AGM Minutes

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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Michael Farthing
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by Michael Farthing » Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:15 am

Paul Buswell wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 5:53 am
Am I alone in feeling uncomfortable that the ECF President voted (albeit by proxy)? Perhaps I'm old-fashioned but I'd prefer a non-executive President not to vote, other than from the chair with a casting vote.
The ECF President in not the Chairman at Council meetings and so would not have a casting vote. However, the Articles clearly give a direct (non casting) vote to both the President and the Chairman of Council. So though you may not like it, they are clearly both within their rights to use a vote they have been expressly given. There is a view that no officer should (in that capacity) have a vote on Council, since Council appoints them - but at present they have.

David Sedgwick
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:56 am

Michael Farthing wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:03 am
I accept that an independent post-meeting check of the election ballot has not taken place (and, I believe, never has done).
Angus mentioned the incorrect initial announcement of the election for Director of International Chess in 2015. On that occasion one of the tellers himself expressed doubts about the accuracy of the result. John Philpott, then Company Secretary, recounted the votes himself, identified the serious problem, and arranged for an independent person, unconnected with chess, to do a further count. This verified John's figures.

The information which we now have about the two published votes gives me more, not less, confidence in the accuracy, or near accuracy, of the figures for the election for Director of Home Chess. As the initial results for the now published votes were out by one (at most), it seems to me to be improbable in the extreme that the election result would have been out by 12 or more.

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JustinHorton
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:47 pm

The minutes have Nigel Short as having said “the vote was rigged”. Can anybody source that quote for me?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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David Sedgwick
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:12 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:47 pm
The minutes have Nigel Short as having said “the vote was rigged”. Can anybody source that quote for me?
That is not in the minutes of the Annual Council Meeting. It is in the minutes of the Board Meeting which preceded it.

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... inutes.pdf

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JustinHorton
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:14 pm

Ah OK, my mistake, thanks. While we're here, though, where does it come from?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

David Sedgwick
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:17 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:14 pm
While we're here, though, where does it come from?
Googling led me to https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/0 ... te-russia/.

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JustinHorton
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:33 pm

How curious. There's no given source for the comment in the piece, and if the suggestion is that he said it on Twitter, I can't find it there. Similarly this piece.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Roger de Coverly
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:47 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:17 pm
Googling led me to
Short hit back saying the process had been “rigged” and he had been denied the opportunity to present his case to the ECF.
Presumably that's what the ECF Board minutes are referring to. The Telegraph article is dated 22nd September, so very soon after the ECF announced its decision.

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JustinHorton
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:53 pm

Yes, that's what I think. But what I can't seem to find is where Nigel said this (if indeeed he did) in the first place.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

David Sedgwick
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:56 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:53 pm
Yes, that's what I think. But what I can't seem to find is where Nigel said this (if indeeed he did) in the first place.
I has assumed. possibly incorrectly, that the Telegraph had approached him for a comment on the ECF Board's decision and its statement and that he had said that things had been "rigged" against him.

I can't see that it matters all that much. He was clearly pretty unimpressed with the statement.

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JustinHorton
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Re: AGM Minutes

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:02 am

It's not wildly important, but just on general principle if somebody has a comment attributed to them it's good if a primary source can be located.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com