This post is dedicated for Correspondence Chess – Postal Chess – Email Chess, etc.
What are some of the most important sites for people who are interested? Besides Alex Dunne with the The Check is in the Mail column, are there other Correspondence Chess Columns that players can follow?
Some people believe that Correspondence Chess is dead. I do not think so. I think it is a very important part of chess and with readily email access today, it gives another dimension to this art.
Please feel free to post the information and I will add them below. Thanks!
http://sdo1.blogspot.com by Steve Owens
http://www.chessbymail.com by The Correspondence Chess League of America
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I love correspondence chess but not sure how to play. You’re one a very few who promotes it. Thank you!
Mike Nolan writes on the USCF Forums, “As of Monday (April 16th), Alex Dunne is completely caught up on entering correspondence chess results.“
Care to comment? 😀
That is wonderful! I hope there are 10 Alex Dunne out there to help Correspondence Chess. He is the face of Correspondence Chess in America. But the issue remains that Correspondence players had to wait nearly a year for some events to be rated. It is not a knock to any particular individual, especially Mike and Alex.
However, it is the responsibility of the EB and ED to make sure that the USCF is not treating any type of membership this way. I am not content with many of the current situations and I hope to be able to improve many things. This is the national federation, not some local chess group.
If I do not think that I can help, I would not run. If I do not think the people I endorse are the absolute best candidates to help fix the areas that the USCF desperately needs, I would not do it.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
This is all I have to say about the issue 🙂 jadoube:)
http://jokes.chessdom.com/
Steve’s being modest here: he has a newly started Correspondence Chess blog at http://sdo1.blogspot.com
The Correspondence Chess League of America has its site here: http://www.chessbymail.com . I note they now have server play over ICCF, so I may give them a tryout. 🙂
Happy Birthday, Susan!
And thanks for this wonderful
site. I live in a chess desert
(Taiwan) and your site keeps me
in touch with chess.
About correspondence chess:
Is it a good idea if your blod
helps to match up players so that
they post their moves somewhere
on your blog? In this way, not only
can they play, but others can
also see the games. Just a suggestion,
I understand that there could be difficult factors
which I overlook.
—CMK
Anthony: Aw, shucks… 😀
GM Polgar,
Thank you for linking my blog. 🙂
Regarding Alex Dunne; Do you agree with his column being removed from the print version of Chess Life?
Dear Steve,
I do not know enough about the space situation with Chess Life. Therefore, it would be irresponsible for me to second guess the Editor. However, I do believe that there should be something for correspondence chess. With the fast Internet chess today, too many players, especially young players forget about the art of analysis. Correspondence chess would be very helpful for them. I personally like it and I was involved with Correspondence chess on the highest level in the past.
Paul is actually an even stronger Correspondence Chess fanatic than I am since he is very much into analysis (being my coach and for other strong players).
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
I love CC and play it almost exclusively these days. Two sites where I play that offer Fischer Random CC play, where you can be certain there is no cheating (a charge often levied against CC play) are:
Scheming Mind Chess Club
http://www.schemingmind.com
Scheming Mind offers CC play in many other variants, too.
and the fine Hungarian site,
E4EC
http://www.e4ec.org/
Fyi, these are not primarily news or discussion sites, but sites where you can actually play CC online.
Free Internet Correspondence Games Sever (http://www.ficgs.com) :
– free
– 1800+ members, very active community rapidly growing
– several CC grandmasters and many masters
– a large variety of tournaments types (“rapid”, chess960(=FisherRandom), thematic, money games …)
My favorite one !
Marc Lacrosse
http://www.chessworld.net
Surely that counts as correspondance chess?
Niall
http://www.gameknot.com allows players up to 12 days (I believe) to make a move. It isn’t officially rated, but it is a great place to have multiple correspondence games going on at once, and it’s free.
http://www.cxv.com.br – Chess by e-mail in Brazil
Dear Susan,
I want to say two things: 1) Happy (belated) Birthday!! 🙂 2.) Thank you ever so much for dedicating some space on your blog for correspondence chess players. It’s up to us, the CC players, to bring the news to you and I encourage all who read this post and even have a small interest in Correspondence Chess (whehter played by Email, web server, or traditional postcards), to think about some issues and post your ideas. GM Polgar will listen…and as she said, she doesn’t believe CC play to be “dead.”
Thank you GM Polgar for keeping faith in this form of chess. I believe that there are only 2 reasons why some would say that CC play is “dead”: First, the use of computers and 2) you have to be paitent to play CC, however, if combined with OTB play I have found (as have others) that CC play really helps you learn openings and engame strategy.
And regarding computers…well, there will always be cheaters. but, there are always going to be honest players, too. Plus, cheating is now an issue in even OTB tournaments. Thus, it isn’t Correspondence Chess and computers that is the issue. It’s cheating that is the issue and it can be dealt with in CC play.
Regarding some good Correspondence chess sites people can visit include:
1. The “Campbell Report” which is a great site for up-to-date news about CC play and OTB play. The web address is:
http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/index.htm
By the way, Susan, Mr. Campbell has a link to your blog on his site! 🙂
It’s at the top of the page listed
beside “Site Map.”
Here is a nice blog for Correspondence Chess players:
http://knudsen.correspondencechess.com/index.php
And to see a list of dozens of Correspondence/Emai/Web server chess web sites Mr. Campbell has
compiled a wonderful list which
can be found at:
http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/clinks.htm#ccsites
It’s wonderful that the ratings
section of the USCF site is now
completely up-to-date.
Traditional CC play is now evolving
into play by web-server. There
are several well known OTB GM’s
that also participate in ICCF/
Correspondence events…along with
many OTB IM’s, NM’s, and down the
line.
The reason I am dedicated to CC
play is that I know, regardless of
those that believe it is “dead,” it does bring happiness to the lives
of many people that, either due to
illness, infirmity, or being in the military, Correspondence play gives
them not only something fun and
constructive to do, but to give them something to hope for.
Again, to be a correspondence chess player doesn’t mean you can’t
play in OTB tournaments. If possible, enjoy both.
All I can say is that it isn’t “dead,” it has vastly improved my
OTB play, I meet new people from
dozens of different countries, and
that CC play isn’t going away.
It’s evolving due to the Internet,
but it’s here to day in one form
or another.
Again, many thanks, Susan for
posting info on your blog about
correspondence play.
I end by again urging all CC
players who read this blog to send
some info in…maybe a good game that others can review.
Most Sincerely,
Tim Harris
Susan;
All USCF players should be aware, they are automatically members of the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), which is recognized by FIDE as the official organization for CC.
ICCF and the United States chapter, ICCF-US, host numerous rated events and organize Inviational Tournaments, Olympiads, Team events, etc. Readers should check out http://www.iccf.com and/or http://www.iccf-webchess.com. The second is the ICCF server, which allows for play without lost e-mail and postcard messages and eliminates recording errors by allowing players to make moves directly on the board. This also greatly enhances the speed at which games are available.
Using the link given above to the Campbell Report one can view completed games from the current Olympiad qualifier, and other events.
The US chapter is at http://www.iccfus.com and organizes qualifying events for the US CC Championship by postcard, e-mail, and server play.
CCLA was mentioned by another poster, they are a member of ICCF-US just as USCF is.
Numerous other websites mentioned here are interesting for unofficial, fun play. If you just want to goof around with a new way of playing and not take your CC games too seriously they are excellent sites to experiment with a new method of play before you leap into a real tournament.
Ken
I have been happy so far with my experience at http://www.chessworld.net, a UK – based “e-mail chess” site. As I seldom have time to play a whole game online, it works well for me – it has gotten me playing again regularly after 30 years.
You can play as a guest for free if you are interested.
what is more worrysome is that the us iccf office is closing and there are no replacements which means no national events such as the us champion
ccla used to run it previously and i am a member of ccla but i have doubts they would take it back up again
as for uschess cc being up to date, i wonder how much help alex recieved after the situation with the fire
For many people with limited time or access to OTB tournaments, correspondence chesss gives the opportunity to play some serious chess, really get to know some openings and endgames, and make friends worldwide. I heartily recommend it.
CCLA / New Met League is offering a new service to OTB Clubs throughout America:
OTB Club vs. OTB Club competition via webserver correspondence chess.
——-
CCLA / New Met League is interested in hearing from state chess organizations that wish to organize state-wide OTB Club vs. OTB Club competition via webserver correspondence chess.
CCLA / New Met League blog: http://newmetleague.blogspot.com/
CCLA / New Met League introduction: http://metrowestchess.org/NewMetLeague/Newsletters/Introduction%20-%20New%20Met%20League.pdf
CCLA / New Met League Newsletter #2: http://metrowestchess.org/NewMetLeague/Newsletters/New%20Met%20League%20-%20Newsletter%2002.pdf
———-
This is a fantastic opportunity for OTB Clubs with members that have tight schedules to participate in OTB Club vs. OTB Club competition – not unlike the “Met Leagues” of days gone by.
———–
New Met League provides a venue for OTB Clubs to compete, similar to the old days of Met Leagues in cities across America. You can even play multiple matches which allow
you to compete as much as you want, with no USCF rating risk! Unlike the old Met League days, where
players had to commit travel and schedule to meet their opponents face-to-face, New Met League uses simple internet-based webserver correspondence chess. This enables regular OTB chess players to represent their Club in competition, without requiring an extra weeknight commitment. They make their moves where and when
they are able, within time control limits. Play is fast, and games can be viewed while they are in progress, over days, or weeks.
This gives players time to think and play high quality chess, while still playing fast enough to keep the interest of the players and the OTB Club.
Please contact either myself and/or Jerry Honn. Contact info is listed in the CCLA / New Met League introduction doc.
Amici Sumus!
Harvey Reed