David’s two SIM Norms were earned in tournaments which total 24 games.  He earned his first qualifying Norm in World Correspondence Chess Championship 25 Candidates Tournament Section 2, WCCC25CT02(WS) (WC25/ct02).  His total of 7.5 in the Category IX tournament with 13 players exceeded the SIM Norm of 7.0 by an over score of 0.5 points.  That result was good enough for second place and qualified him to play in World Championship Final 22.  Mr. Myers earned his second qualifying Norm in World Correspondence Chess Championship 34, Semifinal Section 3, WCCC34SF03 (WC34/sf03).  His total to date of 7.5 in that Category VIII tournament with 13 players has equaled the SIM Norm of 7.5.  He still has one game unfinished.  The links to these tournaments are as follows: 

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=442 

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=21906 

It is not surprising that Dave has reached this pinnacle of success at correspondence chess.   What is curious is that it took so long.  It is known by a few astute correspondence players that Dave is an authority on the French Winawer as evidenced by his book, “French Defence Winawer Variation C15-19”, published in 1996.  A self-professed little-known fact is that, “The very first primitive data discs devoted to the French Defence issued by ChessBase in the late 1980’s were prepared by me. 

This was in the days before multi-million game databases.  We entered everything by hand.  And the idea of a chess-playing engine was just a fantasy.”  This level of expertise translated into Dave’s entering and winning WT/M/GT/313 with a score of 10.5 out of 14, a tournament that was contested by postcard.  Dave opines about that result, “9 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses - a score that seems incredible today.  This was my breakthrough event because it gave me a semi-final qualification that I did not use until 10 years later!”

One can see by his activity graph from the Players Detail section of the ICCF website, that when he did resume his correspondence activity, his rating rose rapidly.  Dave has since captured his preliminary and final sections of the 1st WS USCCC championship, Group 35 of the 1st Webserver Open, and the subsequent 1st Webchess Open SF1.  These results along with his SIM Title qualifying events, earned him invitations to the North American Invitational Championship and the aforementioned WCCC 22.  Those efforts also earned Dave the IM title which was awarded at the 2007 ICCF Mumbai Congress.  We can only expect more of the same success from Dave as he is now retired from a career in the railroad and civil service. 

The ICCF-US would like to congratulate David on his SIM title and wishes him continued success.   Dave offers up the following game from the event which earned him a second SIM norm and the SIM title. 

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When going to battle it is best to know your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.  On general principles it is not a wise idea to play an opening which is that person’s specialty.  Dave demonstrates why. 

 

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