What am I doing?

[Geoff Chandler]

I did street survey ages ago.

Updating chess is not something I've just picked up.
I've been battering my head against a brick wall for nearly 40 years
trying to get chess taken seriously.

The Survey.

I got the players on the Red Hot Pawn & Chess Scotlandto do their own survey
and send me the results. It all apeared on the Alistair Sim Corner.

http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandle ... handID=372

But to save you going there here is the piece from that bit of The Corner.

Following a suggestion made on the Red Hot Pawn forum I decided to carry
out a poll of 100 non-players asking them to name three famous chess players.

The first 18 people I asked all said "None."
One lad said: "Checkov." (Start Trek - the Russian).

I went out again the next day and also appealed on CS and RHP forum
to ask non-players for their top three.

Watching the thought process of non-players was interesting.
The letter 'K' figures prominently "K...K...."

One girl said Karpov but then said no that was a James Bond villian.
I think she meant the Karpov from the Tinker, Tailor series.

I'd like to thank all the guys from CS and RHP who supplied
me with extra data.

Nearly forgot. Andrew Burnett's girlfriend said 'Geoff Chandler'
I asked my wife she said Tal, Fischer and Korchnoi.
The one Tal on the list came from wife and that is because
I had his book of combinations laying by my bedside for years.
(I know it's sad but that so is reading and contributing to this)

OK the scores.
I'm unsure how many people were asked as I asked them for 3 players.
some gave 1 or 2. so don't add up the totals thinking
is the sum of the people asked.

None (people who could not name any chess player) - 41
Kasparov - 32
Fischer - 27
Karpov - 16
Short - 9
Korchnoi - 5
Deep Blue - 3
(Deep Blue is now a famous chess player)
Checkov - 2!
Heinzkat - 2
(I think HeinzKat is a Belguim cartoon character).
The rest scored 1
Chigorin
Topalov
Andrew Green
Geoff Chandler (eat your heart out Ruxton).
A Persian Guy
Blue Tooth
Korakov(?)
Tal
Golombek
That IBM computer (HAL?)
Capablanca
Euwe
Timman
Judit Polgar
Andrew Burnett
Walter Burnett
(I think these two asked each other).

[Sean Hewitt]

I've been battering my head against a brick wall for nearly 40 years.

That explains alot of your comments!!

[Adam Raoof]

It could have been this one by "kingscrusher".

http://www.chessforeurope.com/video/vid ... -2009.html

Who is this kingcrusher dude ?

His video is really good !

kingscrusher (spelling) is Tryfon Gavriel from Barnet and Muswell Hill Chess Club, and the webmaster of chessworld.net / letsplaychess.com. His pride and joy is his new iPhone, which means that he can shoot and upload chess videos to YouTube on the move!

[Roger de Coverly]

which means that he can shoot and upload chess videos to YouTube on the move!

Here's an interview from Torquay with Adam and CJ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNWITVbma5I

[cjdemooi]

Next month's diary so far...

2/3 Evan Harris MP at Parliament
5-6/3 Blackpool Congress
18/3 ECF Office
18/3 Hastings Chess Club
21/3 Monmouth Event

I'm also hoping to meet representatives from Chess Scotland when I'm filming in Glasgow next week

I'll be attending the 4ncl final weekend Monday (probably for Division 3 unless someone suggsts otherwise) and will hold a Q&A with anyone who wants to take part

2 other events have also invited me along (at Frome and Holton Lee but these are to be confirmed)

I'll also be visiting the British Championships and the British Rapidplay Championships later in the year (although I have informed the organisers of the latter that it's after the ECF AGM and I may have been voted out by then!)

[cjdemooi]

I had a very positive meeting with Dr Harris today.

He seemed very keen to get involved (once the election is out of the way obviously) and we discussed, amongst other things...
- Restarting the Lords v Commons chess matches
- The Chess as a Sport campaign
- The possibilities of aligning Chess (ECF) with Bridge (EBU) in order to apply for (lottery?) funding
- Staging events and publicity at parliament

He also agreed to be an Honorary Vice President of BUCA

He is clearly knowledgeable about the past situation of the ECF and English chess in general and was enthusiastic to hear that Nigel Short had been elected FIDE Delegate.

Does anyone, specifically those on the council, have further thoughts please?

[cjdemooi]

If I could just mention this...I know it's not in England but I think it's a very worthwhile initiative and I'll certainly be attending. A couple of people have contacted me suggesting charity chess events or funds and I think this might be a useful template.

http://www.welshchessunion.org.uk/entry ... 0form).pdf

(You may have to copy the shortcut as the hyperlink may not work)

[cjdemooi]

As Ernie has kindly commented, I was delighted to attend the Blackpool Congress for a couple of days and say a few words at the opening ceremony. I have nothing but praise for this event and am not surprised it has proven so popular in the past and can only expect it will remain so for the future.

Also, my invitations to the Frome Congress and British Championships are now in the diary and I'll also be at the Welsh Championships next month too. In addition to the March appointments listed above, I have a couple of meetings with people in the chess firmament to discuss plans for the extension of chess, particularly junior chess, in the coming months.

As always, suggestions, comments and criticisms are more than welcome and you have my promise that all will be acted upon.

[Wilf Arnold]

Also, my invitations to the Frome Congress and British Championships are now in the diary and I'll also be at the Welsh Championships next month too. In addition to the March appointments listed above, I have a couple of meetings with people in the chess firmament to discuss plans for the extension of chess, particularly junior chess, in the coming months.

If you're coming over to the Welsh I'll get a pairing card ready for you - you may even get the white bits this time!

[cjdemooi]

I've been in my post for 6 months now, so as promised, here are my expenses and thoughts thereof.

I have claimed from the ECF a total of £415.20 for petrol.

I am attending the British Championships and British Rapidplay Championships both of which have offered accommodation for the duration but I will only be taking 2 or 3 nights for the former (a regular component of the budget) and 1 or 2 nights for the latter (a kind offer by the committee)

It seems to me that publishing all personal expenses (not necessarily just for me) that are reimbursed by the Federation is sensible and transparent - I have never claimed nor asked for anything else from either the ECF or any congress or club I have visited and never shall.

Also, when the elections come around at the next AGM, I shall not put myself forward as President and would rather not accept a nomination by a member of the board. If the Council feels I have done a good job, surely it is up to a member therein to put my name into the ring? This could help end the (however unfounded) perception of 'jobs for the boys'

Any thoughts please?

CJ

[johnmcbride]

A nice refreshing change.

I would expect that no one would worry about genuine expenses and if you incur costs, then you should claim them. Given that you must be busy, you commitment to attend events is both commendable and appreciated. You have my support and long may you continue.

[John Philpott]

CJ de Mooi wrote

Also, when the elections come around at the next AGM, I shall not put myself forward as President and would rather not accept a nomination by a member of the board. If the Council feels I have done a good job, surely it is up to a member therein to put my name into the ring? This could help end the (however unfounded) perception of 'jobs for the boys'

CJ's thinking seems entirely sound. I have never been a fan of self-nomination, and given that as Chairman of the Governance Committee I regard myself as the servant of Council, I have always thought that it was preferable for myself not to be nominated by the Board. I have not so far encountered a problem in being nominated and am sure that the same will be the case for CJ. However, I would make a distinction between the Board as a whole and individual directors. Although there are minimum criteria in terms of "the Requisitionists" for a nomination to be effective, there is no upper limit as to how many nominations for a candidate can appear on the agenda. If CJ had been nominated by (say) the SCCU, and an individual director then wished to show his personal support for CJ by making an additional nomination, I do not think that individual should be discouraged from doing so simply by virtue of the fact that he was a director.

The expense disclosure point needs to be thought through, and I would be inclined to link it with consideration of the disclosure of honoraria in the accounts, a practice which used to occur in the latter days of the BCF, but which has lapsed (whether by design or as a result of an oversight) under the ECF. Anyway, in the interests of transparency I will disclose that the total expenses that I am claiming from the ECF for 2009/10 in all of my capacities is £Nil.

[Adam Raoof]

Well done CJ, on a successful term so far. I doubt if you will have a problem getting nominated for a second term, should you wish to put your name forward.

I have claimed no expenses. I am also in favour of absolute transparency in all financial matters - how can we expect rank and file chess players to support our plans if we are not totally open and honest with them?

John: I know of two honoraria that we pay for important jobs well done; do you know of others?

[LozCooper]

Well done CJ, on a successful term so far. I doubt if you will have a problem getting nominated for a second term, should you wish to put your name forward.

I have claimed no expenses. I am also in favour of absolute transparency in all financial matters - how can we expect rank and file chess players to support our plans if we are not totally open and honest with them?

John: I know of two honoraria that we pay for important jobs well done; do you know of others?

Following on from Adam I have also claimed no expenses as International Director and agree with Adam that we should be open and honest.

I should also add that when I was England captain in October 2009 I received no fee although my flights and accommodation were covered. However, when I attended the Dresden Olympiad in 2008 as an Alternate Director I paid all my own expenses including flights and accommodation.

[Andrew Farthing]

In the 15 months I've been involved with the ECF, I've clocked up the following claimable items:

- ca. 1150 miles by car
- train journeys ca. £160
- a thank-you lunch for the ECF office staff ca. £60
- 3 nights' hotel accommodation (no meals) nr Hastings (for the review mentioned in the Chief Executive's report) £105.50

I have only claimed the last of these, i.e. a total of £105.50. I won't be claiming the rest.

In addition, as Acting Minutes Secretary (since October) I've produced 4 sets of minutes, each about 8 hours work, for each of which a fee of £50 is payable. I have not claimed this and won't do so.

Whilst it's great for the ECF's finances that several directors (and Adam and Lawrence are not the only ones by any means) are generous enough not to claim expenses, we have to be careful not to make it seem "bad" to reclaim genuine out-of-pocket expenses. It would be a mistake to limit the pool of potential volunteers only to people who are prepared to sacrifice their own money as well as their time. It's hard enough to find volunteers as it is.