Promotion to the second division possible
Many see correspondence chess as a classic individual sport. As a lone fighter in a home environment. No traveling, no living out of a suitcase in a hotel. And this is also true for almost all single tournaments.
But in no other sport (incl. close-up chess) especially team matches have been played more undisturbed. Especially in “Corona times” correspondence chess players could continue to pursue their hobby as usual. Almost all other sports have temporarily come to a complete standstill.
Yes, even in team competition the players sit alone at home and play their own tournament on the assigned board. At the end, all individual results are added up and a winning team is determined. But to be successful as a team, a good team spirit is required. And this is where team competitions in correspondence chess differ from individual tournaments. One has contact with the other teammates. Games are not drawn prematurely. In general, it is a good “tactic” to finish games only after 5-6 months. This is especially noticeable in competitions of the German Olympic teams. Almost always they have finished the fewest games in the current tournament. This makes it difficult for the opponents to calculate which game results are necessary for the respective targeted rankings.
Now, the Champoins League does not have the same status in chess as it does in soccer, for example. Nevertheless, every team strives for a concrete goal, be it to stay in the league or even to be promoted to a higher division.
And that is exactly what we are trying to do with CCI at the moment. Promotion to the second division! And the prospects are not bad at all. A place among the first three teams is required. At the time this article appears, the tournament has not yet been decided. Out of 222 games started, only 4 games are still running. The only open game of our playing group is contested by your rapporteur. If nothing goes wrong, the expected draw will secure the split second-third place. And exactly these places 1-3 are entitled to promotion. We still have time until the end of August. Then the tournament will be over and the remaining games will be estimated.
All details about this Champions League season can be found on the ICCF server at https://www.iccf.com/event?id=80756.
The results of the single boards can be reached via the following links:
Board 1. Hans-Dieter Wassilieff – https://www.iccf.com/event?id=80805
Board 2. Gero Marten – https://www.iccf.com/event?id=80806
Board 3. Werner Löffler – https://www.iccf.com/event?id=80807
Board 4. Wolfgang Richter – https://www.iccf.com/event?id=80808
No player from CCI should be singled out here. All of them have contributed to the great performance so far. A small selection of games can be found under “Games” in the upper menu.
You can find out about the outcome of the tournament here on the homepage at the beginning of September at the latest. And of course we will report about it in the next newsletter.
If you can imagine to participate in such a team competition, please contact Hans-Peter Toedter or Werner Löffler. A membership in BdF and ICCF is required. CCI certainly has enough “candidates”.