Zone 1 – European Tournament Office

Zone 3 Report

Office of the Zonal Director for North Atlantic Pacific Zone – Zone 3

GM Dr. Jason Bokar

Greenville, SC USA

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to report the activities of the North Atlantic Pacific Zone (NAPZ) since the 2013 congress held in Krakow – Poland.

Zonal Leadership and Structure

The structure for NAPZ is as follows:

NAPZ Director: Jason Bokar

NAPZ Deputy Director: Valer Eugen Demian

NAPZ Tournament Organizer: Glen Shields

With additional help from the following people: Tom Biedermann (accounts and tournament set-up), Dennis Doren (tournament set-up)

2014 has been a great year for ICCF-US. Treasurer Tom Biedermann processes all entries, and his latest monthly financial report shows an increase in assets, after accounting for prize fund commitments for invitationals. Webmaster Dan Perry maintains the iccfus.com website including an entry fee page. Friendly Match Organizer Dennis Doren has started thirteen Friendly Matches this year, and has sent out four Friendly Post newsletters, link on iccfus.com. Titles officer Robert Rizzo reports that the following titles will be recognized at the Congress in Sydney: IA, Bryce Avery; IM, Liam Fuller, Bobby Johnson, Wolff Morrow. Dennis Doren will represent ICCF-US in Sydney so will accept these awards, along with the silver medals for Pan Team Championship 10. Kristo Miettinen volunteers as a TD and TC. Glen Shields is TO for NAPZ events, and liaison to CCLA. Carl Siefring has joined the Board to help with invitations, both from other NFs and for our annual invitational. Tony Kain provides hardware and software consultation. We have had five volunteers added to the approved TD list.

USCCC19 Final was completed with Wolff Morrow and Carl Siefring as co-champs. USCCC20 Final started March 1, 2013. USCCC 21 Semis started July 4, 2014.
The ICCF-US Olympiad 20 Prelim team won the section, earning a qualification for the Olympiad 20 Finals. Congratulations to Jon Ostriker, Carl Siefring, Ken Reinhart, Dan Perry, Tom Biedermann, and Tony Kain!

The first ever ICCF-US invitational, the Walter Muir Memorial with 8 GMs of 15 players in Section A, and 15 players in Section B Category 7 is now complete and cash prizes are being distributed. The Hans Berliner invitational started a year ago, and is ongoing. The Viktor Palciauskus Invitational recently started with ten GMs of fifteen players in section A, a Category 13 event. Thanks to Dennis Doren and Tony Kain for organizing these two events!

The 2014 was a busy one for the CCLA Council. Apart from the upcoming ICCF Congress, Council will be working hard on the rules and regulations of the CCLA, especially as they relate to Internet Chess. One pleasing development for the Association is the good numbers who have entered this year’s Major Events. Most events have a full field, with the Championship events fully subscribed. And to show that members enjoy both the new and the old, there are plenty of online and postal players in their respective events. The 2013 Australian Championship is nearing completion (only 3 unfinished games). However, former ACCQ Games Editor Colin McKenzie leads the tournament by 1.5 points and none of the chasing pack can catch him. Therefore, it is congratulations to Colin McKenzie for becoming the 2013 Australian Correspondence Chess Champion.

IM John-Paul Fenwick scored 7.5/12 to finish third on tiebreak in WCCC36SF06 thus failing to qualify for the World Championship Candidates. As a consolation prize, after two years of play, John-Paul scored his first SIM title norm.

The sixth Pacific Area Teams Tournament (PATT-6) will start on the webserver on 10 September 2014. Australia has a strong team consisting of:

Board 2: IM Clive Murden (2435)

Board 3: Gordon Dunlop (2444)

Board 4: Simon Jenkinson (2288)

Board 5: LGM Carmelita Henri (2300)

Board 6: Barrie Mulligan (2225)

ICCF Aspirer sections are ideal for players new to webserver chess and typically rated below 1600. Congratulations to Michael Allies who scored 6/6 to win ICCF Aspirers Group 3.

The North American Pacific Zone promotional events (Open, Higher and Master Class) have proven to be very popular. Australia has submitted a creditable 50 out of almost 300 entries in the past two years. Congratulations to Adam Wilkes who scored 5/6 to win NAPZ/WS/O/11. Congratulations also to Anne Ramsden who won NAPZ/O/18 with 5/6. Both gain promotion to an NAPZ Higher class event

Australia is planning a 13-player ICCF Category IV Invitational Tournament starting 1 December 2014 to celebrate our 85^th Anniversary.

The NAPZ Tournament Office oversees two tournament types:

The NAPZ Promotional Tournaments

The NAPZ Championship

The NAPZ Promotional tournaments provide a means for NAPZ players to increase their playing strength and to qualify ultimately for the NAPZ Championship and other highly rated ICCF tournaments. The NAPZ Championship, in turn, offers high-ranking NAPZ players a chance to qualify for titles and possible entry into the World Championship cycle.

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  40 Open Class, 15 Higher Class and 12 Master Class events started.
  
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  An average of 4.2 events started per month over a 16 month period.
  
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  24 Open Class to Higher Class promotions; 4 Higher Class to Master class promotions; and 2 Master Class to NAPZ Championship promotions awarded to-date.
  
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  A TD training exchange program initiated with the EU zone – one NAPZ TD (Seifring) sent to the EU zone and one EU TD (Sherwood) sent to the NAPZ to broaden and strengthen our ICCF TD base.
  
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  One NAPZ TD (Biedermann) reached sufficient games to qualify for future IA consideration. He was replaced by a new TD (Realyea) to expand NAPZ’s TD capability.
  
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  Regular mass mailings sent to the zone. These communicate tournament accomplishments and generate increased player involvement throughout Zone 3.
  
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  NAPZ Director free entries awarded to three players from the Caribbean and Mexico. These allow underprivileged players to participate in NAPZ events.
  
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  Participation from all NAPZ federations contributed to tournament game starts (see table).
  

2. NAPZ Championship Tournament

The 12^th North American Invitational Championship (NAIC) began August 2013. This event currently serves as the Zone 3 Championship until a regularly scheduled event based on Master Class promotions and NF Championships is established.
The 12^th NAIC event is a 17 player, Category 6 tournament that includes 2 GMs, 3 SIMs, and 7 IMs. Seven NFs are represented in the event. The winner of this event will earn the title of NAPZ Champion and be granted the opportunity to enter the WCCC cycle as the Zone champion.
Event cross table: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=38007
A proposal for a regular scheduled NAPZ Championship is in development by the Zone ND, the Zone TO, and the member nation NDs.