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wrecking_ball 01-Sep-14, 11:32 |
 Postal chess thoughts old and new...While postal chess is still ongoing,it is pretty much completely out of style and popularity,mainly due to three reasons of course...the internet,the slowness of snail mail and the relatively prohibited cost of postcard mailing costs.It now costs 33 cents to mail a postcard in the USA.I suppose it may very well cost more if you are mailing a postcard to an opponent outside the USA,Canada or Mexico,say somewhere in Europe. But lets do some math.... Say an average game takes 50 moves in a corresp postal game. Thats .33 x 50=$16.50 just to play only one game against your opponent in the next state over.Lets save some money and say a game only takes 32 moves to complete.... Thats .33 x 32= $10.56 for that game. Now,lets say you are playing in a Golden Knights Tourney(postal) or the Victor prize tourney through the USCF using cards,not email..... Those are 7 player "sections".(You are playing against 7 other players.) Math: .33 x 32 =$10.56 x 7 = $73.92 and that is only if the games are averaging 32 moves.If all of your games go to move # 50 or more,then it becomes a huge price to play in postal tourneys...do the math! So your thinking...well,i'll only play one opponent,not several.Sure,thats ok,but most postal players want to get involved in tourneys,not just single games with someone.And with a "single"game,there is no prizes given out like in USCF tourneys and basically it is too boring to play a game with one opponent that will take months to finish.But whats the cost of just "one"game with an opponent and that game takes 50 moves to complete?It will cost... .33 x 50 = $16.50(or more depending upon where your opponent lives in the world)for that one game!Would you be willing to pay $16.50 to play just one game against someone you do not even know?Probably not,but i'm sure there are exceptions! So,yes,I loved postal when I played....but the cost of mailing a postcard was between 6 and 10 cents when I played over the years.Much cheaper back then! And if you bought those special postal cards(like the USCF ones) that had a chess board printed on them and all the move lines printed on them,that was an additional cost besides the cost of the stamp. Then,as many times it occurred....you or your opponent would send an "ambiguous move"or an "illegal move" and then another card would have to be sent by both parties explaining the wrong or unreadable move,which costs even more. So all of you can see why postal chess is highly unpopular,in the USA.I understand it is more popular in other countries,but I really do not care about whats popular in Upper Mongolia! It really in a sense is a shame,but the internet has practically dissolved postal chess.I truly did love it,but time marches on!Even if postcards were only 5 cents to mail,I seriously doubt that very many players would indulge in postal play.The PC's and phones now rule the air and chess(except OTB chess) and that's life in the modern world. If any club member ever wants more info on postal,just ask me,even if it is just a historical question.The USCF link on my profile or on the front page of GK can hook you up with postal games and so can the ICCF. Here,for example,is the list of USCF correspondence events.Most of these are postal,but can be converted to email type moves upon written agreement between both parties and the agreement is sent into the USCF.I'm sure,most players that play in these tourneys listed below in the USCF link opt for emailing their moves,but surely there are some that play the old postal way.In any case,it makes an interesting read to check out these tourneys.Of course,to play in any of those tourneys,you have to be a USCF member,which there are annual dues....and thats on top of the cost of mailing your postcards!So,if you have bottomless pockets of $$,be my guest....play postal! www.uschess.org |