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Villa La Angostura, Argentina 30th October to 4th November 2005 The ICCF Congress 2005, in conjunction with meetings of the ICCF Executive Board and the Management Committee, took place in the Resort Bahia Manzano, Villa La Angostura, Neuquén Province, Argentina, from 30th October to 4th November 2005. The Congress was arranged and hosted by the Liga Argentina de Ajedrez por Correspondencia (LADAC) and its President Carlos Cranbourne, and the hotel facilities and hospitality offered by LADAC were remarkable. The meeting was originally planned for the Convention Centre, but that was for very large groups (450 people) so the hotel location was more appropriate. The hotel management and cooperation was excellent and they made sure everything was always ready and well prepared. Also, the resort had a beautiful view of the Manzano Bay on Lake Nahuel Huapi, with outdoor dining facilities. Participants of the Congress, and accompanying families and friends, were offered an extensive programme of events, including an excursion to the city of San Carlos de Bariloche (ski resort town). There was also a programme for ladies and families provided by the hosts. The Opening Banquet took place at Mesidor, the summer residence of the Governor of the Neuquén Province. Everyone was treated to typical local dishes (empanadas, asado and salads) in this wonderful property by the shores of the Nahuel Huapi Lake. Additionally, a new musical entertainment of popular songs was performed by the same two musicians who had previously done so during the short cultural programme on Sunday morning. There was the traditional ICCF Blitz Tournament, with chess sets kindly provided by Círculo de Ajedrez УTorre BlancaФ in Buenos Aires, which was won by GM Fritz Baumbach. An optional post-Congress tour to Southern Chile (organised by Liga Chilena de Ajedrez Postal, LICHAP, and its President Guillermo Toro) was offered. Congress participants (memberships of Commissions are listed in Appendix A) Angel Acevedo Villalba (PER) Sultan Mohammed Al Kuwari (QAT) as delegate Marcio Barbosa de Oliveira (BRA) as delegate with proxies for Peru and Colombia Dr. Fritz Baumbach (GER) as delegate with proxies for Hungary and Switzerland, and as Acting Deputy President Carlos Bet (ARG) Witold Bielecki (POL) as delegate with proxies for Croatia and Turkey and Chairman of the ICCF Tournament Rules Commission Antonio Brito Moura (POR) as delegate Petr Buchnicek (CZE) as delegate with proxies for Slovakia and Bulgaria Pablo Buj (ARG) Jaromir Canibal (CZE) as delegation member Carlos Cranbourne (ARG) as delegate with proxies for Nicaragua and Guatemala Ruth Ann Fay (USA) as delegation member and as ICCF Zonal Director (North America / Pacific) and Acting Financial Director José Daniel Finkelstein (ARG) as Title Tournaments Commissioner Artis Gaujens (LAT) as delegate with proxies for Lithuania and Mexico Gustavo Glinz (ARG) as delegation member Claudio Javier Goncalves (ARG) as delegation member Sergey Ya. Grodzensky (RUS) as delegate with proxies for Belarus and India Angel Pablo Guido (ARG) as delegation member Pedro F. Hegoburu (ARG) as ICCF Membership and Services Director, ICCF Acting World Tournaments Director, and Chairman of the Tournaments Commission and Arbiter Review Commission Everdinand Knol (RSA) as delegate with proxies for Tunisia and Kazakhstan Antonio Macchia (URU) as delegate with proxies for Ecuador and Venezuela Gianni Mastrojeni (ITA) as delegate with proxies for Slovenia and Iceland Michael Millstone (USA) as delegation member Essa Moussa Abu Holayqah (QAT) as delegation member Ing. Josef Mrkvička (CZE) as delegation member Dr. Vytas Victor Palciauskas (USA) as delegation member Armando Alexis Pérez Pérez (CUB) as delegate with proxy for Panama Søren Peschardt (DEN) as delegate with proxies for Norway and Israel George D. Pyrich (SCO) as delegate with proxies for Malta and Sweden, and as Chairman of Appeals Commission (Other ICCF Rules) Nol van 't Riet (NED) as Honorary Member and delegate with proxies for Austria and Luxembourg Éric Ruch (FRA) as delegate with proxies for Ireland and Burkina Faso and as ICCF Qualifications Commissioner Guillermo F. Toro Solis de Ovando (CHI) as delegate with proxy for Spain, and as ICCF Zonal Director (Latin America) Sergio Daniel Verducci (ARG) Ragnar Wikman (FIN) as Honorary Member and delegate with proxies for Estonia and England, and as Chairman of Appeals Commission (Playing Rules) Prof. Max Zavanelli (USA) as delegate with proxies for Hong Kong and Canada, and as ICCF Acting President and Chairman of the PresidentsТ Commission Unfortunately, the ICCF President-elect Med Samraoui (ALG) and Honorary President Alan P. Borwell (SCO) could not make it to Congress due to airline troubles, and they sent their apologies and best wishes to Congress. Opening the Congress, ICCF Acting President Max Zavanelli (USA) gave a speech in English language which was also read in Spanish by GM Guillermo Toro. The Acting President said that the major decisions for ICCF had been taken by past Congresses, and it was our task to only deal with minor changes and improvements at this congress: ICCF needed to continue with what had already been started - we could draw upon our successful past to move forward in the future. He said we must keep in mind that ICCF is an organization of federations, not individuals, and that one person is not so important. We must also remember that every federation has a different environment, structure, and situation. Our ability to accommodate all, the true meaning of Amici Sumus, is the secret of our success. This means that when we have a democratic vote and it is not unanimous, then we must pay attention to even a single dissenting voice. Of course there can be philosophical differences. But we should avoid disagreements and instead allow players to choose what suits them best. We can let players play by post, by email, by webserver or by any other means. We should encourage organizers to be flexible and creative in their design of tournaments and time control. We must support all forms of correspondence chess. We must not argue over what form as that - like a chess opening Ц is a matter of preference, but we can recommend and tell others of improvements. Additionally, ICCF should not forget that the needs of ordinary players can be quite different from that of the top players. The ordinary player wants an entertaining and pleasant experience with the minimal amount of accounting, recording, distractions, and difficulties in getting timely moves from his opponent, and ICCF must provide that. Too many of our rules are designed for the World Champions and not for players who wish to just enjoy a game of Chess. The web server technology is a huge step in the right direction toward this goal. And lastly, we must not forget the organizers and administrators who work long and hard on a volunteer basis so we can have tournaments. Without organizers, we would have no tournaments and our great players would have no opportunity to show their ability and win glory. In correspondence chess, we have been blessed with another type of top player, world champions who are humble, who are human beings, who are true to Amici Sumus. ICCF has been blessed with great workers and organizers Ц especially in the world tournament office. The work of Pedro Hegoburu, Daniel Finkelstein, and many others this year had been extraordinary. In the heat of competition, sometimes a player can have misunderstandings and abuse the tournament director if he does not get his way. Also our TDТs are human; they must interpret the rules and guidelines and make decisions. We should encourage even our most experienced TDТs to ask advice of other senior TDТs when the situation is unusual. And as the former President Josef Mrkvička, correctly pointed out, we must not shout at our volunteers. So the Acting President proposed that our theme for this Congress would be the spirit of Amici Sumus, that of accommodation to the views and opinions and situations of others. The President then paid tribute to the memories of all CC friends who had passed away since the Mumbai 2004, including the CC Grandmaster Simon Webb (ENG), long-year ICCF Tournament Director Harro Otte (GER), Vaclav Rut (CZE), Alvaro Rosa (POR), Giancarlo de Lorenzo (ITA), Alberto Laurencena (ARG) and delegate and Senior International Master Ilja Hristov (BUL). Delegates stood in two minutes silence to the memory of all departed CC friends. Ending the two-minute silence, the ICCF Acting President declared the 2005 ICCF Congress, duly opened. 1. Approval of Minutes of 2004 Congress The draft Minutes of the ICCF Congress 2004, held in India, had been published at the ICCF web site and circulated to delegates and officials. With no corrections required to be made, the ICCF Congress 2004 Minutes were formally adopted and signed by the former ICCF President Josef Mrkvicka and the Membership & Services Director Pedro F. Hegoburu. 2. Former PresidentТs Report The former ICCF President Josef Mrkvicka gave a short report on his work between the 2004 Congress in Mumbai and his resignation in late December 2004. He said that he hoped to be able to contribute to ICCF in the near future, in other positions. He was thanked for the work done and Congress gave him a round of applause. 3. Membership matters The Membership and Services Director reported that an application for membership had been received from Burkina Faso (BFCCF - Burkina Faso Correspondence Chess Federation). It was agreed unanimously by Congress that Burkina Faso should be admitted to ICCF membership. Two Federations were in arrears for two years for their dues, caused by communication problems. The Executive Board proposed they be allowed to vote during Congress sessions, and to give them until December 31, 2005 to resolve their obligations with the Financial Director, otherwise their membership would be suspended and they would not be able to nominate individuals or teams to ICCF competitions. 4. Bertl von Massow Awards and other awards The ICCF Acting President presented a bronze medal for Achim Soltau (GER) according to what was agreed to in the 2004 Congress in India: he had tied for 3rd place in World Championship Final 16, but with a lesser SB score. The ICCF Acting President outlined the background and principles for the Bertl von Massow awards, with the original criteria for these awards defined as follows: "These medals in Gold and Silver will be awarded respectively for 15 and 10 years of faithful service to ICCF as the Delegate of a National federation, as a member of the Presidium or the Commissions, the European Organizing Committee, or as Tournament Secretary, as well as the Team Captain of a winning or highly placed team in CC Olympiads or Continental Team Tournaments". In view of structural developments since 1983, it had been agreed previously that service in all Zonal Tournament Offices should be deemed to be included. With the Presidium having been discontinued in Ostrava 2003, service in the Executive Board or Management Committee, should become eligible. The ICCF Acting President then announced names of officials which the ICCF Executive Board considered should receive 2005 awards. Each recipient (or their respective delegate) came forward to receive medals and certificates, with the acclamation of Congress. In Silver and Gold, for 10 and 15 years meritorious work for ICCF to: Santiago Cardoso Contreras (MEX) Jorge Eduardo Deforel (ARG) Joachim Walther (GER) In Silver, for 10 years meritorious work for ICCF to: Egbert Bosemberg (GER) Guido Bresadola (ITA) Jose Daniel Finkelstein (ARG) Thed Klauner (LUX) Dmitry Lybin (BLR) Francois Riva (LUX) 5. Financial matters The Acting President and the Acting Financial Director presented the financial situation and reviewed the many difficulties of transition from the excellent work of the former ICCF Treasurer Carlos Flores Gutierrez (ESP) using a Spanish accounting programme to the new Financial Director Grayling Hill (USA) in 2004 and 2005, who did not use an accounting programme. When Ruth Ann Fay (USA) kindly volunteered to become emergency Financial Director in late September 2005, we had to start by setting up the books in a standard accounting programme. It was an enormous work to recreate the situation as of December 31, 2003 (in order to have a starting point) in a new accounting programme, and then to add almost two years of transactions in less than a month, without coomplete documents and records. The Auditor approved the recreated situation at December 31, 2003 under the new accounting system. During the financial presentation many suggestions were made for improving the accounting and reporting. Unfortunately, the Auditor could not attend Congress and furthermore he was having eye surgery, and therefore would not have been able to approve the finances up to December 31, 2004 even if they had been completed in such a short period of time. The Acting President presented a management version of the 2004 income statement and 2004 yearly balance sheet from the more formal accounting records of the Acting Financial Director. He also presented the 2005 projected income statement and the balance sheet up to September 30, 2005. Additionally, the situation for the year 2006 was also discussed. ICCFТs financial situation is sound and there are adequate resources. However, ICCF needs to go to cash flow reporting and management. It was explained how all revenues are on an accrual basis on a one year plus delay, while expenditures are mostly on a cash basis, so the formal accounting statements present a serious mismatch of the true economic and cash situation necessary for normal operations. The speed up plan of the Mumbai 2004 Congress for 6-month invoices to Federations had not been implemented by the Financial Director Grayling Hill. A timetable of procedures of theory and practice was presented as information.
It was pointed out that the Mumbai Financial Plan was not practical for small Federations anyway and greatly increased the work of the Financial Director and the transaction expenses. Instead, it should be implemented only for the largest Federations (paying in excess of CHF 800 per year). This was passed unanimously. Many suggestions were made by the Acting President and even more proposals were included in the Acting Financial DirectorsТ report which had been distributed prior to Congress. Approval was also given to charge a fee of CHF 1 per game to be collected from events organised by National clubs affiliated to any ICCF Member Federation, and which are hosted on the ICCF Webchess server. This was also approved unanimously. The Acting Financial Director thanked both Alan P. Borwell and Carlos Flores Gutierrez for their help over the last two months in dealing with financial matters, and John Knudsen (USA) for sending details on PayPal transfers. Special thanks were given to Stefan Salzmann (SUI) for looking after ICCFТs Central Account and Investments in Switzerland. 6. Executive Board nominations for open positions The Executive Board nominated Frank Geider (FRA) to be World Tournaments Director, and Michael Millstone (USA) to be Direct Entry Coordinator. Both were unanimously approved by Congress. The Executive Board asked Congress for nominations to the Financial Director position and Online Gamescore Archivist, since Wes Green (USA) had expressed his desire to end his good work. George Pyrich (SCO) proposed to take the position once he had a job description. Congress also proposed that the Postal Gamescore Archivist (Laurent Tinture Ц FRA) share some of the work with the Online Games Archivist, since postal CC was decreasing rapidly. There was an excellent introductory speech by Michael Millstone (USA), and after the election for President, the Executive Board nominated him for the vacant Financial Director position. Similarly, after the Presidential election, Claudio Gonçalves (ARG) volunteered to fill the new vacancy as Marketing Commissioner, left by the election of Med Samraoui (ALG) as new ICCF President. Both the new Financial Director as well as the new Marketing Commissioner were unanimously approved by Congress. 7. Election for President The vote was supervised by the ICCF Acting President, with help from the former ICCF President Josef Mrkvicka and the Title Tournaments Commissioner Daniel Finkelstein (a non-voting delegate or official). After votes were cast, the final count threw a result of 37 votes in favour of Med Samraoui (ALG) and 18 votes for Claudio Goncalves (ARG). Thus, Mr. Samraoui was elected as new ICCF President until December 31, 2007. 8. Matters arising from previous Congresses There were none. 9 (and 10). Meetings of discussion groups and Webserver Development The Congress Agenda had provided for two Working Groups (one on Tournament Rules and another on Webserver development) to meet on the Sunday afternoon, but it was finally decided that it would be better for the entire Congress to attend to both presentations, and thus avoid a duplication of reports under items 9 and 10. Therefore, the first presentation was done by Pedro Hegoburu, who reported on the extensive work done by the Tournaments Commission during 2005 in order to analyse the ICCF tournament structure and come up with suggestions for changes to be made in this yearsТ Congress. Since the meeting was that of a Working Group (where information and discussions take place, but no voting is done) decisions on all issues were postponed until the actual Tournament item took place in the Agenda. However, the document and proposed changes were warmly received by Congress and a further meeting was scheduled for later in the week to fine-tune some pending items. Due to the absence of Alan Borwell, the presentation of the Webserver Development Steering Group (Phase 2) was kindly done by the committee member Nol van Сt Riet (NED). The tremendous success of the ICCF Webserver in only 9 months of operation in 2005 was noted. It had already surpassed e-mail activity. Congress approved the establishment of a new position of Webserver Manager. Finances and expenses were discussed. It was highly desirable that ICCF find a volunteer to work on webserver maintenance and reduce related expenses from professionals, who would be better off doing work on enhancements. The Webserver Development Steering Committee (WDSC) requested Congress to approve a CHF 10,000 budget for Phase 3, which was unanimously approved. In his capacity as Acting World Tournaments Director, Mr. Hegoburu had had extensive experience in working with the ICCF webserver, and he suggested several changes to improve our system. Many of these proposals had also been discussed during the Executive Board meeting the prior day. For example, of highest priority were operational items concerning crosstables, non-randomised assignment of players, and activity reports. Mr. Hegoburu would deliver a detailed written report to the WDSC so that these suggestions could be prioritised by the WDSC and work could then be done by the programmers. 11. PresidentsТ Commission proposals Substantial work was done by the PresidentsТ Commission to resolve new problems discovered in the ICCF Statutes, concerning holding an Extraordinary Congress and the sudden vacancy of a President. These proposals were discussed in detail by Congress and further amendments were made to the originals proposals. After these amendments, Congress voted unanimously in favour of amending our Statutes. These are attached as Annex XXX (to follow). 12. ICCF Archives and gamescores Our two Gamescore Archivists, Wes Green (USA) and Laurent Tinture (FRA) had continued to do top work for ICCF. Sadly, Wes Green had informed he would retire from this position, but he kindly agreed to provide a job description to help find his replacement, and also to continue receiving gamefiles until someone would take over from him. 13. Webmaster and Internet matters Because of the absence of the ICCF Webmaster Evelin Radosztics, her report was presented by Pedro Hegoburu. The Webmaster had been working on a new ICCF Website, in order to introduce a much better content management system (CMS). The new website would be ready soon, but not before the contents from the current site were УmovedФ, and before doing this, it was desired that any and all outdated documents and information be identified and new sets of documents be provided. Therefore, it was desirable to have some people surf over our website and pinpoint documents that needed corrections or updates. A new subdomain had been created in order to host the excellent УICCF CongressesФ website maintained by Maurizio Sampieri (ITA) (http://congress.iccf.com). Also in 2005, the first Editor of УICCF AmiciФ webmagazine (Alex Dunne Ц USA) had stepped down, and we were glad to have appointed Raymond Boger (NOR) as his successor. Congress thanked Alex for his work and wished Raymond much success. The Webtables team had welcomed Michele Rinesi (ITA) as successor to Luz Marina TinjacaТ (ITA). The 2004 Congress had also instructed the Membership and Services Director to draft a set of Website and E-mail policies, and this was done throughout 2005 and Congress was presented a draft, which was approved. The full text is attached as Annex XXX (to follow). 14. Marketing and Publication matters Due to the absence of the Chairman of the Marketing Commission (Med Samraoui), the report was presented by one of its committee members (Nol van Сt Riet). The Commission had been gathering e-mail addresses and contacts from players who are participating in ICCF events but who are not members of an ICCF affiliated National Federation. The next step would be to send them the ICCF Brochure and help them create a structure and maybe even affiliate them to ICCF. Mr. Hegoburu proposed to offer promotional 2-game matches to any player in order for them to try out our magnificent webserver. Details would be worked out by him, but the idea would be to accept entries during December, and pair players in unrated 2-game matches. Anyone in the world would be allowed to participate. Mr. Hegoburu also proposed that a wide marketing action be done for the FIDE Olympiad in Torino, e.g. polo shirts for all players with ICCF logo; brochures for players and delegates; etc. The Acting President reported about sponsorship of the ICCF Champions League, which was being provided by ZPR US Small Cap Value Fund (www.zprussmallcap.com and www.zprim.com) and the NSEL30 INDEX FUND (www.nsel30indexfund.com), both Funds being managed by the УInvesticijų Portfelių ValdymasФ (www.ipv.lt). He expressed his disappointment that changes to the Champions League structure had taken so long to be agreed upon that once everything was ready, the deadline for teams to enter was almost on top of them, and therefore not many teams could benefit from the changes and the sponsorship. A new agreement was being discussed with New In Chess, and the Membership and Services Director would involve the ICCF President Med Samraoui into the negotiations, which were turning out satisfactorily for both parties. Regarding the project discussed in Mumbai 2004 on School Tournaments on the Webserver, no report was given. Under Publications, it was once again noted that the ICCF electronic publication "ICCF Amici" was freely available for anyone to download or read online. More help to the Editor Raymond Boger (NOR) was needed. Finally, Fritz Baumbach (GER) submitted a proposal for the new ICCF Publication on World Champions and the УWorld Champions Jubilee eventФ, which was suggested by Pedro Hegoburu and approved by the ICCF Congress in Ostrav a 2003. The projected book would encompass three sections and several Appendixes. The first section would be on the deceased World Champions. The second part would deal with World Champions who participated in the Jubilee event and the analysis of the 36 games. The third part would be focused on the recent World Champions. In all cases, the player would be profiled with short biographical data, a photograph, and one commented game. Additionally, the book would contain an Annex in German language, in order to interest German buyers, and an Appendix with updated World Championship crosstables. The outside look and format would be similar to ICCF Gold. Mr. Baumbach was hoping to interest other collaborators, especially those GMs who participated in the Jubilee event, commenting their own games. Two potential collaborators would be GMs Robin Smith and Dr. Vytas Palciauskas. Pedro Hegoburu would help with the format, cover and updated crosstables, and the Dutch Delegate Nol van Сt Riet suggested getting in contact with the Dutch endgame expert Jan van Reek, who had already analysed all games in this unique event. Finally, Mr. Baumbach offered to pre-finance the publication and then to be repaid with sales. It was his intention to have the publication ready for printing by mid-2006. Congress received these news warmly and unanimously approved the proposals. 15. Qualifications, including rules proposals The Qualifications Commissioner Eric Ruch (FRA) intimated that relevant titles mentioned in his report could be confirmed and they had been included under Title Awards, as listed in item 16 below. Several title applications had not been submitted in sufficient time by federations, therefore a Revised QC Report had to be prepared for Congress, which had been distributed by the M&SD shortly before Congress. In his report, the Qualification Commissioner had listed title norms for new individual, team, zonal and invitation tournaments, together with changes to norms which had been established previously. The Qualifications Commissioner reminded all Tournament Offices, Tournament Directors and Nartional Delegates that they should use the following template when reporting a norm:
The LGM, LIM, SIM and IM norms should not be reported if the player had already achieved the corresponding title. The GM norms should always be reported. 16. Title awards The following title awards were made to the recipients or to respective delegates or proxy holders: Correspondence Chess International Grandmaster title (GM)
Correspondence Chess Senior International Master title (SIM)
Correspondence Chess International Master title (IM)
Correspondence Chess Ladies International Grandmaster title (LGM)
Correspondence Chess Ladies International Master title (LIM) Maria Magdalena Ribelles Sala (ESP) Correspondence Chess International Arbiter title (IA)
17. Tournament reports (i) World Tournaments Director The report of the Acting World Tournaments Director, Pedro F. Hegoburu, dealt with many issues. Work thorughout the year had been very intensive and on multiple issues. For example, changes had been suggested to the Tournament Rules (see item 20). The eternal problem of withdrawals had also been addressed and it was desired that the issue be further analysed during 2006 and the issue be treated again during the 2006 Congress, because the amendment in Mumbai regarding adjudication of unfinished games still posed problems. The 2004 Congress in Mumbai had approved one free event on the webserver for all National federations, and although several had been started, there were still many УunusedФ rights and all federations were invited to organise one such free event. As far as the УSuspension ListФ is concerned, the Acting WTD suggested to have it centralised on the ICCF Webserver, given that the administration of all ICCF events (postal, e-mail and webserver) would be done on the webserver and therefore the system would immediately inform the Tournament Office that a certain player is unable to participate because he is on the Suspension List. During 2005, the number of MFNs used had been higher than in 2004 but still it was closer to the 50% mark and should be higher. Finally, regarding the lasting problem with the Calendar of Events, it was reported that a detailed Calendar was almost impossible to achieve (bearing in mind ICCF has three different means of transmission to schedule, and so many events), but a simple solution would be to alternate years between ICCF events and Zonal events. So, for example, 2006 would be a year where Zone should begin their events (individual and team events) and in 2007 it would be a year for ICCF to organise international individual and team events. Mr. Hegoburu ended his report with thanks to his predecessor Chris Lüers, and also to all the Tournaments team of volunteers who work with so much dedication for ICCF. Under the overall responsibilities of the World Tournament Director, the following additional reports were also presented to Congress: (ii) Title Tournaments The Title Tournaments Commissioner reported that the following events had been started since the previous Congress:
During 2005, two new World Champions had been crowned: J.J. van Oosterom (NED) and Mrs. Alessandra Riegler (ITA). The TTC was planning to start WCCC Final 22 (by webserver) in March/April 2006. Other important events planned for the near future were Olympiad 17 Preliminaries (by webserver) to begin after the second half of December, and Olympiad 15 Final (by webserver if all qualified teams agreed to, otherwise by e-mail) as soon as all qualified teams were known. Regarding this last event, the TTC and WTD suggested to Congress not to apply tie-breakings to qualified teams (either from OLY 14 Final or from OLY 15 Preliminaries), and this was approved unanimously by Congress. Once again, Congress expressed its thankful appreciation of the TTCТs excellent work throughout 2005. (iii) Non-Title Tournaments Because of the absence of the ICCF Non Title Tournaments Commissioner. Eugen Demian (CAN), his report was presented by Pedro Hegoburu (ARG). The NTTCТs report showed an interesting trend regarding Class events: from January to September 2005, ICCF had organised 14 postal groups, 27 e-mail groups, and 72 webserver groups. This showed great acceptance of webserver play at this level. World Cup 14 had been organised by Australia: the event had started on December 1, 2004, with the following 11-player sections: 17 postal, 33 e-mail and 11 webserver. The 2004 Congress had already assigned the organisation of World Cup 15 to the Slovak CC Federation. This year, they submitted a request to drop postal sections and organise it exclusively for e-mail and webserver players. The issue was thoroughly debated and unanimously approved by all present. Germany then offered to organise World Cup 16 (sometime during 2006) exclusively by post, which was gladly accepted by unanimity. The first Webserver Open Tournament (WOT) had begun in January 2005, with 41 sections of 7 players each. Play was at 10/40 rhythm. It was expected to organise the second WOT on early 2006 (March) and the second stage of the first WOT after consultation with the Central Tournament Leader Guido Bresadola (ITA). The first regular season of the Champions League had also began on December 2004, with 222 teams of 4 players each. It was planned to start the second season on October 2006. Congress showed its appreciation of the fine work of the NTTC and his team of collaborators. 18. World Tournaments, including Thematics Because of the absence of the the Postal Tournaments Officer, Gian-Maria Tani (ITA), his report was presented by Pedro Hegoburu (ARG). The trend for postal events seemed to be better than in previous years and it was expected that during 2005 the same number of events as in 2004 would be organised. However, the number of represented countries continued to diminish (29 in 2002, 28 in 2003 and 27 in 2004). 85% of the players came from the European Zone. In reference to the Jubilee Open Tournament (postal), Mr. Tani informed he had finally been able to close all sections and the Final (Silli system) would begin over the next few months. Due to the absence of the Thematic Tournament Officer Leonardo Madonia (ITA), Mr. Hegoburu also gave this report to Congress. During 2005, Mr. Madonia had had to cancel 4 themes (2 postal and 2 e-mail) due to lack of interested players. For 2006, he again proposed 10 postal themes and 12 e-mail themes, and for the first time, there would be 4 webserver themes. Please refer to Annexes XXX Ц YYY to see all themes (to follow). Finally regarding Fischerandom events, Congress decided to discontinue their organisation, by substantial majority vote. 19. E-mail and Webserver tournaments During 2005 there had been numerous new events started on the ICCF webserver, and the overall feeling was that of satisfaction. Up to October 16 the following events had been hosted on the webserver:
20. Other Tournaments proposals, including new structure and long-term schedule of ICCF Tournaments Many acceptable proposals for invitational individual and team tournaments had been received by the Acting World Tournaments Director, and the following had been confirmed: Liechtenstein Museum Match Webserver; 1-game match with players from CUB+USA vs. ISR+MRC; started 8.6.2005 Webchess Gambit Match (NED) Webserver; 6-game match between GMs Timmerman and Umansky; started 10.7.2005 Dr. Heinz-Wilhelm Dünhaupt memorial (GER) E-Mail; 15 players, category 12, started 1.8.2005 Simon Fitzpatrick memorial (AUS) Webserver; 13 players, category 4; started on 21.8.2005 BCCA-100 GM section A 15-player server tournament with target category X. Start date 15.5.2006. Prize fund provisionally £1250, provided by BCCA, with prizes for the first five finishers. This tournament is sponsored by Chess Mail Ltd., and will form part of their program as ICCF Server Corporate Sponsor. The TD will be an established IA - probably Duncan Chambers. BCCA-100 IM section A 15-player server tournament with target category V. Start date 15.5.2006. Prize fund provisionally £250, provided by BCCA, with prizes for the first three finishers. This tournament will form part of BFCC's program as ICCF Server Corporate Sponsor. The TD will be an established IA - probably Trevor Crapper. Simon Webb memorial An 11 or 13 player server tournament with target category XVI, with invitations only to high-rated GMs. Start date 15.3.2007. Prize fund provisionally £1250, provided by BFCC, with prizes for the first five finishers. This tournament will form part of BFCCТs program as ICCF Server Corporate Sponsor. The TD will be IA Per Söderberg, a club colleague of Simon. Ken Messere memorial A 15-player server tournament with target category X. Start date 15.5.2007. No prize fund. This tournament will form part of BFCC's program as ICCF Server Corporate Sponsor. The TD will be an established IA - probably Alan Rawlings. Yuri Sakharov Memorial (UKR) A + B sections E-mail or webserver; 13-15 players per section; expected categories: 8-10 (Section A) and 3-6 (Section B). Proposed start date - January-June 2006. Tournaments Directors: F. Savchur and A. Yeremenko. These events will be held to in memory of Yuri Sakharov (1922-1981), the distinguished Ukrainian chess master, trainer and journalist, three times winner of the over-the-board championships of Ukraine (1960 jointly with Leonid Stein, 1966, 1968), IM ICCF (1971), twice winner of the ICCF Olympiads (1972, 1976). 60 Years anniversary BdF Ц ladies invitation tournament (GER) Webserver; 15 players; start date: 1.2.2006; expected category: 12-14 with LGM and LIM titles available. There will be 10 invited female players from different countries, and 5 female players from Germany. Although this tournament will principally be an УAmici SumusФ celebration of the anniversary of BdF there will be prizes which have been offered by the German Correspondence chess federation, as follows:- 1st Prize И500, 2nd Prize И350, 3rd Prize И250, 4. Prize И175, 5. Prize И125 and there will be a Best Games Prize of И100. Olga Rubtsova Memorial (RUS) Webserver, especially for women, 9-13 players, LGM level, start early 2006 Lev Abramov Memorial (RUS) Webserver, 15 players, GM level, start early 2006 FINJUB-45 (FIN) Both Postal and E-Mail. Preliminaries with (at least) two invitees from 6-8 countries (plus Finns) and a Final section. Start date in 2006. North Atlantic Team Tournament NATT-6 (FRA) Mare Nostrum 3 (FRA) Mostert Memorial (NED) A Scheveningen webserver event for two teams of 8 players each. Pacific Area Team Tournament PATT-5 (USA) The Acting WTD mentioned that the number of invitational events was slightly lower than in previous years, and one reason could be the increase of fees payable to ICCF as approved by the 2004 Congress in Mumbai. He then suggested ICCF to review such fees and perhaps slightly adjust them to benefit the organisation of invitational events. Regarding the delayed discussion on new structure of ICCF tournaments, a report was given in order to make changes to the World Championship cycle. The proposed changes revolved around 4 principal issues: - setting minimum categories for World Championship stages; - addition of a new stage to the World Championship cycle; - setting new qualifications for all World Championship stages; - "normalisation" of qualifications from Zonal events into WCCC cycle. Following discussions, the proposed changes were unanimously approved by Congress. Please refer to Annex XXX (to follow) for the new text of the Tournament Rules (valid as from January 1, 2006). Regarding the so-called УICCF Calendar of EventsФ, it was sadly reported that it proved extremely difficult to create such a calendar, bearing in mind the huge number of ICCF events on offer (both world events and zonal events) and the three means of transmission available. Therefore, the simple solution proposed (and accepted) was for ICCF to organise its УworldФ events on odd years, and for zones to organise their zonal events on even years. It is expected that 2006 will be a УbufferФ year where delayed events might still be organised, but ideally such a calendar should be scheduled as from 2007 onwards. Mr. Buchnicek, Czech delegate, informed about the special Уover-the-boardФ tournament to be organized in Karvina (Czech Republic) for CC players. More information had been distributed with other Congress documents. 21. Africa/Asia Zone Dinand Knol (RSA) as Deputy Zonal Director gave the Zonal report due to the absence of the Zonal Director (Med Samraoui). He added that the webserver had helped increase the activity within the zone, which was currently organbising almost all of its events on the server. Of course the new ICCF Member Federation Burkina Faso would belong to the Africa/Asia Zone. Following the election of the Zonal Director as new ICCF President, a new e-mail election would have to take place in order to have a successor. As usual, the Membership and Services Director will organise it right after Congress. 22. Europe Zone Due to the absence of the European Zonal Director (G-M. Tani, ITA) the report was given by the Deputy Zonal Director, S. Grodzensky (RUS). The Уmanaging teamФ (Messrs. Tani, Grodzensky and Carlos Flores Gutiérrez) was working harmoniously. The Zone had many new events and ongoing events. The Final of the 6th European Team Championship (ETC) were running fine with Joachim Walther as TD. The Semifinals of the 7th ETC would begin on December 20. the event would be played on the ICCF webserver. Regarding individual events, the Final of the 63rd European Individual Championship (EIC) played by e-mail, was started on 18.04.2005, with 15 players from 9 countries. The Final of the 64th EIC, played by post, had also been started on 18.04.2005, with 15 players from 8 countries. The TD for both finals was Alan Rawlings (ENG). The Semifinals of 65th EIC (played on the ICCF web-server) have been started on 1.09.2005, with 65 players from 29 countries (TD: V.I. Myakutin from RUS). The Semifinals of the 66th EIC (played by post) have also been started on 1.09.2005, with 37 players from 23 countries (TD: C. Flores Gutiérrez from ESP). Finally, it was informed that contact was being made in order to create CC federations in Cyprus and Serbia and Montenegro. 23. Latin America Zone The Zonal Director for Latin America, Guillermo Toro (CHI) had presented a written report detailing CADAP activities since the previous Congress. Much of the efforts during the year 2005 had been focused on the ICCF Congress which was organised by LADAC in the Argentine Patagonia. Regarding events, CADAP reported the following: - Email Tournaments started in 2005: Latin American CADAP XVI Zonal Tournament, Final Section (email) Latin American CADAP XIX Zonal Tournament, Semi-final Section (3 groups) Latin American CADAP XX Zonal Tournament, Preliminary Sections (12 groups) Latin American Master Norm Tournament (2 groups) - Programmed tournaments for the rest of the year 2005: CADAP XX Latin American Preliminaries Sections (e-mail) CADAP XX Latin American Preliminaries Sections (e-mail) Latin American Master Norm Tournament (2 groups) (e-mail) Latin American CADAP XVII Zonal Tournament, Final Section (webserver) 24. North America / Pacific Zone Ruth Ann Fay (USA) as Zonal Director for the North Atlantic - Pacific Zone (NAPZ) reported on the CC activities in the Zone. Sadly, she reported that due to the heavy workload, it had been impossible to start any of the planned tournaments for 2005, with the exception of the North American Continental Championship X, which had began on July 2005, with players from the USA, Canada, and Mexico. For the immediate future, the ZD announced the start of the Pacific Team Tournament V, and shortly hoped to start a Zonal Open Tournament for players under 2200 to increase interest in Zonal events. 25. Other Membership & Services Director Proposals Mr. Hegoburu reported on the completion of a task set by the Mumbai Congress, regarding УE-Mail and Website PoliciesФ. A draft document had been distributed together with other Congress documents, and after a review of the same, it was approved by Congress. In relation to the Уfriend of ICCFФ award, the following websites received the honour this year: 1. The Campbell Report: http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/ 2. ICCF Meetings Web Site: http://congress.iccf.com 3. France AJEC: http://ajec-echecs.org/ 26. Playing and Tournament Rules Commission proposals As far as Rules are concerned, Congress felt that ICCF could not wait another year to address the complaints and concerns about accumulated time, in spite of the fact that the Commission reported about dealing with this issue sometime in the future. Therefore, five possible improvements were put forth and debated. Philosophical differences continued and at last a simple solution was proposed to reduce the time control to 10 moves in 50 days for several good reasons and there was enough consensus to bring the proposal to a vote. It was also noted that the 10/60 rule was originally set without proper experience and was considered experimental. The suggested 10/50 was passed by majority vote. It was also noted that this was not a final or perfect solution but only a step to show the players we care about the practical experience and the speed of play and possibility of the so-called Уdead-manТs defenseФ. The new time control would be a УdefaultФ time control for all ICCF events, effective as from January 1, 2006, but it was noted that the organisers (zones, national federations, or even ICCF) would have the flexibility to use other time controls if these were clearly announced at the start of the event. Furthermore, in view of the upcoming Olympiad 17 Preliminaries (to be played by Webserver) which would start in the near future and where 25 teams have already been submitted, it was decided that - regardless of the start date - the event would be played at the rate of 10 moves in 60 days. Throughout the year a prestigious group of ICCF arbiters, officials and players took upon themselves a great work to prepare a set of Adjudication Guidelines. A vast number of e-mail messages had been exchanged, and a complete proposal was reached and this had been submitted to the Rules Commission, regrettably too late for their comments. It was decided that we could not wait until the next Congress, because the matter had been pending since the year 2002. All parts of the Adjudication Guidelines were discussed and debated by Congress and a formal version was passed unanimously. Congress also voted in favour of the Arbiter Committee and Rules Commission to produce three sets of Adjudication Guidelines (for postal, e-mail and webserver CC games) before 31.12.2005, based on the original document discussed during Congress. Finally, Playing Rules 10 and 11 were modified or deleted to refer to these Adjudication Guidelines, and instructions to the tournament directors on how and when these would be needed were also included. Regarding Tournament Rules, it was been herein reported about the proposed changes to the World Championship Cycle. Additionally, other changes had been suggested, especially regarding the posthumpous awards and Rule 9.6(e) regarding substitutions and replacements in team events. These and other changes were approved by Congress. 27. Ratings, including rules proposals The report by the Ratings Commissioner was reviewed and his one proposal below was passed unanimously after discussion by Congress: УFrom 2007 onwards only tournaments are evaluated for ICCF ratings which are played or administrated on the ICCF webserver. For the administration of ICCF - or zonal - non-server tournaments, the concerned Tournament Offices and the Tournament Directors are responsible. The administration of invitationals, friendly matches and national tournaments is the task of the national delegates.Ф The Ratings Commissioner also undertook the task to assist Tournament Directors and National Delegates to achieve this. As usual, praise was given to the extraordinary work performed in silence by Gerhard Binder. 28. Other Rules matters, including Code of Conduct Guidelines, Appeals and Arbiter Review Commission proposals Mr. Hegoburu gladly reported that the Arbiter Review Commission had finally ended discussions of the delayed Arbiter Manual. A draft document had been distributed to National officials and the text was unanimously approved by Congress. In relation to this new document, Congress also approved by unanimity the creation of the Arbiter Committee (ACO). The founding Chairman would be Ragnar Wikman (FIN), whilst two inaugural members would be Gianni mastrojeni (ITA) and Eric Ruch (FRA). Please find the Arbiter Manual as Annex XXX (to follow). The Regulations for the Arbiter Commission (Other ICCF Rules) were also unanimously approved. 29. External matters ICCF relationships with FIDE and New In Chess were discussed. Mr. SamraouiТs report on his visit to the FIDE Congress in Dresden during the month of August and activity by the Acting President concerning membership in GAISF were also covered. ICCF is most delighted to be able to to field a team in the next FIDE Olympiad, to be held in Torino (Italy) during May 2006. This news was welcome by Congress and it was unanimously voted in favour of such participation. The organisation and requirements for the team participants were also discussed in detail, and approved by Congress. A budget of Euro 1000 was unanimously approved for this project, which will be the responsibility of the Membership and Services Director. An e-mail with details and further information will be distributed by Mr. Hegoburu as soon as possible. Regarding GAISF, it was mentioned that FIDE is one of its members and since ICCF is an affiliate of FIDE, all federations would be able to say we are also covered by GAISF to their respective governments and sports organisations. 30. Internal matters A communication with proposals was received from the Ukrainian delegate Fedir Savchur. This was reviewed and discussed by Congress. The points were addressed and the Acting President would reply. A communication with proposals on Challenge Matches was received from Ralph Marconi (CAN). This was also discussed and reviewed in detail by Congress, and it was decided to be further handled by the new World Tournaments Director in conjunction with the Acting World Tournaments Director, in order to polish details and make improvements (e.g. discuss ladder events). Finally, a proposal for the function of Press Officer with a detailed description was received from Franklin Campbell (USA). This proposal was to be directed to the new ICCF President (and former Marketing Commission Chairman) and the newly appointed Marketing Commissioner for further action. 31. Future meetings There was a presentation by Fritz Baumbach on behalf of BdF (GER) regarding the 2006 Congress in Dresden. It would take place from October 14 to 20, at the Treff Hotel. It was noted that Dresden would celebrate its 800th anniversary next year. The ICCF President then informed Congress about offers for the years 2007 and onwards. Our friends from УAsociación Española de Ajedrez por CorrespondenciaФ (AEAC) had submitted an application to host an ICCF Congress in Southern Spain (Andalucía area) during the month of October 2007. This offer was greatly appreciated and Congress voted unanimously to accept the kind offer. Finland had also requested a first option for the 2011 Congress, since they would be celebrating their 50th anniversary on that year. This was also unanimously approved. Finally, all National Federations were asked to present their bids for ICCF Congresses in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, to the newly elected ICCF President and the Membership and Services Director. 32. Any other matters Congress expressed its appreciation for the way in which sessions had been carried and for the incredible amount of work that had been done, especially since there was no need for extra sessions or late meetings, and even finishing the Agenda ahead of schedule. The Acting President and Executive Board members were congratulated for their dedicated work. In closing the ICCF Congress 2005, the ICCF Acting President thanked all ICCF officials for their reports to the Congress and for their tremendous work on behalf of ICCF throughout the past year. He greatly appreciated the way in which everyone had participated in the very demanding work of the Congress throughout the week and thanked delegates for their contributions, which had made his role easier as Chairman for the Congress. He mentioned his desire to go back to his sleeping position as Deputy President and Development Director, struck the gavel for the last time, and was given a standing ovation by all those present. In declaring the Congress closed, the ICCF Acting President expressed the hope that all would meet again in Germany in 2006. Max Zavanelli Pedro F. Hegoburu ICCF Acting President ICCF Membership & Services DirectorAppendix A ICCF Commissions (from 1.1.2006) Tournaments Commission Frank Geider (FRA), (Chairman), Roald Berthelsen (NOR), Witold Bielecki (POL), Gerhard Binder (GER), Tunc Hamarat (AUT), Pedro Hegoburu (ARG), Leonardo Madonia (ITA), George Pyrich (SCO), Gian-Maria Tani (ITA), Max Zavanelli (USA) Tournament Rules Commission Witold Bielecki (POL) (Chairman), Dario Biella-Bianchi (PER), Gerhard Binder (GER), Carlos Cranbourne (ARG), Sergey Grodzensky (RUS), Tim Harding (IRL), Chris Lüers (GER), Leonardo Madonia (ITA), Ralph Marconi (CAN), George Pyrich (SCO), Mohammed Samraoui (ALG), Max Zavanelli (USA), Josep Mercadal Benejam (ESP), Eric Ruch (FRA) Playing Rules Commission Gerhard Radosztics (AUT), (Chairman), José Amorim Neto (BRA), Roald Berthelsen (NOR), Dario Biella-Bianchi (PER), Witold Bielecki (POL), Leo Lahdenmäki (FIN), Nikolay Poleshchuk (RUS), Per Söderberg (SWE), Ragnar Wikman (FIN), Kristo Miettinen (USA), Josep Mercadal Benejam (ESP), Duncan Chambers (ENG) Rating Rules Commission Gerhard Binder (GER), (Chairman), George Pyrich (SCO), Nol van 't Riet (NED), Jo Wharrier (ENG), Ragnar Wikman (FIN) Appeals Commission (Playing Rules) Ragnar Wikman (FIN) (Chairman), Leo Lahdenmäki (FIN) (Secretary), José Amorim Neto (BRA), Witold Bielecki (POL), Ian Brooks (ENG), Marco Caressa (ITA), Carlos Flores Gutierrez (ESP), Cecilio Hernáez Fernandez (ESP), Evgeny Karelin (RUS), Ralph Marconi (CAN), Gustavo Paz y Barriga (PER), Mohamed Samraoui (ALG) Appeals Commission (Other ICCF Rules) George Pyrich (SCO), (Chairman), Per Söderberg (SWE), John C. Knudsen (USA) Arbitration Commission Richard V.M. Hall (ENG) (Chairman), J. Ken MacDonald (CAN), Nol van 't Riet (NED), Gerhard Radosztics (AUT), Alan P. Borwell (SCO) Marketing Commission Claudio Goncalves (ARG) (Chairman), Nol van 't Riet (NED), Tunc Hamarat (AUT), Luz Marina Tinjaca' Ramirez (ITA), Hirokaz Onoda (JPN), Michele Rinesi (ITA), Eric Ruch (FRA), N.R. Anil Kumar (IND), Pierre Ruiz Vidal (FRA), Wes Green (USA), Laurent Tinture (FRA) PresidentТs Commission Med Samraoui (ALG) (Chairman), Pedro Hegoburu (ARG), Med Samraoui (ALG), Ragnar Wikman (FIN), Ruth Ann Fay (USA), Max Zavanelli (USA) (Note: the ICCF President and Membership & Services Director are ex-officio members of above ICCF Commissions, except for Appeals Commissions). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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