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| Simon Webb |
It started in 1995 and ceased operations on December 31, 2010 because e-email play had quickly declined in popularity making it impossible to form tournaments in a reasonable time.
There were also other problems with e-mail like viruses and spam filters that made playing by e-mail difficult. It was for that reason that IECG
stopped its operations and transferred its activities to Lechenicher SchachServer Server which is run by Dr. Ortwin Paetzold, one of the IECG founders.
The last IECG World Champion was IECG Senior Master Sergei Bubir from Ukraine. IECG's first World Champion in 1996 was Simon Webb (June 10, 1949 – March 14, 2005), a British IM and Correspondence GM. He was once ranked seventh in the world in correspondence chess
On March 14, 2005, the mild mannered Webb, who was living in Sweden, was stabbed to death in his kitchen. Police said that the attack was carried out by his 25-year-old mentally disturbed son, Dennis.
According to teammate Per Soederberg they were playing together in the finals of the Swedish Chess League in Malmo and after the game Webb said goodbye and took a train to Stockholm. Soederberg guessed that Webb must have arrived home at about 1am. And, at about that time he apparently had an argument with his son.
Dennis had served four years in prison for drug related offenses and his friends said that, unlike his father's placid demeanor, he had an explosive temperament.
Police said that Dennis first shoved his father then grabbed a kitchen knife which he dug into Webb’s stomach.
Webb's wife, Anna, heard her husband screaming and came out into the hall to see him lying in a pool of blood having been stabbed repeatedly. Immediately after the stabbing Dennis grabbed the car keys and stormed out of the house and Mrs. Webb called the police and tried to stop the bleeding.
Dennis drove at high speed through the suburb of Kallhaell, a 30-minute drive from the center of Stockholm. According to police Inspector Hans Strindlund's statement Dennis crashed the car at about 80 miles per hour into a bus stop and as a result of the crash he suffered a broken nose.
Between 2004 and 2009 I played 41 e-mail games on IECG, scoring +5 -7 =29. There were no rules against the use of engines and the top engines were (I think) Fritz, Junior and Rybka.
My first tournament in 2004 was entered at my Correspondence Chess League of America rating which was 2000-something. I was unaware that there wasn't any rules against engine use in IECG tournaments and so my 6th place (out of 7) finish with a +0 -4 =2 score wasn't bad because my draws were with one of the aforementioned engines.
Looking over the games today reveals that none of them rates a second look. Consequently, let's take a look at one of Simon Webb's games.
Webb, Simon2682–Pecha, Martin23271–0D85IECG World ChampionshipIECG1997Stockfish 15
Gruenfeld Exchange Variation 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 4.cxd5 This the
main line against the Gruenfeld; white sets up an imposing P-center. xd5 5.e4 xc3 6.bxc3 g7 7.f3 c5 Black will attack the center while white will
use it to launch an attack against the King. 8.b1 0-0 9.e2 Black has, in
addition to his next move which is by far the most popular, both 9...Nc6 which
has not yielded good results and 9...b6 which, while giving better results
than developing the N is not so good as the excahnge on d4. cxd4 10.cxd4 a5+ 11.d2 xa2 Keep an eye on black's a- and b-Pawns backed up by the R and
supported by the N...they look very dangerous. 12.0-0 An interesting
position. Black is two Ps up, but white has scored very well from this
position. g4 12...d7 This move increases black's winning chances and so
is probably his best choice. 13.e1 b6 14.a1 b2 15.h3 f5 16.b1 a2 17.c1 The position is equal and in Anand,V (2769)-Leko,P (2725) Linares 2000
the game was eventually drawn. 13.g5 At the cost of a tempo white induces
black to weaken his K-side. h6 Other moves are worse. 14.e3 b6 15.d3
c8 16.h3 d7 17.d2 c2 18.a3 White need to keep the Qs on
is he is to have any hope of mustering up an attack. 18.xc2 xc2 19.d5 d4 20.xh6 a5 is to black's advantage. 18...xd4 19.xh6 Threatening Rfc1
winning the Q c5 20.g3 Black is now under some pressure on
the K-side. e5 21.h4 f6 22.g3 e5 23.h4 f6 24.g3 Now 24...Be5 is
a three fold repetition. White was willing to allow it because if he had tried
to avoid it black would have gained the advantage. As it turns out, black
should ahve taken the draw! 24.f4 e5 25.xe5 xe5 and black is better...
white's K-side attacking chances have disappeared. 24...c3 While this
position is judged to be very slightly better for white, black clearly wants
to play for the win. Note that after this move black's R and N never get into
the game. 24...c6 was a must if black wants to keep his chances alive.
After 25.f3 d4 26.xd4 xd4 The position offers equal chances. 25.f3 Black must now prevent Rfc1. c2 An inaccuracy that gives white a winning
edge. 25...c6 Getting his N into play is vital. 26.e3 e5 27.g5 b5
With equal chances; 5 Shootouts were all drawn. 26.e5 xe2 This loses
quickly. 26...g7 was his best try although after 27.xg7 xg7 28.fe1 c6 29.a6 d8 30.e6 fxe6 31.b7 ab8 32.xc6 xc6 33.e5+ g8 34.xe6+ h8 35.bc1 wins easily. 27.exf6 exf6 28.bd1 b5 29.d6 h5 30.e3 e6 31.d4 Prevents Nc6. Black is essentially playing a R and N down. e8 32.xe6 fxe6 33.a1 Prevents ...Na6 f5 34.a4 g5 35.xg5
The crusher. g6 36.g4 f5 37.h4 g7 38.h6 f8 39.dxe6
Black resigned. The two passed Ps on the Q-side aided by the R and N that
looked so promising early on never even came close to getting into the game. 1–0
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