MINUTES OF HALESOWEN CHESS CLUB AGM 2011

 

Lighthouse Public House, 17 May 2011, 19:30

 

Present: Andy Ambrose, Jon Asbury, Pete Banks, Mark Bethel, Don Curry, John Edge, Joyce Evans, Paul Evans, Stewart Fishburne (Chair), Bob Grimes, Mike Hadley, Malcolm Hunt, John Llewelyn, Windsor Peck, Adrian Priest, John Southcote (Sec), Tony Taylor, Julian Taylor, Mark Vile.

 

Apologies: Derek Digger, Maureen Clark.

 

1) 2010 Minutes – accepted

 

2) Matters Arising

 

There was an incident of an opposing team using a player not in order of strength. Stewart had looked into the matter and concluded it was not clear cut enough to pursue.

 

3) Officers’ Reports

 

Secretary: Pleasing to note that despite severe disruption due weather, meaning that hardly any games were played from late November to mid January, the club met almost all its extensive commitments in five leagues and associated cups. Only one match defaulted. It was a struggle over the board, as evidenced by Reg Beasley table with only 4 players achieving a positive balance over the season. However, there were many creditable individual performances, such as John Edge’s 5th victory in the BDCL Div 1 individual, and John Llewelyn reaching WDCL Bidgood Cup final.

 

Next season looks equally challenging. At present membership looks like being down from 28 to 25, with 22 active players. With this we should be able to maintain the same number of teams as in 2010/11.

 

The venue has been adequate. One formal complaint from another club was received about lack of parking and a crowded room. This was on one of two occasions when 3 home fixtures were on the same night. Though I try to avoid 3 simultaneous home games, it’s not always possible given the number of games we play. The Lighthouse is under temporary management at present and the future is uncertain, so we need to have a “plan B”. [see item 9 below].

 

Treasurer: (report delivered by Chairman in Derek Digger’s absence through illness) The club has a £756 surplus mainly due to the free clubroom in 2010/11.

The accounts for the year to 31/03/2011 were accepted by the meeting. A vote of thanks was passed for Derek Digger’s outstanding long service as treasurer (more that 20 years).

Webmaster: The website seems to work well as the first contact point for outsiders. It is still on a free platform. The webmaster appealed for results to be sent to him soon after games, and for contributions to the website.

 

4) Captains’ Reports

 

Wolverhampton Summer League

Summer League D2: finished 2nd

Summer League D3: bottom with 1 point. 11 players got games. Maureen   Clark scored 2/3

 

Birmingham League

D1: Steady with W4 D4 L4 record, finishing just above half way. Stewart Fishburne scored a 71% success rate.

D3: Relegated but enjoyed the challenge.

D6: Finished equal 3rd and would have got promotion had last match been won.

 

Wolverhampton League

D1: Uninspiring W1 D2 L6 with 5 wins in 54 games. Relegated. Highlight was the visit to Shifnal where the home side forgot to turn up.

D2: A good season. Finished 4th. Jon Asbury scored 90% success rate in 5 games. Windsor Peck won in 3 moves against Kidderminster.

D4: A relatively good season with 6 points against two last season. Expensive squad rotated by astute manager to avoid burn out and give everyone a game.

 

Dudley League

D1: A good season and a trophy for finishing 2nd. Included victory over the eventual winners.

D2: 5 points from 10. Pete Banks scored 70% success rate; Richard Woolley was undefeated with a win and two draws.

D3: A reasonable season with a record of W3 D3 L1 using 8 players. Julian Taylor scored  75% success rate in 6 games.

 

Worcestershire County League

D1: W3 D1 L4. Six players played in 6 or more games. Stewart Fishburne undefeated with 75% success rate in 8 games. Don Curry outgraded but came through defeats to finish with a win and a draw.

D2: Disastrous W0 D3 L7. 16 players used. Richard Woolley undefeated in 4 games with 75% success rate.

 

4NCL

 

W4 D0 L7 but outgraded in almost every game. Regulars were Windsor Peck, Jon Asbury and John Llewelyn. Thanks to Jon Asbury for driving.

 

 

5) Award of Trophies

 

Kevin Ryder Team : The teams of Birmingham D1, Wolverhampton D2 and Dudley D1 were nominated receiving 5, 8 and 4 votes respectively. Winners: Wolverhampton D2.

 

Reg Beasley Individual: 4 players got 50%+: Jon Asbury, Pete Banks, John Edge and the winner, Stewart Fishburne with a score of 64%.

 

Quick Win: Windsor Peck in 3 moves. Windsor pointed out it was actually 2.5 moves and hailed it as his greatest ever triumph.

 

Summer KO: John Edge. Tournament organiser Pete Banks pointed out that John won this trophy for the first time 30 years ago. The chairman congratulated  Pete for ensuring that the tournament finished in the Summer for the first time since Pete last organized it.

 

Player of the Season: John Edge won on a close vote from Don Curry (just another loss for Don). Awarded to John for his performances in Birmingham Division 1 and his victory in the Birmingham D1 individual trophy.

 

Ladder: not awarded.

 

6) Teams 2011-12

Birmingham Divs 1, 4 and 6

Wolverhampton Divs 2A, 2B and 4

Dudley Divs 1, 2 and 3

Worcestershire County Divs 1 and 2

4NCL

 

Trophies: Birmingham 6, Wolverhampton Pittaway and Humphries.

 

7) Captains 2011-12

Birmingham: D1 John Edge D4 Windsor Peck D6 Tony Taylor

Wolverhampton: D2A Andy Ambrose D2B Tony Taylor D4 John Southcote

Dudley: D1 Pete Banks D2 Paul Evans D3 Joyce Evans

Worcesteshire D1 Stewart Fishburne D2 Paul Evans.

 

8) Election of Officers                    

All unopposed: Chairman: Stewart Fishburne   Webmaster: Stewart Fishburne

                           Secretary: John Southcote         Press Officer: Vacant

                           Treasurer: Derek Digger             

                           Tournament Controller: Pete Banks

Pete Banks indicated willingness to take over from Derek if need arose. The meeting agreed Pete should be co-opted onto committee immediately.                                 

9) Revue of Venue

 

The Lighthouse Pub is currently up for let and the future is uncertain. Some other possibilities have been investigated:

Old Halesowenians RFC: too expensive at £60 per night

Somers Social Club: currently unavailable on Tuesdays and potentially expensive (quoted £10 per night if everyone becomes a member of Somers, or £20 per night and about 50% of chess club also become members of Somers)

Halesowen Cricket Club: keen on a combined membership scheme, but currently no rooms available.

 

Other possibilities mentioned were Brandhall Conservative Club, Oldbury and the Coronation Club, Blackheath. Malcolm Hunt felt that if we played at Brandhall we would be able to attract young players from Checkmates. No strong feelings were expressed about venues which were outside Halesowen boundaries.

 

10) Review of Fees

 

In the light of the club’s current surplus, the meeting voted to accept a proposal from Pete Banks to reduce Social Membership to £20 in a bid to attract new players, and a proposal from John Edge to reduce the full and concessionary membership fees by £5 each.

 

Thus annual subscriptions for 2011-12 will be:

Full £45         Concessions £30     Social £20

 

11) Summer Events

 

Malcolm Hunt agreed to put on an “alternative chess night” and a lecture evening towards the end of August.

The Secretary will produce a diary of Summer events after agreeing a date with Stourbridge for the Tony Evers tournament.

 

12)   AOB

 

Tony Taylor suggested club could get a stall at Halesowen Victorian Market and agreed to look into this.

 

Windsor Peck suggested the Polish ommunity may be a source of new players. The Chairman agreed to do some research to identify Polish organizations.

 

Pete Banks asked if there was any support for a club tournament during the season – none forthcoming so it was decided no tournament other than the Summer KO would be run in 2011-12.

 

The meeting closed at 21:40.