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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Carnon Downs Village Hall on Monday 25th June 2018

Printable version here. Includes accounts and officers' reports.
Present
D. R. Jenkins (Chairman), H. Brown, C. Sellwood, I. George, D. King, R. Kneebone, J. Menadue, R. Nancarrow, C. Gardiner, R. Gardiner, G. Trudeau, K. Brewer, J. Constable, L. Retallick.
Apologies for absence
J. James, A. Barkhuysen, B. Jones, R. Smith
President's Welcome and Remarks

The president welcomed all present to the meeting.

He suggested that a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) appraisal be carried out during the 2019/20 season with a view to identifying aspects of our operations which could be improved.

He noted that we do not have a junior secretary and stated his view that failure to fill this important office was to our detriment.

The decision to open the annual congress to all-comers had been a great success and, thanking organisers Colin and Rebecca Gardiner for their great contribution in bringing this about, looked forward to a repeat performance in 2020.
Minutes of the 2018 AGM

It was agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 19th July 2017 be taken as read. There were no matters arising.
Officers' Reports
Secretary: (I George)
Full report here.
The secretary noted with regret the closure of the Penwith club before the start of the season.
The annual congress was the only event organised by the county in 2018/19. He hoped that in 2019/20 more full-day and evening events would be organised by clubs and small groups of individual volunteers throughout the county.
David Saqui, one of our leading players for over 45 years and Cornwall champion in 2008 and 2010, died at the beginning of the year. Shortly afterwards, we received a fine trophy from an anonymous donor with instructions that it be awarded for the best individual game over a calendar year with emphasis on the kind of imaginative play that David favoured. The 2018 inaugural competition, judged by Bob Jones from Devon, was won by Lloyd Retallick (Newquay).
Treasurer: (I George)
Report and accounts here.
The Treasurer presented the accounts for the year and reported that the state of the Association’s finances was satisfactory. Total funds amounted to £1,753, including £768 in the Napier Fund for junior chess. The bank balance was £288 lower at £1,678. The main factor contributing to this was the hire of a minibus for the match with Essex at Bath at a cost of £284. Together with £420 in 2017/18 the total spent on this item in the two years was £704. He noted that expenditure at this level on a single match was not sustainable and that the cost of future long-distance travel should be covered by donations or sponsorship. This was agreed.
The accounts were approved.
League Secretary: (H Brown)
Final league tables are here.
Winners of the team competitions were:
County Shield: Truro
Roberts Cup: Truro
500 League: Truro or Newquay
A W Busby Cup: Newquay
R J Grime Cup: Bude
Match Captain: (R Smith)
Full report here.
The season began with the WECU Jamboree in September where we entered two teams of 12, the ‘A’ team scoring 4 points and the ‘B’ team 4.5. The WECU section of the Counties Championship is now down to just three entries: Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Against Devon we lost the ‘A’ team match by a score of 11-5. The Under 160 match we went down 9-7. Against Somerset we lost by 10.5-5.5. Having entered the Under 180 section in the national competition we were drawn against Essex at Bath and lost by 10.5-5.5. An under 160 match was arranged against Devon with David Jenkins as captain. This resulted in a close win for Devon by 9-7.
Although all the matches were lost, many players, some new to county chess, obtained valuable experience. The level of commitment and enthusiasm was encouraging and we could have coped with finding players for even larger teams. My thanks to David, for organising the under 160 team, to everyone who provided transport and to all the players.
For the trip to Bath to play Essex in the national stage of the Counties Championship we hired a minibus at a cost, including petrol, of £284. In his report the Treasurer states his view that this is not sustainable and recommends that we do not enter the national stage unless the cost is covered by sponsorship or donations. I agree with this and recommend that, instead, we seek to arrange a number of graded unofficial matches at venues no further away than Exeter against other counties and town/city teams, e.g. Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Bournemouth/Poole.
Congress organisers: (C and R Gardiner)
Final standings here.
The congress organisers reported that, following the decision to open the event to all-comers, the congress had been a great success with 77 entries, including 33 from local players. They wished to thank John Constable and Ian George in particular for acting as controller and behind the scenes assistance respectively. The feedback from both local players and visitors had been overwhelmingly positive.
They confirmed that, following a review by the executive sub-committee, the Falmouth Hotel had been booked for May 1-3, 2020 and were confident of a higher entry next year.
The trophy winners were:
Emigrant Cup: Grant Healey (Cornwall Champion)
Falmouth Cup: Anton Barkhuysen
Penwith Cup: Christine Constable and Maurice Richards (shared)
Robin Kneebone congratulated the organisers on the success of the congress and welcomed the return to the Falmouth Hotel in 2020. He wished for other venues and times of year to be considered after that, possibly the holding of a second event at a more central venue. It was pointed out that a review was carried out each year before the arrangements for the following year were decided. This gave the committee and others the opportunity to consider all relevant factors before a commitment is made.
Publicity Officer: (R Kneebone)
Plans were in hand to improve the profile of chess in Cornwall. Toby Willis and Boris Kostadinov had agreed to assist with social media. Clubs were urged to supply information about club activities, both for the website and for other media.
Chess in Schools and Communities, for which RK is the local co-ordinator, had begun to work in Cornwall, seeking to establish chess clubs in libraries and in schools both as curricular and after-hours activities.
Election of officers
The following were elected:
Executive Sub-Sommittee
President David R Jenkins
Secretary Ian George
Treasurer Ian George
League Secretary Hugh Brown
Match Captain Richard Smith
Junior Secretary Vacant
Congress organisers Colin and Rebecca Gardiner
Publicity Officer Robin Kneebone
Co-opted Jeremy Menadue
Others
WECU Delegate Richard Smith
Grader Ian George
Consideration of Proposals

  1. That clause 2.05 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows: “The Committee may co-opt any number of additional members as it sees fit. Such appointments must be ratified by the Association in General Meeting”

    Proposed: Ian George Seconded: Robin Kneebone

    The secretary explained that, as currently worded, clause 2.05 specifies a limit of three additional members to be co-opted in addition to the ex officio members. At present there are four co-opted members on the committee and this proposed change seeks to regularise this position and allow the ESC to recruit as many members as necessary to carry out its functions.

    The motion was passed unanimously.

  2. That Rule 2.2 of the Rules applicable to the County Shield and Roberts Cup be amended to read:

    “In the Roberts Cup a club or combination of clubs may enter one or more teams of up to four players. The average grade of the four players must not exceed 130. The Executive Sub-committee shall have the power to vary this number if it considers that this would be to the benefit of the competition.”

    The secretary explained that this rule change was designed to give effect to the decision made at the 2018 AGM that the Roberts Cup should be contested on an average grade basis.

    Proposed: Ian George Seconded: John Costable
    The motion was passed unanimously

  3. That Rule 8(f) of the 500 League Rules be amended to read:

    “Colours will be decided by the toss of a coin. The winner of the toss will play White on all boards in round 1 and Black on all boards in round 2.”

    Proposed: Hugh Brown Seconded: David Jenkins
    The motion was passed unanimously.

  4. That the eligibility rules approved at the Annual General Meeting of 30th May, 1974 shall be amended to read as follows and shall apply to the award of all permanent trophies belonging to the Association:

    Only persons meeting one of the following criteria are eligible to receive one of the permanent trophies:

    1. Birth in Cornwall
    2. Residence in Cornwall and for the previous 12 months
    3. Seven years continuous previous residence in Cornwall
    4. Attendance at a school or other educational establishment in Cornwall
    5. Notwithstanding (b), current membership of a club affiliated to the Cornwall County Chess Association.
    Proposed: Ian George Seconded: Robin Kneebone

    IG explained that the motion is intended to update the eligibility rules to reflect modern conditions.

    The original clause (d) read: “Residence in Cornwall by reason of attendance, as student or staff, at a school”. The amendment extends eligibility to colleges, universities, etc. and removes the preferential treatment for teachers.

    e) would fill the gap in clause (b) whereby, for example, a player moving to Cornwall in July and joining a club in September would, strictly speaking, be ineligible to win the Emigrant / Falmouth / Penwith Cup in May. Also, now that clubs have been established clubs at Bude and Calstock, their members living beyond the county boundary would not be penalised.

    Rule 2 formalises existing policy.

    The motion was passed unanimously.
Fees for the 2019/20 Season
The meeting approved the treasurer’s proposal that the entry fees for the team competitions should remain unchanged.
Any Other Business
There being no other business, the chairman declared the meeting closed at 20:45.
IAN GEORGE (Secretary)
10th June 2019