Check is in the Mail, April 2026: Winners All!

The Recent Event Winners from the Front Office section were used to choose games for this issue. I held back any games that I have from the John W. Collins Postal Quads, which was also a tournament listed in the Recent Event Winners, for potential inclusion in the Reader's Games issue. That issue is scheduled for July 2026.

The winners of the tournaments covered in this issue were undefeated, although the winner of one tournament did have two games end in a draw. Since no drawn games are present in this issue, the tournament winners won each of the games provided ... Winners All!

I hope you enjoy the issue!

Games

Reminder when reviewing the crosstables:

X^D = result by default
X^E = exceeded time limit

The latest results are displayed in red.

The next four games were played in Section 12 of the 2025 Victor Palciauskas Round Robin tournament.

Game 1

This game was played by Albert Bressler and Anya Ellis using the D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5. Bf4. Bressler forced a resignation from Ellis after the 27th move.

Game 2

This game was played by Mark Reeves and Albert Bressler using the C41: Philidor Defence. Bressler forced a resignation from Reeves after the 24th move.

Game 3

This game was played by Albert Bressler and Gordon Picotte using the D05: Colle System with ... e6. Bressler forced a resignation from Picotte after the 21st move.

Game 4

This game was played by Albert Bressler and Michael McCaffery using the E63: King's Indian: Fianchetto: Panno Variation with 7. ... a6. Bressler forced a resignation from McCaffery after the 25th move.

The next game was played in Section 12 of the 2025 Walter Muir E-Quads tournament.

Game 5

This game was played by Christopher McCollum and Lawrence Gladding using the C47: Scotch Four Knights and Four Knights with 4. g3. McCollum forced a resignation from Gladding after the 53rd move.

The next game was played in Section 15 of the 2025 Walter Muir E-Quads tournament.

Game 6

This game was played by Bret Kugler and Weston Howard using the C01: French: Exchange Variation. Kugler forced a resignation from Howard after the 30th move.

Puzzles

Here are some puzzles from the provided games. Answers can be found by scrolling to the very end of the issue.

Reminder: Puzzles can be solved online. Click/tap on a puzzle diagram below to access the interactive version of the puzzle. Once a puzzle is displayed, the last move will be shown and then the puzzle will wait for a move to be entered. It is not necessary to return to this page in order to access the other puzzles and games for this issue. However, clicking/tapping on a diagram below will take you directly to the puzzle selected. Note: Interactive puzzles are provided beginning with the June 2025 issue.

Puzzle 1	Puzzle 2	Puzzle 3
Image	Image	Image
Bressler-Ellis	Reeves-Bressler	Bressler-Picotte
Latest Move: 14. ... Nd7	Latest Move: 10. Nxa8	Latest Move: 16. Nh4
White to Move	Black to Move	Black to Move

I hope you enjoyed the games and puzzles!

Look for the next issue to be available around May 1st, 2026.

Feel free to send me US Chess Federation correspondence games for potential inclusion in future issues of Check is in the Mail. My email address is: Click here to show email address.

-Jeff

From the Front Office

Michael D. Buss, US Chess Correspondence Coordinator

Correspondence Chess Tournament Entries

Players are encouraged to use the new online registration:

2023 Electronic Knights National Final

The National Finals began on March 31, 2026, with a final section of seven doing battle.
Ninety-eight players began play in 14 preliminary sections with 21 players advancing to three semi-final sections. The National Finals qualifiers are:

Name	Prelim	Prelim Score	Semi	Semi Score	Weighted Points*
Michael Buss	23EN14	5.5	23ENs03	5.5	17.6
Robert Irons	23EN09	6	23ENs01	5	17
Timothy Julkowski	23EN01	5	23ENs02	5	16
Eric Moskow	23EN11	4.5	23ENs01	5	15.5
Patrick Gordon-Davis	23EN01	4	23ENs03	5	15
Egbert Schroeer	23EN11	4.5	23Ens02	4.5	14.4
John Chirillo	23EN06	4.5	23ENs01	4	13.3

* Further information regarding the calculation of Weighted Points can be found here. We wish all good skill and chess.

2020 Golden Knights National Final

Invitations have been extended to 7 qualifiers and 2 alternates to compete in the one finals section. Play should commence early this month.

Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA) Seasonal Server Series Tournaments

The CCLA's Seasonal Server Series are now being offered to US Chess Federation members to play in these popular quarterly tournaments on the ICCF webserver. Dual rated CCLA and USCF. One round. Entrants are grouped by their CCLA rating. For more information or to enter on the CCLA website please go here. Entry fee $8 per section. Multiple sections are permitted.

Recent Event Winners

Victor Palciauskas Round Robin Tournament ICCF
25VP12 - Albert Bressler - 6–0

Walter Muir E-Quads ICCF
25W12 - Christopher McCollum - 5–1
25W15 - Bret Kugler - 6–0

John W. Collins Postal Quads
24C08 - Thomas Babcok & Tim McGill - 5–1
24C09 - Gary Gallagher - 6–0
25C01 - Louis Biasotti - 6–0
25C07 - Michael Buss - 6–0