Monday, 1 September 2025
Minutes of Macclesfield Chess Club AGM 2025
Held on Monday 1st September 2025 at the Queens Hotel, Macclesfield. The meeting was chaired by Denzil Lobo in the absence of Tony Brough.
Apologies for absences received from Antony Brough, Jason Rice, Tom Moitié, Jake Darlington.
Attendees at meeting include Denzil Lobo, Marcus Fothergill, Chris Riley, Philip Cattermole, Simon Darwell, Adrian Green, Roy Gray, John-Paul Taylor, Joachim Trier, Tony Soames.
The minutes from the 2024/25 season were accepted without reservation.
Club Official Reports.
4a Chairman – absent from meeting so no report.
4b Secretary - Geoff Laurence held this post last year, and he sadly passed during the year, so there was no report.
4c Treasurer – Roy advised that there is currently £654 in the bank account. He is currently working on the accounts as there is a small difference of approximately £30 in his calculations. He plans to update the signatory details on the account, by removing Geoff. Marcus Fothergill will be added as main account person as he takes over from Roy.
4d Website Manager – absent from meeting. Tom did say that Geoff’s obituary was well received on the web site, and a brief update of the season has been included. Thanks to all the players who contributed to this very successful season. Chris Riley won both the Club Championship and the Quickplay Championship, and Jason Rice won the Pomeroy Cup.
Captains Reports.
5a Macclesfield ‘A’ team came top of Division 2 in the Stockport League with 7 wins and one draw and no losses.
5b Macclesfield ‘B’ team finished 6th in Division 2 of the Stockport League with 3 wins and 5 losses and no draws.
5c Macclesfield came top of the North Staffs Division 2 league with 7 wins and 2 draws, 1 loss.
Trophies.
Tom Moitié has possession of the Pomeroy Cup, but it is not clear who holds the Club Championship and Quickplay Trophies. If any of you know of their whereabouts, please forward to Roy Gray, who will get them engraved, showing the new winners.
Election of Officials for 2025-2026 Season.
Chairman Anthony Bough
Treasurer Marcus Fothergill
Secretary Chris Riley
Website Manager Tom Moitié
Tournaments Roy Gray
Handicap Quickplay Tournament Denzil Lobo
Captain A Team Stockport League John-Paul Taylor
Captain B Team Stockport League Tom Moitié
Captain A Team North Staffs League Philip Cattermole
All the above officials agreed to stand and were elected in by majority vote. No objections were raised to any nominees.
A very special vote of thanks was offered to Roy Gray, as it was quickly calculated that he has held the Treasurer’s post for a staggering consecutive period of 49 years. He takes up his new post of Tournament(s) Director !
There was some concern raised about the number of competitive games required to run the three teams, especially as two ever-present players from last year are no longer with us in the new season. However, it was also strongly believed that there would not be a problem raising the players for matches. The situation is to be monitored during the season and flagged if it becomes a problem (we do not want to default boards or whole matches)
8. Membership Fees for 2025-2026 Season. There was a quick discussion about this matter and it was agreed that they should remain at £10 per person. Each member who plays in competitive matches is responsible for joining the English Chess Federation to at the Bronze Level (£21.00 per year) or above (Gold level is £37.00 per year, and Platinum is £80.00 per year), and this can be done on the ECF website https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-membership-rates-and-joining-details/. It was advised that the Queens Hotel venue will not be charging for the room for the new season, but members are reminded not to bring their own drinks to the pub, and ideally purchase a drink from the bar.
AOB
Teams – there was concern raised that we may be short of players because Stockport A would need 6 players. After discussions with the Stockport A Team Captain (John-Paul), it was agreed it should not be a problem. However, it may mean Club tournaments may be affected so the Tournament Director would need to decide what action is needed.
Digital Clocks- We have had digital clocks for around 10 years. Denzil stated everyone should be able to set the clocks. Training will be provided again in September for anyone who requires it.
Secretary Quickplay –Tom recommended we name this in memory of Geoff Laurence. The proposal was accepted, calling it the Laurence Cup. A new cup will be purchased by the Tournament director /Secretary in due course.