Correspondence Chess in Turkiye

To popularize CC throughout Turkiye steps were taken by enthusiasts individually in the 40s. Although the first attempts were made in 1945, whether they bore any fruit is debatable. One of the leading figures of chess, Ali Riza Alpar, who lived in Foça, Izmir, suggested in a letter sent to the Turkish Chess Magazine in 1945 that he wanted to play two Correspondence Chess games with Mübin Boysan (A notable Turkish OTB player) by exchanging letters, with Mübin Boysan playing with white in the first game and black in the second. The proposal was forwarded to Mübin Boysan, who accepted it. This event was reported in the October 1945 issue (p. 73) of the Turkish Chess Magazine, and it was announced that the game would be published in the magazine. However, in subsequent issues, there was no news that these games had actually taken place.

The First National Correspondence Chess Tournament

The pioneer of Correspondence Chess in Turkiye was engineer Villi Kornfilt. In 1943, at the age of 30, he became a member of the Istanbul Chess Association upon Selim Palavan's recommendation. He was among the skilled chess players of his time and prepared the "problem and study" page in the first issue of the Turkish Chess Magazine. Due to work intensity, he could not participate in tournaments very often. His love and passion for chess directed him towards Correspondence Chess, and he achieved significant successes in the international Correspondence Chess arena. He made significant efforts in the formation of our national team and in achieving important international successes in Correspondence Chess.

Villi Kornfilt wanted to organize Correspondence Chess at the national level. His efforts were actualized in 1958. Thirteen participants joined the tournament, which began on April 10, 1958. The tournament lasted for thirteen months and was completed in May 1959. Villi Kornfilt became the winner of the tournament.

Nevzat Süer described Villi Kornfilt in an article he wrote in Süer Chess Magazine on the occasion of his death anniversary, saying, "... Later, due to the heavy load of his work, he began to take an interest in correspondence chess games. He was carrying pocket chess sets and games with him, and whenever he had a little opportunity, he would start analyzing."

Correspondence Chess in the Turkish Chess Federation Regulations

 After the Turkish Correspondence Chess Tournament organized by Villi Kornfilt in 1958, a dormant period began until 1971. Although national tournaments were not organized during this period, some expert chess players participated in international correspondence chess tournaments and achieved significant success. Especially with the success of our team in the 5th Correspondence Chess Olympiad, which started on February 20, 1962 and ended on February 15, 1964, organized by ICCF, these efforts bore fruit in 1965. With the addition of Article 16 to the Turkish Chess Federation Legislation in the General Assembly held on September 12, 1965, Correspondence Chess was included the Turkish Chess Federation Legislation and its programs. "Article 16 states the following: "Our Federation is authorized to organize all chess activities carried out by correspondence (Korrespondans), whether at home or abroad". However, the federation did not directly organize any activities. It supported magazines and teams that wanted to organize them.

Süer Chess Magazine - Correspondence Chess Tournaments

Nevzat Süer wanted to revive the national correspondence chess tournaments that were not held since 1958. He believed that correspondence chess was going to be an important factor in the dissemination of chess in Turkiye. In an article published in his magazine, he expressed this aim as follows: "... chess clubs require financial resources and great effort to be established and to grow, until these take place we need correspondence chess, which will increase the number of chess enthusiasts and improve their playing skills."

In the January 1971 issue of the Süer Chess Magazine, a correspondence chess tournament encompassing Turkiye was announced under the title "Good News to Our Readers!" The announcement stated that the competition will be open to everyone and will be played in groups of seven people. Upon application, each of the seven players will be grouped together, and the matches will start immediately in the respective group. A circular containing all the information about the tournament  was going to  be sent to everyone who applied.

The participants who applied to participate in the tournament were going to receive a translated version of the correspondence chess regulations of ICCF. Initially, four groups were formed, and in April, May, and June, the fifth, sixth, and seventh groups were established, respectively. In the following months, the number of participants in the tournament reached approximately 80 people. In the first five groups, it was observed that 8 people from Ankara, 16 from Istanbul, 2 from Çankiri, 3 from Elazig, 1 from Sirnak, 2 from Van, 3 from Kirikkale, 1 from Lüleburgaz, and 1 from Ankara Elmadag participated. Later on, there were also participations from Karadeniz Ereglisi, Kars, Sarikamis, and other provinces and regions.

While the correspondence chess tournament continued, Süer implemented four new projects in this field.

1st Project: In July, a new correspondence chess tournament was going to be announced as a new organization. Registrations had started, and Tunç Hamarat and Ilhan Ergun were going to serve as administrators and referees in this organization.

2nd Project: In the project announced in July 1971, it was going to be possible for people to play correspondence chess matches with well-known master chess players. Cem Pekün is the first master chess player to participate in the project. People from Turkiye were going to be able to play correspondence chess with master chess players like him.

3rd Project: One of the goals of the project announced in August 1971 was the organization of correspondence team matches between clubs. At around the same time, Süer made a written call to the Istanbul Chess Association and the Ankara Chess Association on behalf of the Kadiköy Chess Club, of which he was the manager. The Istanbul Chess Association responded positively to the call and announced their team squad that was going to compete.

1- Cihan Gurbuz Karaca 11,5; 2- Tolga Goze 11; 3- Atilla Gurmen 10,5 & Zafer Ilken 10,5; 5- Cahit Sadi Kayis 9 & Mehmet Zirek 9; 7- Nejdet Esen 8,5 & Vedat Ali Aksu 8,5; 9- Coskun Duman 6,5; 10- Ismail Caliskan 6

After that the second Chess School Championship Finals started on ICCF webserver in 2007 (see results below).

2007 School Correspondence Chess Championship Final:

1- Coskun Duman 7,5 & Cahit Sadi Kayis; 3- Tuncay Sen 6,5 & Enver Tatlicioglu
 
Unfortunately this was the last school chess championships final. It was time to organize Turkish Championship with the efficient number of players in this new period. School chess was also going to support the championship.

Many strong players played in the 1st Turkish Championship which began in 2007. It was sad for A.s. Dikmen not to play, but there was a need for an arbiter in this tournament.
 
You can find the final standing of this championship below:

2007 Turkish Championships Final

In 2009, correspondence chess was included in the Turkish Chess Federation legislation. For the first time, 2009 and 2010 Turkish Championships were granted with good prizes & awards. The number of players seriously increased in a short time. We hosted 2010 ICCF Congress in Kemer/Antalya. Turkish Chess Federation also organized Mare Nostrum -4 (Mediterranean Games). The prize fund of this tournament was 1500 USD. Turkish Chess Federation supported Turkish Correspondence Chess Championships with promotions and prizes.

2009 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship

2010 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship

When we think about our international achievements, the first success came in 2006. Arif Küçükalioglu became the first Turkish player who gaine qualification for the world championship final, but unfortunately he stopped playing.

Tansel Turgut got GM title in 2008 and took part in World Championship 24 final. He became third following a close finish by half a point.

In 2010, Fatih Atakisi became the second Grandmaster of Turkiye.

Turkish players did also play in the Asia-Africa Zonal Championships with good results. You can see list of our players who won these championships till today:

• 3.AA Championship Arif Kucukali
• 4.AA Championship Ali Dikmen
• 8.AA Championship Nejdet Esen
• 10.AA Championship Atilla Gurmen

During Mr. Dikmen's delegation years  Turkiye played friendly matches against Argentina, Germany, Hong Kong, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and Australia.

Aziz Serhat Kural became the ICCF Turkiye Delegate in 2012 upon the request of Ali Semih Dikmen, and shortly thereafter, ICCF introduced a limited number of player quotas for the AA Zonal. Later, Turkiye was admitted to the European Zone, and the AA Championships became a thing of the past. During this period, from 2012 to the present day, two major events took place in Turkish Correspondence Chess. The first was Dr. Murat Akdag's achievement of the GM title, and he is currently one of the strongest candidates in the 32nd World Championship Final. During this time, friendly matches were played with the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Venezuela, and Mexico, and victories were achieved against the US and Germany. In 2016, as a result of PayPal's refusal to comply with Banking Regulations in Turkiye, and ICCF's suspension of credit card payment system without notice, players were unable to register for tournaments for a while. A proposal was submitted to ICCF to amend this and it was accepted but eventually the issue was solved by the transition of Turkiye to the World Zone which accepted payments through the STRIPE payment platform. This was the second major event. Australia and New Zealand followed Turkiye's transition to the World Zone.

In 2014, upon the instruction of the Federation President, the 2014-2015 Turkish Championship was organized. The results of this tournament are as follows:

2014-15 Yaziismali Satranç Türkiye Birinciligi

In 2016, a plan was made to organize an Atatürk Memorial Tournament by reaching an agreement with the Federation, but it was not approved by ICCF. In its place, Nevzat Süer Memorial Tournament was organized, and the tournament was held with A and B groups . The aim was to allow our low-rated players to play among stronger players by invitation so that they could improve themselves. Indeed, Turkish players were in the top three spots in both groups, and one of our players achieved the IM title.

You can find the tournament schedules for A and B groups below:

Nevzat Süer Memorial 2016 Grup A

Nevzat Süer Memorial 2016 Grup B

Finally, despite being postponed due to the inclusion of the Nevzat Süer Memorial tournament, the Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship was held in 2020 with a slight delay . You can find the tournament link below:

2020 Türkiye Yazismali Satranç Birinciligi

Currently we are seeking to arrange and gather players for friendly matches between Cuba, Germany, Mexico, Colombia and the US.

Active Turkish Players - Above 2000 Rating - 2023/2