English Federation for Correspondence Chess

Congratulations to IAN MAVER (Matlock) who has won his World Championship Preliminary section with an impressive score of 8.5/12 In the process, Ian has also secured his first International Master norm with this fine performance. Ian defeated Italian IM Secondo Genga to secure the norm and now progresses to a WCCC Semi Final. The cross table can be seen here; https://www.iccf.com/event?id=42329

Carlos Rodriguez who won BFCC's Golden Jubilee tournament last year has received his silver salver. The tournament was a double celebration for Carlos as he achieved his second Grandmaster norm and hence the title. Carlos is pictured with the salver (below) at his home in Spain . Here is the cross table https://www.iccf.com/event?id=37634

The following announcement has been issued by the European zonal director concerning the CANDIDATES. Please check the qualification criteria. Entry through EFCC can be sent to Andrew Dearnley, stating your qualification before 20/2/16. 

The Candidates‘ Tournament of the European Championship 2016 will start on 15^th March 2016 and be played on the ICCF Server. The top two players from each Candidates section (tiebreaks will be used if required) will qualify for the Final. All sections will normally consist of 13 players but, conditional upon the number of entries received, the Tournament Organiser shall have the authority to change the number of players in all sections to 11, 15 or 17. If the number of the entries do not permit the formation of all sections of 13 (or 11, 15, 17) players, the entries of those players who have submitted entries under condition (d) below will, in ascending order from the lowest, be deferred to the next Candidates event.

Also conditional upon the number of entries, multiple entries submitted by those players holding more than one qualification may have only one entry accepted with other qualifications deferred to the next Candidates event.The following players have the right to participate in the European Championship Candidates :

(a) players rated 2500 or over at the time of entry

(b) holders of the Grandmaster Title

(c) holders of the Senior International Master Title with a rating over 2400 at the time of entry

(d) holders of the International Master Title with a rating over 2450 at the time of entry

(e) those participants of EU Championships semi-finals 68 and 69 who achieved at least 55% scores (unless they already hold qualification under any of (a) to (d) above) and have not already used this qualification right

(f) those players who finished 1st or 2nd in a European Championship Semi-Final started after 01/01/2014.

(g) participants of previous or running Finals who have scored at least 45% of the possible points, if they have not earned a higher qualification and have not already used this qualification right (h) the participants of previous or running Candidates who have scored at least 55% of the possible points, if they have not earned a higher qualification and have not already used this qualification right.

The ICCF European Championship is reserved only to those players from European countrie

ICCF Direct Entry system is also available for those players with a valid qualification.

Entries are now being accepted for the ICCF 960 World Cup. They can be made by ICCF direct entry (or by contacting Andrew Dearnley and paying the fee of £10 on this website or by cheque payable to EFCC) Please enter before the deradline of 28/2/16. The full announcement is https://www.iccf.com/message?message=874

This friendly rated match has just finished with a win against Denmark 28-18 Well done! The next matches to be organised will be a 30 board match for players rated over 2000 vs Australia some time in the next month followed by a match for under 2000 rated players against the Australian CCLA Kangaroos.

There will be some changes to the British Championship (BCCC) qualification Rules effective for the season 2016-17 onwards. Please see: www.bfcc-online.org.uk/bccc-bccc/bccc-rules for the full Rules & changes are marked in red.

These changes are driven by two things: 1/a recognition that the EFCC can no longer run British events without the agreement & cooperation of the Welsh & Scottish federations; 2/taking the opportunity provided by ICCF Rules to run Title tournaments where three federations are represented and no more than 2/3rds of the players from one federation. So we want players to have the opportunity, in British events, to play for IM Norms and also the two new ICCF Titles - Correspondence Chess Master & Correspondence Chess Expert.

The main changes to the Rules occur in Section 7. To allow Title Norm opportunities, the maximum number of English players in a 15-player Final can be 10. So the qualification Rules have been tightened up a little.

The EFCC recognises that these changes may mean slightly reduced numbers of English players in the Final. In response to this, we are considering launching a new English Championship event to run alongside the British Championship (hopefully starting at a different time of year). A sub-committee led by Ian Pheby is currently looking at this possibility.

If anyone has any questions, you can contact me (Neil Limbert) : neil dot limbert at gmail dot com

Entries are being accepted for the 2016 ICCF  European zone server championships at open and preliminary stages. See the announcement https://www.iccf.com/message?message=872 Please look at the rating criteria to determine which section you are eligible to enter. Semi Finals sections are later in the year for players rated between 2300 & 2499. Direct Entry s available under the ICCF new events tab, then by visiting 'EU' from the list of tournaments available. You can also enter through EFCC by paying the fee of £5 for an open round or £8 for a preliminary round. Online payment on this site or by cheque payable to EFCC sent to Andrew Dearnley.

Entries for qualified players are now being accepted for the PRELIMINARY stage. Entry can be made by ICCF Direct Entry (or through EFCC for £26. Please contact nternational secretary Andrew Dearnley) The full announcement can be seen at this link https://www.iccf.com/message?message=871 EFCC have a couple of places for nomination if a player is rated over 2300 and does not have a qualification. Please contact Andrew if you wish to be considered by the EFCC selection committee for such a place before 10th January 2016.