International Correspondence Chess Federation

TCCMB 5 Year Anniversary Invitational Tournaments

Sponsored by ICCF-US and CorrespondenceChess.Com

ICCF-US Invitational Tournament Organizer:

Grayling Hill, 1107 Bridgewater Dr., Benton, AR, 72015, USA

Tel: 501-315-2753, Fax: 501-794-0020, Email: Gvhill@aol.com

Dear Friends,

Following is a brief history of Correspondencechess.Com and The Correspondence Chess Message Board (TCCMB) written by John Knudsen and edited by Grayling Hill.

The Impact of TCCMB on Correspondence Chess

John C. Knudsen founded CorrespondenceChess.Com in 1996. As he surfed the Internet in subsequent years he discovered that there were few correspondence chess sites and no forums for CC players. The Correspondence Chess Message Board (TCCMB) was started in 1998 to serve the serious (tournament) CC player.

Communication and the Internet work well together, so before long, TCCMB became the place to go to discuss CC. It was a tremendous amount of work in the beginning, to get the script working, sending out publicity emails, letting people know about the service, etc. Almost from the very start, the numbers of lurkers and posters at TCCMB grew on a regular basis.

The first time John realized that TCCMB was making a serious impact was when he received an email from a friend in India, saying that a German friend had visited him in India. The two had become friends and actually visited with one another, based upon initial contact on TCCMB. Stories like this are not at all uncommon. They immediately bring home the point that the lot of the average correspondence chess player is much better and more interesting now than it was before.

According to John, the key to the smooth running of TCCMB has always been the TCCMB Administrator, who keeps things on an even keel. TCCMB has been blessed with four administrators: Lars "Lasse" Viklund, Viktor Chuprys, Grayling Hill, and of course, John Knudsen. John has served several tours of duty as administrator. :-)

TCCMB is a small, dedicated community. The regulars, the ones who have been around for awhile, know each other fairly well. Newcomers are welcomed on a regular basis. Discussions on rules and related issues on TCCMB have led to changes in the ICCF Rules/Statutes, for the benefit of all players. ICCF Officials often stop by and answer questions, or give their views on a wide variety of topics.

TCCMB is a good example of what can be achieved with a good idea and a vibrant community. It more or less runs by itself now. There are characters, Grandmasters, novices, and all types of people from all walks of life rubbing shoulders with one another. What they have in common is their love for the game of chess, particularly correspondence chess. It is an ideal, class-less society.

Five years after its beginning, thousands of people visit TCCMB every week. It has had over 52,000 messages posted, which is an incredible amount of conversation and wisdom and all of it archived.