Minutes April & May 2014
2014-04-23
Summary of the Minutes of the Chess Edinburgh Council Meetings held at 19.30 at the Original Hotel, ROSLIN, Midlothian on firstly the 23rd April and then subsequently on the 8th May
Present (23rd April)
Bill Marshall (Chair), Terry Purkins, David Marshall, Iain Hope, Chris Donkin, Eddie Gillespie, Jim Wallace, Martin Robinson, Gerry Brown, David Taylor and David Stewart.
1. Apologies
Angus Ruthven
Present (8th May)
Bill Marshall (Chair), David Marshall, Iain Hope, Chris Donkin, Eddie Gillespie, Jim Wallace, Martin Robinson, and David Stewart.)
This summary refers to two gatherings of the Council. The first on the 23rd April was shortened as the meeting never got beyond agenda item 4. The Council re-convened on 8th May to consider the remaining agenda items.
MEETING ON THE 23RD APRIL
Edinburgh Chess League
It was reported that the leagues had been completed and that Edinburgh I had won the Premier Division, Badgers Brook II had won Division One, Badgers Brook II had won Division 3 and University II had won Division 3. It was reported that the play-off games are of interest and that one of the play off games had been played and that Wandering Dragons II had beaten Pentland Hills I on board count and retained their Premier Division status. The Division One / Division Two game was scheduled. However it was reported that there has been a problem in arranging the Division Two / Division Three play off game between Pentland Hills II and Bank of Scotland II.
It was agreed that as no agreement had been concluded satisfactorily that the Council would have to set a �default� date for the tie � this to be the 27th May at Musselburgh Chess Club. TP felt he could not support this decision and resigned from the Council.
Any other Business (1)
The meeting received a proposal from the Edinburgh Junior Chess Association for support funding of �128 to purchase Pairing Boards. The Council agreed to support the proposal.
ACTION
EG to arrange payment as described above.
Any other Business (2)
The meeting received a proposal from Dunbar CC for chess equipment to support Junior Chess in Dunbar. It was agreed that The Chair would respond on behalf of the Council.
MEETING ON THE 8th MAY
Edinburgh Allegro Chess League
The EACL has been completed and Badgers Brook have emerged victorious with Corstorphine in 2nd position and Wandering Dragons finishing 3rd. The meeting thanked David Marshall for superb organisation of the League.
Lothians Congress
The Tournament Director stated that he had nothing to state as the formal report from this event had been provided at the previous meeting.
Summer Cup / Plate
The League Secretary reported that with the exception of one match being played on the night of this meeting that the first round had been completed. The draw for the quarter finals of both the Cup and the Plate had been made earlier in the evening and would be communicated to team captains via email
Edinburgh Chess Congress
The Tournament Director reported that the event had been well supported with numbers only slightly down on previous years and this was probably attributable to the change of venue. As a consequence of the lower entry numbers the Congress made a small loss. A formal report from the event was tabled by JW. The meeting thanked JW for his excellent efforts in arranging this event. JW in turn thanked members of the Council for their support.
Lothians Allegro
The Tournament Director stated that he had nothing to state as the formal report from this event had been provided at the previous meeting.
Primary & Secondary Schools
The Primary Schools representative offered his apologies for this meeting but provided a report via email, as follows:
�Lothian Individual Championships (March 2)
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Secondary(3 players) Winner:�� Samuya Mahashwari(a 1071 grading performance on the day)
Primary 6/7(19 playerss) Winner: Siddarth Berera a 927 perfoirmance
Primary 5& Under(31 players)�Winner: James Hartman(J8) a 890 performance.
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League Day III (March 23)......17 teams of 4 spread over 4 leagues.
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P5&U A League(Edinburgh Shield) Sciennes A, runner up St Peter's
P5&U B League��������������������������� Sciennes B runner up Sciennes C
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P6/7 A League(Lothian Shield) South Morningside, runner up Sciennes A
P6/7 B League(Pentland Shield) Bonaly, runner up St Mary's
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Additionally�the Delancey East of Scotland Megafinal(April 27) c 110 players. This was�organised by the Lothian Junior Chess on behalf of Mike Basman with Dick Heathwood being i/c on the day with�additional support from, inter alia, CEC members David Stewart and Jim Wallace� to whom we wish to record our thanks.
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Overall participating numbers were about the same as the previous year. Outwith the region there is still an element of confusion with both Chess Scotland and Scottish Junior Chess running competitions for juniors with�the highlight of yesteryear, The Scottish Primary Schools Team championships not held this year.
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On another issue Lothian Junior Chess, as we now style ourselves has a new website, (though it may be still accessed as was the old site through a link from the CE website) and furthermore we have now affiliated to CS. Overall, with a committee of 7 under the Chairmanship of Bill Platts, organisationally� we are now stronger than for many years.�
The meeting noted the strong position of Junior Chess in the area and thanked DT and his team for their efforts. EG noted that (as advised at the shortened April Council meeting) that the payment of �128 to support Junior Chess activity has been effected.
Website
The Chair reported that it was �business as usual� on the website and that there was nothing significant to report since the last completed meeting of the Council.
General Secretary Report
As The General Secretary had resigned as General Secretary at the previous (April 23rd) meeting of the Council there was no report provided
Treasurer
The Treasurer (reported that as a consequence of the loss accrued by the Edinburgh Congress the Assets of the Council had reduced slightly since the previous reporting period.
Composition of the League for 2014-15
IH had submitted a paper detailing the history of league composition going back some 20 years. This paper was sent to Council Members in advance of Feb meeting. DS had responded with additional comments � also provided to the Feb meeting. CD submitted a proposal based on the contributions from IH and DS. The Council accepted CD�s proposal and will use it as guidance for the League Composition Sub Committee when they convene in advance of the new season.
Report back from the sub-committee for new Tournament Directors (TDs) for season 2014-15
It was reported that the sub committee had met in early April. A report from their meeting and from their subsequent work was provided with the meeting papers. The meeting noted that progress so far has resulted in establishing that MR will act as the TD for the Lothians Allegro in January 2015 and that JW will act as the TD for the Allegro League in season 2014-15. At the meeting CD re-iterated that he will be standing down at the forthcoming AGM but if the Council thought it was appropriate he was prepared (on a one-off basis) to act as the TD for the Lothians Congress in September 2014. The Council agreed to accept this offer. It was agreed to defer the appointment of a TD for the Edinburgh Congress in 2015 until after the AGM when the new Council for 2014-15 was established.
Proposed Change of Time Limits for League matches in 2014-15 season
DS provided a paper with a proposal for a change to the time limits for league matches in 2014-15 season. After some discussion it was agreed that although the paper has merit it was not the appropriate time to be recommending a change to the AGM. DS withdrew his proposal.
AOCB
The Chair invited Council members to further consider the discussions of the 23rd April. The meeting noted that the resignation of the General Secretary was regrettable and the Council noted the magnificent contribution that TP had made to the work of the Council over many years. It was agreed that the Chairman would write to TP expressing the Council�s thanks for his contribution and the sadness of the Council in accepting his resignation.
IH stated that he no longer wished to be League Secretary. DS volunteered to take on the role of League Secretary provided that he was assisted by IH. It was agreed that DS would become the League Secretary with IH acting as his assistant. IH withdrew his notice of resignation.
BM announced that he would likely be standing down as President at the end of the 2014-15 season.
It was agreed that communications relating to the AGM would be sent out by BM. It was agreed that DS would take the minutes for the AGM and for subsequent Council meetings.
Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting is to be set at the end of the AGM � scheduled for Thursday the 29th May at 7.30 pm at Boroughmuir High School.