Who should the ECF Council elect as President?

[Mick Norris]

David, As has been pointed out to you several times Sean Hewitt has a mandate from Council to reform the voting system.

Indeed, and Dave's views can be an important start along that path - when I'm unsure what to do, I often find that doing the opposite to what Dave suggests is worth serious consideration

[Simon Brown]

David, As has been pointed out to you several times Sean Hewitt has a mandate from Council to reform the voting system.

Indeed, and Dave's views can be an important start along that path - when I'm unsure what to do, I often find that doing the opposite to what Dave suggests is worth serious consideration

That is very dangerous, as often it is difficult to work out exactly what it is he is trying to say...............

[Mick Norris]

David, As has been pointed out to you several times Sean Hewitt has a mandate from Council to reform the voting system.

Indeed, and Dave's views can be an important start along that path - when I'm unsure what to do, I often find that doing the opposite to what Dave suggests is worth serious consideration

That is very dangerous, as often it is difficult to work out exactly what it is he is trying to say...............

I've had years of practice, though

[Andrew Zigmond]

David, As has been pointed out to you several times Sean Hewitt has a mandate from Council to reform the voting system.

Indeed, and Dave's views can be an important start along that path - when I'm unsure what to do, I often find that doing the opposite to what Dave suggests is worth serious consideration

Another point David dodged was that the forum vote he attaches importance to only saw 81 voters from a potential electorate of almost 1,000 - although to be fair this forum has a lot inactive users so the vote was more representative of regular contributors. IF the ECF moves to OMOV we would need to ensure that the election goes to the members rather than expecting the members to go to the election.

[John Cox]

Would anyone care to post an exposition of how AP’s financial masterplan to make himself a millionnaire at the expense of ECF members might work, exactly?

I have to say that's puzzling, but given how little he knows of English chess, he might assume there's bags of wealth ready for the stripping. Up to a point that's true, given the wealth locked away in the JRT and BCF PIF.

Oh, OK. So Julian Farrand and the other two trustees are going to be in this plot as well, presumably?

It sounds very interesting. Tell me more.

[Simon Brown]

Would anyone care to post an exposition of how AP’s financial masterplan to make himself a millionnaire at the expense of ECF members might work, exactly?

And when you have failed to answer John's question, perhaps you could tell me why a man with considerable wealth would select the relatively meagre alleged assets of the ECF, which appear to be so well guarded that even the ECF can't access them, in preference to those of other wealthier and maybe less upright institutions?

Or maybe the asset-stripping accusations have as much substance as, say....... [insert your own chess-related highly unlikely event].

[JustinHadi]

Starting off as a billionaire is a good plan.

[Roger de Coverly]

Oh, OK. So Julian Farrand and the other two trustees are going to be in this plot as well, presumably?

It sounds very interesting. Tell me more.

If you can believe in the fantasy of a worldwide audience of 600 million for International chess and a domestic audience of 6 million, minor details such as who controls the funds are of little consequence.

[Nick Burrows]

I’m fascinated by the tinfoil merchants who think that AP wants to get control of English chess in order somehow to benefit his own business interests.

The big money to be earnt is clearly via Fide and the world chess scene. AP has made his first foray into this arena and is clearly well connected to the FIDE 'top brass'. The ECF and English Chess has been opposed to the current Fide regime, and now AP claims the position as the head of that organisation. I am not suitably au fait with chess politics to know how exactly AP could exploit this, but there is certainly cause for concern.

There may be nothing in it whatsoever, and I truly hope he is a visionary who can create investment and strengthen our game, but we should monitor his movements on all Fide related issues very closely.

[Roger de Coverly]

Or maybe the asset-stripping accusations have as much substance as, say....... [insert your own chess-related highly unlikely event].

Why does someone who comes across to a number of us as an egomaniac want to be President of a national Chess Federation? If he's intending to put his own money in, rescuing the Women's team shambles would have been a good start.

[John Cox]

Oh, come on, Roger, you can do better than that. Where's your imagination?

I see it more as a question of prestige, of the Presidency opening doors in other parts of the globe, enabling AP to hobnob with Putin and the like and, I don't know, be awarded multi-million pound deals to build power stations in Russia or something.

We need to think about this. If we don't know where the danger lies, how can we guard against it?

[Simon Brown]

He comes across to me as a confident individual who believes in his own ability to succeed. If that makes him an egomaniac in your eyes, so be it. The ECF has a long tradition of relationships, both good and bad, with FIDE. A number of individuals have served FIDE, some continue to do so. His native language is English, he spends substantial time in the UK. If he wants to raise his profile in a different way to the AGON route, President of the ECF seems logical and quite an astute move - others may think this a prestigious position. Given the coverage on Chessbase, maybe it has worked, as this election aside, he hasn't exactly been high-profile since the London Candidates. His views and plans are now widely known.

I don't recall AP committing any of his own funds for the ECF, but the Women's team would indeed have been a good place to start.

[John Cox]

Dammit, how did that happen. Can't one delete inadvertent posts somehow?

[John Cox]

[quote="Nick Burrows
The big money to be earnt is clearly via Fide and the world chess scene. [/quote]

Maybe that's it. He reckons the Presidency of the ECF will open the way to becoming the satrap of some Siberian quasi-autonomous region, with all the opportunities for kleptocracy that will no doubt provide?

[Nick Burrows]

Perhaps he is not Dr Evil, but bidding to host WC matches with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov does involve large sums of money and likely more of what is the real motivator for AP than helping English Chess.