Election of Direct Members' Representatives

[John Upham]

Direct Members are invited to apply to be Direct Members’ Representatives at Council meetings. The term of office of current holders expires on 31st July 2026 but current holders are entitled to restand if they fulfil the requirements for election.

*Please see note below on the role of the Council and the representatives.

Following the decision at the Annual General Meeting in October 2023 the Silver and Gold categories of membership were consolidated into one category – Gold members.

For the purpose of the election of Representatives, Direct Members are now grouped into the following four categories with the indicated number of representatives:

a. Honorary Life Vice Presidents, Honorary Life Members, and Life Members (two representatives)
b. Platinum Members and Junior Platinum Members (two representatives)
c. Gold Members and Junior Gold Members (four representatives)
d. Bronze and Bronze Junior members (two representatives)

Applications are sought among the four categories. If there are more applications than representative positions in any category, a first two past the post election will be held in that category in accordance with instructions to be issued.

Representatives are Members of Council, must be Direct Members in the category for which they are elected, and remain Direct Members throughout their period of office. All reasonable expenses incurred in acting as a Direct Members’ Representative will be reimbursed by the ECF.

To be eligible, applications must be received by the Chair of Council ([email protected]) on or by Monday 13th July 2026. Direct members may self-nominate and do not require any seconders. At this stage, an election address need not be supplied, but should an election be required an address should be available by 16th July when it will be posted on the website simultaneously with all other addresses.

Elections will be conducted by email from Monday 20th July to Sunday 26th July and results announced as soon as possible after this date.


David Eustace
Chair of Council

[John Reyes]

Just a quick update regarding the Gold Direct member elections. There are currently eight candidates standing for election.

i don't know if you knew but Deema has stepped down from the role. Gavin Cartwright, Julian Morrison, and I (John Reyes) are standing for re-election alongside five new candidates.

Over the years, Gavin, Julian, Deema, and I have worked closely together to represent members effectively, and Gavin, Julian, and I would be grateful for your continued support in this election.

Having reviewed the other candidates names, there are also a couple who appear to bring valuable experience and perspectives. I have mentioned them in my election statement.

It’s hard to believe that I have now served as a representative for more than 10 years, and I remain committed to supporting and representing members in the future.

[Roger de Coverly]

Having reviewed the other candidates names, there are also a couple who appear to bring valuable experience and perspectives. I have mentioned them in my election statement.

Has the list of candidates and their election statements been published yet? A cursory search failed to find anything.

[Mick Norris]

Election is 20 July

Candidates statements by 16 July, so presumably won't be posted until then

George Bland, Gavin Cartwright, Barbara Farrar, Shilpa Kota, Rohith Koti, Jenny Mulholland, Julian Morrison, John Reyes

George is a member at Bury as well as Lancaster University, so I will vote for him; I imagine most of the MCF would support John Reyes and not Barbara, based on our recent EGM

[John Reyes]

Election is 20 July

Candidates statements by 16 July, so presumably won't be posted until then

George Bland, Gavin Cartwright, Barbara Farrar, Shilpa Kota, Rohith Koti, Jenny Mulholland, Julian Morrison, John Reyes

George is a member at Bury as well as Lancaster University, so I will vote for him; I imagine most of the MCF would support John Reyes and not Barbara, based on our recent EGM

Thank you for your support. I hope members will consider voting for me, Gavin, and Julian, as we have worked effectively together and share a strong commitment to representing members' interests.

While I cannot comment on the EGM, others are able to do so and may have valid reasons for questioning whether that individual would be the most suitable Gold Member Representative.

[Roger de Coverly]

While I cannot comment on the EGM, others are able to do so

Manchester may want to keep this strictly in house, but a cursory search finds no evidence of a recent MCF EGM, let alone a motion being discussed and its outcome.

[Mick Norris]

We have our AGM on Saturday, where we will approve the Minutes of the EGM, so I think they might be published after that

Both the Farrars are excluded from being a captain in the Manchester League, or from having a position that involves interaction with MCF Officials

Obviously, it would be better to vote positively for Candidates rather than negatively to exclude Candidates

[Ian Thompson]

Both the Farrars are excluded from being a captain in the Manchester League, or from having a position that involves interaction with MCF Officials

What was this event that they were involved with? The results show Keith Arkell playing 18 standard play games in one day against 9 opponents, playing 2 games against most of them, but 3 games against one opponent and only 1 game against another.

[Roger de Coverly]

What was this event that they were involved with? The results show Keith Arkell playing 18 standard play games in one day against 9 opponents, playing 2 games against most of them, but 3 games against one opponent and only 1 game against another.

It looks very much like a simul in which case it shouldn't have been rated. I believe there is a little known method of both putting results on the ECF LMS and NOT rating them.

I suppose the other question is why there is a need for a

Chess Association for Manchester Players and Supporters (ChAMPS)

when the Manchester Chess Federation already exists?

[GrahamStuart]

Both the Farrars are excluded from being a captain in the Manchester League, or from having a position that involves interaction with MCF Officials

What was this event that they were involved with? The results show Keith Arkell playing 18 standard play games in one day against 9 opponents, playing 2 games against most of them, but 3 games against one opponent and only 1 game against another.

I would guess some sort of simul which was incorrectly set up as classical games on LMS and rated. Shows as one round, which probably means it was not a multi round event. But would be good to know more?

https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/ind ... ture/70426

[GrahamStuart]

What was this event that they were involved with? The results show Keith Arkell playing 18 standard play games in one day against 9 opponents, playing 2 games against most of them, but 3 games against one opponent and only 1 game against another.

It looks very much like a simul in which case it shouldn't have been rated. I believe there is a little known method of both putting results on the ECF LMS and NOT rating them.

I suppose the other question is why there is a need for a

Chess Association for Manchester Players and Supporters (ChAMPS)

when the Manchester Chess Federation already exists?

I have used the non rating process in the past, noticeably when we were going to rate a congress on LMS, but the Arbiter was able to complete the ECF rating through Chess Results at the same time as he did the FIDE ones, so changed to non rating rather than delete results. Also useful for historic records (added some past seasons of the SCL League).

[Roger de Coverly]

Both the Farrars are excluded from being a captain in the Manchester League, or from having a position that involves interaction with MCF Officials

Whatever is going on may have blown up last year.

Here's the result for the top Manchester division in 2024-25
https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/event/6109/table
and the same division for 2025-26
https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/event/8412/table

The winners (Eccles) in 2024-25 are missing in 2025-26.

[GrahamStuart]

Both the Farrars are excluded from being a captain in the Manchester League, or from having a position that involves interaction with MCF Officials

Whatever is going on may have blown up last year.

Here's the result for the top Manchester division in 2024-25
https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/event/6109/table
and the same division for 2025-26
https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/event/8412/table

The winners (Eccles) in 2024-25 are missing in 2025-26.

There is a bit of background on the Eccles website.

https://eccleschess.com/eccles-chess-ag ... tion-2025/

Relations with the Manchester Chess Federation (MCF)

During the meeting, members discussed ongoing issues with the MCF. A minority of the MCF Council had declared Barbara and Stephen Farrar “unwelcome” for any future involvement in MCF league match activity — despite six years of service that included council attendance, team captaincy, result reporting, and venue provision.

Under new MCF restrictions, The managers of Eccles were told their only duty was to provide a venue to facilitate league matches, effectively excluding them from all other roles. A trial period to delegate responsibilities to others proved unworkable.

Consequently, the Eccles Management Committee voted unanimously to withdraw from the MCF for the current season. Members viewed the actions of the MCF Council as unjustified and unfair.

The club will remain open to rejoining the MCF once a clear explanation are offered and they are made to feel welcome.

This season, Eccles will field teams in the Stockport, Warrington, and Bolton leagues — hosting matches at both the Eccles home and High Street venues.

The club reaffirmed its belief that chess is for everyone — regardless of age, gender, nationality, or background — and that mutual respect should guide all Manchester chess activities.

[Ian Thompson]

I would guess some sort of simul which was incorrectly set up as classical games on LMS and rated. Shows as one round, which probably means it was not a multi round event. But would be good to know more?

https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/ind ... ture/70426

A simul is clearly a possibility, but my guess would be a series of blitz games. You could have an event where a GM plays club members all evening, until time runs out. As it was played on a Saturday, you could also have a similar all day event with rapidplay games, if played at a fast time limit. There are other results reported under that organisation that are similar, e.g. https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/ind ... ture/93442 (not rated, as far as I can see) and a smaller event involving Danny Gormally, which was Blitz rated.

[Alex Holowczak]

These were those Eccles events: https://eccleschess.com/when-arkell-came-to-eccles/

The ECF received complaints about them, and it resulted in these regulations being published: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/bona-fide-submissions/