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News Archive 2002 |
Last updated 29 December 2002
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- Silver Jubilee International Match Starts
- Our friendly international match against an ICCF Select starts on December 30. With many members taking more than one board, we have cleared our target of 100 boards with something to spare - there are 129 boards in action! George Pyrich is captaining the Scottish team, and Duncan Chambers of England has kindly agreed to do likewise for the ICCF Select. We wish enjoyable chess and friendship to everyone taking part!
- Silver Jubilee Souvenir Magazine - Printed Copy Erratum
- In the rush to get to the printers before Christmas, I missed an error in Tom Craig's game on p.24 of the magazine. Everything is ok up to the comment following move 18, then move 19 should read: 19.Be3 [19.Kb1? Bf5+] 19... Qg6 20.h4 [Threat h5!] 20... h5 then the remaining moves from 21 onwards are ok. The original publication of the game was also wrong hereabouts! The e-mag copies carry the correct moves, as do the CBV and PGN games files which you can download from the Members' page.
- Silver Jubilee Souvenir Magazine Published
- A free extra edition of the magazine has been produced to mark our Jubilee Year. It takes the form of extracts from magazines 1-72, in other words, all the printed editions before the e-mag was introduced. It is being distributed by email tonight (19 December) and by post on December 20, and we trust all subscribers will safely receive their copy by Christmas. 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 a lot shorter with this edition - board diagrams have largely been dropped to pack in as many articles as possible! (If my arithmetic is correct, there should be 25 pages and 25 games to feast on!). If you have changed your email address, or have any problems in accessing this edition, please drop me an email at webmaster and I'll do what I can to help. Enjoy the read!
- 2002 Winners
- Results are now coming in thick and fast for the 2002 season. Congratulations go to section winners Chris Briscoe (Premiers A), Keith Franks (Premiers B), Derek Ross (Majors A), Pat Moir (Majors B), Derek Coope (Minors) and Jim Anderson (Openings) - well done to each of you!!
- ICCF Jubilee Book
- ICCF have now announced that copies of "ICCF GOLD", which marks their jubilee year, are now available for shipment. Here are some extracts from the flier:
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- ICCF was established on 22nd March 1951, as the successor to ICCA and previously, ICSB/IFSB, which date back as far as 1928. ICCF is the official governing body for all forms of playing International Correspondence Chess worldwide, which embraces CC games, whether played by post, fax, Email or other methods of transmission. This 376-page book is a celebration of its first 50 years and looks forward to a very interesting future. Included within its contents, you will find:
- An overview of the history of CC, from its beginnings, and of ICCF, through 1951 until 2002;
- Articles from 56 National CC Federations affiliated to ICCF, on the history of their local CC activities, with over 120 games and more than 30 photographs;
- Crosstables for every major ICCF event ever held (including World CC Championship Finals; CC Olympiad Finals; World Cup Finals) with an additional 50+ selected games, along with cross tables from earlier major ICSB, IFSB and ICCA events;
- Complete lists of World and Zonal Champions, International CC Titleholders, ICCF Honorary Members, "Bertl von Massow" and Friend of ICCF awards.
- A special 16-page historical photographic section, with many in colour, in addition to the photographs within the text sections;
- Special articles on the genesis of the international CC Rating System; the Future of Correspondence Chess; and short biographies on three of the most prominent figures in CC history: Hans-Werner von Massow, Erik J. Larsson, and Henk J. Mostert.
- Magazine Archive
- Bernard Milligan has provided PDF copies of magazines 7, 8 and 9 (known as Bulletins then), all published in 1982. Lots more hard graft, but well worth it! You'll find them, plus the earlier scanned versions of magazines 1-6, on the Members' page to browse or download at your leisure.
- Five Brave Englishmen win League Division 1 - again!
- Congratulations to Duncan Chambers, Edward Sowden, Alan Rawlings, David Barnes and Andy Robertshaw once more!. Going into the adjournment period, Black Knight, Social Stars and Perth Correspondents were also capable of taking first place, but as the late results were resolved, the savvy Saxons edged out the Social Stars to complete a memorable hat-trick of wins.
- Championship 2001/2002 Games Available for Download
- Thanks to Alistair Maxwell, who has once again compiled the games from the recently completed Championship 2001-02. They are available in PGN and ChessBase archive formats on the Scottish Games page (link on the left).
- ICCF Looking for New TD
- Gian-Maria Tani, ICCF's World Tournament Office Commissioner, writes to say that Leonardo Madonia, ICCF's Thematic Tournament Office Commissioner, needs a new Tournament Director. Is there a Scottish TD who'd like to become an ICCF TD, starting with Thematic Tournaments? The candidate should know not only English, but also another ICCF official language (if possible German) and have e-mail facilities. If you can help, please contact George Pyrich in the first instance at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- Tatlow Gains IM Title in Bulletin 21st Anniversary Tournament
- A draw against George Sprott has allowed Stephen Tatlow of England to hit the 10 point mark in the Bulletin 21st. This gives Stephen his third IM norm and with it, the IM title. Having been roundly trounced by the "Yorkshire Ripper" during this event, I can testify to his playing strength - many congratulations!!
- More ICCF Awards for SCCA
- The 2002 ICCF Congress in Seixal, Portugal, has conferred further non-playing awards on SCCA members. Alan Borwell, ICCF President, was made an Honorary Member of ICCF (this was a well-kept secret, and follows on his award of Honorary Life President of SCCA last year). George Pyrich received the Bertl von Massow silver medal for more than 10 years meritorious international service (George has been Qualifications Commissioner since 1996, and SCCA delegate since 1993). Finally, the SCCA website won the designation of "Friend of ICCF" for the quality of the site and its support of ICCF. Congratulations to everybody - quite a bag of goodies when the SIM and IM title awards are added in!
- New ICCF World Championship Format
- The ICCF Congress at Seixal, Portugal, seems to have been a busy one, and there are extensive changes to the World Championship format, commencing 1st January, 2003. Full details are supplied on a new World Championship Format page, under the ICCF section (see left for Index).
- Beecham Wins Bulletin 21st Anniversary Tournament
- A win against Christopher Fordham-Hall has given Richard an uncatchable 11½ points in this event, and the victory continues a rich vein of form which has included back-to-back 100% Championship wins and the IM title. Not a bad haul for the Prestwick pawn-pusher, and we offer him sincere congratulations!!
- Members' Page and Site Search Problems
- Our internet supplier, Globalnet, has now managed to locate the problem, and we have applied a fix on Saturday afternoon, October 19, which should allow you to access the Members' page as previously. As noted earlier on the message board, the site search facilities have been back in action since Wednesday, October 16. Apologies once more for the disruption, and thanks to Bruce Lauderdale of Globalnet for making it his business to find the solution!
- Finnie and Beecham Receive ICCF Titles
- The recent ICCF Congress in Portugal has conferred the SIM title on Douglas Finnie, and the IM title on Richard Beecham. Both these players have maintained very high standards of play for some years, and the awards are richly deserved - congratulations! Our SIM total is now 4, and we have 8 IMs.
- Members' Page and Site Search Problems
- Our internet supplier, Globalnet, has been making a number of technical upgrades to the service recently, which appear to have disabled our security system and search engine facilities. The changes were made without warning or explanation. Anyone who has tried to access the Members' page in the last day or two has received error message 403 on the browser, which says that they are not authorised to access anything. Anyone using the search engine will have failed to get anything to match the supplied argument. The situation is patently absurd, but Globalnet seem quite unrepentant at present, so we have uploaded a temporary Members' page to allow access to magazine 79 in the meantime. There's nothing we can do about the search engine. We'll post further messages once we get the situation resolved; meantime many apologies for the inconvenience.
- Magazine 79 Published
- The third e-mag of our Jubilee Year is being distributed by email and post on October 15/16, 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 a bit lengthier this quarter - with so many games and board diagrams in this issue, the graphics content is higher than usual! 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!
- Beecham Secures Final IM Norm in Bulletin 21st
- A win against Jonathan Lennox, and a draw against John Mackie have enabled Richard Beecham to hit 10½ points in the Bulletin 21st Anniversary tournament. He is the first player to pass the 10 point norm standard for the event, and, with two previous norms, will now qualify for the IM title - we are trying to catch the upcoming ICCF Congress in Portugal to register the award! It is now very much a two-horse race between Richard and Stephen Tatlow of England to secure first place in the 21st, with Richard the bookmakers' favourite.
- Douglas M Livie
- The Scottish chess world is mourning the death of Douglas Livie, at the untimely age of 42, on the 26th September at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. Funeral arrangements are given on the SCCA Message Board. The following appreciation is by Mac McKenzie.
- On Thursday, 26th September, Scottish chess lost one of its most enthusiastic supporters. Douglas was the eldest son of the family of four of George and Margaret Livie. He was married to Dianne for 20 years and their family are Steven, Kirsty, Emma and the late Richard. After attending Hillpark Secondary, he obtained a maths and computing degree at Paisley and then started his working life as a programmer with Berkley Computer Services and remained with them for 21 years, becoming their Contracts Manager.
- Chess was his lifetime hobby from the time when his Dad took him along to Cathcart Chess Club where he became a junior member at the age of 7. At Hillpark School he played for the School chess club and for three successive years was the School Chess Champion. Douglas, from an early age, was an active member of Cathcart Chess Club and played in both the 1st and 2nd teams in the Glasgow League and was a frequent player at congresses. Later he became involved in the organisation of the club and was the current President and was busy arranging the events to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary next year.
- Any new member to the club was sure of a warm welcome when Douglas was around, and before they had time to feel strange they would be sitting at a board playing a game either with Douglas or arranged by him. This was particularly true if it was a junior visitor to the club such was his keenness to make them feel at home.
- Not only was he an over-the-board player, but he was also a member of the Scottish Correspondence Chess Association for about 20 years and had played in their Scottish Championships and been selected for the Scottish Correspondence Olympiad Team. He was the holder of two correspondence master norms and was eagerly intending to go for his third. Douglas also served on the SCCA executive committee with distinction, as Grading Officer from 1982-85, and Assistant Secretary from 1986-94.
- His involvement with chess also extended to Chess Suppliers (Scotland) Ltd where he was one of the directors and could be found at the bookstall at many a congress. The church also played an important part in his life. He was a serving elder in Merrylea Parish Church and was dedicated to all aspects of his church work particularly in leading youth. One of his other interests, which he shared with his brother, was Rangers F.C. and he was a regular visitor to Ibrox. However if there was a clash of events between chess and football it was usually chess that won!
- Douglas’s zest for life was very evident to all who knew him. He had an enthusiastic approach to everyone and to every commitment, the most special of these being his family. So many times he came along to the club proud of some family achievement and shared this with all his friends. Even in times of adversity he did not falter, facing each situation with fortitude. Most recently, undergoing chemotherapy treatment, many would have cut back on their activities, not Douglas, he lived life to the full.
- In preparing this tribute to Douglas my memories of him have been strengthened and these will be long remembered. His passing leaves an incredible void. Our thoughts are now with Dianne and their family, his parents George and Margaret, his brother Alan and sisters Valerie and Elizabeth.
- 2nd North Sea Team Tournament (NSTT2)
- Thor Løvholt, President of the Norwegian Federation NSPF, has announced the 2nd North Sea Team Tournament (NSTT2). This is for teams of 6 players representing Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland (must be the Danish connection!), Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Sweden, each playing one game against each other country. Team lists are to be submitted by 1 December 2002, with play expected to start on 31 January 2003. The TD will be Per-Arne Rindalsholt. Further information is available by email from George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- Magazine Archive
- Bernard Milligan has provided PDF copies of magazines 4, 5 and 6 (known as Bulletins then), all published in 1981. Lots more hard graft, but well worth it! You'll find them, plus the earlier scanned versions of magazines 1-3, on the Members' page to browse or download at your leisure.
- Magazine 78 Published
- The second e-mag of our Jubilee Year is being distributed by email and post on July 16, and we hope all subscribers will safely receive their copy (and that the postage is correctly paid this time!). 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. 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, and do try the Jubilee quiz!
- Cliffhanger in Bernard Partridge Memorial
- Only one game is left in this exciting event, and the destiny of first and second places hangs on the outcome! Raymond Boger of Norway has completed all his fixtures and leads with 9/12. Manuel Summers of Belgium is in close pursuit with 8½/11, and his unfinished game with Steve Williams of England will decide the winner. Heiko Starke of Germany has finished third with 8/12.
- XV ICCF Team Championship (II Email Olympiad)
- The preliminary stages of this event will start on 1 December 2002. As previously, national teams consist of six boards, and entries are due by 20 October. Further information is available by email from George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- AGM Headlines
- Committee as previously, plus the welcome return of George Livie from September. Membership and entry fees unchanged. Silver Jubilee events to include a Scotland v ICCF match over 50+ boards; commemorative lapel badges; a celebration dinner in Edinburgh on Friday, November 22; a special extra edition of the magazine featuring articles over the past 21 years; and a quiz with a bottle of 25-year-old malt as the prize! Full details to follow.
- ICCF Champions League
- Cross tables have now been published on the ICCF site for the qualifying groups, and you can track the progress of the Scottish entries by following our new Champions League link page (refer under ICCF under the leftmost index). Play starts on June 15.
- Friendly International v Catalonia
- This match is due to start on 10 June, with Scotland to move first. 20 boards are involved, 14 email and 6 postal, with a little "doubling up" to allow everyone to use their preferred mode of play. Further details can be found on the Friendlies page (left).
- Magazine Archive
- Bernard Milligan has answered the call for Silver Jubilee memorabilia by providing PDF copies of the first three magazines (known as Bulletins then), all published in 1980. This has involved scanning the paper originals onto computer, applying character recognition software to re-assemble the text, then finally lots of sight-checking to ensure the sense of the new images. Lots of hard graft, but well worth it! You'll find them on the Members' page to browse or download at your leisure.
- SCCA AGM 2002
- This will be held in Chess Suppliers, 15 Hope Street, Glasgow at 4pm on Sunday, 9th June. The agenda is:
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- 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
- SCCA Playing Rules
- These have been updated to reflect the variations required by facsimile, email and mixed modes of play. The rules concerning postal play are unchanged from previously, but those of you who reference the printed Rules Brochure issued in 1999-2000 should note that paragraph numbering and text content now reads differently in some sections. The website will now act as our primary source and, rather than redistribute Rules Brochures to all members, the main CC Rules and the subset Email Rules are both now available in PDF format for free download from the Members' page.
- ICCF European Championship LXV Semi Final
- Egbert Bösenberg, ICCF Zonal Director for Europe, has announced the 65th European Semi-Final, which will start in January 2003. The format is 11-player sections, with the top placed gaining qualification to the European Final. Email or postal preferences are catered for. Eligibility includes winners and second places in EU/M/GT groups, winners of two or more EU/M groups, previous finalists and semi-finalists of the old-style events (scores >60%), GMs, SIMs, and grades >2570. Nominations are required by 15 October 2002. The full announcement and eligibility of individuals can be checked at the European Zonal website: European Zone. Further information is available by email from George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- Winning Without Castling
- The complete series of games sent by Nickolai Gurtovoi from 1995-2002 has now been loaded on to the website. You can play through each game online using an animated board, and download individual games or the entire database as you choose. Look under the Features menu.
- New Scottish Master Titles and Norms
- At the Executive Committee meeting on 28 April, the following were approved:
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- Ian Aird (3rd norm and SM title). Norms: grade 2340 (1996); grade 2331 (2000); grade 2374 (2001).
- Bernard Milligan (3rd norm and SM title). Norms: grade 2381 (2000); grade 2435 (2001); grade 2415 (2001).
- Douglas Neil (3rd norm and SM title). Norms: grade 2482 (1999); winner European master class events (2000); grade 2460 (2001).
- Alan Brown (1st norm). Grade 2300 (2002).
- George Livie (1st norm). Grade 2303 (2001).
- ICCF Results Tables
- We have now completed one of our periodic reviews of Scottish entrants in ICCF and Invitational events, and the appropriate tables are duly updated. These link directly to tables maintained by the ICCF administrators, so they are always up to date. New pages have been added to incorporate the postal and email 50th Jubilee tournaments, and links to Champions League tables will be added shortly.
- Beecham Hits Glory Double!
- Those of you who managed to delve into the Games Column in Magazine 77 will have read Bernard Milligan's promissory note about creating a business upswing in Ayrshire curry houses. True to his word, the Hawick hacker has now surrendered his king to the Prestwick prestidigitator, and the result gives Richard a perfect 10 in the 2001-02 Championship! Back-to-back 100% championship performances have now ensured immortality for one of our founder-members. Sincere congratulations to Richard from everyone connected with the SCCA - what a way to celebrate a Silver Jubilee!! [Richard advises that he definitely wasn't on Beecham's Powders at the time, but they might come in handy after his jalfrezi feeding frenzy.....!]
- Magazine 77 Published
- The first e-mag of our Jubilee Year is being distributed by email and post on April 17, and we hope all subscribers will safely receive their copy. 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 - this change was in response to your requests. 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!
- John Michael Herries
- Brian Goodwin writes on behalf of all SCCA members: "I was very saddened to hear of the recent passing of John Michael Herries. Some of you may have known him as 'John' Herries, but to a lot of people he was 'Michael'. He was a prolific chess player and apart from the Scottish CC, belonged to a number of other CC and OTB organisations, where he also dabbled in the organisational side. He had been quite ill for a number of years, but never advertised the fact. It was only those close to him who knew just how ill he was. I played Michael on a number of occasions and he always managed to get the better of me - apart from some hard fought draws. In one of our current games (unfinished because of his passing), he told me that my position as White, was considered 'winning'. I have studied this position many times since Michael's passing, and for the love of me cannot see the win - so even in his passing, he has outplayed me yet again! Nice one Michael, you will be greatly missed.".
- ICCF World CC Championship XXVI Semi Final
- ICCF expects to start this tournament in September 2002, with both postal and email sections available. The format is 11-player sections, with the 2 top places gaining qualification to a World CCC ¾ Final. Besides individuals with the necessary performance, Scotland qualifies for 2 extra places as a result of Olympiad Finals XI and XII. Nominations are required by 15 July 2002. Further information is available by email from George Pyrich at international@scottishcca.co.uk
- SCCA Silver Jubilee Celebrations
- Serendipity strikes! In the course of revising our History page, we discovered that the inaugural meeting of the SCCA took place on 26 February 1977, and that the first AGM was held on 3 September 1977. We'll do some more digging in the archives soon, and also organise some events to celebrate during the year. Meanwhile, we are 25, so rejoice!
- History Rewritten!
- Our History page has been one of the last to receive makeover treatment, but a revision was necessary to furnish ICCF with an up-to-date record for their Jubilee Book. The opportunity has been taken to annotate and/or animate all the landmark games on the page, so you can now enjoy full commentary and the improved visuals from ChessBase 8.
- Website Celebrates 4th Birthday
- We completed our fourth year on 7 March, and it's getting harder to blow out the candles! Once more, the last 12 months saw big increases in the amount of material published on the site, and in the number of visitors we attracted. We also did some makeover work to improve the presentation. Many thanks to all our contributors and readers!
- Email Tournament Controller
- Jim Anderson is still looking for some assistance to run the popular email quartets events. If you can help, please email Jim at: secretary@scottishcca.co.uk
- Grading List 2002
- Raymond Baxter's latest updates are now on the website, and will apply to all 2002 events. This version largely affects SCCA grades; ICCF ratings are unchanged from October 2001. Please email any queries to Raymond at: grader@scottishcca.co.uk
- ICCF World Cup XIII
- ICCF will start the preliminary rounds of this tournament in December 2002. Entrants play 1 game against each of the other 10 players in a section, with groupings made by geography and playing strength. Book prizes are available for preliminary and semi-final winners, with cash and medals for the ultimate top 3 players. First entry fees (£12) are expected to be collected in May. If you are interested in representing Scotland, please email George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- ICCF Jubilee Book
- ICCF are planning to publish a book in May 2002 to mark their jubilee year. It will contain short histories of all ICCF member nations, a wealth of CC games, and features on all the CC world champions. Retail price is expected to be between £12-15. If you are interested, and want to place a provisional order, please email George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- ICCF Champions League
- This exciting new team tournament is open to teams of four players, which do not necessarily have to come from the same country, but each player must have a working Email address. No player can play for more than one team per season and each team must have a nominated team captain (who may be a member of the team), who will be responsible for all communications with that team, including payment of the entry fee. Entries may be submitted via the member federation of the team captain, with payment of the entry fee (£20 per team via SCCA). Alternatively, team entries may be made directly to ICCF using the Direct Entry facility available via ICCF (entry fee USD $50). Closing date for receipt of all entries is 15th April 2002. All games will be played under ICCF email rules, and will be graded. The CL will consist of 4 divisions, in hierarchical order, with promotion/relegation each season. The winning team of the top league (Champions League A) will become the "ICCF Champions League winner" at the end of each season. An initial qualification tournament will be played. Further details from, and entries to, George Pyrich at: international@scottishcca.co.uk
- Results and Fixtures
- With the addition of League division 2, all the 2002 event tables are now posted on the website. Only a few 2001 results are now outstanding, and these will be updated as soon as we have them. Congratulations to David Cumming who wins 2001 Quartet Q209 outright now that his results are correctly shown! Refer the Domestic section (left) for all details.
- Friendly International v Norway
- This match is due to start on 10 February, with Norway to move first. 21 boards are involved, 16 email and 5 postal, with a few players "doubling up" to allow everyone to use their preferred mode of play. Further details can be found on the Friendlies page (left).
- Magazine 76 Published
- The fourth e-mag is being distributed by email and post during w/b January 27, and we hope all subscribers will safely receive their copy. If you have changed your email address, please drop me an email and I'll resend. If your ISP applies size restrictions to incoming emails you may prefer to visit our secure Members' page and browse and/or download the magazine from there - this method bypasses your ISP.