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Correspondence chess ischess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through thepostal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a publicinternet chess forum, oremail. Less common methods that have been employed includefax,homing pigeon and phone. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a physical chessboard at the same time; and mostonline chess, where the players play each other in real time over the internet. However, correspondence chess can also be played online.
Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who are geographically distant to play one another without meeting in person.[1] The length of a game played by correspondence can vary depending on the method used to transmit moves: a game played via a server or by email might last no more than a few days, weeks, or months; a game played by post between players in different countries might last several years.
Correspondence chess differs from over-the-board (OTB) play in several respects. While players in OTB chess generally play one game at a time (an exception being asimultaneous exhibition), correspondence players often have several games going at once. Tournament games are played concurrently,[note 1] and some players may have more than one hundred games continuing at the same time.
Time limit in correspondence game is not rigidly defined, but it is generally accepted that, on average, it is never less than one day per move (not counting transmission time in postal chess). This time allows for far deeper calculation, meaning thatblunders can be less frequent. A high-level correspondence game can last over a year.[2]
Certain forms of assistance, including books andchess databases, are often allowed; organizations vary as to whetherchess engine use is permitted.
Computer assistance has altered correspondence chess. The decline in the popularity of traditional postal correspondence chess occurred at the end of the 20th century. This is also when chess programs became widely accessible, and their playing strength soon reached the level ofgrandmasters. Due to correspondence chess being played remotely, it is difficult to verify or regulate engine usage, which has led some organizations to simply allow it instead. This is in contrast toover-the-board chess competitions, where all chess organizations strictly prohibit the use of any electronic devices .[3]
TheInternational Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), the only correspondence chess organization affiliated withFIDE, the international chess organization, allows for collaboration between humans and computers, even during theWorld Correspondence Chess Championship. It also allows the use of reference materials that provide the best move in a given position, such asendgame tablebases. The ICCF calls this a "hybrid competition that involves the strategy and planning of humans guided by the accuracy of machines". Due to the accuracy and defensive abilities of modern engines, the draw rate of correspondence games is very high compared to over-the-board chess games.[2]
In contrast,Chess.com's Daily Chess strictly prohibits the use of chess engines and all winners' games are subject to computer analysis for fair play.[4] A similar stance is taken by theUnited States Chess Federation, which also explicitly prohibits the use of "chess playing algorithms" for evaluating games.[5]
Variant games are often played on public chess servers or chess forums. Since the games are a modified form, chess engines may be less helpful, or based on the variant, completely useless. For example, chess games played on an unbounded chessboard, orinfinite chess, are virtually untouched by chess-playing software.[6]
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Correspondence chess tournaments are usually played under the auspices of an official regulatory body, most importantly the International Correspondence Chess Federation. The ICCF, which organizes postal and email events, is not the only organization involved in correspondence chess. There are numerous national and regional bodies for postal chess, as well as a number of organisations devoted to organizing email play for free, such as the International Email Chess Group (IECG), Lechenicher SchachServer (LSS), the Free Internet Correspondence Games Server (FICGS) (which also runs a world championship cycle), and International E-mail Chess Club (IECC). However, groups other than the ICCF are not sanctioned by FIDE.
The ICCF awards the titles International Master, Senior International Master andInternational Correspondence Chess Grandmaster—these are equivalent to similar titles awarded by FIDE for over-the-board chess. The ICCF also runs the World Correspondence Chess Championships. Because these events can last a long time, they may overlap: for instance, in February 2005Joop van Oosterom was declared winner of the eighteenth Championship (which began in June 2003), though the winner of the seventeenth Championship (which began in March 2002) had not yet been determined.
Up until 2004, ICCF correspondence chess was played only via email and postal mail. For playing by these two forms of transmission, the ICCF sanctioned the use ofICCF numeric notation, sometimes known as Koch notation. However, if players agreed to use a mutually agreeable notation system, this was accepted.
In recent years, the use of increasingly powerful chess programs has brought forth new challenges for organizations like the ICCF and theU.S. Chess Federation, necessitating sometimes controversial decisions on the admissibility of such programs in official correspondence play.[7]
Moreover, the emergence of the Internet has brought new opportunities for correspondence chess, not all of which are organized by official bodies. Casual correspondence chess includes correspondence play initiated through correspondence chess servers and games played between individuals who meet and play on their own. Casual correspondence play does not lead to official ratings, though some chess servers will calculate ratings for the players based on results on that server.
Correspondence chess has evolved into various forms, with server-based correspondence chess emerging as the most widespread in the contemporary world. Notably, major correspondence servers have grown in size and popularity, reaching the same prominence as online blitzchess servers.The landscape of chess has further expanded with the surge in popularity of daily chess, particularly in the second decade of the 21st century. This growth is evident in the annual influx of thousands of new players. The heightened interest in daily chess is underscored by the participation in the Daily Chess Championships organized since 2018. While the first edition had just over 7,000 players,[8] in 2023, due to the significant interest in the event, the organizer had to limit the number of participants to 35,000.[9]
Daily chess represents the adaptation of traditional correspondence chess to the digital realm of theInternet. The termdaily chess has become commonplace, thanks to the multitude of tournaments hosted by theChess.com platform. It is often characterized as a fusion ofonline chess and correspondence chess; the immediacy and real-time interaction reminiscent of online chess are combined with the more contemplative pace and turn-based structure found in traditional correspondence chess. This amalgamation allows players to engage in matches with opponents from around the world without the pressure of immediate time constraints. In its fundamental form, daily chess requires players to complete each move within a strict 24-hour timeframe, as implied by its name.
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Correspondence chess servers are usually database-driven and carry with them a web-based interface for submitting moves to the database. However, the method of transmission does not matter, as long as the transmitted moves are audited within the server's database.
Server fees vary; most casual servers use a yearly charging model, whereby players can play as many tournaments or games as they want all year round. Some servers offer basic membership for free, with more services available for a fee. Casual servers also tend to have a wide range of features, such as real-time rating systems, online games databases, social and chess improvement forums, teams, and player homepages. More traditional correspondence chess servers often charge per tournament and force the use of real names. For example, competitors in the Correspondence Chess League of America use their real names rather than aliases.[10]
The vast majority of chess platforms that enable playing chess also provide access to server-based correspondence / daily chess. However, not all of them allow switching to the analysis mode or offer a built-in library of openings or entire games.[citation needed]
With the advent ofsmartphones such as Apple's iPhone, Blackberry, and Android-based devices, correspondence chess has seen a recent rise in popularity as applications on these devices, where users submit their moves to a central server.Former proffesional chess players Luka Lenič and Duško Pavasovič from Slovenia started a chess app in 2019 called Chess Universe as their contibution to the chess community.[11]
There are organizations devoted to organizing play by email, such as the International E-mail Chess Club (IECC).[12]
Email play has gradually declined in popularity due to issues such as email viruses, opponents' claims of not receiving moves, and similar impediments. Email play has arguably been superseded by server-based correspondence chess, where usually the interface to a chess server is a web-based interface.
There are national and regional organizations for postal chess which use traditional "snail mail" for transmitting moves between players. The ICCF and affiliated local and national federations often organize postal events. Other examples of groups offering postal play include the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA) and theUnited States Chess Federation (USCF).
Traditional postal chess organizations such as theInternational Correspondence Chess Federation, the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA), and the United States Chess Federation (USCF) have added email and/or server-based options to their correspondence play.[13]
One of the older documented postal correspondence chess games is a game played in 1804 bylieutenant-colonel F.W. von Mauvillon of the Dutch army inThe Hague with one of his officers inBreda.[14][15] ActorHumphrey Bogart, a strong player (Class A to Expert) also played games of correspondence chess against AmericanG.I.s through mail, at one point having his mail intercepted by theFBI due to fears thealgebraic notation used in chess games was actually anencrypted message.[16]
Postal correspondence chess has mostly been superseded by server-based correspondence chess.
In the past, games exchanged through mailed envelopes with stamps could take months or even years. The normal time limit forInternational Correspondence Chess Federation games is 30 to 60 days for every 10 moves (not counting shipping time for postal chess).[17]
In server-based correspondence chess most games are played at a pace of one move per day or several days. The most popular variants include:
Chess is a game with traditions dating back to the late sixth century.[19] Modern forms of correspondence chess often combine practices of both traditional correspondence as well as over-the-board games. For example:
Although nowadays the strongest correspondence players are specialists, a number of notable players in over-the-board (OTB) chess have in the past played postal games during their chess career.
| World OTB Champion | OTB Grandmaster | OTB International Master | OTB FIDE Master | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Correspondence Champion | Olga Rubtsova (Women's Champion) | Alberic O'Kelly de Galway;Viacheslav Ragozin | Hans Berliner;Yakov Estrin;C.J.S. Purdy;Mikhail Umansky;Ivar Bern | Gert Jan Timmerman |
| Correspondence Grandmaster | Ulf Andersson;Igor Bondarevsky;Aivars Gipslis;Curt Hansen;Jonny Hector;Jānis Klovāns;Jonathan Penrose;Olita Rause;Lothar Schmid;Duncan Suttles;Rafael Leitão | Janos Balogh;Olaf Barda;Jean Hébert; Richard Polaczek; Nikolai Papenin;Roman Chytilek;Bela Toth | Martin Kreuzer; Peter Hertel; Auvo Kujala; Dufek Jiří; | |
| Correspondence International Master | Alexander Tolush |
Paul Keres, anEstonian sometimes regarded as the strongest player to never becomeworld champion, played many games of correspondence chess. OTB world championsAlexander Alekhine andMax Euwe also played.Ulf Andersson also achieved very high ratings in both ICCF and FIDE, remaining in theFIDE top 100 until June 2002 and consistently ranking second on ICCF. Andrei Sokolov is another OTB GM who took up email chess. World Correspondence ChampionHans Berliner was also an OTB International Master.
In 1999,Garry Kasparov played a chess game "Kasparov versus the World" over theInternet, hosted by theMSN Gaming Zone. The "World Team" included participation of over 50,000 people from more than 75 countries, deciding their moves byplurality vote. The game lasted four months, with Kasparov playing "g7" on his 62nd move and announcing a forced checkmate in 28 moves. The World Team voters resigned on October 22. After the game Kasparov said "It is the greatest game in the history of chess. The sheer number of ideas, the complexity, and the contribution it has made to chess make it the most important game ever played."[20]
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