Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 21 May at Warboys Sports & Social Club.
Attendance
The meeting was attended by Norman Wedley (Chairman), Harry Currie, Chris Russell, Michael Pope, Francis Bowers, Tom Hazel, Marcus Misson, Patrick Ribbands, Peter Baddeley, Carl Watkins, Charles Richmond, and Paul Kemp (Secretary).
Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Neil Holmes, Mike Angel, Bob Henderson, Stephen Pride, Marcus Connolly, David Barnicoat, Paul Hanks, Chris Ross, Ola Winfridsson and Andy Davison.
Admission of Newmarket as an Affiliated Club
It was agreed to admit Newmarket as an affiliated club to the Association.
Minutes of Previous General Meetings
The meeting received and approved the minutes of the following meetings:
the AGM of the former Huntingdon & Peterborough Chess Association (27 June 2007);
the EGM of the former Cambridgeshire Chess Association (12 September 2007); and
the EGM of the Cambridgeshire County Chess Association (12 September 2007).
Paul Kemp reported that it had not yet been possible to finally resolve the issue of a potential outstanding liability on the part of the former Cambridgeshire Chess Association to the English Chess Federation, in spite of him writing personally to the ECF Treasurer. He expressed the hope that a line had been drawn under the issue. The balance of the former Association's funds, some £200, had been transferred to the new Association.
Reports of Officers
The following points arose from the officers' reports.
The Chairman felt it had been a good first year for the new Association, with some additional events (the Rapidplay Congress and Jamboree) which had attracted entrants from across the County and helped to reinvigorate chess in the area.
Paul Kemp reported on the success of the Rapidplay, which had been enjoyed by the contestants as well as producing a surplus of £130. It was agreed to hold a similar event in 2009, the detailed arrangements for which would be decided by a committee consisting of Norman Wedley, Harry Currie, Francis Bowers, Marcus Misson, Chris Russell, Patrick Ribbands and Paul Kemp. Peter Baddeley offered to arrange more publicity through the website, and Francis Bowers would seek to promote the event through local schools as the opportunity arose.
It was agreed to hold a Jamboree on similar lines to this spring's successful event (won by Linton) in 2009, and to purchase a trophy for annual presentation to the winning club.
The meeting agreed that it would like to hold a match between the two former County Associations. Paul Kemp agreed to try and find a mutually convenient date in the second half of September, but warned that this was dependent on the Bury League's plans. It was left to Paul Kemp and Marcus Misson to make the arrangements and to captain their respective sides, with the match probably being played at Warboys.
Michael Pope reported on the success of Warboys and St Neots in winning their respective divisions in the League. He reported briefly that issues had arisen on playing in order of strength, quickplay finish rules, postponed matches, and eligibility where clubs had more than one team in the same division, and hoped that the new rules proposed to the meeting would avoid difficulties in future.
Chris Russell reported that there were 24 entrants in the County Championship, with Chris Ross beating Paul Kemp in the final. The Championship trophy had been lost, and was believed to be at Kings Cross lost property office. Chris Russell was trying to recover it, but the meeting agreed that if he was unsuccessful the Association would purchase another trophy.
Francis Bowers reported that some primary schools were playing chess, but did so within their own groupings. The ECF were offering ten chess sets to each school.
County captains reported a pretty successful season on the whole. Marcus Misson reported that the open team had finished second in the EACU group and had qualified for the finals stages, where they would play Shropshire. Patrick Ribbands reported that the under-150 team had also finished second in the EACU, and had subsequently beaten Lancashire and were due to play Hertfordshire in the national semi-final. Peter Baddeley reported that he had withdrawn the under-125 team because of the difficulty in raising a side, and that he was standing down as captain; he was thanked for his past efforts. Andy Davison was not present, but the under-100 team had won one out of the two games played.
Neil Holmes was thanked for his website officer's report, and for running the website in trying circumstances. Members were encouraged to make greater use of it (www.cambschess.org.uk).
Marcus Misson reported on the disagreements at the English Chess Federation which had led to the resignation of four senior officers.
Report of the Treasurer
Harry Currie presented the audited accounts of the Association for the year ended 31 May 2008. These showed an accumulated balance of £1350, which in round terms was made up of the following:
| £ |
|---|
| Balance from the former Huntingdon & Peterborough Assn. | 970 |
| Balance from the former Cambridgeshire Association | 200 |
| Surplus from Rapidplay tournament | 130 |
| Operational surplus during 2007/08 | 50 |
It was noted that there was a backlog of trophy engraving: holders were requested to bring the engraving up-to-date and seek reimbursement from the Treasurer. The accounts were approved.
Adoption of League Rules
Michael Pope and Paul Kemp had redrafted the league rules to bring them up-to-date and proposed their adoption by the meeting. The draft rules were approved, subject to the following amendments:
The addition of a rule that "All games shall be played according to the current FIDE Laws of Chess".
The rule on quickplay finishes to be amended to provide that where both flags have fallen the game will be declared drawn only if it is impossible to establish which flag fell first.
The rule on player eligibility to be amended to provide that where players are nominated (because a club has two teams in the same division) the four highest-graded players (first division) or three players (second division) in the higher team shall be nominated.
A proposal by Francis Bowers that players be required to play in strict order of grading was lost.
County Teams 2008/09
It was agreed to retain four County teams for 2008/09 in spite of difficulties in fielding an under-125 team this year. Club secretaries would be asked to help identify potential players at the start of the season.
Opportunities for Lower-graded Players
Peter Baddeley and Neil Holmes had asked the meeting to consider ways in which lower-graded players might get more opportunities for competitive chess. Ideas included making the County championship a Swiss tournament with a prize for the lower-graded players, a knockout event for second division teams, and a grading-limited league. This could be a four-player team event split into two zones to minimize travelling, teams to have a maximum aggregate grading of 500, with the zonal winners meeting in a final.
It was agreed to pursue this last idea. Clubs would be asked before the Executive Committee meeting how many teams they would enter, and a decision taken on its viability and format at that meeting. Peter Baddeley offered to act as the tournament organizer; he and Paul Kemp would develop the idea for presentation to clubs.
The format of the County championship was left for consideration at the Executive Committee meeting.
Election of Association Officers for 2008/09
The following were elected to serve in the posts set out below:
| Chairman | Norman Wedley |
| Vice-Chairman | Peter Walker |
| Secretary | Paul Kemp |
| Treasurer | Harry Currie |
| League Secretary | Michael Pope |
| Tournament Secretary | Chris Russell |
| Junior Organizers | Bob Henderson & Francis Bowers |
| County Match Captains |
| Open | Marcus Misson |
| Under-150 | Patrick Ribbands |
| Under-125 | Michael Pope |
| Under-100 | Andy Davison |
| Special events organizer | Paul Kemp |
| Website co-ordinator | Neil Webb |
| Auditor | Roger Burbage |
| Grading Officers | Chris Russell & Patrick Ribbands |
| ECF Delegate | Marcus Misson |
| EACU Delegates | Norman Wedley, Francis Bowers, Chris Ross & Stephen Pride |
Executive Committee Meeting
It was agreed to hold the Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday 10 September at Warboys.
Any Other Business
There was no other business.
