Home Office Chess Club AGM
26 April
2006
Agenda
Minutes
Annual Blitz Tournament
••Agenda
1. Minutes of 2005 AGM and matters arising
2. Secretary’s report
3. Match captains’ reports
4. Treasurer’s report
5. Report on Grand Prix
6. Proposals for Civil Service League AGM
7. Election of Officers
8. Consideration of link between subscriptions and membership
9. Consideration of buying some wooden chess sets
10. Consideration of changing the club night
11. Club activities in the summer of 2006
12. League entries for 2006/07
13. Any other business
••Minutes
Present: Tony Ashby, Peter Biggs, Harry Carter, Keith Dunmore, Richard Fries, Michael Keane, David Lacey, Tim Pelling, James Toon
Apologies: Matthew Baker, Chris Carew, Mark Fulleylove, Duncan Lavin
1. Minutes of the last meeting
1.1 There were no minutes of the last meeting.
2. Secretary’s report
2.1 A social evening took place in September 2005. Club members played some chess variants and blitz chess as well as consuming some liquid refreshment.
2.2 Correspondence with HOSSA resulted in a grant of £1,000 towards the purchase of new equipment.
2.3 A training session on chess openings took place in April 2006.
3. Match Captains’ report
3.1 James Toon reported on the Civil Service League 1st team. Peter Biggs reported on the Civil Service League 2nd team and the Commercial League team. The meeting noted, with approval, the performance of the Commercial League team in doing the league and cup double. Peter Biggs said that he would organise a celebration, probably in June 2006.
Action: Peter Biggs
4. Treasurer’s report
4.1 Richard Fries reported a surplus of £216.49. This was twice as much as the previous year but included over £100 from the HOSSA grant towards new equipment. Subscriptions more or less covered league fees and he therefore proposed retaining the current subscription of £10. This was agreed.
5. Grand Prix
5.1 James Toon won the 2005/06 Grand Prix. He was presented with a cash prize of £20.
5.2 After some discussion of the formula for calculating Grand Prix places, James Toon said he would consider a revision over the summer to give greater weight to performance (the percentage score) and less to the number of games played.
Action: James Toon
6. Proposals to Civil Service League AGM
6.1 The meeting discussed the Metropolitan Police proposal to increase the time limit to 48 moves in 90 minutes, or failing that to 42 moves in 90 minutes. After some discussion the meeting voted to reject the increase the 48 moves (for 0, against 7, abstentions 1) and also voted to reject the increase to 42 moves (for 3, against 4, absentions 1). The meeting noted that GLCC had also voted to reject both increases.
6.2 The meeting also rejected the other Metropolitan Police proposal, to extend the default time from 7.15pm to 7.30pm. Again, the meeting noted that GLCC had also rejected this proposal.
6.3 There was some doubt over whether there might have been some Executive Committee technical proposals for the Civil Service League AGM. The meeting agreed that if such proposals existed, whoever attended the AGM for the Home Office could vote according to conscience. James Toon undertook to try and track down these proposals.
Action: James Toon
7. Election of Officers
7.1 The following were elected to serve as officers of the Home Office Chess Club until the next AGM:
| Chairman: | Harry Carter |
| Secretary: | James Toon |
| Treasurer: | Richard Fries |
| Webmaster: | James Toon |
| 1st team captain: | James Toon |
| 2nd team captain: | Peter Biggs |
| Committee members: | Keith Dunmore, Tim Pelling |
7.2 The meeting discussed league entries for next season and in particular whether to enter a 2nd team in the Commercial League. In favour of this, Peter Biggs thought there would be a squad of about 10 players to call upon and it would provide them with more playing opportunities. Against, it was noted that the 2nd team squad had not delivered what it had promised this season, with a number of defaults. However, most of these had occurred near the start of the season, before some new players joined the club. After some discussion, the meeting decided to enter a 2nd team in the Commercial League. This meant there would be a 1st team and 2nd team in both the Civil Service League and the Commercial League.
7.3 James Toon would send details of the new officers to Ian Pheby for inclusion in the Civil Service League handbook (and also to John McAllister for inclusion in the Commercial League handbook).
Action: James Toon
8. Link between subscriptions and membership
8.1 The current policy was that the club members who played for one of the Home Office teams should pay a subscription fee of £10 a year. Membership was free for club members who did not play for a team. The meeting decided to retain this policy.
8.2 The meeting agreed that subscriptions should be enforced more rigorously. No member should be eligible to play a competitive match for the Home Office unless he or she had paid the subscription. The Treasurer would inform team captains who had paid and they would enforce the policy regarding their own players.
8.3 The meeting agreed to adopt the GLCC idea of a sub-committee to consider in confidence applications to waive the subscription on hardship grounds. The sub-committee would consist of the Chairman, the Treasurer, and the Match Captains. It would also consider whether subscriptions should be refunded in the event of club members not playing any matches.
9. Purchase of wooden chess sets
9.1 It was proposed to purchase some wooden chess sets at about £55 each (subject to discount) for use in competitive matches.
9.2 The meeting received a cheque for £80 from GLCC in respect of the purchase of four boards and clocks from Home Office reserves.
9.3 Offers to donate the price of one wooden chess set each were received from Tony Ashby, Richard Fries and James Toon. The meeting thanked them for their generosity.
9.4 After some discussion, and with the approval of the Treasurer, the meeting decided to buy eight wooden chess sets for use next season. James Toon would make the purchase.
Action: James Toon
10. Club night
10.1 The meeting agreed unanimously to move the club night from Wednesday to Thursday with immediate effect. James Toon would notify the 2MS Centre Manager and book Thursday evenings for the club.
Action: James Toon
11. Summer activities
11.1 The meeting agreed that the club should be open for activities during the summer. These might include training sessions, a club championship, blitz chess, and friendly games. James Toon and Peter Biggs would discuss this outside the meeting and circulate proposals.
Action: Peter Biggs, James Toon
12. League entries for 2006/07
12.1 This had already been discussed.
13. Any other business
13.1 Civil Service League Team Blitz on Thursday 11 May – there were 11 players for this already. Michael Keane offered to take part also, so that the Home Office could run three full teams. The meeting noted that there would probably be a separate GLCC team, for which Tim Pelling would play.
13.2 There was some interest in playing a friendly match against Hastings Chess Club over the summer. GLCC had already arranged a match with them. Tim Pelling undertook to provide James Toon with the contact details of the relevant person at Hastings.
Action: Tim Pelling
13.3 Commercial League Champions v Rest match – this was still to be arranged. James Toon would circulate some Thursday dates to club members.
Action: James Toon
••Annual Blitz Tournament
The Annual Blitz Tournament took place after the AGM. A total of 9 club members took part. The outcome was not decided until the last round when the two leaders met. James Toon defeated Tony Ashby to take 1st place. The scores are given below (out of 8, ignoring byes).
| James Toon | 7.5 |
| Tony Ashby | 6.5 |
| Tim Pelling | 6 |
| Harry Carter | 6 |
| Richard Fries | 4 |
| Michael Keane | 2 |
| Peter Biggs | 2 |
| David Lacey | 1 |
| Keith Dunmore | 1 |