The International Correspondence Chess Federation 2014 Congress Sydney, Australia Table of Contents



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Ratings Commissioner Updates


The ratings forecast will be improved to allow players to enter assumed results for running games and obtain a forecast based on these results.
All historic title events have been imported to the online database; the Ratings Commissioner has prepared a further batch of events containing promotional tournaments, importing these events is ongoing. It is now possible to import the full game score from postal events and we will start this work in collaboration with the Postal Games Archivist as an ongoing project.
There are several accounts on the database representing players who have registered but have remained inactive for at least six months; we will develop a system for identifying these accounts and ‘cleaning’ the database.

Once again, sincere thanks are due to Gerhard Binder for his invaluable and ongoing work as Ratings Commissioner.



Hosting Arrangements


The ICCF playing server and website are currently hosted on a dedicated server leased from domainbox.de in Germany. Some responses by the hosting company to recent problems have been disappointing, and it has proved to be difficult to get telephone support from the company, both in and out of hours. Alternative dedicated server hosting will be sought.
In the longer term, the expertise required to maintain a physical server has become increasingly complex in recent years. The server is currently maintained by our developer, Martin Bennedik, however it is not reasonable to expect Martin to maintain this expertise, which falls outside his area of speciality.
We will therefore examine hosting arrangements, which do not require ‘hands on’ server management; in particular, we will investigate the feasibility of migrating to a cloud service, for example Microsoft Azure. This; however, would require a significant software update, so this remains a long-term ambition.

Congress Proposals (relevant to server development)


The ICCF Services Committee has discussed each of the proposals to the 2014 Congress in Sydney, which have some implication for the webserver. The scope of our discussion was simply the feasibility and cost of implementing each proposal on the webserver, no comment is offered about non-technical issues associated with each of the proposals, this is left for other relevant ICCF committees and commissions.
#1 Flag fall forfeit (USA)

Technically it is not a significant problem to implement automatic flags; this could be added as an option in the tournament setup screen; there is however an issue which will need to be addressed by Congress if this proposal is accepted. The FIDE Laws of Chess (6.9) state that:


Except where one of Articles 5.1.a, 5.1.b, 5.2.a, 5.2.b, 5.2.c applies, if a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by that player. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.
The server can identify simple drawn positions (for example lone kings); however, it is not technically feasible to identify all drawn positions without human intervention. If ICCF retain rule 6.9 exactly as written then there remains the possibility that a game, which is technically drawn, might be incorrectly awarded as a win by ‘auto flag’.
If Congress wishes to implement ‘auto flag’, then one of several possible solutions must be adopted (the advantages and disadvantages of each solution are not discussed here):


  • Congress may take the view that a player reaching a position under which mate is not possible by either player has the option to claim a draw under FIDE Rule 5.2b (The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a ‘dead position’. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 – 4.7.) If a claim is not made before the flag falls then the player forfeits his right to have the game scored as a draw. In this case, all flag falls would be scored as a loss and the server implementation would be simple. This solution however would require a departure from FIDE rules, as it’s conceivable that a position may be reached where the flagged player has a possible mate but the other player does not.

  • The flagged player may be given a period of (for example) one week between the flag falling and the result being set to prove to the TD that mate is not possible.

  • The flagged player’s opponent might be asked to submit a possible series of moves leading to mate, demonstrating that mate is possible, before the game is scored as a win.

#4 Server Claims and Roles of TD and TC (IND)

The AICCF proposal is similar to the USA proposal, with the additional specification that games reaching a position containing six pieces should be paused for adjudication. If Congress wishes to accept this proposal, the additional feature can be implemented on the server at minimal expense.


#5 Game of Chess Rule Change – Piece Move (SWE)

The basic laws of chess, in particular the way the pieces move on the board, form part of the core server code. To change this would require a significant rewrite, and require a lengthy period of testing. The cost of implementing this proposal cannot even be estimated without significant expense. If Congress wish to accept this proposal, it is very unlikely that it could be fully implemented and tested by 1.1.2015.


#6 Game of Chess Rule Change – End of Game – Move 75 (SWE)

This could be implemented on the server quite easily, if it is the wish of Congress.



#7 Game of Chess Rule Change – Draw Offers (SWE)

The Services Committee assume that this proposal relates to FIDE Laws of Chess, Article 9.1a (The rules of a competition may specify that players cannot agree to a draw, whether in less than a specified number of moves or at all, without the consent of the arbiter.)

An option could be added to the tournament set up screen “No draw offers allowed before move: []”, with a textbox to enter a number of moves. The ‘Offer Draw’ checkbox would be hidden in these tournaments and offers not possible before the specified move number.

This could be implemented quite easily on the server if it is the wish of Congress.


#8 Three Letter Country Code (WLS)

All countries on the ICCF webserver must be represented by a three-letter code.


ICCF now accept applications from federations, which do not represent FIDE, affiliated countries; additionally, players from any country may register on the ICCF webserver, not only countries that are affiliated to FIDE or ICCF. As FIDE codes are only available for affiliated countries, we are technically in violation of our own statutes by assigning three letter codes to these countries.
If Congress does not wish to approve this proposal, then an alternative system for recording players from non-FIDE affiliated countries will need to be designed.
#9 Role of Team Captain in Server Claims (WLS)

If Congress wishes to accept this proposal, some work will need to be carried out on the claim form system, as the requirement for TCs to enter claims is already fully implemented. However, it is envisaged that this work will simplify the system, so the long-term cost implication will be negative.


#10 The ICCF Laws of Correspondence Chess (WLS)

The Services Committee offer no opinion on this proposal as it is outside our remit, however if Congress accept the rules changes implemented by FIDE in 2014, then we must consider the implementation on the server of the new rules governing a draw (FIDE Laws of Chess 9.6):


If one or both of the following occur(s) then the game is drawn:

  1. the same position has appeared, as in 9.2b, for at least five consecutive alternate moves by each player.

  2. any consecutive series of 75 moves have been completed by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture. If the last move resulted in checkmate, that shall take precedence.

If Congress wishes these rules to be implemented on the ICCF webserver, then this can be done relatively easily.

#11 Minimum Score for Titles (POL)
If it is the wish of Congress, this proposal can be implemented by adjusting the norm table stored on the webserver (approximate cost €250).
#12 Titles Achieved in National Championships (POL)

Some initial discussions have been made with the Qualifications Commissioner and proposer; further details of the specification would need to be provided, however this could be implemented on the webserver relatively easily if it is the wish of Congress (approximate cost €900).


#14 Team Captain Options – My Claims (POL)

If the proposal to change the role of the team captain in team events is not accepted by Congress, it follows that it will be necessary to give team captains a better overview of outstanding claims in events for which they are TC.

In this case, this feature will be implemented on the server as part of the 2014/15 development plan; this has been discussed with the proposer.
#15 Provide Capability to List Norm Events (POL)

This has already been implemented and will be enhanced following feedback from the Qualifications Commissioner; the Services Committee will continue to work closely with all ICCF commissioners and officials to facilitate to smooth running of the organisation.



#16 Modify Event Category Display

The current features available to the Qualifications Commissioner can be implemented following discussion and an agreed specification.





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