ICCF

ENG England

http://www.efcchess.org.uk/

England national events

Phillip J. Beckett

Ian M. Pheby

Other Contact John D. Rhodes

Other Contact Keith Kitson


Short History

Organised CC in Britain dates back to 1824 with the famous London-Edinburgh postal match. A boom in inter-club matches followed and the latter half of the 19th century saw private individual matches becoming commonplace and the first organised CC tournaments, mainly run by newspapers or journals.

1906 saw the formation of the BCCA (British Correspondence Chess Association) which is now the oldest continuous CC organisation in the world. On behalf of the British Chess Federation (BCF), the BCCA organised the first British CC Championships (1920) and the BCF itself organised the Counties & District CC Championships (1922). Both tournaments are still going strong today.

However, Britain is unusual in that it does not consist of just one CC organisation but has several different bodies. As well as the BCCA, there is the National Correspondence Chess Club (NatCorr) formed 1932 and still going; the Social Correspondence Chess Association, formed 1941and still going; the Postal Chess Club (1943 – 1991), the British Correspondence Chess Society (BCCS 1962 – 2010) and other smaller bodies.

1962 saw the formation of the British Postal Chess Federation (BPCF) to oversee the running of the British CC Championships and provide a united body to deal with international affairs. The newly formed federation duly affiliated to the ICCF and represented Great Britain until 1989 and just England since. The name was changed to the BFCC (British Federation for Correspondence Chess) in 1999 to reflect the fact that CC was no longer postal only, and then again to EFCC (English Federation for CC) on 1st January 2015.

Over the period, English CC has been adorned by two truly outstanding players. CC and FIDE GM Dr. Jonathan Penrose won the OTB British Championship many consecutive times before concentrating his chess attentions on CC. He took 3rd place in the 13th World CC Final and was ranked 2nd in the world at the top of his game. CC-GM Keith Richardson was the first British player to receive a recognised GM Title for playing chess when he finished 3rd in the 7th World Championship Final and he repeated this performance in the 10th Final.

In modern times, England’s outstanding player is CC-GM Richard Hall. In the Heemsoth Memorial (2008-10) which was one of the strongest CC tournaments of all time, Richard finished on the same points as the winner, although 3rd on tie-break. Richard is playing in the 25th ICCF World Championship final along with another English GM, Dr Ian Brooks. It is hoped a world title will eventually find its way to our shores!

Principal Achievements

Great Britain won the Gold Medal in Olympiad IX and thereafter the same team followed up to gain the Silver Medal in Olympiad X.

International Tournaments Organised

The EFCC remains proud of the numerous tournaments they have organised allowing Title opportunities not just for English players, but also for players from all over the world.

The tradition started in 1974 with the very strong Reg Potter Memorial (there is a book on the tournament edited by Ken Messere); the BFCC-25 followed in 1987 and then the Reg Gillman memorial tournaments starting in 1999. In the same year, England also organised World Cup XI which only finished in 2010! Other tournaments organised include 1st North Sea Team Tournament and the 5th North Atlantic Team tournament. Another 16 Memorial tournaments for various players and organisers have also taken place including the prestigious category XV Simon Webb Memorial. The next milestone tournament to take place will be to mark the celebration of BFCC’s Golden Jubilee in 2012.

A more thorough history of CC can be enjoyed by Tim Harding’s excellent book “Correspondence Chess in Britain & Ireland 1924-1987” published in 2011, and which is strongly recommended (About Tim’s chess history book, Radio interview about book – 29.05.2011).
 


Top Players
PlaceICCF IDTitleNameRatingRD

1 211305 GM Robson, Nigel2616112
2 210773 GM Hall, Richard V. M.254289
3 211655 SIM Williamson, Harvey D.252786
4 211229 IM Ellis, Les250870
5 212704 SIM Rallabandi, Praveen Kumar250796
6 210929 SIM Frostick, Clive A.2505106
7 213237 CCE Curry-Machado, Jonathan250182
8 211303 GM Coleman, Peter L.2491100
9 211942 IM Weldon, David J.2487111
10 212933 IM Le-Marechal, Gerard2484104

Complete England rating list
News
9/26/2024 Steve LeFevre 1951-2024
9/23/2024 Qualifiers for World Final
9/8/2024 EFCC Executive Committee Meeting
9/3/2024 Friendly v Netherlands
9/2/2024 New Titles for Tim Spanton and Ly Kimlong
9/2/2024 Good Luck to our Players in World Candidates
9/2/2024 Phill Beckett Congratulates ICCF Congress Organiser
8/27/2024 EFCC Correspondent Magazine Issue 4
8/22/2024 New Award for Phillip J. Beckett
8/20/2024 New Title for Dene Shaw
8/4/2024 2024 William Mason Championship - Further Update
7/23/2024 Success For Jo Wharrier in Veterans WC12
7/2/2024 2024 William Mason Championship - Update
7/2/2024 New Title for Tony Steward Anderson
6/8/2024 The 2024 William Mason Championship
6/4/2024 New Title for Stephen Hooker
5/28/2024 Alan J. C. Rawlings Starts Final of DE15A
5/24/2024 EFCC President Qualifies for World Candidates
5/24/2024 Continuous Tournament Results Update
4/8/2024 New Title for Steve Cole
4/2/2024 4th ECCC has finished!
3/31/2024 PC Gibbs Memorial Events
3/28/2024 English CC Titles Now Available!
3/28/2024 English Master Points Now Available!
3/27/2024 Keith L. Escott† 1948-2024
3/24/2024 New Title for James Toon
3/23/2024 2024 Medal Tournaments Start
3/17/2024 New Title for Dennis Broadway
3/6/2024 England Players in World Championship Candidates
2/22/2024 New Title for Valerie Craven
2/19/2024 2024 EFCC Medals Tournaments Entry
2/19/2024 4th English Championship Semi-Final B is finished!
2/10/2024 AGM Agenda
2/8/2024 EFCC AGM Details
2/5/2024 New Title for Jim Nierobisz
2/2/2024 Rematch Against USA
2/2/2024 Scottish Leagues
1/7/2024 BCCA AMALGAMATES WITH THE EFCC
1/7/2024 Announcement for the 2024 EFCC Medals tournaments
1/7/2024 Announcement for the EFCC Continuous tournament
1/6/2024 Preliminaries of Olympiad 23
12/26/2023 English Players in M.Avotins Memorial Events
12/8/2023 England v Wales Friendly
12/3/2023 England v Japan Friendly
12/3/2023 England Fail to Qualify for European Final
12/2/2023 Philippines v England Result
11/30/2023 New Title for Leslie Eastoe
11/30/2023 EFCC Extraordinary General Meeting
11/22/2023 New Title for Mike Richardt
11/21/2023 New Title for Alastair Cowan
11/18/2023 England v Mexico Result
11/8/2023 So close for Les Ellis
11/7/2023 New Title for David Hamilton
11/7/2023 Result EFCC Ray Pomeroy Memorial B
11/5/2023 Senior Cup Final - Frank McDermott
10/31/2023 4th EVCCC Now Open for Entries
10/31/2023 MT- VV Demian B, Valer Vasile Demian Memorial B
10/21/2023 Result EFCC Ray Pomeroy Memorial F
10/16/2023 Ian Pheby Silver Medal
10/12/2023 London v Edinburgh Match
10/5/2023 New Title for Jim Nierobisz
10/5/2023 George Hollands RIP
10/3/2023 Welsh Team Win European Gold
10/2/2023 World Team Cup Semi-Final
10/1/2023 Tim Spanton
9/16/2023 Tom Herman
9/16/2023 Richard Webster
9/14/2023 Dawn Williamson takes Silver in Women's World Championship
9/14/2023 England Players in World Championships Candidates Events
9/14/2023 Mike Richardt
9/14/2023 New Title for Jonathan Curry-Machado
9/14/2023 New Title for George Hollands
9/11/2023 Executive Committee Meeting
8/29/2023 Current Entrants for BCCC 2023-25
8/21/2023 World Champion at ICCF Congress
8/5/2023 German Invitation Events
7/31/2023 Announcement for BCCC 2023
7/25/2023 New Title for Stephen Hooker
7/15/2023 3rd English Veterans Championship Results
7/10/2023 North Sea Event Results
7/10/2023 New Title for Kenneth Watkins
7/2/2023 Peter C Gibbs†
7/2/2023 Jo Wharrier - Veterans World Cup Final
6/18/2023 Francois Riva Memorial Team Tournament
6/5/2023 Good Luck To Our Players in World Championship Semi Finals
5/1/2023 Ian M Pheby Celebration Event Section B
5/1/2023 Congratulations to Bruce Riddle
4/26/2023 England Through to World Team Cup 3rd Rnd
4/23/2023 New Title for Robert Marks
4/7/2023 Match Drawn v France
4/4/2023 14th ICCF Veterans World Cup
4/1/2023 New Title for Arnold Marchant
3/25/2023 Result of Olympiad Final 21
3/22/2023 New Title for Kevin Thurlow
3/20/2023 Defeat against Wales
3/16/2023 Alan Barker RIP
3/15/2023 New Title for Mark Gittens
3/14/2023 English Championship Under Way
2/26/2023 Agenda for the 2023 AGM
2/4/2023 England Finish Third in George D. Pyrich Memorial
1/30/2023 2023 Counties and Districts Championship
12/20/2022 4th EU Amateur Cup Semi Finals
12/20/2022 Current Entries for the 4th English CC Championship
12/14/2022 Seasonal Greetings!
12/13/2022 Extraordinary General Meeting
12/10/2022 New Match V Wales
12/9/2022 Praveen Rallabandi Qualifies for Candidates
12/9/2022 English Success in 7th Webserver Final
11/16/2022 Pomeroy Memorial
11/16/2022 3rd English Veterans Championship Semi-Final B
11/1/2022 3rd English Veterans Championship Semi-Final A
10/30/2022 Anthony Thistlewood Level 2 TD
10/28/2022 Paul Pope with his IA Certificate and Medal
10/27/2022 Announcement for the 4th English CC Championship!
10/27/2022 Defeat in Friendly Against Norway
10/21/2022 New Title for Philip Barber
10/19/2022 RIP John Mair
10/16/2022 New Title for Trevor Brotherton
10/11/2022 Valerie Craven with her CCE certificate
10/11/2022 New Title - John Shaw
9/29/2022 New Title - Philip Barber
9/27/2022 George Wharam with his IM certificate
9/23/2022 New Friendlies v Philippines and Indonesia
9/19/2022 New Title - Valerie Craven
9/18/2022 British Champs 2022-2024
9/18/2022 Executive Committee Meeting
9/15/2022 James Wilkinson with his CCM medal.
9/12/2022 Colin Hipwell with his IA Medal
9/9/2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
9/6/2022 Chris Owen RIP
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