English Federation for Correspondence Chess

Congratulations to the following players who have all been recently awarded the following ICCF titles;

ICCF Correspondence Chess Master

John Brasier
Edmund Soh
David Coyne

ICCF Correspondence Chess Expert

Wes Bell
Dominique Conterno
David Coyne
Mark Eldridge
Stan Grayland
Neil Limbert
Brian Thompson

Notice is hereby given that the EFCC AGM will take place on 1st April 2017 at 12.30pm.

Venue :
Holiday Inn Derby - Nottingham M1 J25
Bostocks Lane, Sandiacre,
Nottingham
NG10 5NJ, UK

EFCC are seeking any players or club members who would like to join the EFCC committee. Expenses are remunerated for travel to two meetings per year (Generally March or April and October or November). The federation really does need some 'new blood' and is now operating with a bare minimum number of officers and officials. If you would like any further information, please contact Andrew Dearnley.

Good luck to Alan Rawlings, who has qualified and now started play in the 6th ICCF Veterans World Cup Final. Alan's opponents can be seen in the following crosstable; https://www.iccf.com/event?id=65638

Final Reminder For Entries

Deadline for entry is midnight on 1st March 2017.
As of 7th February 2017, there are 38 confirmed entries in alphabetical order;

Akrill, Richard
Asquith Jerry E.C., SIM
Beckett, Phillip J.
Bell, I. Wes
Blake, Michael J.
Brasier, John., CCE
Brotherton, Trevor S.
Bruce, Robert
Cheek, Colin
Clark, Sean
Coyne, David W., CCE
Eldridge, Mark
Evans, David
Farmer, Michael
Gardner, Allan
Gosling, Brian G. E.
Graham, Oliver
Grayland, Stan J.
Hollands, George
Hughes, Gregory
Illingworth, J. B.
James, Angus
Kitson, Keith, SIM
Lumley, Bill F., IM
Mason, Ian J.
Morton, Peter S.
O'Mahoney, Mike
Perrin, Richard David
Pheby, Ian M., SIM
Rawlings, Alan J. C., SIM
Reed, Arthur F.
Squires, Michael B.
Sutton, Alan B.
Wakefield, Robert J.
Walk, Robert
Ward, Richard
Williams, Richard
Williamson, Dawn L., LIM

If you have already entered, thank you, you will receive the pairings as soon as possible after the closing date. If not, please consider entering and take the opportunity to play in this new event. The announcement of 17th December 2016, on this site, details how to enter, or click here www.efcchess.org.uk/eccc.html

Tournament Organiser: SIM Ian M Pheby, IA      This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

EFCC President, SIM Andrew Dearnley, IA

Ian Maver has concluded his final game in the 10th European Team Championship today, winning it to finish top of his group and give England a credible 7th place finish in the event. https://www.iccf.com/event?id=44300 Ian has also achieved a 2nd International Master norm and is just 2 games short of the title, so a further norm will achieve this. Well played Ian and good luck in the quest for that norm.

EFCC congratulates Edmund Soh who has been awarded the new ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE) Edmund achieved the title with his results in the WCCC40 prelim 08 and Master norm 135 where he has also achieved a CCM norm as well

The English Federation of Correspondence Chess (EFCC) is pleased to announce that the first English Correspondence Chess Championship (ECCC) will be held which will start in April 2017. All English players are invited to enter!

The full Rules, tournament structure, eligibility, Prizes etc can be seen under "English CC Championship (ECCC) in the left-hand Menu, or by clicking here: www.efcchess.org.uk/eccc.html

There shall be a Championship Final, Semi-Finals & preliminary sections with all standards of player catered for.  The games will be played on the ICCF webserver & the tournament duration shall be approximately 21 months of playing time. The time limit shall be 40 days for each 10 moves.

The entry fee is £9.00. Entries may be made by PayPal through this website quoting “1st ECCC”. Alternatively, entries may be sent to the Tournament Organiser, Ian M Pheby (address: Oaklea Cottage, Horsham Road, Capel, Dorking, Surrey RH5 5JH) with a cheque for £9.00 made payable to “EFCC”. The closing date for entries is 1st March 2017. Pairings will be issued as soon as possible after that date.

All English chess players are heartily invited to enter this tournament, both for the enjoyment of the games and for friendly contact/communication.

Tournament Organiser: SIM Ian M Pheby, IA      This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  
EFCC President: SIM Andrew Dearnley, IA
 

ICCF have announced entries are being accepted to the 7th WebChess Open until 31/12/16. See the announcement; https://www.iccf.com/message?message=954

EFCC are accepting entries at £4 per section and this can be paid online by Paypal / Card at this site, using reference '7th Webchess open' . For those wishing to pay by cheque, please make it payable to 'EFCC' and send your entry to; Andrew Dearnley,  4 Saunderson Road, Penistone, Sheffield, S36 9DU. ICCF Direct Entry is also available for this tournament.

The fourth season of the British Webserver Team Tournament will start on 1st January 2017.

The BWSTT is an event organised by the Welsh Correspondence Chess Federation for teams of correspondence chess teams of four players. As there are normally four divisions, the tournament is suitable for chess players of all standards. There are no membership requirements, and teams representing chess clubs, workplaces, or just groups of friends are very welcome to enter.

The full tournament announcement can be seen here: bwstt.pdf

In a close fought battle with Wales, England have now won the 2015 British Tri-Nations tournament. With 1 game remaining against Scotland, England have overtaken the Welsh score of 23 points by a point and have a +9 score. Wales are to be commended, putting in a strong performance, despite being rated on average, 130 points less than the English team. Thanks to all players who competed. https://www.iccf.com/event?id=53207

GB/TriNat/2015, British Tri-Nations 2015

			TD Ylönen, Olli
			1	2	3	Score	%	+/-	Team results	FG	RG	Place
1	England	2145		9.5	15	24.5	61	9	2	40	0	1
2	Wales	2015	10.5		12.5	23	57	6	4	40	0	2
3	Scotland	2018	5	7.5		12.5	31	-15	0	40	0	3

Leslie Eastoe has become the 1st English player to receive the newly created CCE (Correspondence Chess Expert) Title: congratulations to Leslie!

It is not often a category 15 tournament takes place. The German Federation wished to remember their powerful Grandmaster, Achim Soltau with such a strong tournament and EFCC would like to wish GM Nigel Robson and GM Richard Hall a successful tournament. Both players accepted the invitation to play and the starting cross table can be seen at https://www.iccf.com/event?id=61736

MT-Soltau, Achim Soltau Memorial

EFCC would like to congratulate David Weldon on achieving his first International Master norm. David achieved his norm in the ICCF Master norm section 132, with an exceptional performance , finishing in first place with a +5 score.

See https://www.iccf.com/event?id=56691. We wish David well in achieving another norm and hopefully the title!

WS/MN/132, WS/MN/132

It is with sadness that EFCC reports the passing of SIM Ken J. Bowyer on 14/10/16. Ken was a regular England player and played in two ICCF World Championship Semi finals. In his first semi final, Ken achieved the International Master title in 1992. Eleven years later, Ken achieved the Senior International Master title whilst playing on board two for England in the 5th NATT. Ken played in the Essex team for many years and helped the team win the County Championship as recently as 2014/15. EFCC would like to express its condolences to Ken's wife, Ann and the family.

Yorkshire have won the County CC Championship (C & DCCC) after finishing top of Division One (Ward-Higgs). Yorkshire won by a clear point from Essex having scored 8 wins and 8 draws from their 16 games. Congratulations to Yorkshire and Captain Phill Beckett!

The crosstable can be seen here: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=55926

C & DCCC Controller Neil Limbert is retiring from the role after four seasons in charge and overseeing the change of this great & traditional tournament from a Postal event to a Webserver event.  Stan Grayland is the new Controller & we wish him well.

GB/WH2015, C & DCCC 2015/16 Division 1 - Ward-Higgs

		TD Limbert, Neil (IA)
		Bd 1		Bd 2		Bd 3		Bd 4		Bd 5		Bd 6		Bd 7		Bd 8		Total	FG	RG	Wins
1	Yorkshire A	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	12	16	0	8
2	Essex A	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	11	16	0	6
3	Yorkshire B	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1E	0	½	1	½	10.5	16	0	7
4	Surrey A	1	1	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	8.5	16	0	4
4	Hampshire	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1E	1E	0E	0	1	1	½	0	8.5	16	0	4
6	Warwickshire A	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	½	0	8	16	0	5
7	Essex B	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	1	8	16	0	2
8	Sussex	½	½	0	½	1E	1	0	½	0	0	1	½	0	0	½	0	6	16	0	3
9	Suffolk	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	5	16	0	0
10	Staffordshire	½	0	½	½	0	0E	0	0	0E	0E	½	½	0	0	0	0	2.5	16	0	0

Dawn Williamson was awarded the Lady International Master (LIM) Title at the recent ICCF Congress. Here she is with her Medal & Certificate. Congratulations to Dawn!

In 2013, EFCC co-organised the Carl Carls Memorials together with the German CC Federation. (Carl Carls was a German chess player noted for playing the English Opening). The Memorial A tournament was Category 10 (average rating 2476-2500) and has been won by Uwe Staroske of Germany. The picture below shows Uwe being presented with the Tournament Trophy by EFCC President Andrew Dearnley. The final crosstable can be seen here:https://www.iccf.com/event?id=38140

Uwe Staroske and Andrew Dearnley

EFCC would like to wish good luck to the England Olympiad team of; SIM Harvey Williamson, SIM Nigel Burne, GM John Pugh, SIM Mike Donnelly, SIM Ajoy Mukherjee and SIM John Wharam. The team have been paired with; USA, Spain, Slovenia, Estonia, Belgium, India, Hungary, Nicaragua and Japan. https://www.iccf.com/event?id=60733

EFCC are looking for willing volunteers to take up three vacant positions. First of all, the webmaster position needs someone to give this website some attention and maintain it. Content can be updated by most of the EFCC officers but nobody really has the expertise to be in overall charge and maintain it. Secondly, EFCC are searching for a new secretary to take over from Colin Cheek. This is a position on the EFCC executive committee, which meets twice a year. The secretary is responsible for taking the minutes of these meetings and generally being a point of contact for EFCC matters. Finally, a qualified auditor is needed to audit the EFCC annual financial accounts. If anybody is interested in discussing any of these posts or requires further information, please contact our current secretary, Colin Cheek or Andrew Dearnley.

Congratulations to SIM Ian Pheby, who has won the Potter/Wason best game prize for 2015. Ian's winning entry was his win with White over Keith Kitson in the Gordon Evans Memorial British Championship 2014-6.

We are grateful to GM Nigel Robson for judging this year's competition. Nigel commented that the "game is well played on both sides of the board. Black's aggression is countered by White's impressive piece management. A flourish of activity in the middle game unbalances the opposing material, and then White's handling of his queen and bishop pair gives him the decisive edge and eventual victory. It is an entertaining and instructive game." The winning game can be seen at https://www.iccf.com/game?id=749425

EFCC President & International Secretary Andrew Dearnley today receiving his Bertl von Massow Silver Medal for 10 years continuous service to ICCF (as National Delegate, Tournament Director, Marketing Director & others!)

Congratulations to Andrew!(photo sent by Austin Lockwood from ICCF Congress, Bremen, Germany)

EFCC congratulates Dawn Williamson, who recently achieved her 2nd LIM norm in the German Diamant tournament https://www.iccf.com/event?id=58319 Dawn has now improved her rating  to over 2300 and will receive her new title and medal at the ICCF congress in Bremen, Germany on 15th August. Now onto the next step, the Lady Grandmaster title!

EFCC Congratulates  JO WHARRIER who has achieved his first International Master norm with a fabulous performance which sees him hold the lead in his ICCF 20th World Cup Semi Final section. The cross table can be found https://www.iccf.com/event?id=55332 Jo is in a strong position to qualify for the final and can now set his sights on achieving a further IM norm for the title.

Entries are now being taken for the 2016 British Championship (BCCC) starting in September. Entries cost 10 pounds; last date for entry 1 September.

Entries are also being taken for the 2016 British Veterans Championship (BVCCC). Entries are at a reduced fee of 6 pounds: last date for entry is 14th September. Players must be age 60 or over as at 14th September.

Both tournaments can be entered online at this website - see Tournament entry in the left-hand menu. Alternatively, you can post a cheque (payable to "EFCC") to the respective tournament organisers: BCCC- Phill Beckett, Brough House, Church Laneham, RETFORD, NOTTS DN22 0NQ. For the BVCCC - Ian Pheby, Oaklea Cottage, Horsham Road, Capel, Dorking, RH5 5JH. Also, BCCA members can enter either of these tournaments via their BCCA Renewal form or on the BCCA website.

The top three places are now decided in the Hawley Final. Congratulations to the winner LES ELLIS who scored 8/12. Second place went to SIM ALAN RAWLINGS on the Baumbach tie break (most wins) from JOHN BRASIER in third. Both players were just half a point behind Les. Well done to Alan and John. The cross table can be seen at https://www.iccf.com/event?id=54069 Four game are still in progress in what has been a very hard fought tournament.

Entries are now being accepted for the 9th veterans' world cup. This event is again being organised by EFCC, with SIM Ian Pheby being the tournament organizer. The full announcement can be seen on the ICCF front page https://www.iccf.com/message?message=907 Entries can be made under 'new events' by ICCF direct entry or by paying the entry fee of £9 online at EFCC's website by card using 'VWC9' as the reference. For those wishing to pay by cheque, please make it payable to 'EFCC' and send it to; Andrew Dearnley, 17 Smithy Hill, Upper Denby, Huddersfield, HD8 8UH. the deadline is 1st August 2016.

After several successful years at the helm of EFCC, GM Richard Hall has decided to step down from the role & the Committee. We thank Richard for his excellent presidency of EFCC during this period and his guiding hand will be missed. However, we are very fortunate that we have a very able successor! Andrew Dearnley has been International Secretary for the best part of 10 years and he now combines this role with the Presidency. We wish Andrew the best of luck!

Entries are invited for the 2015 Best Game Prize of £25 in memory of R.J.Potter and P.C.Wason. There is no entry fee.

Any British player is entitled to submit one game played in any section or round of any of the following events: BCCC, BLCCC, BCCTC, BVCCC, any ICCF-organised competition or any event run by an EFCC member organisation. Games must have been completed during 2015.

Entries should include:

• a complete score of the game in algebraic notation without notes (PGN or similar plain text format preferred, not Chessbase);
• the tournament in which the game was played and the start date of the game;
• the names and initials of both players;
• a clear indication of the colour of the pieces played by each contestant;
• the full postal address of the winner of the game, or of both players in the event of a draw.

Send entries to Colin Cheek, EFCC Secretary by April 8^th. Postal entries also accepted, addressed to Colin Cheek, EFCC Secretary, 26 The Green, Marlborough SN8 1AW.

Good luck!

David Coyne has won the 18th British Veterans Championship with a score of 7/10 - well played David! The crosstable & games can be found here: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=55717

Entries to the 19th Championship will be open from 30 May at a new reduced price of 6.00.

Dawn Williamson is the new British Ladies Champion with a terrific score of 5.5/6. The 2015/6 cross table can been seen here https://www.iccf.com/event?id=55639 Dawn is also looking for her second Lady International Master norm to add to the one she has already achieved in a German tournament. Currently lying in second place in the 10th Ladies Olympiad final, Dawn needs another 1.5 from 4 games which would achieve the LIM title. We wish her well in this quest.

Congratulations go to SIM HARVEY WILLIAMSON who has achieved his first Grandmaster norm in the Germany Grandmasters tournament. Harvey has scored the required +2 in this powerful category 12 invitation and currently tops the table. See; https://www.iccf.com/event?id=52788 EFCC wish Harvey well in his quest for further norm(s) to achieve the Grandmaster title, which in this age, is indeed quite a feat.

This meeting will take place at the Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham, on Saturday 9^th April 2016, starting at 1:15pm. Matters due to be discussed are set out in the proposed agenda for the meeting: www.bfcc-online.org.uk/files/Draft EFCC Agenda 20160409.pdf

For further information, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .