2005 ICCF Congress Summary from Ruth Ann Fey (November 3, 2005)

One great thing about the internet is that so many participants have already posted reports and pictures at various Congress sites. Therefore, I do not have to write so many details to you.

The fun session is always the Tuesday morning Title Awards ceremony. Our Zone has done very well this year. I had thought my suitcase would be lighter on the way home, but it is filled with medals now.

Our first congratulations are for Santiago Cardosa Contreras, Mexico, for being honored with both the Silver and Gold Bertl von Massow Medals for 10 and 15 years meritorious service. We also wish him a speedy recovery. He reported to us that he had broken his leg last month.

Mexico’s team in the VII Pananerican Team Championship was awarded Silver Medals for their fine performance: Jorge Aldrete Lobo, Team Captain and Board 1; Dr. Clemente Guizar, Board 2; Kenneth Frey, Board 3; and Santiago Cardoso Contreras, Board 4.

Our Zone has 1 new Grandmaster: Alexander Ugge, Canada. Bravo!
Our new Senior International Correspondence Chess Masters are:
   Gary S. Benson, Australia
    Stephen Kerr, Australia,
    Sakae Ohtake, Japan
    Gary Ruben, Canada
    Christopher Sergel, USA

Our new International Masters are:
John M. Barrance, New Zealand
Bruce Oates, Australia
Gary Ruben, Canada

The overall number of titles was less than in prior years, perhaps due to the strengthening of the IM award in Seixal. Congress increased the requirement for the IM to 2 norms over 24 games that year.

The Zone also has 3 new International Arbiters: Valer Eugen Demian, Canada; and Keith Rodriguez, James B. Skeels, and Wesley K. Underwood, all from the USA.

The International Correspondence Chess Arbiter Title has taken on new meaning and responsibility this year. Congress created a new Arbiter Committee. Ragnar Wikman volunteered to be the Chairman for the first year as there were not as many delegates as normal at Congress this year. Two of the other 4 positions were filled by Daniel Finkelstein and Eric Ruch. The “ACO” Rules provide that certain levels of tournaments have an IA as TD, whereas lower level tournaments do not require that the TD be an IA. New TD´s will be paired with “mentor” IA’s. This will provide training and continuity of decisions made by ICCF’s TD’s. Formation of the Arbiter Committee was proposed in Seixal. The proposals had been carried over for further discussion and redrafting for 3 years. Although the document is probably not perfect, it will be a great help to all TD’s.

The structure of the World Championship Cycle was changed to include a Preliminary level. New requirements were added for ratings levels in order to insure that the higher rounds and titles would not be diluted.

Many changes were made to the Tournament Rules to make them consistent with today’s webserver environment and new tournament structure.

Time controls, a constant source of discussion, were changed to a 10/50 standard. Please note that the Tournament Organizer may still choose a different control in the announcement, as before. Note also that the upcoming Olympiad will presumably retain the 10/60 as that was the rule when the tournament was announced.

New Adjudication Rules were also passed. Note that these are intended to help TD´s and Tournament Organizers, especially in situations in which the start of the next round of a tournament is being delayed by the number of adjudications. If I recall correctly, exceptions are permitted so that the rules will not harm players. It does put a burden on (living) players to do some sort of analysis, even if it´s just, I'm a piece up and should be able to make use of it!

The Webserver has proven to be a great success in its first year. Congress has allocated additional funds for new features.

Amici sumus,
Ruth Ann Fay
NAPZ Zonal Director