7 November 2005

We are very glad to report on the very successful ICCF Congress 2005 in Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

Congress meetings were closed earlier than usual, and still we managed to go through the whole long Agenda.

Although details will be contained in the upcoming Congress Minutes, this is a short summary of what was achieved:

• we have filled all vacancies with the election of a new ICCF President (Med Samraoui), a new World Tournaments Director (Frank Geider), a new Financial Director (Michael Millstone, also Direct Entry Admin) and a new Marketing Commissioner (Claudio Gonçalves). George Pyrich volunteered to replace Wes Green as Online Games Archivist.
• We have fixed the Statutes concerning the Extraordinary Congress and succession to President.
• Inserted a Preliminary round in the WCCC cycle and stenghthened the structure to make the qualifications stronger (many changes and improvements).
• to address the many complaints about accumulated time, we settled upon a simple solution of 10/50. Not a final or perfect solution, but a first step to show we do care.
• ICCF will field a 6-player team in the 2006 FIDE Olympiad in Torino (Italy).
• passed a comprehensive set of Adjudication Guidelines for TDs and improved the Rules.
• created an Arbiter's Committee and its Manual for TDs.
• approved the regulations for the Appeals Commission (Other Rules).
• approved Website and E-Mail Policies.
• approved requests for 2006 Congress in Germany, 2007 Congress in Spain, and 2011 Congress in Finland.
• Awarded Bertl von Massow Medals for 10 and 15 years' service to ICCF, and 3 "Friends of ICCF" awards to these websites:
  1. The Campbell Report (Franklin Campbell): http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/
  2. ICCF Meetings website (Maurizio Sampieri): http://congress.iccf.com
  3. France AJEC (webmaster: Olivier Bouverot): http://ajec-echecs.org/

Amici Sumus,

Max Zavanelli
ICCF Acting President

Pedro F. Hegoburu
ICCF Membership & Services Director
ICCF Acting World Tournaments Director