SCCA News

	News Archive 2017

Last updated 31 December 2017

| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 |

31 Dec 17 | ICCF CCM Norm for Dawson: Alastair Dawson of St. Andrews has obtained his first ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) norm. Alastair reached the qualifying standard of 6 points while playing in the North Sea Team Tournament 3 on board 5, having previously obtained his first CCE Norm in October in the same event. Congratulations to Alastair on his second success on Board 5!

29 Dec 17 | George Pyrich Memorial Service: There will be a service in George's memory on Thursday 4th January at 2pm in the Raith Suite, Starks Park, Pratt Street, Kirkcaldy, Fife KY1 1SA, to which all friends are invited.

22 Dec 17 | ICCF CCE Title for Bell: Alan Bell of Falkirk, who gained his first ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) norm in June 2017 by scoring 5/9 on Board 3 in the 21st Olympiad Preliminaries has now been awarded the Correspondence Chess Expert title having reached the qualifying standard of 3.5 points while playing Board 4 for Scotland in the 11th European Team Tournament, with three games outstanding. Congratulations to Alan!

22 Dec 17 | Interim International Arrangements: In the aftermath of the death of George Pyrich the following interim arrangements will apply: Gordon Anderson will operate the [email protected] email account and will handle all individual and team entries to ICCF events, plus any matters arising. Kevin Paine will assist with grading issues as well as supervising domestic events. Alan Borwell and Iain Mackintosh will prepare inserts for the upcoming SCCA magazine. We plan to meet in committee shortly after the holiday period finishes and will discuss the best distribution of work across the serving members. If you feel you can assist, even in some small way, please contact Iain Mackintosh in the next couple of weeks.

19 Dec 17 | ICCF Copa Perú IV Announced: Gino Franco Figlio writes to advise the Peruvian Correspondence Chess League (LIPEAD) has announced the Copa Perú IV honouring SIM Alfredo Cillóniz. This event will be played in 3 stages. Prize fund of 1,000 euros to the winner of the Final.; Preliminaries will start on 28/2/2018 and entries close on 21/2/2018. This is an ICCF rated event, groups of 7 players. Group winner advances to Semi-finals. No tie-break in Preliminaries. Multiple entries allowed.; Semifinals will start in 2020. Entries open until groups are completed. This is an ICCF rated event with norms, and groups of 11-17 players depending on number of entries. Winner only advances to Final. ICCF tiebreak rules apply. If necessary, player with higher rating will advance. Standard ICCF rules and Time Control of 10/50 with duplication after 20 days. No more than 2 entries per player in the Semi-finals will be allowed. Players rated 2200 or higher may register in the Semi-finals directly.; If you are interested, please contact Gordon Anderson as soon as possible and before 14th February for Preliminaries. Entry fee for Preliminaries will be £8.00.

19 Dec 17 | ICCF 2018 World Championship Preliminaries: ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner Gian-Maria Tani writes to announce the Preliminaries stage of the 2018 (42nd) World Championship. This event will be played in sections of 13 players (or 15/17 at the organisers' discretion), with entries closing on 4th 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 2018 cycle (includes Preliminaries and Semi-Finals). If you are interested, please contact Gordon Anderson as soon as possible and before 31st January 2018.

18 Dec 17 | George Pyrich RIP: Devastating news from Spain that George Pyrich died at the weekend. No details available at present. An immense contributor to both SCCA and ICCF and a major loss to CC and chess in general.

21 Nov 17 | SCCA 2018 Membership Forms Available: Membership forms for 2018 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 2018. For further information, please contact Kevin Paine by email, or use his home contact details provided on the web page.

20 Apr 17 | BCCTC 2017-18 Team announced: George Pyrich has announced the following team for the 2017-18 British CC Team Championship due to start on 1st December 2017. We won this event in 2015-16, but finished mid-table last year.

20 Oct 17 | New ICCF Zone 1 (Europe) Director Announced: Michael Millstone, ICCF General Secretary, writes to announce the appointment of a new European Director who will sit on the Executive Board of ICCF. The new man is Andrey Pavlikov (RUS) and his accomplishments include a PhD in Mathematics; an ICCF International Arbiter; a Correspondence Chess Player for 26 years; President of the Russian Correspondence Chess Association; a highly successful ICCF Tournament Organiser; and a Member of both the ICCF Disciplinary Committee and ICCF Rules Commission. We wish Andrey well!

13 Oct 17 | ICCF Grading List 2017/4 Published: The fourth quarterly list of 2017 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.

13 Oct 17 | Magazine 139 Published: The third e-mag of the 2017 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 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!

29 Sep 17 | ICCF States and Regions Championship Announced: Austin Lockwood, ICCF Services Director, writes to announce a new team competition organised by the Welsh CCF. Any ICCF country may enter one or more teams which represent a subdivision of the country; this could be a state, county, province, territory, etc. By way of example, teams from West Wales, Lancashire and Yorkshire have already entered. Teams will consist of eight players, pairings will be by the Hutton System, and each player will have two games against the same opponent with opposite colours. Ten teams will comprise a division, based initially on grading strength. The Triple Block time control of 50/75/1 will be used; all games will be completed within 350 days, and there will be no adjudications except in the case of withdrawals. Entries close on 30 November and play is expected to start on 1 January 2018. The entry fee per team is £10. For further information and to register, please contact George Pyrich before mid-November.

29 Sep 17 | ICCF World Cup 22 Announced: Russell Sherwood, ICCF Non-Title Tournament Commissioner, writes to announce that World Cup 22 will start on 15th December, 2017, with the closing date for entries 10th November. As with previous World Cups, the event will be organised in three stages: Preliminaries, Semi-finals and Final. The Preliminaries will complete on 30th June 2019; the Semi-finals are expected to start on 1st September 2019 and the Finals are expected to start on 1st September 2021. Vouchers and chess materials will be available as prizes for the Preliminaries and Semi-finals, with cash prizes available for the Final. Players may enter for an unlimited number of Preliminary groups, but have no more than two places in the Semi-finals and one in the Final. Players who qualified for World Cup 21 and 22 Finals will be entitled to play in the Semi-final stage of World Cup 23 and the winners of WC 21 and 22 Finals will be eligible to participate in World Cup Final 23. Players may enter through their National Federations (the SCCA entry fee per section is £8.50) or, where eligible, via the ICCF Direct Entry system. For further information and to register, please contact George Pyrich before mid-October.

09 Aug 17 | Friendly Versus Australia Starts: Team captains George Pyrich and Brian Jones have finalised their teams and play has now started in a 21-board friendly match against Australia. Play has just completed in our most recent match which started in 2015, with Scotland winning 27½-22½. The Aussies will be out for a quick revenge! Earlier matches went: Australia won 8-4 (email, started 1999); Scotland won 24-18 (webserver/postal, started 2005); Australia won 34½-13½ (webserver/postal, started 2009) and Australia won 23-17 (webserver, started 2012). The new match is taking place on the webserver and started officially on 9th July. As usual, best wishes to both teams for competitive chess plus new and old acquaintances!

12 Jul 17 | British Correspondence Chess Championship 2017: The British Correspondence Chess Championship (BCCC) is the premier tournament on the British CC calendar. Running continuously since 1921 and open to all British players, the BCCC has carried ICCF title norms since 2016. The BCCC caters for players of all levels and consists of a final, a candidates section and a number of reserves sections.; The BCCC is organised jointly by the English Federation for Correspondence Chess (EFCC), the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF) and the Scottish Correspondence Chess Association (SCCA). Further details of the tournament, including the full rules and a list of previous winners, are available on the EFCC website: BCCC.; SCCA can nominate up to 3 participants who met the entry criteria, part of which is holding a minimum ICCF grading of 2300. Those players rated less than 2300 may wish to enter the Candidates and Reserves Sections.; Entries close on August 31 and play is due to commence in September 2017. 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 2017.

11 Jul 17 | ICCF Grading List 2017/3 Published: The third quarterly list of 2017 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.

11 Jul 17 | Magazine 138 Published: The second e-mag of the 2017 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 slightly shorter 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!

29 May 17 | SCCA Rules and Constitution Changes: At the Executive Committee meeting in Perth on 28 May, the following items were agreed:; Members can view the Rules and Adjudication changes on the SCCA Rules of Play page. The update to the Constitution is on the Constitution page.

29 May 17 | 2017 AGM Highlights: At the AGM in Perth on 28 May, 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.

19 May 17 | Friendly Versus Finland Starts: Team captains George Pyrich and Olli Ylönen have finalised their teams and play has begun in a 21-board friendly match against Finland. We've played the Finns twice in recent history, most recently getting trampled 21-38 in a webserver/postal encounter which ran 2010-15. We were also done over 14½-29½ in a postal/email match which started in 2003. The new match takes place entirely on the webserver. The official start date is 28th April, though the early birds are in action already. As usual, best wishes to both teams for enjoyable chess and new friendships!

13 May 17 | ICCF CCM Title for Bennett: Peter Bennett of Edinburgh has now completed all his games in the Veterans' World Cup Semi-Final 02, and a further draw gives him an overscore of a ½ point - sufficient to eliminate his games deficit and allow the CCM title to be awarded. Assuming the ICCF verification checks complete satisfactorily, then Peter joins David Cumming as our second CCM title holder, with just a few days separating the two. Congratulations to Peter on his second title success of 2017!

08 May 17 | ICCF CCM Title for Cumming: David Cumming of Inverness has continued his fine run of form by obtaining the ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) title, subject to confirmation of the results of the final norm by the tournament director, and of the title by the qualifications commissioner. Having previously achieved his first CCM norm in the North Sea Team Tournament 3 on board 2, David has now reached the qualifying standard of 6 points in the British Championship 2016-18. He currently stands on 6/14 with all games finished, and remains on 5/8 with two games still to finish in the NSTT3 event. Assuming the ICCF verification checks complete satisfactorily, then it's time to congratulate David on his second title success of 2017!

24 Apr 17 | ICCF CCE Norm for Beveridge: Yet another! Colin Beveridge of Cheltenham is the latest Scots player to gain an ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) norm. Colin reached the 7 point CCE qualifying mark playing in the British Championship Reserves A 2016-7. He has completed all his games and is currently sitting in second place with 7/9 (5 wins). Well done Colin!

20 Apr 17 | 11th EUTC Team Announced: George Pyrich has announced the following team, chosen by our International Selection Committee, for the 11th European Team Championship due to start on 1st June 2017. This event is usually tougher than the Olympiad, so good luck to all involved!

18 Apr 17 | SCCA AGM 2017: This will be held at 7 Tullylumb Terrace, Perth PH1 1BA at 4:00pm on Sunday, 28th May. Skype facilities can be made available for those unable to attend in person (please contact the president). The agenda is:

18 Apr 17 | ICCF CCM Norm for Anderson: They keep on coming! Gordon Anderson of Nottingham has now gained an ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) norm in the same event as he gathered his first CCE norm. Gordon reached the 5 point CCM qualifying mark playing Board 6 in the ICCF Olympiad 21 Preliminaries, and still has one unfinished game. He is sitting in first place at present with 5/8 (two wins). Well done Gordon!

13 Apr 17 | Second ICCF CCM Norm for Bennett: Peter Bennett of Edinburgh has gained his second ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) norm. He reached the qualifying standard of 4 points while playing board 5 for Scotland in the 21st Olympiad Preliminaries. Peter currently stands on 4/8 with one game still to finish. He is just short of 24 qualifying games, but could still manage an overscore to compensate. Congratulations to Peter on yet more success!

07 Apr 17 | ICCF Grading List 2017/2 Published: The second quarterly list of 2017 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 Apr 17 | Magazine 137 Published: The first e-mag of the 2017 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 slightly shorter 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!

31 Mar 17 | ICCF CCE Title for Bennett: Peter Bennett of Edinburgh has become the second Scottish player to qualify for the recently introduced ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) title. As reported in Magazine 136, Peter had already picked up a CCE norm in VWC7 Semifinal02 and has now added a second playing board 5 for Scotland in the 21st Olympiad Preliminaries. Peter's game count is a couple short of the requisite 24, but his achievement of a CCM norm in VWC7 Semifinal02 (see previous news item), gives him an overscore of 1½ points in his CCE quest. The ICCF overscore formula eliminates the games deficit and lets him cross the finish line. Congratulations to Peter on his CCE success and best wishes for his new target of the CCM title!

12 Mar 17 | ICCF CCM Norm for Bennett: Peter Bennett of Edinburgh has emulated David Cumming by obtaining his first ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) norm. He reached the qualifying standard of 6½ points while playing in the Veterans' World Cup Semi-Final 02. Peter currently stands on 6½/13 with one game still to finish. Congratulations to Peter on yet more VWC success!

09 Mar 17 | ICCF CCM Norm for Cumming: David Cumming of Inverness has continued his rich vein of form by obtaining his first ICCF Correspondence Chess Master (CCM) norm. The CCM title ranks after the GM, SIM and IM awards and only 24 players hold the title at present, including two each from England and Wales. David reached the qualifying standard of 5 points while playing in the North Sea Team Tournament 3 on board 2. He currently stands on 5/8 with two games still to finish. Congratulations to David on his further success!

02 Mar 17 | ICCF 11th European Team Championship Semi-Finals Announced: Marco Caressa, ICCF Zonal Director for Europe, writes to announce the semi-final stage of the 11th European Team Championship. Each participating country fields an 8-person team, and 13 teams will contest the final (the size of semi-final sections will depend on numbers entering). Games are played by webserver and there are no entry fees. Registration closes on 30th April and play starts on 1st June. If you are interested in representing Scotland, then please email George Pyrich before Friday, April 14th.

24 Feb 17 | ICCF CCE Norm for Anderson: Gordon Anderson of Nottingham joins the growing number of SCCA members to pick up a norm for the recently introduced ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) title. Gordon reached the 3½ point qualifying mark playing Board 6 in the ICCF Olympiad 21 Preliminaries, and still has three unfinished games. Well done Gordon!

20 Feb 17 | ICCF Champions League 7 Announced: Russell Sherwood, ICCF Non-Title Tournaments Commissioner, writes to announce Champions League 7 which reverts to the format used by Champions League 5. This competition is for teams of four players, organised into several divisions, most of which comprise 13 teams. Entries will be accepted until 16th April 2017; the start date is 15th May 2017; the end date is fixed as 14th May 2019. Time control is 10 moves in 40 days and 30 days leave/year is available to each player. We have fielded two teams in recent seasons: The Lewis Chessmen and Scottish Claymores. Please email George Pyrich for further details and to register your interest. Entry fee via SCCA will be £7.

02 Feb 17 | ICCF CCE Norm for Lloyd: Geoff Lloyd of Prestatyn is the latest SCCA member to pick up a norm for the recently introduced ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) title. Geoff reached the 4½ qualifying mark in the 1st Welsh Correspondence Chess Invitational event (held to celebrate the ICCF Congress held in Cardiff during 2015), and still has one unfinished game. Well done Geoff!

12 Jan 17 | ICCF CCE Title for Cumming: David Cumming of Inverness has become the first Scottish player to qualify for the recently introduced ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) title. As reported in Magazine 136, he has already picked up two CCE norms in WS/MN/138 and the 2nd Interzonal Individual Tournament Prelim A, but he was still short of the requisite 24 games in these events. Happily, he's now chalked up a further 10 games in the British Championship 2016-8, and netted a further CCE norm with 5 points to date. So, he's over the finish line and fully deserves our congratulations for his impressively quick success!

09 Jan 17 | ICCF Grading List 2017/1 Published: The first quarterly list of 2017 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.

09 Jan 17 | Magazine 136 Published: The fourth 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 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!

07 Jan 17 | ICCF European Championship Candidates 2017: Marco Caressa, ICCF-Europa Zonal Director, writes to announce the Candidates stage of the 2017 Championship. This is a webserver event and registration is open from now until 20th February. Play is scheduled to start on 15th March and sections are expected to have 13 players. The following players are eligible:; Please email George Pyrich for further details and to register your interest. Entry fee via SCCA will be £12.

04 Jan 17 | SCCA 2016 Domestic Events Round-Up: Many congratulations to the following domestic event winners from 2016:

02 Jan 17 | SCCA 2017 Domestic Events Started: Many thanks to Kevin Paine who has initiated all our major domestic events on January 1st this year! You can access the x-table links via the following pages: championship; premier; open; and leagues. The challengers fixtures will follow shortly.

02 Jan 17 | ICCF President's New Year Message: To all Correspondence Chess Friends,; As 2016 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 want to extend my sincere thanks to all officials and delegates for their devoted work on behalf of ICCF during the last year.; The 2016 ICCF Congress in Bremen has approved some important decisions. Some of these decisions have already been included in the end of December 2016 major release of the server for example the new Tournament Office manual. Others will be released during the 2017 year such as the new time control system (the so-called Triple Block system), the revised norm calculation, and the revised rating rules.; It is too early to present the complete figures, but it is likely that 2016 will be another record year for ICCF tournament entries and I thank all volunteers who are giving their time for the benefit of the development of correspondence chess and of course the players who are enjoying playing in ICCF tournaments.; I look forward to meeting you in Bulgaria in September for the 2017 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 2017