ICCF CONGRESS, DAYTONA BEACH, USA,
17th to 22nd SEPTEMBER 2000

The ICCF Millennium Year Congress, in conjunction with meetings of the Presidium, took place in the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A. from 17th to 22nd September 2000.

The Congress was arranged by ICCF-US. The participants of the Congress, and accompanying families and friends, were offered a programme of events including a full-day excursion to the Kennedy Space Center. There was also the traditional ICCF Blitz Tournament, and a chess match between the host federation and the rest of ICCF.
Congress participants
Sultan Muhamad Al-Kuwari (QTR) as delegate
Abdul Rahman Al-Meer (QTR) as delegation member
Dr. Fritz Baumbach (GER) as delegate with proxy for Hungary
Prof. Hans Berliner (USA)
Witold Bielecki (POL) as delegate with proxies for Belarus and Croatia, and as member of the Tournaments Commission and of the Guidelines Working Group 
Gerhard Binder (GER) as ICCF Ratings Commissioner, as Chairman of the Rating Rules Commission and as member of the Tournaments and Tournament Rules Commissions
Alan P. Borwell (SCO) as delegation member, as ICCF President and as member of the Tournaments Commission
Heikki Brusila (FIN) as delegate with proxy for India
Dr. Ted Bullockus (USA)
J. Franklin Campbell (USA) as delegation member, as ICCF Press Officer and as member of the Marketing Commission
Maurice Carter (USA) as delegation member
Carlos Cranbourne (ARG) as ICCF Zonal Director (Latin America)
George L. De Feis (USA) as Executive Director, United States Chess Federation
Douglas Eckert (USA)
Jon Edwards (USA)
David Eisen (USA)
Kevin W. Embrey (USA)
Ruth Ann Fay (USA) as delegation member
Daniel Fleetwood (USA)
Carlos Flores Gutiérrez (ESP) as delegate with proxy for Cuba, as ICCF Treasurer, and as member of the Guidelines Working Group
Artis Gaujens (LAT) as delegate
Virginijus Grabliauskas (LIT) as delegation member
Wes Green (USA) as ICCF Online Games Archivist
Sergey Grodzensky (RUS) as delegate and as member of the Tournament Rules Commission
Richard V. M. Hall (ENG) as delegation member
Timothy Harding (IRL) as delegate and as member of the Playing Rules Commission
Pedro F. Hegoburu (ARG) as ICCF Marketing Director, as Project Leader for the ICCF 2000 Publication, as Chairman of the Marketing Commission and as member of the Tournaments Commission
Grayling Hill (USA)
Volker Jeschonnek (USA)
Alan A. Jones (USA) as delegation member
Ervin Liebert (EST) as delegate
Chris Lüers (GER) as ICCF Email Tournament Office Controller and as member of the Tournaments and Tournament Rules Commissions
J. Ken MacDonald (CAN) as delegate
Ralph P. Marconi (CAN) as ICCF Zonal Director (North America/Pacific)
Gianni Mastrojeni (ITA) as delegate with proxies for France and Slovakia
Hirokaz Onoda (JPN) as delegate
Victor V. Palciauskas (USA)
Dr. Anatole Parnas (USA)
Søren Peschardt (DEN) as delegate with proxies for South Africa and Yugoslavia and as ICCF Webmaster
George D. Pyrich (SCO) as delegate with proxies for Iceland and Kenya, as ICCF Qualifications Commissioner and as member of the Tournaments, Tournament Rules and Rating Rules Commissions
Evelin Radosztics (OST) as delegation member
Gerhard Radosztics (OST) as delegate with proxies for Slovenia and Switzerland, as Deputy Zonal Director (Europe), as ICCF Liaison Officer to FIDE and as member of the Appeals Tribunal
Abraham Raúl Ramírez (ARG)
Alan J.C. Rawlings (ENG) as delegate with proxies for Czech Republic and Portugal, and as ICCF General Secretary
Nol van 't Riet (NLD) as delegate with proxies for Bulgaria and Greece and as member of the Tournament Rules and Rating Rules Commissions
Alon Risdon (ENG) as delegation member
Marijonas Ročius (LIT) as delegate
Merike Rõtova (EST) as delegation member
Maurizio Sampieri (ITA) as delegation member
Grigory K. Sanakoyev (RUS)
Hendrik B. Sarink (NLD) as delegation member and as ICCF Auditor
Allan Savage (USA)
Al Sirutis (USA)
Per Söderberg (SVE) as delegate with proxy for Norway
Dr. Héctor R. Tepper (ARG) as delegate with proxy for Uruguay
John Timm (USA)
Luz Marina Tinjaca' (ITA) as delegation member
Guillermo F. Toro Solis de Ovando (CHI) as delegate with proxies for Brazil and Guatemala
Ragnar Wikman (FIN) as Honorary Member with proxy for Luxembourg, as ICCF Deputy President (Rules), as Chairman of the Tournament Rules Commission and as member of the Tournaments and Rating Rules Commissions
Allen F. Wright (USA) as delegation member
Prof. Max Zavanelli (USA) as delegate with proxies for Australia and Hong Kong and as member of the Tournaments and Tournament Rules Commissions

Opening the Congress, the ICCF President expressed his pleasure that Congress had crossed the Atlantic to the United States of America, a country rich in chess tradition through such as Emanuel Lasker, Paul Morphy, Reuben Fine and Bobby Fischer.  He especially referred to the successes of the two World Correspondence Chess Champions from USA, Hans Berliner and Victor Palciauskas, and was delighted that they were both attending the Congress.  He referred to the many outstanding American CC organisers, some of whom have been involved in international and zonal activities, and he gave a warm welcome to all USA representatives. 

The President paid tribute to the late Walter Muir, the "Dean of American CC" and ICCF Honorary Member, who had died just before the dawn of the new Millennium, and to other notable CC players and officials who had died since the last meeting.  Congress then stood in silence, to the memory of all departed CC friends.

The President acknowledged the contribution of USA delegate Prof. Max Zavanelli for establishing an effective "umbrella" organisation for international purposes, and expressed the hope that, from this excellent base, the various US CC bodies would work more closely together in the future to achieve an even greater unification.

He greeted new delegates, with a special welcome to Japan's first ever delegate to Congress, new attendees and all old friends who had attended previous Congresses. 

He then reflected briefly on the Presidential themes of recent Congresses, before introducing the theme for this Congress.  He spoke of the major focus of Congress being to renew  ICCF's Playing Rules.  In his opinion, ICCF required rules which enabled flexibility for all forms of correspondence chess and which would encourage more chess players to participate in ICCF tournaments, whatever the means of transmission.  He emphasised the need to provide a rules framework which would ensure player enjoyment and interest, while minimising stress, and suggested three key goals namely :-  CLARITY;  SIMPLICITY and  FLEXIBILITY.
1.	Approval of Minutes of 1999 Congress
The Minutes of the 1999 Congress had been published at the ICCF web site and circulated to delegates and officials. There were no further corrections, and the Minutes were formally adopted and signed.
2.	Matters Arising from previous Congress
Great concern had been expressed during the 1999 Congress about the problems created by dual representation in ICCF by more than one federation from the same country, both in terms of existing members and potential for future difficulties with other countries. Accordingly, it had been agreed unanimously to propose the following amendment to ICCF Statute 2.1, for formal notification and approval by the 2000 Congress :-

" 2.1   Members of ICCF are national correspondence chess federations which have principal authority over correspondence chess activities in their own country (where the country also has full membership of FIDE) with only one federation per country allowed."

" The remaining wording of this clause to be deleted and the revised provisions to become immediately effective for all existing and new member countries "

This proposal was agreed by the Congress, without any dissent, but to become effective from 1/1/2001.
3.	Membership matters
The General Secretary had reported that negotiations with two prospective member federations were at an advanced stage. Sadly, in both cases the initial membership fee had not been paid and therefore neither federation could be proposed for immediate membership.

Congress then unanimously agreed that delegated authority should be given to the General Secretary, in consultation with the relevant Zonal Director and the President, to allow provisional membership of ICCF to any applicant national CC organisation body which satisfied ICCF Statutes and the normal criteria for admission. Any such provisional membership would require confirmation by the next Congress. Any federation admitted to provisional membership would have all membership rights immediately, with the exception of voting rights.

In his report, the Treasurer had proposed the suspension of the Ukrainian CC Federation, which had failed to fulfil its financial responsibilities for several years or to respond positively to the ultimatum given by the 1999 Congress. This suspension was agreed without opposition, to take immediate effect.

The General Secretary informed Congress that active membership therefore stood at 62 federations.

The President, on behalf of the Presidium, proposed that ICCF Honorary Membership should be awarded to :- 

Roald Berthelsen (NOR)
Carlos Germán Dieta (ARG)

in recognition of their substantial contributions to ICCF and international correspondence chess over periods of more than 20 years. This proposal was carried unanimously and with acclamation by Congress.
4.	Bertl von Massow Awards
The General Secretary spoke of the origin of these awards, established in 1983 by Hans-Werner von Massow in memory of his late wife. He had defined the criteria for these awards as follows:

"These medals in Gold and Silver will be awarded respectively for 15 and 10 years of faithful service to ICCF as the Delegate of a National federation, as a member of the Presidium or the Commissions, the European Organizing Committee, or as Tournament Secretary, as well as the Team Captain of a winning or highly placed team in the CC Olympiads or Continental Team Tournaments." In view of structural developments since 1983, it was explained that service in all ICCF Zonal Offices was also now deemed to be included in the criteria.

The General Secretary announced the names of those who would receive awards, and each recipient (or their respective delegate or proxy) came forward to receive their medal and certificate, with the acclamation of Congress.

In Gold, for 15 years meritorious work for ICCF to:

Abraham Raúl Ramírez (ARG)

In Silver, for 10 years meritorious work for ICCF to:

Dr. Fritz Baumbach (GER)
Joseph Deidun, sr. (CAN)
Ernst Kotzem (GER)
Ralph P. Marconi (CAN)
Georg Walker (SWZ)
5.	Treasurer's proposals
The Treasurer had reported that income from membership and entry fees had fallen, and that an operating loss had been incurred for 1999. He attributed this loss mainly to four items:-
-	The excessive cost of the particularly popular and well attended 1999 Congress.
-	The agreed scale of Congress allowances for senior ICCF officials, which was now operative.
-	The payment of an approved Development Grant to the Latin America Zone.
-	Expenditure, principally concerning World Cups, had been included in the 1999 accounts because of late reporting (although it actually related mostly to previous years).

The Treasurer stressed once again that federations should report monies due to and from ICCF promptly.

The President presented the Financial Plan to Congress, covering the 3-year period 1.1.2001 to 31.12.2003, which forecast a financially stable future for ICCF, by increasing some fees and by projecting expenditure. 

The following proposals were unanimously agreed by Congress, to become effective from 1.1.2001:-

a)	The membership fee to be increased to CHF 50 per 100 active players. There would be a relaxation of this fee for new federations with less than 50 active players whereby, for the first three years of membership, such federations would pay a fee of CHF 20.
b)	No additional fee to be charged for participation in the later stages of any tournaments, where a player or team has entered at the first stage and has paid the stated fee.
c)	The rates of entry fee for postal and email tournaments to be identical.
d)	The entry fee for World Championship semi-finals to be increased to CHF 40, and for Ladies' World Championship semi-finals to CHF 20. Players entering at a subsequent stage to pay 50% of the initial fee.
e)	The entry fee for Olympiads and Team Tournaments to be at the rate of CHF 15 per player, covering all stages. Teams re-qualifying for Finals would not pay a further entry fee to the next Final.
f)	The entry fee for Master Norm tournaments to become CHF 30.
g)	The entry fee for World Cups to become CHF 20, beginning with the next Cup due in 2002.
h)	The entry fee paid via national federations to World Promotion tournaments to be unchanged at CHF 10 for 11-player events and CHF 6 for 7-player. The corresponding fees for direct entry to remain at USD 15 and USD 10 respectively.
i)	The entry fee for Thematic tournaments to become CHF 10 per section.

The Financial Plan as presented included no projections for the Zonal Tournament Offices, but the following principles for these were agreed:

a)	Each Zonal TO should endeavour to balance entry fees and TO expenses for all "mainstream" tournaments which it organises within the Zone – no central levy will be made on Zonal TOs.
b)	The entry fee for mainstream tournaments should not be less than the equivalent level of fee charged for similar World Tournaments.
c)	For propagandistic tournaments, free or low entry fees could be charged using development grants made from central funding, to defray the expenses of running such tournaments.
d)	The timing of Zonal Championships and Team Tournaments must be planned to take account of World events and the Zonal Director must consult with the Deputy President (Tournaments) to ensure that there will be no conflicts regarding entry/starting dates.
e)	Special arrangements would be made with the European TO to enable it to operate on a similar basis to other Zonal TOs; discussions regarding these would take place with the Zonal Director to enable implementation from 1.1.2001.

It was agreed to create a special central Development Fund, to be shown separately in ICCF Accounts, which will have the specific objective of supporting development of international CC (postal and email) through securing of corporate, national and individual sponsorship financing. Grant allocations would be made from this Fund for Zonal and other developments and allocations would be decided by the Presidium (with Congress approval of amounts in excess of CHF 2500 per annum).
6.	Auditor's proposals
The Auditor had confirmed in his report that he had verified the Accounts as provided by the Treasurer, and considered that the financial position of ICCF as at 31.12.1999 had been represented correctly. He again emphasised the difficulties caused for the Treasurer and Auditor by the late submission of information.

Congress accepted the Auditor's Report unanimously, and the audited ICCF Accounts for the financial year 1999  were formally and unanimously adopted by Congress.

Congress accorded a vote of thanks to the General Secretary, the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer and the Auditor for their excellent work on behalf of ICCF.
7.	Playing Rules
In his report, the Deputy President (Rules) had stressed the need to define 'the role of the rules' as clearly as possible. In his view, there were five key requirements for the playing rules:

-	To be flexible and fair
-	To serve the players rather than to enslave them
-	To ensure that the best player should win, not the best rules manipulator
-	To allow both players and Tournament Directors to use 'common sense'
-	To promote a playing environment supporting the spirit of Amici Sumus.

In his opinion, an ideal starting position was given in the "Rule Changes" document which had been produced to supplement the 1996 rules revision:

The Playing Rules are short and condensed. What is obvious is not included. It is assumed that players don't need everything spelled out in black and white and can use their common sense. Furthermore, it is the intention that the Tournament Director should be free to use his common sense in making decisions and applying penalties. So, his hands are not tied by writing into the rules exactly what he can and cannot do and for what reasons.

He pointed out a similarity to a clause in the preface to the FIDE Rules, which states:

The Laws assume arbiters have the necessary competence, sound judgement and absolute objectivity. Too detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgement and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by fairness, logic and special factors.

In this spirit, and with the view that the Tournament Director should be a referee, and not a policeman, he had proposed in his report a number of changes to the four sets of Playing Rules. There were also a number of areas where other persons had suggested change, but in his view most of these points would be better covered in the Guidelines.

The proposed changes were debated extensively in committee session, and were modified to reflect majority opinion. The resulting rule changes were approved by Congress, and the revised rule texts form Appendix 1 to these Minutes. Many improvements have been incorporated but the major changes of principle are as follows:

Postal individual and team tournaments

-	The obligation to use registered mail or recorded delivery for repeat moves and time claims is removed.
-	The possibility of tournaments being played with different time controls is included.
-	The possibility of mutual agreements on time control and delivery date when electronic transmission is used is included.
-	Rule 8d, cancelling leave if a player makes a move (or moves) during leave, is deleted.

Email individual and team tournaments

-	The possibility of tournaments being played with different time controls is included.
-	The game is lost when the time limit is exceeded for the first time.
-	The standard time control will become 10 moves in 60 days.
-	Rule 8d, cancelling leave if a player makes a move (or moves) during leave, is deleted.

Congress agreed that the revised Playing Rules would be effective for all tournaments starting on or after 1.1.2001. The General Secretary would arrange for translation of (as a minimum) the Individual Postal rules into all ICCF official languages.
8.	Tournament Rules
In his report, the Deputy President (Rules) had indicated that, because of the size of the task, the planned extensive revision of the Tournament Rules would be deferred. This was an area which was in a rapid state of flux because of the speed of technological innovation, and he considered it right to invoke the clause in the 1999 Congress Minutes that "… Congress… might choose to defer final acceptance to a subsequent Congress".

The Deputy President (Rules) had brought forward a series of proposals for changes to the regulations governing the award of the Grandmaster and Senior International Master titles. These were discussed in committee, and Congress adopted the following revised regulations.

51	The title "Correspondence Chess Grandmaster" is not limited in time and is awarded to:
(a)	those players who gain places 1-3 in the WC final,
(b)	the player who has the best result on board 1 in the final of the CC Olympiad (tie breaking by points evaluation),
(c)	those players who gain at least two grandmaster results in international title tournaments with a total of at least 24 games,
(d)	those players who gain one or more grandmaster results in international title tournaments with at least 14 games, provided they had a fixed rating of at least 2550 or are FIDE Grandmasters without a published ICCF rating but with a FIDE rating of at least 2600 prior to the commencement of the tournament(s),
(e)	those players for whom the national federation makes an appropriately qualified application. For this a two-third's majority vote of a Congress must be obtained.
A Grandmaster title based upon results under (c) or (d) will not be awarded unless at least five of the players in the tournament(s) have been grandmasters or players with a fixed rating of at least 2600. However, of this five-player quota one or two may be substituted by two SIM players each.

It was agreed that the change to the final clause of rule 51 would be applied retrospectively from 1.10.1998.

52	The title "Senior International Correspondence Chess Master" is not limited in time and is awarded to:
(a)	those players who gain at least three senior master results in international title tournaments with a total of at least 30 games,
(b)	those players who gain at least two senior master results in international title tournaments with a total of at least 18 games, provided they had a fixed rating of at least 2500 prior to the commencement of the tournaments,
(c)	those players for whom the national federation makes an appropriately qualified application. For this a two-third's majority vote of a Congress must be obtained.

Congress further agreed that the revised rule 52 would be effective for tournaments starting on or after 1.10.2000. For tournaments starting on or after that date, the performance level for Senior Master norms would be 2500; for tournaments which started before that date, the Senior Master norm would remain the same as the International master norm (performance level 2450).

Because of concern about double-round tournaments with few players, it was agreed to include in the "Guidelines" a clarification that column A in the title tournament category table implies (at least) 9 different players.

Proposals for changing the qualification rules for the International Arbiter title had been tabled, but Congress resolved instead to institute a complete review of Arbiter titles and qualification standards with a view to agreeing a new scheme at the 2001 Congress.
9.	Other Rules proposals
Congress unanimously approved the establishment of the post of Rules Commissioner. The Commissioner would support the Deputy President (Rules) by taking management responsibility for all aspects of the rules review process, and for other delegated tasks. Congress unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Ian S. Brooks (ENG) as ICCF Rules Commissioner with effect from 1.10.2000.

The report of the Deputy President (Rules) had indicated a need for new Guidelines for Players and Tournament Directors, preferably web-based. Congress unanimously delegated responsibility to the Presidium for the introduction and updating of such web-based guidelines. The Deputy President (Rules) indicated that this would be a priority action area for the Rules Commissioner.

Congress unanimously delegated authority to the Deputy President (Rules), in consultation with other Presidium members, to revise and renew both the functions and membership of the various Rules Commissions.

Congress unanimously agreed a change to the Terms of Reference of the Appeals Commission, clarifying its purpose and broadening the criteria for membership of the Commission. The revised clauses are as follows:

1	ICCF has an Appeals Commission for resolution of appeals concerning ICCF playing rules.
2	Members of the Appeals Commission must be experienced International Arbiters.
10.	Rating proposals
The Ratings Commissioner had reported on the successful transition to two rating lists per calendar year, and on the continuing growth of the ratings system. It had been possible to improve the Eloquery system significantly; it now had additional features, including a 'self-calculator', and its output was easier to understand. He indicated that ICCF would no longer produce the list as a printed document because of the production and distribution cost. However, a 'print image' of the list would be available for download in Adobe format from the ICCF website, and this would enable those who wanted booklets to print their own.

Following the decisions of the 1999 Congress, revised Ratings Rules were presented, and were adopted unanimously. These form Appendix 2 to these Minutes.

Congress showed its considerable appreciation for the work of the Ratings Commissioner.

The Ratings Commissioner recommended that tournaments should not normally begin in the 'changeover' period between two ratings lists, and Congress agreed that the periods 15.3 – 15.4 and 15.9 – 15.10 should be avoided wherever possible.
11.	Qualifications proposals
Congress approved the award of a number of titles to players from Ukraine and some other countries, where the national federation had not submitted applications. It was noted that several title applications had, through misunderstandings, not been submitted in time by a number of  other federations but after enquiries both during and immediately after Congress, relevant titles could be confirmed.

The Qualifications Commissioner indicated that in future years the format of his report would change significantly. The List of Titleholders and the Review of Norms would henceforth only be available via the ICCF Website, where both documents might be integrated in due course with Eloquery.

There was discussion of the difficulties in fixing norms for events starting just before a new rating list became effective. Revised norms, as shown below, were adopted for some sections of World Championship 24 Semi-Final, and in addition, section 5 was granted an additional ¾-final qualification place.

The Qualifications Commissioner noted that no details had been submitted to him for an approved tournament (Rogelio Carlos Linskens 'B') which started 1.11.1999, and therefore norms could not be decided by Congress.

On the proposal of the Qualifications Commissioner, the following title norms were agreed:

World tournaments

Ladies World Championship 6 Final			LGM title	7 points/1-3 place
			ILM title	4½ points
			IM title	1st place
			IM norm	9½ points
World Championship 24 Semi-Final		section 1	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 2	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 3	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 4	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		section 5	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		section 6	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 7	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		section 8	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 9	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section 10	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		section 11	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		section 12	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
Olympiad 14 Preliminaries	section 1	board 1	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 2	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 3	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 4	IM norm	7½ points
		board 5	IM norm	7½ points
		board 6	IM norm	7½ points
			ILM norm	3 points
	section 2	board 1	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 2	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 3	GM norm	8½ points
			IM norm	6½ points
		board 4	IM norm	7 points
		board 5	IM norm	7½ points
		board 6	IM norm	8 points
	section 3	board 1	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 2	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 3	IM norm	7 points
		board 4	IM norm	7 points
		board 5	IM norm	7½ points
		board 6	IM norm	7½ points
	section 4	board 1	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 2	GM norm	8½ points
			IM norm	6½ points
		board 3	IM norm	7 points
		board 4	IM norm	7 points
		board 5	IM norm	7½ points
			ILM norm	3 points
		board 6	IM norm	8 points
Master Norm Tournaments	postal	section 78	IM norm 	6 points
		section 79	IM norm 	6 points
		section 80	IM norm 	6½ points
		section 81	IM norm 	6 points
		section 82	IM norm 	6½ points
		section 83	IM norm 	6½ points
		section 84	IM norm 	6½ points
			ILM norm 	2½ points
		section 85	IM norm 	6½ points
		section 86	IM norm 	6½ points
		section 87	IM norm 	6½ points
			ILM norm	2½ points
		section 88	IM norm 	6 points
		section 89	IM norm	6½ points
		section 90	IM norm 	6 points
	email	section 15	IM norm	6 points
		section 16	IM norm	6½ points
		section 17	IM norm	6½ points
		section 18	IM norm	6½ points
		section 19	IM norm	6½ points
		section 20	IM norm	6 points
			ILM norm	2½ points
		section 21	IM norm	6 points
		section 22	IM norm	6 points
		section 23	IM norm	6 points
		section 24	IM norm	6½ points

Asian tournaments

2nd Asian Championship			IM norm	6 points

African tournaments

3rd African Championship			IM norm	6 points
2nd Afro-Asian Email Championship, Final			IM norm	6 points

European tournaments

5th European Team Championship Final		board 1	GM norm	6 points
			IM norm	4 points
		board 2	GM norm	6 points
			IM norm	4 points
		board 3	GM norm	6½ points
			IM norm	4½ points
		board 4	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 5	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 6	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 7	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 8	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 9	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 10	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 11	IM norm	6 points
		board 12	IM norm	7 points
6th European Team Championship Preliminaries	section 1	board 1	GM norm	6½ points
			IM norm	4½ points
		board 2	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 3	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 4	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 5	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 6	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 7	IM norm	6½ points
		board 8	IM norm	6½ points
		board 9	IM norm	7 points
		board 10	IM norm	7 points
		board 11	IM norm	7½ points
		board 12	IM norm	8 points
	section 2	board 1	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 2	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 3	GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
		board 4	IM norm	6 points
		board 5	IM norm	6 points
		board 6	IM norm	6 points
		board 7	IM norm	6½ points
		board 8	IM norm	7 points
		board 9	IM norm	6½ points
		board 10	IM norm	7½ points
		board 11	IM norm	8 points
		board 12	IM norm	8 points
	section 3	board 1	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 2	GM norm	7 points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 3	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 4	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 5	LGM norm	4 points
			IM norm	6½ points
		board 6	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 7	IM norm	7 points
		board 8	IM norm	6½ points
		board 9	IM norm	7 points
		board 10	IM norm	7 points
		board 11	IM norm	8 points
		board 12	IM norm	8 points

South American tournaments

15th CADAP Championship, Semi-Final		section 1	IM norm	9 points
		section 2	IM norm	9 points
		section 3	IM norm	9 points
		section 4	IM norm	9 points

7th Pan-American Team Tournament		board 1	GM norm	11 points
			IM norm	8 points
		board 2	IM norm	9 points
		board 3	IM norm	10 points
		board 4	IM norm	11 points

North American tournaments

9th North American Championship, Final			GM norm	11 points
			IM norm	8 points

Invitation tournaments

Reg Gillman Memorial (ENG)		section A	GM norm	8½ points
			IM norm	6 points
		section B	GM norm	9 points
			IM norm	6 points
		section C	GM norm	11 points
			IM norm	8 points
		section D	IM norm	8½ points
			LGM norm	6 points
		section E	IM norm	10 points
CXEB 30 (BRS)		section A	GM title	9 points
			IM norm	6 points
			LGM norm	4 points
Millennium Email Tournament (NLD)			GM norm	4 points
Arne Henriksen Memorial (DEN)			GM norm	11 points
			IM norm	8 points
Wolfgang Heidenfeld Memorial (IRL)			IM norm	9 points
Dick Smit Memorial (NLD)			GM norm	7½ points
			IM norm	5½ points
"Mate Postal" 25 Years (ESP)		section A	GM norm	8½ points
			IM norm	6 points
		section B	GM norm	11 points
			IM norm	8 points
Bernard Partridge Memorial (SCO)		final	IM norm	7½ points
Ilya Shumov Memorial (RUS)			IM norm	9 points
David Lodge Memorial (ENG)			IM norm	9 points
Pat Thorn Memorial (ENG)			IM norm	9 points
Prof. Karl Janish Memorial (RUS)			GM norm	10 points
			IM norm	7 points
Manuel Pereyra Pueblo Memorial (ARG)		section A	GM norm	10½ points
			IM norm	7½ points
Gratuliano Bibas Memorial (BRS)		section A	IM norm	8½ points
			LGM norm	5 points
			ILM norm	3½ points
		section B	IM norm	8½ points
Aleksandr Petrov Memorial (RUS)			GM norm	9 points
			IM norm	6½ points
Szachy Cup 1 (POL)			GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	5 points

Invitational team tournaments

Coppa Latina Europe America 4		board 1	GM norm	7 pointts
			IM norm	5 points
		board 2	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 3	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points

		board 4	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 5	GM norm	8 points
			IM norm	6 points
		board 6	IM norm	7 points
		board 7	IM norm	7 points
		board 8	IM norm	8 points
Interzonal 2000		board 1	GM norm	4½ points
			IM norm	3 points
		board 2	GM norm	5½ points
			IM norm	3½ points
		board 3	GM norm	5½ points
			IM norm	3½ points
		board 4	GM norm	5½ points
			IM norm	4 points
		board 5	GM norm	6 points
			IM norm	4 points
		board 6	GM norm	6 points
			IM norm	4½ points
		board 7	GM norm	6½ points
			IM norm	5 points
		board 8	IM norm	5½ points

Changes to previously established norms

Prof. V.P. Zagorovsky Memorial (RUS)	GM norm now 7½ points (counting as 12 games and 8 GMs), IM norm now 5 points

Francek Brglez Memorial (SLO)	GM norm now 9 points (counting as 14 games and 5 GMs), IM norm now 6½ points.

Reg Gillman Memorial 'A' (ENG)	GM norm now 8 points (counting as 14 games and 5 GMs), IM norm now 5½ points.

Reg Gillman Memorial 'B' (ENG)	GM norm now 9 points (counting as 14 games and 5 GMs), IM norm now 6½ points.

Email Master Norm 18	IM norm now 6 from 9 games.

Email Master Norm 21	IM norm now 5½ from 9 games.

1st Slav Cup, board 3	IM norm now 7 points.

Wolfgang Heidenfeld Memorial (IRL)	IM norm now 8½ points (counting as 14 games).
12.	Title Awards
The following title awards were made to the recipients or the respective delegates and proxy holders.

Correspondence Chess Grandmaster

C. Casabona (ITA)
J.A. Copié (ARG)
M. Geenen (BEL)
C. Léotard (FRA)
A.J. Mozzino (ARG)
N. Ninov (BLG)
M. Nizynski (POL)
D. Olofson (SVE)
A.V. Pankratov (RUS)
M.P. Plomp (NLD) 
A. Poulsen (DEN)
O. Savchak (UKR)
R. Ševeček (CZE)
M.R. Terteryants (RUS) 

Correspondence Chess Lady Grandmaster

J. Roos (FRA)
I.P. da Cunha Simonsen (BRS)

Correspondence Chess Senior International Master

M. Bailly (PER)
J.A. Barlow (RSA)
E. Bhend (SWZ)
A. Bjuhr (SVE)
Dr. I.S. Brooks (ENG)
U. Burgarth (GER)
R.S. Callaghan (USA)
R.A. Cayford (USA)
K. Chorfi (MRC)
F. Cilento (ITA)
Dr. M. Christoffel (SWZ)
P. Cutillas Ripoll (ESP)
Z. Dauga (LAT)
G.H. Davies (ENG)
K. Embrey (USA)
D.M. Fleetwood (USA)
J-O. Forsberg (SVE)
C.A. Frostick (ENG)
A. Gaujens (LAT)
J. Göth (CZE)
A. de Groot (NLD)
G.L. Grasso (ITA)
R.V.M. Hall (ENG)
Dr. H-J. Hofstetter (GER)
A.V. Kamenets (UKR)
Dr. J-U. Klügel (SWZ)
R. Knobel (SWZ)
M. Kratochvil (CZE)
Prof. Dr. N. Kristoffel (EST)
P. Kruchem (GER)
H. Kruse (GER)
G.L. Kubach (USA)
W. Kurth (GER)
J. Mercadal Benejam (ESP)
J. Merilo (EST)
J. Meyers (USA)
W. Mooij (NLD)
A. Mrugala (CAN)
A. Mukherjee (ENG)
Dr. K-D. Müller (GER)
H. Neto (POR)
S. Neuschmied (OST)	
A. Nickel (GER)
Dr. A. Parnas (USA)
W. Pasko (POL)
V. Piccardo (ITA)
U.D. Pillhock (NLD)
K. Rakay (SLK)
T. Raupp (GER)
H-J. Reschke (GER)
S.A. Romanov (RUS)
M. Ronczkowski (GER)
I. Rooks (EST)	
O. Sande (NOR)
U. Strautins (LAT)
A.N. Sumkin (RUS)
Dr. S. Teichmeister (OST)
Dr. F. Thannhausser (OST)
J.D. Thorn (†) (ENG)
G. Toscano (ITA)	
J. Trapl (CZE)
E. Van Leeuwen (BEL)
A. Van Osmael (BEL)
H. Veen (BEL)
J. Vitomskis (LAT)
V.N. Volodin (RUS)
W. Wakolbinger (OST)
Wang Mong Lin (SIP)
G. Wise (HKG)
R. Wolny (POL)

Correspondence Chess International Master

L.V. Alves (BRS)
V. Andriulaitis (LIT)
W.W. Ballantyne (USA)
E.Barfoed (DEN)
J.A. Barrios Troncoso (ESP)
R. Basden (AUS)
D. Beaumont (ARG)
H. Behling (GER)
G.F. Benz (ARG)
P. Berclaz (SWZ)
M. Bergmann (GER)
G. Blomstrand (SVE)
J. Boada Llombart (ESP)
N. Borge (DEN)
A. Bormida (ARG)
O. Bouverot (FRA)
A.B. Bragin (RUS) 
H.W. Brockbank (ENG)
P. Buchnicek (CZE)
O. Buraschi (ARG)
J. Bures (CZE)
G. Carlsson (SVE)
R. Chytilek (CZE)
D. Cleto Jr. (BRS)
C. Coco (ITA)
P.L. Coleman (ENG)
T.J. Craig (SCO)
C. Cruzado Duenas (ESP)
A. De Vriendt (CAN)
I.M. Dolgov (RUS)
V.P. Dudyev (UKR)
H. Edelmann (GER)
J. Edwards (USA)
A. Eger (GER)
P. Eiben (SLK)
G. Enigk (GER)
R. Ericsson (SVE)
F. Espejo Hava (ESP)
W. Fademrecht (GER)
R. Filutowski (POL)
L. Forslöf (SVE)
D.S. Finnie (SCO)
J. Fritz (GER)
W. Fuchs (GER)
J.P. Garmendia (ARG)
D.M. Gimenez (ARG)
B. Gorokhovsky (UKR)
Dr. H. Grabner (OST)
G. Gunnlaugsson (ISD)
A. Hagström (SVE)
K-H. Hallier (GER)
H. Hamann (GER)
C. Hartman (SVE)
M. Hedrera (ARG)
P. Hietanen (FIN)
W. Hobusch (GER)
H. Horta (SVE)
M. Hüls (GER)
L. Jakobetz (HUN)
K. Johansson (SVE)
F. Joseph (BEL)
F. Kaden (GER)
P. Kariz (SLO)
S. Kasperski (POL)
O. Kösebay (TRK)
A.P. Kulagin (RUS)
H. Lachmann (GER)
L. Lange (GER)
C.W-M. van de Langenberg (NLD)
J.B. Larsen (DEN)
V. Lexa (CZE)
C.F. Lobato Vildoza (ARG)
G. Lucchini (SWZ)
J.E.B. de Oliveira Maia (BRS)
A.L. Maiorov (RUS)
Dr. E.S. Martinovsky (†) (USA)
A.P. Mascarenhas (BRS)
W. Mathes (GER)
B. Minge (NOR)
R.A. Molo (ARG)
H. Mößle (GER)
H. Namyslo (GER)
D. Nightingale (IRL)
A. Novikovas (LIT)
K. Piersig (GER)
A. Pietrobono (ARG)
H. Pigg (FIN)
N.N. Poleshchuk (RUS)
H. Polsterer (OST)
M. Pracejus (GER)
Dr. E. Prang (GER)
G. Quattrocchi (ITA)
A. Qwint (SVE)
N. Reichel (GER)
G. von Rein (GER)
D. Reppmann (GER)
A.A. Rezvyakov (RUS)
G. Rodriguez (ARG)
G. Rivas Romero (PER)
M. Sampieri (ITA)
A. Satici (TRK)
T. Schmidt (GER)
G. Schöneberg (GER)
U. Schuster (GER)
F. Schröder (GER)
C. Sender (GER)
F. Seres (NOR)
B. Sjögren (SVE)
A. Skulteti (GER)
Dr. P.W.H. Smith (ENG)
Dr. C. Sprengelmeier (GER)
Dr. J. Straschewski (GER)
D. Szczepankiewicz (POL)
H. Tanggaard (DEN)
P.L. Thompson (USA)
F. Tosi (ITA)
M. Träger (HUN)
O. Troffiguer (FRA)
Prof. Dr. A. Truupöld (EST)
K. Weber (GER)
T. Winckelmann (GER) 
W. Wood (USA)
K. Wrba (GER)
V.U. Yamaliev (RUS)
M. Zeihser (GER)

Correspondence Chess Lady International Master

M.E. Jones (ENG)
L.S.F. de Locio (ARG)
A. Montag (GER)
F. Petek (SLO)
S. Schmidt (GER)
B. Schneider (GER)
D. Vaindlova (CZE)

Correspondence Chess International Arbiter

Dr. I.S. Brooks (ENG)
F.T. Crapper (ENG)
A.A. Jones (USA)
Z. Nyvlt (CZE)
A.J.C. Rawlings (ENG)
A. Wright (USA)

13.	North America/Pacific Zone
The Zonal Director (North America/Pacific) had reported on tournament activity in the zone, and had noted the start of three major zonal events: Pacific Area Team Tournament IV, 9th North American Invitational CC Championship, and 1st NAPZ Email Zonal Championship. The 3rd NAPZ CC Championship had been won by Rene DuCret (USA), although some games were still unfinished. He offered thanks to his predecessor, Prof. Max Zavanelli, to Ruth Ann Fay, and to the entire zonal team for their help during the year

The situation of Mexico was discussed briefly, since players in that country at times look on themselves as belonging to Latin America, and sometimes to North America. The General Secretary would, in collaboration with the two Zonal Directors, approach the Federation of Mexico and ascertain what zoning was now appropriate.
14.	Africa/Asia Zone
The Zonal Director (Africa/Asia) had reported on initiatives taken, both by him and by the delegates of Kenya and South Africa, to establish contact with chess organisations in countries that were not currently members of ICCF. It was hoped that as the use of email became more widespread, so interest in correspondence chess would increase. He noted that players from several non-member countries were competing in zonal individual events.

He reported on tournament activity, and noted that it had not been possible to start the 1st Asian Team Championship because there had been insufficient entries. Various individual championship events had been well supported, and the year had seen the start of the first zonal email Open class tournaments, thus reaching the less skilled players in the zone. The 1st Email Afro-Asian Championship had been won by Mekki Samraoui (ALG)

The Zonal action plan for 2000/1 was:
-	To continue to provide, by email, the quarterly zonal bulletin, and to improve its quality.
-	To work with the Marketing Director and the General Secretary to identify how best to attract new member federations and new players.
-	To continue the existing program of individual tournaments.

Congress showed its appreciation of the contribution of the Zonal Director under sometimes difficult circumstances.
15.	Europe Zone
In his report, the Zonal Director (Europe) had discussed the need to establish effective contact with non-member countries, and to support federations with only a low level of activity. He felt that increasing email penetration would be a significant factor, but this may not be reflected in European Tournament entry levels. He reported in detail on tournament activity in the zone, and congratulated four new European Champions: Fatih Atakisi (TRK) – EU/FSM 53, Werner Hase (GER) – EU/FSM 56, Gabriel Cardelli (ITA) – EU/FSM 57, and Siegfried Neuschmied (OST) – EU/FSM 58. He remarked that, as before, the duration of tournaments was a major problem, though at times the voluntary use of email had helped matters.
16.	Latin America Zone
The Zonal Director (Latin America) had reported on the provision of some special aid to FECAP, the Federation of Cuba. Thanks to the generous help of ICCF, the Cuban Embassy in Buenos Aires, and certain good friends of correspondence chess in Argentina, it had been possible to deliver a computer and associated software to FECAP. This would ensure that Cuban players had a proper access to the Internet. He reported in some detail on tournament activity, and noted that because of satisfactory income from tournament entry fees the financial situation of the zonal organisation was very satisfactory.
17.	World Tournament Offices
The World Tournament Office Controller had reported on levels of tournament activity, and in particular on the effect of merging the old classes I, II and III into Open Class. On the evidence of only a part year under the new scheme, it appeared that entry levels had not fallen significantly, and he was optimistic that the final figures would break the former trend of a significant decrease in entries each year. He noted that the use of email for entry submission by almost all federations had helped to reduce overall waiting times, but there were still significant delays. This was because of a need to ensure geographic balance in groups, which was difficult when the vast majority of entries were from Europe, of which half of those entries were from a single country.

The Email Tournament Office Controller had reported on a gratifying upward trend in entry levels for all types of tournament; this was only partly a result of the new Direct Entry facility, which was clearly a success. For this he thanked both the ICCF Executive Officer, John Knudsen, and the ICCF Webmaster, Søren Peschardt. He reported on the progress of the 1st Email World Championship and of the Final of the Open Email team Championship, of which the team 'Russia-1' were the winners.

The Thematic Tournament Office Controller had reported briefly on increased Tournament Office activity. The need for national federations to publicise the new themes even more effectively was emphasised.

Congress showed appreciation to all the World Tournament Office Controllers for their excellent work.
18.	Tournament arrangements
Because of the continuing leave of absence of the Deputy President (Tournaments), the General Secretary had temporarily taken over the important responsibility for the approving of international invitation tournaments. Many events had been approved under the delegated powers agreed by the 1999 Congress, though a substantial number of tournaments approved previously had not yet commenced. Two events were referred to Congress for discussion, and with particular reference to one of these Congress gave a strong warning that future transgressions of the guidelines decided by the 1999 Congress would result in tournaments not receiving approval.
Congress confirmed approval of the following tournaments:

Pat Thorn Memorial (ENG)
	Postal, 15 players, cat V, started 15/8/2000 
David Lodge Memorial (ENG) 
	Email, 15 players, cat V, started 15/7/2000
I Szachy Chess Cup (POL)
	Email, 15 players, cat XI, start 30/9/2000.
José Raoul Capablanca Memorial (CUB)
	Email, 15 players, cat V, start 1/2001
Mikhail Botwinnik Memorial (RUS)
	Email, 13-15 players, cat. X-XII, start 2001
Aivars Gipslis Memorial (RUS)
	Postal, 15 players, cat. IX-X, start 2001
Anatoly Ufimtsev Memorial (RUS)
	Postal, 15 players, cat. V-VI, start 2001
FINJUB-40 A (FIN)
	Postal, 15 players, GM level, start 1/2001
FINJUB-40 B (FIN)
	Email, 15 players, GM level, start 1/2001
Paul Keres-85 (EST)
	Postal, 15 players, cat. X, start 7/1/2001
SCCA Bulletin 21st Anniversary (SCO)
	Email, 15 players, cat. VI, start early 2001 (recommended for May-June start)
XXX Years APA Magazine A (CADAP)
	Email, 15 players, GM level, start 3/2001
XXX Years APA Magazine B (CADAP) 
	Email, 15 players, IM level, start 3/2001
Marcos Koatz Memorial A (BRS)
	Postal, 15 players, cat VI, start 8/2001
Marcos Koatz Memorial B (BRS)
	Email, 15 players, cat VI, start 8/2001
Coppa Latina VI (ESP)
	Postal, 7-8 teams of 10 players, double pairing, start 2001

Organisers of International Invitation Tournaments were firmly reminded of their obligation to pay prizes to prizewinners without undue delay, and preferably as soon as the prizewinners were certain.  Failure by any organisation to honour its financial obligations to prizewinners would be considered to be a very serious issue.

There was some discussion of the sponsorship arrangement with New in Chess for the first Email Chess World Championship, the semi-finals of which were drawing to a close. The General Secretary agreed to form a small Commission to judge the competition for the ten New in Chess Analysis Prizes, and it was agreed that the Commission would determine its own working methods.
19.	Other Tournament proposals
Congress unanimously approved the establishment of the new post of ICCF Title Tournaments Commissioner. The Commissioner would support the Deputy President (Tournaments) by taking responsibility for all aspects of the administration and promotion of ICCF individual and team title tournaments, including the establishment and maintenance of a register of qualifiers. Congress unanimously approved the appointment of Ing. Josef Mrkvička (CZE) as Title Tournaments Commissioner with effect from 1.1.2001.

The following 'Guidelines for ICCF approved International Open Tournaments' were adopted unanimously:

1.	ICCF will recognise all international open tournaments supported by national federations, which fulfil the following requirements:

1a.	the tournament must be notified to the ICCF deputy President (Tournaments) at least four months before it is due to start. It should not be advertised until ICCF has confirmed that it will be an acceptable tournament (the DP(T) will consider the number of similar events which are planned concurrently and any ICCF open tournaments that are due to start, before providing ICCF approval).

1b.	the games must be played according to the ICCF Playing Rules.

1c.	the tournament must be played under the guidance of an ICCF International Arbiter.

1d.	players who are members of an ICCF member federation must be allowed to pay half the tournament fee which is charged to other players.

1e.	for each entry in the tournament, there will be a rating fee of CHF 2 payable to ICCF and this will be due at the end of the year in which the tournament started.

2.	Recognition of the tournament by ICCF provides the following:

2a.	official international recognition as an ICCF approved tournament.

2b	the results of all games will be incorporated into the ICCF Rating System, which will regularly publish all ratings based on at least 12 games on the ICCF website.

2c.	ICCF title norms will be available for the players in the tournament, according to the ICCF Title Rules.

Although it was decided by the 1998 Congress in Latvia that a uniform system of results reporting should be produced for use by all TDs, it proved difficult to agree on a specification or the best method of delivery.  However, earlier this year, it was agreed that the requirement was really for a comprehensive "Standardised Tournament Administration and Reporting System" (STARS). With the valuable assistance of the Executive Officer, John Knudsen, a willing and enthusiastic volunteer, Harold Bearce, had come forward offering to produce the system, working in conjunction with Pietro Cimmino who had already designed a prototype results system programme.  It is now hoped that the STARS project will be completed and the system available for use by all TOs and TDs early next year.

Congress discussed and approved the following outline scheme of tournaments to start during 2001, to mark next year's 50th Jubilee of ICCF:

a)	An Email 'Champion of Champions' tournament of 9 or 11 players, to be contested by the eight living World Champions and, if known in time, the winner of World Championship XV. In the event of one or more champions declining to play or additional players being needed, the latest rating list would be used as the basis for further invitations. The tournament would be sponsored, with a prize fund of 25,000 Euros, and the Tournament Organiser/Director would be Nol van 't Riet (NLD).
b)	'Amici Sumus' tournaments for ICCF officials and delegates; appropriate sponsorship would be sought.
c)	An Open Email Cup-style tournament, open to all chessplayers and with no entry fee and no national federation membership requirement. Multiple entries would not be permitted. The primary reward for successful players would be qualifications to the World Championship cycle, with the winner guaranteed a World Championship Final place.
d)	An Open Postal tournament, to be run on the Silli system, open to all chessplayers and with no entry fee and no national federation membership requirement. Multiple entries would not be permitted. The primary reward for successful players would be qualifications to the World Championship cycle, with the winner guaranteed a World Championship Final place.
20.	Internet and technology matters
The ICCF Web Master had provided a very comprehensive report on his work and acknowledged the tremendous amount of help which he received from his team of Assistants in updating of some 1660 crosstables. There had been a 50% increase in the average number of daily visitors to the ICCF website which is now approaching 700 visits per day on average and double this amount at peak times such as the publication of a new ICCF rating list.

The publication of live games had been a great success, as was the Games Archive which was so well organised by Wes Green, with around 10,000 CC games now being available for downloading. The organiser reported plans to add many more games to the Archive and asked for player and TD support in his task.  

The Game of the Month feature, edited by X World CC Champion, Vytas Palciauskas, was introduced at the beginning of the year and was highly regarded.  However, he is seeking many more interesting games for future columns and asked for players and TDs to send him potential games for publication. In his report, he suggested ways in which this could be done.

The Web Master re-emphasised the need for all ICCF news and information to be sent to him promptly to ensure that it could be published on the official ICCF website before it appeared elsewhere.  He was pleased to advise that he had reached mutual understanding with other CC publishers on this point.

The President thanked the Web Master, his Assistants, Games Archivist and the Game of the Month Editor for their valuable work and Congress showed its appreciation to the Web Master and all those who helped with the ICCF website. 

The 1999 Congress had instituted a 'Friend of ICCF' award for those websites that are substantial supporters and promoters of ICCF and which collaborate with ICCF in the publication of ICCF news and information. On behalf of the Presidium, the General Secretary proposed one award, which was approved unanimously:

-	to the website of the Brazilian federation CXEB, www.cxeb.org.br
21.	Marketing matters
The Marketing Director had reported on the duties which had been allocated to members of the Marketing Commission, giving a progress report on what had been achieved since its formation. He commented on the difficulties posed by the size and the structure of the Marketing Commission, and noted that there had been little or no progress in some areas of planned activity. However, next year, it would be more action orientated.

There was some discussion regarding advertising policy, and Congress recommended advertising in "Chess Life" next year, using ICCF-US contacts to negotiate a substantial discount against the normal commercial rate.

The Press Officer had reported on the work of the Press Office, and remarked that the objectives in that area were not completely clear. There was a need to update press contact information, with the active co-operation of national federations, and this would be an important task for the coming months. There was a clear need for further volunteers in this area, with tasks to be defined as appropriate. Congress showed its warm appreciation of the work of the Press Officer.

A modified ICCF logo was proposed, to incorporate a small Email @ motif. After discussion, and after making a positioning adjustment, the new logo was adopted by Congress unanimously and enthusiastically. Existing stocks of medals and other items would not be scrapped, but when these were exhausted items showing the new logo would be commissioned.

22.	ICCF 2000 Publication
It was agreed to defer the launch of the 'ICCF 2000' book to the 2001 Congress, and to re-focus it as an 'ICCF 50th Jubilee' publication. The Marketing Director outlined the current status of the project, and Congress thanked his major collaborators: the research, editorial and production workers in Hungary led by Ivan Bottlik; the contributors of tournament tables, especially Roald Berthelsen, Witold Bielecki and Tim Harding, the President for his work in coordinating photographic material, and David Wilkinson (ENG) for his valuable proof-reading. Member federations were invited to update sectional articles with recent information and to submit their revised proposed entries to the Editor-in-Chief before 31/12/00.
23.	ICCF Archives
The General Secretary had reported that there had been no progress made  since the last Congress regarding the archiving of memorabilia and personalia. Member federations were reminded that they should submit one copy of all magazines and publications to the ICCF publications archive; until notified otherwise, such material should be sent to the General Secretary.

The President remarked briefly on the lack of progress regarding the possible establishment of a permanent ICCF historical archive, possibly based in Central Europe  The delegate for Germany agreed to discuss this idea with his national colleagues, with Hamburg being suggested as an ideal location, and "Hans Werner von Massow Centre being its possible and very appropriate name.

The ICCF Gamescore Archivist had reported that there had been little progress because of a lack of volunteer resource to convert manual games scores.  He indicated a desire to hand over this responsibility to another person.  Appreciation was expressed for the dedicated and excellent work carried out by Pietro Cimmino (ITA).
24.	Other General Secretary proposals
Following the presentation of a short paper by Evelin Radosztics (OST) Congress decided to set up a working group, headed by the General Secretary, to consider how to attract more women to correspondence chess and to report to the 2001 Congress.

There was, as always, a general need for more volunteer helpers for ICCF, and the General Secretary would, in conjunction with the President, look for ways to encourage skilled and willing people to come forward.
25.	Internal matters
There was some discussion on the difficulties world-wide in attracting young payers to correspondence chess, and the Presidium was asked to consider options for tournaments for players under the age of 17, including a scholastic team event.

The delegate for Argentina, Dr. Héctor Tepper, informed Congress of the difficulties in bringing about the unification and reconciliation which was so clearly desired by the majority of Argentina's CC players. He gave an assurance that all Argentinean CC players would continue to be able to fully participate in ICCF and Zonal tournaments and activities via LADAC, following the change to ICCF Statute 2.1 which would allow only one federation per country to be a member of ICCF from 1/1/2001.  This assurance was appreciated by Congress.

It was intimated that the ICCF Code of Conduct would specify forms of disciplinary measures which could be taken against any organisation or individuals who initiated malicious threats or actions against ICCF, or any of its elected and appointed officers, which were clearly contrary to the principles in ICCF Statutes and the "Amici Sumus" philosophy of ICCF. The ICCF Presidium was already empowered to take immediate action, if this became necessary in such regrettable circumstances, with its decisions being subject to ratification by the following ICCF Congress.

It was decided that ICCF would in future sponsor one delegate from a developing country to attend Congress. This sponsorship would be at the same level as the allowance paid to Presidium members and Commissioners who are not also national delegates. For 2001, it was agreed unanimously to offer this sponsorship to the All-India Correspondence Chess Federation (AICCF).

The formation of a "President's Commission" was announced. Its function would be to review the structure, operating practices and Statutes of ICCF, and to bring before Congress its recommendations for any changes. The Commission would have five members: Alan P. Borwell (SCO) – chairman, Gerhard Radosztics (OST), Alan Rawlings (ENG), Mohammed Samraoui (ALG) and Nol van 't Riet (NLD).
26.	External matters
The Liaison Officer to FIDE had reported that FIDE had not seemed to be interested in active collaboration with ICCF for some years. He indicated a wish to resign, and suggested that the position should be discontinued. Congress accepted his resignation with regret and grateful thanks, and agreed that henceforth liaison with FIDE as with other external bodies, would be the responsibility of the President.  The President informed the Congress that he had been in contact with FIDE in recent months and relationships were good and friendly.

The delegate for Lithuania, Marijonas Ročius, proposed that ICCF consider membership of GAISF – General Association of International Sports Federations. Such a move would bring increased State support, including possibly funding, in Lithuania and other countries, and would increase opportunities for ICCF to promote closer links with other sports organisations. It was agreed that the ICCF Presidium should take this proposal forward.
27.	Future meetings
As discussed in Thun in 1999, future ICCF Congresses will be one day longer, with the Closing Banquet taking place on the Friday evening (not Thursday as in recent years).

The delegate for the Italian Federation, ASIGC, Gianni Mastrojeni, described the plans for the 2001 Congress which will be held in the Hotel Continental E Dei Congressi, Rimini, Italy from 22nd until 28th September 2001, and he gave delegates a folder of information.  The ICCF President thanked him and his federation and said that he and ICCF were very much looking forward to celebrating the 50th Jubilee Year Congress in Italy.

Since the last Congress, the Belgian Federation had advised, with regret, that it would not be able to host the ICCF Congress in 2002.  However, a kind invitation had been received from the Portuguese Federation to host the Congress in the locality of Seixal (near Lisbon) and this offer was enthusiastically accepted.  The dates of the Congress, which have been decided, will be 5th until 12th October 2002. 

The 2003 Congress was already confirmed to be held in the Czech Republic - the dates will be 4th-10th October. 

The 2004 Congress was already confirmed to be held in Brazil (probably in Rio de Janeiro) with the provisional dates being 18th - 24th September.

In closing the Millennium Year Congress, the ICCF President thanked the ICCF-US organisation and hosts Professor Max Zavanelli, his wife and principal organiser Ruth Ann Fay and all other helpers for providing such a memorable and enjoyable Congress, location and facilities.  He had been delighted that so many North American friends had participated and he thanked all delegates and officials for their excellent contributions and co-operation throughout the Congress meetings.  It had been fitting that so many enlightened decisions had been reached to take ICCF forward with increasing success and enthusiasm into the exciting years ahead.

In declaring the 2000 Congress closed, he expressed the hope that all would meet again next year in Italy.

Alan P. Borwell,								Alan J.C. Rawlings,
ICCF President								ICCF General Secretary

APPENDIX A
Playing Rules (for individual tournament games played normally by post)

1 Play and Control
(a) Games shall be played in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
(b) A Tournament Director shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and progress of the games.
2 Transmissions
(a) Moves shall be numbered and sent
(b) in the numeric or a mutually agreed notation
(c) using postcards (or letters)
(d) bearing the name and address and signature of the sender and
(e) a correct repetition of the opponent's latest move and confirmation of the postmark date.
(f) The sender shall record on the reply
(g) the date on which the opponent's latest move was delivered and
(h) the expected postmark date of the reply.
(i) Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
(j) When the expected postmark date does not agree with the postmark, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
(k) The time used for the move (see Rule 6d) and accumulated time for the game shall also be recorded.
(l) Intercontinental games shall be played by first class / air mail but a tournament announcement can make this mandatory also for other games.
(m) If both players agree, moves may be transmitted by email or fax but these rules shall apply.
3 Failure to Reply
(a) Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days plus the average time in the post both ways, the full details shall be repeated with an information copy to the Tournament Director. When replying to such a repeat an information copy to the Tournament Director must also be sent.
(b) Games in which no move has been sent for four months may be scored as lost to a player who has not advised the Tournament Director about the delay.
4 Moves and Continuations
(a) No legal move shall be retracted after posting - clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves.
(b) A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
(c) Illegible or illegal moves shall be referred back to the sender for immediate correction but without any obligation to move the piece in question.
(d) A blank card or a card posted without a reply move shall be treated as an illegible move.
(e) The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
(f) Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient makes a different move from that proposed.
(g) Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply.
(h) When no reply is made to an accepted conditional continuation it shall be treated as an illegible move.
5 Records and Reports
(a) All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Tournament Director upon request.
(b) If a player does not answer enquiries from the Tournament Director, that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament.
(c) Changes of permanent email and/or postal address shall be notified to the Tournament Director and opponents.
(d) The Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
6 Time Allowed and Penalties
(a) Each competitor is allowed 30 days for every 10 moves, unless the tournament announcement explicitly specifies otherwise. If, under rule 2(m), electronic transmission is used, then a mutually agreed different time control may be used, subject to the consent of the Tournament Director.
(b) The time limit may be exceeded once.
(c) Time saved shall be carried forward.
(d) The time used for each move is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's latest move was delivered and the postmark date of the reply. If, under rule 2(m), electronic transmission is used, then a mutual agreement on the interpretation of 'delivery date' is permitted, subject to the consent of the Tournament Director.
(e) Time in the post is not counted.
(f) Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
(g) A penalty of five days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible, illegal or ambiguous move, incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move or fails to send a move by air mail when this is mandatory.
7 Time Exceeding
(a) Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
(b) At the same time, the opponent shall be informed of the claim.
(c) Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded unless the claim is clearly unfounded.
(d) The Tournament Director shall inform both players of the decision.
(e) If the Tournament Director upholds a first claim, a new count of the opponent's time shall begin on the date the information about the claim was received.
(f) A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed for the second time shall forfeit the game.
(g) If the Tournament Director dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no further claim by that player during the current time control period shall be accepted.
8 Leave
(a) Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 days leave during each calendar year.
(b) Players taking leave must inform in advance their opponents and the Tournament Director.
(c) In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 days' additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
9 Withdrawal
(a) In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall decide whether all the games shall be annulled or the remaining games adjudicated or scored as losses.
10 Adjudication
(a) If no result has been agreed by the date set for close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director within 30 days, a record of the moves played
(b) the position reached and
(c) a statement claiming either a win or a draw which may be supported by analysis.
(d) Competitors not wishing to submit analysis forfeit the right to appeal.
(e) The Tournament Director shall notify the adjudicator's decision to both competitors indicating whether or not it is subject to appeal.
11 Adjudication Appeals
(a) Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be posted to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the notification,
(b) whereupon the Tournament Director shall obtain a ruling from another adjudicator and notify the result to both competitors. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
(c) For an appeal, additional analysis may be submitted by both players.
12 Reporting Results
(a) As soon as possible after ending a game, the result and a clear record of the moves played shall be sent to the Tournament Director by both players.
(b) The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
(c) Should no record be received from either player, the result may be scored as lost by both.
13 Decisions and Appeals
(a) The Tournament Director may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules and
(b) any matter not covered in them shall be decided by the Tournament Director according to the principles stated in the Preface of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
(c) Any competitor may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Commission, whose ruling shall be final.

Playing Rules (for team tournament games played normally by post)
1 Play and Control
(a) Games shall be played in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
(b) A Tournament Director shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and progress of the games.
(c) Each team has a Team Captain who shall maintain contact on behalf of the players with the Tournament Director.
(d) In cases of misunderstanding between players the Team Captains should try to solve the problem before it is sent to the Tournament Director.
2 Transmissions
(a) Moves shall be numbered and sent
(b) in the numeric or a mutually agreed notation
(c) using postcards (or letters)
(d) bearing the name and address and signature of the sender and
(e) a correct repetition of the opponent's latest move and confirmation of the postmark date.
(f) The sender shall record on the reply
(g) the date on which the opponent's latest move was delivered and
(h) the expected postmark date of the reply.
(i) Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
(j) When the expected postmark date does not agree with the postmark, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
(k) The time used for the move (see Rule 6d) and accumulated time for the game shall also be recorded.
(l) Intercontinental games shall be played by first class / air mail but a tournament announcement can make this mandatory also for other games.
(m) If both players agree, moves may be transmitted by email or fax but these rules shall apply.
3 Failure to Reply
(a) Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days plus the average time in the post both ways, the full details shall be repeated with an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain. When replying to such a repeat an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain must also be sent.
(b) Games in which no move has been sent for four months may be scored as lost to a player whose Team Captain has not advised the Tournament Director about the delay.
4 Moves and Continuations
(a) No legal move shall be retracted after posting - clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves.
(b) A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
(c) Illegible or illegal moves shall be referred back to the sender for immediate correction but without any obligation to move the piece in question.
(d) A blank card or a card posted without a reply move shall be treated as an illegible move.
(e) The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
(f) Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient makes a different move from that proposed.
(g) Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply.
(h) When no reply is made to an accepted conditional continuation it shall be treated as an illegible move.
5 Records and Reports
(a) All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Team Captain and/or through him to the Tournament Director upon request.
(b) If a player does not answer enquiries from the Team Captain (or through him from the Tournament Director), that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament. See also rule 9.
(c) Changes of permanent address shall be notified to the opponents and the Team Captain, who shall inform the Tournament Director.
(d) Through the Team Captain the Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
6 Time Allowed and Penalties
(a) Each competitor is allowed 30 days for every 10 moves, unless the tournament announcement explicitly specifies otherwise. If, under rule 2(m), electronic transmission is used, then a mutually agreed different time control may be used, subject to the consent of the Tournament Director being obtained through the Team Captains.
(b) The time limit may be exceeded once.
(c) Time saved shall be carried forward.
(d) The time used for each move is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's latest move was delivered and the postmark date of the reply. If, under rule 2(m), electronic transmission is used, then a mutual agreement on the interpretation of 'delivery date' is permitted, subject to the consent of the Tournament Director being obtained through the Team Captains.
(e) Time in the post is not counted.
(f) Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
(g) A penalty of five days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible, illegal or ambiguous move, incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move or fails to send a move by air mail when this is mandatory.
7 Time Exceeding
(a) Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
(b) At the same time, the opponent shall be informed of the claim.
(c) Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded unless the claim is clearly unfounded.
(d) The Tournament Director shall inform both Team Captains players of the decision, and it is the responsibility of the captains to notify their players without delay.
(e) If the Tournament Director upholds a first claim, a new count of the opponent's time shall begin on the date the information about the claim was received.
(f) A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed for the second time shall forfeit the game.
(g) If the Tournament Director dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no further claim by that player during the current time control period shall be accepted.
8 Leave
(a) Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 days leave during each calendar year.
(b) Players taking leave must inform in advance their opponents and the Tournament Director through their Team Captain.
(c) In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 days' additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
9 Withdrawal and Substitutions
(a) In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall call upon the Team Captain to replace this player within two months.
(b) The substitute player may be required to start with a first time limit exceeding. The new count starts on a date set by the Tournament Director.
(c) If it is not possible for the Team Captain to get the necessary documents from the substituted player, the opposing Team Captain shall provide them.
(d) If no substitute player is available, the Tournament Director shall decide whether the remaining games shall be adjudicated or scored as losses.
(e) A team may substitute at most 50% of its players in case of withdrawal, and only make one substitution per board, but there is no limit for cases of death.
10 Adjudication
(a) If no result has been agreed by the date set for close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain within 30 days, a record of the moves played
(b) the position reached and
(c) a statement claiming either a win or a draw which may be supported by analysis.
(d) Competitors not wishing to submit analysis forfeit the right to appeal.
(e) The Tournament Director shall notify the adjudicator's decision to both Team Captains indicating whether or not it is subject to appeal.
11 Adjudication Appeals
(a) Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be posted to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain within 14 days of receiving the notification,
(b) whereupon the Tournament Director shall obtain a ruling from another adjudicator and notify the result to both Team Captains. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
(c) For an appeal, additional analysis may be submitted by both players.
12 Reporting Results
(a) As soon as possible after ending a game, the result and a clear record of the moves played shall be sent to the Tournament Director through the Team Captains by both players.
(b) The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
(c) Should no record be received from either Team Captain, the result may be scored as lost by both.
13 Decisions and Appeals
(a) The Tournament Director may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules and
(b) any matter not covered in them shall be decided by the Tournament Director according to the principles stated in the Preface of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
(c) Any Team Captain may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Commission, whose ruling shall be final.

Playing Rules (for individual tournament games played normally by email)
1 Play and Control
(a) Games shall be played in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
(b) A Tournament Director shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and progress of the games.
(c) Games shall be played by email. If a player should lose email access and is unable, for whatever reason, to re-establish email access within 30 days, he will be considered to have withdrawn from the tournament.
2 Transmissions
(a) Moves shall be numbered and sent
(b) in the numeric or a mutually agreed notation
(c) by email messages
(d) bearing the name and email address of the sender and
(e) a continuous record of all moves and confirmation of the date on which the opponent's latest message was sent.
(f) The sender shall record on the message
(g) the date on which the opponent's latest message was received and
(h) the expected date of the reply.
(i) Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
(j) When the expected reply date does not agree with the actual emailing date shown on the message time-stamp, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
(k) The time used for the move (see Rule 6c) and accumulated time for the game shall also be recorded.
(l) The normal accepted time of the email transmission is one day. If a longer transmission time is declared, it may be referred to the Tournament Director for a ruling.
3 Failure to Reply
(a) Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days, the full details shall be repeated with copy to the Tournament Director. When replying to such a repeat a copy to the Tournament Director must also be sent.
(b) Games in which no move has been sent for 40 days may be scored as lost to a player who has not advised the Tournament Director about the delay.
4 Moves and Continuations
(a) No legal move shall be retracted after mailing - clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves.
(b) A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
(c) Illegible, illegal or ambiguous moves shall be referred back to the sender for immediate correction but without any obligation to move the piece in question.
(d) A message mailed without a reply move shall be treated as an illegible move.
(e) The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
(f) Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient makes a different move from that proposed.
(g) Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply.
(h) When no reply is made to an accepted conditional continuation it shall be treated as an illegible move.
5 Records and Reports
(a) All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Tournament Director upon request.
(b) If a player does not answer enquiries from the Tournament Director, that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament.
(c) Changes of permanent address shall be notified to the Tournament Director and opponents.
(d) The Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
(e) The Tournament Director and opponents must be notified immediately if any substantial failure of hardware or software occurs.
6 Time Allowed and Penalties
(a) Each competitor is allowed 60 days for every 10 moves, unless the tournament announcement explicitly specifies otherwise.
(b) Time saved shall be carried forward.
(c) The time used for each move is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's latest move was received and the mailing date of the reply.
(d) Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
(e) A penalty of two days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible, illegal or ambiguous move, or incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move..
(f) A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
7 Time Exceeding
(a) Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
(b) At the same time, the opponent shall be informed of the claim.
(c) Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded unless the claim is clearly unfounded.
(d) The Tournament Director shall inform both players of the decision.
(e) If the Tournament Director upholds the claim, then the competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
(f) If the Tournament Director dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no further claim by that player during the current time control period shall be accepted.
8 Leave
(a) Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 days leave during each calendar year.
(b) Players taking leave must inform in advance their opponents and the Tournament Director.
(c) In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 days' additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
9 Withdrawal
(a) In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall decide whether all the games shall be annulled or the remaining games adjudicated or scored as losses.
10 Adjudication
(a) If no result has been agreed by the date set for close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director within 30 days, a record of the moves played
(b) the position reached and
(c) a statement claiming either a win or a draw which may be supported by analysis.
(d) Competitors not wishing to submit analysis forfeit the right to appeal.
(e) The Tournament Director shall notify the adjudicator's decision to both competitors indicating whether or not it is subject to appeal.
11 Adjudication Appeals
(a) Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be posted to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the notification,
(b) whereupon the Tournament Director shall obtain a ruling from another adjudicator and notify the result to both competitors. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
(c) For an appeal, additional analysis may be submitted by both players.
12 Reporting Results
(a) As soon as possible after ending a game, the result and a clear record of the moves played shall be sent by email to the Tournament Director by both players, preferably in PGN format.
(b) The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
(c) Should no record be received from either player, the result may be scored as lost by both.
13 Decisions and Appeals
(a) The Tournament Director may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules and
(b) any matter not covered in them shall be decided by the Tournament Director according to the principles stated in the Preface of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
(c) Any competitor may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Commission, whose ruling shall be final.

Playing Rules (for team tournament games played normally by email)
1 Play and Control
(a) Games shall be played by email, in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
(b) A Tournament Director shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and progress of the games.
(c) Each team has a Team Captain who shall maintain contact on behalf of the players with the Tournament Director.
(d) In cases of misunderstanding between players the Team Captains should try to solve the problem before it is sent to the Tournament Director.
(c) If a player should lose email access and is unable, for whatever reason, to re-establish email access within 30 days, he must be replaced by another player who is able to continue the game by email. See Rule 9.
2 Transmissions
(a) Moves shall be numbered and sent
(b) in the numeric or a mutually agreed notation
(c) by email messages
(d) bearing the name and email address of the sender and
(e) a continuous record of all moves and confirmation of the date on which the opponent's latest message was sent.
(f) The sender shall record on the message
(g) the date on which the opponent's latest message was received and
(h) the expected date of the reply.
(i) Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
(j) When the expected reply date does not agree with the actual emailing date shown on the message time-stamp, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
(k) The time used for the move (see Rule 6c) and accumulated time for the game shall also be recorded.
(l) The normal accepted time of the email transmission is one day. If a longer transmission time is declared, it may be referred to the Tournament Director for a ruling.
3 Failure to Reply
(a) Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days, the full details shall be repeated with an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain. When replying to such a repeat an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain must also be sent.
(b) Games in which no move has been sent for 40 days may be scored as lost to a player whose Team Captain has not advised the Tournament Director about the delay.
4 Moves and Continuations
(a) No legal move shall be retracted after mailing - clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves.
(b) A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
(c) Illegible, illegal or ambiguous moves shall be referred back to the sender for immediate correction but without any obligation to move the piece in question.
(d) A message mailed without a reply move shall be treated as an illegible move.
(e) The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
(f) Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient makes a different move from that proposed.
(g) Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply.
(h) When no reply is made to an accepted conditional continuation it shall be treated as an illegible move.
5 Records and Reports
(a) All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Team Captain and/or through him to the Tournament Director upon request.
(b) If a player does not answer enquiries from the Team Captain (or through him from the Tournament Director), that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament. See also Rule 9.
(c) Changes of permanent address shall be notified to the opponents and the Team Captain, who shall inform the Tournament Director.
(d) Through the Team Captain the Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
(e) Through the Team Captain, the Tournament Director and opponents must be notified immediately if any substantial failure of hardware or software occurs.
6 Time Allowed and Penalties
(a) Each competitor is allowed 60 days for every 10 moves, unless the tournament announcement explicitly specifies otherwise.
(b) Time saved shall be carried forward.
(c) The time used for each move is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's latest move was received and the mailing date of the reply.
(d) Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
(e) A penalty of two days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible, illegal or ambiguous move, or incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move.
(f) A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
7 Time Exceeding
(a) Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
(b) At the same time, the opponent shall be informed of the claim by an email message with copies to the Team Captain and Tournament Director.
(c) Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded unless the claim is clearly unfounded.
(d) The Tournament Director shall inform both Team Captains players of the decision, and it is the responsibility of the captains to notify their players without delay.
(e) If the Tournament Director upholds the claim, then the competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
(f) If the Tournament Director dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no further claim by that player during the current time control period shall be accepted.
8 Leave
(a) Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 days leave during each calendar year.
(b) Players taking leave must inform in advance their opponents and the Tournament Director through their Team Captain.
(c) In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 days' additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
9 Withdrawal and Substitutions
(a) In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall call upon the Team Captain to replace this player within two months.
(b) The substitute player may be required to start with a time penalty. The new player starts on a date set by the Tournament Director.
(c) If it is not possible for the Team Captain to get the necessary documents from the substituted player, the opposing Team Captain shall provide them.
(d) If no substitute player is available, the Tournament Director shall decide whether the remaining games shall be adjudicated or scored as losses.
(e) A team may substitute at most 50% of its players in case of withdrawal, and only make one substitution per board, but there is no limit for cases of death.
10 Adjudication
(a) If no result has been agreed by the date set for close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, within 30 days, a record of the moves played
(b) the position reached and
(c) a statement claiming either a win or a draw which may be supported by analysis.
(d) Competitors not wishing to submit analysis forfeit the right to appeal.
(e) The Tournament Director shall notify the adjudicator's decision to both Team Captains indicating whether or not it is subject to appeal.
11 Adjudication Appeals
(a) Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be mailed to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, within 14 days of receiving the notification,
(b) whereupon the Tournament Director shall obtain a ruling from another adjudicator and notify the result to both Team Captains. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
(c) For an appeal, additional analysis may be submitted by both players.
12 Reporting Results
(a) As soon as possible after ending a game, the result and a clear record of the moves played shall be sent by email to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captains, by both players, preferably in PGN format.
(b) The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
(c) Should no record be received from either Team Captain, the result may be scored as lost by both.
13 Decisions and Appeals
(a) The Tournament Director may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules and
(b) any matter not covered in them shall be decided by the Tournament Director according to the principles stated in the Preface of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
(c) Any competitor may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Commission, whose ruling shall be final.

APPENDIX B
Rules of play – rating numbers

45	It is the sincere wish of the ICCF to award equivalent titles for equivalent achievement. Under the ICCF rating system each player obtains a rating based upon a method of statistical probability, calculated from tournament results over a period of many years. The qualification norms for awarding titles in a tournament are based upon an average of the individual ratings of the participants.

46	The tournaments which are taken into the rating system are:
	a)	Master Class, Higher class and Open class of the promotion tournaments,
	b)	World Championship Semifinal, ¾-Final and Final,
	c)	Preliminary round and Final of the Correspondence Chess Olympiad,
	d)	Preliminary, intermediate round and Final of the ICCF World Cup tournament,
e)	all such national tournaments which require a qualification from master class, as well as the final of a national championship, team championship or cup final. Based on an application from the national federation, preliminaries for a national championship may also be included, 
	f)	principal zonal tournaments, team championships, Master Class, Higher Class and Open class promotion tournaments,
	g)	individual and team tournaments authorised by the ICCF-Congress or Presidium
	h)	friendly matches between countries,
	i)	Master Norm tournaments,
	j)	tournaments corresponding to item a) - i) played by email.

47	Each player who has completed games in the tournaments referred to in § 46 obtains a rating. This rating will be published only if the player has completed at least 12 games. A rating based on at least 30 completed games is a “fixed“ rating. 
	When title norms are set, the ratings valid at the start of a tournament are used. New players without rating and players with ratings which have not been published shall be considered using the nominal figure of 2,200 (1,900 for ladies only tournaments). Instead of this a valid FIDE rating may be used.
	The rating calculation procedure would use players’ ratings as at the start of a tournament for those players with a published rating in the applicable ratings list. For newer players, FIDE ratings may be used if available, failing which a player would be regarded as having a rating equal to the tournament level.

48	A new rating list will be released twice each year, in which the results of games completed during the previous rating period have been calculated. The rating periods are January-June and July-December, respectively. These lists will be released on October 1st and April 1st, respectively, and will be made available on the ICCF website.
	The rating list shall contain:
	-	the effective date (April - September and October - March, respectively),
	-	a list of rated events,
	-	the name and federation of each player with at least 12 rated games,
	-	the ICCF title held by each player listed,
	-	the current rating of each player listed,
	-	distinguishing marks for inactive players.
	Players who appeared on previous lists but who do not qualify for a rating because they have been inactive are nevertheless considered currently at their most recently published rating. Players shall be considered inactive if they do not finish a rateable game in a rating period. Inactive players shall continue to be shown for five years after being considered inactive.

The ICCF Rating System working rules
General Principles

1	The ICCF Rating system is a numerical system in which percentage scores are convertible to rating differences and conversely, rating differences are convertible to scoring probabilities.

2	The basic of the system is the normal probability function of statistical probability theory. For convenience sake this function has been put into tabular form for the conversions indicated in 1.

3	Table of conversions from percentage P into rating difference Dp:

   P        Dp
 1.00     677
 0.99     677
 0.98     589
 0.97     538
 0.96     501
 0.95     470
 0.94     444
 0.93     422
 0.92     401
 0.91     383
 0.90     366
 0.89     351
 0.88     336
 0.87     322
 0.86     309
 0.85     296
 0.84     284
   P        Dp
 0.83     273
 0.82     262
 0.81     251
 0.80     240
 0.79     230
 0.78     220
 0.77     211
 0.76     202
 0.75     193
 0.74     184
 0.73     175
 0.72     166
 0.71     158
 0.70     149
 0.69     141
 0.68     133
 0.67     125 
    P        Dp
 0.66     117
 0.65     110
 0.64     102
 0.63       95
 0.62       87
 0.61       80
 0.60       72
 0.59       65
 0.58       57
 0.57       50
 0.56       43
 0.55       36
 0.54       29
 0.53       21
 0.52       14
 0.51         7
 0.50         0
    P        Dp
 0.49       - 7
 0.48     - 14
 0.47     - 21
 0.46     - 29
 0.45     - 36
 0.44     - 43
 0.43     - 50
 0.42     - 57
 0.41     - 65
 0.40     - 72
 0.39     - 80
 0.38     - 87
 0.37     - 95
 0.36     102
 0.35   - 110
 0.34   - 117
 0.33   - 125
    P        Dp
 0.32   - 133
 0.31   - 141
 0.30   - 149
 0.29   - 158
 0.28   - 166
 0.27   - 175
 0.26   - 184
 0.25   - 193
 0.24   - 202
 0.23   - 211
 0.22   - 220
 0.21   - 230
 0.20   - 240
 0.19   - 251
 0.18   - 262
 0.17   - 273
 0.16   - 284
   P        Dp
 0.15   - 296
 0.14   - 309
 0.13   - 322
 0.12   - 336
 0.11   - 351
 0.10   - 366
 0.09   - 383
 0.08   - 401
 0.07   - 422
 0.06   - 444
 0.05   - 470
 0.04   - 501
 0.03   - 538
 0.02   - 589
 0.01   - 677
 0.00   - 677

4	Table of conversion from difference in rating D into scoring probability for the higher (Ph) and the lower (Pl) rated player respectively:

D
    0  -  3
    4  - 10
   11 - 17
   18 - 25
   26 - 32
   33 - 39
   40 - 46
   47 - 53
   54 - 61
   62 - 68
   69 - 76
   77 - 83
   84 - 91

   Ph       Pl 
    0.50   0.50
  0.51   0.49
  0.52   0.48
  0.53   0.47
  0.54   0.46
  0.55   0.45
  0.56   0.44
  0.57   0.43
  0.58   0.42
  0.59   0.41
  0.60   0.40
  0.61   0.39
  0.62   0.38

D
   92 -  98
   99 - 106
 107 - 113
 114 - 121
 122 - 129
 130 - 137
 138 - 145
 146 - 153
 154 - 162
 163 - 170
 171 - 179
 180 - 188
 189 - 197

   Ph       Pl
    0.63   0.37
  0.64   0.36
  0.65   0.35
  0.66   0.34
  0.67   0.33
  0.68   0.32
  0.69   0.31
  0.70   0.30
  0.71   0.29
  0.72   0.28
  0.73   0.27
  0.74   0.26
  0.75   0.25

D
 198 - 206
 207 - 215
 216 - 225
 226 - 235
 236 - 245
 246 - 256
 257 - 267
 268 - 278
 279 - 290
 291 - 302
 303 - 315
 316 - 328
 329 - 344

   Ph       Pl 
  0.76   0.24
  0.77   0.23
  0.78   0.22
  0.79   0.21
  0.80   0.20
  0.81   0.19
  0.82   0.18
  0.83   0.17
  0.84   0.16
  0.85   0.15
  0.86   0.14
  0.87   0.13
  0.88   0.12

D
 345 - 357
 358 - 374
 375 - 391
 392 - 411
 412 - 432
 433 - 456
 457 - 484
 485 - 517
 518 - 559
 560 - 619
 620 - 735
 736 - >>

   Ph       Pl
   0.89   0.11
  0.90   0.10
  0.91   0.09
  0.92   0.08
  0.93   0.07
  0.94   0.06
  0.95   0.05
  0.96   0.04
  0.97   0.03
  0.98   0.02
  0.99   0.01
  1.00   0.00
 
The Working Formulae
5	For the calculation of a rating of a player who has not yet played 30 games:
	Rp = Rc + D (p) * F
	Rp 	the rating of the player
	Rc	the average rating of all his opponents 
	D(p)	the difference in rating based on the percentage score p, obtained from item 3
	F	the correction factor depending on the percentage score p in the following way:
		F = - 2 * p² + 2 * p + 0.5
6	The new rating of a player with a fixed rating from the previous period is calculated by:
	Rn = R0 + f *  R 
	Rn	the new rating of the player
	R0	the old rating of the player 
	f	the significance factor
	R 	the summation of the rating changes in all his games during the rating period

7	Calculation of a change in rating after a game is made by: 
	R  = k * W  =  k * ( W - We )     
	R 	the change of the rating for a finished game
	W	the actual game result (1, ½, 0) 
	We	the expected result of the game
	k	the rating point value for a game point (or: the development coefficient)

8	The expected game result We is the percentage expectancy, obtained from item 4, based on the difference between the player’s rating and the opponent’s rating at the beginning of the game. A player without a published rating at that time will be regarded as having a rating equal to the tournament level (see item 11).
9	The development coefficient k is used as a stabilising factor in the system:
	k =	 r * g
		   10     	if R0  2400		   1	for  gn  80
	r  =	  70 - R0 / 40	if 2000 < R0 < 2400	g  =	  1.4 - gn / 200	for  30 < gn < 80
		   20	if R0  2000		   1.25   	for  gn  30

	R0 	the old (that is: the most recently calculated) rating of the player
	gn 	the total number of rated games played by this player

10	The value of the significance factor f is  determined in the following way:
		   1.5     	if  q    2
	f  =	  (q+1) / 2	if  1    q  <  2
		   1	if  q  <  1
	q  =	   ( W - We ) / s 
	s  =	   (n * p * ( 1 - p ))
	We	summation of the expected game results
	W	summation of the actual game results 
	n	the number of games completed by the player in this period
	p	the scoring probability obtained from item 4 for a difference in rating D between the old rating R0 of the player and the average rating Rc of his opponents.
11	Assumed rating for a player without a published rating at the beginning of a tournament:
	1800	Open class, cup preliminary rounds, international open preliminary rounds, friendly matches  
	1900	Ladies’ WC semifinals, ladies’ olympiads
	2000	Higher class, cup semifinals, international open semifinals 
	2100	Ladies’ WC finals
	2200	Master class, cup finals, olympiads, zonal championship preliminary rounds, invitation team tournaments, international open finals 
	2300	Master Norm tournaments
	2400	WC semifinals, zonal championship semifinals  
	2500	WC ¾-final, zonal championship finals
	2600	WC finals
For national tournaments the average of the already rated participants is assumed, maximum 2200.
Calculation procedure
12	The rating period runs from January 1st until June 30th, and from July 1st until December 31 st, respectively. All games completed in this period in tournaments described in § 46 will be eligible for inclusion on the next list.
13	Reports of tournaments for inclusion in the lists must be sent to the ICCF Rating Commissioner before August 15th and February 15th, respectively.
14	Players without a rating from previous periods get their first rating based on the games finished during the current period, using the formula 5. 
15	Each player who has a rating based on less than 30 games at the beginning of the rating period, receives a new rating based on all his games. This is done with the formula of item 5.
16	For each player whose rating was based on at least 30 games at the beginning of the period the new rating is calculated using the formula 6, except for those players who finished more than 800/k games in the current period. For those players a new rating is calculated, based on the formula 5 only for their games in that period. 
17	The new rating for the next ICCF rating list is rounded to the nearest integer.
18	Rules for the rating of games in team tournaments in which a substitute player takes part:
	a)	A game of a substitute player is only counted for his new rating if W is positive for him. Otherwise the game is counted for the player who has been substituted.
	b)	For the opponent the game is counted as being played against the player (the original or the substitute) with the highest rating.
19	If a player who has been inactive for five years or more, starts to play again his first results will be treated as results with f = 1.5.