HOW TO ACHIEVE A NORM IN CORRESPONDENCE CHESS

HOW TO ACHIEVE A NORM IN CORRESPONDENCE CHESS

To clarify questions in the reader's mind about the requirements for a title we can say the following: To claim a title from ICCF you have to acquire 2 norms required by that title and the total of games played must be equal to or more than 24. If you don't fullfill the latter quota you will have to play another tournament and acquire a norm in that tournament to bring your “played game” number to at least 24.

There are 3 titles that ICCF currently awards. These are the IM (International Master), the SIM (Senior International Master) and the GM (Grand Master) titles. To learn how to acquire Norms you should see the chart on page 20 in the following link to find out how many points are necessary: http://documents.iccf.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Rules/ICCF Tournament Rules 01.01.2015.pdf

The award consist of a certificate and a medal and is given to you or your country delegate at the next ICCF Congress following the date of your achievement. The title is made public on the ICCF web page immediately after your country delegate makes the necessary application and you don't have to wait for the Congress for that.

But what about the level of chess you have to play for this achievement? I have to tell you that it is becoming harder everyday with the introduction of strong chess engines which are being improved on a daily basis it seems. At a time when we are hearing claims that there is no point in playing correspondence chess because computers are playing against each other and other claims of invincibility if aided by a computer, I tried to evalute 3 games won and thus helped to score the necessary points for an IM norm. I tried to give the “Human” side of the evaluation and made comments about the evaluations of the computer where appropriate.

1) Baufays,Hugues (2343) - Kural,Aziz Serhat (2349)

EU/TC10/sf2 ICCF, 10.06.2014

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5 6.¤db5 d6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¤a3 b5 9.¥xf6 gxf6 10.¤d5

10.¤d5

Standard Pelikan position. I strongly suggest to continue with the move 10...f5 here as in the game.

10...f5 11.¥d3 ¥e6 12.0–0 ¥xd5 13.exd5 ¤e7 14.¤xb5

14.¤xb5

This move is not wrong; it is playable but loses a tempo in the opening.

14... ¥g7 15.¤c3 e4 16.¥c4 0–0 17.£d2 ¤g6 18.¦ab1 ¦e8 19.¦fe1 ¥e5!

19...¥e5!

Beginning of difficulties for White on the King's side.

20.g3 £f6! 21.¤d1?

21.¤d1?

21...¤h4!

21...¤h4! 22.¥e2 f4! 23.£b4 ¢h8! 0–1

Baufays_Kural Online

Pelikan PGN Database 

(1) Kural,Aziz Serhat (2349) - Liebert,Ervin (2398)

EU/TC10/sf2 ICCF, 10.06.2014

1.b4 d5 2.¥b2 £d6 3.a3 e5 4.e3 a5!

  

3...a5!

Testing for possibilities to dismantle White's advance on the Queen's side.

5.b5 ¤f6 6.c4 ¥g4 7.¥e2 ¥xe2 8.£xe2 ¤bd7 9.d4 dxc4 10.¤f3 e4 11.¤e5 ¤b6 12.¤d2 £e6 13.0–0 ¥d6 14.¤exc4 ¤xc4 15.¤xc4 0–0 16.¦fc1 ¥e7 17.a4!

17.a4!

Black has shown that he is planning to preserve the good Bishop to possibly place it on the b8-h2 diagonal later. This move plans to exchange this Bishop from a3 and exert pressure on the c column.

17... ¤d5 18.¥a3 ¥b4 19.£b2 ¦fc8 20.¥xb4 axb4 21.¤d2 c6 22.b6!

22.b6!

The computer doesn't favor this move. It doesn't even analyse it; yet it is one of the most important moves that will affect the outcome of this game.

22...£e7 23.¦c5!

23.¦c5!

The setup is being prepared for an initiative on the Queen's side.

23... ¦a6 24.a5 g6 25.¤b3 ¦ca8 26.¦ac1 ¢g7 27.£d2 £d6 28.¦1c4!

28.¦1c4!

The net is ready and there are few things that Black can do to avoid the following sacrifice. Of course I have to tell you that the computer did not see the following sacrifice on b4 or the plan that led to its setup.

28... ¦d8 29.¦xb4! ¤xb4 30.£xb4

 

The position reached after the positional sacrifice. The compuetr gives equality for the position and it is a correct evaluation.

30...£e7 31.h3 ¦d5 32.¢f1!

32.¢f1!

The advance of the King to b4 is necessary to relieve the Queen from its duties there. The computer doesn't see this march and continues to give equality.

32...¦a8 33.£a4 £d6 34.¢e2 ¢f8 35.¦xd5 cxd5 36.¤c5 ¢e7

Now I completely understand my opponent's idea to get the King to the protection of the pawns on the Queen's side but the correct line of play was to keep the Black Queen checking the f2 pawn to make sure that the White King doesn't move anywhere else. But now with the King on e7 this is not possible anymore.

37.£b5 ¦b8 38.¢d2!

38.¢d2!

Now the loss for Black is unpreventable but I have to tell you that the computer doesn't see the loss and gives Kd2 as the second move with equality evaluation at depth 50!

38...f5 39.¢c3 g5 40.¢b4! 1–0

Now after I played the move Kb4 and forced an anlysis from there, the computer changed its evaluation and started giving a win to White! This game is a very good example of a win that the computer could not fathom.

Now there are many ideas here for White. The Qe2-h5 maneuver, the Nxb7 idea and the Qd7+ if the Black Queen moves too far away.

Kural_Ervin  Online 

Sokolsky Opening PGN Database

(1) Vekelis,Gintaras (2351) - Kural,Aziz Serhat (2349)

EU/TC10/sf2 ICCF, 10.06.2014

1.d4 ¤f6 2.¤f3 g6 3.c4 ¥g7 4.¤c3 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.h3 e5 7.d5 ¤a6 8.¥g5 £e8

9.¥e3!? ¤h5 10.¦b1 f5 11.b4 £e7!

Preventing c5 for a while.

12.¥e2 ¤f4 13.0–0 ¤b8 14.¦e1 

 

14.¦e1

An attempt to sneak away the Bishop from f1 and play g3 etc. later.

14...¤xe2+ 15.£xe2 f4 16.¥d2 g5 17.c5 g4 18.hxg4 ¥xg4 19.¦ec1 £e8 20.£d3

Centralizing the Queen and moving it away from the pin.

20... a6 21.¤e1 ¦f7

The last two moves of Black was for the protection of the c7 square.

22.a4 ¥f6 23.f3 ¥c8 24.¤d1 ¥h4 25.¦b2 ¥g3 26.£a3 ¤d7 27.¤d3 ¦f6 28.cxd6 cxd6 29.¤1f2 ¦g6 30.¦bc2 ¤f8

A classical King's Indian game where White has the intiative on the Queen's side and Black will try to infiltrate on the King's side.

31.b5 ¥d7 32.¥b4 £e7 33.¢f1 h5 34.bxa6 ¦xa6 35.a5 £h4 36.£b3 ¥b5 37.¤h3 ¦a8 38.¥d2 ¥a6 39.¢g1 ¤d7!!

39...¤d7!!

Computer's 3^rd move. It is threatening a distant sacrifice on g4 among others. Now White can prevent this, but only through a major reshuffle of his pieces. In my view this is the winning move that may not attract the attention of many chess players.

40.¥b4 ¦f8 41.¢h1 ¦f7 42.¦b2 ¢h7 43.£c2 £e7 44.£d1 £d8

The White Queen's entry to c7 is not a major problem but the entry of the Rook should be prevented.

45.¦cb1 ¦fg7 46.¥c3

White is hoping for a sacrifice on b7 and the advance of the a5 pawn.

46... £h4 47.¥b4 b6!

47...b6!

If White takes on b6 and then on d6 the Knight infiltrates through the c4 square.

48.¦c1 ¤c5 49.¤xc5 bxc5 50.¥c3 £e7 51.¦a1 ¥h4 52.¦aa2 ¦g8

Black is preventing the last White dynamic which was taking on f4 with the Knight and exchanging the Bishop with the Rook on g7.

53.¦b6 ¥c8 54.¦b8 c4!

 

54...c4!

This move should have been taken into account. Now the Black Queen can control g1 from a7. The march of the a6 pawn is perevented by enforcing tactics. Balck has a clear winning position.

55.£f1 £a7 56.£b1 ¢h6 57.a6 ¥xh3 58.¦xg8 ¦xg8 59.£g1 £xg1+ 60.¢xg1 ¥d7

Black has won a piece and the a6 pawn does not present a danger but careful play is needed.

61.¦b2 ¦a8 62.¦b6 ¢h7! 63.¦xd6 ¥b5 64.¦b6 ¥xa6 65.¥xe5 ¥g3!

In other variations White takes f4 and a very complicated endgame with reciprocative chances presents itself.

66.¥c3 ¦a7 67.¢f1 ¥c8 68.¦b8 ¦a3 69.¢e2 ¦xc3 70.¦xc8 ¦c2+ 71.¢d1 ¦xg2 72.¦c7+ ¢g6 73.d6 ¢f6 74.¦xc4 ¢e6 75.e5 ¦f2 76.¦d4 ¦xf3 77.d7 ¥h4 78.¢e2 ¦f2+ 79.¢d3 ¢xe5 80.d8£ ¥xd8 81.¦xd8 ¢f5 0–1

Gintaras-Kural Online

King's Indian with e4 PGN Database

The title of this report should have been “The Level of Chess You have to Play in order to Achieve a Norm in ICCF Nowadays”. I leave it to the readers to make their own conclusions.

CHESS STRENGTH : A Comparison Between Correspondence Chess and OTB Chess

CHESS STRENGTH : A Comparison Between Correspondence Chess and OTB Chess 

              Before we begin to evaluate the comparison of various chess rating values, we have to make an important point. Rating is obtained as a result of games played by chess players. The point I am trying to make is that it doesn't say anything explicitly about the strength of the player or the played game. For example if you take a thousand players with a rating of 2000 and make them play amongst themselves some of the players' ratings can reach 2700.

                We can make two types of comparisons. We can either compare the ratings or the games of the players at the time they were playing OTB or correspondence chess. We won't do the rating comparison because it is quantitative and unnecessary. The reason behind this is that although the FIDE and ICCF ratings of players may be different this is something that may vary according to the character of the player.  While some players are good at fast games the others may close the gap as the thinking time increases. This is something decided in great proportion by the character specialties of a given player. Players with the highest rating in Correspondence chess may only reach 2200-2400 level in OTB chess. However the rating score of Rafael D. Leitao ( a Grand Master in both ICCF and FIDE)  is very  close to each other.  From this we can derive that a player will get a higher rating in the area which he is more inclined to. In fact the correspondence performance of OTB players has always been a matter of curiosity.  Oosterom who is a very strong GM acquired a very strong performance for a while.

                On the other hand rating doesn't say anything about the game that has been played. It is only interested with the score of the game. For example the national rating and the international rating of a player is usually different.

                There is an experiment where a player plays correspondence chess without interfering with the moves of the computer. ( http://chessok.com/?p=24526 ) . Here we see a 2386 rating performance. Considering the technological possibilities   that are available today we can surmise that this performance rating can be increased up to the 2400s. From this point on the rating can only increase by the interference of a human with exceptional positional evaluation ability. We are still in an era where human intervention can improve or change the course of the game. One of the best games that demonstrates the power of correspondence chess and human intervention is the Chytilek-Langeveld game. ( http://chessactive.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-mysterious-chytilek-langeveld-game.html ). In this game there are some moves that the computer could not find. And this is in spite of the PC finding Langeveld's moves after a certain depth. For example Chytilek's move 13. Ng5! couldn't be found even at 31st depth.

                We can say that the rating level of OTB games has increased by 100 points relative to the time when Karpov-Kasparov World Title match was being played. This rating increase is related to the increase of players with high rating.

                We have to add that in some OTB games we encounter 'home preparation' moves which are equal in strength with strong correspondence moves. Home preparation moves are similar to human intervention moves in correspondence chess. The  Nf7 move in the game Topalov – Kramnik game ( http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1482320   ) is a very good example to this. The second example is (   http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/livegames )

 the  Aronian –Anand game in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. These two parties include moves that can only be found in strong correspondence games.  Instead of trying to figure out a rating we can say that the game comprises moves that are above 3000 rating level.

  Another thing is that a correspondence player rarely completes the opening stage of a game poorly because he has access to very many databases that are available.  When you look at the games at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament “Tata Steel Chess 2013” (http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/livegames) in a 2700 rating average game we can find at least one big mistake with analysis by Houdini x64. But when the rating average increases to 2800 the mistake rate decreases more that the rating difference indicates.

The rating that CEGT gives to the strongest engine Houdini 3 in 40/120 games is 3042 http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn//40120new/40_120_ratinglist/40_120_AllVersion/rangliste.html . Under the light of all this information we can come up with a table like the one below.

In this chart red bars represent OTB chess and the blue bars represent correspondence chess. As you can see clearly a 3000 rating level  game of OTB chess has the same strength with rating of a 2400 level game in correspondence chess. Aronian - Anand game and Topalov - Kramnik game reach around 3000 rating level of OTB chess.



              Order Link for  Opening Choices from Chess Active's 16.000.000 game PGN Chess Database

 

The 2010 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship has ended. Nejdet Esen makes it two in a row.

The 2010 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship has ended. Nejdet Esen has defended his title which he obtained in 2009. Here we have an interwiev with the champion.

1) You have won the Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship consecutively now.

Can you share your success secret with us?

I think things done in the road to success are no longer considered a secret; they can be expressed as basic requirements for the aforementioned labor. In short, in the language of chess we can say; patient, long and intensive anlyses, correct opening choices and a little bit of luck maybe.

2) You are also the 8th Asia-Africa Zonal Champion; what kind of preparations have you made for the World Championship and other notable championships?

To put it frankly I never set long term goals for myself; but in every tournament that I entered I tried to obtain the best posssible result. At the moment I am playing the preliminaries of the 34th and the 35th World Championships. My first goal is to advance to the next round; and in both of the tournaments I have mentioned, I am very close to this goal; of course the next milestone is to get to the Finals. In the case of reaching the Finals; I want to go as far as possible.

3) At the moment you don't have a title or a norm; however I would like to direct you the following question: when do you think you will attain the GM title?

Correct, at this stage I don't even have a norm but I am very close to SIM norms in two tournamnets that I am playing. When I become a SIM, I will try to get a GM title in two years time.

4) Can you analize a few of your games for our readers.

To choose among games that you put your effort for one or two years is difficult. I personally like games which I have expended my greatest efforts.

2010 Turkish CC Champion Nejdet Esen

N. Esen vs. A. Kazoks

R. Opperman vs. N. Esen

5) Do you think that the monetary prizes the Federation ( TSF - TCF) allocates for the Turkish Correspondence Chess Championships are adequate?

Correspondence Chess is not well known yet in our country and it hasn't acquired the necessary deference. At this juncture the adoption of correspondence chess by the Federation( TSF - TCF ) and its allocation of prizes for the campionships is a very important advance. In this process when correspondence chess is better understood among our people, the prizes will also improve. However we cannot criticize the amount of prizes at this conjecture.

6) Which player inspired you the most?

I have no singular answer for this question. In different times I was inspired by different players. In the stages when I frist began playing chess, due to my first chess book, Capablanca has a separate place for me; but I was inspired by different world champions at different times. I was also influenced by non-World Champions like Carlos Torre, Paul Keres, and Paul Murphy who was well ahead of his time.

7) What are your favorite openings and what is your favorite stage in achess game? 

I like the Sicilian defence both with White and with Black. I also like the Indian systems and openings with distinct attack plans like Greco- Möller Attack, Marshal Attack and Torre Attack... etc.  To answer your second question I'll have to say that in some games I like the opening, in others the middle game and in others the end game. To give a more general answer I can say that I like sections of the game where there are more options and rich possibilities.

Nejdet Esen before an OTB game.

8)What are yor short and long term goals.

My goal in the long term is to play in the Final of a World Championship; and  in the short term is to complete my SIM norms.

9) Do you use PCs during your anlyses. Which engines are you using? Can you share your thoughts on the usage of computers in correspondence chess?

Of course I am using computers for anlysis; and unless you  have a GM friend with whom you can discuss chess matters, I think that computer assistance is a must for every player. I don't think correspondence games are like OTB and other games where you exhibit what you have prepared. In correspondence chess preparations are continuing throughout the game and the environment is more like a place where the player is trained. Therefore since contemporary masters are using computers in home preparation I don't see anything more natural then correspondence players doing the same thing. Of course relying on computer analysis is not sufficient, during the game one must search for ideas from books and try to obtain the opinions of different people, otherwise one will be stuck at a certain level in correspondence chess. Here I have to note that, there are many instances where the computers were easily deceived in correspondence chess. To know positional ideas, to be in command of strategical concepts, openings and middle game pricipals are all important; besides these, a computer will be a good workout partner. In my analyses I use  Rybka and Houdini engines very often; when I have difficulty in creating an original idea or a plan I consult  other engines also.

10) Do you have a message that you would like convey?

I wish all correspondence players much success. To people who have joined correspondence play recently or are planning to join in, I advice patience . To acquire benefits from correspondence chess and to be able to use it in normal tournaments, they have to know that there is a long way to go. Like all other sports branches, in correspondence chess there is no way for fast success.

2010 Turkish CC Championship Final Standings

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/

EventCrossTable.aspx?id=21830

2009 Turkish CC Championship Final Standings

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/

EventCrossTable.aspx?id=17558

8th AA Zonal Final Standings

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/

Nejdet Esen All Recorded Games

 

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