1st World Correspondence Chess Championship (1950) Following the foundation of the International Correspondence Chess Union ( IFSB )* in Berlin on the 2nd of December 1928 the idea of a Correspondence Chess Championship was discussed for the first time. Alexander Alyekhin who had played numerous games of correspondence chess in his youth held it in high regard and became a driving force to see the realization of a Correspondence Championship. In August 1936 an IFSB conference resolved to set up a committee to work out a draft of Alyekhin's ideas and bring them to fruition. A year later in August 1937 at another IFSB conference in Stockholm a resolution to create and regularly hold a Correspondence Championship was reached. Amongst those present at this conference were FIDE President Dr Alexander Rueb and Dr Max Euwe. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 delayed plans but eventually in 1947 the preliminaries for the World Correspodence Championship started. There were 78 participants from 22 countries in 11 preliminary groups. This lead to a Final Tournament of 15 players. Play for this final commenced in 1950 with the games finishing in 1953. - * The IFSB was the predecessor of the International Correspondence Chess Federation ( I.C.C.F ). - Crosstable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Pts 1 Cecil John Seddon Purdy * ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 10.5 2 Harald Malmgren ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 10.0 3 Mario Napolitano 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0 4 Olaf Barda 0 ½ 0 * 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9.5 5 Graham Russell Mitchell 1 ½ 0 1 * ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 8.0 6 Leopold Watzl 0 0 0 0 ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 6.5 7 Gabriel Wood 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 6.0 8 E Adam 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 0 * ½ 0 1 1 1 1 6.0 9 T Van Scheltinga ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 ½ ½ 1 5.5 10 Janos Balogh ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 5.0 11 Sverre Madsen 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 1 * ½ ½ ½ 4.5 12 John W Collins 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 1 4.5 13 A Cuadrado 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 3.0 14 Paul van't Veer 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 2.0 The 2nd World Correspondence Chess Championship (1956) was the next correspondence championship tournament. Adolphe Viaud withdrew part way through the tournament and all his games were cancelled. However, those which had reached a fairly advanced stage were preserved by his opponents and are included in this collection. Larsson was the tournament director. - Gamescores of the following games were unavailable : Edmund Adam - Gabriel Wood 0-1 Edmund Adam - T D van Scheltinga 1/2-1/2 Edmund Adam - Paul van't Veer 1-0 Gabriel Wood - T D van Scheltinga 1/2-1/2 Gabriel Wood - Paul van't Veer 0-1 T D van Scheltinga - Paul van't Veer 1-0 A special thanks to <crawfb5> for finding the scores to Sverre Madsen - Edmund Adam 0-1 and Gabriel Wood - Sverre Madsen 1-0. - Original collection: Game Collection: 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship, by User: Benzol  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 93  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. J W Collins vs T Van Scheltinga   ½-½ 43 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 2. A Cuadrado vs L Watzl   0-1 36 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C77 Ruy Lopez 3. A Cuadrado vs G R Mitchell   ½-½ 21 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship A06 Reti Opening 4. A Cuadrado vs O Barda 0-1 26 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E10 Queen's Pawn Game 5. P van't Veer vs O Barda   0-1 45 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E26 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 6. O Barda vs J W Collins   1-0 51 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 7. O Barda vs S Madsen   1-0 40 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 8. O Barda vs J Balogh   1-0 61 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D72 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.cd, Main line 9. O Barda vs T Van Scheltinga   1-0 53 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 10. G Wood vs O Barda   0-1 62 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C13 French 11. E Adam vs A Cuadrado 1-0 22 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C07 French, Tarrasch 12. A Cuadrado vs G Wood   ½-½ 27 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O 13. T Van Scheltinga vs A Cuadrado   ½-½ 29 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C81 Ruy Lopez, Open, Howell Attack 14. J Balogh vs J W Collins   ½-½ 34 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D71 Neo-Grunfeld 15. P van't Veer vs J Balogh   0-1 48 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E72 King's Indian 16. S Madsen vs J W Collins   ½-½ 49 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C97 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 17. P van't Veer vs S Madsen   ½-½ 28 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd 18. J W Collins vs P van't Veer 1-0 64 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D56 Queen's Gambit Declined 19. J W Collins vs A Cuadrado   1-0 44 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik System 20. A Cuadrado vs P van't Veer   ½-½ 45 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E94 King's Indian, Orthodox 21. A Cuadrado vs S Madsen   ½-½ 30 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship D04 Queen's Pawn Game 22. J Balogh vs A Cuadrado   ½-½ 37 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6 23. E Adam vs O Barda   0-1 24 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 24. O Barda vs L Watzl   1-0 24 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship E04 Catalan, Open, 5.Nf3 25. H Malmgren vs P van't Veer   1-0 26 1950 1st World Correspondence Chess Championship B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 93    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)       There is no kibitzing for this page, yet.   NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law. See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific tournament and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | new kibitzing | chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Little ChessPartner | privacy notice | contact us Copyright 2001-2013, Chessgames Services LLC Web design & database development by 20/20 Technologies