunately still no awards for Wales (maybe next year!...), but as proxy for England and Peru, I collected some medals and certificates, notably the Silver Bertl von Massow Medal for Richard Hall, and medals and certificates for my good friends Andrew Dearnley (IM and SIM), Toni Halliwell (LGM) and Phill Beckett (IA).

The afternoon continued with Qualifications business, including a narrowly defeated proposal from the Qualifications Commissioner to allow title norms in national events, and some special title applications which resulted in some very interesting discussion.

The Financial and Direct Entry reports were presented later in the afternoon.

In the evening there was a very enjoyable banquet in the hotel, with a warm welcome from the CCLA President, Shaun Press.

This morning we will commence with the Services Director's report, presented by yours truly!

Austin Lockwood, Sydney

Austin Lockwood  Sunday, October 12, 2014

I am currently attending ICCF Congress in Sydney, Australia as ICCF Services Director and National Delegate for Wales. I am also representing England and Peru by proxy.

On Sunday there were meetings of the ICCF Executive Board and Management Committees, however the full session of Congress starts today with the opening and award ceremonies.

There are no awards for Wales this year, however I will be proud to collect the IM and SIM title on behalf of my good friend and delegate for England, Andrew Dearnley who is unable to attend this year for health reasons.

I will post any important decisions made by Congress, and maybe some photographs, here on the WCCF website.

The final decision of Congress, on Wednesday, will be the venue for the 2015 event, WCCF have made an offer to host next year's Congress in Cardiff in August, so we keep our fingers crossed for a positive decision this week!

Austin Lockwood, Sydney, 12 October 2014

Russell Sherwood  Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Welsh Trio Number 7 has started. Good Look All

https://iccf.com/event?id=48164

Austin Lockwood  Monday, October 6, 2014

• Team captains are Andrey Pavlikov (Russia) and Artis Gaujens, Latvia (Rest of the World).
• Tournament Director is Eric Ruch (France), IA, ICCF President.
• Each ICCF member federation (excluding Russia) may nominate 5 main players and any number of reserve players for the RoW team. Reserve players will be included in the RoW team if there is a lack of players from other countries.
• Number of boards (approximate 50) will be defined by the team captains using list of applications received.
• Board order in each team is defined according to the classic rating list valid on October 1, 2014.
• Initial positions are different at each board. At each board, two games are played, one with White pieces, one with Black pieces.
• Time control is 10 moves in 50 days. The games are rated in ICCF chess 960 rating system.
• The start date is December 1, 2014.
• There is no entry fee.

If any Welsh player would like to be nominated for this match, please contact Russell Sherwood ([email protected])

Austin Lockwood  Thursday, June 5, 2014

Entries are now being taken for all British Championship Events.

The following events will be organised by BFCC (England)

British Correspondence Chess Championship

Entry is £10.00 to BFCC, and is open to Welsh players who are members of a WCCF or BFCC affiliated organisation (including the Welsh Chess Union).

http://www.bfcc-online.org.uk/bccc-bccc

British Veterans Championship

Entry is £8.00 to BFCC, and is open to Welsh players who are aged 60 or over on the start date and who are members of a WCCF or BFCC affiliated organisation (including the Welsh Chess Union).

http://www.bfcc-online.org.uk/british-veterans

British Ladies Championship

Entry is £7.00 to BFCC and is open to all Welsh lady players, there are no membership restrictions for the BLCCC

http://www.bfcc-online.org.uk/bccc-ladies

The following event will be organised by WCCF (Wales)

British Correspondence Chess960 Championship

Entry is £5.00 to WCCF, and is open to Welsh players who are members of a WCCF or BFCC affiliated organisation (including the Welsh Chess Union).

http://www.welshccf.org.uk/2014/05/first-british-chess960-correspondence.html

All events will run on the ICCF webserver.

Please let me know if you have questions about any of these events, or need further details about how to enter.

Best wishes,

Austin Lockwood, WCCF Secretary

Austin Lockwood  Friday, May 30, 2014

The Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation announce the first British Chess960 Correspondence Chess Championship.

What is Chess960?

Chess960 (sometimes known as 'Fischer Random Chess') is a variant of standard chess, which was introduced by Bobby Fischer to try to avoid players relying upon memorised opening lines. In Chess960, the starting array of the pieces is randomised into one of 960 different permutations.

What are the rules of this tournament?

The rules of this tournament are available on the website of the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (under "Tournament Rules")

Who may enter?

Anyone who was born in, or who is currently resident in the United Kingdom, a British Crown Dependency, or a British Overseas Territory. Additionally players must be a member of one of the three British ICCF national federations (BFCC, WCCF or SCCA), or an affiliated organisation.

Affiliated organisations are listed here for England, http://www.iccfengland.org/memberorg and here for Wales: http://www.welshccf.org.uk/p/member-organisations.html

What is the entry fee?

The entry fee is £5.00

Where will it be played?

The tournament will be played online, using the ICCF Webserver; you will play two games against each of the other players in your section in order to compensate for any starting position which favours White.

What is the time control?

The time limit will be 35 days for each 10 moves, with time doubling after 15 days.

How can I register on the ICCF Webserver?

Before you can play, you must have an account on the ICCF webserver; if you don't already have an account, you should visit the server at https://www.iccf.com/ and follow the new player link under the logon box. All new accounts will be confirmed by the relevent national delegate.

How do I enter?

Please send a cheque for £5.00, payable to the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation to:

Russell Sherwood WCCF Treasurer 8 Pen Y Myndd Coed Y Cwm Pontypridd RCT CF37 3JG

Or by PayPal to [email protected]

Each entry should include your full name, email address, and ICCF ID number. All entries must be received by 1st September 2014.

When will it start?

The tournament will start on 5th October 2014

What are the prizes?

There will be no cash prizes, however the title of “British Correspondence Chess960 Champion” will be conferred upon the winner of the championship section, and a trophy awarded.

Austin Lockwood  Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The 10th European Team Championship Semi Finals have just started; Wales are paired with Germany, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, Russia, Czech Republic, Italy, Finland, England and Norway. The Welsh team is Lockwood, Balshaw, Adams, Varley, Claridge, Sherwood, Vaughan and Bullen.

https://iccf.com/event?id=44255

Austin Lockwood  Thursday, May 8, 2014

We are glad to announce that registration is open to the Semifinal stage of the LIPEAD-40 tournament, an International event organized by the Peruvian federation (LIPEAD) as a tribute to our founding member Gustavo Paz y Barriga. Registration closes on June 1st, 2014.

The following cash prizes will be available in the Final stage: First place 1,000 euros, Second place 300 euros and Third place 200 euros.

Who may play?

• Players that qualified in the Preliminary stage listed here.
• Any player rated 2200 or above willing to register.

How will the tournament be played?

• Exclusive ICCF webserver play, current ICCF rules, time control 10/50 with duplication after 20 days, conditionals will be allowed, live display with 5 move delay.
• ICCF Tiebreak rules for Individual tournaments (a. Number of wins, b. Sonnerborn-Berger and c. Result between tied players). If ties are not broken yet then the following rules will be applied in succesion: d. Number of wins with black, and e. Rating, player with higher tournament entry rating will advance if all other criteria are equal.
• Tiebreak rules are important because only one player per semifinal group will advance.
• There will not be adjudications, games that decide a qualifier will be played out before the Final can start.
• Group size will be 13-17 players depending on the number of entries, groups will be balanced by rating and norms may be available.
• The tournament official start date will be June 15, 2014

How to register?

• Players qualifying from the Preliminaries do not need to do anything and will be automatically seeded into the Semifinals, they will not pay any additional fees either.
• Players rated 2200 or above wishing to register in the Semifinals will need to pay the entry fee of 26 US dollars or 20 euros.
• We accept Paypal payments, credit or debit cards and "Bill Me Later", if players wish to pay in US dollars they should try this link, if they wish to pay in euros then follow this other link.
• Players may also register via their national federation.
• If players do not have access to any of these payment options please contact us to see if we have alternative methods of payment available.
• Current list of players registering directly into the Semifinals can be reviewed here.

Sincerely,

Gino Figlio, Tournament Organizer

Alfredo Cilloniz, LIPEAD President

Austin Lockwood  Thursday, May 8, 2014

Dear Friends,

ICCF is delighted to announce the start of the 6th WebChess Open tournament on the server. This announcement is posted on the ICCF website and distributed to all national federations. The following Frequently Asked Questions clarifies all information applicable for this edition.

1. What is the Webchess Open Tournament?

It is a tournament open to all correspondence chess players around the World, with or without any previous ICCF experience.

2. Who is in charge?

Frank Geider (FRA), World Tournament Director (WTD) has appointed Markus Hömske (FRA), ICCF Non-Title Tournaments Commissioner (NTTC) as the responsible ICCF Officer for this tournament. Please direct all general inquiries to him at: [email protected]

Guido Bresadola (ITA) has been appointed Central Tournament Leader (CTL). He is in charge of registration, pairings and other tournament related issues. His email address is: [email protected]

3. How and when to enter?

Multiple entries are allowed. Go to the ICCF Webserver main page www.iccf.com click on “New Events”, find the tournament in the main list and click “Enter”. It allows you to register with a click of a button using one of the three methods available:

• Contact The Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation, Provide your ICCF-ID (if you have one) and a valid email address you will use for this tournament. WCCF will forward your entry to CTL Guido Bresadola (ITA).
• Qualified players may use Direct Entry (DE). This method is available for new players to ICCF
• New players to ICCF are allowed to enter 1 section for free. They should send their contact information: name, email address and country to Markus Hömske NTTC. ([email protected]) If they wish to enter more than one section, all extra entries should be paid for as described above.

4. When does the registration close?

Registration is open immediately and it closes on June 30th, 2014.

5. How much does it cost?

The payment is linked to the method of registration used:

• Registering via WCCF. Receiving payment of the event fee and confirmation of your registration is handled by WCCF, more details are available on request.
• Registering via Direct Entry. All information is provided through the DE registration process. Simply click the enter button and follow the prompts.
• New players to ICCF play 1 section for free.

6. Who is considered a new player to ICCF?

• Players without ICCF ID or,
• Players with ICCF ID but who never played an ICCF rated game in the past.

7. What is the time frame?

The tournament will be played in three stages: preliminaries, semifinal and final.

Preliminaries will start in early July 2014, with an approximate end date of Feb 28th, 2016. The other 2 stages will be scheduled accordingly at a later date. Reference information:

1st WebChess Open tournament - preliminaries started Feb 1st, 2005, all groups finished; semifinals started Nov 15th, 2006, all groups finished; final started May 5th, 2009 ended January 29th, 2011

2nd WebChess Open tournament - preliminaries started June 15th, 2006, all groups finished; semifinals started Jul 25th, 2008, all groups finished; final started June 21st, 2010 ended on February 9th, 2012

3rd WebChess Open tournament - preliminaries started May 20th, 2008, all groups finished; semifinal started July 31st, 2010 all groups finished, final started June 23rd 2013

4th Webchess Open tournament - preliminaries started July 20th, 2010; all groups finished, semifinal started September 10th 2012

5th Webchess Open tournament preliminaries started June 1st 2012, 4 groups unfinished

8. How will I play?

Preliminaries will consist of groups of 7 (seven) players each. All games will be rated. The latest ICCF Playing Rules Webserver will apply for all stages as applicable. You can read them online at www.iccf.com by clicking on “Online Help” ? “Server rules”.

9. How do I qualify from preliminaries?

Only the section winners will qualify for the semifinal stage. Ties will be broken according to the ICCF Tournament Rules, Article 5. 10.

10. What are the prizes available?

Winners of the preliminaries will receive a book or a DVD (worth 20€) (Tiebreak will be used to decide amongst player with equal points) Winners of the semi-finals will receive a subscription to a magazine or a book (worth about 100€). (Tiebreak will be used)

Final: 1st: 900€, 2nd 700€, 3rd 400€ (Cash prizes will be shared on equal points, tie break to be used for medals)

11. To verify entries

You may check the latest list at http://www.asigc.it/temp/wot6.htm

We welcome with open arms regular ICCF players as well as new ones, eager to test their skills with us. It is our hope you will enjoy the experience on our server and will use this opportunity to make new friends around the World.