Chief Executive 2021

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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Chief Executive 2021

Mike Truran
51
62%
Malcolm Pein
25
30%
None of the above
6
7%
 
Total votes: 82

Andrew Zigmond
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:12 pm

Hok Yin Stephen Chiu wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:42 pm

We ought to get back to basics, focus on chess; if we have money to spare, buy boards, and sets, (or even,give hard cash) and distribute to leagues. And, leagues are given freedom to come up schemes to drive local chess iniatives, and at the end of the year, reports can be made back to the ECF, to be reviewed..
In the debates around the 2015 elections the late Martin Regan, reflecting on his stint as Chief Executive, said that his approach was to ask as many players as possible what they wanted from the ECF. He would then tell them how much it would cost and the board would take it from there.

There have been suggestions in the past that the ECF should try and separate out their main areas; international, home (amateur) and junior - you could now add women as a separate category and of course there would be overlaps. Some of the advantages are obvious; it would free those wanting to focus on professional chess to bring the right people on board and seek sponsorship etc without being shackled to the amateur side while junior and women are more obviously charitable.

Answering John Upham's question about what should be done with 10 million pounds. I would suggest carving it up into four, split equally around the areas above and obviously each would have different immediate priorities.

As for what I would do if I was able to personally direct the spending;

a) a program of elite tournaments with amateur events attached, possibly rotating around the major cities.
b) grants to form junior clubs but with the proviso that there must be separate sections for players aged 11+ (it's up to individual clubs exactly how the manage it and where and when they make exceptions but we will not attract teenagers to chess if they get lumped in with seven year olds).
c) bespoke clubs for younger adults, in suitable central venues (and perhaps for retired people as well).
d) bursaries for individual players where necessary.
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NickFaulks
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by NickFaulks » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:17 pm

Chris Goodall wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:06 pm
Buy a stake in the Citadines Hotel that gives us first dibs on the conference hall
You are forgetting that you've only got £10m.
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Angus French
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Angus French » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:22 pm

John Upham wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 1:48 pm
There would never be common consensus from Council other than to make it into a Trust Fund for the elusive "rainy day".
Although, at its October 2018 AGM, ECF Council agreed a major new investment programme comprising extra expenditure of £44.5K/year including a requested contribution from trust funds of £18.5K/year. See also: supporting paper.

A decent chunk of the extra money was earmarked for expenditure on women's chess and this is highlighted in Chris Fegan's election address: "A huge increase in the ECF Budget for Women’s Chess-it was £5000 per annum when I took over and the 2021/22 Budget is expected to be £20,000."

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:23 pm

Andrew Zigmond wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:12 pm
In the debates around the 2015 elections the late Martin Regan, reflecting on his stint as Chief Executive, said that his approach was to ask as many players as possible what they wanted from the ECF. He would then tell them how much it would cost and the board would take it from there.
There was a major fallacy in his approach which was why it went nowhere. It's this. The ECF is the statutory chess governing body for England recognised as such by FIDE and presumably de facto by the British government. As such there were certain minimum responsibilities that it could not walk away from without ceasing to be a national chess governing body.

But if there was a financial strategy behind his gang's attempt to take over the ECF, it was to hoover up the legacy funds and spend them. That was in addition to charging amateur players a large annual fee for playing a single game of graded or rated chess. Given that he was part of the resignation squad, did Mike Truran share that spending vision?

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:28 pm

Angus French wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:22 pm
A decent chunk of the extra money was earmarked for expenditure on women's chess and this is highlighted in Chris Fegan's election address: "A huge increase in the ECF Budget for Women’s Chess-it was £5000 per annum when I took over and the 2021/22 Budget is expected to be £20,000."
It's fair to say that he was able to promote the English Women's Championship into a relatively major event, where not so many years earlier it had been cancelled because of a lack of entries. But perhaps any event prospers if you throw a lot of money at it.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:38 pm

Andrew Zigmond wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:12 pm

There have been suggestions in the past that the ECF should try and separate out their main areas; international, home (amateur) and junior - you could now add women as a separate category and of course there would be overlaps. Some of the advantages are obvious; it would free those wanting to focus on professional chess to bring the right people on board and seek sponsorship etc without being shackled to the amateur side while junior and women are more obviously charitable.
The disadvantage being that if sponsorship wasn't available or wasn't enough, there was no source of funding for professional chess, given the periodic expenditure sinks of financing Olympiad and European team events and the need to finance professionals in the British Championship. The Board decided not to pursue the issue, instead concentrating on the more modest goal of having a charity set up to obtain tax advantages for long term funds contributed by legacies.

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Chris Goodall
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Chris Goodall » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:43 pm

NickFaulks wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:17 pm
Chris Goodall wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:06 pm
Buy a stake in the Citadines Hotel that gives us first dibs on the conference hall
You are forgetting that you've only got £10m.
That's loooooads! Unless you're telling me London is more expensive than Gateshead :P
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JustinHorton
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by JustinHorton » Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:49 pm

Wadih Khoury wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:51 am
JustinHorton wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:45 am
Wadih Khoury wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:37 am
I am sure others can bring more ideas to the table, but as I see it, chess sponsoring brings at least a couple of things:
  • Associate your brand with a "serious" and "intellectual" activity.
Do we actually want to do that though
Could you expand a bit more please?
Do we want it to be thought of as an "intellectual" activity, or as a perfectly accessible game open to everyone
Alex McFarlane wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:05 am
Online chess in Britain would be almost impossible to sell to a new sponsor. If they did even minimum research the comments about cheating would chase them away.
Although what would their research tell them about the size of the audience?
"Do you play chess?"
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Chris Goodall
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Chris Goodall » Sat Sep 18, 2021 4:31 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:49 pm
Do we want it to be thought of as an "intellectual" activity, or as a perfectly accessible game open to everyone
Both. Surely? If you're a bricklayer with an unusual talent for chess, the fact that you're able to compete with so-called intellectuals on an equal footing and embarrass them is probably half the attraction. Whereas if the reason you've never been attracted to chess is that your head is made of pudding, then regardless of how welcome you feel in the chess community, you'll probably lose lots of games and give up.
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Nick Ivell
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Sep 18, 2021 4:57 pm

I would like to meet this putative bricklayer. No reason why I shouldn't; but it hasn't happened yet.

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Chris Goodall
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Chris Goodall » Sat Sep 18, 2021 6:04 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Sat Sep 18, 2021 4:57 pm
I would like to meet this putative bricklayer.
He says he's not putative, he just gets sweaty from being out in the sun.
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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:49 am

"Also, as wills are public documents, anyone could check the terms of the will, if they were minded to."

Indeed, but you will not be able to tell if there is a "variation" or its effect(s) on the will.

I have some sympathy with Malcolm's view that the ECF should do more to build chess, but I'm not sure how to achieve that, or if appointing "Development Officers" will help.

Are many of the alleged 1 million online players really going to play real chess if life returns to normal?

Nick Ivell
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Nick Ivell » Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:50 am

I see no evidence at all that the 'million' will have any real effect.

Their steeds will continue to be placed on a3 and h3; and no doubt their rooks on the same squares, ready to be swallowed by bishops.

But what's an exchange between friends?

Ian Thompson
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Ian Thompson » Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:11 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:49 am
Are many of the alleged 1 million online players really going to play real chess if life returns to normal?
You don't need them to play competitively, although it would obviously be good if a lot did. They would benefit chess greatly just by continuing to be interested, causing news outlets to give more coverage to chess than they currently do, which would encourage sponsors to choose chess instead of something else.

Graham Borrowdale
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Re: Chief Executive 2021

Post by Graham Borrowdale » Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:10 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:50 am
I see no evidence at all that the 'million' will have any real effect.

Their steeds will continue to be placed on a3 and h3; and no doubt their rooks on the same squares, ready to be swallowed by bishops.

But what's an exchange between friends?
I think the ECF is as much use to the million putting their rooks on a3 and h3 as the Football Association is to kids using coats for goalposts in their back gardens. Is the ECF the ‘English Chess Federation’, or is it the ‘English Over The Board Chess Fdderation’?

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