Minutes of the AGM held on 16 June 2010.
Attendance
The meeting was attended by Norman Wedley (Chairman), Harry Currie, Chris Russell, Francis Bowers, Patrick Ribbands, Norman Hutchinson, Paul Kemp, Alan Brookbanks, Colin Emery, Tom Hazel, JohnBygrave, Mike Angel, Paul Hanks.
Apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from Peter Baddeley, Lee Chapman, Bob Henderson, Marcus Misson, Stephen Pride, John Dunn, Kevin Clark, David Barnicoat, Chris Davison, Clive Donald.
Minutes of the AGM held on 3 June 2009
The minutes were agreed. No further problem had been noted with noise at the Warboys venue.
Reports of Association officers for 2009/10
League Secretary: The league program ran smoothly apart from the withdrawal of Cambridge B afterone match. Royston won Division 1 and Warboys B took the Division 2 title. It was noted that the number of games played had fallen when compared with 2009 (in Division1 : 136 down from 198 and in Division 2 : 83 from 118). Problems with registration had prevented the Secretary from updating the County website.
Tournament Secretary: There was no formal report. It was noted that Paul Kemp was the County Individual Champion having scored 3½ in a 4 round Swiss event. The Secretary would be requested to provided a report at the Executive Committee Meeting (ECM).
Team 550 Organiser: Peter Baddeley stood down due to business commitments and Paul Kemp ran the competition and made the report. The Association was glad to welcome the participation of the Octavia Hill club and in the enlarged event, the number of games rose from 56 in 2009 to 83 this year. New England 1 won the North Division and Royston won in the South though here two defaulted matches affected the outcome. Royston won the play-off.
Special Events Organiser: The South again won the annual match against the North on 23rd September 2009. The Jamboree on 5th May 2010 attracted 9 teams and ended with New England A and Linton sharing the title. The Rapidplay took place on 21st March 2010 and even after arm-twisting had 53 participants (compared with 63 in 2009). As a result, it posted a nett loss of around £25 but ran smoothly apart from a niggling whine from the venue sound system and deteriorating catering. The normal three sections all produced local winners: Open/Jack Taylor Trophy - N Hutchinson, Major - G Ward, Challengers - M Ingram. It was proposed that a similar format event is held in late March next year.
Junior Organisers: Over 100 juniors competed in the County schools event at Milton Community Centre on 24th January 2010. The schools title was shared by Morley and King's College School Cambridge. The event was used as the basis to select the County Under-11 and Under-9 teams managed by Nick Jackson. The Under-9s performed poorly in the semi-finals and finished 6th out of 7 counties while the Under-11s came close to qualifying for the finals but missed out narrowly.
County Team Captains: The First Team had come second in its EACU group and went forward to the quarter-finals where they lost to Hertfordshire. The team was improving though it was noted that several leading players were missing. The Under-160 Team found that the revised gradings cost them a number of players and they were competitive but not dominant. Coming third in the EACU group stage meant they did not progress in the competition. The Under-140 Team was afflicted by defaults and were defeated by Suffolk. The Under-120 Team did not materialise.
Website coordinator: Sections of the website had not been updated and the general opinion was that this was the responsibility of the appropriate Association officer. Perhaps access permissions to the relevant pages could be revised selectively to allow this?
ECF & EACU delegates: Some meetings of limited interest had been attended and revolved around financial problems within the hierarchy following a 25% reduction in the government grant. The EACU AGMis on 19th September 2010.
Report of the Treasurer and Adoption of the 2009/10 Accounts
See attached statement. Subscription revenue fell by £143 and £80 had been spent on historical engraving. As a result, the Association's bank balance dropped by £287 but was still relatively healthy at £1040 at the start of the 2010-11 financial year. A query was raised over the attribution of certain expenses to the Rapidplay and subject to clarification of this point*, the accounts were accepted.
* Subsequent to the AGM, it was found that Grand Prix trophies and engraving had been allocated to the Rapidplay in the accounts.
Chess Improvement Initiative
A questionnaire had been circulated to club secretaries on email asking for opinions on a brainstormed list of ideas to increase enjoyment and participation in chess in Cambridgeshire. The response had been meagre and the attendees were asked for a representative view as to which measures should be put forward for adoption at the ECM. The Chairman made clear that those present at the ECM should have determined via these minutes whether there was support from their club membership and be prepared to vote accordingly. The following measures were made priorities to put before the ECM.
Creation of a banded Cambridgeshire "Game of the Season" competition
Fenland Knock-Out: reduction to four players per team; plate competition for first round losers
County Blitz Competition: Individual e.g. 10mins/player or Time Handicap e.g. partition 30mins between players
Summer prize-giving event
Individual Championship: Modest entry fee; Split-level or grading prize; Weekend format / No scheduled nights
Improved communication via mailing list for all active players
Reduced time controls, handicap tournaments, an Association newsletter and an advertising campaign werenot supported for immediate consideration.In anticipation of the ECM, Paul Kemp volunteered to produce some draft rules for a streamlined CountyIndividual competition. Paul Hanks is to contact club secretaries to compile an electronic mailing list of activeplayers after they have obtained permission from the individuals concerned. The minutes of this meeting areto be circulated to all players to generate interest in the work of the Association.
Election of Officers for 2009/10
The following officers were elected:
| Position | Nominee | Proposer | Seconder |
|---|
| Chairman | Norman Wedley | Paul Hanks | Harry Currie |
| Vice-Chairman | Chris Russell | Paul Kemp | Harry Currie |
| Secretary | Paul Hanks | Chris Russell | Paul Kemp |
| Treasurer | Norman Hutchinson | Paul Kemp | Harry Currie |
| League Secretary | Paul Kemp | Paul Hanks | Mike Angel |
| Team 550 Organiser | Paul Kemp | Paul Hanks | Mike Angel |
| Tournament Secretary | Held over to ECM |
| Special Events Organiser | Paul Kemp & Chris Davison | Patrick Ribbands | Mike Angel |
| Junior Organisers | Rob Henderson & Francis Bowers | Paul Hanks | Patrick Ribbands |
| Match Captains: Open | Ola Winfridsson | Paul Kemp | Paul Hanks |
| U160 | Patrick Ribbands | Clive Emery | Tom Hazel |
| U140 | Charles Richmond | Clive Emery | Paul Kemp |
| Website Co-ordinator | Lee Chapman | Paul Kemp | Chris Russell |
| Grading Officers | Patrick Ribbands & Chris Russell | Paul Hanks | Harry Currie |
| Auditor | Roger Burbage | Norman Hutchinson | Paul Kemp |
| ECF Delegate | Marcus Misson | Paul Kemp | Paul Hanks |
| EACU Delegates | Norman Wedley, Paul Hanks & Francis Bowers | Harry Currie | Chris Russell |
Any Other Business
Team "550" competition: Cambridge proposed that the new grading system would be more properly accounted for by adjusting the previous 500 aggregate to 580 total grading points. The meeting decided to leave the format unchanged at 550.
H&PCCA Anniversary: The 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Hunts & Peterborough County Chess Association on 22nd April 1961 is within the coming year and the Committee would investigate how to celebrate the event.
Trophies: The Team 550 trophy has gone missing. Warboys is responsible and Marcus Misson is still searching for it. A stated return date would be announced at the ECM and any future presentations would require a signature of acceptance on a form to be designed by the Association Secretary.
Engraving: All engraving has been brought up-to-date except for the Division 2 trophy. Francis Bowers requires a list of winners since 2006.
ECM date and venue: Subject to confirmation, the ECM is due to be held on Thursday 16th September 2010 at Godmanchester Comrades Club (entrance in St Anne's Lane).
Special Events: Tentative dates for the season-opening North v South match were 15th or 22nd September 2010. Paul Kemp will confer with Marcus Misson to finalise details.
