Article provided by: Mariusz Wojnar
Introduction
Szachy (Eng: Chess) is a poem written by Jan Kochanowski (Polish poet), first published between 1562 and 1566.
Piece of the second edition of Szachy (from 1585) is preserved in Kórnik Library. Front page of the 1585 edition is presented on the left (source).
In 1912, Alexander Wagner (1868–1942), a Polish chess correspondence master and theoretician, reconstructed the game described in the poem, which is presented below.
Polish Correspondence Chess Federation foundation
In 1930 Edward Arlamowski, student of law at that time, postulated establishment of Polish Correspondence Chess Federation. This idea gathered momentum in 1933, when master Henryk Friedman, editor and publisher of magazine “Szachista” (Chess player), pleaded for that project. As a result founding commitee was established. Board of PCCF was formed as following: president Henryk Friedman, vicepresidents Aleksander Wagner and Jan Hermanowski, secretary&treasurer Julian Madfes, members: M.Steifer, L.Tuhan-Baranowski, H.Salzman, B.Korenhlit, A.Sternak, L.Gerlicz.
Since 1951 Polish cc federation called Komisja Szachowej Gry Korespondencyjnej PZSzach (Correspondence Chess Commision of the Polish Chess Federation) – in short KSzGK – is an organization within Polish Chess Federation.
Polish CC Federation Presidents:
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1933-1939 Henryk Friedman
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1951-1963 Henryk Swinarski
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1963-1967 Cyryl Niewiadomski
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1967-1971 Andrzej Gorzelewski
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1971-1985 Stanislaw Kania
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1985-1988 Tadeusz Peretjatkowicz
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1988-1996 Ludwik Frey
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1996-2003 Witold Bielecki
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2003-2008 vacant, Witold Bielecki (as vice-president, until 2008 ICCF delegate)
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2008-2010 vacant, Józef Lubas (as vice-president and ICCF delegate)
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2010-2018 Tomasz Stefaniak
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2019-onwards Mariusz Wojnar (ICCF delegate from 2010)
Polish correspondence chess history outline
The oldest information related to organized chess life in Poland comes from Poznan and is dated back to 19th century. In the period of 1839-1840 correspondence match was played between clubs from Poznan and Berlin. Moves were transmited by press starting from 03.01.1839.
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At the end of seveties of 19th century Jan Kleczynski (1837-1895, Polish pianist, composer, journalist and chess master) toghether with Szymon Winawer (1838-1920, leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883) was engaged in organizing the correspondence match Warsaw-Moscow, played in the period of 1879-1882, and finished – with his participation as a player – with a victory of Warsaw.
Expansion of correspondence chess had happend in the period of 1903-1914, when Polish leaders were: H.Bartmanski, H.Ziolo, A.Zuk-Skarszewski, L.Tuhan-Baranowski, St.Górawski, A.Hartman, A.Wagner. They participated in tournaments organized by newspapers (national and international). Many years fight for official leadership in Poland was not conducted.
After the first World War monthly „Swiat Szachowy” (Chess World), edited by Dawid Przepiórka (1880-1940, prominent Polish chess player of the early 20th century, World’s Amateur vice-champion – behind Max Euwe - in 1928, won the gold medal with Polish team in 3rd Chess Olympiad 1930 and silver medal in 4th Olympiad in 1931), started to arrange correspondence play. First groups started to play in 1930, directed by Wiktor Geier, famous from international correspondence chess events, including Propaganda-Turnier (1928-1930) organized by ICSB, but concluded by its successor, the IFSB.
In the period of 1933-34 S. Czerniakow was considered to be an official champion of Poland. However, the first official Championship of Poland, organized by Henryk Friedman, started in 1934 with 3 semifinal groups. Final finished in 1936 and winner was M.Tomaszewicz, followed by H.Frideman and prof. A.Koscielak.
In a short time 6 game match was organized between Tomaszewicz and Czerniakow. Czerniakow won 3 games and tied 3 others. Thus S.Czerniakow was considered to be champion of Poland until post-war time, when he personally started from scratch to organize the correspondence chess in Poland.
The 1st Championship of Poland in post-war time was played in the period of 1948-1950, organized by Sergiusz Czerniakow from Torun, famous cc player and official. In the final 22 players participated, including top Polish OTB players from that time, like B.Sliwa or K.Plater and top cc players of pre-war time, like S.Hermanowski, S.Czerniakow, A.Zakrzewski. Champion of Poland became Aleksander Zakrzewski with 18,5, followed by Sliwa-18, Hermanowski-17,5, Czerniakow-17, Plater-16, Chadzynski-15.
Polish CC Champions
1st (before 2nd World War) 1935-36 M.Tomaszewicz.
1st (after 2nd World War) 1948-50 A.Zakrzewski; 2nd 1959-60 E.Golemo; 3rd 1962-63 J.Martyniak; 4th 1963-64 E.Golemo; 5th 1963-64 R.Sokolowski; 6th 1964-65 M.Braczko; 7th 1964-66 K.Pytel; 8th 1965-66 S.Brzózka; 9th 1966-67 J.Krzyszton; 10th 1967-68 G.Szewczyk; 11th 1968-69 J.Górski; 12th 1969-70 J.Sokolow; 13th 1969-71 J.Widera; 14th 1970-72 Z.Pioch; 15th 1972-74 Z.Pioch; 16th 1973-75 R.Filutowski; 17th 1974-76 T.Franczak; 18th 1975-77 Z.Leszczynski; 19th 1976-78 K.Pinkas; 20th 1977-79 J.Babiak; 21st 1978-80 D.Konca; 22nd 1979-81 M.Pogorzelski; 23rd 1980-82 R.Galicki; 24th 1981-83 R.Skrobek; 25th 1983-84 T.Karpik; 26th 1983-85 H.Lew; 27th 1984-86 A.Warta; 28th 1985-87 Z.Blak; 29th 1986-88 R.Kwiecinski; 30th 1987-89 R.Dors; 31st 1988-90 Z.Marciniak; 32nd 1990-91 J.Zajaczkowski; 33rd 1991-92 D.Studzinski; 34th 1991-93 T.Chruszcz; 35th 1992-94 T.Chruszcz; 36th 1993-95 R.Tustanowski; 37th 1994-96 P.Tkaczyk; 38th 1995-97 R.Pierzak; 39th 1996-98 R.Ogiewka; 40th 1998-99 D.Gronkowski; 41st 1998-99 M.Jedrzejowski; 42nd 1999-2001 J.Tolloczko; 43rd 2000-2001 R.Tustanowski; 44th 2001-2004 T.Szafraniec; 45th 2002-2003 A.Krzyzanowski; 46th 2003-2004 W.Kozlowski; 47th 2004-2006 T.Baranowski; 48th 2005-2007 M.Nowakowski; 49a (1st email) 2005-2008 R.Wojtkowiak; 49th 2006-2008 A.Schön; 50th 2007-2009 A.Schön; 51st 2008-2009 T.Slawinski; 52nd 2009-2011 Z.Szczepanski; 53rd 2010-2013 A.Dzwikowski; 54th 2011-2012 J.Staniszewski; 55th 2012-2013 W.Kozlowski; 56th 2013-2014 W.Krzyzanowski; 57th 2014-2015 J.Nogal; 58th 2015-2016 D.Fraczek and T.Slawinski; 59th 2016-2017 R.Kowalczyk ; 60th 2017-2018 W.Krzyzanowski; 61st 2018-2019 L.Gorzkiewicz; 62nd 2019-2020 R.Probola; 63rd 2020-ongoing ?.
Polish Ladies CC Champions
1st 1972-74 J.Kandora; 2nd 1975-78 A.Kopiec; 3rd 1979-80 H.Salabun; 4th 1981-82 U.Maciejewska; 5th 1984-85 H.Salabun; 6th 1986-88 B.Tomaszek; 7th 1987-88 S.Siwek.
Polish Team CC Champions
1st 1971-72 Opole I (E. Kocem, A. Demitrow, J. Kuczynski, S. Kaminski, W. Dobrzynski, J. Kies); 2nd 1973-74 Bialystok (J. Gorski, B. Bieluczyk, E. Radziszewski, R. Borys, T. Bieluczyk, J. Tupalski, M. Onichimiuk, S. Sokolowski); 3rd 1976-77 Bialystok (R. Borys, J. Tupalski, T. Bieluczyk, W. Olszewski, Z. Stolnicki, J. Gorski, M. Onichimiuk, D. Klimaszewski); 4th 1978-80 Bialystok (R. Borys, J. Tupalski, E. Radziszewski, W. Olszewski, T. Bieluczyk, J. Gorski, A. Krajewska, J. Raczkowski); 5th 1980-82 Bialystok (R. Borys, J. Tupalski, E. Radziszewski, J. Kosciuk, T. Bieluczyk, J. Gorski, M. Brzozowska, A. Raczkowski); 6th 1983-85 Bialystok (T. Bieluczyk, R. Borys, J. Tupalski, E. Radziszewski, J. Kosciuk, J. Gorski, M. Tupalska, Z. Bienkowski); 7th 1985-87 Konin (Z. Kulczewski, M. Maciejewski, A. Bialkowski, W. Walaszczyk, A. Swiatnicki, J. Kaczmarek, A. Szymanska, W. Meczynski); 8th 1988-90 ZNP (J. Babiak, S. Mierzejewski, S. Swierczynski, R. Izdebski, R. Probola, B. Kusinski); 9th 1990-92 Bielsko-Biala (M. Matlak, M. Jaworski, A. Mroz, J. Matlak, A. Szczesiak, A. Misiuga); 10th 1992-94 Bielsko-Biala (M. Matlak, M. Jaworski, H. Seifert, J. Matlak, A. Misiuga, M. Gorecki); 11th 1994-96 Bialystok (R. Borys, J. Kosciuk, J. Tupalski, J. Gorski, A. Raczkowski, D. Cimicki); 12th 1997-98 Kalisz (J. Marcinkiewicz, A. Marcinkiewicz, J. Litwin, A. Szczepaniak, A. Dera, K. Winiarski); 13th 1999-2001 Poznan (D. Szczepankiewicz, T. Baranowski, I. Krygier, I. Nowak, J. Dziel, W. Szczepankiewicz); 14th 2001-2003 Slask Piekary Sl. (T.Szafraniec, M.Jedrzejowski, S.Kasperski, A.Masternak, R.Pierzak, T.Lew); 15th 2003-2005 “Slask-HetMaN Szopienice” Katowice (R.Skrobek, T.Szafraniec, S.Kasperski, A.Masternak, R.Pierzak/M.Nowakowski, W.Kozlowski); 16th 2005-2007 Poznan (D.Szczepankiewicz, R.Wojtkowiak, I.Nowak, W.Szczepankiewicz, T.Baranowski, I.Krygier); 17th (1st email) 2003-2005 Imperium Szachów (W.Niewiadomski, D.Domagala/R.Wojtkowiak, G.Krawczyk, Z.Sanner); 18th (2nd email) 2005-2006 Imperium Szachów (W.Niewiadomski, R.Wojtkowiak, G.Krawczyk, Z.Sanner); 19th (3rd email/server) 2006-2009 Imperium Szachów (W.Niewiadomski, M.Jaworski, W.Ciazela, F.Stanach); 20th 2011-2012 “HetMaN Szopienice” Katowice (R.Pierzak, D.Szczepankiewicz, M.Nowakowski, J.Pietrzak); 21st 2013-2014 Kielce-1 (P.Walczak, R.Szymanski, A.Zlotkowski, T.Walczak); 22nd 2015-2016 Lublin (J.Sawiniec, J.Staniszewski, W.Krzyzanowski, D.Fraczek); 23rd 2018-2019 Kraków (A.Zlotkowski, T.Slawinski, B.Jamka-Pietron, T.Walczak).
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In several dozen years correspondence chess in Poland have had a great popularity with a peak in 1984, when the bigest boom in Polish cc happened with a huge number of active players above 5,000! It is worth to mention that many top Polish OTB players participated in cc tournaments at that time.
Correspondence chess is a difficult discipline, especially in computer era, and currently not so much popular, Poland has only around 300 active players (at the end of 2014). Maybe the reason is that cc requires a lot of patience and preciseness. And not always these are the virtues of OTB players. Another reason might be the fear of worse result.
Participation in ICCF work
Many Polish delegates participated in ICCF work, but the most known are:
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Stanislaw Kania – liaison officer to FIDE, chairman of the FIDE/ICCF Commission and member of Qualifications and Rules Commission;
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Witold Bielecki – member and chairman of several ICCF working groups and committees/ commissions (Tournaments, Tournament Rules, Playing Rules, Appeals), TD for hundreds of tournaments, including World Championship finals, World Tournament Director;
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Mariusz Wojnar – Polish delegate to ICCF, deputy ICCF Ratings Commissioner since 2010, ICCF Qualifications Commissioner since 2013, World Cup 18 and 21 organizer, project leader for ICCF Diamond Jubilee Web Book called “Celebrating 60 years of the ICCF“.
International arbiters (IA) from Poland: W.Bielecki, J.Danieyko, S.Górkiewicz, A.Huchla, S.Kania, J.Lisak, J.Lubas, A.Nowicki, T.Peretjatkowicz, J.Pospiech, W.Sapa, M.Wojnar.
ICCF Congress was hosted by Poland 4 times:
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1973-Warsaw
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1983-Poznan
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1993-Gdansk
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2013-Kraków
Bertl von Massow Medals for faithful service to ICCF:
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in Gold (for 15 years)
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1998 Witold Bielecki
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1987 Stanislaw Kania
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in Silver (for 10 years)
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1987 Tadeusz Peretjatkowicz
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1986 Stanislaw Górkiewicz
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1985 Witold Bielecki
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1984 Stanislaw Kania
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1984 Jan Danieyko
International Tournaments Organized
The first international friendly match Poland-Netherlands (1927-?)
The first official regular international match after regaining independence by Poland organized by prof. W.Geier (POL) and J.Keemink (NED) was planned at 10 boards. Unfortunatelly, information is not complete and final result is unknown. We know only from 8 edition of “Szachy” (Lviv-at that time Polish city) that match Poland-Netherlands started on 10.05.1927 at boards:
1.W.Geier (Wloclawek)-T.H.Gond (Utrecht); 2.W.Pomochaczi (Lviv)-J.Keemink (Hilversum); 3.A.Wagner (Stanislawów)-W.Kersing (Utrecht); 4.H.Fridman (Lviv)-S.L.de Brie (Utrecht); 5.S.Hermanowski (Aleksandrów Kujawski)-Olland 6.D.Szaniawski (Dabrowa Górnicza)-H.van Groninger; 7.E.Arlamowski (Bochnia)-N.M.Boekdrukker (Hilversum)
Initially prof.Geier didn’t want to accept participation of Arlamowski, since he was schoolboy at the age of 14 at that time. Finaly Arlamowski played his first international games and besides with success (below his games from his archive published in KSzGK News Report 1975/2).
More information on friendly matches of Poland against other countries can be found at Polish cc website.
However, it is appropriate to mention here about very special and unique match – Match Witold’s Friends vs. Rest of the World, which was initiated on 08.02.2012 at 261 boards: server part at 252 boards and postal part at 9 boards. It seems to be one of the biggest matches in the history of ICCF. A friendly match Italy-Germany (1996-2000) played by more than 2 000 players: 1 111 Italians vs. 1 111 Germans still remains the biggest one.
World Cup 3 (1974-1986)
TO/TD Ernest Kocem (POL/GER), Witold Bielecki (POL) took over responsibilities from semifinals
preliminaries 1974-1976, 2619 enties from 43 countries, 194 sections; semifinals 1977-1980; final 1981-1986, 15 players;
Winners in final: 1.N.Rabinovich (URS), 2.A.Idema (NED), 3.N.Kristoffel (EST).
World Cup 6/ World Cup 7 (1986-2001) in memory of Bertl von Massow
TO/TD Witold Bielecki
preliminaries 1986-1989, 3603 entries, 328 sections; semifinals 1989-1994, 420 participants, 28 sections; final 6 1994-1999, 17 players; final 7 1994-2001, 17 players;
Winners in final 6: 1.O.Rause (LAT), 2.M.Voss (GER), 3.V.Normantas (LTU).
Winners in final 7: 1.A.Lepikhov (UKR), 2.I.Bern (NOR), 3.Krivonosovs,Valerijs (LAT)
World Cup 18 (2011-2019) in memory of Witold Bielecki
TO/TD Mariusz Wojnar
844 entries, 53 countries, 65 sections. Winners: two players are co-winners, Reinhard Moll (GER) and Stefan Ulbig (GER).
World Cup 21 (2015-2021)
TO/TD Mariusz Wojnar
929 entries, 52 countries, 72 sections. Winner: Matthias Gleichmann (GER).
ICCF Platinum Jubilee Events (2021-?)
TO Mariusz Wojnar
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Special Jubilee tournaments (world champions, elite players, ICCF officials, including events for postal players, elite 960 players) – start date 2021-03-15, duration about 2-4 years.
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Jubilee World Cups (regular and chess 960), separate events from the regular ICCF activities, carried out with the Silli system in 2 stages (preliminaries and final) over a 4-year period with special provisions for promotions – start date 2021-02-15.
1st Cultural Cities TT (1974-1977)
So called Cracow Jubilee tournament. Team tournament of European cities of merit in culture and science organized on the occation of 80th anniversary of Krakowski Klub Szachistów (Cracow Chess Club), founded in 1893. Tournament gathered 10 teams, 4 players per team [KSzGK News Report 1978/3]:
1.Dresden (GDR)-23, 2.Heidelberg (FRG)-22,5, 3.Debrecen (HUN)-22, 4.Kraków (POL) (J.Krzyszton, J.Konikowski, R.Gasiorowski, S.Porebski)-21, 5.Budapest (HUN)-20, 6.Nikolayew (URS)-18, 7.Žilina (CSR)-18, 8.Stockholm (SWE)-16,5, 9.Ljubljana (YUG)-11, 10.Rome (ITA)-8
Polish CC Federation 40 years (1976-1979)
Jubilee tournament organized on the occasion of 40th anniversary of Polish Correspondence Chess Federation foundation. Tournament gathered 17 players, all foreign players with international titles (ICCF or FIDE), each Polish participant was cc champion of Poland. TD E.Arlamowski [KSzGK News Report 1979/1]. Final results:
1.D.Lapienis (URS)-13,5/15, 2.J.Krzyszton (POL)-11, 3.S.Brzózka (POL)-10, 4.R.Sokolowski (POL)-8,5, 5.N.Preo (CAN)-8,5, 6.F.Smrcka (CSR)-8, 7.F.Grzeskowiak (FRG)-7,5, 8.T.Florian (HUN)-7,5, 9.I.Morozov (URS)-7, 10.G.R.Mitchel (ENG)-7, 11.G.Szewczyk (POL)-6, 12.J.Kondali (YUG)-6, 13.P.Diaconescu (ROU)-5,5, 14.P.Angelov (BUL)-5,5, 15.P.Heileman (FRG)-5, 16.W.Stern (GDR)-3,5.
Polish edition played in 3 stages, gathered 261 players in preliminaries started in 1974. Final (1977-1979):
1.L.Solarz-12,5/15, 2.G.Pawinski-11, 3.E.Krafczyk-11, etc …
2nd Cultural Cities TT (1980-1983)
So called Wroclaw Jubilee tournament. Team tournament of European cities of merit in culture and science organized by Wroclaw. Tournament gathered 9 teams, 4 players per team, TD J.Osuchowski [KSzGK News Report 1981/2]:
1.’s-Hertogenbosch (NED)-23,5, 2.Tartu (URS)-22,5, 3.Gdansk (POL)-20,5, 4.Kharkiv (URS)-18,5, 5.Warszawa (POL)-14,5, 6.Debrecen (HUN)-12,5, 7.Wroclaw (POL)-12, 8.Essen (FRG)-10, 9.Helsinki (FIN)-9,
3rd Cultural Cities TT (1986-1989)
So called Poznan Jubilee tournament. Team tournament of European cities of merit in culture and science organized by Poznan. Tournament gathered 11 teams, 4 players per team, TD R.Slawinski [KSzGK News Report 1981/2; 1990]:
1.Glasgow (SCO)-27,5, 2.’s-Hertogenbosch (NED)-25,5, 3.Budapest (HUN)-22, 4.Praga (CSR)-21,5, 5.Warszawa (POL)-20,5, 6.Lund (SWE)-19, 7.Arhus (DEN)-19, 8.Hamburg (FRG)-18, 9.Voronezh (URS)-18, 10.Poznan (POL)-14,5, 11.Gdansk (POL)-13,5.
Henryk Swinarski Memorial (1980-1983)
Henryk Swinarski (16 VI 1906 – 17 I 1975), lawyer, judge, president of Polish CC Federation for many years (1951-1963). [KSzGK News Report 1984/2]
IM=6,5/11; TD (IA) J.Danieyko (POL)
1.W.Zagorovski (URS)-8,5/11, 2.N.Karker (FRG)-7,5, 3.P.Bezzola (SUI)-7, 4.M.Kahn (GDR)-7, 5.A.Zmokly (POL)-7, 6.M.Braczko (POL)6,5, 7.P.Kenez (HUN)-5,5, 8.W.Bielecki (POL)-5,5, 9.V.Salceanu (ROM)-4,5, 10.L.Monostori (HUN)-4, 11.J.Babiak (POL)-3, 12.J.Jonczyk (POL)-0.
Józef Bannet Memorial (1986-1990)
The international CC tournament in tribute to Dr. Józef Bannet (1856-1922) – Polish lawyer from Krzeszowice, cc player and theoretician, played in tournaments organized by magazines “Uber Land und Meer” late in the 19th century, one of the founders of Cracow Chess Club in 1893 [KSzGK News Report 1973/3, p.32-34]. In 1895 this club played cc game with Lviv Chess Club (founded in 1895). Lviv gained victory in that game. In 1910 the club played 2-game match with Poznan Chess Club (founded in 1907). Poznan gained victory in it.
GM=8,5/12; TD T.Peretjatkowicz (POL);
1.R.Mallee (FRG)-8,5 (45,75), 2.R.Skrobek (POL)-8,5 (44,75), 3.Jar.Jezek (CSR)-8, 4.K.Engel (FRG)-7,5, 5.B.Bieluczyk (POL)-7, 6.K.Steijn (NED)-7, 7.P.Lehikoinen (FIN)-6, 8.H.Sarink (NED)-5,5, 9.A.Berggreen (DEN)-5, 10.S.Brzózka (POL)-4,5, 11.R.Wolny (POL)-4,5, 12.R.Wikman (FIN)-3,5, 13.G.Szewczyk (POL)-2,5.
Let me draw your attention to interesting fact, that it was the first start of Pertti Lehikoinen (20th World Champion, 2004-2011) in an international event as a GM. It was one of his worst events. He wrote that he probably forgot about an old principle: “Its is not enough that you are a grandmaster, you must play like a grandmaster”.
Jerzy Krzyszton Memorial (1999-2004)
Jerzy Krzyszton (1940-1997) – GM from 1992, one of the best Polish players, first Polish player in World CCC final – 5th place in 7th WC final (1972-1976), 4th place in 12th WC final (1984-1991).
1.R.Skrobek (POL)-11,5/14, 2.G.Toro Solis de Ovando (CHI)-10, 3.A.Lepikhov (UKR)-9,5, 4.D.Lybin (BLR)-9,5, 5.J.Copie (ARG)-9, 6.M.Jedrzejowski (POL)-7,5, 7.P.Cimmino (ITA)-7,5, 8.J.de Mauro (USA)-7, 9.T.Szafraniec (POL)-7, 10.A.Vinje (NOR)-6,5, 11.M.Prizant (ENG)-5,5, 12.J.-U.Klugel (SUI)-5,5, 13.M.Jaworski (POL)-5, 14.H.Wohlfahrt (AUT)-3, 15.W.Sapa (POL)-1.
Szachy Chess Cup (2000-2003)
cat.13, GM=8/14, IM=5/14; TD: Carlos Flores Gutiérrez (ESP)
Tournament organized by the Polish CC Federation in the name of Piotr Kaczorowski, the owner and chief editor of “Szachy Chess” magazine fouded in 1993. Unfortunately, P.Kaczorowski withdrew silently from the event.
1.M.Nimtz-9,5 (62,50) 2.C.Costa-9,5 (61,75) 3.S.Teichmeister-9,5 (60,00) 4.A.Lepikhov-8,5 5.C.Sender-8,5 6.J.Martin Clemente-7 7.J.Jedrzejczak-7 8.V.Andriulaitis-6,5 9.J.Mercadal Benejam-6,5 10.A.Bjuhr-6,5 11.J.Aldrete Lobo-6,5 12.A.Rauduve-6,5 13.J-C.Luers-6 14.H-E. v Kempen-6 15.P.Kaczorowski-1
Bogdan Sliwa Memorial (2004-2006)
Bogdan Sliwa (1922-2003) – double GM (CC-1996 and OTB-1987); six times OTB Champion of Poland (1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1960); Vice-champion in 1st Polish CC Championship (1948-50).
TD: Józef Lubas (POL)
1.J.Konikowski (GER)-9/14, 2.R.Wojtkowiak8,5, 3.M.Jedrzejowski-8, 4.D.Szczepankiewicz-8, 5.T.Baranowski-8, 6.G.Krawczyk-7,5, 7.R.Kurylo (LTU)-7, 8.A.Krzyzanowski (POL)-7, 9.R.Pierzak (POL)-7, 10.M.Jaworski (POL)-7, 11.A.Marcinkiewicz (POL)-7, 12.W.Krzyzanowski (POL)-6,5, 13.L.Galkowski (POL)-6,5, 14.R.Czaja (POL)-4,5, 15.E.Bortnik (POL)-3,5.
1. International Malopolska Cup (2005-2009)
(A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, C-1, C-2)
cat.9, GM=8/11 SIM=6,5/11 IM=5,5/11; TD: R.Slawinski (POL)
section A-1: 1.N.Piculjan (CRO)-7,5, 2.Z.Nývlt (CZE)-7, 3.J.Trusewicz (POL)-7, 4.M.Oliveira (BRA)-7, 5.V.Ketola (FIN)-6, 6.H.-J.Isigkeit (GER)-6, 7.A.Gysi (SUI)-6, 8.S.Genga (ITA)-5,5, 9.Y.Yaroshenko (UKR)-5,5, 10.E.Üksti (EST)-4,5, 11.S.Pasierb (GER)-3, 12.M.Tritt (POL)-1.
section A-2: 1.J.Bennborn (SWE)-8, 2.J.Stephan (GER)-8, 3.I.Chiru (ROU)-7,5, 4.T.Schwetlick (GER)-6,5, 5.T.Baranowski (POL)-6,5, 6.V.Baklanov (RUS)-5,5, 7.R.Wojtkowiak (POL)-5,5, 8.F.Ruppel (GER)-4,5, 9.K.Bochev (BUL)-4, 10.R.Kujawski (POL)-3,5, 11.J.-M.Dijon (FRA)-3,5, 12.M.Tritt (POL)-2.
section A-3: 1.U.Joppich (GER)-7,5, 2.S.Olsen (NOR)-7,5, 3.P.Cutillas (ESP)-7, 4.C.Pauwels (BEL)-6,5, 5.A.Davidov (BUL)-6, 6.K.Kolehmainen (FIN)-6, 7.S.Delavekouras (GRE)-5,5, 8.H.Prokopp (GER)-5,5, 9.T.Makowski (POL)-5, 10.D.Lozano (COL)-4, 11.G.Dobrei (ROU)-3, 12.M.Tritt (POL)-0,5.
MDK Malbork 20 years Final (2007-2008), SF (2005-2007)
TD: Józef Lubas (POL)
1.B.Skonieczna (POL)-8,5, 2.R.Wojtkowiak (POL)-8, 3.H.-J.Taulien (GER )-7,5, 4.M.Marko (SVK)-7, 5.S.Bonetti (SCO)-5,5, 6.G.Manole (ROU)-5, 7.A.Sidenko (RUS)-5, 8.T.Dyda (POL)-4, 9.T.Klapiszewski (POL)-3, 10.F.Gómez Celdrán (ESP)-1,5, 11.M.Watorek (POL)-0.
Witold Bielecki Memorial/ Team Tournament (2012-2016)
Team tournament for players rated below 2000, two stages – preliminaries and final. Organized by ICCF-Europa, TO: Caressa, Marco (ITA).
TD: Mariusz Wojnar (POL)
22 teams entries (only European countries could enter one national team), 3 sections: each 7-8 teams (Preliminary 1, Preliminary 2, Preliminary 3)
final 11 teams; winner: Belarus
Witold Bielecki Memorial (2012-2015)
Section Top players (2012-2015) – cat.16, GM=6/12; TD: Carlos Flores Gutiérrez (ESP)
start list (alphabetical order): S.Busemann (GER), R.Hall (ENG), D.Hoeven (NED), D.Lafarga (ESP), R.Langeveld (NED), L.Ljubicic (CRO), A.Nickel (GER), N.Papenin (UKR), R.-R.Starke (GER), Z.Szczepanski (POL), M.Voss (GER), T.Wilczek (POL), H.-D.Wunderlich (GER).
Two players are co-winners: GM Stephan Busemann (GER) and GM David A. van der Hoeven (NED)
Section Bravo (2012-2014) at cat.12, GM=7,5/12; TD: Hans-Jürgen Isigkeit (GER)
list of participants (in alphabetical order): M.Bescós (ESP), A.Bubir (UKR), S.Galanov (RUS), A.Haugen (NOR), K.Kögler (GER), A.Nekhaev (RUS), M.Noble (NZL), R.Pierzak (POL), M.Sadowski (POL), A.Schön (POL), M.Sferle (ROU), J.Staniszewski (POL), Z.Straka (CZE)
Two players are co-winners: GM Rafael Pierzak (POL) oraz GM Manuel Bescós (ESP)
Principal Achievements
Poland as a team gained 3 beautiful and exceptional results:
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Gold Medal in 8th Ladies Olympiad (2008-2010)
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team: 1.B.Skonieczna, 2.A.Szczepaniak, 3.B.Lubas, 4.B.Wójcik-Wojtkowiak
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Bronze Medal in 13th Olympiad (2004-2009)
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team: R.Skrobek, 2.M.Jedrzejowski, 3.W.Krzyzanowski, 4.D.Szczepankiewicz, 5.T.Szafraniec, 6.W.Kozlowski
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Bronze Medal in 4th Ladies Olympiad (1992-1997)
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team: 1.K.Radzikowska, 2.D.Pietrzak, 3.W.Zajac-Makowiecka, 4.A.Szczepaniak
GM Jerzy Krzyszton and ladies Ewa Górska and Maria Górska were the first Poles who played in World Championship finals. It deserves to be mentioned here participation of three Poles (Wiktor Geier, Alexander Wagner and Camenzind) in Propadanda Turnier 1928-1930.
Title holders
There is 101 titled players in Poland (July 2021): 10xGM, 38xSIM, 45xIM, 3xLGM, 5xLIM. Besides 18xIA comes from Poland. Full list you can find at page “Tytuly ICCF nadane Polakom“. List is updated on regular basis.
Personalities
GM Stefan Brzózka (born 05.10.1931) – first Polish CC grandmaster (1985); 8th Champion of Poland (1965-66).
GM Jerzy Krzyszton (1940-1997) - N°1 of Polish CC for a long time; GM-1992; 9th Champion of Poland (1966-67); 5th place in 7th World Championship final (1972-75); 4th place in 12th World Championship final (1984-90).
GM Zygmunt Pioch (born 30.10.1939); GM-1991; double Champion of Poland – 14th (1970-72) and 15th (1972-74).
GM Bogdan Sliwa (1922-2003) – double GM (CC-1996 and OTB-1987); six times OTB Champion of Poland (1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1960); Vice-champion in 1st Polish CC Championship (1948-50).
GM Ryszard Skrobek (born 04.07.1951) – GM-1990; OTB Champion of Poland (1977); 24th Champion of Poland (1981-83); 13th Olympiad final (2004-2009), board 1 - bronze medal for Poland.
GM Maciej Nizynski (born 1965) – GM-2000; 1st place in WC17/ct5 with amazing result 14/16 (87,5%) and promotion to World Championship final.
GM Jan Marcinkiewicz (born 08.05.1948) – GM-2006; 6th place in 23rd World Championship final (2007-2011).
GM Zbigniew Szczepanski (born 12.05.1957) – GM-2011; 52nd Champion of Poland (2009-2011), 1st Polish GM participating in 16 category tournament (Witold Bielecki Memorial – start date 01.03.2012).
GM Rafael Pierzak (born 20.12.1973) – GM-2013; 38th Champion of Poland (1995-1997).
GM Jacek Oskulski (born 10.02.1958) – GM-2018; final of the 29th World Championships (2015-2018) - silver medalist.
LGM Barbara Skonieczna (born 15.06.1957) – first Polish CC lady grandmaster LGM-2010; 8th Ladies Olympiad final (2008-2010), board 1 - gold medal for Poland.
LGM Alicja Szczepaniak (born 03.08.1953) - second Polish CC lady grandmaster LGM-2011; 8th Ladies Olympiad final (2008-2010), board 2 - gold medal for Poland; 4th Ladies Olympiad final (1992-1997), board 4 – bronze medal for Poland.
LIM Krystyna Radzikowska (1931-2006) – ILM-1995, OTB WGM-1984; 9 (!) times OTB Lady Champion of Poland (1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1966, 1969); 4th Ladies Olympiad final (1992-1997), board 1 – bronze medal for Poland.
LIM Anna Jurczynska (1926-2009) – ILM-1977, OTB IM-1981; 5 (!) times OTB Lady Champion of Poland (1962, 1965, 1973, 1974, 1978); 1st Ladies Olympiad final (1974-1979), board 1 – individual result 5,0/7 (and ILM title).
IM & IA Witold Bielecki (1947-2008) - president of the Polish Correspondence Chess Federation and Polish delegate to ICCF, correspondence chess player and official since 1964, IM since 1996 and IA since 1978, member and chairman of several ICCF working groups and committees/ commissions (Tournaments, Tournament Rules, Playing Rules, Appeals); performed function as a national team captain many times; directed hundreds of tournaments, including eight editions of World Championship final (from 15 to 23, except of 19); laid down main effort as TO and TD for three World Cups (3rd, 6th and 7th) with total amount of 6.222 (sic!) entries; in 1998 at ICCF Congress in Riga (Latvia) awarded him with “Bertl von Massow” medal in Gold for 15 years meritorious work for ICCF; great chess friend of us, always ready to assist you.
Witold Bielecki, former Poland’s delegate to ICCF and World CC Championship Tournament Director