The ICCF has announced a significant change to the rules relating to players exceeding time limits.   The position is that:

A player who loses any game by exceeding a time limit (ETL) will now be restricted from registering for any new event on the server.  The time period for that restriction is either 30 days or 90 days from the time of that ETL:

(1) If the player is not already under such a restriction, then the time period is 30 days.

(2) If the player was already under such a restriction (involving either a 30- or 90-day restriction) when the player’s most recent ETL occurred, the restriction is for 90 days from the most recent ETL.

Following the recent AGM and Executive Committee Meeting, changes are being implemented for BCCA Tournaments and Matches.

These are summarised in the article set out below.

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BCCA Tournaments, Matches and Ratings

The AGM of the BCCA was held on 1^st October, followed by a meeting of the Executive Committee.   A report on both meetings will be published on the website shortly.

The meetings considered the operation of BCCA Tournaments, matches and ratings.    This note provides a summary of the discussions and decisions taken.

BCCA Tournaments: Evolution

The organisation of correspondence tournaments is at the heart of the activities of the BCCA.   As playing trends develop, the BCCA evolves to meet changing demands of players.   As a result, a number of decisions were taken:

William Mason

The William Mason Championship, Candidates and Reserves constitute a major event on the British CC chess calendar.   This year saw an 18% increase in overall participation.   This is an excellent development but it also highlighted some organisational and structural challenges.

Consequently, the EC has decided to review the operation of the tournament with a view to:

• Enlarging entries further.

• Increasing the strength of participation, particularly in the Championship while continuing to offer opportunities for weaker players.

• Streamlining the administration of the events to make entering and participating as smooth as feasible.

Further details of the reforms will be publicised to members shortly.

Medals

The medal tournaments continue to be successful.   In order to encourage more entrants and simplify entering, the EC decided on a minor change, namely to allow entries at the same time as membership renewals, meaning that the entry and payment of entry fees can occur simultaneously with membership renewal.

Continuous Tournament

It is intended that a new continuous tournament be established.    The EC is working on developing proposals and will be seeking to introduce the new event shortly.

Further details will be provided in due course.

Handicap

The handicap tournament is the longest running continuous CC event that we are aware of, having been playing since 1906.

It continues to be successful, but to facilitate its effective operation, the playing system has been changed to the Silli structure.  It is hoped that this will help to boost entries.

Gambit, Counter Gambit and Endgame Tournaments

We have seen a steady decline in participation in the Gambit, Counter Gambit and Endgame tournaments.   There was insufficient interest for them to be held last season and they have now been discontinued unless and until there is sufficient demand for them to be reinstated.

Matches

In addition to tournaments, the BCCA fields teams in match events.   We participate in the Champions League and the British Webserver Team Tournament, both sets of teams being managed by Stan Grayland, and we intend to join the Scottish Webserver League this season.

We also organise ad hoc friendly matches, although our focus will be on the league competitions which can more easily be organised with opposition of a comparable standard.

Ratings

We seek to have BCCA games rated by the ICCF wherever feasible.   Due to difficulties with a change to ICCF rules applicable to tournaments with players from different Federations, we experienced difficulties having our tournaments rated.

Consequently, through the endeavours of Stan Grayland, we created a system of BCCA ratings, publicised on our website.  In the meantime, we have been working with Federations to allow ICCF ratings to apply more extensively and, with thanks to Phill Beckett, have made substantial progress.

As a result, it has been decided to discontinue establishing BCCA ratings as most tournaments and matches will now be ICCF rated.    Subject to confirmation with the ICCF, we expect the position for the coming season and subsequently to be:

Our AGM is scheduled for next Saturday 1st October at 2.00 p.m. to be held on Zoom.

Please see below the agenda by clicking on this link:   BCCA Agenda

This note confirms that the BCCA AGM 2022 will take place this year on 1st October 2022 on Zoom, with all members being welcome to attend.

Our entry list for the William Mason Tournament continues to grow.

We now have 32 entries, including 20 titled players.   The full list is here: William Mason Entries .  Entries remain open until 31st August.

If you haven’t entered yet, you can include this in your membership renewal or by writing separately to Keith Kitson .

As one year’s William Mason Championship draws to a close, preparations are under way for the next.

Bouyed by the event attracting ICCF ratings, we already have a strong flow of entries.   For the full list of entrants, see:  William Mason Entries 2022/23

Congratulations are in order to Tom Gunn for winning this season’s Candidates A2 section with the score of 8.5/10 with seven wins.

The full cross table can be seen here:  Candidates A2

We are pleased to announce an extension of the BCCA Master Titles with  the introduction, with effect from today, 7th July, of a new BCCA Senior Master Title.

For more details on the new title and the operation of all our titles, please see:  BCCA Titles.

Congratulations to Raymond Bradney on winning the John Rogers Memorial B – the full cross table can be found here:  John Rogers Memorial B

Congratulations to David Grobler on winning the BCCA Candidates B2 section, despite a last round loss to Paul Munro.   The full results can be found here:  BCCA Candidates B2 .