CHESS SCOTLAND (CS) MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

City Inn, Glasgow Sunday 27 August 2006 2pm

PRESENT (32 members)

J M Glendinning (chair), G Anderson, D M Bryson, G Chandler, R Coleman, S Collins, T Davies, J Dempsey, T Donohue, S Emery, H Glen, A Goodall, J Hughes, A McCulloch, A McFarlane, I McLachlan, L R McKenzie, A Maxwell, John Montgomery, A J Muir, S O'Donnell, D Officer, M Perez Carballo*, F Petrie, C Postlethwaite, C Pritchett, J Shaw, P Thomas, D Wilson, C Woods, P Woods and K Stewart (who took the minutes).

* Present for only part of meeting

APOLOGIES

Apologies had been received from the following: - J Aagaard, L Barnes, GA Clarke, S Hilton, I Mackintosh, P Macnab, M and N Mathie, D Oswald and J Rowson

MINUTES

The minutes of the previous AGM, 28 August 2005, were approved.

J Montgomery asked what decision had been made regarding a tie-break for the Scottish Championship. A McFarlane replied that A Muir had conducted a survey which showed that a tie-break was desired but that opinion as to the method was very divided. He suggested that the method would depend on the format of the championship but that a decision on method would be made for the 2007 event and publicised in advance.

J Montgomery also asked if the new Rules Book had been published. K Stewart confirmed that it was produced in October 2005.

 

ANNUAL REPORT and ACCOUNTS

The Annual Report had been published on the CS website; the President invited directors to add to their reports.

D Officer reported that for safety and other reasons we were not sending players to the World youth events in Georgia . Instead, nine juniors will take part in the European youth event. The president thanked Donna for all her hard work over the past two years.

A McFarlane added that the Best Game prize donated by Lord Kirkwood for the Scottish Championship had been judged by Craig Pritchett and awarded to Andrew Muir for his win against Jonathan Grant. Lord Kirkwood's prize for the best swindle was awarded to Ali Roy for her game against David Bond. It was agreed the President would write and tell Lord Kirkwood, with the thanks of Chess Scotland for the donation.

Alex also asked for further views on format via the questionnaire he has produced. The congress finances were not very healthy though the accounts were not yet complete. The 2007 congress is likely to be at Cumbernauld in July. Alex commented that the congress organisation had taken up too much time and that he had not been able to give full attention to other Home chess matters and would not continue as Home Director. J Dempsey, and the meeting, thanked Alex for his efforts.

The Treasurer presented the accounts which had been previously displayed on the website. G Anderson expressed concern over the losses incurred by the Championships and the effect of carry-over of two magazine issues to the next year. The treasurer remarked that this was partly offset by an increase in donations.

 

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

John Glendinning, as retiring President, added a number of remarks to his report.

FIDE : Scotland 's vote for FIDE President had been for Bessel Kok. On advice from the team, votes for the location of the next Olympiad had been for Argentina , then Estonia - neither successful. A Muir asked whether there had been any vote on time control or event format (number of rounds or players per team); John was not aware of a vote, though the players had responded to a questionnaire on time control. He congratulated the teams on their commitment.

C Pritchett asked if there was any further information about a possible conference on chess in schools. J Montgomery asked if clarification could be obtained regarding requirement for national membership in FIDE-rated events. John would pursue.

 

Presidency : The Management Board had taken the view that it would be beneficial for there to be a maximum term for the post of President. The constitutional changes needed would be progressed during the coming year.

British Championships : The President, and the meeting, congratulated the following -

Connor Woods for winning the British under-14 Championship. Other juniors also achieved fine performances.

Keti Arakhamia Grant for winning the Women's Championship and finishing second in the British Championship.

Jonathan Rowson for his great achievement in winning the British Championship for the third consecutive year.

Volunteers : The President emphasised that organised chess in Scotland only exists because of the work of volunteers, whose efforts sometimes do not seem to be appreciated. We need to celebrate our volunteers more and the Management Board has agreed in principle that Chess Scotland should introduce President's Awards to recognise those who have given decades of service. A suitable process will be developed to allow long standing chess organisers at club, regional or national level to be recognised by awards in 2007.

The President announced that he had, meantime, made a unilateral decision about awards for three people who had given extraordinary service to Chess Scotland and its predecessors – and had made a donation to cover the costs. He then presented inscribed glass mementoes to the following to the acclaim of the meeting:

Alex McFarlane, who has worked in a number of different roles in CS and the Scottish Chess Association including editor of Scottish Chess, promoting arbiting, running the Scottish Congress, and Home Chess Director, as well as a great deal of work with the Scottish Junior Chess Association and, now, Chief Arbiter for the British Championships.

Ken Stewart, who has run the Richardson and Spens Cups since 1977-78, and held the posts of Assistant Secretary, Tournament and Services Convenor, Director of Tournaments, Congress Director and Technical Director, including operating the system for training and examining arbiters.

Mac McKenzie, who has been Treasurer or Finance Director of CS and the Scottish Chess Association since the late 1970s. Mac has also been Scottish Congress director for 3 years, including the Centenary Championships jointly with Walter Munn in 1984. But it was primarily for his quiet efficient control over our finances for such an astonishing period of increasing complexity that the award was made.

The Annual Report and Accounts were adopted.

APPOINTMENT OF OFFICE BEARERS

The retiring President chaired the election process for the Honorary President and the President. The new President, Donald Wilson, then took the chair. J Montgomery proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring President to the applause of the meeting. Donald proposed that John should be Executive Director, acknowledging that this would be a limited secretarial role, and John confirmed that he felt it was useful to accept a role during the transition since, if terms for Presidents were to become shorter, then it would be good for ex Presidents to be willing to take an alternative role at the end of their office.

The following elections were made:

President D Wilson

Honorary President J Rowson

Executive Director J M Glendinning

Finance Director L R McKenzie

Schools Development Director C W Pritchett

Home Chess Director (Open) vacant

Home Chess Director (Junior) vacant

Customer Services Director vacant

International Director (Open) J Aagaard

International Director (Junior) J Aagaard

Marketing Director vacant

Technical Director K W C Stewart

Chief Grader D Bryson

Webmaster D Bryson

Membership Secretary G Anderson

Scottish Chess Editors R Coleman and D Oswald

FIDE/ECU delegate J M Glendinning

Auditor Karen Clark CA

The President appealed for assistance in carrying out the work of the unfilled posts. A number of offers were made regarding specific tasks:

G Chandler handed over promotional packs which he had prepared to assist with approaches to potential sponsors of the Championships.

S Collins offered to run the Richardson and Spens Cups. There was debate on the format. It was agreed to continue the existing format for one more year to give time to devise new arrangements. Meantime, the entry fee for the Spens Cup would be nil.

A McFarlane offered to continue to make arrangements for the Championships.

A proposal for the post of Home Chess Director (Junior) might emerge from the meeting of the Junior Board to be held after the AGM.

The following were then elected as representatives to Council:

Clubs: Edinburgh , Giffnock & Clarkston, South Morningside Primary School and Stirling .

Congresses: Wester Hailes Junior Congress and Glasgow Congress.

Individual Members: Donna Officer, Lloyd Hughes, Alex McFarlane, one vacancy.

 

MEMBERS' MATTERS

Three items had been validly put forward for discussion by members.

(a) G Neave proposed that when selecting an Olympiad team the Scottish champions of the current and previous year should automatically be offered a place in the team. After considerable discussion a vote on the motion resulted - for 1, against 24, abstentions 6.

(b) The Treasurer proposed that the minimum annual fee for affiliated organisations (excluding leagues and congresses) should be £30 with benefits being a seat on Council, reference and links on the CS website and a copy of the grading list; this to apply at the next renewal of any currently affiliated organisations. The motion was approved by 20 votes to 6.

(c) S Hilton proposed that Scotland should affiliate to the International Braille Chess Association. It was noted that the annual subscription would be $150. The motion was approved by 17 votes to nil, in the sense that CS is giving permission for an attempt to affiliate. If Scotland receives approval from IBCA and a suitable Scottish organisational structure is in place, then CS will support this.

 

AOB

The British Chess Problem Society has sought affiliation to CS. This was agreed unanimously. The meeting congratulated Colin McNab on his success as part of the British team which won the World Problem Championship.

Books from the library of the late John Robertson have been bequeathed to Chess Scotland and will go to the archive held by Sam Collins.

Although he had not submitted it in time as a formal motion, A Muir asked for a test of opinion on his proposal that the international selectors should be more in number and elected by the AGM. J Shaw pointed out that there is an advantage in the situation whereby the selectors are sure of their position in the Olympiad team and that former selectors who had become borderline cases had retired. A vote on the proposal resulted - for: 1, against 24.

The meeting closed at about 5.30pm.