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Who are these individuals? Why are they so happy? Why do they have this look of contentment that is so difficult to find these days? Well, many years ago they made a commitment; a commitment of time and considerable effort to pursue a goal in the game they loved. That goal was to become the World Correspondence Chess Champion. And they succeeded.
I happen to be one of those happy faces in this picture. Many years have passed since I won the 10th World Title, yet I can clearly remember the day of decision and most of the trials and tribulations before that final happy moment. It was a unique, lengthy, and exciting experience that provided many lessons for me. I would like to share this experience with you.
PART I - THE FIRST STEP ON THE LONG JOURNEY
It was a cold November day in 1970 when I went out to check the mail. This was Champaign-Urbana, the home of the University of Illinois main campus, where I was beginning by career as a young Professor. There wasn't too much chess activity here anymore, and Chicago was a distant 130 miles away. For a short while there had been an active Tuesday evening blitz session with masters Bill Batchelder and Ross Sprague, but now Bill had departed for sunny California and Ross was preparing to go back to Cleveland.
I was happy to see that my new issue of Chess Life had arrived, and I enthusiastically scanned the pages to see what's new. As I was paging through the magazine, I came across an article by Walter Muir advertising the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) and the tournaments it sponsored. His description of the road to the World Championship caught my eye. Instantly, I recalled the exciting Chess Life articles by Hans Berliner in the sixties where he described his advance towards the correspondence world title. The words "International play", "World title!" reverberated through my mind. I was hooked and at that moment I decided to "go for it!"
Excitedly I announced my decision to my wife Aurelia explaining in gory detail the tournament path leading to the World championship. The path was complicated and she listened with great patience, finally asking "how long will this all take?" "About 12 years, IF I win every tournament along the path." "Twelve years!" she exclaimed, "I'll be dead by then."
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