Or alternatively, he is guided by principles of good corporate governance and years of experience of successfully running organisations.Bob Kane wrote:The CEO does seem to be guided by the adopted ECF communications document , and its policy of openness towards members .
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... rategy.pdf
Board minutes
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Re: Board minutes
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Re: Board minutes
Outrageous flattery won't get you out of producing the junior certificates for next Sunday's Witney Rapidplay.
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Re: Board minutes
Mike thanks for the reminder - what will outrageous flattery get me?! Well done on the board report and your own election address btw. Both very impressive documents.Mike Truran wrote:Outrageous flattery won't get you out of producing the junior certificates for next Sunday's Witney Rapidplay.
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Re: Board minutes
Just reading through this and picking up on this comment.Alan Kennedy wrote: Well done on the board report
So what are the options?One area which can certainly be addressed is the issue of pay to play fees for occasional players, which the Board accepts is at best an irksome administrative task both for chess organisers and for the ECF, and may at worst be discouraging casual players and other infrequent players from engaging in competitive chess. As noted in the Finance section above, we hope to bring forward proposals on this at next April’s Council meeting.
(1) The ECF could raise money based on the number of games submitted for grading. That ought to be straightforward but problematic given the hatred expressed by some Board and Council members for this method.
(2) The ECF could demand that every person who plays even a single game becomes an ECF member. That brings with it, the need to sanction those who are not members. Leaving them out of grading is possible but brings its own adverse consequences. Charging a fine to organisers for allowing them to participate is also an option, if unpalatable.
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Re: Board minutes
That's an interesting find. Not that long ago that I made a suggestion to abolish game fees for players who have played less than 5 games.Roger de Coverly wrote:Just reading through this and picking up on this comment.Alan Kennedy wrote: Well done on the board report
So what are the options?One area which can certainly be addressed is the issue of pay to play fees for occasional players, which the Board accepts is at best an irksome administrative task both for chess organisers and for the ECF, and may at worst be discouraging casual players and other infrequent players from engaging in competitive chess. As noted in the Finance section above, we hope to bring forward proposals on this at next April’s Council meeting.
(1) The ECF could raise money based on the number of games submitted for grading. That ought to be straightforward but problematic given the hatred expressed by some Board and Council members for this method.
(2) The ECF could demand that every person who plays even a single game becomes an ECF member. That brings with it, the need to sanction those who are not members. Leaving them out of grading is possible but brings its own adverse consequences. Charging a fine to organisers for allowing them to participate is also an option, if unpalatable.
It didn't seem to be very well received by some: http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=8633
The Treasurer of our club is not at all happy at having discovered that players have incurred these fees and then have have to collect them from players who may or may not be joining the club this year. It does cause club treasurers and ECF staff a great deal of time and effort.
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Re: Board minutes
Michael Flatt wrote:
The Treasurer of our club is not at all happy at having discovered that players have incurred these fees and then have have to collect them from players who may or may not be joining the club this year. It does cause club treasurers and ECF staff a great deal of time and effort.
Clubs should adopt the position table tennis clubs take on this matter.
I cannot play any games in any leagues for any clubs unless I am a member of Table Tennis England.
Nobody argues, they get on with it.
If you claim that chess is special and you should adopt a much more lax approach then I would laugh.
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Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess
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Re: Board minutes
John Upham wrote:Michael Flatt wrote:
The Treasurer of our club is not at all happy at having discovered that players have incurred these fees and then have have to collect them from players who may or may not be joining the club this year. It does cause club treasurers and ECF staff a great deal of time and effort.
Clubs should adopt the position table tennis clubs take on this matter.
I cannot play any games of table tennis in any leagues for any clubs unless I am a member of Table Tennis England.
Nobody argues, they get on with it.
I took 10 minutes to renew my membership and job done.
If you claim that chess is special and you should adopt a much more lax approach then I would laugh.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
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Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess
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Re: Board minutes
Are there players in a queue to take part in League table tennis? That might have been the position in chess in 1973, but any attempt to enforce such a rule is likely to see a wholesale collapse of evening leagues. But perhaps they and the chess clubs who support them are an obsolete concept and deserve closure.John Upham wrote:
If you claim that chess is special and you should adopt a much more lax approach then I would laugh.
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Re: Board minutes
Roger de Coverly wrote:Are there players in a queue to take part in League table tennis? That might have been the position in chess in 1973, but any attempt to enforce such a rule is likely to see a wholesale collapse of evening leagues. But perhaps they and the chess clubs who support them are an obsolete concept and deserve closure.John Upham wrote:
If you claim that chess is special and you should adopt a much more lax approach then I would laugh.
A typical TT team consists of three players. Each players plays one singles with each of the opposing teams players. One doubles is played results in a total of 10 games per match. Each games consists of the best of 5 ends or sets.
Most squads for each team are of 5-6 players so there is demand to play. I would say there is more demand for places in teams in TT than there is in chess.
Here is a radical suggestion: what makes playing league chess in the evenings preferable in the UK compared with the continent?
League chess on the continent is more likely to be played at weekends. What is the rationale for this?
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Re: Board minutes
Anything of wider interest Alex (without disclosing the names of those who have contacted you)?Alex Holowczak wrote:Some people don't feel comfortable doing that though, perhaps.David Sedgwick wrote:I can't see the point of that facility. If I want to ask a Director something, I email that Director.Julie Denning wrote:The ECF this year set up the "Ask a Director" facility via its website. So far not a single question has come my way.
I've received several questions via that mechanism, nearly always from people I hadn't previously heard of.
Any postings on here represent my personal views
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Re: Board minutes
Not really. I had lots of questions asking me where the 2017 British Championships were before we announced it. I've had a few questions about how to calculate their grade in certain situations. I had one asking for some historic County Championship results. Things like that really.Mick Norris wrote:Anything of wider interest Alex (without disclosing the names of those who have contacted you)?Alex Holowczak wrote:Some people don't feel comfortable doing that though, perhaps.David Sedgwick wrote: I can't see the point of that facility. If I want to ask a Director something, I email that Director.
I've received several questions via that mechanism, nearly always from people I hadn't previously heard of.
There are some important questions though - I've had one question asking me where the final schedule of the 2017 British, which I said I'd publish at the end of August, is.
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Re: Board minutes
Weekend congresses compete for chess players' time at weekends over here. Do they do the same to anything like the same extent on the continent?John Upham wrote: Here is a radical suggestion: what makes playing league chess in the evenings preferable in the UK compared with the continent?
League chess on the continent is more likely to be played at weekends. What is the rationale for this?
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Re: Board minutes
Well in Spain the working day doesn't finish till much later, so you play at the weekend because you have to.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."
lostontime.blogspot.com
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."
lostontime.blogspot.com
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Re: Board minutes
I dabbled with running a local Sunday league, as had Mike Truran in Oxfordshire. There really wasn't a satisfactory demand for them to make the competitions viable.IM Jack Rudd wrote:Weekend congresses compete for chess players' time at weekends over here. Do they do the same to anything like the same extent on the continent?John Upham wrote: Here is a radical suggestion: what makes playing league chess in the evenings preferable in the UK compared with the continent?
League chess on the continent is more likely to be played at weekends. What is the rationale for this?
Of course, most typical club venues don't want the business at weekends either.
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Re: Board minutes
There's a bit more:Roger de Coverly wrote:Just reading through this and picking up on this comment.Alan Kennedy wrote: Well done on the board reportOne area which can certainly be addressed is the issue of pay to play fees for occasional players, which the Board accepts is at best an irksome administrative task both for chess organisers and for the ECF, and may at worst be discouraging casual players and other infrequent players from engaging in competitive chess. As noted in the Finance section above, we hope to bring forward proposals on this at next April’s Council meeting.
andBoard report to Council, Finance section wrote:… work is in hand to review game fee billing; this is both an onerous and a manual process as regards which, if the effort involved were charged to the ECF rather than being carried out by volunteers, the cost would doubtless exceed the income generated. We hope to bring forward proposals to next April’s Council meeting that will address these and other issues.
Dave Thomas’s election address wrote:We are continuing to consider what might be done to replace the residual amount of Game Fee which the Federation still collects. When the new Membership Scheme was introduced it was envisaged that the continuation of Game Fee would only be a transitional arrangement; the expense (whether in cash or volunteer time) of collecting it is out of proportion to the income it yields. The problem which has to be solved is how to simultaneously avoid creating a barrier to casual players by setting the minimum fee to be paid too high (the perception being that insisting on universal bronze membership at the current rate would have that effect) and impacting the Federation's income by enabling existing Bronze members to select a cheaper option. Two possibilities are currently under consideration: one is to introduce a lower category of membership which would entitle the member to play only a limited number of games, and the other is to permit a minimum number of games without any payment but charge Game Fee (at a significantly higher level than at present) on all games of players who play more than that minimum. In either case the suggestion is that the Leagues in which the player competes are responsible to the Federation for the fee; it would be impractical for the Federation to attempt to recover excess costs directly from the individual player. Unfortunately both proposals would require accessing a count of the games played by each non-member, and it is this aspect of the present system which causes the perceived cost to the Federation.