International Correspondence Chess Federation 1951 – 2011
With great pleasure, I welcome readers to the ICCF Jubilee Web Book to celebrate ICCF 60th anniversary, a Diamond celebration.
ICCF is the official worldwide organization for international correspondence chess and is affiliated to the FIDE, the official federation for over-the-board chess.
A correspondence chess game differs fundamentally from an over-the-board game by the fact that the players do not sit opposite each other at a chess board to make their moves. The games were used to be played using the postal services to send the moves, but most players today use the Internet and a dedicated webserver for playing their games.
ICCF is responsible for the awarding all international correspondence chess titles (e.g., correspondence chess World Champion, correspondence chess Grandmaster, etc.) and publication of official correspondence chess ratingsfor all ICCF members.
ICCF does not have individual player membership, but is comprised of national correspondence chess federations (Member Federations), representing more the 50 countries around the world, These federations are divided into four geographical zones, each responsible for the organization of tournaments in each of their zones.
Each Member Federation organizes national tournaments, championship and cups, international invitational tournaments, and friendly matches with other federations.
The reader will find much useful information about ICCF Member Federations in the federation section of this book, with stories about their history, their champions, and a few game samples.
ICCF organizes many international events, the most important one being the World Correspondence Chess championship cycle, starting at the Open Class, Higher Class, Master Class, and culminating with the Preliminaries, the Semi Final, the Candidates, and finally the World Championship final.
Besides this individual championship, ICCF also organizes the CC team championship, the “Olympiads”, the ladies individual and team World Championship, the ICCF World Cup open to all players worldwide, Veterans World Cup, thematic tournaments, Chess960 World Cup, and the ICCF Champions League — an open ladder tournament for team of 4 players.
Correspondence chess is a wonderful way to play chess with opponents all over the world, and to make new friends on all continents without leaving your home! New technology allows you to play while on travel or on holidays; all you need is an Internet connection on your laptop or Smartphone.
ICCF has a long and rich history of postal chess which you can read as you browse through these pages, but an even a brighter future in our Internet age!
Eric Ruch
ICCF President