Correspondence Chess (common abbreviations are: CC and corrchess), is played through means of written communications between the players, either via regular mail or email, although server based CC is becoming a force in the world of CC.

Introduction to Correspondence Chess (February 2004)
by Volker Jeschonnek, President
Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA) There are a good many organizations, leagues, clubs and websites for correspondence chess through which you may join and/or learn more information about opportunities (clubs, games & tournaments), news from around the world, for downloads, as well as supplies (playbooks, etc.). The International Correspondence Chess Federal (ICCF) also has establised a notation system called Numeric (significantly different than common notation systems otherwise used), which is available for review in the Notations tutorial section on this website. You should also note that not all organizations utilize the Numeric notation system. Notably, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) establishes algebraic notation for games and tournaments played through USCF’s Correspondence Chess service, unless the players agree to a different notation system. I hope to expand this section in future, but for now below are two downloads relating to rules of play and other information on correspondence chess from ICCF and USCF, followed important CC links.

Download
ICCF-The International Correspondence Chess Federation’s
Rules of Play
along ICCF’s Clarificat ions & Interpretations
(zip file 45KB)
(in 3 formats: .doc, .rtf., and .txt)  

Download
USCF-United States Chess Federation’s
Rules (On-Line Version November 2003) and Basic Info
(zip file 56KB)
(Rules in 4 formats: .pdf, .doc, .rtf., and .txt; Info only in .pdf) Correspondence Chess Links
(all links open in a new browser window, close that window to return here)