The IECC GUIDELINES has been changed in order A) to underline the role of English as the official language used by the club in the correspondence with its members, and B) to remove a confusion about the use of computers for analyzing games.

Changes and additions to the GUIDELINES as of September 3, 2004 are:

(1) A new paragraph was added with the section number #1.3, as follows:

1.3 English is the official language of IECC as it is for other international email chess clubs. While the IECC Guidelines are available in several languages, and efforts are made by the staff to effectively communicate with non-English speaking members as much as possible, the staff cannot be responsible for non-English speaking members misunderstanding email messages sent to them nor is the staff obliged to translate messages written in any language but English. Therefore, it is the responsibility of non-English speaking members to ensure their email messages are clearly understood by the staff.

(2) The former section #1.3 is now section #1.4

(3) The section #7.1 was modified and says now:

7.1 Players are free to consult chess publications or literature in printed or electronic form. Any other form of assistance, either from another person or using chess engines within chess programs to make moves during the course of a game, is prohibited.

The Absences page has been amended thanks to a suggestion submitted by member Ian Foletta.

Dave Hughes has left his position in the Swiss Department as Senior TD. George Agnew has been offered, and he accepted, the Senior TD position in the Department.

George is a long time staff member and has done a fantastic job as a Swiss TD, and his promotion is well deserved.

The IECC hopes to have members from all over the world.

However, it is our guess that some of our members may have a very limited knowledge of English, which is the official language of the club.

We have therefore decided to ask for help to translate the IECC Guidelines into as many different languages as possible.

For this important task, we need volunteers that can either translate the English guidelines into their mother-tongue or review the future translations.

If you are interested in helping us in this effort of making the IECC rules understandable to everybody, please send us an email at with your name and in what way you may help.

Thank you!