SCCA News

	News Archive 2016

Last updated 22 December 2016

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22 Dec 16 | ICCF Europa 2017 Webserver Championship announced: ICCF Europa Tournaments Commissioner Leonardo Madonia writes to announce the 2017 cycle of the European Webserver Championship. This event will be played as follows:; If you are interested, please contact George Pyrich for further details.

22 Dec 16 | ICCF Europa 2016-18 Postal Championship announced: ICCF Europa Tournaments Commissioner Leonardo Madonia writes to announce the 2016-18 cycle of the 71st European Postal Championship. This event will be played as follows:; If you are interested, please contact George Pyrich for further details.

22 Dec 16 | ICCF CCE Norms for David Cumming and Peter Bennett: We're having a bit of a flurry with the new Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) norms. David Cumming has completed two: in WS/MN/138, where he achieved the 4½ score with a game to spare, and in the 2nd Interzonal Individual Tournament Prelim A where he scored the requisite 3 with three games still to finish. Peter Bennett has picked up a norm in the Veterans World Cup 7 Semifinal 02, scoring the necessary 5 points (also with three games still to finish). Congratulations to both players, and we now have an intriguing race to see who can claim our first CCE title!

15 Dec 16 | ICCF 2017 World Championship Preliminaries: ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner Gian-Maria Tani writes to announce the Preliminaries stage of the 2017 (41st) World Championship. This event will be played in sections of 13 players (or 15/17 at the organisers' discretion), with entries closing on 12th February and play commencing on 20th March. Entry must be made through national delegates and each member federation is allowed to nominate entries - SCCA is once again entitled to 3 places in the 2017 cycle (includes Preliminaries and Semi-Finals). Geoff Lloyd has achieved pre-qualification for the 2017 Preliminaries following his performance in WS/M/507. If you are interested, please contact George Pyrich as soon as possible and before 5th February.

06 Dec 16 | ICCF CCE Norm for Eoin Campbell: Eoin Campbell has scored 4/11 on board 7 in the North Atlantic Team Tournament (NATT) VII and thus qualifies for a CCE norm. The Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) title is a relatively recent introduction to the ICCF list and let's hope it isn't too long before Eoin completes full qualification. Meantime, many congratulations to the Edinburgh man!

28 Nov 16 | 7th ICCF Webchess Open Announced: Russell Sherwood (WLS), ICCF Non-Title Tournaments Commissioner, writes to announce this tournament which will be played in three stages: preliminaries, semi-final and final. It's a webserver event, where preliminary section winners will receive vouchers worth 20€, semi-final winners will receive vouchers worth 50€, and the final has a 2000€ prize fund. Registration closes on 31st December and preliminary sections begin on 31st January 2017. Semi-finals will start no later than January 2019, and finals no later than January 2021. Entry via SCCA costs £4.50 (note that players new to ICCF are entitled to one free section). For further details, please contact George Pyrich before 15th December.

25 Nov 16 | Friendly Versus Italy Starts: A bit of a glut of friendly internationals at year-end. This time, team captains George Pyrich and Gianni Mastrojeni have finalised their teams and play begins soon in a 24-board friendly match against Italy. We've played the Italians three times in the last 20 years, most recently getting creamed 8½-31½ in a webserver encounter which ran 2012-13. We lost 10-26 in a postal match which lasted 1999-2002 and fared no better in an email fixture which ran 1997-2000, going down 6-13. The new match takes place entirely on the webserver. The official start date is 5th December, though the early birds are in action already. As usual, best wishes to both teams for enjoyable chess and new friendships!

18 Nov 16 | Cumming wins 2016-17 Championship: David Cumming has won the SCCA Championship for the third time, finishing with 7½/10. Three games remain outstanding, but David is out of sight now. This is David's second outright victory (the first being 2013-14), with one shared win in 2009-10. Alastair Dawson currently sits in second place with 6/10, but could still be caught by defending champion Iain Mackintosh. So, many congratulations to the man from Inverness!

15 Nov 16 | Friendly Versus Indonesia Starts: Team captains George Pyrich and Yosua Sitorus have finalised their teams and play has begun in a 8-board friendly match against Indonesia. We've never played Indonesia and this match has been arranged to gauge their strength as possible new members of ICCF. The match takes place entirely on the webserver. The official start date is 1st December, though most boards are now in play. Best wishes to both teams for competitive chess and new friendships!

07 Nov 16 | SCCA Wins BCC Team Championship 2015-16: Congratulations to our team who scored a narrow win in this strong event! We finished equal 1st with Trophy Hunters after their final game was adjudicated as a draw. Both teams scored 11 points and 6 wins, so the final position was decided on board count. Our team was: 1.Richard Beecham; 2.Tom Matheis; 3.Iain Mackintosh; 4.David Cumming; 5.Alan Bell; 6.Gordon Anderson; 7.David Kilgour; 8.Alan Borwell. The 2016-17 event starts on December 1st.

17 Oct 16 | George Livie Magazine Collection: Alistair Maxwell advises that George's substantial collection of correspondence chess magaines, including BPCF, SSKK, Fernschach and Chess Mail, is now looking for a new home. If you are interested in some or all of these, please contact Alistair Maxwell directly.

16 Oct 16 | Friendly Versus Canada Starts: Team captains George Pyrich and Joe Deidun Jr. have finalised their teams and play has begun in a 26-board friendly match against Canada. We've played the Canadians twice in the last 20 years, getting trounced 13½-32½ in a mixed postal/email encounter which ran 2003-06, and losing a tighter, postal-only affair 21-25 back in the 1990s. The new match takes place entirely on the webserver. The official start date is 1st November, though we expect most boards to start play in the second half of October. Best wishes to both teams for enjoyable chess and new friendships!

13 Oct 16 | SCCA 2017 Membership Forms Available: Membership forms for 2017 are now available for download from the website on the membership page. The forms are in Word format and can be returned by post or email. Please use them whether you're renewing or joining as a new member, and remember to complete the tournament form to say which events you'd like to play in during 2017. For further information, please contact Kevin Paine by email, or use his home contact details provided on the web page.

07 Oct 16 | ICCF Grading List 2016/4 Published: The fourth quarterly list of 2016 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 George Pyrich.

07 Oct 16 | Magazine 135 Published: The third e-mag of the 2016 set is being distributed by email today. Printed copies are in the post tonight. 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 the same 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!

19 Sep 16 | ICCF Champions League Format: Russell Sherwood of Wales, the new ICCF Non Title Tournament Commissioner, writes to announce that the old Champions League format has been reinstated at the recent Bremen Congress. Any outstanding games in the current cycle will go to adjudication on 31st December, then Cycle 7 of the CL will start in the new/old format from March/April 2017. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.

11 Jul 16 | British Correspondence Chess Championship: During the ICCF Congress in Cardiff last year, representatives of the English Federation for Correspondence Chess (EFCC), the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF) and the Scottish Correspondence Chess Association (SCCA) met to discuss the running of the British Correspondence Chess Championship. The discussion arose due to the change of name from the British Federation for Correspondence Chess to the English Federation for Correspondence Chess and the perceived need to organise a truly British Championship.; The three bodies agreed that a BCCC should be organised by a committee with representation from each of the Federations/Association. It was also agreed that the SCCA could nominate up to 3 participants who met the entry criteria, part of which is holding a minimum ICCF grading 2300. Those players rated less than 2300 may wish to enter the Candidates and Reserves Sections.; The next tournament is a 15 player all-play-all event and is due to commence in September 2016. Anyone interested in entering should contact either George Pyrich or Gordon Anderson for further information. Entries should be sent to George Pyrich and the entry fee of £10 to Gordon Anderson, both no later than 15th August 2016.

08 Jul 16 | ICCF Grading List 2016/3 Published: The third quarterly list of 2016 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 George Pyrich.

08 Jul 16 | Magazine 134 Published: The second e-mag of the 2016 set is being distributed by email today. Printed copies are in the post tonight. 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 the same 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!

24 Jun 16 | ICCF 2016 World Championship Candidates Announced: Gian-Maria Tani, ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner, writes to announce the candidates stage of the 36th World Championship which will start on 20th September. The following players are eligible for the 36th candidates:; Candidates sections normally have 13 players with the possibility for the TTC to extend them to 15 or 17 players (or reduce to 11 players) if appropriate in special situations. Normally, only four Candidates sections are started each year with 1st & 2nd qualifying for a final.; Registration completes on 5th August, so please email George Pyrich before 29th July, for further details and to register your interest.

13 Jun 16 | 2016 AGM Highlights: At the AGM in Perth on 12 June, the following items were noted:; Members can download AGM and Executive Committee minutes from the members download page. Full financial details may be accessed from accounts page and its attached analysis sheets.

07 Jun 16 | Scotland Team for ICCF Olympiad 21: The selection committee led by George Pyrich has selected the following line-up to represent Scotland:

06 Jun 16 | George Livie: Sad news to report. George Livie, founder member of SCCA and long-time committee member has died peacefully in Glasgow on June 1st. The funeral service will take place at Merrylee Parish Church, Merrylee Road, on Tuesday, 7th June at 10am, thereafter to Mearns Cemetery, G77 5RU, arriving at 11am. George will be much missed in the world of Scottish Chess and we extend our sympathy to Margaret and the whole Livie family.

02 May 16 | SCCA AGM 2016: This will be held at 7 Tullylumb Terrace, Perth PH1 1BA at 4:00pm on Sunday, 12th June. Skype facilities can be made available for those unable to attend in person (please contact the president). The agenda is:

20 Apr 16 | ICCF 21st Olympiad Preliminaries Announced: ICCF Title Tournament Commissioner, Gian-Maria Tani, writes to announce that this stage will commence play on September 1st, 2016 and that entries must be received by July 1st. The event will be held on the ICCF webserver and will be for teams of 6 players. Normal ICCF Rules will be applicable. GM title norms should be available on the top boards whilst SIM and IM norms should be available on all the others. For title norm purposes, rating numbers will be taken from the ICCF Rating List 2016/3. For further information, please contact George Pyrich by 10th June.

12 Apr 16 | ICCF Grading List 2016/2 Published: The second quarterly list of 2016 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 George Pyrich.

12 Apr 16 | Magazine 133 Published: The first e-mag of the 2016 set is being distributed by email today. Printed copies are in the post tonight. 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 the same 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!

12 Mar 16 | AEAC XV Jubilee Open Tournament announced: Valentín Costa Trillo writes to announce the XV Jubilee Open Tournament of AEAC (Spanish CC Association). This event will be played on the webserver over three stages, Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final. Time controls are 10/40 for the first two stages and 10/50 for the Final. Players may enter more than one Preliminary group, and those rated 2300+ may register directly for the Semi-Final. Registration starts on March 18th and closes on June 15th, with play expected to commence on July 30th, 2016. Preliminary groups will complete no later than March 30th, 2018. Entry fee is €5/group, but the first 10 players from each Federation get free entry. The prize fund for the Final is €1000. For further information, and to enter, please contact George Pyrich.

06 Mar 16 | 7th NATT Team announced: George Pyrich has announced the following team for the 7th North Atlantic Team Tournament due to start in May 2016. It's the first line-up chosen by our new International Selection Committee.

16 Feb 16 | Mackintosh wins 2015-16 Championship: Iain Mackintosh has won the SCCA Championship for the seventh time after just squeezing out George Pyrich in the last remaining game. Iain finished on 8½/10, half a point ahead of David Cumming who had led the event for several months. This was Iain's fourth outright victory, with three shared wins, the first in 1997-98. So, many congratulations to the man from Perth and commiserations to David, who set a hot pace in the event.

04 Feb 16 | SCCA Domestic Events 2016 Started: Divisions 2 and 3 of the Webserver League were started today, which means all the main domestic events of 2016 are now in session. The Championship cycle can be found at Championship, Premier, and Open, and the Webserver Leagues are at Leagues. Thanks to Jim Anderson for pulling it all together! For further information and queries, please email Jim Anderson.

06 Jan 16 | ICCF Grading List 2016/1 Published: The fourth quarterly list of 2015 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 George Pyrich.

06 Jan 16 | Magazine 132 Published: The fourth and final e-mag of the 2015 set is being distributed by email today. Printed copies are in the post tonight. 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 the same 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!

04 Jan 16 | Friendly Versus USA Starts: Team captains George Pyrich and Dennis Doren have finalised their teams and play has begun in a 25-board friendly match against USA. We've played the States just once in the last 20 years, losing narrowly by 20-22 in a mixed webserver/postal encounter which ran 2008-12. The new match takes place entirely on the webserver. The official start date is 14th January, though play is well under way already. Best wishes to both teams for competitive chess plus new friendships!

04 Jan 16 | ICCF Europa Individual Championships 2016: Leonardo Madonia, ICCF Europa Tournament Commissioner, writes to announce the next cycles of the postal and webserver individual championships.; 2016-18 cycle of the 71st European Postal Championship; 2016 cycle of the European Webserver Championship; SCCA entry fees are shown in parentheses for each round. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.

04 Jan 16 | ICCF 5th Chess 960 World Cup Announced: Leonardo Madonia, ICCF Central Tournament Leader, writes to announce the 5th Chess 960 World Cup. The event will be played by server and will be organised in three or four stages, depending from the number of the entries. The sections of the preliminary round will have 6 players (10 games) with 2 qualified for the next round. All sections will be with double round robin (players will have the same position with Black and White but all positions will defer from one opponent to another). Time control will be 10 moves for 30 days. The event will be rated for Chess 960 rating system. Registration closes on 28th February and play will start on 15th March. Entry through the SCCA qualifies for a rate of £8.50. For further information, please contact George Pyrich.

04 Jan 16 | ICCF President's New Year Message: To all Correspondence Chess Friends,; As 2015 ends, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to you and all those dear to you for a very healthy, happy, and successful New Year. I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to all officials and delegates for their devoted work on behalf of ICCF during the last year.; The 2015 ICCF Congress in Cardiff approved a number of major decisions which will be implemented in 2016 and have been included in the major release of the server in December, for example, the complete rewriting of the tournament director's manual, the introduction of new Correspondence Chess Master and Expert titles, the online proposal and voting process, etc.; It is too early to present the complete figures, but it is likely that 2015 will be another record year for ICCF tournament entries and I thank all volunteers who are given their time for the benefit of the development of correspondence chess and of course the players who are enjoying playing in ICCF tournaments. In 2015, we have also renewed our collaboration with major sponsors and many of them are highly valuing the theoretical values of the games played by correspondence. This proves once again the importance of correspondence chess in the development of new ideas in chess openings!; The further modernisation of the rules and taking advantage of the advanced technology of the server will help us to increase services to the players. The work and the role of the tournament directors have been completely reviewed and the Congress has approved a major revision of the tournament director manuals - this effort will be completed next year by the introduction of the tournament organiser manual.; The three working groups implemented in Cardiff -(a) time controls and more generally about time management philosophy in CC tournaments; (b) finance; and (c) the modernisation of the ICCF rating and titles – have started their work and will present their conclusions and proposals during next year’s Congress.; I look forward to meeting you in Bremen in August for the 2016 ICCF Congress.; In closing, let me once again extend to you my best wishes for the New Year. I hope that 2016 will bring satisfaction in all your endeavours, personal, professional, and chess!; Amici Sumus,; Eric Ruch; ICCF President

News Archive 2016