Continuation of AGM - motion 1.2

[seanmilton]

it could be a good long term investment to fund someone suitable to go off on a fact finding trip and link up with the right country. The aim would be to learn from and perhaps replicate the right chess model where appropriate. Or perhaps even better would be to get someone in from a small but successful chess country (headhunt that right person if you like), then either use them as a consultant, or employ them to restructure everything in our game from bottom up and take Chess in Scotland to the next level.

I am delighted members are continuing the remote participation discussion on the forum as there are sure to be a few gems of ideas to come from it. (The working party is already packing their bags for a fact finding mission to the chess power house of the Seychelles).
I wish to reiterate one point at this stage to prevent unfounded concern or for the topic to divert off on an unnecessary tangent. If an acceptable remote play model can be found, only one remote board will be introduced into congress halls during the first year. Around three boards are envisaged in the next 2-3 years. The remote boards will not be offered to all and sundry but to a limited most deserving few. The impact on the overall congress scene will be minimal with regards playing over the board chess against actual opponents, social interaction among players, atmosphere etc.
The topic of running new congresses out with the Central Belt has been aired on a number of occasions. The goal of the remote participation initiative is to bring chess communities together. Arranging a congress at a remote location will be a kin to holding a local club match unless those advocating more congresses can arrange for the current chess congress population to travel and play at these events.
Back to Jonathan’s point regarding sending someone on a fact finding mission. I am the first to agree that lessons can be learned from others but why can’t Scotland in this instance show the rest of the world how to do it? All we need is desire, a touch of ingenuity and a little bit of compromise. Scots have been at the forefront of innovation and discovery across a wide range of spheres. We held the first ever correspondence match between two clubs (Edinburgh v London in 1884), let’s add innovators of remote congress participation to the list of global chess achievements.