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In a sense, the number is fairly startling: over 1.2 million correspondence games, from the earliest in 1803, to the very latest dated 2015. Why is this startling? Because it still suggests an enormous volume of games that will take months to play out at the very least, even in today's day of instant email. Even the Mega Database 2015, which covers all over-the-board games, including blitz and rapid events, as well as junior competitions, contains fewer than seven million.
Needless to say, correspondence chess has undergone many mutations over the years, and not just because of the means of delivery. The first games on record in the database date from the beginning of the 19th century by Friedrich Von Mauvillon and an unknown officer, are surmised to have been played via military dispatch, as explained in the notes of the games. Nowadays games are played via email or special online servers.
What about 'cheating', you might ask. There is no such thing. At least not in the way we have come to worry about in live events. The solution is simple: since there is no way to ban engine use from postal chess, just as you could not prevent or detect someone consulting another player, massive engine use is the norm. The strongest players will still navigate their usage far better than a normal player would, and none are foolish enough to simply let the engine sit on a position for a day and play the move. It is a good way to lose.
The quality of the games is astonishing overall, and of course there are many games investigating the most hair-raising opening lines imaginable, since contrary to live chess, where a player might hesitate to enter a chaotic line for fear of being unable to navigate the mess, in postal chess, that is not a problem. It is the number one medium to investigate the craziest gambits imaginable. Consider this game played by former World Champion Gert Timmerman in the World Championship tournament itself, and annotated by him.
Frankenstein-Dracula variation
"This is the starting position of the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation in the Vienna,
so called because of the monstrous complications that can result from it. Black
gives in return for a long-lasting initiative a full exchange. (...) The positional
compensation for Black exists in the fact that the white rooks will play for a long
time a role as passive spectators." - Gert Timmerman
This also highlights one of the wonderful strengths of the Corr 2015 database: in it there are over 15 thousand commented games, including many by the world champions themselves. Comments on fantastic exciting games by players whose analytical abilities were unparalleled. What is more, there are some oddball pearls found within that may surprise. For example, I found a game commented by Capablanca himself, when he was a student at Columbia University, and not for a game he played or that of a rival.
Annotations not only by greats in correspondence, but also Capablanca, Alekhine, Keres, and more
The database is obviously a wonderful resource both as an alternate source of games and analysis, and should not be ignored for its overlooked for it significant value to openings research. In it you will also find all the main events in the modality, such as all games from the 27 correspondence chess championships, the 18 correspondence chess olympiads, as well as the continental and national championships.
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