(27 December 2004): Robert P. Chalker RIP

I'm sad to report the death of USA cc competitor Robert P. Chalker. He was nominated by CCLA to participate in the 15th US CC Championship Final US15F and was rated 2324 by CCLA and 2361 by ICCF.
31 Dec 2004 Update: Volker Jeschonnek alerted me to this on-line obituary.

(26 December 2004): New Interviews section added

Today I removed the interviews posted in the On the Square articles section and moved them to the newly-created Interviews section. I hope to add additional interviews of correspondence chess personalities in the near future.

(24 December 2004): Two suggestions for 2005

1. USA Competitors ... Enter the 3rd Email USCCC. Note that the name is misleading. This event will be played on the ICCF server. As a person who was involved with the server commission and who is playing in two ICCF server events I can strongly recommend this great way to play! This is a superior way to play correspondence chess. Check the announcement at the ICCF-U.S. site for full information.

2. Every CC Enthusiast ... Subscribe to Chess Mail. This great cc magazine should be delivered to every cc player's mail box. Editor/publisher SIM Tim Harding presents the cc news, history, opinion, games and cc personalities in a wonderful, informative and entertaining fashion that can't be beat! USA players can subscribe through the ICCF-U.S. store. Others can consult Tim's Subscription page. Don't miss a single copy of this must-read cc periodical. I can't recommend it strongly enough!

Best wishes to all for a great holiday season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May we all live by the excellent ICCF motto: Amici Sumus (We are Friends)!

-- Franklin Campbell

Allen Wright (on left) receiving his IA title at Daytona Beach Congress in 2000

(21 December 2004): Best wishes to International Arbiter Allen Wright on moving into his new home, which he has been working on for some time. Those familiar with Allen will know about his long service to the USA cc community through his organization and tournament directing. He is currently directing the finals of the 14th USCCC and 15th USCCC and the NAPZ Master Class events. His email address remains the same, but his mailing address is now:

      Allen F. Wright
      8923 Shenandoah Run
      Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 (USA)

(20 December 2004): I just posted Chess Reconstruction: Jacob Elson in Memphis by Neil Brennen to the "On the Square" collection of articles. Here's a chance to play through (see the replay link) some old fashioned slash and burn games where the word is ... attack!

(8 November 2004): Congratulations to Chess Today on its 4th anniversary! GM Alexander Baburin has performed a fantastic service to the chess community by publishing this daily newsletter keeping us informed of the news. Chess Today contains a good mix of news, opinion, book reviews, tournament reports and annotated games, many of them from current events. CC enthusiasts are not ignored, either. I've been a satisfied and enthusiastic subscriber for a long time and would not like to do without my daily chess fix. I urge all chess fans to subscribe to this excellent publication, and be sure to tell Alex that Franklin Campbell recommended subscribing (I'll get an extra month added to my subscription ... thanks!).

For free samples check out the following link:
http://www.chesstoday.net/sample_issues.html . I strongly recommend trying a subscription ... I guarantee you won't be sorry.

(16 December 2004): Today the ICCF President Josef Mrkvicka (CZE) announced his resignation effective 1 Jan 2005 due to health and personal reasons. Thanks to Josef, who was elected ICCF President in October 2003, for his excellent service to ICCF. See full announcement on the ICCF web site.

(23 November 2004): The counter on this page hit 180,000 today.

(1 November 2004): My APCT News Bulletin column "The Campbell Report" for September-October 2004 has been posted. All columns previously posted are listed on the APCT Column Archive page.

(29 Oct 2004): ICCF officers and delegates have started their (in many cases) long trips to Mumbai, India for the annual ICCF Congress. I'm expecting to receive some reports and, hopefully, photographs to keep those of us who stayed at home informed. I just posted the Outline Programme for the Congress at the ICCF Congress web site, where I'll post any future reports. Things should get started tomorrow. If you have information or reports about Congress please contact me. Contact Webmaster

(23 Oct 2004): Today, thanks to the data provided by CCLA Historian Bryce Avery, I have made a significant update to the USCCC archive. 114 games were added to the prelim rounds and 29 to the final rounds databases. The most significant was the 13 new 5th USCCC prelim games. I still need 5th USCCC prelim information. Contact Webmaster

(18 Oct 2004): I have posted a small web site for my ICCF Champions League team Four Wise Arbiters.

(18 Oct 2004): Today I gave up on contacting the 15th USCCC players with mising game results and declared the games cancelled (double forfeits). 15th USCCC Crosstables.

(11 Oct 2004): ICCF-US has announced that the coming 3rd Email USCCC (USA Championship) will be played on the ICCF Server. Anyone who has tried the server will find this good news indeed! You can see the original announcement. The ICCF-U.S. web site will have a more complete announcement. All I can say is ... Bravo!!

(3 Oct 2004): ICCF has announced a big 3-round open tournament to be played entirely on the new ICCF server. See the Full Announcement at the ICCF-U.S. web site.

(24 Sept 2004): I just posted a new article: The Saddle of Correspondence Chess - An episode from Old Singapore 1900-1902 by Olimpiu G. Urcan to the "On the Square" collection of articles. Get a flavor of the chess scene in Singapore a century ago in this entertaining and informative article.

(31 August 2004): Two "The Campbell Report" columns for May-June 2004 and July-August 2004 have just been posted. All columns are listed on the Archive page.

(31 August 2004): Today I did a comprehensive review of the Chess Links page. Hopefully, all the bad links have been either updated or deleted. Please let me know if you spot any errors or know important links that should be added. Contact Webmaster. If you have a little time to spare I suggest that you scan through this list of links. You may find something interesting.

(30 August 2004): A new web site that may become important is now available ... Vladimir Kramnik, World Chess Champion. I have added it to both the Sites of Note page and under Other Outstanding Chess Sites on the Chess Links page. Kramnik will be playing Peter Leko for the OTB Classical World Championship September 15, 2004 to October 18, 2004.

(23 August 2004): The 17th US Correspondence Chess Championship (17th USCCC) will officially start on 7 September 2004. Assignments have been mailed. The new crosstables are now available at 17th USCCC Crosstables.

(23 August 2004): ICCF Ratings Commissioner Gerhard Binder (GER) has once again produced the semi-annual ICCF rating list in record time. His remarkable Eloquery program can be downloaded with the supporting files from the ICCF Web Site.

(21 August 2004): SIM Jason Bokar (USA) is the new webmaster for the web site of ICCF-U.S. (the USA affiliate of ICCF). For the time being, Franklin Campbell retains his position as archivist. Congratulations and best wishes to SIM Bokar in this new endeavor. He is also webmaster for his personal site SIM Jason Bokar's Chess World.

(16 August 2004): ICCF has announced a new sponsor for its Champions League team competition. $5,000 in prize money will now be offered. For the full announcement see: Champions League Sponsorship Announcement.

(11 August 2004): Today the Chess Journalists of America (CJA) announced the winners of the 2004 Chess Journalism Awards. This web site won three awards:

Best Correspondence Chess Web Site ... Webmaster J. Franklin Campbell

Best Historical Article ... Neil Brennen's article The Champion of the North: James Jellett's Adventures in American Chess

Best Web-Based Review ... CCLA President Volker Jeschonnek for his Review of "First Anglo-Pacific Invitational Chess Championship" by ICCM Erik Osbun, sharing first with NM Dan Heisman's review on Chess Cafe (Survivor: 64 Squares).

CJA announced the awards at the US Open and published a full list of prize winners at their web site.

Congratulations to CCLA's The Chess Correspondent for winning Best CC Magazine. APCT News Bulletin won Honorable Mention.

Congratulations to Helen Warren, editor of APCT News Bulletin, for winning the prestigious Chess Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award. GM Robert Byrne also received this award.