From Andrew Dearnley
Congratulations to Harvey Williamson who has scored another SIM norm, his second. To achieve the title Harvey needs to win his last game for an over score in the interzonal 2010 on board 7. Congratulations also to: Nigel Robson (SIM), Alan Rawlings (IM) and Harvey Williamson again (IM) whose titles were awarded at the ICCF Congress in Finland.
ICCF CONGRESS FINLAND – MAIN POINTS
1. Change to the way players are rated. Starting and finishing ratings will now be taken into account in what seems to be an even more complicated formula. See ICCF Congress Minutes 2011 for more details on exact calculation.
2. Eric Ruch (FRA) was re-elected as ICCF President, with Michael Millstone(USA) re-elected as General Secretary. George Pyrich (SCO) remains Finance Director, whilst Andrew Dearnley (ENG) took over as ICCF Non Title Tournament Commissioner from Valer Eugen Demain (CAN). England’s Ian Pheby was also ratified as ICCF Direct Entry Commissioner. With Neil Limbert (ICCF Titles Commissioner) England now have 3 representatives on the ICCF commission.
3. It was voted that the ICCF Champions League will start every 2 years. Champions League 5 should start around March/April 2012. There are still many ongoing games from CL4 and adjudications will have to take place to achieve this goal.
4. ICCF are keen to promote junior chess both at individual level and between schools. The 2nd Junior World Cup will be organised by Markus Homske (FRA) and it is hoped to start January/February 2012. Ajen Oudheusden (NED) will endeavour to run some schools chess tournaments on the ICCF server between ICCF member Federation schools. This will follow up the prototype run several years ago. It is hoped England will provide entries for both individual and schools competitions.
5. After a lengthy discussion it was voted to give ICCF an official base/seat in Switzerland. As the Swiss do not accept (ICCF) Statutes in the English language, a French version has been created and these will be registered. It was vital to find a ‘home’ for ICCF, as issues could arise in future regarding ICCF’s purpose and its legitimacy.
6. Work will be done to develop a ‘refreshed’ ICCF website merging ICCF.com with the webserver site. Austin Lockwood (ENG) agreed to be one of the consultants.
7. BFCC’s proposal for member federations to receive an increased (50%) rebate from ICCF Direct Entry fees was approved.
8. To encourage players to play for wins a new tie break system will take effect from 01.01.12. The ‘Baumbach’ tie break system will simply give preference to a player who has won more games in the tournament. If this fails to break a tie, then the existing SB system will apply.
9. The next congress was agreed to take place in South Africa. (At the time of writing, it is now not likely to take place there after all. No further details have been forthcoming from the organiser. An announcement from the ICCF EB has now invited Federations to make offers for the 2012 congress)