Minutes of Macclesfield Chess Club AGM 2016

Present:  A.Brough, G.Laurence, N.Evans, R.Shaw, C.Davison, D.Risley, R.Gray, R.Murphy, A.Green, J-P.Taylor, D.Mallinson, D.Styles, C.Sizeland, A.Lane

Apologies: A.Soames, J.Trier, M.Renshaw, A.Renshaw, P.Colville, J.Berges, K.Smallbone, P.Cattermole

Minutes of 2015 AGM accepted as a true record

Matters Arising: None raised

Officers' Reports:

    Stockport A Team

Capt: Robert Shaw reported that the team had a very good season, finishing 3rd in div 1. Dmitri Whitmore and Keiron Smallbone, each with 5/6, headed a list of many individuals who performed well. In addition the team reached the final of the Charnley Cup losing to a very strong Marple side.

    Stockport B Team

Capt: John-Paul Taylor reported that the team finished 2nd in div 2. Although disappointing not to have won the division, it was a good season. Tony Soames headed a list of players with very good records.

    Stockport C Team

Capt: Mick Renshaw absent – but the team did superbly to win the div 3 title and earn promotion.

    Limit League

Capt: Richard Murphy reported that the team finished next to bottom – an improvement on the previous year. Steve Dawson had played his first games of league chess and now boasted a 100% record! Richard continues to give opportunities to as many as possible and once again thanked those who had driven.

   Stoke League

Captain: Phil Cattermole absent – the team finished the season poorly and their final position does not reflect the fact that they were well placed for much of the season.

   Secretary:

Geoff Laurence had attended both league AGMs and drew attention to a presentation by Tracy Whitfield at the Stoke league AGM on the need for child protection officers in clubs where juniors played. He had also had an unsuccessful quest in trying to persuade the Macclesfield Express to print chess reports – but Macclesfield Today was much more willing to include these. He also updated the meeting on the attempts being made to recoup the monies paid to the New Liberal Club for room hire following its closure – an ongoing process.

   Treasurer and Membership Secretary:

Roy Gray reported on the finances:

Macclesfield Chess Club Account

Last season we paid the Liberal club £285 room rent from January to May. Unfortunately the club closed and we forfeited a good proportion of that. The transfer to the Queens, which did not charge for the room, ensured that the loss was of little consequence to the club accounts.

We carried over £287.66 from July 2015 (having paid up front for Sept to Christmas for Liberal Club room hire)

Membership fees raised £640

Miscellaneous book sales raised £11.

There was a donation of £2

Rent paid for New Liberal Club room Jan 2016- May 2016 was £285 and a further £18 was paid for hire of Morton Hall for a rearranged match.

£7.50 was paid for engraving, £34 for league fees

The balance at the season end was £596.16 – since then we have paid this season's Stoke League fee (£10)

Current balance £586.16

Website Manager:

Denzil has provided this summary of the points he made:

The website is a communal website.

• It can be updated by all the captains , myself , Tony S and Geoff

• Results

Captains need to ensure results are put on the website:

• (Do it themselves or send results to me/someone)

• New pages:

• Blog- We have a blog page instead of a news page

• Maccbook - We have a facebook page

• ECF grades page - On members page all current info found

• Other Website page  - Stockport and Stoke pages linked

Tournament Sectretary: Tony Soames absent, but provided this:

Pollard Cup

Colin and Robert were joint winners, thanks to Geoff and Kieron both holding Robert to a draw in the Spring competition. The Autumn and Spring events were well attended with 22 and 21 entries; the Winter event was reduced to 12. The glut of matches meant that it had to be delayed until late January. With several members now travelling some distance I wonder whether two Spring events might not be a better idea? The strongest players still hog the top spots so I am suggesting that the minimum time is reduced from 5 to 3 minutes, but no grade increase for the winners as compensation. 

Club Championship and Pomeroy Cup

Tony Soames and David Styles were the winners. The season started with a record entry so that we were able to field four leagues of five players. For a variety of reasons three players had to drop out before the New Year so my anticipated extra tournament of four from the middle of each league for a bottle of wine failed to come to fruition and Tony and Mick played an extra game to decide who would go through to the Pomeroy Cup. There were also three games that were not played, but these did not affect the league placings. The knockout phase in each competition was well contested and both Colin and Dmitri, and Richard and David had to be split by two rapid-play games.

Presentation of Trophies:

Club Champion – Tony Soames (GL to pass on)

Pomeroy Cup – David Styles

Pollard Trophy – Rob Shaw and Colin Davison

Most Improved Player – David Styles

Number of Teams: Same as last season – 3 Stockport League, 1 limit League, 1 Stoke League

Appointment of captains and officers:

A Team Capt – Robert Shaw

B Team Capt – John-Paul Taylor

C Team Capt – Mick Renshaw

Limit League Capt – Richard Murphy

Stoke Capt – Phil Cattermole

Chairman – Ant Brough

Secretary -  Geoff Laurence

Treasurer and Membership Secretary – Roy Gray

Website Manager – Denzil Lobo

Tournament Secretary:  Split for this season -

Quickplays – David Mallinson

Club Championship – David Styles

Venue: There was lengthy discussion about a) the fact we do not pay for room hire and the ways we could give something back to the Queens and b) the fact that the referees have prior use of the room on Mondays – see dates below.

It was decided to donate £50 at both the start of the season and also after Christmas to the charity supported by the Queens – it is believed the brewery might match monies raised. The option of “ordering” sandwiches on certain nights was left open. Whilst a number of members wanted to negotiate in some way for exclusive use in the season – possibly with the referees themselves, it was agreed that this was difficult/unlikely. Changing the club night in a future season might also be a possibility (although it is hard to find an alternative to suit all members). We ascertained that Tuesdays have the same issue – namely a choir group meeting once a month. It might be possible to use the occasional Tuesday this year (following a Monday when we don't have the room), but we agreed it becomes confusing if we have a “variable” club night.

Subscriptions for 2016-7: There was consideration of likely expenditure. It was agreed to look into a) the purchase of another 6 of the larger boards (GL to consult Angie Renshaw to find out where the earlier 6 came from) b) to look into buying 6 more digital clocks – similar to that owned by David Styles – in order that enough digital clocks are available when there is a fixture clash (and for quickplays). League fees are likely to be about £30 and there are likely to be engraving costs.

The meeting agreed to reduce the annual fee to £20 (£10 juniors/concessions) and to review this again in a year's time.

AOB : Robert asked about cup engraving – there is no defined club engraver and so it can be taken to a Buxton shoe repairer (or similar), otherwise left with a Macclesfield based member to get it done locally.

Meeting Closed 21:07