SHROPSHIRE CHESS ASSOCIATION

2017Annual General Meeting

To all officers of the Shropshire Chess Association:

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting will be held at Wrekin Housing Trust, Telford on Tuesday, 4th July 2017 at 7.30pm.

Please ensure that any trophies held by your club are engraved and brought to the AGM for presentation, where required.

AGENDA  

Apologies for absence.

1. Minutes of the 2016AGM (approval and matters arising – copies can be viewed online)
2. President’s Report
3. Officer’s reports. Incl trophy presentation

4. Election of Officers  - Simon Maydew is standing down as County Junior Organiser                                                           
5. Proposals from restructuring meeting see below. As these have previously been discussed each proposal will be time limited, such that all debated.                                                
6. Time control proposal change :- rule 10 substitute “ 1 hour 25 minutes (or a compromise proposal 1 hour 30 minutes) rather than the current 1hour 35 minutes for all the moves. No proposed change about increment alternative. – Toby Neal.   Reason  : If games start promptly at 7:30pm, matches should at 10:40pm at the latest. However, in practice, because at the start of the evening people are settling down, writing team sheets, getting drinks in etc, it is usual for the games to start a little late. Not uncommon to finish 10:50pm.                    
7. A player in the cup competitions, Cox and Minor should be ‘cup tied’ to that team. A few players have played for different club teams whilst both teams are still in the competition.                                 
8. Any other business

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Resolutions for consideration at the Shropshire Chess Association AGM arising from the meeting held on Tuesday 9^th May 2017

Introduction

Every current club in the Shropshire Chess League was represented at the meeting held on 9^th May, convened for the purpose of considering proposals for the league to be reduced to two divisions.  This has been the subject of substantial debate on the Shropshire Chess Association website in the “Talking Points” section. 

In summary, there was relatively little support for the notion of reducing the number of divisions down to two.  However, a number of possible amendments to the current rules were considered and are presented below as proposals for voting on at the AGM.  Not all proposals were supported by the majority of those present but it was felt that each proposal should be considered by the wider membership of the Association and all of the proposals were supported by a number of those representatives present. 

The intention of the meeting was to allow time for debate, without the pressure of a formal meeting and I would say that there was a good quality of debate on the evening and a lot of issues were aired.  Without wishing to stifle debate at the AGM, it would not be practical to have the full debate all over again in that formal session, so it would be my intention to limit the amount of time spent discussing these proposals, moving to a vote fairly quickly to ensure that the evening does not become unduly protracted.

Proposal 1

Add to rule 5: Nominated players must play for their team at least four times in a season.  If this proves impossible on account of unforeseen circumstances (e.g. the player moving away from the area), the League Controller has discretion to accept an alternative nominated player for the remainder of the season.  Normally, the alternative nominated player will be expected to play for the balance of the four games not played by the original nominated player.  Any appearances of the new nominated player for a lower team prior to acceptance by the league Controller shall be disregarded from the point of view of rule breaches specified in rule 28.

Amendment proposed – a penalty of one Match point per player per game to encourage registered players being a true member of the team.

Proposal 2

Replace all penalties specified in rules 24 to 28 as a “game point” shall be changed to a match point penalty.

Proposal 3

A player may only represent one club in the Shropshire Chess League (rewording of rule 8 would need adjusting accordingly).

Proposal 4

(Redundant if proposal 3 is approved)

Amend Rule 8 such that, “If a team in the second or third division uses a player who normally plays for another Shropshire club in a higher division during that season, then it is permitted only on condition that the player has a current summer grade of below 150 for Div 2 and below 140 for Div 3.”

Becomes:

“If a team in the second or third division uses a player who normally plays for another Shropshire club in a higher division during that season, then it is permitted only on condition that the player has a current summer grade of below 125 for Div 2 and below 105 for Div 3.”

Proposal 5

Amend rule 6, such that the number of players in division 2 is 4. Amendment Or that all divisions are teams of 4.

Proposal 6

Amend rule 9d so that, “Where a player is used more than four times for a higher team, then (unless sub-paragraphs a, b or c apply) he / she becomes a member of the senior team on the fifth occasion for the remainder of the season,” is replaced with:

“Where a player is used more than three times for a higher team, then (unless sub-paragraphs a, b or c apply) he / she becomes a member of the senior team on the fourth occasion for the remainder of the season.”

Proposal 7

Add to rule 3: “The League Controller has discretion (after due consultation) to specify the number of times each team shall play each other team in a division.  In the absence of specification to the contrary, each team shall play each team twice (once home, once away).”

Proposal 8

A capped individual tournament should be run along side individual if there is sufficient interest..

Francis Best

President, Shropshire Chess Association