SCCA News Archive 2003

	News Archive 2003

Last updated 23 December 2003

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23 Dec 03 | Brutal Realism Wins League Division 2: Peter Jack's results round-up shows a full return in Division 2, where Brutal Realism pipped Knights of the Board by the narrowest of margins - congratulations to them! Division 1, as ever, is plagued by late results. Five Brave Englishmen are tied at present with Black Knight, but have one game unfinished, so a draw or better will clinch the title for them again.

17 Dec 03 | Sweden Wins NSTT 1: Alan Rawlings has announced that the winner of the 1st North Sea Team Tournament is Sweden, with 35½ points. Norway were 2nd with 35 points, and England B 3rd with 34. Scotland finished 8th= with Belgium on 28 points. France, who won NATT V, were last here with 18 points. For full scores and downloadable games see the ICCF site, or email George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk

10 Dec 03 | New ICCF Zonal Directors

Pedro Hegoburu has announced that voting is now complete and the results of the elections are:

Zone 1 (Europe) Dr. Gian-Maria Tani (ITA)
Zone 2 (Latin America) Guillermo Toro Solis de Ovando (CHI)
Zone 3 (North America/Pacific) Ruth Ann Fay (USA)
Zone 4 (Africa/Asia) Med Samraoui (ALG)

02 Dec 03 | France Wins NATT V: Alan Rawlings has announced that the winner of the 5th North Atlantic Team Tournament 'In Grateful Memory of John F. Cleeve' is France. Although there are still 22 unrecorded results, the French score of 61½/98 cannot now be equalled or beaten. Second place is undecided, and could go to Spain, USA or Canada. Up-to-date tables will appear shortly at the ICCF website. As TD, Alan proposes to set an adjudication date once the top three places are clear and all norm issues are settled. Captains will be given at least three months' notice.

20 Nov 03 | New Picture Gallery Section: We've been gathering a number of pictures from a wide variety of sources, and have tried to organise them for viewing. You can see the results if you follow the Picture Gallery link on the left. There's room for plenty more, so please email or post in anything you think would be of interest on our site! The main email address to use is: [email protected]

07 Nov 03 | Scottish Involvement in ICCF Webserver Project: The Ostrava Congress voted overwhelmingly for ICCF to develop its own webserver system, which will be the definitive way to play CC over the internet. The project is expected to deliver a working system by mid-2004, and national associations will be able to use it to run their own tournaments. Iain Mackintosh is project manager, and Alan Borwell is on the steering group along with the new ICCF Executive Board. The full announcement can be read on the ICCF website.

27 Oct 03 | MDK Malbork (Poland) 20th Anniversary Email Tournament: Jerzy Skonieczny writes to advise that his club is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an email event. Those of you with Polish connections may wish to read more at: MDK Malbork

26 Oct 03 | Chess Suppliers to Sponsor SCCA Championship: Sam Collins has kindly agreed to sponsor a prize for first place in the SCCA Championship. The award will become effective when the outcome of the 2003-04 event is known. The prize value will be £100 of goods from Chess Suppliers shop, and will be shared in the event of a tie. Many thanks to Sam for his generous support!!

17 Oct 03 | Magazine 83 Published: The third e-mag of 2003 is being distributed by email and post today, and we trust all subscribers will safely receive their copy. As usual, members will be asked to download their emags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary emags will be attached to the email as previously. Please note that the password has changed this time, so please check your email for the new code. Download times will be slightly shorter this quarter. If you have any problems with this edition, please drop me an email at: webmaster@scottishcca.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!

15 Oct 03 | Standing Ovations for Borwell and Pyrich in Ostrava: The ICCF Congress showed its great appreciation of the work done by Alan Borwell and George Pyrich by giving each of them a rousing and lengthy standing ovation. Alan received his on election day, 12 October, and George after the presentation of title certificates and medals on 14 October. Alan and Moira have now left the formal business and are enjoying the sights of Prague, and, while George remains at the Congress as Scottish delegate until its conclusion, he will have the chance to visit Krakow in Poland, from where his family originates.

15 Oct 03 | New ICCF President and Executive Board: Josef Mrkvicka, previously ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, was unanimously elected ICCF President in his home country on 12 October. He succeeds Alan Borwell, and will preside over a new Executive Board structure. Other appointments included Professor Max Zavanelli (USA) as Vice President and Development Director, Pedro Hegoburu (ARG) as Membership and Services Director, Grayling Hill (USA) as Finance Director, and Chris Lüers (GER) as World Tournaments Director. Eric Ruch (FRA) succeeds George Pyrich as Qualifications Commissioner, and Søren Peschardt (DEN) will look after Title Tournaments.

10 Oct 03 | Silver Jubilee Badges

Jim Anderson has now taken delivery of the special badges to mark our Silver Jubilee. They will be distributed free to all members along with this year's membership renewals, and all our opponents in the ICCF match will also receive a free badge as a memento - these will be distributed via national delegates at the Ostrava ICCF Congress. For further information, contact Jim at: secretary@scottishcca.co.uk

20 Sep 03 | Hans-Werner von Massow Memorial Tournament Book: Tournament winner Volker Anton has collaborated with former World Champion Dr. Fritz Baumbach to produce a top-class book. The book is obtainable from Germany for 18.30 euros, but Alan Rawlings is offering a special deal. He will collect a number of copies at the ICCF Congress in October, and despatch them to UK subscribers on his return. The cost will be £12.50 post paid within the UK (£11.00 for hand-delivered orders), and all orders must reach him by September 26th. If you're interested, please make out a cheque or postal order payable to Alan, and send it to George Pyrich together with your postal address before that date - George will liaise with Alan at the Ostrava Congress venue. For further information, email George at: international@scottishcca.co.uk

01 Sep 03 | Ladies World Championship Semi-Final: Josef Mrkvicka, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, has announced the 8th Semi-Final of the Ladies' World Correspondence Chess Championship. The planned start date is 15th December, 2003. The deadline for entries is 15th November, 2003. If you are interested, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk

14 Jul 03 | Chess Photographs at ICCF Ostrava Congress

The Italian correspondence chess players association, ASIGC, is organizing a chess photography exhibition during the next ICCF Congress in Ostrava (Czech Republic), in October 2003. The idea of the exhibition originated from a photographic contest having a "Game of Chess" category, organized by an Italian photography club in collaboration with a chess club. The contest had a good following, now we are searching for some photos by non-Italian artists for a show worthy of an international congress. Anyone can contribute to the exhibition by sending any of the following to me before September 2003:

photos with a chess theme
archive photos regarding the world of chess

If you can help, contact Donato Guerrini of ASIGC at: Via Stoppa 19, 22020 San Fermo della Battaglia CO, Italy, email address: donatogue@libero.it

09 Jul 03 | Magazine 82 Published: The second e-mag of 2003 is being distributed by email and post today, and we trust all subscribers will safely receive their copy. As usual, members will be asked to download their emags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary emags will be attached to the email as previously. Download times will be slightly longer this quarter due to the high volume of games and board diagrams. If you have any problems in receiving this edition, please drop me an email at webmaster@scottishcca.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!

05 Jul 03 | Puzzle Page Passes 100 Mark: We now have an archive of 100+ puzzles for you to solve! Each month there is a new puzzle on the home page, and the previous month's puzzle plus a new puzzle are added to the archive.

02 Jul 03 | Friendly International with Finland Starts: Our mixed mode, 23-board international match against Finland starts on July 15, with the Finns sending the opening moves. Coming hard on the heels of the Canada match, the number of boards is once again healthy!

27 Jun 03 | Bernard Partridge Memorial Final Games Available for Download: Thanks to George Pyrich, the full set of games is now available for download in PGN and CBV formats. You can find them under Downloads/Scottish Games using the links on the left.

23 Jun 03 | Friendly International with Canada Starts: Our mixed mode, 24-board international match against Canada starts on June 27. This had been planned to get under way last year, but Silver Jubilee pressures meant a delayed start. Good to see a healthy number of players taking part, especially with the high level of other commitments at present!

15 Jun 03 | Summers Wins Bernard Partridge Memorial: The one outstanding game of this exciting event has been won by Manuel Jaime Summers of Belgium, after a marathon 78-move tussle with Steve Williams of England. This gives Summers 9½/12 and outright first place, with Raymond Boger of Norway second on 9/12. Heiko Starke of Germany finished third with 8/12, and fellow-countryman Harry Kunz fourth on 7½/12. The preliminary stages of this event began in October 1995, with the final starting in July 2000. Congratulations to all the prizewinners, and a big thank-you to all competitors for making this such an enjoyable and hard-fought tournament!!

15 Jun 03 | SM Titles for Brown and Livie: At the Executive Committee which preceded the AGM, Scottish Master (SM) titles were awarded to Alan Brown (2 grading norms of 2300+ in April 2002 and 2003, plus outright Scottish Champion in 2002-03), and to George Livie (automatic on being awarded the ICCF IM title). Geoff Lloyd also received his first SM norm for a rating performance of 2300 in January 2003. Congratulations to all of them!!

15 Jun 03 | AGM Highlights: Committee as previously. Membership and entry fees unchanged. Email quartets to be restarted soon. New tournaments to be planned include Douglas Livie Memorial and Friends of Scotland Open.

23 May 03 | Exclusive New In Chess Offer for ICCF Members: Alan Borwell is pleased to announce an exclusive deal that the ICCF has struck with New In Chess, the well-known publisher of New In Chess Magazine and the Yearbook and sponsor of the ICCF Email Chess World Championships. All ICCF members can apply for a Mini Sample Yearbook by clicking on: NIC-ICCF offer and sending a completed registration form to New In Chess. After receiving your name and postal address, New In Chess will send you a free copy of the Mini Sample Yearbook. Please note that you can apply only once. As you may know, New In Chess publishes four Yearbooks a year, each offering 35 opening Surveys, columns and a Reader’s Forum. We are glad to have made this deal for you and hope that you will enjoy the Mini Sample Yearbook. You can apply for the Mini Sample Yearbook until June 1st. This offer is valid until stock lasts!

18 May 03 | SCCA AGM 2003

This will be held at Stirling Chess Club, BB Headquarters, Dalgleish Court, off Baker Street, Stirling at 4:00pm on Sunday, 15th June. A map and directions to the venue can be found by following the link: Stirling CC. The agenda is:

Apologies
President's Remarks
Minutes of Previous AGM
Secretary's Report
Treasurer's Report
International Secretary's Report
Election of Office Bearers
Election of Auditor
Subscriptions
Silver Jubilee
AOCB

18 May 03 | Livie Secures Final IM Norm in BFCC 40 Event: George Livie has reached the magic 7½ point IM norm mark after 13 results in this event, coming home with one game to spare! George's first two norms were achieved on grading performance - 2303 (October 2001) and 2382 (April 2003). He will become our ninth IM once ICCF ratification is complete. Many congratulations!!

26 Apr 03 | Stephen Tatlow: Alan Rawlings has been in touch to inform us of the tragically early death of Stephen Tatlow on 22 April. He was 52, and succumbed to a brain haemorrhage. Ironically, following a significant improvement in his health he had recently decided to take a break from correspondence chess in order to return more fully to his business as an ophthalmologist. Stephen was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1999-2001, and finished 2nd (thereby gaining the IM title) in our own Bulletin 21st Anniversary tournament. He was also a strong OTB player, winning the York Congress in 2002 and qualifying for that year's British Championship. All the participants in the Bulletin 21st will readily testify to Stephen's playing strength and to his friendly and courteous playing style. We offer our condolences to his family and friends.

09 Apr 03 | Magazine 81 Published: The first e-mag of 2003 is being distributed by email and post today, and we trust all subscribers will safely receive their copy. As usual, members will be asked to download their emags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary emags will be attached to the email as previously. Download times should return to normal this quarter after the unusually high graphics and photographic content last time. There were one or two last minute hitches with address lists and printing, but I hope everything is now resolved. However, if you have any problems in receiving this edition, please drop me an email at webmaster@scottishcca.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!

04 Apr 03 | Championship 2002/2003 Games Available for Download: Thanks to Alistair Maxwell, who has once again compiled the games from the recently completed Championship 2002/2003. They are available in PGN and ChessBase archive formats on the Scottish Games page.

04 Apr 03 | 2003 ICCF Grades: Raymond Baxter has now received the April ICCF Grading List, and has updated our Grading webpage accordingly. The pdf file for this grading list is also updated and is available for downloading from the Members' page.

20 Mar 03 | New Scottish CCA Champion!: Many congratulations to Dr Alan Brown, who has won the 2002-03 SCCA Championship outright with a score of 5/6, a fitting reward for several seasons of consistently strong play - the sleepy hamlet of Luncarty boasts a celebrity at last! Newcomer Geoff Lloyd finished a strong second on 4/6, and both Brian Goodwin and Mark May have completed scores of 3/6 - they however will be pipped for third place if David Edney wins his outstanding match against Iain Mackintosh.

12 Mar 03 | Bulletin 21st Anniversary Tournament: George Pyrich has secured outright third spot after Ted Greiner and Jonathan Lennox drew their game. Ted can only make 9 points now, while George has 9½. So, Scotland 1st and 3rd, England 2nd.

7 Mar 03 | Website Celebrates 5th Birthday: We completed our fifth year today, and look to have got through the toddler stage! The last 12 months saw us outgrow the 50Mb site we started with, largely due to the numbers of magazine downloads we now offer. We also increased the number of visitors we attracted, and you can follow our progress on our new stats page. Once more, many thanks to all our contributors and readers!

27 Feb 03 | Alan Shaw Memorial: This tournament was played back in 1995, and we have now belatedly loaded the games collection for you to download (refer Scottish Games, left). Thanks to George Pyrich for supplying the file!

26 Feb 03 | 2003 Events: Cross-tables for divisions 1 and 2 of the Leagues are now posted, and, if Jim Anderson manages to find a volunteer for the last place in the Openings tournament, we'll have a complete set of events. Admittedly, there will now only be time to play a couple of moves before the adjudication date, but contact Jim anyway!

10 Feb 03 | 2003 SCCA Grades: Raymond Baxter has now filed his updates from last season and you can see whether you went up, down or sideways by following Features/Grading List on the left. A pdf file for this grading list and earlier versions is available for downloading on the Members' page.

5 Feb 03 | Website Hosting Change: From today, our website is being hosted by Webfusion rather than Globalnet. The reason for the change is to get a huge uplift in disk capacity for roughly the same expenditure. As long as you access the site by going to www.scottishcca.co.uk you should see no difference, apart from the way the page count works. The Globalnet site will not be updated after today.

30 Jan 03 | 2003 Events: Cross-tables for our 2003 domestic events are now starting to come through, and you can see the first batch by following the Championship, Candidates, Premiers, Majors, Minors and Quartets links (left).

21 Jan 03 | Magazine 80 Published: The fourth and last e-mag of our Jubilee Year is being distributed by email today and post on January 22, and we trust all subscribers will safely receive their copy. Members will again be asked to download their emags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary emags will be attached to the email as previously. Emag readers should note that download times will be lengthier this quarter - the graphics content is higher than usual because of our photographic coverage of the celebration dinner. (Note I have no commercial arrangements with any broadband suppliers!). If you have changed your email address, or have any problems in accessing this edition, please drop me an email at webmaster@scottishcca.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!

21 Jan 03 | ICCF European Open TD Change: Egbert Boesenberg (ICCF Zonal Director Europe) reports that the TD of the European Open Class has changed. Hans-Jürgen Isigkeit cannot fulfil his tasks because of a lot of other work, so the new TD for the European postal and email Open Class is François Riva, 5 Rue Hau, L-5752 Frisange, Luxembourg. His email address is: [email protected]

21 Jan 03 | 2002 League Division 2: Superkings have won Division 2! Their outstanding fixtures C2vA2 (Thomson-Keen) and G3vA3 (Loughran-Armstrong), produced one win and one defeat, giving them an uncatchable 7/10.

16 Jan 03 | 2nd North Sea Team Tournament: The Norwegian organisers have confirmed that this event will start on 31 January, and a link has been set up to the cross-tables under our International section (left). 11 teams are taking part - 2 from Norway, plus Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, England, Denmark, France, Belgium and Scotland. Our representatives are Alan Brown, Bob Montgomery, Ken Stewart, John Findlay, Gordon Anderson and David Edney, and we wish them all well!

14 Jan 03 | Bulletin 21st Anniversary Tournament: Richard Beecham has won this event, with Stephen Tatlow of England in clear second. George Pyrich is now likely to secure third spot unless Ted Greiner wins both his outstanding games.

14 Jan 03 | ICCF Countries Index: Pedro Hegoburu has produced a revised list of ICCF country codes. It's worth checking, as a few of the well established countries show changes - including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. There are also numerous new entries - check under the ICCF section (left).

7 Jan 03 | 2002 League Division 2: Controller Peter Jack is still waiting for the remaining results in this division, with first place and promotion in the balance! The outstanding fixtures are C2vA2 (Thomson-Keen), G3vA3 (Loughran-Armstrong), D5vC5 (Blackwell-Lewis), and G5vD5 (James-Blackwell). Would team captains please advise soonest! Superkings require ½point to clinch the title...