Published 8 May 2009

ECF Delegate's 2009 Report

I attended the meeting held in Birmingham on 18 April. As the designated “Finance Council meeting” money played a big part in discussions. The meeting was run well and differences of opinion were debated vigorously, but without rancour.

Changes of Officers

Although called ‘Directors' these officers are volunteers and many do not claim expenses for their work for chess. Michael White (Bristol) was introduced as the new Finance Director. Gerry Walsh is not seeking re-election as President. The roles of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President were discussed. Most delegates wanted a ‘figurehead' President, a CEO with broadly the same responsibilities, and a non-executive Chairman.

Chess Sets for Schools and School Chess

Senior ECF Board members have met the new CEO of Holloid Plastics, the firm that has offered to make the sets. After the disappointment of last year, things look better with the new CEO of Holloid being described as enthusiastic about the project. It was reported that Holloid are likely to manage and pay for the regional launch events with county players being asked to attend and support them. ECF are looking for an additional Director to manage: the marketing of an ECF training video; training school staff, and increasing our capacity to help schools who want to set up chess clubs. [Chris Majer (ECF CEO) put his role on the line if things did not happen. The signs on 7 May are very good: see press release at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/chess4schools/pr_may09.htm]. I asked that the ECF to give more help to adult chess players to deal with the bureaucracy for getting Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance so adult players can visit schools and work with teachers and children.

ECF Business Plan

Andrew Farthing has been appointed as ECF Strategic Planning Officer. The ECF Business Plan is a required document to ensure continued Government support for the game currently running at £60k each year (compared with income from players as game fee and direct membership of about £105k). Andrew is hoping to get Directors to become more focused and look towards the future. Andrew will value your comments and has started a thread on the ECF web forum at http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=761

Financial Matters

The bad news is that unexpected increases in costs at the British Championships at Liverpool this year mean that instead of breaking even they lost £8k. The meeting approved a game fee of 50 p (there are lower rates for games in club tournaments, between juniors, and for rapid play) and full ECF Direct membership goes to £52. A proposal to reduce the budget for management services next year by £5k was rejected, I suspect because members want the ECF to push new initiatives especially in schools. The long-term assets of the ECF are in a Permanent Invested Fund (PIF, about £300k). The dividends and interest on these funds provides income for day-to-day running of the ECF. The capital, however, cannot be released by trustees other than for ‘exceptional circumstances'. A proposal from last meeting to transfer about £40k of funds from The Chess Centre Ltd, into the PIF had not yet been carried out.

Grading

Apparently there are still technical issues about the stability of grades for juniors under the age of 11, but graders are satisfied that adult grades are reliable. The new, generally higher, grades are to be used in the 2009/10 season. To look up your own grade or those of opponents, visit http://grading.bcfservices.org.uk/index.php.

New Rules

At the FIDE meeting in Germany, new rules were approved to be applied from 1 July 2009. You can download them from the ECF website at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/organisation/fide/lawsofchess_mar09.pdf.

Inter-county Team Tournaments

New grading bands were agreed. The bands are: Open, U180, U160, U140, U120, which correspond nearly to the existing bands. A new tournament for U100 (corresponding to present U75) was also agreed. The ‘average grade' limit for the Minor Counties remains at 180, but this is unlikely to affect Worcestershire.