British Isles Coordinating Committee

[John Upham]

I am curious to know:

When did the British Isles Coordinating Committee last meet?

Who are the members of this committee?

What are its powers (if any)?

Is it recognised by the ECF board as having powers in respect of the British Championships?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I think John Philpott and David Sedgwick may have some answers. If you search the forum you can see what they said previously. Among the documents on the ECF website are a copy of the 2007 BICC agreement document, and various minutes where it is mentioned. IIRC, the BICC is recognised by the ECF (a member of the BICC and signatory to the 2007 agreement) - it signs over responsibility for the British Chess Championships to the ECF and maybe co-ordinates some other matters, but doesn't do much more than that?

Document is at the links here:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/about-2/ ... documents/

The most recent mention appears to be item 5 in the August 2013 Board minutes here:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... cation.pdf

"It was agreed to have a meeting of the BICC subject to an agreed agenda, possibly in December."

I guess you are asking for an update on that. The November 2013 minutes don't mention it. There was the small matter of an AGM and new Board being elected between the two Board meetings. In the 2013 AGM minutes there is "MG advised that there will be a meeting of the British Isles co-ordinating Committee soon". So ask Mike Gunn?

[Roger de Coverly]

The November 2013 minutes don't mention it.

The latest ECF Board Minutes are now two months old. Admittedly they were very lengthy, but whether the Board have met since and decided anything is generally unknown. What were those election promises again about communication?

[Ian Jamieson]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Chess Scotland and the WCU want a meeting of the BICC but it hasn't happened yet.

One issue, partly prompted by Matthew Turner's switch from ENG to SCO, is eligibility requirements e.g. is a grandparent enough to be eligible, given there is no such thing as English, Scottish etc citizenship just British citizenship. It would be better to agree something at BICC level but if there isn't a meeting then the different federations may have to make their own rules.

[Roger de Coverly]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Chess Scotland and the WCU want a meeting of the BICC but it hasn't happened yet.

The WCU wanted to talk about cross-border leagues. Their August meeting thought last month's London Chess Classic a suitable meeting place for BICC.

[David Sedgwick]

I think John Philpott and David Sedgwick may have some answers.

Thank you for providing a link to the BICC Agreement, which should answer all John Upham's questions except the first. The answer to that question is that the BICC last met on 21st July 2007.

Various people have asked me to try and arrange a meeting of the BICC, which I have agreed to do in the absence of any specified procedure. One of the items on the agenda will be "Procedure for Convening BICC Meetings".

April or May 2014 is likely to be a suitable time. I'm not involved in the discussions between the ECF and the WECU about the North Wales issue, but I've been given to understand that they're likely to be concluded by then.