First thing worth mentioning is some statistics were revealed about the membership scheme:

There are (not sure exact date the figures are from, but very recent) 5612 ECF members, of which 81% are adults, 13% children, and since the Membership Scheme was introduced 4500 memberships have been purchased. From the adult figures 52% are bronze members, 28% silver, 18% gold, 2% platinum. From the junior figures 31% are bronze members, 31% silver, 38% gold.
Without wanting to celebrate too early, it seems the membership scheme is going well so far.

The accounts should be ready to be sent out for approval in the next 2 or 3 weeks. I forgot to make a note of the exact reason for the delay, but I believe it was a combination of an issue with certain incomes being included in the accounts in 1 year or spread over 3, and the former Finance Director being unwell and unable to work recently.

A vote was passed asking the ECF Board to investigate the amount paid towards C J DeMooi’s visit to the Olympiad. The official line is that he was there to support Nigel Short’s work as FIDE Delegate, some have suggested it was a paid holiday. It was discussed in a board meeting when the payment was originally authorised as to whether or not it the fee should be paid, given CJ officially resigned as ECF President during the Olympiad. At the time it was felt the payment was justified, but council voted for the ECF Board to investigate the matter again.

Bill Armstrong was voted as one of the ECF Gold Members’ Rep. It was intended to have 2 Reps for each membership category, but the other 2 candidates were tied, and as far as I’m aware a tiebreak hasn’t been decided yet.

The fallout from an incident that happened during an International Junior Championships in Austria earlier in the year is still rumbling on. If there’s any interest in the background details I’m happy to find details, but the family involved have taken the ECF to small- claims court, and are seeking just under £5k in compensation. I should point out that, in my opinion the ECF have conducted themselves excellently and entirely correctly in dealing with incident to date.

The motion to create a Women’s Chess Directorship was roundly rejected. On the flip side the Junior Director has specifically set aside £500 out of his budget to help girl’s chess this year.

The proposal to instruct the ECF Board not to pursue certain ideas in the election statement by Roger Edwards was initially rejected by hand vote, but then passed 124-88 on card vote.

Roger Edwards was elected as President 111-101. It’s interesting that given the difference in votes between these 2, some representatives obviously felt that Roger Edward’s policies were unsuitable, but that he is a suitable President. Given the ‘no’ vote to his policies, I’m not quite sure how that will affect the work Roger is able to do as President, but only time will tell.

 Although there was no candidate for Chief Executive at the AGM (I did ask Andrew Farthing if he would change his mind about stepping down, but I got a pretty firm ‘no’ in reply), there is a candidate interested in the role. Fingers crossed for the interest to firm up.

Mike Gunn was elected as Non-Executive Chairman, as was Chris Mattos as Director of Finance. I should mention that Chris spoke very impressively at the AGM, and with John Philpott taking on responsibility for a lot of the day- to- day accounting (until the ECF Office is fully trained to take on the work themselves), I feel confident that this area of the ECF should see some improvements in the future.
The 2 Non- Executive Directors, Sean Hewitt and Jack Rudd, were elected, but both had votes against (8 in Sean’s case, 4 in Jack’s).

Alex Holowczak and Phil Ehr were both elected, Home Chess and Junior Director respectively. Both came across well at the AGM, I’m pleased to say.

Sean Hewitt is International Chess Director in interim (so until someone else steps forward to do the role). No news on any interest in that role as of the AGM.

Adam Raoof was not elected as Director of Membership and Marketing, losing 20-9 on hand- vote. I have to admit that in spite of having stated my wish to vote for him previously, I did change my mind and vote against on the day. The main reason, for my part, for voting ‘none of the above’ was that he offered no election address, was unable to appear on the day (he was organising a rapidplay event), and offered no details to his proxy of his plans for the role. The key here is the Membership part. I know this is probably the most important issue for a lot of local players at the moment, and by one means or another, details should’ve been provided of his plans to that end. To vote to elect with no knowledge of his plans for this area was too great a risk, in my opinion.

On a separate note, I’ve stood down as Publicity Officer for the ECF. No personal issues here, I just wasn’t doing the role justice. I believe there may be someone interested in taking on the role, although that bore no weight on my decision; it’s just a nice coincidence.
Nigel Short was elected FIDE Delegate, defeating Rupert Jones by 148- 55 on card vote. I should point out that Rupert came across very well at the meeting, but ultimately I believe Nigel Short is the better candidate.

The various members of Governance/ Finance Committees were re-elected.

An EGM will be called next year, either late Jan or early Feb, to confirm the ECF’s change to a charitable status. Depending on what happens with this, I may ask Chris Mattos (the new Finance Director, and Gloucester resident) to attend and vote on the Bristol League’s behalf. I don’t pretend to be especially knowledgeable in this area, and I think Chris would be able to offer a better summary of the charitable status changes then I would. This is next Jan/ Feb, and I’m not dead set on the idea at this stage, but I’m mentioning it now to give people the chance to offer opinions. If you feel differently, and wish me to attend, I will.

Of the various proposals that were at the end of the agenda, the only one really worth noting is that the proposal to discontinue grading overseas games was rejected.

Finally, should mention I wrote this late last night/ early this morning after getting back from the AGM, so apologies if there are any obvious mistakes. I’ll edit as or if people mention them.