Activities in

Correspondence Chess

Stephan Busemann

CC Grandmaster

ICCF Elo 2606

Stephan Busemann started correspondence chess in 1975 in the lowest class of BdF double round robin tmts. He has finished about 280 tournament games since, and scored over 70% of the possible points.

In 1996, he earned the ICCF Grandmaster title and has achieved five more GM norms since. In team tournaments, he won a German, a European, and two World Championships ("olympiads"). In single tournaments, he has achieved outstanding results in strong invitational tournaments and ended up bronze medalist in the 21st World Championship Final. According to his ICCF Elo rating, Stephan Busemann counts among the top players worldwide.

Due to business duties and other interests, he usually plays no more than 15 games at a time. 

Below is a summary of his major correspondence chess achievements and activities.

Year

Tournament

Team Result (if applicable)

Individual Result

Title Norm

1981

1st German Junior Championship

 

Third, 7 / 10 points

 

1982

9th German Cup (final)

 

Second, 7 / 10 points

 

1986

4th German Junior Championship

 

German Junior Champion 1982-86, 11½ / 12 points

 

1987

3rd European Team Championship (preliminaries) Board 10

First (FR Germany I)

First, 6½ / 8 points

IM half

1989

1st Danube Team tmt Board 4

Third (FR Germany)

First, 5 / 7 points

IM half

1989

 

 

Correspondence Chess International Master

 

1990

5th Baltic Sea Team tmt Board 3

First (FR Germany I)

Fifth, 10 / 15 points

 

1992

3rd European Team Championship (final) Board 7

European Team Champion
(Germany)

Second, 6 / 8 points

IM

1993

ICCF World Cup V (final A)

 

Sixth, 6 / 11 points

 

1995

1st German Team Cup (final) Board 1

German Team Cup Winner
(SC Kreuzberg Berlin, see photo)

Second, 7½ / 10 points

 

1996

SSKK Bulletinen 40 years, Invitational, cat. XII

 

Second, 10 / 14 points

GM (8½ pts)

1996

 

 

Correspondence Chess Grandmaster

 

1999

German Bundesliga, Board 1

German Team Champion 1997/99
(SC Kreuzberg Berlin, see photo)

Second, 5½ / 8 points

 

2001

12th Olympiad (final) Board 5, postal

World Team Champion
(Germany), see photo

First, 8½ / 11 points

 

2002

14th Olympiad (= 1st eMail Olympiad) Section 4, Board 2

First (Germany)

First, 8½ / 11 points

GM (8 pts)

2003

20th World Championship, ¾ final, Section 1, eMail, cat. XI

 

Third, 9 / 13 points; qualified for a World Championship final

GM (8½ pts)

2005

14th Olympiad (final) Board 3, eMail, cat. XI

World Team Champion
(Germany) – we did it again! See photo

Fifth, 6½ / 11 points

 

2006

Dansk Skak Union 100 years - A, eMail Invitational, cat. XIII

 

Second, 7½ / 12 points

GM  (7 pts)

2007

 World Championship 21 Final, eMail, cat. XIV
Bronze medal, 8 / 14 points

GM  (7½ pts)
2010
 Hermann-Heemsoth-Memorial, eMail Invitational, cat. XVI
  
 Twelfth, 7½ / 16 points

GM  (7½ pts)
2011 17th Olympiad (final) Board 4, Server, cat. X World Team Champion
(Germany) - for the third time!		 Third, 7 / 12 points   
  30th World Championship, Candidates, Section 7, Server, cat. XI   4 / 8 games, 2 games ongoing  
  Witold-Bielecki-Memorial, Server Invitational, cat. XVI   12 games. Start date is March 1st, 2012. Tournament page  

Some brief explanations: Tournament describes the activity, Year its completion. Tournaments may have a category, which is a measure for the nominal strength of the tournament. Category XI is a really strong tournament, XIV is world championship level, and anything beyond that is very rare. Categories are based on the average Elo numbers of the participants. Elo numbers represent a player's nominal strength. For instance, Elo 2400 is master level, and 2600 is grandmaster level. As every game is evaluated, Elo numbers include to some extent all recent successes and failures, which is why there are masters at 2600 and grandmasters at 2400, too.

 In a team event, each team player is assigned a board. Usually board numbers reflect the strength of the players within the team (the strongest player is on board 1). Each player plays against the same board of all opponent teams. Thus separate tournaments for each board are played, but they are counted together to form the Team Result. Individual Result describes the result achieved in either a single or a team event.

Title Norm shows norms achieved. Norms depend on the category and number of players in a tournament, among other things. Earning many Grandmaster (GM) norms demonstrates high class results over a longer period.

Backto Stephan's Chess Page

Last changed on January 11, 2012 

Stephan Busemann (busemann at dfki.de)