(Transalation of letter in Hindi)
Dear Editor,

I was very happy to receive the August 2004 Bulletin. I really liked the Bulletin. But I kept waiting for the May 2004 Bulletin. Have you stopped the May and November Bulletins? If that is so I wont feel good, I am desirous of seeing an increase in the number of Bulletins published. There ought to be at least 6 issues per year.

Sir, in this times Bulletin (August 2004) my rating appears to have been published incorrectly. My rating in Feb 2004 was 1132 and there are only 3 results of mine shown in the August 2004 Bulletin. So my rating could not have reduced so much. Could you kindly check my rating once again?

Dushyant Tyagi
Lahorgarh

As explained in the Editorial, I am not able to manage publication of the Bulletin more than 2 times per year. Perhaps if there are more articles received from our members and especially more games sent to the Games Section, I can consider bringing out more issues. But 6 issues per year is something beyond imagination!?

Please note that Anil Anand is the new Games Editor. Games for publication should be sent to him. All other material for the Bulletin should be sent to me (DrAmbar@gmail.com).

The computer program for rating calculations was not able to handle the 18-player special tournament 1801 because of the non-standard number of players (18). So once 1801 started the ratings for this tournament were calculated semi-manually. This led to some errors, which affected 1801 players and their opponents. Now, the computer program has been upgraded. All the rating calculations since 1801 started have been revised.

All the players should take note of this. We can send the detailed rating calculation sheets over the past 2 years for any player who wants to check his rating. For this you should send me an email at DrAmbar@gmail.com or drop a post card.

From July 2005, Shri P.M.Dalvi will be in charge of rating calculations. So all queries regarding ratings should be sent to him.

I got the August 204 issue and was glad to read the contents. I have a couple of suggestions.

I think by now ICCF World Cup X Final, which started on 1st October 2001 would be over. If so please publish the table in the next issue. Similarly, it would be worthwhile to print the full cross-table of World CC Championship XVI, which may be finished by now.

OTB games and OTB news (unless very important) should NOT be published. The readers of AICCF Bulletin already know a lot about OTB World Champions. A new feature should be a series of articles about Correspondence Chess World Champions as we hardly know much about these personalities beyond their names. I read the book by Sanakoev and so learned a little about him.

D.M.Modak
Nasik

I like your suggestions and will definitely try to publish the details of the CC Championships and more information about CC Champions next time. The ICCF Gold Book contains a wealth of information in this regard. We offered this book to our readers in November 2002 (see the Nov. 2002 Bulletin p.54) for a price of Rs. 1200/-. We can now offer this book (on a first come first served basis) free to interested members. You only need to cover the postage cost. Please contact Mr. Meherhomji to enquire the cost and book your copy! (Refer p. 2)

We have an announcement from ICCF regarding the finish of the preliminary stage of The ICCF World Cup XII Postal. ICCF proposes to conclude this tournament by 31.3.2005 event. There is slow play by one player in section 23 despite a directive last year that all games should be continued by email.

I am engaged in a research project, which is consuming all my time. Hence I could not contribute any article for the Bulletin as promised. Please excuse me.

Prof. D.R.K.S.Rao
Visakhapatnam

Dr. Rao’s articles and comments have always been very interesting. We look forward to the fruitful completion of his research (in the field of mathematics?) and await an article from him in the future.

It is difficult to express in words my joy at your successful work in Phase-I of ICCF Webserver with your volunteer contribution, of Java Script Development working as part of the ICCF Webserver Project Management Team.

During the Opening Ceremony of the ICCF Congress 2004, ICCF President, Josef Mrkvicka in his welcome speech siad that for the first time in history an ICCF Congress was being hosted in India, and in the Asian continent. Speaking partly in Hindi, he expressed his heartiest thanks to your substantial contribution in the successful launching of ICCF’s webserver. The National delegates of all 64 countries also praised your talent and work both on the webserver and organisation of the Mumbai Congress.

On behalf of the AICCF Management Committee and all AICCF Members, I wish to personally congratulate you for these two achievements.

Best wishes to you for the 2nd phase of the ICCF Webserver Development along with the new steering group. The ICCF Webserver must continuously strive to provide better and better facilities for webserver players and meet the requirements of correspondence chess in the era of new technologies.