Fun With Post Cards

     Poking around in the database of my games I came across a reasonably well played game from the Correspondence Chess League of America's Grand National Championship. Unfortunately most of my games, both OTB and postal, have been lost and only a handful are in my database. 
     This was, I think, the last correspondence event in which I played using post cards which cost $0.20, but I didn't use regular post cards.  I bought a sheet of 4 perforated post cards from Office Max and used the computer to print out my own move-mailing cards.  I also dug out a set of old Chess Review chess piece stamps to diagram the position.
     Chess engines were pretty strong even in those days, the top rated ones being Deep Fritz, Gambit Tiger, Chess Tiger, Shredder 5.32 and Junior 7.0.  But, the CCLA players were a pretty honest bunch because I never suspected that any of my opponents where using an engine.
     Looking at the CCLA's website was disappointing because they only have 381 players. I am not sure what the past membership numbers were, but 381 members looks awfully low. Unfortunately it seems that chess played by post cards has gone the way of the buggy whip.  E-mail and server play is OK and has advantages, but somehow fiddling with postal recorder albums, move-by-mail cards and actually setting up a chess set and tinkering with the pieces was a lot more satisfying, at least that's the way I remember it. 

     The CCLA's Grand National has been played every year since 1933. It's a two-round event with each player playing six games in each round, A score of 4-2 or better is required to advance to the second round. The winner is determined by highest point total for both rounds. 
     Beginning in 1933, the CCLA reorganized its tournament offerings with the revival of the old Pillsbury National Correspondence Chess Association's Grand National. That first “modern” Grand National drew 134 players who were vying for state and regional championships. Section winners got a gold medal and a spot in the second round. The three finalist then played for the championship which was won by H.E. Jennings who received a trophy. 
     The Grand National was supposed to be a one time event, but it was so popular that it continued as an annual tournament. The event has had many prominent postal players as winners. John W. Collins won the 1937 event and the impressive Henry D. Hibbard trophy. It's not to be confused with the Westfield, New Jersey club’s Henry D. Hibbard Cup The last known holder of the postal trophy was Curtis Garner, the 1950 winner. Read more...  
     Because the CCLA was affiliated with the National Chess Federation in those days the winner was considered the US Correspondence Champion. The National Chess Federation was founded in 1927 to organize U.S. participation in the Olympiads and held the invitational U.S. Championship beginning in 1936. 
     In 1939, the United States of America Chess Federation was created in Illinois through the merger of the American Chess Federation and National Chess Federation. The American Chess Federation, formerly the Western Chess Association, had held an annual open championship since 1900; that tournament, after the merger, became the U.S. Open. 
     Some prominent names included among the Grand National winners have been: Dr. Bela Rozsa, Paul Poschel, C. Fred Tears, Dr, Isaac Farber, Nicholas A. Preo, John T. Westbrock, Irving Kandel (10 times!), Dr. Norman Hornstein, Leonid Dreibergs and Ted Dunst. 
     The two most interesting players in this list were no doubt Kandel (see my post HERE) and the strangest of all, Nicholas A. Preo. You can read the Preo story HERE.