When the term "member" is used, does this mean?Being a federation also means acting in partnership. It's a two-way street. The ECF has to represent the wishes of the majority of those who make up the federation. The federation members in turn need to recognise the commonality of interest with the federation as a whole, i.e. the wish to support and develop chess at every level and in its various forms. If the ECF acts as if the wishes of its constituent members are different from and secondary to its own desires, it is failing to see that the ECF is the summation of its members' desires. I feel just as strongly, however, that local organisations need to recognise that they and the ECF are partners in the same endeavour, not opponents
(a) chess organisations such as county associations, leagues and Congresses which are the existing membership base
(b) chess organisations such as chess clubs which are not currently (for the most part) ECF members
(c) individual players and others, some of whom are already members of the ECF and some of whom are just customers for ECF's services and those of other chess providers.
Is the ECF, by its individual membership proposals and requirements for per head fees, trying to prevent local chess organisations and itself having a customer relationship with players? It's withdrawing the facility for a league to enable all the players in a league to have published grades (for enough games played) subject only to the chess organisation becoming an ECF member and paying a membership fee.