What is Server Correspondence Chess?

To play competitive over-the-board (OTB) chess you need to visit the tournament hall, which could be in another city, or overseas. Some of us maybe busy with our professional and family lives, and playing in competetive OTB chess may be difficult. There are also regular OTB players who like to play Correspondence Chess (CC) to improve their chess understanding and enhance their OTB play.

Correspondence chess allows players to think about their next move in a period of several days. Opponents could be far away, in your own country or overseas. You can send your moves, whenever you find time, using your computer or cell phone, from your home, office or while travelling. In this server and also in International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), you are allowed to utilize chess engine software to work out your next move. This results in a higher standard of play.

In the old days CC used to be played by exchanging post cards. After about 1980, CC was played also by EMail. From 2003, the way of playing Correspondence Chess improved dramatically with the introduction of Server Correspondence Chess. In Server CC, players make their moves on a graphical board presented in their web-browser. Time records, results tabulation, rating calculations etc., are taken care of by server software. Although to this day, postal and EMail CC continue in many countries, Server CC is definitely the most popular.

What is ICCF?

ICCF is the International Correspondence Chess Federation which is the official body for Correspondence Chess in the world, just as FIDE is the official body for Chess in the world. ICCF awards the titles of GM (International Grandmaster), SIM (Senior International Master), IM (International Master), CCM (Correspondence Chess Master), LGM (Lady Grandmaster), CCE (Correspondence Chess Expert), LIM (Lady International Master) for its players.

What is the purpose of this free CC Server

To play in ICCF events fees are to be paid (some events, e.g. Friendly International Matches are free). For nations that do not have a Federation which is a member of ICCF, the fees can be sent directly. But if you want to first play free unlimited games to get used to correspondence chess and bring yourself to a higher level, then this AA Server is for you.

Some countries without a National Federation also have banking and/or Pay Pal restrictions making it difficult to send fees to ICCF.

For countries who would like to start a National Federation, this site will serve as a starting point to bring together like-minded players. For further information about starting a federation in your country, please contact us.

National Events could be conducted on this server entirely free of cost to replace Postal and Email games. India has its own server site.

Why is this server called AA Server

This server started off as a free server for African and Asian countries, but is now open to players from all over the world.

Are the games played on this site Rated?

Games played here are rated in the internal rating system of this site. However they are not rated in ICCF.

How can this server be free?

Starting this site is a personal contribution of former Zone 4 director Sailesh Chandra and Dr. Ambar Chatterjee (Deputy Director, Zone 4 and President, All India Correspondence Chess Federation). Software for this server is developed and maintained by Dr. Ambar Chatterjee on a voluntary basis. We advocate 100% free software development. If any nation is interested in its own CC server we will gladly set it up for you, free of cost, and provide instructions for its maintenance.