Correspondence chess
Encyclopedia
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server
Correspondence chess server
A correspondence chess server is arguably the most convenient form of correspondence chess. Instead of players directly emailing moves to each other, the game is played on a clickable board on a web page, which keeps track of all the moves. The web server emails each player when it is his or her turn...
, through email
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
and homing pigeon
Homing pigeon
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate...
. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a chessboard at the same time (or perhaps play at the same time remotely).
Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who are geographically distant to play one another without meeting in person. These distant relationships are just one of the many distinct appeals of correspondence chess. 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 countries might last several years.
Structure of correspondence chess
Correspondence chess differs from over-the-board play in several respects. While players in OTB chess generally play one at a time (an exception being a simultaneous exhibitionSimultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
), correspondence players often have several games going at 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 deeper calculation, meaning that blunders can be less frequent. Certain forms of assistance, including books, chess databases
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
and sometimes chess programs
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
, are often allowed. Books and databases are almost universally acceptable, but organizations vary as to whether chess engine use is permitted.
Computer assistance
The new phenomenon of computer assistance has altered the essence of correspondence chess and in addition to profound chess knowledge and analytical discipline, the ability to interpret and guide computer analysis has become important. Given that even players with poor chess knowledge can use the strongest computer programs to analyse their games, the gap between the beginner and master playerChess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
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 whether to allow computer aid is still lacking.
Regulatory bodies of correspondence chess
Correspondence chess tournaments are usually played under the auspices of an official regulatory body, most importantly International Correspondence Chess FederationInternational Correspondence Chess Federation
International Correspondence Chess Federation was founded in 1951 as a new appearance of the ICCA , which was founded in 1945, as successor of the IFSB , founded in 1928....
(ICCF), which is affiliated with FIDE, the international chess organization. However, the ICCF, which organizes postal and email events, is not the only organization involved in correspondence chess. There are numerous national and regional 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 Internet Correspondence Games Server (FICGS), that also runs a world championship cycle, and International E-mail Chess Club (IECC). However, groups other than the ICCF are not sanctioned by FIDE.
The ICCF awards the titles International Master, Senior International Master and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster
International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster
International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a title created by the FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Now awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation.-American ICCGMs:* Hans Jack Berliner, GM 1968...
— these are equivalent to similar titles awarded by FIDE for over-the-board chess. The ICCF also runs the World Correspondence Chess Championships. Because these events can last a long time, they may overlap: for instance, in February 2005 Joop van Oosterom
Joop van Oosterom
Joop van Oosterom is a Dutch billionaire and chess enthusiast. For many years he has staged the annual Melody Amber tournaments in Monaco, where world-class Grandmasters play rapid and blindfold games....
was declared winner 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 determined.
Up until 2004, ICCF correspondence chess was played only via email and postal mail. For playing by these two forms of transmission, the ICCF developed their own game notation, known as the ICCF numeric notation
ICCF numeric notation
ICCF numeric notation is the official chess game notation for all International Correspondence Chess Federation games. This is because in international correspondence chess the use of algebraic notation may cause confusion, since different languages have different names for the pieces.In brief,...
, especially for the purpose of ICCF correspondence chess.
In recent years, the use of increasingly powerful chess programs have brought forth new challenges for organizations like the ICCF and the U.S. Chess Federation
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
, necessitating sometimes controversial decisions on the admissibility of such programs in official correspondence play.
Moreover, the emergence of the Internet has brought new opportunities for correspondence chess, not all of which are organized by official bodies. Casual correspondence chess includes correspondence play initiated through correspondence chess server
Correspondence chess server
A correspondence chess server is arguably the most convenient form of correspondence chess. Instead of players directly emailing moves to each other, the game is played on a clickable board on a web page, which keeps track of all the moves. The web server emails each player when it is his or her turn...
s 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.