Compulsory Membership?

[Ian Kingston]

A Cheshire viewpoint would be.
The ECF is mostly irrelevant to the chess we play.
The NCCU is totally irrelevant.

Maybe you should join the MCCU

To be fair its hard to imagine the MCCU being any more relevant than the NCCU

We do actually play county competitions between more than two teams. But unless that's what you want - you have a point.

What are the unions for?

[Alex Holowczak]

What are the unions for?

Historically, they were very relevant:
(1) They had a seat on the BCF Board (as it then was)
(2) There was no "national grading list", as we have now. That was reserved for players who were over 175. Instead, each Union had a grading list. If I played in the Birmingham League only, I'd only find my existence in the printed copy of the MCCU Grading List.

Of course, none of these applies anymore.

They retain two privileges that might be of interest to plays:
(1) They run the Union stage of the County Championship; although they don't even have to do that, and can just nominate counties regardless of holding a qualifier.
(2) They get a British Championship qualification place, and can award further places to three other congresses.

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

[Roger de Coverly]

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

Whilst not of vital interest to players, they have the rights to put motions directly to the ECF Council meetings.

You could add that they act as the awarding body for regional titles.

[Alex Holowczak]

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

Whilst not of vital interest to players, they have the rights to put motions directly to the ECF Council meetings.

You could add that they act as the awarding body for regional titles.

OK, yes. Amendment accepted.

[Ian Kingston]

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

You're not kidding.

Roger's additions, whilst true, don't add up to much.

If the Unions vanished tomorrow, who would notice? County team regulars perhaps. Apart from them?

[David Robertson]

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

I've long thought this, as you can tell. And not just because of the uselessness of NCCU. But the SCCU seems to be an altogether different case. It seems to me at least, from a distance, to have retained some vigour and purpose; and to have retained the confidence of the players. It would be interesting the hear the case for the defence before passing sentence. In short, what would be lost, that wouldn't otherwise get done, if SCCU were scrapped too?

[Adam Raoof]

Unions are a tier of administration that seems to be increasingly redundant.

I've long thought this, as you can tell. And not just because of the uselessness of NCCU. But the SCCU seems to be an altogether different case. It seems to me at least, from a distance, to have retained some vigour and purpose; and to have retained the confidence of the players. It would be interesting the hear the case for the defence before passing sentence. In short, what would be lost, that wouldn't otherwise get done, if SCCU were scrapped too

I can only speak personally, but the SCCU is a very useful tier of administration. Maybe it's just the fact that several key SCCU personnel are generally very active and well informed. The website is always up to date with information about county chess, results, contact details of captains. It has useful, informative and humorous summaries of Council meetings.

http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/

[Roger de Coverly]

If the Unions vanished tomorrow, who would notice? County team regulars perhaps. Apart from them?

You don't directly need a Union to run regional or local county matches. Just some form of co-ordinating group from the participating counties to settle eligibility and other rules, disputes, fixtures, grading etc.

As a counter view, the notion that you can somehow split the ECF into two or more parts so as to distance professional chess from the rest is likely to be doomed to failure. However if you restructured the regional bodies into charities, these clearly have nothing to do with professional chess and leave the national body as the one that pays players.

[Ian Kingston]

I can only speak personally, but the SCCU is a very useful tier of administration.

But what does it administer? A glance at the web site suggests that its main function is organising the county championships in its region - just as with the other Unions. That it looks active (to an outsider) is probably down to Richard Haddrell's efforts as webmaster. (Ray Collett does a similarly good job on the MCCU web site.)

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Maybe it's just the fact that several key SCCU personnel are generally very active and well informed."

For example, the Middlesex representative!

[Mike Gunn]

The Unions also play an important part in the democratic structure of the ECF, bringing together counties and other organisations in their regions. The SCCU always discusses what is coming up on the Council agenda, putting items on the agenda etc and I would hope that other Unions would be doing likewise. The SCCU has also been very lucky in having some long serving officers who have done a great job over the years.

On a historical note Leonard P Rees of Croydon (and later Redhill) first set up the Surrey CCA in 1883 and then went on to set up the SCCU, (1892) then the BCF (1904) and finally (I believe) he had a hand in establishing FIDE (1924) (just so you know who to blame).

[Ian Kingston]

The Unions also play an important part in the democratic structure of the ECF, bringing together counties and other organisations in their regions. The SCCU always discusses what is coming up on the Council agenda, putting items on the agenda etc and I would hope that other Unions would be doing likewise. The SCCU has also been very lucky in having some long serving officers who have done a great job over the years.

Are there issues that need to be considered at Union level that can't be adequately handled by county associations?

[Sean Hewitt]

The Unions also play an important part in the democratic structure of the ECF, bringing together counties and other organisations in their regions.

That doesn't sound like something that the MCCU does. The SCCU seems to do this quite well though (from an external perspective).

The SCCU always discusses what is coming up on the Council agenda, putting items on the agenda etc and I would hope that other Unions would be doing likewise.

The MCCU certainly does not do this!

[Mike Gunn]

People at the Union level are more likely to be in touch with what is happening at the national level so (arguably) it forms an important link in the information chain between the various organisations. Of course the internet will play an increasing role, but there will always be a place for face to face meetings.

[David Robertson]

People at the Union level are more likely to be in touch with what is happening at the national level so (arguably) it forms an important link in the information chain between the various organisations. Of course the internet will play an increasing role, but there will always be a place for face to face meetings.

Good grief! What planet are you on? This is absolutely not the case with NCCU. A plate of mashed potato is more in touch with national affairs than this lot; and a damn sight more capable of communication too