The communication issues within Chess Scotland appear to be getting worse.

We recently had great news recently with Clement and Andrew Burnett breaking the 2300 barrier but this was kept secret behind the barrier of the password protected forum, rather than it being announced publicly to the world.

It was decided at the 2013 AGM that the forum would be mixed, with some being private and some being open to the public. It took around a year for those minutes to be produced so it’s perhaps not a surprise that the will of the AGM has been ignored. The only thing that has been put on the public was the Commonwealth championship whereas, although not specified in the minutes, the consensus was that it should be a lot closer to 50:50.

On the subject of minutes, we are still waiting for the publication of the Junior Board meeting around a year after it apparently last met and the minutes of the last Council meeting around 2 and a half months ago.

I raised a question on the forum about the fact that the 2014 accounts had still not been published and was told “This was commented on at the council meeting - Guess you will need to wait for the minutes”. We are all still waiting.....

One director did respond to say that he didn’t know the reason for the delay in the accounts (and he was at the Council meeting) and there has been no other response or explanation as to why the accounts are now 5 months late. Is there some reason why the CS directors are unwilling to issue even draft accounts to members or give an explanation as to why a reason for the delay can’t be given? Is there a problem with the accounts or the finances?

There are a few directors who do use the forum well and they should be commended but some seem to take a perverse pleasure in refusing to communicate with members and answer their queries on the forum. They come across as arrogant and as if simple members are not important enough to converse with. This may not be the intention but a lack of communication can cause this impression.

We also had a member asking a question on the forum being advised to email the director. Why? Are we actually expecting every member to have to email the director to get the answer?
Many other members would want to know the answer and communication by the forum allows the information to be spread around easily.

Emails are not always the answer anyway as I have found out when volunteering for several things and not getting any sort of reply from more than one director.

Yes, we are all busy and have other calls on our time but the directors put themselves forward for their positions, standing against others in certain cases, and with that should be a willingness to answer questions and it can take a couple of minutes to answer a forum question.

Greater use of social media like Facebook and Twitter could be used to publicise both adult and junior events.

Suggestions:
1. All minutes to be produced within a maximum of a 6 week period.
2. Move all existing forum sections to the public area
3. Create new private areas for General and Junior where contentious matters can be raised or threads can be moved to by moderators if they start to get contentious.
4. Create a new section in the private area for CS related matters.
5. All directors to use the forum to answer questions and give updates 2-3 times a year of what they have been up to and what is happening in their areas.

Apologies for the rant but it’s frustrating when poor communication seems ingrained in an organisation and even important matters like the finances are being hushed up.

Hopefully existing directors can take this on board as well as any new directors appointed later this year at the AGM and they can all look to improve the communication of the organisation to try and rebuild the bridges that have been broken partly due to communication issues and reinvigorate the relationship between CS and its members which can only be for the benefit of chess in Scotland.

It's gone awfully quiet at this Forum!

Has no one noticed that The Scotsman chess columns (daily Mon-Friday + the Saturday column) have all been axed over the weekend?

Complain to the editor forcibly!

Results of NEJCA + SJC Chess for Kicks (CFK) event Saturday January 31st 2015 at Mastrick Community Centre, Aberdeen

U-300
1st Connor Sibbald (Albyn) 6/6 (Q)
2nd Jalal Bayramov (Ashley Road) 4/6 (PQ)
3rd Enming Soh (Albyn) 4/5 (PQ)
4th= Pranav Arcot (Robert Gordon's College) 4/6 (Q) Enli Soh (Albyn) 4/6 (PQ)
Also Qualified
Pranav Saravanan (Albyn) 3/6 (Q) Peter Fish (Robert Gordon's College) 3/6 (Q)

U-600
1st Kalyan Sai Nandan Kante (Westhill Primary) 5/6 (PQ)
2nd Vasal Ramazanov (Ashley Road) 5/6 (Q)
3rd Collin Campbell (Albyn) 4.5/6 (PQ)
4th Thomas Roulson (Q) 3/6 (Q)

U-1000
1st Atharva Dabholkar (Robert Gordon's College) 5/6 (Q)
2nd Oishani Dutta (Broomhill) 4/5 (Q)
3rd Rafal Wilowski (Lathallan School) 4/5 (Q)

PQ, previously qualified, Q, qualified this event.

Junior/Adult Allegro
1st Calum MacQueen (Edinburgh) 5/5
2nd= Murad Abdulla (Bon Accord) 3.5/5
2nd= Richard Jennings (Bon Accord) 3.5/5

Full results and photos at http://www.nejca.co.uk

Starts today and sees our own Alan Tate facing Richard Rapport (rated 2716!) in round 1 of the Masters section. I'm sure there will be other Scots taking part also in the various events.

Live games and results/info here

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/">http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/</a><!-- m -->

There have been discussions in Scottish chess circles that it would be great to have a team representing Scotland in the 4NCL. For anyone (2000+) interested in being involved next season please contact me: davidcoswald (at) hotmail (dot) com
If this idea is well received, I believe an ideal set up would be to have a couple of Scotland’s GMs, along with title chasers/aspiring players and possibly an improving junior. This would create a great network and potential for the GMs to go over games and coach. If there is sufficient interest (squad of 12-15) we will look for some funding, but initially most players would be expected to fund their own travel and accommodation.

The 2015 Ayr Chess Congress will once again be held in the Windows on the Ocean at the Mercure Hotel in the centre of Ayr.

Bank Holiday Weekend
Friday May 22nd to Sunday May 24th

Entry form available from the calendar page <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://chessscotland.com/calendar.php">http://chessscotland.com/calendar.php</a><!-- m -->

Accommodation

SPECIAL CHESS RATES
Double or twin room at £85.00 per room
Family rooms at £95.00 per room.
Single room at £61.00 per room.

All players can book direct with Cheryl on 0844 815 9005 opt 3 quoting booking ref 9640317. This is the only method in which the hotel can guarantee the agreed rate will be offered. The current selling price is £130.00 per bedroom per night so it is essential to book through Cheryl on 0844 815 9005 opt 3 quoting booking ref 9640317 to get the special chess rates.

2015 Congress News

Andrew Green and Ali Roy have agreed to come back for a second year, with live commentary, coaching, puzzles, animal noise buzzers and a good deal of fun, as well as some serious chess analysis and helpful hints.

David Clayton has also agreed to return this year, bringing with him live boards and the big screen TV's to display the live games.

There's a new website for the event <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrcongress.co.uk">http://www.ayrcongress.co.uk</a><!-- m --> which is now live and will have more content added over the next few weeks, including the latest news before the event.

If it's of any interest I received the following email:

Quote:Hi there,

I’m working as a researcher for Remedy Productions and we’re putting together the Fifteen to One quiz show for Channel 4. We were hoping you might be happy to help us in getting the word out that we’re looking for people to apply to compete on the show please?

We’d love the Chess Scotland members who are 18 or over to have an opportunity to get involved, especially as we’ll film the entire series here in Glasgow. . I imagine there’s some good subject knowledge and recall lurking amongst your number!

I’ve attached a couple of copies of the flyer: it would be great if it could be posted somewhere prominent online please?

I also wonder whether you could share via twitter as well? If so, that would be fantastic.

Here’s the tweet we’re asking organisations to use, thanks:

#15to1 auditions for quiz contestants soon! Got what it takes to win £40k? Apply here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/take-part/articles/all/fifteen-to-one">http://www.channel4.com/programmes/take ... een-to-one</a><!-- m --> …

Any help you might be able to offer would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks in advance -

Chess expert Michael Riding will be doing a presentation at Paisley Chess Club on Wednesday 28th January. Michael will be using the demo board to go over a few highlights from his chess career which will include games against some of the more famous names in British chess.

The evening will start at 7.15pm and should last around two hours. Entry to this event is free. Please pass on this message to your friends.

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.paisleychessclub.org.uk">www.paisleychessclub.org.uk</a><!-- w -->

Are there any details known yet about this year's event?

I would like to say a huge congratulations to both Murad and Anna on being awarded the Jonathan Rowson and Cherie Booth Awards!!!!!

The awards are thoroughly deserved. Both of these young people have worked hard on their chess for many years and are great role models for our up and coming juniors.