The Sealed Move is a publication devoted to correspondence chess — the oldest, slowest, and most analytically demanding form of the game.

Correspondence chess is played across days, weeks, sometimes months per move. It rewards a kind of thinking that over-the-board play rarely permits: deep preparation, exhaustive analysis, and the patience to sit with a position until its truth becomes clear. It has produced some of the most profound games in chess history, largely unseen by the general public.

There is almost nothing written about it for a general audience. This is an attempt to change that.

What you will find here:

Analysis of correspondence games and positions, with an emphasis on ideas rather than variations. Reflections on the history and culture of postal and server-based play — from the handwritten postcards of the 19th century to the ICCF servers of today. Tournament coverage and commentary. Occasional broader pieces on what it means to play chess at this pace in an age of engines, instant communication, and shrinking attention spans.

About the author:

Paweł Fiedor is a Senior International Master at the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) and current Polish national champion in Fischer Random chess (Chess960).

His ICCF profile, including his full game record and titles, is at iccf.com/player?id=422027.

By day he writes on systemic risk, non-bank financial intermediation, and macroprudential policy at The Macroprudential View.

Why subscribe?

Posts arrive when there is something worth saying — not on a fixed schedule. Subscribers receive every piece directly to their inbox. The full archive is available on the website. Quality over cadence, always.

If you play correspondence chess, have played it, or are simply curious about what serious chess actually looks like when time is not a constraint — this is written for you.