English Chess Forum

Sorry Jonathan. I had replied thinking I had read all the thread and hadn't seen your last post.

It obviously depends on the size of the donation to some extent, but even with a bad administration I think that reasonable sums in such cases should be accepted. There are also ways in which assurances can be obtained without full disclosure: for example, an independent respected member of the community can be nominated to receive the confidential information and give his/her blessing. And there are auditors who have to say 'true and fair'.

If the money has gone where I suspect it may have gone I would certainly approve and I would also feel strongly that it should be confidential. Of couse, I'm probably making an inaccurate guess.

Yes, I think we are closer than first appears. Put a bit of procedure and safeguards into it, and I'd have no problems with the anonymity.

It would seem that at least five persons have correctly guessed the recipient of the ECFs donation.

John Upham wrote:I am aware of at least four consortia who are bidding to "take control" of UK Chess Challenge.

These are all led be persons known to this place.

I believe that any of these will require a tender including a minimum of £50,000 to secure the assets.

Of these four I would say that two are more commercially minded than the other two who are more altruistic / philanthropic in nature.

If none of them register the plc, LLP or CIO before soon then someone may do so! The same goes for any trademarks associated with UKCC.

That's an interesting develoment and good news for all those wondering whether it will restart next school term.

I would be surprised if any of the consortia would be willing to invest £50,000. Where does that figure come from?

Mike Basman Killer grob at -- £454.01??? Shurley some mistake or is combined with Maxwell's Pergamon Chess. I did not realise that back editions were so much in demand.(On Amazon).

Killer Grob (Pergamon chess openings) Hardcover – 31 Dec 1989
by Michael Basman (Author)
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Hardcover
from £454.01
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Gary Kenworthy wrote:Mike Basman Killer grob at -- £454.01??? Shurley some mistake or is combined with Maxwell's Pergamon Chess. I did not realise that back editions were so much in demand.(On Amazon).

Killer Grob (Pergamon chess openings) Hardcover – 31 Dec 1989
by Michael Basman (Author)
Be the first to review this item
See all formats and editions
Hardcover
from £454.01
1 Used from £454.01

A search for the author on e-bay produced the following unlikely question: "Did you mean: michael batman? (966 items)" http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... an&_sop=15

Basman -- !!
some good books for a good price. He wrote some good stuff. He should still get his royalties. (Lord Archer did etc).

However -- why is this so pricey....? The picture on the front is that popular?.... I think that that campaign is just plain wrong - Clearly, work with the authorities is still the best way ahead.

The New St. George. by Basman, Michael
£30.50
Free Postage

And there's more

UKCC was constituted as a national business, making it subject to laws governing businesses. There might have been more sympathy had it been constituted as an unincorporated organisation, a Company limited by Guarantee or even as a series of local organisations below the VAT limit.

Increasing entry fees by up to 20% for a schools based chess event isn't going to imperil the UK's national future.

Roger de Coverly wrote:............... even as a series of local organisations below the VAT limit.

... or as a national charity employing a national manager supported by small local voluntary teams.

JustinHorton wrote:And there's more

This document is unfortunate and not helpful.

The UKCC brand needs all of the assistance it can get to rise phoenix like for the new season.

I can't imagine that the Trustee of Bankruptcy would want the value of UKCC to be degraded prior to the bidding process.

I suspect that the Trustee is not aware of the funds being used to mailshot each and every UKCC school with materials representing UKCC. That does not include the printing costs.

Any potential consortium would have to consider how much they value retaining the consultancy of Mike as part of their bid.

Prior to all of these documents and mailshots appearing I would have said that it was essential for all sorts of reasons especially business continuity.



The following is somewhat telling:

I'm also not sure the parallels you're trying to draw between your
situation and Alan Turing are real in any way.

I learnt today that at least six consortia have expressed an interest to the Trustee.

One of the growing concerns of those that wish to include Mike in their organisation must be the recently lashing out type messages.

Slagging off The Times of London was best done in private IMHO.

Maybe eventually the sponsor will tire of this?

The UKCC clock ticks and there is a danger of the flag falling.

Having just returned from J4NCL at Wokefield Park where we had a group of 12 juniors together with parents, I can say I heard absolutely no-one from our group mention UKCC. Nor did I overhear other conversations on the subject. Everyone on this forum seems to be pointing at the large number of juniors who take part in UKCC each year, and I'm not knocking it, but I suspect that the seriously strong juniors may not be too bothered.

So which is more important? A few strong juniors or thousands of not so strong juniors?