English Chess Forum

David Robertson wrote: ↑

Mon May 07, 2018 8:02 pm

Over to the all-wise ECF Board.

And, of course, to the all-wise Forum

Your wish is my command, Professor.

My understanding is that the election will take place on Wednesday 3rd October and that tickets have to be declared by Tuesday 3rd July.

I have allowed people to change their votes, as they may wish to do so when the tickets are announced.

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Mon May 07, 2018 10:47 pm

I have allowed people to change their votes, as they may wish to do so when the tickets are announced.

I'm not inclined to place even a preliminary vote until the tickets are announced. It will then be a minimum requirement of mine that all names must be of people who actually exist. I'm picky like that.

Isn't the ECF vote a matter for Council members, or if Council cannot direct then a matter for the board? A good debating point for this forum, but no substitute for letting the decision makers know directly. And as an outgoing member of council I simply need to know whether there is a strategy within any of the manifestos to grow grass-roots chess. I suspect the candidates for this as with any global organisation just want a cut for themselves.

Nigel? No thanks

I suspect Nigel's chances of being elected aren't much better then mine.

Nigel confirms to Chess.com that he's running. He wants to get back to an Euwe/Olafsson type of Presidency where its not all about the money. Of course he will need the support of his own Federation but this may not necessarily be straightforward:

"One issue is that Short will be seeking the endorsement of the English Chess Federation, which now has IM Malcolm Pein as its delegate. Pein and Short get along fine, but recent developments suggest a potential clash.

Pein, who is also the organizer of the London Chess Classic, has been quite close with Makropoulos in the last few months and helped FIDE to get the Saudi Chess Federation to host the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in December 2017.

According to Short, it is "strongly rumored" that Pein will be the Deputy President on the ticket of Makropoulos:

"I’ve known Malcolm since 1973. He is a friend of mine. He has done a lot of good things for chess. But I think he views getting in bed with Makro as his route to the FIDE presidency. My view is that Makro has been, if not the main problem, certainly absolutely instrumental in the rottenness with FIDE. He's been the enabler, the facilitator for Kirsan.""

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:03 am

Nigel? No thanks

But if you had to choose...?

I think the slate is more important than just the individual running for president. Who would these candidates have as treasurer for instance? It will be hard for us to know all the individuals involved and I guess if Malcolm is part of a slate, it would be very difficult for me to look beyond this.

Richard Bates wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:20 am

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:03 am

Nigel? No thanks

But if you had to choose...?

Might depend on the penalty for not choosing

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:33 am

Might depend on the penalty for not choosing

You would prefer a continuation of the Kirsan presidency then?

J T Melsom wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 12:56 am

Isn't the ECF vote a matter for Council members, or if Council cannot direct then a matter for the board?

Unless the ECF convenes a special meeting, the only chance for members of Council to express a view would have been during the recent Finance meeting. There's been no mention of any such discussion in the various unofficial reports of the meeting.

Given the hatred expressed for Nigel by one or two ECF members, there's no certainty of support even without taking into account the harm the ECF Board supporting Nigel might do to Malcolm's ambitions.

At a sporting level, I suppose this means Nigel should be left out of the English team for Batumi, based on the level of distraction caused to him in Tromso by political activity.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 10:18 am

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:33 am

Might depend on the penalty for not choosing

You would prefer a continuation of the Kirsan presidency then?

If the Makro- and Nigel tickets end up splitting the anti-Kirsan vote...

Angus French wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 11:21 am

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 10:18 am

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 8:33 am

Might depend on the penalty for not choosing

You would prefer a continuation of the Kirsan presidency then?

If the Macko- and Nigel tickets end up splitting the anti-Kirsan vote...

Indeed. And to pick up on Roger's comments about Nigel playing chess, it is not just playing in the Olympiad that might have to be curtailed. Would Nigel have any time to play any chess if elected? How much chess did Euwe and Olafsson play when they held the presidency?

EDIT: The vote splitting might not matter (though it might):

Chess.com wrote:
Correction: an earlier version of this article stated that with three candidates instead of two a majority isn't needed anymore to win. However, FIDE's electoral regulations state:

For all elections a majority of the votes cast, not counting abstentions, shall be required. If there is a tie, the voting is repeated until the tie is broken. If three or more persons are nominated for the same offices or office, the candidates that receive 50% plus one of the votes cast, are elected on the first ballot. Thereafter, the candidates receiving most votes on the second ballot are elected to the vacant number of offices. If there is a tie, the voting is repeated until the tie is broken.

Hopefully abstentions won't decide the matter.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 11:26 am

The vote splitting might not matter (though it might):

The elections where Kok, Karpov and Kasparov stood showed a fairly consistent vote in favour of the Kirsan/Makro establishment and against the outsider. I suppose Nigel can hope to pick up the "opposition" vote with the Kirsan/Makro vote split between loyalists and defectors. But then there's a second ballot with just two candidates. If Makro was eliminated would defectors really rally behind Kirsan? You could see Kirsan loyalists rallying behind Makro. If Nigel were eliminated, presumably his supporters would hold their noses and support Makro. "None of the above" isn't a credible candidate as unlike ECF elections no votes would be counted in his or her favour.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Tue May 08, 2018 11:26 am

The vote splitting might not matter (though it might):

Chess.com wrote:
Correction: an earlier version of this article stated that with three candidates instead of two a majority isn't needed anymore to win. However, FIDE's electoral regulations state:

For all elections a majority of the votes cast, not counting abstentions, shall be required. If there is a tie, the voting is repeated until the tie is broken. If three or more persons are nominated for the same offices or office, the candidates that receive 50% plus one of the votes cast, are elected on the first ballot. Thereafter, the candidates receiving most votes on the second ballot are elected to the vacant number of offices. If there is a tie, the voting is repeated until the tie is broken.

Hopefully abstentions won't decide the matter.

Good point.