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Much to my later surprise, I was almost right on target. I became the 10th World Correspondence Champion in 1984, but in 1982 it was already clear to me that I would draw my remaining game with G. Sanakoev of Russia clinching first place. I am happy to say Aurelia was still alive to celebrate my victory in 1984, and she still is alive today happy that I undertook that journey.
With hindsight, my timing was excellent. Champaign-Urbana was a relaxed academic environment. There were not many distractions, i.e., not much to do except work, and there was time. The long cold winter nights were great for analyzing games; a perfect environment for postal chess. Yet, it would have been very easy to convinced myself otherwise. This pursuit would be very long and consume much time. There was no guarantee of success; in fact the odds at that time were astronomically low. My teaching and research at the University would require much time and attaining academic tenure was crucial. So it would have been easy for me to be "practical" and say "I'll try later at a better time." In life the time is "never right", and in this decision I'm glad I followed by heart rather than my mind.
The First Tournament
I had very little postal chess experience and no international play. Because I was a rated over the board master, I began with a 15 person ICCF master class tournament. The pairings arrived in early 1971, and as expected I didn't know anyone. My chess library, if you can call it a library, was composed of the Chess Encyclopedias and several Informants. Not surprisingly, openings were one of my greatest weaknesses and they still are today. There was no way to prepare for my opponents; I had no grand strategic plan; I just wanted to start playing. I was confident of winning, probably too confident, and that attitude almost cost me first place.
There were many surprises and lessons learned in this tournament. They are obvious now but they were new to me then.
Lesson 1. Be confident, but never underestimate your opponents. My opponents didn't throw themselves on the sword as I expected, and in fact many played very well. I had to work very hard to overcome several bad openings to eventually win. I scored 10+, 2-, 1=. The draw was against my main competitor, after I carelessly blundered away a piece in a good position (fortunately for two pawns).
Lesson 2. It is very difficult to surprise your opponents with tactics. There is more time to find the refutation in postal chess. One of my losses was due to an overly speculative piece sacrifice, where my opponent simply defended very accurately. Perhaps the sacrifice would have worked over the board, but not in postal chess. On the other hand there were several speculative sacrifices that worked for me (games below).
Lesson 3. It's very difficult to overcome a bad opening in postal chess. The other loss was due to a very poor opening which I tried to overcome with complications. The result was a swift defeat.
Lesson 4. After deciding on a move, recheck your choice later before mailing. Don't rush to mail a move immediately. That's how I blundered away a piece, and in a later tournament made a recording error that cost me a game.
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