Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation

Austin Lockwood  Monday, December 2, 2013

The following players have the right to participate in the new European Championship Preliminaries:

• players rated between 2100 and 2299 at the time of application.
• players who have won a European Championship Open Round, regardless of rating.
• until 30 September 2014 players without ICCF ratings may be nominated by National Federations. Such Nominations must be accompanied by a statement of qualification confirming that the player is considered to be of sufficient strength to enter directly into the Preliminaries.
• Winners of European WS Higher Class started during the years 2011-2013.

Preliminaries, will consist of 11 players per section, starting continuously after 1st January 2014 and played on the ICCF Server.

The winner and runner-up of a Preliminary section are entitled to one start in the Semi-Finals, regardless of rating. Entry is though Direct Entry, or via WCCF for qualified players (please let me know if you need further details). WCCF does have two nominations for players who do not meet the above criteria, please contact me for further information.

Austin Lockwood, WCCF Secretary

Austin Lockwood  Monday, December 2, 2013

The match will be played on the ICCF webserver, the usual ICCF playing rules will apply.

Each player is going to play two games (one with white, one with black) against his opponent.

The start date will be March 1st, 2014

Each country of the European Zone is invited to nominate 8 players. In case a country nominates less than 8 players, it is allowed to let players of another Federation play on behalf of this Federation.

If anyone would like to represent Wales on the "Rest of Europe" team, please let me know (austin at schemingmind.com)

Russell Sherwood  Thursday, November 28, 2013

A 21 Board Friendly Match with the USA has started.

A great mix of Welsh representatives ranging from 1414 to 2339!

The teams are evenly matched with an average board difference of only 3 rating points, so it should be a close and interesting match

https://iccf.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=40945

If you are interested in playing in future friendlies please get in touch with either Austin Lockwood or myself.

Austin Lockwood  Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Following the decision taken in Kraków during ICCF Congress 2013, the new European Championship Open Round events will commence on 1st January 2014. Sections will consist of 7 players and will start continuously whenever 7 entries are received. All sections will be played on the ICCF Webserver.

Winners of an Open Round may enter a European Championship Preliminary Section regardless of rating.

The following players have the right to participate in the European Championship Open Round:

1. players new to ICCF or those without an ICCF rating
2. players rated below 2100 at the time of application.

Welsh players may enter directly on the ICCF server through Direct Entry (€6.00), or through WCCF by cheque. Please state your qualification criteria at time of entry.

Austin Lockwood  Sunday, September 15, 2013

ICCF-Europa invites all its member federations to enter teams to this new team tournament to be played on the ICCF webserver.

Each member federation may enter one team of comprising of 4 players and a team captain.

Conditional upon the number of entries, the tournament will be organised in either one or two stages.

All pairings will use the Double Round Robin system whereby players will play 2 games with alternate colours against each opponent under Chess 960 Rules (both games against the same opponent will start with the same randomised position of the pieces but these will vary against other opponents). The rate of play will be 20 days for 10 moves and the games will be unrated.

The tournament will start on 1st November 2013.

If we have four players interested I will submit a team to represent Wales; selection will be strictly by rating if more than four players come forward. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to play.

Austin

Austin Lockwood  Sunday, September 8, 2013

https://iccf.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=39577

Good luck all!

Austin Lockwood  Sunday, August 18, 2013

https://iccf.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=39352

Good luck to our players!

Anyone Welsh chess player who is interested in playing in these friendly matches should get in touch; there are always free boards for extra players and all are welcome.

Austin Lockwood  Sunday, August 18, 2013

Good luck to the Welsh players in this under 2300 international team tournament which started today:

https://iccf.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=39326

Austin Lockwood  Friday, August 9, 2013

The International Correspondence Chess Federation is delighted to announce the Russian Correspondence Chess Association as the main organizer of the ICCF World Cup 20 Webserver Tournament.

The tournament will be played on the ICCF Webserver and will be organized in three stages. The number of promotions will depend on total entries received, but groups at preliminary and semifinal stages will be comprised of 13 players (12 games) played with a rate of play of 10 moves in 50 days. The event will be rated with title norms, which are usually possible at the semifinal and final stages.

Please see here for more details; entries may be made shortly through Direct Entry on the ICCF webserver, or by cheque directly to the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation at the reduced fee of £10.00; please send entries and cheques to:

Austin Lockwood, WCCF Secretary, PO Box 2227, Bolton BL6 9GR

Austin Lockwood  Monday, July 29, 2013

• Statute 13 was modified to allow deviations from FIDE when appropriate.
• “The Basic Laws of Chess only apply to Over-the-Board play”
• New ICCF Member Federations:
  • Cape Verde (Zone 4 – Francisco Carapinha – Delegate)
  • Venezuela (Zone 2 - César Jesús Reyes Maldonado – Delegate)
• Andrew Dearnley (ENG) elected as Marketing Director
• Markus Hömske (FRA) appointed as NTTC (Non Title Tournament Commissioner)
• Jason Bokar (USA) appointed as Help Desk Manager
• Neil Limbert (ENG) has resigned from the qualification Commission position after a superb 4-year contribution to ICCF. Any interested parties are invited to contact the General Secretary for more information.
• Scoring 3/1/0 proposal not adopted
• Chess 960 rating are approved – Rating Commissioner is working on implementation.        Incremental time control adopted (10/50 remains the time control for most ICCF tournaments)
• Special Leave disbanded effective 01/01/2014. 45 days of leave per calendar year will be introduced for all tournaments starting after 01/01/2014.
• Table bases are introduced. 50-move rule suspended if TB is entered. Playing Rules committee along with the Service Director, under oversight of the EB will address the technical issues of implementation.
• Some changes were made to the Code of Conduct regarding slow play.
• A new category will be added to the Promotion Events ladder (below to Open class) to promote chess for very low ranking players.
• Congress – 2014 – Sydney – Delegate Brian Jones is already preparing for an Oct 2014 Congress Australia.
• Congress 2015 – Bulgaria has submitted a non-binding interest in hosting the 2015 in a resort on the Black Sea. However, other Federations are encouraged to submit proposals before Australia.