December Server Update

Monday, December 29, 2014: The final server update of 2014 will be applied tomorrow morning (30th December); there may be up to an hour unavailability during the update, for which we apologise in advance.

Dear Chessfriends,

The final server update of 2014 will be applied tomorrow morning (30th December); there may be up to an hour unavailability during the update, for which we apologise in advance.

The most significant part of the update for players will be the automation features introduced by Congress in Australia earlier this year.

For ICCF tournaments starting in 2015, claims will no longer be necessary for ETL or 3b infractions, the server will set these results automatically. Additionally games which have ended by ETL will be marked on crosstables with a superscript "E". Automatic flags will be mandatory for ICCF events, however federations are not obliged to use these features for national games.

The implementation of the Server Playing Rule 3b has been clarified; once the allowed 40 days have passed, no move will be possible until a claim has been received and accepted or rejected, or the game has been ended by the automatic flag. This will eliminate any confusion caused by retrospective claims.

It should no longer be necessary for tournament directors to set results, most results should now be completely handled by the claim system. The set result screen is still available and can be used in extraordinary circumstances, however results which are not legal according to the Laws of Chess are not selectable.

PGN exported by the Games Archivist should now include the "Termination" flag, which is supported by Aquarium and will be supported by ChessBase in a future update.

It should be possible for Tournament Organisers to set viewing rules in postal events so that completed games are visible.

Various updates have been applied to assist the work of ICCF Officials, including the Qualifications Commissioner and ACO Chair.

Austin Lockwood

ICCF Services Director

29th December 2014

• Server Update