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Last updated 16 March 2024

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16 Mar 24 | Rudolf Kolesknikov Memorial Team Tournament Announced
Non Title Tournament Commissioner Giorgio Ruggeri Laderchi has made the following announcement:
ICCF is glad to announce the VII ICCF Team Tournament for players rated <2300 – in memoriam Rudolf Kolesknikov.
All ICCF member federations (that are not currently suspended) are invited to enter their teams to this event, which will be played on the ICCF webserver over two rounds: semi-final and final. The first three teams in the final will receive medals.
Each federation may enter two teams. All players in a team must be rated <2300 on the ICCF rating list 2024/2 or on the current FIDE list. In addition, all players must be full members of the federation they represent or be registered on the ICCF server for the country of the federation they represent for the duration of the tournament.
The preliminaries will start on July 1st, 2024. There will be 6 players in each team. A maximum of 3 players may be replaced during the tournament.
Further tie-breaking procedures: After standard tie-breaks in ICCF rules, the team with the lowest average rating on the commencement of play.
The right to be promoted from the semi-final shall be determined by the ICCF Non-Title Tournaments Commissioner and approved by the Executive Board at the start of the tournament. The intention is to have a 13 Team final.
The entry fee will be at the rate of €4 per player, i.e. €24 per team. There will be no further entry fee for the final.
Time control will be Triple Block (Duration of Tournament: 700 days; Initial Clock: 50 days; Initial Bank: 50 days; Increment: 5 days). Please note – without guaranteed time in the semi-final and in the final with guaranteed time.
Team entries have to be sent by the national federations to the Non-Title Tournament Commissioner Giorgio Ruggeri Laderchi ([email protected]) not later than June 10th, 2024. No replacement or board change will be allowed after that date, unless exceptional circumstances occur.
All entries should include the following details:
  • board order
  • name and ICCF code of the players
  • name, ICCF code and e-mail address of the Team Captain
If you are interested in organising a team and/or taking part in a team, please contact: David Kilgour by mid-May, 2024.

Rudolf Kolesnikov (1938–2023)
Rudolf Kolesnikov was born in Tbilisi, prize-winner of tournaments held in Tbilisi and Lviv. FIDE International Arbiter (2001), Honoured Coach of Ukraine (2006). He started playing chess at the age of 10 and was in the youth national team of Georgia in 1953. After graduating from the Tbilisi Institute of Railway Transport Engineers, he was assigned to the Lviv Railway, where he worked until retirement.
Organiser and arbiter of many correspondence tournaments in Ukraine, ICCF IM (1991), ICCF IA (1999). Captain of the national team in the 5th European Team Championship (preliminaries and final).
Actively engaged in the popularization of chess, the author of more than 600 articles in almost fifty printed mass media. In 1990, he was accredited as a correspondent of the Lviv Railway newspaper in Novi Sad at the 29th FIDE Chess Olympiad. The author of the books "Correspondence chess in Ukraine" 1994, "My memorable face-to-face and correspondence meetings" 2019.

1 Mar 24 | SCCA 2024 Domestic Events Started
Many thanks to Mickey Blake who has initiated all our major domestic individual and team events again this year. You can access the x-table links via the following pages: championship; premier; open A; open B; open C; league 1; league 2; and league 3.
Challengers fixtures for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 are arranged in mini-tables on the SCO-Challengers page of the webserver.

29 Jan 24 | ICCF Qualifications from former Zones Championships
There have been enquiries from players about what will happen in the transition period with qualifications earned in former Zones Championships. This note confirms that:
  1. qualifications from the former EU Zone are transferred to the Super Regional EU Championships
  2. qualifications from the former World Zone are transferred to the Super Regional RoW Championships
In special cases qualifications from the former Zones Championships may be transferred crosswise, i. e. qualifications from the former RoW Championships may be transferred to the Super Regional EU Championships and vice versa. This is the case when a NF moved from the Rest of the World to Europe or vice versa.
  1. qualifications from the former EU Zone are transferred to the Super Regional EU Championships
  2. qualifications from the former World Zone are transferred to the Super Regional RoW Championships.
  3. In special cases qualifications from the former Zones Championships may be transferred crosswise, i. e. qualifications from the former RoW Championships may be transferred to the Super Regional EU Championships and vice versa. This is the case when a NF moved from the Rest of the World to Europe or vice versa.
All qualifications earned in the former Zones Championships will expire 3 years after the end of the tournament in which they were earned.
ICCF Officials:
Leonardo Madonia; Super-Regional Tournaments Commissioner
Alberto Martello; Super-Regional tournaments Commissioner - Deputy RoW
Austin Lockwood; Super-Regional tournaments Commissioner - Deputy Europe
Uwe Staroske; World Tournament Director

29 Jan 24 | SCCA Best Game Prize 2023 Reminder
Just to confirm that this year’s judge will be IM Valer Eugen Demian of Canada, and we’ll announce the winning entry by end-March. There are still a couple of days left for you to send your submissions, so please direct them to me at my president email address. The main stipulation is that games must have been completed in 2023. Multiple entries are allowed. If you do enter, good luck!

27 Jan 24 | Maigonis Avotinš Memorial Event
The well-known and much liked Latvian ICCF delegate Maigonis Avotinš who died shortly after the ICCF Amsterdam Congress in 2023, is to be commemorated in an event organised by fellow Latvian Artis Gaujens. The playing format will probably be the Silli system, 10 games/player, but the total number of players isn't yet known. It is hoped to start in early February. Please indicate your interest as soon as possible via David Kilgour.

25 Jan 24 | SCCA Magazine 164 Erratum
One of our sharp-eyed readers has pointed out a typo in the Hawkes File article of magazine 164. If you download mag164.pdf from the secure Members' page on the website at your convenience, all should be well. Apologies for the slip!/dd>

10 Jan 24 | ICCF Grading List 2024/1 Published
The first quarterly list of 2024 is published on the website today. Look under publications/grading list to see the web page, or go to members/downloads for the pdf version. For further information, please contact Alistair Maxwell.

10 Jan 24 | SCCA Magazine 164 Published
The fourth e-mag of the 2023 set is being distributed by email and post today. As usual, members will be asked to download their e-mags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary e-mags will be attached to the email. Download times will be about the same as last quarter. If you have any problems with this edition, please drop me an email at: webmaster and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!

06 Jan 24 | ICCF President's New Year Message
To all Correspondence Chess Friends,
As 2023 has ended, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to you and all those dear to you for an extremely healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. I also sincerely thank all officials and delegates for their devoted work on behalf of ICCF during the last year.
The new rating system adopted by Congress has been implemented, and the first ratings using the new system have been published.
As for all other projects, ICCF needs more volunteers for our projects, and I ask all Member Federations to help us by relaying this message to their members, who will be ready to give some of their spare time.
Let me extend my best wishes for the New Year again. 2024 will bring satisfaction to all your personal and professional endeavours.
Amici Sumus,
Eric Ruch
ICCF President