Fabian Stanach is a Polish chess player. He won the 31st World Correspondence Chess Championship in 2022. [1]
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common methods that have been employed include fax, homing pigeon and phone. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a chessboard at the same time, or play each other in real time via the internet.
The United States Chess Federation is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating system, awards national titles, sanctions over twenty national championships annually, and publishes two magazines: Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids. The USCF was founded and incorporated in Illinois in 1939, from the merger of two older chess organizations. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its membership as of 2020 as COVID hit was 97,000; as of July 2022 it is 85,000.
Cecil John Seddon Purdy was an Australian chess player and writer. He was awarded the titles International Master in 1951 and Grandmaster of correspondence chess in 1959. Purdy was the inaugural world correspondence chess champion. He was also an influential chess magazine writer, editor, and publisher.
In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed.
Olga Nikolaevna Rubtsova was a Soviet chess player and the fourth women's world chess champion. In 2015, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Joop van Oosterom was a Dutch billionaire, chess and billiards sponsor, and twice correspondence chess world champion. His fortune, made with the Volmac Software Group, was estimated by Dutch financial magazine Quote at €1.1 billion at the time of his death.
International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IFSB), founded on 2 December 1928.
Ivar Bern is a Norwegian chess player, most famous for being the seventeenth World Correspondence Chess Champion, 2002–2007. In over-the-board chess he received the FIDE title of International Master (IM) in 1990. In correspondence chess he earned the ICCF titles of International Master (IM) in 1994 and Grandmaster (GM) in 1996.
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess.
Yakov Borisovich Estrin was a Russian chess player, chess theoretician, writer, and World Correspondence Chess Champion who held the chess titles of International Master and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more or less accords with the wider definition of Europe used in other events such as the Eurovision Song Contest and includes Israel, Russia and the former Soviet States. The competition is run under the auspices of the European Chess Union (ECU).
Gary Benson is a professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won a World Series of Poker bracelet in addition to other titles as a poker player.
ICCF U.S.A. is the member of the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) for the territory of the United States of America. The organization was formed in 1909 as Correspondence Chess League of New York but quickly expanded to become the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA). It has published The Chess Correspondent regularly since 1930.
The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads are the most important international tournaments for teams.
Rafael Duailibe Leitão is a Brazilian chess grandmaster. He is a grandmaster in both over-the-board chess and correspondence chess. Leitão is a seven-time Brazilian champion. He competed in the FIDE World Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2004 and in the FIDE World Cup in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015.
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms. Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE.
The World Correspondence Chess Championship determines the World Champion in correspondence chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest the title. The official World Correspondence Chess Championship is managed by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF).
Mark Fredrick Noble is a New Zealand chess and lawn bowls player. He was awarded the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GM) in 2010, the first New Zealand player to be awarded this title.
Merike Rõtova, is an Estonian chess player, International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
The Correspondence Chess Olympiad is a correspondence chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete. International Correspondence Chess Federation organises the tournament.