Stockport and District Chess League

Minutes of the Annual Fixtures Meeting, 19th September 2013



1. Attendance and Apologies


Present (32 from 8 clubs) were:-


Altrincham

D Hughes

K Lockett






Chorlton

D Kierman







Denton

S Holt

D Holt






E. Cheshire

B Tait

M Flaherty

D Taylor

I Vaughan

P Ramsey

K Hodgson

P Bamford

Holmes Chapel

I Bates

J Turner






Macclesfield

M Renshaw

R Murphy

G Laurence

J P Taylor

P Cattermole



Marple

A Longson

N Dainty

T Cowling

J Barlow

G Trueman

S Hewitt

S Hegarty

Stockport

M Taylor

P King

M Tunstall

P Taylor

I Anderson




Apologies for absence were received from:-

S Ward (Altrincham), A Reeve (Stockport).


2. Minutes of the 2012 Fixtures Meeting


The minutes were accepted.


3. Matters arising.


It was noted that the League website is out of date and will be updated.


4. Trophies not presented at the AGM (2 trophies)


The Division 2 Champions Cup was presented to a player for Marple B.

It was noted that David Hardy has presented the Vic Knox Trophy to Philip Armstrong (Ashton) and had it engraved.


5. Confirmation of Disputes Sub-Committee


The nominees have been confirmed. On the Sub-Committee will be

Ian Bates (Holmes Chapel),

Anthony Doust (Marple),

David Holt (Denton),

Mike Taylor (Stockport),

Robert Shaw (Macclesfield, sic), and

Geoff Laurence (Macclesfield, Fixtures Secretary)


6. Rule Alterations


The four proposed Rule Alterations were accepted, each with no votes against. ( Proposer; Seconder in brackets). They are:


1. The previous Rule 16A (about smoking) was deleted. ( I. Vaughan, I Irwin)

2. A new Rule 16A was accepted; it will now be:


The smoking of e-cigarettes is prohibited at the boards. Moreover, the use of e-cigarettes in the same room as the match should be prevented where it is in the power of the host Club to do so.”


(T. Cowling; R Murphy) 


3.  Rule 42, Section (ii). Will now read


Teams will be made up of 4 players graded less than or equal to 120 at the start of the Season, with a team total grade limited to 400.”


i.e. the sum-of-grades  limit  for the 4 board teams in the Limit League will become 400. (I Vaughan; K Lockett)

 


4. Rule 24 - Matches between Teams was amended to read:


'Teams shall play one another twice during the season, alternating as hosts, unless decided otherwise at the Annual Fixtures Meeting.'  


(I Vaughan; G. Laurence).



7. Report by Handbook Editor. An offer by Andy Walker to edit the Handbook for one more year, received by email, was accepted. It was noted that Andy’s offer is especially kind as he will not be playing this season.


8. Correspondence received.

T Plunkett and C Pinel wrote to inform the League that Urmston and Buxton Chess Clubs respectively would not be joining the League this year.


9. Updates of Club venues, officials, match nights.

These will be compiled by Karl Lockett. Ian Vaughan will forward an email from Macclesfield CC.


10. Divisions for the 2013-14 season.

It was decided, after opportunity for discussion, to have Divisions 1, 2 and 3 with 7, 7 and 5 teams respectively, but for teams in Division 3 to play each other three times rather than the usual twice.


For Division 3 the actual numbers of home and away games for each pairing were decided by the Fixtures Secretary and were arranged to equalise home and away fixtures for each Club.


The meeting decided that Division 3 will continue to feature teams of five boards; teams in Divisions 1 and 2 will have six boards as usual.


The Teams in each Division are:

Div 1     

Marple A, Stockport A, Holmes Chapel, Denton A, Chorlton, Marple B, Macclesfield A

 

Div 2    

Stockport B, East Cheshire A, Wilmslow, East Cheshire B, Altrincham, Denton B, Marple C

 

Div 3   

Macclesfield B, Stockport C, Marple D, East Cheshire C, Marple E    

( 3 fixtures against each opponent; 6 games home and 6 away overall)

 

Limit League          

Altrincham, Denton, East Cheshire, Macclesfield, Marple, Wilmslow


11. Any other business


11.1 ECF Officers. Sean Hewitt will be voting for English Chess Federation (ECF) Officers in the coming months. Some of the posts are contested and the candidates’ election addresses are on the ECF website. It was agreed that if Club Secretaries and League Officers wish they may send their preferences for candidates to Sean; those doing so would also copy in John Turner (President) and Ian Vaughan (Secretary). Sean will vote according to the majority preference of League Officers and Club Secretaries, himself included. Sean will contact the President about his actual ECF vote beforehand.


11.2 Lightning Tournament. Stockport CC will be holding a Lightning Tournament on Tuesday December 17th, open to all League players. The cost will be £3.00 and all the entry fees will be spent on the prizes. Please contact Stockport CC if you would like to go. Posters have been circulated and information sent to Club Secretaries.


11.3 Archiving. Keith Hodgson reported on how the records for Bramhall Chess Club have been archived; the Club closed last year. Keith has also written a summary of the history of Bramhall CC. The archives have been placed with Stockport Council Heritage Library. The Head Archivist, Margaret Myerscough, would be interested in archiving other records of Chess Clubs within the Stockport Area.

Email: margaret.myerscough@stockport.gov.uk

Stockport Council Heritage Library Tel: 0161 474 4530


11.4 Cup name. It was noted that a new name for the ‘Second Tier Cup’ could be considered at the 2014 AGM.


12. 13, and 14.


The draws for the Charnley Cup and Second Tier Cup, and the setting of match fixtures by Club representatives, were presided over by Geoff Laurence. Phil Ramsey (E. Cheshire) assisted with the fixtures for Wilmslow CC.



The meeting closed with fixtures for the League and the Charnley and Second Tier Cups having been set.