This forum and the ECF

[Gareth Harley-Yeo]

Is some debate not better than no debate?

[Roger de Coverly]

Some of the stuff on this forum recently provides a very good argument for those who dont want it to be an official arm of the ECF

Surely you are aware that it isn't an official arm of the ECF, in the same way that chessvibes isn't part of the KNSB or chessbase part of the DSB. It should stay that way. It doesn't work particularly well for forums to be run by chess organisations because posts critical of the organisation or its policies can be seen as personal attacks and vice versa.

[Adam Raoof]

This Forum is completely independent of the ECF, and should remain so. It would exist with or without the ECF, and I haven't met anyone who actually wants it to become an 'official arm' of the ECF!

Yes, I agree that recent threads about individuals have been / are sailing close to the mark, and that is something for the moderators of this Forum to monitor. If anyone libels an individual on this Forum, then it's their responsibility.

Some of the stuff on this forum recently provides a very good argument for those who dont want it to be an official arm of the ECF

We have had the F word, reference to snorting coke, sex, unwarranted comments about a totally innocent person who is well liked and well respected.

I am always up for a healthy debate but come on can we really expect the stuff thats appearing on here to be on our national organisations webb site? Do we really think it helps the cause of attracting sponsors, I dont but I suppose I am of an age where standards were different than they are now.

[Justin Hadi]

If anyone libels an individual on this Forum, then it's their responsibility.

I'm not so sure that's the case. IANAL, but if an individual is libelled here, I think the hosts of the forum are also legally responsible and so too can be sued for libel.

[Dean Madden]

There is a link to this forum on the front page of the ECF site, in the links section on the left side. It makes it clear that the forum is independent of the ECF.

[Justin Hadi]

And some of the stuff was very useful, for example I believe Gerry Walsh is no longer in power in part due to comments on this forum. There have been plenty of arguments on here, and it rarely comes to anything. I ended up playing someone from the forum in a serious game after some words were exchanged online and we had a good laugh about it afterwards.

It's not the responsiblity or in the authority of the average forum member to police personal attacks. There is a facility to complain and it's then the decision of the guys who run things as they are the ones taking the legal risks.

[Michael Jones]

This forum is moderated, but you can't expect the mods to be on here 24/7 ready to remove any objectionable comment the moment it appears - they have other things to do. I know some sites which insist on every post being moderated before being made public; I hope this forum never has to go down that route, as it tends to stifle the debate when there may be several recent comments one can't view because they're still awaiting moderation.

Like most forums, the discussion on here is, in general, conducted in a calm and civilised manner; also like most forums, there will be the occasional exception to this rule, but there is the mechanism in place for any such instances to be dealt with as and when they arise. Although I don't think this forum should be an arm of the ECF anyway, I don't think that its content provides an argument for that.

[Roger de Coverly]

I do really wonder if some of the people who post on here really care about the state of our game and the perilous state of its finances.

To the extent that some of the posters are "foreign" ( this includes Scots, Welsh and Irish), I'd imagine they are relatively indifferent to the state of English chess and the English Chess Federation. As far as finance is concerned, the assets claimed by a previous Board are still out there but are only indirectly under the control of the ECF board.

I don't think that you should necessarily equate English chess to the ECF. Much/most of the chess activity could survive the temporary demise of a national chess body.

[LozCooper]

Sadly there are always some people who will cross the line between what is acceptable and unacceptable. The Gibraltar online feed was a good example, on the whole it was positive, people online could interact with the commentary room in Gibraltar. There were, however, a minority of people that abused it and could have done the tournament a lot of damge. Thankfully, these people were gradually banned but the nature of some of the posts which included anti jewish, homophobia and peadophilia based comments were potentially very damaging and extremely distasteful to those of us who saw them, myself included.

[Alan Walton]

I agree that all the abusive comments on the interactive chat have detracted from the good quality of the commentary, but I do think there was a bit of naivety with allowing anonymous handles on this system, giving the possibility of people posting those types of comments with the only punishment being the account suspension. If you handle was your real name, then these postings would most probably have never happened due to the insular chess world finding out who the bigots really are.

[Andrew Farthing]

I am very well aware that this forum is not an official arm of the ECF but as someone else has pointed out there is link to it from the official ECF web site.

This is true, but I arranged for the link to go first to an intermediate page which makes clear that the Forum is independent:

The English Chess Forum is a widely used internet forum devoted to chess-related topics, large and small. Despite the similarity of names, it is entirely independent of the English Chess Federation and therefore – it should be stressed – views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federation.
For anyone wishing to have their say on anything to do with chess or just read the views of others, the Forum provides a handy platform.
There is a section called ECF Matters where contributors post comments about the Federation’s activities. There is a specific thread under this heading called ‘Have your say to the Chief Executive’ where Forum members can post questions or comments intended for the Chief Executive and he will respond.
As always, the most direct way to get in touch with the Federation or any of its Directors, Managers or officials is to contact the office or use the contact details listed under ECF Officials on this site

This notwithstanding, some people do still note the similarity in names (and identical initials) and conclude that the Federation runs the Forum.

[darren webb]

I am of an age where standards were different than they are now.

lol. by 'different' you obviously mean 'better'. when was this?

[Carl Hibbard]

This forum is moderated, but you can't expect the mods to be on here 24/7 ready to remove any objectionable comment the moment it appears - they have other things to do. I know some sites which insist on every post being moderated before being made public; I hope this forum never has to go down that route, as it tends to stifle the debate when there may be several recent comments one can't view because they're still awaiting moderation.

Please just use the red exclamation button to "report" a post for our attention, I have only been "gone" for two days but yes I cannot monitor 24/7 and also may miss something whilst attempting to catch up on all the posts...

[Carl Hibbard]

We have had the F word, reference to snorting coke, sex, unwarranted comments about a totally innocent person who is well liked and well respected.

Just show me where Ernie and I can make the call on their removal

[Carl Hibbard]

This not withstanding, some people do still note the similarity in names (and identical initials) and conclude that the Federation runs the Forum.

That could be considered as a problem I agree, at the time it seemed a good choice of name when I moved the whole lot within 24 hours of getting a request to do so...