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News Archive 2006

Last updated 14 February 2007

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28 Nov 06 | League Division 1 and 2 Titles Settled
Peter Jack reports that the latest round of results has confirmed Perth Correspondents as winners of Division 1 with 8½/10. In Division 2, Civil Service B narrowly saw off their stablemates, the A team, finishing with 8/10. Congratulations to all the players in both winning teams, and to everyone for another enjoyable and competitive series of matches!
17 Nov 06 | SCCA Announces Webserver Tournament
The SCCA has announced a free webserver event aimed at existing SCCA members worldwide, and all chessplayers resident in Scotland. The event will be staged on the highly popular ICCF Webserver. If you haven't looked at this site yet, click on the link, and when you get to the home page, follow Online Help/Tutorial to pick up Franklin Campbell's excellent introduction for new users.
Play is expected to commence in late January 2007, and the closing date for entries is 15 January. The structure of the event will be determined by the number of entries we receive, but we hope that the winners of preliminary sections will contest (say) a 9-player final. The prize fund is £200.
George Pyrich will act as TD, while Alan Brown is organising the event - if you need to know more or wish to enter, please contact Alan.
If you haven't played CC before, or haven't yet tried out the webserver, this event is an ideal way to sample the technology and make some new chess acquaintances. The administrative overheads of postal and email chess vanish on webserver, and the possibility of clerical errors is made negligible by the visual drag-and-drop of your piece on the chessboard before your move is finally committed. Relaxed time controls (40 days for 10 moves) give you the opportunity to play to a higher standard, and at times during the week which suit you. The messaging feature lets you have a blether with your opponents if you wish. Try it!
07 Nov 06 | Friendly International with Germany Starts
Yesterday we started a webserver and postal friendly international against Germany, traditionally the strongest CC nation. The match will be contested over 18 server and 10 postal boards, and as usual, the rating strengths have been chosen to give near-parity on each board. Scotland are sending the first moves - good luck to all our players!
20 Oct 06 | Magazine 95 Published
The third e-mag of 2006 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 should be 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!
12 Oct 06 | Pyrich Elected as Deputy ICCF President
The annual ICCF Congress is being held in Dresden this year, and it has proved a momentous event for our delegate, George Pyrich. He travelled out in ordinary clothes, but he will return in ermine robes and gold chain, having been elected to the post of Deputy President and Development Director on the opening day. George was unopposed after Dmitry Lybin of Belarus withdrew his nomination. They've put George to work already, and you can read his daily bulletins on the ICCF Website.
12 Oct 06 | Trebles All Round for Beecham!
Alastair Dawson, the last man standing in the 2006-07 Championship, has now resigned against Richard Beecham. In Beecham's own words, he has now 'threepeated' his 100% feats in 2000-01 and 2001-02. We send him fewer contestants to knock over these days, but by any account, this is a remarkable achievement - sincere congratulations to the Prestwick pawn-pusher!!
04 Oct 06 | ICCF Interzonal Team Event 2006
Gian-Maria Tani writes to invite players to participate in one of the European teams which will contest this event. This is a webserver event, with each ICCF zone represented by one team, save Europe (by far the most populous zone), who can enter up to three teams. Each team has 8 players, playing two games against the same board of each of the other teams - if Europe enters 3 teams, this will mean 10 games per player.
The European teams will be chosen to represent the maximum number of different countries, with grades and titles being used to further select board order. Entries should be submitted by 1 November, and the event is expected to start on 15 December. To enter, and for additional information, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
11 Aug 06 | BdF 60th Anniversary Open Tournament
Former world champion Dr Fritz Baumbach writes to invite players to participate on an open tournament in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the German CC Federation (BdF). The event is scheduled to start on 15 November 06, with entries closing on 15 September. All playing modes are supported (webserver, email and postal). The entry fee is €5 per player, and multiple entries in any or all modes are possible. There is a prize fund of €3000. Three rounds will be played - first (7-9 player sections), intermediate (13-15 player sections) and the final. One game per opponent will apply to all rounds, and tie-breaks will be decided by Sonneborn-Berger. All results will qualify for ICCF grading and title norms will be available. For additional information, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
23 Jul 06 | Free Ladies Webserver Chess Event
Dr Ole Jacobsen, representing the ICCF Africa and Asia Zone, writes to invite lady CC players to a free promotional tournament using the ICCF webserver. The event is organised by Sport for All, a non-government agency working in West African countries to develop sports activities. They envisage two main groups - one for experienced, graded players and one for beginners and inexperienced levels. Entry is free, but there are prizes of medals, books and certificates. The event is scheduled to start on 1 September. If you are interested, mail Ole direct on: wachess@gmail.com.
21 Jul 06 | Magazine 94 Published
The second e-mag of 2006 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 should 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!
29 Jun 06 | SCCA Wins Friendly International!
We've now got he half point we needed against the BCCS to ensue a victory - our first for a some time! This match was begun over 20 boards, but administration problems at the start meant that 8 games were declared void, and so it was contested over 32 games instead - current score is 16½-5½ in Scotland's favour.
Just as this result was received, the last few games of our Silver Jubilee match versus ICCF were concluded. Two wins from Tom Craig and a draw from Raymond Baxter allowed us to pass the 100 point mark, with ICCF winning by 147½-100½ overall.
29 Jun 06 | Mackintosh Wins 05-06 SCCA Championship
Bert Norris is not in the best of health again, and has resigned his remaining games in the 05-06 Championship against Dawson, Lloyd and Mackintosh. This means that the outright winner is Iain Mackintosh, whose previous wins have both been shared (97-98 and 04-05). Many congratulations!
09 Jun 06 | 2006 AGM Highlights
At the AGM in Stirling on June 4, the following decisions were made:
  • There was a small deficit in the accounts due to the high cost of sending a delegate to the ICCF Congress in Argentina, and paying the first prize in the Douglas Livie Memorial Tournament (the prize money for which was received as income in the previous year). The audited accounts were accepted.
  • The Committee remains unchanged.
  • Iain Campbell is standing down as auditor, and no appointment was made at the meeting - the Committee will progress this matter during the forthcoming year.
  • Subscriptions remain unchanged, but note the caveat below.
  • The new Associate SCCA Membership was approved, which will allow us to admit non-playing members in various categories.
  • Domestic events were restructured as follows:
    1. Competitive chess would consist of the Championship cycle (final and two feeder events) plus the Leagues.
    2. Social chess would be based round a revised Challengers event.
    3. A number of under-subscribed events (including Openings, Endings and Quartets) would disappear.
    4. All events would be mixed mode (postal, email and webserver) wherever practical.
    5. A webserver open tournament would be organised for Scottish players.
    6. The Committee were charged with finalising the details of the changes in time for membership renewals in September.
    7. Entry fees are not expected to change, but we will check webserver fees before finalising rates.
09 Jun 06 | First SM Norm for Reeman
At the Executive Committee meeting which preceded the AGM, Ian Reeman was awarded his first SCCA Master norm for his performance of 6/8 (75%) in the SCCA Championship of 2004-05. Many congratulations!
09 Jun 06 | ICCF Announces World Cups XV and XVI
Pedro Hegoburu advises that World Cup XV will be organised by the Slovakian CCA. The event will be conducted in three stages, with email and webserver (note no postal) Preliminary groups of 7-11 players starting on November 15 this year. Arrangements for the Semi-Final and Final stages will be advised later. Registration runs from June 5 to September 30.
World Cup XVI will be organised by the German CCA. This event will also have three stages - Preliminaries, Semi-Final and Final. The Preliminary stage is postal only, and groups of 7-11 players are expected to start play on December 15 this year. Arrangements for the Semi-Final and Final stages will be advised later. Registration runs from June 5 to October 15.
Both events have cash prizes of 1000, 600 and 400 Swiss francs for the top three places. In addition, the winner will be awarded the IM title and will qualify for the next World Cup Final. If either Final is category VII or higher, then the top two players will qualify for the Candidates stage of the World Championship. If either Final is category VI or below, then the top two players and/or finalists with a 60% or better score will qualify for the Semi-Final stage of the World Championship. All finalists will qualify for the Semi-Final of the next World Cup. For additional information, including SCCA entry fees, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
08 May 06 | SCCA AGM 2006
This will be held at Stirling Chess Club, BB Headquarters, Dalgleish Court, off Baker Street, Stirling at 4:00pm on Sunday, 4th June. The Stirling Club website has directions to the venue, and 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. Subscriptions
  10. Proposed Associate SCCA Membership
  11. SCCA Domestic Events - Structure/Promotion
  12. AOCB
05 May 06 | Tom McAinsh
Jim Anderson reports that sadly, Tom McAinsh passed away suddenly, though peacefully on Friday 28 April. Tom was 81, still very agile mentally, and enjoyed his chess to the full. We'll miss him.
04 May 06 | John Shaw GM
The SCCA congratulates John Shaw of Kilmarnock who gained his final OTB GM norm at the recent 4NCL (UK Four Nations Chess League) weekend. Shaw is Scotland's fourth OTB GM, following Colin McNab, Paul Motwani and Jonathan Rowson. Well done!
04 May 06 | CC Players OTB Tournament
Petr Buchinek, the Czech ICCF delegate, writes to announce the first OTB tournament to be held for CC players. The event runs from 1-9 July this year, at the Silesian University, Karvina, in the Czech Republic. Local accommodation can be oranised at the college or in nearby hotels and guest houses. The format is an open event, 9-round Swiss, 40 moves in 2 hours then 1 hour 'sudden death'. Eligible players are those who have played in at least one ICCF or national CC tournament which started no later than 2003, and who have completed at least 24 ICCF or national CC games between January 2001 and March 2006. Active ICCF or national CC officials are also eligible. There is a total prize fund of 50,000 CZK. Entry is free for FIDE ratings of 2400+ and/or GM, IM, FM, WGM and WIM title holders. Entry fees are 200 CZK for FIDE 2300+, 300 CZK for FIDE 2200+, 500 CZK for FIDE 2199- and 700 CZK for no FIDE rating. Entries may be made up to June 10. For additional information, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
26 Apr 06 | ICCF Announces 2nd Webchess Open
Frank Geider and Valer-Eugen Demian have jointly announced this event, which is open to players with or without previous ICCF experience. Entries can be made via the ICCF webserver at ICCF Webserver, where you can elect to go via your national federation (cheaper!) or enter direct. You can enter several sections, and you get free entry to one section if this is your first ICCF event. Registration closes on 31 May 2006. There are three stages - preliminaries, semi-final and final. Preliminaries are expected to start in mid-June and finish in mid-December 2006. Later rounds will be scheduled after the preliminaries complete. Cash prizes are available for the first 5 places in the final. For additional information, including SCCA entry fees, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
13 Apr 06 | Magazine 93 Published
The first e-mag of 2006 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 should be a bit longer than last quarter due to graphical content. 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 Mar 06 | ICCF 2006 Spring Grading List Published
Raymond Baxter has reviewed the Scottish changes in the first of this year's ICCF lists, and incorporated them into our Grading page. You can browse your grade there, or go to the Members' page to download the list in pdf format. Should you require any additional information, please contact Raymond at: grader@scottishcca.co.uk
06 Mar 06 | France Wins NSTT2
GM Raymond Boger writes to advise that all North Sea Team Tournament 2 games are complete, and that France has won the event with 38/60 (63.3%), followed by Norway I and Germany. Scotland finished in 9th place of this strong tournament with 25/60 (41.7%). For additional information, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
01 Mar 06 | ICCF Announces FIDE Olympiad Team
Pedro Hegoburu writes to advise the team which will represent ICCF in the FIDE Olympiad to be held in Turin, May-June 2006:
  1. Team
    • GM Tunc Hamarat (AUT)
    • GM Gert-Jan Timmerman (NED)
    • GM Fritz Baumbach (GER)
    • GM Jean Hébert (CAN)
    • GM Dmitry Lybin (BLR)
    • GM Marc Geenen (BEL)
  2. Reserve
    • GM Roman Chytilek (CZE)
  3. Captain
    • GM John Timm (USA)
For further details, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
21 Feb 06 | Foglar Veterans Tournament 2006
Petr Buchnicek writes on behalf of the Czech CCA: In memory of an excellent man, Mr. Stanislav Foglar, the Czech CCA organizes the invitational event "FOGLAR veterans" dedicated to all the players at the age of 50 or more years and rated 2300 at least. The tournament has been approved by ICCF and will be played according to ICCF rules of play for email tournaments. All games in the tournament will be rated. Here are the most important marks of our event:
Federation in charge: Czech CCA
TD in charge: Jaromir Canibal, IA; Zdenek Nyvlt, IA
Number of stages: one, started in the following 3 years on Foglar´s birthday
2005, 2006 and 2007
Number of players: 4 sections with 15 players each
Restrictions: age 50+, ELO 2300+, max. 2 sections per player
Starting dates: 11.4.2005, 11.4.2006, 11.4.2007
Entry fee: 15 euro per tournament and player
Entries into the first year of the event (containing name, email, date of birth and ICCF rating of the player), should be sent via National Federations to the head of the organizing team, Mr. Josef Sykora, with a copy to Mr. Petr Buchnicek, not later than 20.3.2006. In case of great interest entries received sooner will be accepted in preference. Players of your federation are heartly invited into our tournament! It will be a great honour to our federation to include any player especially from your country. Should you require any additional information, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
20 Feb 06 | 2006 Grading List Published
Raymond Baxter has produced this season's list, and it is available on the Grading page to browse, and on the Members' page to download in pdf format. Should you require any additional information, please contact Raymond at: grader@scottishcca.co.uk
20 Feb 06 | In-Depth CC Analysis
Israeli GM and national delegate Yoav Dothan has started a website devoted to in-depth analysis of CC games. You can find it at: CC Games Analysis. Contributions to the site are welcome - Yoav will supply additional analysis if you have an interesting game score!
16 Feb 06 | Third Webserver Friendly International Starts
On March 1st we start the third friendly international to be played on the ICCF webserver. Our opponents are Sweden, with the first 18 boards using the new technology, and 10 postal boards completing the line-up. Another good turn out, including some of our newer members. We welcome some old friends in the Swedish team, including Per Söderberg and Eric Nylander, both of whom have written for our magazine. The webserver will send instructions to the first 18 boards in due course, and Sweden are to move first on the postal boards.
07 Feb 06 | ICCF Direct Entry (DE) Programme Launched
New Finance Director Michael Millstone writes to advise of the DE facilities hosted on the ICCF webserver:
  1. The Standard Programme is aimed at players who have never played in ICCF events, or who are not members of a national federation.
    • Players may enter Open, High and Master Class events, Thematics, World Cups and other Open events, Champions' League and other events as announced.
    • Players may enter eligible events online via the webserver, where their credentials are checked, and payment made if entry is valid.
    • Fees are 150% of national federation fees, and federations are credited with 30% of the DE fee received.
  2. The Enhanced Programme is aimed at players whose federation has elected to join the enhanced scheme, or whose residence does not correspond to their national federation.
    • Players who qualify under the criteria and who meet validation checks will have their entries processed automatically.
    • This scheme offers registered players the convenience of entering events online, but they should check entry fees with their federation first - in many cases (including SCCA), the entry fee charged by the federation will be less than the 150% DE rate.
For further details, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
06 Feb 06 | Magazine 21st Anniversary Tournament Games Available
The full set of games played in this 2001 event is now available for download. Click on Scottish Games in the index, and you should be able to access either pgn or cbv file formats. No password is required.
06 Feb 06 | 2006 Leagues Update
We've been running a bit late with League pairings this year, due to the unfortunate withdrawal of the Dreadnoughts teams - Keith Franks is unable to do the organising this time round. Jim Anderson managed to settle the Division 1 draw last week, and Ray Pomeroy has now kindly supplied a couple of Civil Service teams to enable Division 2 to start. Peter Jack will be distributing pairing notices today, and the Leagues page on the website is now up to date. For further details or enquiries, please contact Jim Anderson at: secretary@scottishcca.co.uk
26 Jan 06 | Magazine 92 Published
The final e-mag of 2005 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 should be 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!
22 Jan 06 | SCCA News Archive Page Introduced
In order to speed up loading of the News page, we'll be restricting the items to approximately the last 3 months from now on. Older entries can be viewed on an Archive page, which you can reach via the links on the left.
22 Jan 06 | Official ICCF Gear

iccf gear
New ICCF President Med Samraoui writes to advise of a new merchandising agreement with John Knudsen:
  1. The merchandise can be bought from ICCF Online Store
  2. About 90 items are available initially and all purchases benefit ICCF.
  3. The store is located in the US, and payments are made by secure online credit card facilities.
  4. All purchases have a 30-day, "no questions asked", return guarantee.
  5. ICCF National Federations and other affiliates can join the ICCF Affiliate Programme
  6. Affiliate members can earn commission on sales for their own organisations.
Further details can be obtained by mailing: John Knudsen
22 Jan 06 | ICCF Preliminary, Semi-Final and Candidates Tournaments 2006
Title Tournaments Commissioner Daniel Finkelstein writes to advise of arrangements for this year's individual championship cycle:
  1. Events will be organised for postal, email and webserver play.
  2. No events will start during 15 Mar-15 Apr or 15 Sep-15 Oct (new grading list production).
  3. Qualification and playing rules have changed this year - please contact your ICCF delegate for details.
  4. Member federations are still able to enter players without qualification rights (Scotland has 2 'free' places).
If you are interested in participating, please contact George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
12 Jan 06 | Geider Wins Douglas Livie Memorial
A win with the Black pieces in his last game against Alan Borwell means that Frank Geider of France finishes with 9/12 and cannot now be caught. Many congratulations to a worthy winner in this strong event! Frank tells us that he has just taken up the WTD post with ICCF, and this will be his last playing event for some time - not a bad way to finish active chess! Second place is still a hot contest, and George Livie is also inviting the players to submit annotated games for the best game prize.