{"id":1240,"date":"2011-10-09T11:31:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-09T09:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/?page_id=1240"},"modified":"2011-12-11T21:04:13","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T20:04:13","slug":"switzerland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/?page_id=1240","title":{"rendered":"Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Name of Federation: <\/strong>Schweizer Fernschachvereinigung (SFSV)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Year of Foundation: <\/strong>October 1985<\/p>\n<p><strong>ICCF Delegate:<\/strong> Ulrich Baumgartner (<a href=\"mailto:akba12@pop.agri.ch\">akba12@pop.agri.ch<\/a> )<\/p>\n<p><strong>E-Mail Contact:<\/strong> Matthias R\u00fcfenacht (<a href=\"mailto:schwarzweiss64@datacomm.ch\">schwarzweiss64@datacomm.ch<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Website:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fernschach.ch\/\">http:\/\/www.fernschach.ch\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Article provided by:<\/strong> Reinhard Schiendorfer<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Small is beautiful<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Switzerland is a small country in the heart of Europe. Most of the 8 million residents live in the lower parts, while two thirds of the country are covered by the famous Swiss mountains. Blessed with lots of lakes and rivers Switzerland is well known for chocolate, cheese, watches and banks. We are not yet known for OTB or CC chess, but we are working on it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Early activities<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1901, the editors of the \u2018Swiss Chess Review\u2019 start to organize postal chess tournaments between the members of the Swiss OTB Chess federation as well as friendly matches with other national federations.<\/li>\n<li>1937, the team of Otto Zimmermann, Erwin Voellmy, Paul Johner, Karl Flatt, Moriz and Walter Henneberger seizes the bronze medal in the first European Championship.<\/li>\n<li>1941, Karl Flatt, a composer of chess problems wins the first Swiss CC championship.<\/li>\n<li>1951, Jean-Louis Ormond becomes first president of ICCF.<\/li>\n<li>1968 and 1971 ICCF congresses take place in Lugano.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Swiss CC Association<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Die Schweizerische Fernschach Vereinigung (SFSV) has been founded in October 1985 by Georg Walker and Martin Christoffel. We are sad mentioning that Martin Christoffel has deceased in the meantime. But Georg Walker is \u201cstill going strong\u201d and now is honorary president of SFSV. Small federations always depend on the dedication of their members. Among others our honorary members Horst Baer, Walter A. Stilling, Martin Christoffel and Gottardo Gottardi have promoted Swiss CC , each of them in his individual way. Georg Walker considers the ICCF congress in 1999 to be the point of culmination his CC life when 100 ICCF delegates have spent an unforgettable day on the Schilthorn. During that congress Georg Walker has received the SIM title and diploma as the very first CC player.<\/p>\n<p>In the golden book of ICCF the two founders have written: \u201cWe are proud of having three Grandmasters and 17 International Masters among our members, a considerable number given the size of our country.\u201d Ten years later we are counting a total of 10 GM, 12 SIM and 17 IM. 23 of them are still active players, that\u2019s why Swiss national team can compete now with much bigger chess federations. When I am writing these lines, Switzerland is very close to win the bronze medal at the 17th ICCF Olympiad. If this dream becomes true, this would be a historical success of our small CC federation. We also keep our fingers crossed for GM Rolf Scherer, who has qualified for the recently started final of the 27th World Championship.<\/p>\n<p>From time to time SFSV organizes big invitation tournaments: Blass Memorial in 1987 or the 100 year Jubilee Tournament of Swiss Chess Federation SSB. GM Rolf Knobel has written a very remarkable book about the Christoffel Memorial, which has been started in 2002.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010 we have had our 25th year Jubilee. Celebrating this event SFSV has invited CC players from all over the world to participate in three Jubilee tournaments: one tournament has category 13, while two have category 8. No decisions have been made so far. What we can say is that the ratio of draws is incredibly high. We have seen a few short draws, but most of draws were agreed only after a hard fight. The problem of \u2018draw-ratio\u2019 has also been discussed during the ICCF congress in Kemer. No resolutions have been taken. It seems that the intense usage of computer equalizes the chances of the CC players and makes a draw most likely. To win a CC game a lot of creativity and risk is required going beyond what a computer can calculate. The \u2018draw-ratio\u2019-problem is also known to the FIDE. We remember e.g. the Aljechin \u2013 Cabablanca Championship in 1927, when \u201adraw-ratio\u2018 has been 73.5% or Karpov \u2013 Kasparov in 1984\/1985 (83.3%). We have seen the problem coming and disappearing.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Times they are a-changing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The list of SFSV presidents is short. Georg Walker has acted as president from the very beginning until his retirement in 2009. During more than 20 years Georg Walker has been the \u2018heart and the power\u2019 of Swiss CC. It goes without saying that the elected president Ulrich Baumgartner has to take over a big legacy. On the one hand the track record of Georg Walker and \u201chis\u201d Swiss CC is very impressive on the other hand CC as a hobby or sports is changing more and more to a computer based science.<\/p>\n<p>Some months ago GM Anton Thaler has finished ranked 8th the 20th World Championship, which has been the last postal championship. The deciding game of the championship has ended six and a half year after the event had started. Nowadays CC games are executed on the ICCF server which is very convenient. The moves cross the oceans within seconds, but the players find hardly time to add regards to their moves. It\u2019s true in Switzerland the number of masters has increased, but the number of active members has not! Quite a few players are homesick for the times when CC players did not have a computer, but have been collectors of postal stamps and had time to tell stories about themselves and about their country. Georg Walker has foreseen this problem writing in the golden ICCF book: \u201dWe are looking optimistically to the future and hope that our successors will be able to further develop CC in our country with all present and future challenges, including E-Mail (nobody has been talking about ICCF server at that time) CC disturbances!\u201d We notice that some postal tournaments have been organized, some of them even with the gentlemen\u2019s agreement not to use any computer engine. If this trend keeps on going we will end up having two CC universes in parallel: the classical one and the computer based one.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aiming for the highest level<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Swiss OTB players have created a nickname for CC players: \u201ccomputer operators\u201d. The new generation of CC players might reply to that: \u201cIn a car race it is very important to have a good car, but it is still the driver who makes the difference between victory and defeat.\u201d And they have famous supporters in that. When Vishy Anand visited Switzerland he honored CC saying: \u201cGame collections are starting to come online and we are finding that correspondence chess has an incredible depth. Many of the openings that we are starting to play at a high level , we now notice that they (CC players) figured them out long back.\u201d In 1998 Garry Kasparow has organized a match againt Vessely Tolalow. Both players have been using computers during the OTB game: \u201cWe took the best of both worlds (human and computer) in order to bring chess to the highest level.\u201d So let\u2019s be proud again to be part of the CC community and take the \u201cdisturbances\u201d as a chance to create something new.<\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1241\" style=\"width: 397px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/IMG_2731.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1241\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1241 \" title=\"Honorary president Georg Walker (left) and SFSV president Ulrich Baumgartner (right)\" src=\"http:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/IMG_2731.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"387\" height=\"238\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1241\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Honorary president Georg Walker (left) and SFSV president Ulrich Baumgartner (right)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><!--nextpage--><\/em><\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<div class='chessboard-wrapper'><textarea id='pgn4web_6a280e4c' style='display:none;' cols='40' rows='8'>   [Event \"Champions League 2010 C Group 2\"]  [Site \"ICCF\"]  [Date \"2010.01.25\"]  [Round \"?\"]  [White \"Morss, Mark F\"]  [Black \"Walker, Georg\"]  [Result \"0-1\"]  [ECO \"E25\"]  [WhiteElo \"2260\"]  [BlackElo \"2444\"]  [Annotator \",User\"]  [PlyCount \"62\"]  [EventDate \"2010.??.??\"]  [WhiteTeam \"Chesspublishing.com\"]  [BlackTeam \"Ostschweiz\"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8.  e3 c4 9. g4 {Looks like a move out of the coffeehouse. White is weakening his  king's wing while his king is still in the middle of the board. In the  Chessbase Mega-DB 2010 there are only 7 games with this move. But then you  notice that only very strong coffeehouse players use this move. Kortchnoi made  a draw with O'Kelly and Kasparov has defeated Judith Polgar preparing g4 by  Ne2.\u00a0 Let's start again. White is surprising his opponent with a risky and  rare move. He plans an attack in the center (Re2 and e3-e4) or on the king's  wing (Rg2). The knight will go to g3 or f4 depending on the situation.} 9...Nc6 10.  Ne2 Bd7 11. Ra2 O-O 12. Nf4 Ne7 13. g5 Ne8 14. Bg2 Qa5 15. O-O f6 16. h4 $6  fxg5 17. hxg5 Rxf4 $3 {With a single and very precise cut our  honorary member operates all attacking ideas off white's position. Until the  end of the game the American has to defend weak pawns and is hopping mad about  his bishops. We can be sure that this has not been the intention of playing  g2-g4.} 18. exf4 Qxc3 19. Rc2 Qa5 20. Qe1 Qxe1 21. Rxe1 Nc6 22. Rb2 b6 23. Be3  Nc7 $1 {The knight dashes the hope of the rooks to start a counter attack in  the e- or a-file by controlling the squares of invasion. Demoralized Morss can  only wait and see the final Swiss attack coming.} 24. Kf2 b5 25. Reb1 a6 26.  Bf1 Bf5 {The bishop controls important squares of the b- and c-file and  complicates the defense by the rooks.} 27. Re1 Rb8 {The rook positions behind  the future passed pawn providing\u00a0 energy\u00a0\u00a0 for the break through.} 28. Rc1 Ne6  29. Rd2 Kf7 30. Kg3 Ne7 31. Rb2 {The preparations have been completed and the  end will come soon.} a5 {Ok. This has been a very short ending, but no doubt  there are good reasons to resign. Or how Morss has commented his abandoning:  \"enough is enough.\"} 0-1   [Event \"WCCC33PR02\"]  [Site \"ICCF\"]  [Date \"2009.02.20\"]  [Round \"?\"]  [White \"Baumgartner, Ulrich\"]  [Black \"Gertners, Gunars\"]  [Result \"1-0\"]  [ECO \"D43\"]  [WhiteElo \"2212\"]  [BlackElo \"2290\"]  [Annotator \",User\"]  [PlyCount \"85\"]  [EventDate \"2009.??.??\"]   1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qc2 Nd7 8. e4  dxe4 9. Qxe4 g6 10. Qe3 Bg7 11. Ne4 Qe7 12. c5 O-O 13. Bc4 b6 14. Rd1 {To  allow the knight to invade d6 or not, that's the question. OTB players  (Neverov, Bacrot, Georgiev, Caruana) do not fear Nd6. They play a5 and Ba6  with good success.} Nf6 {CC player think that Nd6 is a real threat which has  to be addressed immediatly.} 15. Nd6 Ne8 {Already the next difficult question  has to be answered:\u00a0 Shredder 10 is voting for Nxc8, while Deep Rybka 3  prefers Nxe8. Deep Fritz 11 can not decide between Qa3 and Nxe8. \"Da steh ich  nun, ich armer Tor! und bin so klug als wie zuvor.\" (Faust). The life of a  computer operator is not very easy. Black threatens to open the center and to  win the game based on the pair of bishops. That's why in most CC games one  bishop is eliminated by Nxc8. We are happy to see the SFSV president Ulrich  Baumgartner taking the knight. Now we will be witness of an attempt to set a  new record: How many sacrificies are possible in one single game?} 16. Nxe8  Rxe8 17. O-O Qc7 18. Rfe1 Rd8 19. b3 Kh7 {We can hear the battle\u00a0\u00a0 call: &lt;=&gt;No  prisoners!(+)} 20. h4 Kg8 21. h5 gxh5 $6 {The battering ram blows a breach  into the fortress.} 22. Qe4 Bd7 23. Qh4 bxc5 24. Re5 cxd4 25. Rxh5 d3 26. Rxh6  {Brick after brick is quarried out of the wall.} Be8 27. Rh5 f6 28. Bxe6+ Bf7  29. Bf5 d2 30. Rh7 Kf8 31. Qg4 Bg8 32. Rh3 Bd5 33. Nh4 Re8 {Bugles call the  fighters to the issue of orders in the d-file.} 34. Qb4+ Kg8 35. Qxd2 Bf7 36.  Rd3 {Diagram # Holding up the broadsword and drenched to the bones with blood  the warriors expect the words of their king:(+)Once more onto the breach, dear  friends, once more.\" (Henry V)} Re5 37. Rd7 Qa5 {King Ulrich has sacrified  three pawns but now he has even one more pawn than his opponent. That is not  acceptable. Get rid of it!} 38. b4 Qxa2 39. Bg6 Bd5 40. Qd3 Qb3 41. Bh7+ Kh8  42. Ng6+ {Since sacrifying exchanges did not work the small pieces have to  make it.} Kxh7 43. Nf8+ {Gertners resigned. It's a pity, because some more  sacrificies have been already on their way: Kg8, Qh7+ Kxf8, Qxg7 Ke8, R1xd5  Qxd5, Rxd5 cxd5, Qg8+ Ke7,\u00a0 Qa8.} 1-0   &nbsp;   <\/textarea><iframe src='https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/wp-content\/plugins\/embed-chessboard\/pgn4web\/board.html?am=n&amp;d=3000&amp;ig=f&amp;iv=0&amp;ih=s&amp;ss=26&amp;ps=d&amp;pf=d&amp;lch=E6CC98&amp;dch=AD826A&amp;bbch=E0E0E0&amp;hm=b&amp;hch=ABABAB&amp;bd=c&amp;cbch=F0F0F0&amp;ctch=696969&amp;hd=j&amp;md=f&amp;tm=13&amp;fhch=000000&amp;fhs=14&amp;fmch=190CCC&amp;fcch=595959&amp;hmch=E0E0E0&amp;fms=14&amp;fcs=m&amp;cd=i&amp;bch=FFFFFF&amp;fp=13&amp;hl=f&amp;fh=677&amp;fw=p&amp;pi=pgn4web_6a280e4c' frameborder='0' width='100%' height='677' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>your web browser and\/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts<\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n<p>Name of Federation: Schweizer Fernschachvereinigung (SFSV)<\/p>\n<p>Year of Foundation: October 1985<\/p>\n<p>ICCF Delegate: Ulrich Baumgartner (akba12@pop.agri.ch )<\/p>\n<p>E-Mail Contact: Matthias R\u00fcfenacht (schwarzweiss64@datacomm.ch)<\/p>\n<p>Website: http:\/\/www.fernschach.ch\/<\/p>\n<p>Article provided by: Reinhard Schiendorfer<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Small is beautiful<\/p>\n<p>Switzerland is a small country in the heart of Europe. Most of the 8 million residents live in the lower parts, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":704,"menu_order":34,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1240"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2765,"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1240\/revisions\/2765"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kszgk.com\/iccf\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}