ECF Director elections for 2012/13

[Bill Porter]

I dont wont a detailed analysis of the entrails of past episodes, baring all for public scrutiny.

I'm sure we can trust CJ not to provide a detailed analysis of the entrails of past and future episodes.

[David Robertson]

What CJ is saying - I'm surprised it needs spelling out - is that, if/when booted out, he has no plans to go quietly. Meanwhile he will keep his counsel.

By 'not going quietly', I mean that he will make a lot of noise, enough noise to keep the various chess blogs in copy for several months. And enough to attract the attention, if fleetingly but damagingly, of the media more widely.

How else would a scorned celebrity & soi disant donor/sponsor react? How exactly did CJ's sponsors - initially by general clamour, certain members of this Forum - think it would end? If not by the specific circumstances come to pass, then surely experience suggests, by similar means.

Batten down the hatches for a bumpy ride. Meanwhile the bloggers can lick their lips in anticipation

[Ernie Lazenby]

we cannot forget that CJ displayed a serious error of judgement , indeed he went to the press before giving the board an opportunity to discuss matters. It's not the sort of behaviour one expects of our President no matter how strongly he felt about what happened. one cannot help but feel his strong views and personality could result in a similar event. We cannot have another year like the last.

[Ernie Lazenby]

BTW I seem to recall a past president attracting a lot of sympathy just before an AGM when he made reference on the official site of unfounded comments about his mothers trips.
CJ seems to making a similar play for sympathy.

[geoffgammon]

In his election address CJ seems to be expressing intent to do all the things in the coming year that he perhaps should have been doing in the past year.

It may well be his intention to stand down, reveal all and condemn the people he has been protecting by his silence. He can then be seen by all as the knight in shining armour he believes himself to be and return in triumph by popular demand.

And yes it would be difficult to actually say this with my tongue in this position!

[Andrew Bak]

As regards CJ and his campaign to continue as the ECF President, I would like him to focus soley on what he intends to bring to the table, where he sees his major potential contributions, and how he can help drive `chess UK` forward.
I dont wont a detailed analysis of the entrails of past episodes, baring all for public scrutiny.
We are not looking for some perfect (whiter than white), holier than the Pope, tin godd, that we all look up to in awe....
However, he does need to ensure he has the full backing of the board, which does mean that he would need to engage privately with board members to satisfy any concerns that they may have.
The contrasting talents and abilities of the two candidates for this post makes for interesting consideration. Roger undoubtedly has an abundance of experience in ECF matters, and knowledge of the UK chess scene...which the ECF could benefit from immensely. I`ve said before that I`d like to see both these candidates in senior ECF posts.
We must remember the key points about this role...
The President is there to Preside, to direct/guide matters, to influence decisions, to communicate effectively....and strong leadership qualities. He must have the respect and confidence of the board.....
Finally, we must remember that these guys are offering there services for free, so provided they act with reasonable competance, energy, and act in the best interests of our chess body (which does not mean they have to get everything right), we`re probably doing OK.

You speak a lot of sense David!

[Andrew Zigmond]

My relative hostility towards CJ de Mooi has always been down to his apparent unwillingness to build bridges with Lara and Alex. I know others won't agree but I would be prepared to draw a line under the financial questions over Sheffield (as much due to poor accountancy as anything) and the CAS arbitration as long as learnings were made and endorse CJ in picking up where he left off as an ambassador for our game.

That said, there is something to be said for allowing all politicians to fail rather than allow them to claim they were ousted with their work not yet complete. An example (apologies for going off topic and I don't insist upon direct comparisons) had Thatcher led the Tories to defeat in 1992 rather than being deposed in 1990 our country today would be very different.

[Jonathan Bryant]

By 'not going quietly', I mean that he will make a lot of noise, enough noise to keep the various chess blogs in copy for several months.

That'll be the passion for chess he likes to talk about. To be fair, though, he's been keeping some of us fairly busy as it is.

[JustinHorton]

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice..."

[JustinHorton]

Or to put it another way, if CJ told me my own name I'd need to check my birth certificate.

[Paul Dargan]

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice..."

and ... erm ... you can't fool me again? G.Bush (jnr)

[Ernie Lazenby]

I don't believe anyone would really want to vote for someone who makes threats before an election, fails to address the issues that has caused problems and displays at best a selective memory. Worst of all he says without him the 2013 British will not be as good as with him, really that says it all.

The President of our national organisation needs to be better than that.
My dearly departed mother used to say you can fool some of the people some of the time etc etc; you know the rest and will get the point.

[LawrenceCooper]

Or International Director?

Looks like your have to stay on as international Director

Thanks for the vote of confidence but I definitely need a complete break from what to me became a 24-7 job but can easily be done by someone else in a lot less time. I also want to spend less time on ECF admin and dealing with difficult foreign organisers, registering players and teams and create new tournaments of my own. I hope people do apply though as it can be a rewarding job and on the whole players seem to have appreciated my attempts to improve things albeit I've achieved far less than I hoped when I took on the role.

[Andrew Martin]

I think you have done a great job whilst you have been International Director Lawrence. Nobody could have been more conscientious and hard-working.

[Ernie Lazenby]

Lawrence you have been an example of how people in such positions ought to do the job. Sorry you are standing down.
Just wish some others had set such a good example.