Iccf Congress 2015

1

The International Correspondence Chess Federation

2015 Congress

Cardiff, Wales

ICCF CONGRESS 2015

Cardiff, Wales

I - Introduction

The Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF) hosted the 2015 ICCF Congress. The Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF) is a consortium of correspondence chess bodies, with both British and international scope, which have Welsh members. The primary objective of the federation is to promote the participation of Welsh correspondence chess players in international tournaments, and to form a national team to represent Wales in events organised by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF).

The inaugural meeting of the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation was held on Saturday 18th August 2012, 13:00 - 15:00 at the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre, 47 High Street, Prestatyn, Denbighshire LL19 9AH; the main business of the meeting was to formally establish the federation, to ratify the constitution, and to elect officers. All Welsh chess players with an interest in correspondence chess were cordially invited to attend.

Membership of WCCF is open to any correspondence chess organisation with Welsh members (there are no individual members of WCCF). WCCF was formally recognised by ICCF as the National Correspondence Chess Federation for Wales at Congress in 2012.

The initial member organisations were the British Correspondence Chess Association (BCCA), SchemingMind.com Online Correspondence Chess Club, and the Social Correspondence Chess Association.

II - Voting Members

Zone One

Austria: Uwe Staroske as proxy

Belarus: Sergey Grodzenskiy as proxy

Belgium: Unrepresented

Bulgaria: Russell Sherwood as proxy

Croatia: Josef Mrkvička as proxy

Czech Republic: Josef Mrkvička as delegate

Denmark: Søren Ottesen as delegate

England: Andrew Dearnley as delegate

Estonia: Pertti Lehikoinen as proxy

Finland: Pertti Lehikoinen as delegate designee

France: Eric Ruch as delegate

Germany: Uwe Staroske as delegate

Greece: Unrepresented

Hungary: Fritz Baumbach as proxy

Iceland: Everdinand Knol as proxy

Ireland: Timothy Harding as delegate

Israel: Eric Ruch as proxy

Italy: Gianni Mastrojeni as delegate

Latvia: Artis Gaujens as delegate

Lithuania: Marijonas Ročius as delegate

Luxembourg: Ulrich Baumgartner as proxy

Netherlands: Willem Adrianus Oudheusden as delegate

Norway: Raymond Boger as delegate

Poland: Mariusz Wojnar as delegate

Portugal: Eric Ruch as proxy

Romania: Gianni Mastrojeni as proxy

Russia: Sergey Grodzenskiy as delegate

Scotland: George Pyrich as delegate

Slovakia: Ján Helbich as delegate designee

Slovenia: Marjan Šemrl as delegate

Spain: Ulrich Baumgartner as proxy

Sweden: George Pyrich as proxy

Switzerland: Ulrich Baumgartner as delegate

Turkey: Votes registered by email

Ukraine: Iurii Koshmak as delegate designee

Wales: Russell Sherwood as delegate

Zone Two

Argentina: Unrepresented

Brazil: Gino Figlio as proxy

Chile: Unrepresented

Cuba: Fritz Baumbach as proxy

Ecuador: Unrepresented

Guatamala: Unrepresented

Nicaragua: Guy José Bendaña Guerrero as delegate

Panama: Unrepresented

Peru: Gino Figlio as delegate

Venezuela: Gino Figlio as proxy

Zone Three

Australia: Brian Jones as delegate

Canada: Leonard 'Corky' Schakel as proxy

Hong Kong: Everdinand Knol as proxy

Japan: Unrepresented

New Zealand: Brian Jones as proxy

United States of America: Leonard 'Corky' Schakel as delegate

Zone Four

Cape Verde: Andrew Dearnley as proxy

India: Ambar Chatterjee as delegate designee

South Africa: Everdinand Knol as delegate

Tunisia: Unrepresented

III - Executive Board and Management Committee

Executive Board

Eric Ruch as ICCF President

Michael Millstone as ICCF General Secretary

Frank Geider as ICCF World Tournament Director

George Pyrich as ICCF Finance Director

Austin Lockwood as ICCF Services Director

Andrew Dearnley as ICCF Marketing Director

Marco Caressa as ICCF Zonal Director, Europe

Jason Bokar as ICCF Zonal Director, NAPZ

Everdinand Knol as ICCF Zonal Director, Africa, and Asia

Management Committee

Ian M. Pheby as ICCF Direct Entry Commissioner

Mariusz Wojnar as ICCF Qualifications Commissioner

Gerhard Binder as ICCF Ratings Commissioner

Gino Figlio as ICCF Webmaster

World Champions in Attendance

WCCC XI Fritz Baumbach

WCCC XX Pertti Lehikoinen

WCCC XXIV Marjan Šemrl

IV - All Participants

Czech Republic

Josef Mrkvička as ICCF National Delegate for Czech Republic and ICCF Auditor, with proxy for Croatia

Alena Mrkvičková as Member of Delegation

Denmark

Søren Ottesen as ICCF National Delegate for Denmark

Kim Jensen as Member of Delegation

England

Andrew Dearnley as ICCF National Delegate for England and ICCF Marketing Director, with proxy for Cape Verde

Richard Hall as Arbitration Commission Chair

Ian M. Pheby as ICCF Direct Entry Commissioner

Stan Grayland as Member of Delegation

Colin Kidd as Member of Delegation

Neil Limbert as Member of Delegation

Jeanette Dearnley as Accompanying Person

Finland

Pertti Lehikoinen as Delegate Designee for Finland and WCCC XX, with proxy for Estonia

Olli Ylönen as Member of Delegation

Leila Lehikoinen as Accompanying Person

France

Eric Ruch as ICCF National Delegate for France and ICCF President, with proxy for Israel and Portugal

Frank Geider as ICCF World Tournament Director

Catherine Ruch as Accompanying Person

Germany

Uwe Staroske as ICCF National Delegate for Germany, with proxy for Austria

Fritz Baumbach as Honorary Member and WCCC XI, with proxy for Cuba and Hungary

Gerhard Binder as ICCF Ratings Commissioner

Elisabeth Binder as Accompanying Person

Edda Jankowski as Accompanying Person

Margot Pöschel as Accompanying Person

Ireland

Timothy Harding as ICCF National Delegate for Ireland

Joan Harding as Accompanying Person

Italy

Gianni Mastrojeni as ICCF National Delegate for Italy, with proxy for Romania

Marco Caressa as ICCF Zonal Director, Europe

Luz Marina Tinjaca Ramirez as Member of Delegation

Elena Temnianu as Accompanying Person

Latvia

Artis Gaujens as ICCF National Delegate for Latvia

Maigonis Avotinš as Member of Delegation

Anita Avotina as Accompanying Person

Lithuania

Marijonas Ročius as ICCF National Delegate for Lithuania

Dmitrijus Chocenka as Member of Delegation

Virginijus Dambrauskas as Member of Delegation

Netherlands

Willem Adrianus Oudheusden as ICCF National Delegate for Netherlands

Simone Boitelle as Accompanying Person

Norway

Raymond Boger as ICCF National Delegate for Norway

Poland

Mariusz Wojnar as ICCF National Delegate for Poland and ICCF Qualifications Commissioner

Ewa Wojnar as Partner Programme Organiser

Marzena Wojnar as Accompanying Person

Russia

Sergey Grodzenskiy as ICCF National Delegate for Russia, with proxy for Belarus

Sergey Nefedov as Member of Delegation

Nikolay Poleshchuk as Member of Delegation

Natalia Grodzenskaya as Accompanying Person

Andrey Nefedov as Accompanying Person

Vilga Saveleva as Accompanying Person

Scotland

George Pyrich as ICCF National Delegate for Scotland and ICCF Finance Director, with proxy for Sweden

Gordon Anderson as Member of Delegation

Kevin Paine as Member of Delegation

Margaret Anderson as Accompanying Person

Slovakia

Ján Helbich as Delegate Designee for Slovakia

Tatiana Helbichová as Accompanying Person

Slovenia

Marjan Šemrl as ICCF National Delegate for Slovenia and WCCC XXIV

Switzerland

Ulrich Baumgartner as ICCF National Delegate for Switzerland, with proxy for Luxembourg and Spain

Ukraine

Iurii Koshmak as Delegate Designee for Ukraine

Vadym Kosolapov as Member of Delegation

Wales

Russell Sherwood as ICCF National Delegate for Wales, with proxy for Bulgaria

Mark Adams as Welsh Chess Union Representative to WCCF

Peter Bevan as WCCF President

Thomas Johansson as IM Title Recipient

Austin Lockwood as ICCF Services Director

Mary-Kate Lockwood as Partner Programme Organiser

Wendy Lockwood as Partner Programme Organiser

Helen Sherwood as Partner Programme Organiser

Ken Skates AM as Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism

Faye Tanner from the Cardiff Convention Bureau

Alice Lockwood as Accompanying Person

Alexander Sherwood as Accompanying Person - (logistics and communications support)

Ellie Sherwood as Accompanying Person

Zone Two

Nicaragua

Guy José Bendaña Guerrero as ICCF National Delegate for Nicaragua

Peru

Gino Figlio as ICCF National Delegate for Peru and ICCF Webmaster, with proxy for Brazil and Venezuela

Zone Three

Australia

Brian Jones as ICCF National Delegate for Australia, with proxy for New Zealand

Margaret Jones as Accompanying Person

United States of America

Leonard 'Corky' Schakel as ICCF National Delegate for United States of America, with proxy for Canada

Jason Bokar as ICCF Zonal Director, NAPZ

Michael Millstone as ICCF General Secretary

Debbie Millstone as Accompanying Person

Sally Schakel as Accompanying Person

Zone Four

India

Ambar Chatterjee as Delegate Designee for India

Urmila Chatterjee as Accompanying Person

South Africa

Everdinand Knol as ICCF National Delegate for South Africa and ICCF Zonal Director, Africa and Asia, with proxy for Hong Kong and Iceland

Hannie Knol as Accompanying Person

Ballot Marx as Accompanying Person

Dalene Marx as Accompanying Person

V - Programme of Events

16/8/2015 Sunday

Arrival of delegates, hotel check in

09:30-12:30: Meeting of ICCF Executive Board, Tredegar Suite

14:00-17:00: Meeting of ICCF Management Committee, Tredegar Suite

18:00-19:00: British Correspondence Chess Championship Meeting, Tredegar Suite

20:00-00:00: WCCF Social Event and Welcome Party, Tiger Tiger, The Friary, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff (Please note that children under 18 years will not be admitted)

17/8/2015 Monday

09:30-10:30: Opening Ceremony, Calon One

Welcome by Ken Skates AM, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sports and Tourism

Welcome by the WCCF President

Musical interlude of traditional Welsh song with harp, soprano, and baritone Hiraeth Ensemble

Opening of Congress by Eric Ruch, ICCF President

11:00-12:30: Awards and presentations

14:00-18:00: Congress Day One, Calon One

14:00-18:00: Accompanying person’s programme, Cardiff City Centre and shops

20:00-23:00: WCCF Opening banquet, Caernarfon Suite

18/8/2015 Tuesday

Third anniversary of WCCF

09:30-18:00: Congress Day Two, Calon One

18:30-20:00: Zone One Europa Meeting, Calon One

09:30-18:00: Accompanying person’s programme

St.Fagans National History Museum

Lunch at Llanerch Vineyard (not provided)

Wine tasting and demonstration of Welsh cuisine and dishes at Angela Gray’s Cookery School

19/8/2015 Wednesday

09:30-18:00: Congress Day Three, Calon One

09:30-18:00: Accompanying person’s programme, Cardiff Bay

18:00-19:00: Zone 3 NAPZ Meeting, Calon One

19:30-23:00: Blitz tournament, Caernarfon Suite

20/8/2015 Thursday

09:30-17:30: Blaenavon World Heritage Site

Blaenavon World Heritage Centre and Ironworks

Big Pit National Coal Museum (including lunch provided by WCCF)

Rhymney Brewery Visitor Centre (£2.50 entry fee, not provided)

19:30-23:00: Chess match ICCF vs Welsh Chess Union, Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay

21/8/2015 Friday

09:30-12:30: Walking tour of the City

12:30-13:00: Boat trip from Bute Park to Mermaid Quay

13:00-14:00: Lunch at Mermaid Quay (not provided)

14:00-18:00: Free time Cardiff Bay, Millennium Stadium, or Cardiff Castle Museum

19:30-23:30: ICCF Closing Banquet at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

VI - Sponsors

The Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation is grateful to the following organisations for their generous support of the 2015 ICCF Congress:

• English Federation for Correspondence Chess
• British Correspondence Chess Association
• SchemingMind.com
• Scottish Correspondence Chess Association

VII - Chess Events

ICCF Blitz Tournament - August 19, 2015

Congratulations to Dmitrijus Chocenka of Lithuania for winning the traditional ICCF Congress Blitz Tournament, held at the Mecure Holland House Hotel and Spa in Cardiff on Wednesday 19th August.

In second place was Walter Braun (AUT) and in third was Nikolay Poleschuk (RUS) - Well played!

Many thanks to our FIDE counterparts -- the Welsh Chess Union, for organising this event.

ICCF vs. WCU Chess Match - Norwegian Church, August 20, 2015

Congratulations to the ICCF team, which won the traditional Congress chess match against the Welsh Chess Union 8.5 - 6.5 at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay on Thursday 20th August 2015.

In addition, many thanks to the Norwegian Correspondence Chess Federation for providing the prizes to the winning team, to celebrate their 70th anniversary in a most appropriate setting!

Of course, gratitude to the Welsh Chess Union for providing the organisation, the equipment, and the warm welcome to our visitors.

Tim Kett0.50.5V.Dambrauskas

K.Evans01S.Nefedov

T.Brown0.50.5D.Chocenka

W.Hewitt10F.Baumbach

P.Bevan0.50.5M.Avotins

M.Adams01R.Hall

J.Fathallah10N.Poleshchuk

R.Taylor0.50.5I.Kosmak

J.Waterfield10K.Jensen

D.James0.50.5G.Pyrich

W.Harle0.50.5J.Mrkvicka

R.Thomas0.50.5S.Ottesen

G.Thomas01A.Chatterjee

R.Livermore01A.Gaujens

A.Wills01B. Jones

6.58.5

WCUICCF

VIII - President’s Report to Congress

August 2015

Dear Delegates, ICCF Officials, Chess Friends,

Next month, we will meet for the annual ICCF Congress, to be held for the first time in Wales to celebrate the third anniversary of the Welch Correspondence Chess Federation (WCCF).

The WCCF welcomes all Delegates and ICCF Officials to attend the 44th ICCF Congress in Cardiff, which will be held in the Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel and Spa, between 16 August 2015 and 22 August 2015. Much information about travel and accommodations can be found on the congress website I hope that many of you will be able to join us in Cardiff.

Every four years, ICCF holds a General Election at Congress. This year (2015), delegates and proxies will vote for nominees for the Executive Board (EB), plus the ICCF Auditor. Immediately after Congress, delegates will hold their own elections for a Zonal Director, who while representing all federations in the Zone, will also serve on the Executive Board. Those elected will serve their position from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2019.

First, I would like to thank all the current EB members and the Auditor for their dedicated work during the last 4 years. All of you shall receive credit (to be shared with the other EB members, Management committee members, and all ICCF officials) for the astonishing progress and modernization of ICCF during this period that I will highlight in my report. You have made my responsibility as President very easy and it has been for me a pleasure and an honour to work with you.

In the forthcoming election, all current EB members are candidates for another term and all will be unopposed, except the World Tournament Director position, which has three excellent candidates. I am very proud that all current members are volunteers to serve under my leadership for another term and I hope that the Delegates will support them by their votes.

I wish to see you many of you next month in Wales.

Amici Sumus

Eric Ruch

ICCF President

What has been positive during the last four years?

• For the first time in the ICCF history, a player survey has been conducted beginning of 2014 and the results have demonstrated that a large majority of players are satisfied with the services provided by ICCF:

• More than 90% of the players are satisfied with the services that the ICCF provides to the players (and more than 50% are very satisfied leaving only 2% that are dissatisfied).

• More than 90% of the players are satisfied with the ICCF webserver (about 57% are very satisfied and only a little more than 2% are dissatisfied).

• The ICCF statutes have been modernized; ICCF has been officially registered in Switzerland; and has opened a working office in France to comply with the non-profit status of ICCF.

• The ICCF website and server have been unified and a new modern design has been implemented. The server has been globalized and is now available in many languages (globalization effort). Games can be played on many modern devices including tablets and smartphones.

• The games played on the server start to benefit from the modern technologies that are now available (automation of Tournament Director Decisions, use of endgame Table Bases…).

• We have brought an answer to the profusion of World Championship titles and have arrived at the goal where a final is started every 2 years.

• More generally, all ICCF tournaments are running smoothly following a calendar that includes zonal tournaments and is available for all players on iccf.com. Chess 960 tournaments have been introduced and have become standard ICCF tournaments and benefit from a dedicated Chess960 rating system.

• The ICCF financial situation is healthy, allowing us future development tasks on the server, marketing, and further development actions. We have already reduced twice the entry fees of the tournaments, increased the DE rebate to the National Federations, increased the prizes for World Cups and the Opens, and increased the financial help for the host of the ICCF congresses.

• The server continues its development. There are now almost than 10,000 registered correspondence chess players and the number of webserver tournaments started every year is steadily increasing. In 2014, a record number of entries (2,275) have been processed through the Direct Entry office, an increase of more the 25% with respect to 2013 and more than the double since 2009. In the same time, the number of active players has raised by more than 25% (players having at least one game in progress) and the number of registered players by more than 75%

A number of on-going tasks will be the major objectives for the next years. I can mention some of them:

• The number of Member Federations has decreased and no real positive answer has been received from contacts initiated over the last 2 years. To remain the legitimate and leading Worldwide Correspondence Chess Federation, ICCF needs a larger number of member federations.

• The implementation of the ICCF laws of correspondence chess is designed to increase the leadership of ICCF further over the world of correspondence chess. This is also linked to the modernization of the rules, the modernization of the role, and the duties of the Tournament Directors, the Tournament Organizers, and the on-going development of the automation.

• In Cardiff, Delegates will discuss the revised and modernized “TD Manual” prepared by the Arbiter Committee and we plan to create a “TO Manual” during the next year.

• The on-going development of the server will again be one of the major objectives of the coming years. As already mentioned, we should all consider the potential of the server and the modern technologies to make the CC more attractive for our players and potential future players. We should also improve the server for our marketing activities, making it more attractive for potential sponsors.

• Although ICCF has increased its financial strength during the last 4 years, the Delegates will notice that 2014 has ended with a deficit significantly higher than what was forecast in the Financial Plan. In his report, the Financial Director highlights the main reasons for this increased deficit (delayed start of some major tournaments, increase of the server maintenance budget, and higher Congress allowances to such places as Australia and South Africa. Although this deficit does not endanger the financial solvability of ICCF, it indicates that we need to remain very selective in our objectives and clearly define our priorities for the coming years:

• As indicated above, the development of the server will remain the main priority and a significant yearly budget will be allocated to this effort in the Financial Plan. As you will have noted, there are many proposals (from Member Federation delegates and officials) that will be discussed in Cardiff and many of them will require development work on the server (The associated costs of each proposal can be found in the Services Director’s report). During the Services Committee meeting held in Paris end of June, additional Priority 1 tasks have been defined and I strongly recommend that the Delegates vote for the increased development budget to 25,000€ for 2016.

• The marketing budget will also remain a high priority for the next for years. There are many new ideas to make CC more attractive for new players, increase our relationships with sponsor, and develop ICCF visibility on social Medias, and so forth. I invite you to read in detail the report of the Marketing Director for a global picture on our future marketing plans.

• The reduction of the tournament fees will remain one of my major priorities for the next term. They have already been reduced by 40% – 50% during the previous years (as well as the increase of the Direct Entry rebate to the Member Federations who have chosen to participate in DE), resulting in a significant increase in the number of entries. However, for 2016, I will strongly encourage the Delegates to follow the (wise) advice of our Auditor:

• “In my last year’s report, I argued that the financial year 2014 would be critical for further financial decisions, as this would be the first year which would show the impact of the reduction of start fees as from 1.1.2014 of the 2014 on the ICCF’s income and profit. Now, given the unfavorable financial results achieved in the year 2014, I don’t recommend a further reduction of fees.”

• This year a new system for on-line presentation of the congress proposals has been developed by the General Secretary and the Services Director. Such a new concept can by no means be perfect at the first attempt and the feedback from the Delegates will help the EB to improve and expend this concept in the future. An on-line voting system for the Delegates, replacing the current proxies, is amongst the ideas for the near future.

• ICCF, the Zones, and the National Federation are organizing many different kinds of tournaments. In the survey, a large majority of players have shown their appreciation of large available choice of tournaments, but little has been done so far to take advantage of the possibilities offered by the new time controls (e.g. Fischer clock) that are now supported by the server (The promotional league is one example of tournament with no leave available). For tournaments played in successive stages, the timely conclusions of the preliminary and semifinal sections is a must and promoting results on the board rather than by adjudication will be highly appreciated by the players.

I sincerely hope that a significant majority of Delegates will support to this plan for the next 4 years. Although many candidates (including myself) are unopposed for this election, a vote of support is necessary to legitimate the proposals outlined in this report.