Congress

Welcome to the website of Congress 2023!

Date: 20 - 24 August

Location: Double Tree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station, Oosterdokstraat 4, 1011 DK Amsterdam, The Netherlands For staying at the Congress hotel, your registration needs to be received before the 26th of May

Hosted by: The Nederlandse Bond van Correspondentieschakers (NBC)

All ICCF Delegates and Officials are warmly invited to attend - more details will appear on this website as Congress approaches.

After 1955 Amsterdam presidium, 1956 Amsterdam congress, 1959 Amsterdam congress, 1972 Arnhem presidium, 1987 Bloemendaal congress, now again back in Amsterdam HOORAY!!!

Amici Sumus

Wim van Vugt, President of the NBC

Joop Jansen, National Delegate of the NBC

Due-dates

26th of May: Registration accommodation at NBC price (use page 1 and 2 of registration form)

26th of May: Payment accommodation Congress hotel to NBC (use details on page 2 of registration form)

1st of July: Registration Congress (use page 1 of registration form)

Participants

Interested in the PARTICIPANTS list?

Transport to the hotel

Please take in the airport hall the train to Amsterdam CS (Central Station), a 15 minutes ride. It runs every 10-20 minutes from platform 1/2. No need to buy tickets in advance, you may check-in (=pay) with every bankcard. Don't forget to check-out at your destination! This system, check-in and check-out is valid for every train, metro, tram and bus in Amsterdam. Very easy, especially for foreigners..

Sponsors

The NBC would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their generous sponsorship of the 2023 ICCF Congress:

Any contribution towards the cost of running Congress, however small, would be very much appreciated.

Please contact us if you would like to add your logo to the list of sponsors shown on this website and on other Congress materials.

Registration

Registration for the 2023 ICCF Congress is open until 1st July 2023.

Please register by e-mailing the registration form to jan@vosselman.net

It is recognised that not every Delegate will wish to be accommodated at the Double Tree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station. Hotel accommodation in Amsterdam is not cheap, however, the following hotels are classified as Middle End hotels. We don't recommend Budget hotels. Bookings need to be made directly to each of these hotels:

Hotel De Koopermoolen, Warmoesstraat 5, @6 min walk
Amsterdam House Hotel, 's Gravelandseveer 3, @17 min walk (12 min metro)
Melrose Hotel, Elandsgracht 92, @28 min walk (24 min tram)

As you may read in the Programme of Events, the Double Tree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station package (= NBC rates) is from 20 till 25 August (5 nights).

If you want to stay before 20 August, you should calculate with huge daily rates in this hotel (339,50 for single and 384,90 for double) due to another event in Amsterdam.

If you want to stay after the Congress the daily rates in this hotel are 240,39 single and 285,50 double all taxes included.

Visa

See the latest information on Visas for the Netherlands | Netherlands Worldwide

Programme of Events

Photo's

Sunday 20 August

Arrival of Delegates

08.30 – 09.00 Refreshments in Coffee Station
09:30 - 12:00 Meeting of the ICCF Executive Board in the Manchester 2 Room
10.00 – 10.30 Refreshments in Coffee Station

14:00 - 17:00 Meeting of the ICCF Management Committee in Manchester 2
15.00 – 15.30 Refreshments in Coffee Station

20:00 - 23:00 Welcome Party in Manchester 1+2+Birmingham2

Monday 21 augustus

Day One of Congress

09:30 - 11:00 Opening Ceremony and Civic Reception in Glasgow 1 with speeches of Drs. Femke Halsema mayoress of Amsterdam, Wim van Vugt president NBC, Bianca de Jong - Muhren president KNSB, Eric Ruch president of ICCF
11:00 - 11:30 Refreshments in Coffee Station
11:30 - 12:30 Title Awards and Presentations in Glasgow 1

14:00 - 18:00 Day One of Congress in Glasgow 1+2
16.00 – 16.30 Refreshments in Coffee Station

20:00 - 23:00 Chess-Science-Communication in Leeds 2
20.00 Welcome by the
ComputerSchaak Vereniging Nederland (CSVN) by Ruud Martin (Chair)
Nederlandse Bond voor Correspondentieschaak (NBC) Henk van den Bos (Congress committee)
Max Euwe Centre (MEC) by Paul van der Sterren (Chair)
20:15 Lecture by Prof. Dr. Jaap van den Herik Computers: From Beginners to Over Champions
20:45 Playing Strength at the WCCC 2023 in Spain by Chief Arbiter Richard Pijl
21:05 Break
21:15 Lecture by Dr. Dap Hartmann Hans Berliner's Life, hobby and profession
21.45 Break
21.50 Lecture by Jon Edwards, our recent ICCF World Champion The Marshall talk (link below) provides a sense of what he is happy to talk about. It is assumed that attendees might enjoy seeing the thinking during one key game of the recent WF32... specifically a 35-move long sequence, aimed at inducing an opponent to advance a pawn one square. Jon succeeded, but then he had to do it again... to get the opponent to advance the pawn one more square forward. In this he failed, because he could not force the advance within the 50 move rule! He is not advocating rule changes ;-) but he agrees that it is becoming quite a challenge to eke out small advantages, let alone to win. There, of course, are also the slides that he used in the Marshall talk. He will not walk through them all, but perhaps one area or more will be of interest to to the group. https://marshallmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/2023/jon_edwards_complete.mp4
22.50 Questions on the future of Correspondence Chess for Jon and other correspondence chess players.
23.00 End of Session
Lecture Jaap Jaap Theo Richard Dap Jon

Accompanying Person's Programme (Requires registration)-Boat tour through the canals 14.00 - 16.00. Depart close to the Chinese restaurant in the water outside the hotel lobby at 14.00h sharp.

Please note that neither NBC nor ICCF will be providing lunch and/or drinks during the excursions.

The remainder of the afternoon and evening are free to explore Amsterdam centre. A good idea for the evening: take the NDSM ferry at the backside of Central Station (the most lefthand side ferry). It takes you somewhat farther away than just straight accross. No payment is needed for the ferry and you have a beautiful view over Amsterdam centre from the other side of the river IJ that splits the city in two parts. At the endpoint there is a nice terrace (IJ-kantine) where you can enjoy food and drinks.

For public transport (OV, openbaar vervoer) with metro, tram and bus, just simply checking in with your bankcard, incity costs approx. € 1,50, but don't forget to check out for avoiding the maximum distance charge. Your bankcard is your ticket!

Tuesday 22 August

Day Two of Congress

09:30 - 12:30 Day Two of Congress in Glasgow 1+2
11:00 - 11:30 Refreshments in Coffee Station

14:00 - 18:00 Day Two of Congress in Glasgow 1+2
16:30 - 17:00 Refreshments in Coffee Station

20.00 - 23:00 Blitz Tournament in Leeds 2

Accompanying Person's Programme (Requires registration)- Day two starts with a city walk in the morning for a visit at the Begijnhof, one of many famous 14^th century “hofjes” (courtyards) The Netherlands and Belgium have. We will leave the congress hotel at 10:00 sharp to catch Tram2 which brings us at Spui . From there the walk starts. After this visit of Begijnhof we walk to the nearby Flower Market at the Singel (canal) full of flowers, plants, seeds and tulip bulbs.
Around 12 o'clock we meet at the end of the market and walk (5 min) to the Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square) where there is a statue of the Nachtwacht (Nightwatch) and a lot of restaurants on the square or in the streets nearby where everyone can find a place for a lunch.
In the afternoon at 13:15 we again make a short walk of about 10 minutes into the old Portuguese Synagogue, built in the 17th century (1675) followed by a visit to the Jewish Historic Museum. After that we return to the congress hotel by metro or tram, or by a short city walk (20 minutes) on your own.

Wednesday 23 August

Day Three of Congress

09:30 - 12:30 Day Three of Congress in Glasgow 1+2
11:00 - 11:30 Refreshments in Coffee Station

14:00 - 18:00 Day Three of Congress in Glasgow 1+2
15:30 - 16:00 Refreshments in Coffee Station
14:00 - 18:00 Day Three of Congress in Glasgow 1+2

It's expected the congress meetings of Wednesday aren't needed anymore, since there are only 21 proposals to discuss and voted on. In that case an alternative excursion to the Max Euwe Centre is possible for anyone who likes to visit, by using tram2 to the Leidseplein.

Accompanying Person's Programme (requires registration)- Today two famous museums: Rijksmuseum with (amongst others) many Rembrandt paintings in the morning. We will take tram2 to these museums. You may take a lunch at own expense in the Rijksmuseum. Thereafter you may stay in the Rijksmuseum or for those who are still interested in the Van Gogh museum (just accross the street). It is optional and this entry is at your own expense.

Thursday 24 August

09:00 Excursion per coach to Delft from Congress hotel

This Congress excursion for all participants (EB, MC, NDs and accompanying persons) will consist of a visit to the old town of Delft. Traveling to Delft will take about an hour.
Delft with its historic centre is one of the oldest cities in The Netherlands with its ancient canals as you have also seen in Amsterdam.

The morning-program focuses on a visit to the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft), the pottery factory (and nowadays museum) where the famous Delft Blue is produced. Afterwards, after a short walk along the canals to the historic center of Delft, you are free to explore Delft in the way you prefer. A visit to the Nieuwe Kerk and the Vermeer Museum, all situated on and around the Grote Markt, is among the possibilities. Tickets will be issued to you in advance.

We will visit the historic center of Delft, one of the oldest VOC-cities with its ancient canals. Lots of possibilities to have a lunch at your own expense.

The afternoon program starts at one of the most beautiful market squares in the Netherlands. Standing in the middle of the square you will catch at one glance the birthplace of Johannes Vermeer (one of the greatest Dutch painters of the Golden Age), the beautiful City Hall (the oldest part of which was built around 1200) not to mention the impressive Nieuwe Kerk (the second tallest church in the Netherlands containing the mausoleum of Prins Willem van Oranje-Nassau). A 360-degree photo will show, in addition to these highlights, a variety of cozy restaurants and (Delft Blue) stores.

17.00 Coach departs back to Congress hotel

Closing Banquet

The closing banquet, hosted by ICCF, will commence at 20.00 in the Eastwood Beer and Grill restaurant.

Friday 25 August

Departure of Delegates.

Or spend some more time in Amsterdam: 13 tips gratis in Amsterdam https://www.yourlittleblackbook.me/nl/gratis-in-amsterdam/ or some other ideas https://www.iamsterdam.com/

Information for Chess Players in the Netherlands

The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) is the international body for correspondence chess. Although ICCF is recognised by and affiliated to FIDE, it operates independently of FIDE and is regarded as the highest international authority for correspondence chess.

The NBC is the national body representing The Netherlands in ICCF. Modern correspondence chess is generally played online, although there is still an option for national and international postal tournaments for those few people who still prefer to use that format.

Each year, ICCF hold a "Congress" hosted by a different member federation; in 2023 the host federation will be The Netherlands, and Congress will be held in Amsterdam from 20-24 August. Essentially this is a business meeting where delegates and officials from each of the ICCF national federations gather to make decisions about tournaments, rules, etc.

Congress always has a social element; there is a welcome party, excursions, some informal chess events, and a closing banquet, etc. Many delegates bring their families to Congress every year.

NBC would like to use this opportunity to engage with chess players in The Netherlands; we would like to invite you to participate in Congress, and hopefully eventually to consider taking up correspondence chess.

Players are cordially invited to the following events:

Welcome Party (Sunday 20 August at 20:00): This will be a social gathering, where you will have the chance to meet Dutch and international correspondence chess players. If you have any questions about correspondence chess, this is your opportunity as there will be several correspondence players and officials present, including grandmasters, even perhaps some former correspondence world champions. Officials from NBC and ICCF will be happy to advise you on getting started in the game or discuss any aspect of correspondence chess (including the sticky topic of computer engines!). A light buffet will be provided.
Lecture (Monday 21 August at 20.00): by Prof. Dr. Jaap van den Herik (Professor Computer Science) and current Worldchampion Jon Edwards about development in artificial intelligence in chess + the use by Grandmasters in Leeds 2.
Blitz Tournament (Tuesday 22 August at 20:00): Another regular event at Congress is the annual blitz tournament, chess players from The Netherlands are again invited to participate in the tournament; this is another chance to get to know correspondence chess specialists from around the world.

Registration for any of the above events is free and is available by e-mailing to jan@vosselman.net.

Registration is essential as places are limited. If you later find that you are not able to attend, your cancellation would be highly appreciated by email to jan@vosselman.net so that we can allocate your place to someone else.

For further information about correspondence chess in The Netherlands please see this website on the other pages.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Contact the Congress Organisors

Committee: Wim van Vugt, Joop Jansen, Henk van den Bos and Jan Vosselman.

To contact the Congress Organisers, please email: jan@vosselman.net