2023 AGM Minutes

September 7, 2023 by Colin Solloway

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Milton Keynes Chess Club, held on Thursday, 7th September 2023 in the Hub, Open University.

In the Chair: James Alexander
Members present: James Alexander, Simon Banisi, Dominic Bartram, Sumit Bhalla, Nigel Collins, Adrian Elwin, Thomas Evans, Peter Hawes, Alan Heath, Dexter Lazard, Baird McCellan, John McKeon, John McNamara, Mark Osborn, Micheal Page, David Phillips, Paul Sippitt, Graham Smith, Eoin Tweeddale, George Ward, Dominic Watson, Steven Wayne, David Wells, Robert Whiteside, Observers present
Observers: Claire Church
Apologies for absence: Andrew Bowler, Colin Solloway

1. Welcome

A warm welcome was given to all those attending the AGM.

2. Minutes of the last year’s AGM

Approval for the minutes of the AGM, held on 1st September 2022, were proposed by Adrian Elwin, seconded by Micheal Page and accepted by all.

4. Secretary’s Report

It has been a good year for Milton Keynes Chess Club, with an influx of new members and juniors. I would like to thank all those who have been helping with the new members in the friendly play area.

There are rumours about the Open University moving location and other changes, but at present it looks like nothing that would have a detremental effect on Milton Keynes Chess Club will be taking place within the next couple of years.

David Phillips (Milton Keynes Chess Club Secretary)

5. Treasurer’s Report

2022/2023 saw a surge in membership with no fewer than 37 new members, including 17 Juniors, joining the Club. We started the year with 42 paid up members, although 16 of those did not renew, so the final tally was 63. (36 Normal memberships and 27 Concessions) generating fees of £810.00. Compared to 2021/2022 this was an increase of £265, or 49%.

If you paid the Concessionary rate in 2022/2023 because you joined the club late in the year, then please note that this only applies to that year and you will need to pay your 2023/2024 subscription at the appropriate rate. In addition to being a paid up member of Milton Keynes Chess Club, anyone who wishes to play for the Club in the Bedfordshire League or in the internal competitions will have to be a member of the English Chess Federation. Please note that it is each individual member’s responsibility to ensure that their details are published on the English Chess Federation’s list of Milton Keynes Chess Club members. That list can be seen here. If your name is not on the list for any reason, you are not eligible to play in any of the above events. As many subscriptions are due for renewal on 1st September, please ensure that you are up to date with the English Chess Federation, as well as with the Club.

Total expenditure in the year was £323.90.

No equipment was purchased as we have sufficient, even for the increased membership.

We entered four teams in the Bedfordshire League @ £15 per team.

Milton Keynes Chess Club has insurance for cover of £1m public liability and £1800.00 for the digital clocks.

Website costs were incurred but I did not receive the bills until after the year end. We are currently paying around £63.00 per year for Hosting and the Domain name. These costs will appear in the current year’s accounts along with the charges for 2023/2024.

No national tournaments were entered last year. The Christmas tournament was held for the first time since 2019 and the costs of this were for the standard prizes.

The Club changed banks in 2021 and we now bank with Santander. The banking details will be on the subscription form that will go out after the AGM. If you have an Internet payment set up with HSBC as our bank, you will need to change this. Do not send any money to our old HSBC account as it will not be received by the Club.

An inventory of the Club’s equipment was carried out on the 31st of August and I am happy to report that almost of all items were accounted for. One chess set was missing, although this may be due to lost pieces rather than a whole set. One broken mechanical clock which could not be located in 2022 has resurfaced. As the Club has adequate kit I do not propose purchasing any new items in the coming season. Due to the increase in subscriptions and the decrease in expenditure, the Club enjoyed a surplus of £486.10 in the year. I have already spent £296.85 this year renewing insurance and paying for the website. Despite this I estimate that we still have three years’ worth of expenditure in reserve. The current subscription rate is £15.00 for Normal membership and £10.00 for the Concessionary rate. Given the state of the Club’s finances, I propose that we leave the rates unchanged for 2023/2024.

Alan Heath (Milton Keynes Chess Club Treasurer), 5th September 2023

6. Tournament Secretary’s Report

The 2022 Club Championship was won by Graham Smith with 6 points followed by Rob Whiteside and Eoin Tweeddale on 5.

The Open Swiss was won by Rob Whiteside, with Adrian Elwin and Dominic Bartram in 2nd place.

The Under 1850 Swiss was won by Alan Heath on 5 out of 5, with Dave Wells in 2nd and George Ward, Colin Solloway and Michael Page sharing 3rd place.

The Open Knockout was won by Adrian Elwin, beating Eoin Tweeddale in the final.

The Under 1850 Knockout was won by George Ward, beating John McKeon in the final.

The Under 1850 Knockout Plate was won by Luke Singleton, beating Steven Wayne in the final.

The 2023 All Play All Blitz was held last week after the stocktake. First was Eoin Tweeddale with 12 points, followed by Adrian Elwin and Andrew Bowler on 11.

None of the tournaments started at the beginning of the year have yet completed, most being in their 3rd round.

Adrian Elwin (Tournament Secretary)

7. Bedfordshire League Captains’ Reports

Milton Keynes A – Sumit Bhalla

In Division 2 the A team came 2nd , with four wins and four losses. Thanks to all those who played for the team.

Milton Keynes B – Adrian Elwin

Milton Keynes B had a decent season, winning 5 matches, drawing 1 and losing 2, winning 21½ points out of 40.

Two wins against each of Bedford B and Leighton Buzzard B, plus a win against Leighton Buzzard A and a draw against Bedford A, left the team in 2nd place with 11 match points behind Bedford A with 13.

Three of the reserves, Rob, Alan and Dominic, scored 100% playing only one or two games. The only regular team member with a positive score was Graham Smith, who scored 6 out of 8.

Milton Keynes C – Colin Solloway

On the League Management System website, Milton Keynes C is positioned in the middle of the table in third place, although, as we had exactly the same numbers as Bedford D, perhaps we should be shown as having tied for second place with them. Can someone can explain what determines the positions of teams who have the same results.

Both teams Played 8, Won 5, Drew 0, Lost 3, For 22, Against 18, Points 10

MKC: Wins 16, Draws 12, Losses 12.

Bed D: Wins 19, Draws 6, Losses 15.

(For = Wins + half the draws, Against = Losses + half the draws.

MKC performed much better than last year, when we only won one match out of eight. Top C Team scorer was Dave Wells, with four points from six games.

Thanks to Graham Smith for covering as substitute on a couple of occasions.

An interesting statistic: Of the 80 matches played across Divisions One and Two, 79 were decisive. Only Bedford A vs Milton Keynes B ended in a draw.

Club Secretary’s Note:

Adrian Elwin looked at the Management System website and concluded that it displays teams that have the same number of points in alphabetical order. He will see if this can be changed for future results.

Open University - David Phillips

An interesting season. With thanks to my team, with some good individual wins, but alas we were not able to win a match so ended up at the bottom of the table. I think we enjoyed most of the matches.

8. Lead Safeguarding Officer’s Report

There was nothing to report.

Baird McClellan - Safeguarding Officer

9. Election of Officers for 2023/2024

Chairman: James Alexander
Secretary: David Phillips
Treasurer: Alan Heath
Tournament Secretary: Adrian Elwin
Safeguarding Officer: Baird McClellan
Deputy Safeguarding Officer: Dominic Bartram

10. Election of Bedfordshire League Team Captains for 2023/2024

Milton Keynes A: Sumit Bhalla
Milton Keynes B: Adrian Elwin
Milton Keynes C: Colin Solloway
Open University Team: James Alexander

Junior Chess at the Milton Keynes Chess Club

There was a good influx of juniors, resulting in more than we could accommodate. Could we find a place to run a junior chess club? The Open University will not allow us to use their premises for a junior chess club at this time.

Do we have member willing to help? Club Secretary is to send out an email asking if anyone is willing to help with running a junior chess club in the event that one could be set up on a different night and located at a different venue.

Walton High School has contacted Milton Keynes Chess Club for a friendly match against their students in November or December. This will be followed up to arrange. To ask if Walton High is a possible venue for a junior chess club.

Talk to parents to encourage the schools to take up running chess clubs. All agreed to take this further.

12. Any Other Business

To discuss: Proposed Bedfordshire Chess League rule changes.

Leighton Buzzard are proposing the following change to paragraph 8 of the Bedfordshire Chess League rules:

Current rule:

No player who has played above board 3 in any division may play for any other team in that or any lower division. No player who has played in any division may subsequently play for a team in a division, which is two or more divisions lower than that one, if his club has a team in an intermediate division. For the purpose of this rule, any name that appears against a board number on a team list drawn up by that team’s captain (or acting captain) is deemed to have played.

Proposed new rule (replacing the first sentence):

No player who has played above board 3 in any division may play for any other team in any lower division. No player who has played above board 3 twice in any division may play for any other team in that division.

The remainder of Rule 8 to remain unaltered.

After explanations and an extended discussion, a vote was taken to establish the feelings of the Club.

The result of the vote was:

For the change: 6,

Against the change: 11,

Abstentions: 6

Therefore the club will vote against the change at the Bedfordshire League Annual General Meeting, to be held on 14th September 2023.

English Chess Federation proposals for change to ECF Membership levels.

The English Chess Federation are proposing new options for membership. Full details can be seen here.

The meeting closed at 20:58.