ICCF TOURNAMENT PLAY
ICCF tournament play is conducted under the 10 moves over 30 days format for postal matches and 10 moves over 60 days for email matches. Players may compete in any of the five areas below, regardless of playing strength. The last four areas of competition are traditionally held by postal correspondence (snail mail). However, players have the right to agree amongst themselves to play their games via e-mail.
- Email World Tournaments – The Email tournament structure
parallels the World Ascension tournament structure. There are 11 player Master
sections and 7 player Higher and Open sections. Winners qualify for the next
higher section or the World Championship semi-final. Postal and Email
qualifications are interchangeable according to the players’ preferences.
New World Championship semi-finals will begin each year, alternating between
postal and email.
- Master Norm – 11 player sections for players with ratings above
2300 Fixed (30+ ICCF games) or 2350 unfixed play for a title norm.
- Email Cup Tournaments – 7 player sections open to players with unfixed ratings and ratings below 2100. Winners advance to Semifinals and Finals. Winners of Finals receive Cup and if conditions are met, title norms and qualifications for Master Class.
- Thematic Tournaments - Play begins with a fixed opening and then the competitors take over from there. This style of competition has been very popular amongst European players for quite some time.
- World Ascensions Tournaments - Competition amongst players from many countries in the ICCF world. Both seven player and fifteen player sections are organized for these tournaments. Player from all classes may compete in the seven player sections. Players from class 2 and up may compete in the fifteen player sections.
- NAPZ Tournaments - Competition amongst players from Australia,
Japan,Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the United
States. All matches in NAPZ events are conducted in English. The NAPZ organizes
seven player section postal tournaments, team postal tournaments and email
tournaments. All US citizens are elligible to compete in the NAPZ
and there is no membership fee.
If you are a citizen of Australia, Japan,Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, or Singapore your country secretary will organize their country's registration for all NAPZ email events. Please visit the ICCF information page to obtain Country Secretary contact information. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Canada also have web sites. Links to these country sites can be found on the Links page.
For a list of current NAPZ tournament crosstables, go to:
North American/Pacific Zone (NAPZ) Tournaments Index.
- Team Tournaments -Players get the opportunity to represent the USA in teams of ten to one hundred in play against other nations in the ICCF world. Team events are two games in duration and offer players a unique opportunity to meet others around the world that share their love of the game.
LEVELS OF PLAY- Master Class - rating of at least 2100 required
- Higher Class - rating in the range of 1900 to 2099 required
- Open Class - First, Second and Third Classes have been combined as of January 1, 2000
- First Class - rating in the range of 1700 to 1899 required
- Second Class - rating in the range of 1500 to 1699 required
- Third Class - rating below 1500 required
Please contact the ICCF-US office if you have any questions about player rankings. Remember, you can't get a ranking if you don't join!