CHESS SCOTLAND (CS) MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING

City Inn, Glasgow Saturday 25 February 2006 at 2pm

PRESENT

J Glendinning (chair), G Anderson, D Bryson, G Clarke, R Coleman, T Donohue, S Emery, G Grant, S Hilton, SD Mannion, W Marshall, A McFarlane, LR McKenzie, D Officer, C Pritchett, S Smith, K Stewart (minutes), D Wilson

COMPOSITION

The President reported that, following their being no constitutional nominations at the AGM, the representatives of club and individual members from last year had been invited to serve again this year. The posts of Marketing Director and Publicity Director were still vacant.

G Clarke requested that Council members should receive an email reminder regarding nominations before the next AGM.

APOLOGIES

Apologies had been received from the following: -

J Aagard, S Collins, K Emery, DL Gillespie, I Mackintosh, P Macnab, John Montgomery, S Taylor

Good wishes were sent to David Gillespie in his current ill health.

PREVIOUS MEETING

The Minutes of the previous Council Meeting, 14 August 2005, were taken as read and approved.

MATTERS ARISING

YouthLink. No action had been taken yet. The matter was delegated to the Junior Home Board.

DIRECTORS' and OFFICERS' ACTIVITY

Alex McFarlane , Home Chess Director (Open) -

Richardson and Spens Cups: Numbers in the Spens remained poor. One solution would be to have an all-in Round 1 for the events. The use of regional central venues to save hiring costs is possible. Further feedback is still wanted.

Scottish Championships: The big problem remains lack of funding. This year's event is likely to be at Troon in first week of July, but still to be confirmed. Boys' and Girls' Championships will be incorporated into the event. Venues planned are 2007, Perth (probable) and 2008, Glasgow (firm). The event cannot continue in its present form without financial backing. He circulated a paper on options (Appendix 1). C Pritchett suggested more junior involvement; D Bryson suggested consideration of reallocation of funds to support the championships.

Tiebreaks: A Muir had prepared a paper reporting a survey on tiebreaks he had been asked to arrange. A decision was delegated to the Home Board.

British Championship: A revised agreement had been prepared to acknowledge the English Chess Federation's new title (formerly BCF). It was agreed that CS should sign this (Appendix 2 ).

Stephen D Mannion , Child Protection Officer -

SDM reminded Council of main features of the Child Protection Policy - important to protect both children and Chess Scotland. The initial phase comprises Coaches (higher priority, enhanced disclosure) and Arbiters (lower priority, standard disclosure). He has had about 115 inquiries, issued 60 forms and processed 25 through the system. The list of Coaches now has good geographic spread and SDM will arrange for it to be published on the CS website. Arbiters who have completed the process will be asterisked on the existing list. He made three recommendations:

1. G Anderson should become an additional signatory (R Heathwood is currently a signatory, but not at present active);

2. Chaperones: a list needs to be developed for those helpers who are not coaches or arbiters;

3. Timetable: Deadlines should now be set to ensure that we use only those who have been through the system for Chess Scotland events.  We should do this by the end of this year for coaches.  The position of Arbiters and Chaperons should follow soon after. Council approved the recommendations.

There was discussion of the procedures for those who already had disclosure forms in another context - explanation is often needed. G Clarke pointed out that there are also implications for club organisers; it was felt that leagues should make this better known to clubs.

Disabilities Officer

Stephen Hilton was appointed as Disabilities Officer and co-opted to Council. It was agreed that he should produce a job specification for the post. A McFarlane suggested that clubs should be given information on potential action against them regarding failure to provide access to people with disabilities.

Glynis Grant , Home Chess Director (Junior) -

The one-day event in November had been at the wrong time (too early). Consideration was being given to moving it to the Scottish Championships.

Craig Pritchett , Schools Development Director -

The CD with guidance on how to organise chess in schools had received good feedback, with enquiries from around the world.

The N Ayrshire project continues. He had helped with advice on organisation, aiming to bring in more local assistance. A part-time chess developer may be funded by the council. He had also assisted E Dunbartonshire and Edinburgh and been in contact with other councils.

The planned European congress for schools organisers did not take place.

The Cherie Booth award had again brought good publicity through a match with MSPs.

G Clarke asked about evidence that school activity feeds through to open clubs. CP replied that this varies greatly with area.

Donna Officer , International Director (Junior) -

The World Youth Championships at Belfort had been enjoyable despite various venue problems. There is as yet no detail on the 2006 event, expected in Russia in October.

The Tri-nations event in Wales was successful with two Scottish wins out of three; Scotland is to host the event in 2006 and will require two teams.

Scotland has been invited to participate in the Glorney Cup without commitment to host it at a later date. This was discussed further under item 7. The plan had been for Scotland instead to participate in the European Youth Team Championship but this (a) had been in Turkey in October 2005 - not attended mainly for security reasons (b) would be in France in June 2006 which she felt was not practicable.

To compensate, a double complement of players was selected for the European individual event.

Internet coaching for the youth squad has been arranged and will take place soon.

The President thanked the director for her work in a very busy period.

Scottish Chess

The President reported that Sam Collins has offered his resignation as editor due to personal commitments. Douglas Bryson, assisted by John Glendinning, will attempt to produce issues to bring the magazine up to date as soon as possible.

The post of Editor will be advertised and the future of the magazine discussed as part of the appointment process.

International

The President reported that Jacob Aagard's main work as International Director has been in securing the selection of perhaps Scotland's strongest ever men's team and women's team combining experience and youth.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Mac McKenzie, Finance Director reported that there is currently a healthy balance despite slightly lower income than budgeted. Junior club affiliation has been low. The full grant has been received and grading income is as expected.

The lowered expenditure is largely due to the delays with Scottish Chess . Expenditure on Junior Home chess has been higher than expected as some events have had deficits.

All organisers should report on their monies and expenses by end April.

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

The Finance Director presented budgeted income and expenditure for the coming financial year. The proposed membership fee increases gave rise to discussion.

G Clarke proposed that junior fees (up to age 20 for those in full-time education) should be fixed uniformly at half the adult rate. This did not receive a seconder.

R Coleman proposed that £1000 should be set aside to allow participation in the Glorney and Faber Cups. The proposal was defeated on a vote.

The budget was then approved by Council.

D Officer agreed to investigate further costs and logistics for the European Youth Team Championships in June, though she could not assist directly herself.

PayPal - It was agreed that this facility for credit card payment via the website should be offered but that the Finance Director should determine a charge which should be made to cover additional costs.

FIDE ELECTIONS

The President reported that these would be contested this year. Council agreed to delegate to the Management Board a decision on how the FIDE delegate should be advised to vote. Meanwhile, the President would arrange for discussion of the subject on the website.

NEXT MEETING

A decision on the dates of the AGM and the next Council meeting was delegated to the Management Board.

OTHER BUSINESS

None.

The meeting closed at about 5.30pm.