Correspondence chess

Correspondence chess allows people or clubs who are geographically distant to play one another without meeting in person.

Books and opening databases are almost universally acceptable, but organizations vary as to whether chess engine use is permitted.

The ICCF calls this a "hybrid competition that involves the strategy and planning of humans guided by the accuracy of machines".

Since the games are a modified form, chess engines may be less helpful, or based on the variant, completely useless.

Because these events can last a long time, they may overlap: for instance, in February 2005 Joop 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.

In recent years, the use of increasingly powerful chess programs has brought forth new challenges for organizations like the ICCF and the U.S.

Chess Federation, necessitating sometimes controversial decisions on the admissibility of such programs in official correspondence play.

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.

This amalgamation allows players to engage in matches with opponents from around the world without the pressure of immediate time constraints, a hallmark of traditional over-the-board (OTB) chess.

In its fundamental form, daily chess requires players to complete each move within a strict 24-hour timeframe, as implied by its name.

Correspondence chess servers are usually database-driven and carry with them a web-based interface for submitting moves to the database.

But they do create the possibility of facilitating any method of transmission, as long as the transmitted moves are audited within the server's database.

Casual servers also tend to have a wide range of facilities, such as online games databases, social and chess improvement forums, teams, and player homepages.

However, not all of them allow switching to the analysis mode or offer a built-in library of openings or entire games.

There are national and regional organizations for postal chess which use traditional "snail mail" for transmitting moves between players.

[13][14] Actor Humphrey Bogart, a strong player (Class A to Expert) also played games of correspondence chess against American G.I.s through mail, at one point having his mail intercepted by the FBI due to fears the algebraic notation used in chess games was actually an encrypted message.

Paul Keres, an Estonian sometimes regarded as the strongest player to never become world champion, played many games of correspondence chess.

The "World Team" included participation of over 50,000 people from more than 75 countries, deciding their moves by plurality vote.

The sheer number of ideas, the complexity, and the contribution it has made to chess make it the most important game ever played.