Present:

Bert Thomas (BT), Matthew Pollard (MP), Des Perryman, Phil Adams (PA), Ray English (RE), Jim Guest (JG), Rod Middleton (RM)

Apologies:

Alan Smith, Eric Nowell, Dave Pardoe (DP), Harry Lamb (HL), Chris Proffitt, Mohammed Amin, Alan Walton (AW), Dale James.

Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes were passed nem con.

Matters arising from previous minutes
PA has still not received a reply from Peter Turner to his letter about junior selection. He will send a reminder.

RE reported that Julian Clissold had entered two teams in the junior events of 27 September. Two Oldham teams also took part.

Manchester Autumn Congress
BT has spoken to HL about this. Fifty-six players entered this tournament and it seems we lost about £200-£300 on the event. We tried to avoid other weekend congresses but unfortunately clashed with the Isle of Man tournament. We are left with about £100 in the Congress Account. HL would like to run an event in the Summer. It was agreed to discuss our congress strategy further at our next meeting. In the meantime, MP will write to Peter Dodsworth for his views.

Junior Chess
There was some discussion about possible dates for the Manchester Junior Championship. This could be run as part of a weekend congress. As congresses will be discussed at our next meeting, the question of the junior tournament was also deferred until then.

Affiliation Fees
BT will write to those clubs previously affiliated to us who do not have teams in the MCF League, to advise of them of the Hartley League. The meeting agreed that no affiliation fee should be requested from these clubs.

Criminal Records Bureau

BT advised that it may not be necessary for us to register with the CRB, as we might be able to access the relevant data by associating ourselves with an umbrella organisation, such as a local authority. RE thought that we might be charged for the information by the authority and thus may be better off registering direct. BT will research further and report at the next meeting.

DP had emailed the meeting to say that, in order to be consistent, we should also look at the position of juniors travelling to club matches. The meeting felt that it would be difficult to dictate to clubs about their travel arrangements. It would also give clubs an excuse to postpone matches at the last minute by using the argument of having no verified drivers available. The meeting did agree, however, that the MCF should strongly encourage and assist clubs to vet those adult members coaching and driving juniors.

Officers Reports
President

BT attended a meeting of the Schools’ League, he was to pleased to note that numbers are improving.

Treasurer
JG will shortly write to clubs regarding fees for this year.

There was some discussion about the affect of the Hartley League on fees. Some clubs would like the Hartley to be BCF Quickplay graded, which would generate a grading cost. BT will write to the relevant clubs to ask for their opinion.

Fixtures Secretary (PA)
All MCF league fixtures have been issued to clubs. Hartley League fixtures have been prepared and will be issued very soon. Atherton and Great Lever has withdrawn from the Hartley, but Bolton is keen to enter, so numbers therefore are unaltered.

AW is still awaiting some registration lists.

U-150 Captain (MP for DP)
We beat Notts 9-7.

Next Meeting
Wednesday 19 November 2003.

Any Other Business

BT has sent out his letter to clubs about developing junior sections. He has received a quick reply from Peoples, who mentioned the unsporting attitude of other clubs, such as a refusal to shake hands at the end of the match.

National Chess Week begins on 20 October. It is linked with fundraising activities by Barnados as well as with British Land Company Plc. BT will speak with Steve Lambert about the possibility of a link from our website. We will consider at our next meeting whether to make a donation to Barnados.

MP advised that he had received an e-mail from DP, regarding the plight of Peoples Chess Club. Peoples have withdrawn their second team from the MCF League, leaving them with just one team. The main reason for the withdrawal is a lack of transport. DP has approached Peoples with the suggestion that they retain their second team in the league, with all their fixtures being played at home, in order to resolve the transport problem. A possible match point penalty could be imposed on Peoples in an attempt to compensate the other teams in the Division for the home advantage enjoyed by Peoples. Council discussed the proposal but decided to reject it. Many clubs are in the position of having transport problems and would be able to field an additional team if they were able to play all the fixtures for that team at home. Council were sympathetic to Peoples’ situation, but it is by no means an unusual one, and DP’s plan would be unfair on other teams.

PA reported good results by local players at the recent Isle of Man tournament. Steven Gordon scored 5/9 and won the Junior prize. Howard Hughes achieved the best result by an unrated player.

Katie Martin achieved a creditable 50% score at the European Girls u-14 event in Monte Negro.

The meeting ended at 9.00.