Chess on IECG

  

Simon Webb

     The International Email Chess Group was an electronically based organization whose aim was to organize, develop and promote the study and practice of international e-mail or server correspondence chess all over the world. 

     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. 

[Event "IECG World Championship"] [Site "IECG"] [Date "1997.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Webb, Simon"] [Black "Pecha, Martin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2327"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1997.05.??"] [EventType "tourn (corr)"] {Gruenfeld Exchange Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 {This the main line against the Gruenfeld; white sets up an imposing P-center.} Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 {Black will attack the center while white will use it to launch an attack against the King.} 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 {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 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 {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. O-O {An interesting position. Black is two Ps up, but white has scored very well from this position.} Bg4 (12... Nd7 {This move increases black's winning chances and so is probably his best choice.} 13. Re1 Nb6 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. h3 f5 16. Rb1 Qa2 17. Qc1 {The position is equal and in Anand,V (2769)-Leko,P (2725) Linares 2000 the game was eventually drawn.}) 13. Bg5 {At the cost of a tempo white induces black to weaken his K-side.} h6 {Other moves are worse.} 14. Be3 b6 15. Qd3 { [%mdl 1024]} Rc8 16. h3 Bd7 17. Nd2 Qc2 18. Qa3 {White need to keep the Qs on is he is to have any hope of mustering up an attack.} (18. Qxc2 Rxc2 19. d5 Bd4 20. Bxh6 a5 {is to black's advantage.}) 18... Bxd4 19. Bxh6 {Threatening Rfc1 winning the Q} Qc5 20. Qg3 {[%mdl 2048] Black is now under some pressure on the K-side.} Be5 21. Qh4 Bf6 22. Qg3 Be5 23. Qh4 Bf6 24. Qg3 {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. Qf4 Qe5 25. Qxe5 Bxe5 {and black is better... white's K-side attacking chances have disappeared.}) 24... Qc3 {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... Nc6 {was a must if black wants to keep his chances alive. After} 25. Nf3 Nd4 26. Nxd4 Bxd4 {The position offers equal chances.}) 25. Nf3 {Black must now prevent Rfc1.} Qc2 {An inaccuracy that gives white a winning edge.} (25... Nc6 {Getting his N into play is vital.} 26. Be3 Ne5 27. Ng5 b5 { With equal chances; 5 Shootouts were all drawn.}) 26. e5 Qxe2 {This loses quickly.} (26... Bg7 {was his best try although after} 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28. Rfe1 Nc6 29. Ba6 Rd8 30. e6 fxe6 31. Bb7 Rab8 32. Bxc6 Bxc6 33. Qe5+ Kg8 34. Qxe6+ Kh8 35. Rbc1 {wins easily.}) 27. exf6 exf6 28. Rbd1 Qb5 29. Rd6 Qh5 30. Be3 Be6 31. Nd4 {Prevents Nc6. Black is essentially playing a R and N down.} Re8 32. Nxe6 fxe6 33. Ra1 {Prevents ...Na6} Qf5 34. Ra4 {[%mdl 32]} g5 35. Bxg5 { [%mdl 512] The crusher.} Qg6 36. Rg4 f5 37. Rh4 Qg7 38. Rh6 Rf8 39. Rdxe6 { 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