Correspondence From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Postcard for international Card used by the US Chess Federation Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspon dence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the po stal system; less common methods which have been employed include and homing pigeon. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a at the same time (or perhaps play at the same time remotely). Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who are geographically distant to pl ay one another without meeting in person. These distant relationships are just o ne of the many distinct appeals of correspondence chess.[1] The length of a game played by correspondence can vary depending on the method used to transmit the moves: a game played via server or by email might last no more than a few days, weeks, or months, but a game played by post between players in different countri es might last several years. Contents [hide] 1 Structure of correspondence chess 2 Computer assistance 3 Regulatory bodies of correspondence chess 4 Types of correspondence chess 4.1 Server-based correspondence chess 4.2 Mobile correspondence chess 4.3 Email-based correspondence chess 4.4 Postal (traditional ) correspondence chess 5 Over-the-board players who also play correspondence chess 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links Structure of correspondence chess[edit] Correspondence chess differs from over-the-board (OTB) play in several respects. While players in OTB chess generally play one at a time (an exception being a s imultaneous exhibition), correspondence players often have several games going a t once. Tournament games are played concurrently, and some players may have more than one hundred games continuing at the same time. Time limits in correspondence play are usually between 30 and 60 days for every 10 moves (plus transmission time in postal chess). This time allows for far deep er calculation, meaning that blunders can be less frequent. Certain forms of ass istance, including books, chess databases and sometimes chess programs, are ofte n allowed. Books and databases are almost universally acceptable, but organizati ons vary as to whether use is permitted. Computer assistance[edit] The new phenomenon of computer assistance has altered the essence of corresponde nce chess and in addition to profound chess knowledge and analytical discipline, the ability to interpret and guide computer analysis has become important. Give n that even players with poor chess knowledge can use the strongest computer pro grams to analyse their games, the gap between the beginner and master player has narrowed in recent years. However, the influence of computer assistance remains controversial in both official and casual play, and consensus on the issue of w hether to allow computer aid is still lacking. Regulatory bodies of correspondence chess[edit] Correspondence chess tournaments are usually played under the auspices of an off icial regulatory body, most importantly International Correspondence Chess Feder ation (ICCF), which is affiliated with FIDE, the international chess organizatio n. However, the ICCF, which organizes postal and email events, is not the only o rganization involved in correspondence chess. There are numerous national and re gional bodies for postal chess, as well as a number of organisations devoted to organize email play for free such as the International Email Chess Group (IECG), the Free Correspondence Games Server (FICGS), that also runs a world c hampionship cycle, and International E-mail (IECC). However, groups o ther than the ICCF are not sanctioned by FIDE. The ICCF awards the titles International Master, Senior International Master and International Correspondence Chess these are equivalent to similar titles awarded by FIDE for over-the-board chess. The ICCF also runs the World Co rrespondence Chess Championships. Because these events can last a long time, the y may overlap: for instance, in February 2005 Joop van Oosterom was declared win ner of the eighteenth Championship (which began in June 2003), though the winner of the seventeenth Championship (which began in March 2002) had not yet been de termined. Up until 2004, ICCF correspondence chess was played only via email and postal ma il. For playing by these two forms of transmission, the ICCF developed their own game notation, known as the ICCF numeric notation, especially for the purpose o f ICCF correspondence chess. In recent years, the use of increasingly powerful chess programs have brought fo rth new challenges for organizations like the ICCF and the U.S. Chess Federation , necessitating sometimes controversial decisions on the admissibility of such p rograms in official correspondence play.[2] Moreover, the emergence of the Internet has brought new opportunities for corres pondence chess, not all of which are organized by official bodies. Casual corres pondence chess includes correspondence play initiated through correspondence che ss servers and games played between individuals who meet and play on their own. Casual correspondence play does not lead to official ratings, though some chess servers will calculate ratings for the players based on results on that server. Types of correspondence chess[edit] There are three main types of correspondence chess, with server based correspond ence chess becoming the most popular form in the world today, with major corresp ondence servers becoming as large and popular as the online blitz chess servers. Server-based correspondence chess[edit] Correspondence chess servers are usually database-driven and carry with them a w eb-based interface for submitting moves to the database. But they do create the possibility of facilitating any method of transmission, as long as the transmitt ed moves are audited within the server's database. Server fees vary. Most casual servers use a yearly charging model, whereby playe rs can play as many tournaments or games as they want all year round. Some serve rs offer basic membership for free, with more services available for a fee. Also more casual servers allow the use of nicknames, and have a real-time rating sys tem which often adjusts a player's rating after each rated game. Casual servers also tend to have a wide range of facilities, such as online games databases, so cial and chess improvement forums, teams, and player homepages. More traditional ly based correspondence chess servers often charge per tournament and still forc e the use of real names, which some claim raises privacy implications[who?]. The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) closely cooperates with the world chess organization FIDE. All ICCF titles, championships and ratings a re recognised by FIDE. Mobile correspondence chess[edit] With the advent of smart-phones such as Apple's iPhone, Blackberry and Android b ased devices correspondence chess has seen a recent rise in popularity as applic ations on these devices. Usually the devices use Wifi, GPRS, 3G and sometimes SM S technology to submit their moves to a central server. Email-based correspondence chess[edit] There are organizations devoted to organizing play by email, such as the Interna tional E-mail Chess Club (IECC).[3] Email play has gradually declined in popularity due to issues such as email viru ses, opponents' claims of not receiving moves, and similar impediments to the po int email play has arguably been superseded by server-based correspondence chess , where usually the interface to a chess server is a web-based interface. Postal (traditional mail) correspondence chess[edit] There are national and regional organizations for postal chess which use traditi onal "snail mail" for transmitting moves between players. The ICCF and affiliate d local and national federations often organize postal events. Other examples of groups offering postal play include the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA) and the Chess Federation (USCF). However, groups other than the ICCF and affiliates are not sanctioned by FIDE. Traditional postal chess organizations such as the International Correspondence Chess Association, the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA), and the Un ited States Chess Federation (USCF) have added email and/or server-based options to their correspondence play.[4] One of the older documented postal correspondence chess games is a game played i n 1804 by lieutenant-colonel F.W. von Mauvillon of the Dutch army in The Hague w ith one of his officers in Breda.[5],[6] Postal correspondence chess has arguably been superseded by email-based correspo ndence chess, where play per game is cheapereach move usually delivered free and instantaneously by email. But there are still devotees. Over-the-board players who also play correspondence chess[edit] Although nowadays the strongest correspondence players are specialists, a number of notable players in over-the-board (OTB) chess have in the past played postal games during their chess career. World OTB Champion OTB Grandmaster OTB International Master OTB FIDE Master World Correspondence Champion Alberic O'Kelly de Galway; Viach eslav Ragozin ; Yakov Estrin; C.J.S. Purdy; Mikhail Umansky; Ivar Bern Gert Jan Timmerman Correspondence Grandmaster ; Igor Bondarevsky; Aivars Gipslis; Curt Hansen; Hector; Janis Klovans; Olita Rause; ; D uncan Suttles Janos Balogh; Olaf Barda; ; ; Richard Polaczek; Nikolai Papenin; Roman Chytilek; Bela Toth Martin Kreuzer; Peter He rtel; Auvo Kujala Correspondence International Master Alexander Tolush , an Estonian sometimes regarded as the strongest player never to beco me world champion, played many games of correspondence chess. OTB world champion s and also played. Ulf Andersson also achieved very high ratings in both ICCF and FIDE, remaining in the FIDE top 100 until June 200 2 and consistently ranked second on ICCF. Andrei Sokolov is another OTB GM who h as recently taken up email chess. World Correspondence Champion Hans Berliner is also an OTB International Master. See also[edit] ICCF national member federations International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster World Correspondence Chess Championship Internet chess servers References[edit] Jump up ^ Craig Sadler, "Facts, Games and World Champions of Correspondence Ches s," Schemingmind.com Jump up ^ Correspondencechess.com. Jump up ^ Chess-iecc.com Jump up ^ Older ICCF Playing Rules Email - Individual and Team tournament games (01.01.05-31.12.08 -Older ICCF Playing Rules WEBSERVER - (01.01.05-31.12.08) Cor respondence Chess[dead link] Alex Dunne, "The is in the Mail," column, Che ss Life (March 2007), online at (p. 5) Jump up ^ Biography Jump up ^ Louis P. Sloos: Gewapend met kennis. 500 jaar militaire boekcultuur in Nederland. Dissertation Leiden University, 2012, p. 406, note 99 Further reading[edit] Dunne, Alex (1991), The Complete Guide to Correspondence Chess, Thinker's Press, ISBN 0-938650-52-1 Russell, Hannon W. (1980), Correspondence Chess, Thinker's Press External links[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Correspondence chess players. IECC International E-mail Chess Club ICCF International Correspondence Chess Federation FICGS Free Internet Correspondence Games Server IECG International Email Chess Group CCLA Correspondence Chess League of America [hide] v t e Chess Outline Chess titles Grandmaster List of Grandmasters Grandmasters by count ry matches engines software Correspondence chess FIDE History tim eline Problems/Compositions Rating system World rankings Norms Tournaments Olymp iad list Variants World Championship development list Ches s World Cup FIDE Grand Prix World records Equipment Chessboard Ch ess table Rules Check By agreement Fifty-move rule Stale mate Pawn Touch-move rule Terms Algebraic Descriptive PGN Annotation symbols Symbols in U nicode Pawns Backward Connected Doubled I solated Maróczy Bind Passed Half-open file School Hypermodern Ro mantic Tactics Alekhine's gun Checkmate patterns Des perado Sacrific e X-ray Strategy First-move adv antage Middlegame Piece values Openings List of openings theory table Flank opening King's Pawn Game Car oKann Defence King's Gambit Najdorf Queen's Pawn Game Benoni Defence Grünfeld Defence King's Nimzo-Indian Defence Queen's Indian Defence Queen's Gambit Declined Slav Defence Quick Fool's mate Scholar's mat e Endgames King and pawn vs king Opposite-coloured bishops Pawnless endgame Queen and pawn vs queen Queen vs pawn Rook and pawn vs rook Lucena position S trategy Tarrasch rule Stu dy Tablebase Two knights endgame Wrong rook pawn Related Chess in the arts in early literature Chess b ooks Opening books Endgame literature Chess club Göttingen manuscript Chess newspaper columns Chess periodicals Che ss prodigy Glossary Notable games Top player comparison Categories: Correspondence chess Navigation menu Create accountNot logged inTalkContributionsLog inArticleTalkReadEditView histor y Search Go Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Donate to Wikipedia Wikipedia store Interaction Help About Wikipedia Community portal Recent changes Contact page Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Wikidata item Cite this page Print/export Create a book Download as PDF Printable version Languages Català Cetina Dansk Deutsch Español Français Ido Bahasa Indonesia Italiano ????? Latvieu Lietuviu Magyar Nederlands ??? Norsk bokmål Norsk nynorsk Polski Português ??????? Slovencina Suomi Svenska Ti?ng Vi?t Edit links This page was last modified on 28 September 2015, at 06:38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; add itional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and P rivacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, I nc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersMobile viewWi kimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki