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News Archive 2009

Last updated 15 December 2009

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15 Dec 09 | Slovenian Open Semi-Finals
Dr Danilo Kor˛e, Slovenian CC President, writes to announce the semi-final round of the international open tournament being held to celebrate Slovenia's 15-year membership of ICCF. This is a webserver event, 10 moves in 30 days, allowing ratings and norms. The 40 qualifiers from the preliminary rounds are eligible, as are new players with ratings of 2350+ in the ICCF 2010/1 rating list (published in January). Entries will cost €15 and play is scheduled to start on 30 March 2010. For further information, please contact George Pyrich no later than 21 February.
15 Dec 09 | ICCF World Championship 2010 Cycle Preliminaries
Marco Caressa, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, writes to advise that 2010 WCCC preliminary sections will start play on 10 March 2010. In addition to member federation nominations, all GMs, SIMs rated >2250 and IMs rated >2300 are eligible, as are players who have scored sufficient points in previous WCCC events and/or Zonal Championships. Entries will cost approx. £30, and will close on 31 January. For further information, please contact George Pyrich no later than 21 January.
08 Dec 09 | Cormack and Coope Tie Premier B
In Premier B, Bill Cormack of Cheltenham finished early with 3½/4, but has now been caught by Derek Coope of Oban. Our congratulations to both players!
08 Dec 09 | Perth Win Webserver League 1
Perth Correspondents squeezed home with 12/16 in this inaugural event with Social Stars just behind on 11½. Social Stars won the head to head against Perth by 2½-1½ but dropped valuable points against Knights of the Board and Civil Service where Perth recorded 4-0 victories. In division 2, Social Roses are half a point ahead of Brutal Realism who have an adjudication pending. So, once more many congratulations to Perth - surely someone can stop them next time?!
13 Nov 09 | Dawson Wins 2008-09 Championship
Professor Alastair Dawson of St Andrews has won the 2008-09 Championship outright, finishing with 4½/6 ahead of Iain Mackintosh and Ian Reeman in joint second with 4/6. This is Alastair's first Championship victory and we welcome him to our roll of honour with hearty congratulations!
13 Nov 09 | Cumming Wins 2009 Premier A
David Cumming of Inverness has triumphed with 4½/5 in Premier A. Quite a few games remain unfinished, but nobody can match that total, so congratulations to David! In Premier B, Bill Cormack is in the clubhouse with 3½/4, but that total can still be matched by Derek Coope. More anon...
13 Nov 09 | Macmillen, Cumming, Price Win 2009 Open Sections
Andrew Macmillen of Northwood scored a perfect 8/8 in Open A, joining our 100% club. John Grant was runner-up with 5/8. In Open B, David Cumming of Inverness almost joined Andrew, scoring 7½/8 to finish ahead of James Cairney who scored 6½/8. In Open C, Derek Price of Birmingham emulated David, notching 7½/8 with Andrew Macmillen finishing second here on 6½/8. Congratulations to all three section winners!
13 Nov 09 | Cumming Wins 2008-09 Challengers
David Cumming of Inverness has romped home in the 2008-09 Challengers cycle, scoring 18/20 and picking up the 2009 medal. Quite a productive year all round for him!
11 Nov 09 | Opening Master Sponsors SCCA
We are delighted to announce a sponsorship agreement with Opening Master, the chess database supplier based in Bratislava, Slovakia. OM was founded by SIM Alexander Horvath, and already sponsors ICCF events 2008-10.
The terms of the agreement allow SCCA to distribute 30 platinum licences of the OM database to selected members. Our Executive will shortlist candidates, aiming for representative coverage of players and administrators in international and domestic events. Members who receive a licence will be entitled to updates and support for 12 months after they download the software. At the end of this period the database will continue to operate, but individuals will require to purchase further updates from OM if they so wish.
In return for these licences, SCCA will display the OM logo and link on its home page until 12 months after the 30th licence comes into effect. Both parties look forward to a fruitful relationship.
10 Nov 09 | Social A & Perth Tie Postal League 1
TD Dave Savage reports an exciting finish in Postal Division 1, with Social A and Perth Correspondents tying on 7½ points for the title. No other team can now equal that total. Social teams have now won both this season's Postal Leagues, while Perth continue to clock up title wins - 5 in a row now, though 4 of these have been tied. Congratulations to the joint winners!
06 Nov 09 | Alexandr Alpert Memorial
Sergey Grodzensky, president of the Russian CCA, writes to announce a memorial tournament for Alexandr Lazarevich Alpert (1948-2009). Alpert was a former vice-president of the RCCA, a vastly experienced TD (awarded the IA title posthumously), and a great propagandist for CC internationally. The event will be webserver-based and run over three stages: quarter-, semi- and final. Groups are expected to have 7-11 players and time control is 10 moves in 50 days throughout. Medals and book prizes will be available, and a best game prize for each stage will also be awarded. Play is likely to start in January 2010, and the last date for entries is 15th December. The entry fee is $10 (~£6) and cheques should be made payable to SCCA. For further information, please contact George Pyrich no later than 10th December.
29 Oct 09 | Social B Win Postal League 2
TD Dave Savage advises that, with League results now coming in thick and fast, Social B have amassed 16 points (plus still have 2 unfinished games!), so are completely out of sight in Postal Division 2. Many congratulations to Messrs Brown, Cairney, Etherington, Rosser and Ash!
24 Oct 09 | Ernst Nielsen Memorial
George Pyrich announces that Stuart Graham will represent Scotland in this event to commemorate Ernst Nielsen, who was ICCF delegate for Denmark in the 1990s, a postal Euro Class TD for several years, and who received a posthumous IA award in 1996. Play begins in December 2009, and the 15-player section comprises 5 Danes and 10 invitees. Good luck to Stuart!
22 Oct 09 | Magazine 107 Published
We've had a few delays with the third e-mag of 2009, which is being distributed by email today, and (I hope) by post tomorrow - though when subscribers will receive their copy is in the hands of the postal workers and management! 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 a bit longer than last 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!
20 Oct 09 | European Individual Championship 68
Gian-Maria Tani writes to advise that the 68th EIC semi-finals are to be played on the webserver and will start on 30th December 2009. Players who have qualified from earlier rounds, or who have scored sufficient points in earlier finals or semi-finals are eligible. In addition, all European GMs and SIMs are permitted entry, and each national federation may nominate one further player. Entry fee is 50CHF. For further information, please contact George Pyrich no later than 10th November.
24 Sep 09 | SIM Title for Beecham
Richard Beecham of Prestwick has been awarded the Senior International Master (SIM) title at the recent ICCF Congress in Leeds. Richard obtained the SIM norm of 6½ points in the Candidates Tournament WCCC 28ct04, having previously established a SIM norm from the SCCA Bulletin 21st Anniversary with 12½/14 (SIM norm 11). Hearty congratulations to Richard!
24 Sep 09 | IA Title for Pyrich
George Pyrich of Glenrothes, who was formally confirmed as ICCF Financial Director at the recent ICCF Congress in Leeds, picked up another citation at the event. The International Arbiter (IA) title is conferred for "a minimum of 4 years service and a minimum of 1,000 games officiated". George reckons he reached this landmark some years ago, but has now formally claimed his certificate despite the impending costs of the picture frame and fresh business cards. Many congratulations to him!
22 Sep 09 | Bell Wins Webserver Open
Alan Bell of Falkirk has won the 1st SCCA Webserver Open, finishing with 6/8, half a point ahead of GM David Kilgour. The last game to finish saw Galashiels-based David lose to IM Alan Borwell of Inchture. Tom Matheis from Paisley also finished with an unbeaten 5½/8. This was a strongly contested event, and congratulations are due to all the top places! We hope to initiate the 2nd Open in 2010.
20 Aug 09 | ICCF World Championship Qualifiers
Marco Caressa, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, advises that the following SCCA players are eligible for the semi-final stages of the individual world championship: Douglas Bryson, Tom Craig, Doug Finnie, Phil Giulian and David Kilgour. One or two comebacks needed there, but for further information, please contact George Pyrich.
17 Jul 09 | Magazine 106 Errata
Some gremlins crept into the recent edition. In the Games Column, Lennox-Cumming and Moir-Armstrong were shown with opposite colours. In the Grading List, Messrs Cairney, Morrow, Rawlinson and Sheridan were mistakenly omitted. Corrections have now been made to all materials on the website, so downloads of the magazine, games files and grading list will all be correct from today. Unfortunately, it's impractical to reprint the paper magazine, so many apologies to those subscribers.
11 Jul 09 | Magazine 106 Published
The second e-mag of 2009 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 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@scottishcca.co.uk and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!
30 Jun 09 | WCCC Member Associations' Nominations for 2009
Marco Caressa, ICCF Title Tournaments Commisioner, writes to remind us that the SCCA has the right to nominate three players for the Individual World Championship Preliminaries or Semi-Finals in 2009. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.
17 Jun 09 | 2008-09 Accounts Published
The accounts prepared by Gordon Anderson and audited by Alan Hind were adopted at our AGM on 7 June. You can view the details on the accounts page, and comparative figures on the summary page.
12 Jun 09 | Pyrich Becomes ICCF FD
Following the election of Eric Ruch (FRA) as the new ICCF president, George Pyrich volunteered take over the vacant post of finance director and has been appointed unanimously by the ICCF Executive Board. Many congratulations to George!
12 Jun 09 | Second SM Norm for Reeman
At the Executive Committee meeting in Stirling on 7 June, Ian Reeman was awarded his second Scottish Master norm for attaining an ICCF grade of 2306 in 2009. His first norm resulted from a share of the Scottish Championship in 2004-05. One more to go...!
12 Jun 09 | 2009 AGM Highlights
At the AGM in Stirling on 7 June, the following items were noted:
  1. Full audited accounts showing a surplus of £953 were produced by Gordon Anderson. Alan Hind was reappointed as auditor.
  2. All existing committee members were re-elected and Colin Macgregor joined the committee as a new member.
  3. The constitution was amended to reflect the current committee structure, and the quorum for AGM, SGM and committee meetings was set at four.
  4. SCCA membership subscriptions were set at Patron (£125), Life Member (£100) and Annual Member (£10), with almost all domestic event entry fees becoming free for members.
  5. ICCF entry fees were revised for the first time in 5 years to reflect exchange rate fluctuations.
Full details of membership subscriptions and event fees can be found on the membership and entry fees pages respectively.
20 May 09 | Scotland Team for 18th Olympiad
Captain George Pyrich has announced the following team for the 18th Olympiad due to start on September 10:
  1. IM Richard Beecham
  2. GM David Kilgour
  3. SM Tom Matheis
  4. SIM Tom Craig
  5. Alan Bell
  6. Robert Montgomery
Good luck to all our boards!
06 May 09 | SCCA AGM 2009
This will be held at Stirling Chess Club, BB Headquarters, Dalgleish Court, off Baker Street, Stirling FK8 1BJ at 4:00pm on Sunday, 7th June. Directions to the venue can be found by following the link: Stirling CC The agenda is:
  1. Apologies
  2. Minutes of Previous AGM and Matters Arising
  3. President's Remarks
  4. Secretary's Report
  5. Treasurer's Report
  6. International Secretary's Report
  7. Election of Office Bearers
  8. Appointment of Auditor
  9. Proposed Changes to Constitution:
    Management of the Association
    1. Management of the Association shall be carried out by an Executive Committee consisting of: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, International Secretary, Membership Secretary and up to three Committee Members.
    3. The organisation of domestic tournaments, leagues and matches will be controlled by a sub-committee(s) chaired by the Secretary.
    4. The organisation of international tournaments and matches, including team selection will be controlled by a sub-committee(s) chaired by the International Secretary.
    6. The Association, through its Executive Committee, shall be empowered to allocate duties to Other Committee Members, appoint sub-committee members and co-opt temporary officers to carry out special duties.
    Procedure
    AGM (Item 7), SGM (Item 3), Executive Committee (Item 2)
    A quorum of four shall be required at the AGM/SGM/Executive Committee meeting.
  10. Proposed Subscriptions and Fees (w.e.f. 1st September 2009):
    SCCA Membership Subscriptions (unchanged this century)
    Patron Member £125 (currently £100)
    (Life subscription, free entry to all domestic events for life, printed Magazine free if requested for 1st year, e-magazine)
    Life Member £100 (£80)
    (Life subscription, entry to domestic events each year per Annual members, printed magazine free if requested for 1st year, e-magazine)
    Annual Member £10 (£8) with additional benefits:
    (Annual subscription, free entry to one Championship cycle event, free entry to all friendly international and Challengers events, additional Championship entries and League chess per published rates, e-magazine)
    Associate Member £nil (£nil)
    (100 Club member only, magazine subscriber only, Team League player only)
    ICCF Entry Fees (unchanged since 2005 but required due to exchange rate fluctuations)
    Individual 7 player £5 (£4)
    Individual 11 player £8 (£6)
    World individual preliminaries £30 (£20)
    World individual semi-final £30 (£20)
    World individual candidates £15 (£10)
    Grand Master Norm £36 (£24)
    Master Norm £25 (£20)
    Thematic £8 (£6)
    Veterans World Cup £12 (£8)
    Webserver Open £7 (£5)
  11. AOCB
01 May 09 | 2nd ICCF Veterans' World Cup
Alan Borwell writes to invite entries for the 2nd ICCF Veterans' Wold Cup, held in memory of Gerhard Radosztics, the Austrian ICCF delegate for many years. The event is being organised by the SCCA in conjunction with ICCF, with Alan as TO, other SCCA members acting as TDs, and winners' trophies being sponsored by the SCCA. The event is open to players aged 60+ before the start of play, and is organised in three stages - group, semi-final and final. Groups will consist of 13 players playing each other once, and the mode of play is webserver, 10 moves in 40 days. Entries close in mid-July and play will start on 1st September 2009. For further information, please contact George Pyrich. Direct entry is also available via the ICCF website, although more expensive than SCCA member rates.
01 May 09 | Friendly Match v Australia
George Pyrich has organised a friendly international against Australia, due to commence on May 15th. It will be contested over 20 webserver and 5 postal boards. The webserver pairings are complete, but we await the Australian postal players. This is always an enjoyable contest (and provided us with a rare win last time). Best wishes to all involved!
20 Apr 09 | Challengers 2009 Tables Updated
Bernard Milligan writes to let us know he is standing down as Challengers TD this year. Jim Anderson is temporarily in charge and will be handing over to Kevin Paine shortly. This season sees the introduction of the chance to play Challengers games on the ICCF webserver if both players agree. The time controls for games are 30 days per 10 moves whether you play on the webserver, by email or post. This is to avoid confusion for players who may be playing different games by different means. We will review this once we see how things progress this year. The Challengers remains a two year event.
Bernard adds: "Thanks to everyone for making my time looking after this event so easy and enjoyable. I have made many friends over the years. I hope you continue to enjoy all your games and may all your pawns become queens. Live Long and Prosper!"
20 Apr 09 | ICCF Spring 2009 Grades Published
The ICCF spring update is published and Scottish grades from it are shown on our list. A few of our members have dropped off due to inactivity, and others who are registered with ICCF under their home country (e.g. ENG, WAL) are no longer shown on the SCO list. We have retained a number of players with SCCA grades who have insufficent games as yet to appear on the ICCF list.
20 Apr 09 | Magazine 105 Published
The first e-mag of 2009 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 e-mags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary e-mags will be attached to the email. Download times will be slightly longer than last 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!
03 Apr 09 | Olympiad XVIII Preliminaries
Marco Caressa, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, writes to invite national teams to participate in the preliminary sections of the XVIIIth Olympiad which is scheduled to start on September 10th this year. The event will be played on the webserver, with 6-player teams typically in sections of 11 nations. Entries are required by end-May. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.
03 Apr 09 | St Margaret's Success
St Margaret's of Airdrie have finished second in the inaugural ICCF senior schools SSB webserver tournament. Seven teams contested the final and games were played on a consultative basis by the pupils. The event was won by Louisa Adamica Grosuplje of Slovenia, with 5½/6, with St Margaret's close behind on 5/6. Congratulations to all pupils and staff who participated!
24 Feb 09 | ICCF Founder Erik Larsson Dies
Erik Larsson, one of the founding members of ICCF in 1951, has died in Sweden aged 93. Erik was an internationalist who tried to promote understanding between peoples and nations through chess. A long-serving tournament director, he was particularly associated with the development of world championships, olympiads, promotional tournaments and the numerical notation system. We will remember him fondly. R.I.P.
24 Feb 09 | ICCF President Samraoui Resigns
Med Samraoui, an Algerian national based in Germany, announced his resignation on 21 February with immediate effect. He has been fighting extradition attempts by Algeria where he had served as a colonel in their secret service, and has been unable to attend ICCF congresses due to visa restrictions. The full text of his resignation letter can be found on the ICCF website. ICCF is pursuing an interim appointment, and a permanent replacement will be sought at the Congress in Leeds later this year.
24 Feb 09 | ICCF World Cup XVII
Frank Geider, ICCF World Tournament Director, writes to remind us that registration has begun for the 17th World Cup. The event is sponsored by chesspublishing.com and will be played on the webserver. Preliminary groups will have 7-11 players, each playing the other once. Semi-final and final stages are planned. Prizes include books, chesspublishing.com subscriptions and cash (final only). The Spanish CCA is organising the event, and registration closes on 30 April. Players may enter directly through the ICCF website, or via their national organisation (cheaper for SCCA members). For full details of fees etc, please contact George Pyrich.
10 Feb 09 | Scottish Qualifiers in WC and MN Events
Marco Caressa, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, has supplied lists of Scottish qualifiers for ICCF world championship and master norm events in 2009. The lists are truncated to currently active players here:
WC Prelims: Richard Beecham, Tom Craig, David Kilgour, George Livie.
WC Semi-Final: Tom Craig, David Kilgour, Colin McNab.
MN: Raymond Baxter, Alan Brown, Tom Craig, David Kilgour, Jonathan Lennox, George Livie, Iain Mackintosh, Tom Matheis, Ian Reeman, Iain Swan.
GMN: Richard Beecham, Colin McNab.
Players should note the next Olympiad will probably start around mid-year. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.
19 Jan 09 | Scotland Team for 8th Euro Championship
Captain George Pyrich has announced a strong team for the European Championship due to start on February 14:
  1. IM Richard Beecham
  2. GM David Kilgour
  3. SM Tom Matheis
  4. SIM Tom Craig
  5. IM Iain Mackintosh
  6. Gordon Anderson
  7. Robert Montgomery
  8. Alan Bell
19 Jan 09 | Championship 07-08 Games Download
Alistair Maxwell has kindly provided all the games for this event in ChessBase and PGN formats for download. You'll find the files on the Scottish Collections page.
16 Jan 09 | Magazine 104 Published
The final e-mag of 2008 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 e-mags from the secure Members' page on the website, while complimentary e-mags will be attached to the email. Download times will be roughly the same as last 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!