M R Baker, G T Berryman, F Burridge, R Carver, B Edgell, R Fenton, J Fewkes, D Gough, G Jepps, C McKinley (President), T Millar, R Morgan,  A W Ruston,  G Udell, J Webb, D Wood and M Worrall (17 members). Non-voting attendees were K Paine, J Parsons, M Turner and T Wallis (4 members). Apologies for absence were received form C Barratt and, A Ransom (2 members).

Somerset Cup           Taunton
Division 1                    Taunton
Division 2 East           Frome
Division 2 West         Yeovil
Division 2 Central      Glastonbury
Division 3 East            Frome
Division 3 West          Glastonbury

5.1   Past Year 

In the absence of the Treasurer the Secretary circulated printed copies of the balance sheet and reported that in the year ending 15/5/2012 there had been a deficit of £228.09. The deficit was mainly due to spending on two new trophies and additional spending on Inter-County chess

5.2   Coming Year

It was agreed that affiliation fees 2012/13 will be £7.00 for the first team in Divisions 1 and 2, £4.50 for each additional team and £3.50 for a team in division 3.  It was agreed later in the meeting that in 2012/13 SCCA league games will be graded under the ECF Membership scheme which will come into effect on 1st September.  All players playing graded games will be encouraged to become Direct Members of the ECF and games of DMs will be graded free of charge. There will be a game fee of £2.00 per result for players who are not ECF members.

5.3   Presentation of WECU Expenditure

Next year It was agreed that the WECU Affiliation fee (last year £11) will be paid from general SCCA funds and the WECU team entry fees (last year £58) should be paid by the County team players. The treasurer was asked next year to make matters clear by listing the WECU affiliation fee separately from the team entry fees.

The following officers reported to the meeting:

6.1   Match Captain

Division 1 Somerset won against Cornwall 11-3, won against Devon 10.5-5.5, won against Gloucestershire 11.5-4.5 and lost against Hampshire 5.5-10.5. We were Division 1 champions. In the quarter-final we drew 8-8 against Yorkshire and won the tie-break. We are due to play Middlesex in the semi-final on 9th June.
Division 2 We lost 6-10 against Devon, won against Dorset 10-6 and lost against Hampshire 3.5-7.5.

6.2   The League Secretaries

Division1: Taunton 11, Frome 8, Yeovil 4 and Glastonbury 1.
Division 2 East:. Frome 10, Trowbridge 8, Bath 4, N/Radstock 2.
Division 2 West: Yeovil 20, Weston-s-Mare 18, Sedgemoor 14, Chard/Ilminster 13, Glastonbury 10, Taunton 8,  Wellington 1.
Division 3 East: Frome 9, N/Radstock 6, Bath 6 and Trowbridge 3.
Division 3 West: Glastonbury 19, Weston (A) 11, Weston (B) 11, Taunton 8, Sedgeless 8, Chard/Ilminster 3. Division 3 Central: Glastonbury 6, Gillingham 5 and Yeovil 1.

6.3   CC Match Captain. There was no CDCCC competition this year.

6.4     Tournament Secretary

A detailed written report of 23rd Frome Congress held at Oakfield Middle School, Frome on May 11th-13th was circulated. There were 155 players entered and 4 sections. The Somerset trophies were won as follows:-
Denys Bonner Trophy (Open)     Patryk Krzyzanowski (Yeovil)
Leon York Memorial (Major)       Mark Leonard (Frome)
Roy Hossell (Intermediate)         Peter Dimond (Bath)
Cyril Chapman (Minor)                  David Woodruff (Keynsham)
Jean Mackereth Trophy                 David McGeeney (Bristol Cabot)

6.5     ECF Delegate:

(1) ECF AGM Oct. Peter Purland stepped down as Junior Director, replaced by Phil Ehr. Stewart Reuben stepped down as Marketing Director, replaced by Tim Woolgar,
(2) a substantial amount of game fee (£10,000) was not collected in 2010/11 and is still being chased up,
(3) ECF is part of a lawsuit against FIDE over no. of VPs,
(4) still a great deal of ill-feeling regarding the ECF President and the T-Shirt Gate incident at the British Championships last summer. Narrowly avoided vote of no-confidence at Finance Council,
(5) British Championships to be held in Torquay in 2013.

6.6     WECU Executive Delegate: there was nothing of great note to report.

6.7     Results Secretary (RS): 

A detailed written report was circulated. Among the points covered were:
Somerset League: (1) there have been improvements in the ECF website so that now players can see not only their current grade but also the individual game results on which that grade is based and their grade history, (2) in filling in team sheets full and correct information is essential to avoid confusion between players of a similar name.
Club Internal Results: (1) note that to be included in the end-of-January list the results must reach the RS by 15th January. The RS has to supply the ECF with a date for each result. Where clubs have failed to provide any date information the RS uses a nominal mid-season date of 1st January. This will mean that the ECF website may show a large number of games apparently played simultaneously on the same date!, (3) Next season the fee for grading games played by non-ECF members is increasing from 20p to £2. Should clubs wish to run an internal competition without incurring the cost of ECF grading the RS will be willing to run the results through the ECF checking software to obtain an unofficial estimated grade for that competition.

6.8   Junior Organiser. There was nothing of note to report.

7.1   ECF Membership proposal. It was proposed by J Fewkes and seconded by A Ruston that “From 1st September 2012 the SCCA will continue its membership of the ECF by agreeing to implement the new ECF Membership Scheme.” Details of this have been circulated at various times during the past year and an authoritative statement is available on the ECF website. The arguments for and against were debated at some length. Eventually the motion was put to the vote and carried by a substantial margin with 14 votes in favour and 3 votes against.
7.2. League Rule 2(b). was amended to read “If a player is currently ungraded but has had an ECF grade in the past then the latest published grade should be used with a reduction of 5 points per year for each year missing since publication, up to a maximum of 25 points. If the latest grade was published before 2009 it will need to be converted to a new grade using the formulas new grade – old grade x 0.81 + 43.” The section in italics is the addition to the former rule and brings SCCA practice into line with ECF practice..

President: B Edgell.
Vice-presidents: A Bamford, C F Barratt, G T Berryman, B J Francis, R W Gregory, G N Jepps, R Maishman, C Winch.
Secretary: J E Fewkes.
Treasurer: C F Barratt; Mr Barratt gave one year’s notice that he will not be available for re-election in June 2013.
League Secretary East & Central: G Udell.
League Secretary West:R Fenton.
Match Captain: Post vacant; please think about whom might be willing to serve and contact either Ben Edgell or Jim Fewkes. If no-one is identified  then Somerset will be without representation in the 2012/13 competitions.

Correspondence Match Captain: J E Fewkes.
Senior Tournament Secretary: G N Jepps.
Junior Organiser:Vacant.

Results Officer:  G N Jepps.
ECF Delegate: B Edgell.

WECU Executive Delegate: B Edgell.
WECU Council Delegate:G N Jepps.

Committee Member: R Carver.

Accounts Examiner: D J Smith
Arbiters: N Belinfante, G N Jepps, A T Mordue and J Rudd

There was a unanimous vote of thanks and appreciation to Mr McKinley on the completion of his four-year term of office as President.

The 118th AGM will be held at The Tor Leisure Centre, Glastonbury BA6 9EF at 7.30 pm on Monday 3rd June, 2013. Items for inclusion in the formal agenda should reach the secretary no later than 30th April, 2013.