Hi,

Are there any active chess clubs near Glenrothes open at the moment?

Got phone call from someone looking for OTB chess, having been playing online only so far.

Civil service club in Edinburgh is a bit far to travel ?

I know Kirkcaldy club is not open but possibly others are.

Thanks,
Crawford.

Interesting to see Rishi Vijayakumar playing for Alba this weekend and a good challenge with William Golding in the first game.  The match looks difficult for the Scots facing GMs Mark Hebden and Nigel Davies in the Guildford young? guns

With a week to go until the start it does look like the Standard events will go the same way as last months with almost no interest now.

It also looks like the Junior events, which managed to go ahead last time will also be cancelled, at this time.

So hopefully there will be a flurry of entries in the next week and we can go ahead with the events as usual.

Unless it was just a COVID thing.

Live Games from the Open can be Found here.

https://view.livechesscloud.com/#c56bf637-77f9-4f89-8ebc-2c3876e5dd7b

David

We are back, usual place. Today is the last day to enter online. After today you will have to contact us via the website contact form or see us at the venue, preferably not 10 minutes before we start.

Links to Chess Results will follow and links to live boards too.

As I type there are 23 places left, see you there.

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the relaxation of Covid regulations to go on holiday to Crete. This was in the full knowledge that I already had 27 emails on the subject of Senior Teams and selections, and that there would also soon be a vote on Eligibility, both subjects fairly dear to my heart due to past involvement. I am also a (voluntary) member of Council, which is meant to oversee the actions of the Management but which hasn't met for a number of years for whatever reasons.

Because of the nature of the holiday (actually it was a 'nature' holiday, a small group with a professional guide, out in the field all day with no time for anything other than fairly strenuous planned activities, plus some necessary eating and sleeping). Naturally I didn't get round to reading anything on the forum or participating in any discussions on either subject. I just wanted to enjoy my holiday without distractions. I didn't even read the forum - after all, as Willlie said, nothing ever happens there any more.

Now that I am back I see all hell let loose, with those who care enough getting pretty agitated over 23 pages and then talk of AGMs, SGMs, the President taking time out, etc. Actually I'm glad I didn't get involved. Suffice to say that I have considerable admiration for all those volunteers who try to do an impossible job under the most trying of circumstances, and I also have respect for those who feel strongly enough to state their opinions, whether I agree with them or not.

Did I miss anything else?

As it happens despite being retired, like many others I also have a life outside of chess, and am currently involved in many other major projects in other fields. Now approaching my 75th birthday, I am as busy now as I can remember. So I have to prioritise things, and right now Chess Scotland is not even close to being top of my list. But I do hope to take part in any scheduled meetings, as and when I can, so that these might benefit from any experience I may have. And you can be sure I will be heavily involved in the forthcoming 200th Anniversary of the Edinburgh Club.

So best wishes to all, Alastair

Hi everyone,

Team Alba are looking for a player for the next 4NCL Weekend in Daventry (30 Apr - 2 May, 3 games over the Bank Holiday weekend).  Message me (thebalernobull@hotmail.com) if interested.

Thanks

Neil

Hi All,

I feel as an individual member of Chess Scotland that it is necessary to call a Special General Meeting (SGM) under section 13.2 of the Chess Scotland constitution with the object of good governance. Over the last two to three years, it has been necessary for governance to be looser for the association to be resilient to the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. This has meant that decisions have been taken by Management Board (MB) that would normally be made by the members at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) or Council meeting.  Three such examples are below but this list should not be considered exhaustive:

1. Chess Scotland has not had an AGM since November 2019, it is a requirement of the constitution that an AGM should be held annually and no later than end of November. 
   
2. There has not been a Council meeting since the 2019 AGM either. According to the Information page on the CS website there are no minutes from Council meetings since March 2015 and the last meeting notice is for 25 March 2017. The Council may have met since then but there is no official record. 
   
3. Additionally, the Management Board decided to extend membership periods and not charge fees due to the inactivity of over the board chess. An appropriate decision given the pandemic but a decision that is not within their gift. Council is responsible for approving subscriptions setting under 6.3 of the Constitution. To date there has been no confirmation that Council has approved this decision. 
   

Quote:The SGM instructs the Management Board and Council to fulfil the governance required by the Constitution and set a date of before end-May 2022 for this season's AGM

I know I keep asking folk to look out old games but that's what I do these days! (still looking for those Scottish Open ones from 1984 as well as I put in a previous post that everybody ignored). I have collected a batch of Roddy's games over the years but as he has the habit of not keeping games that "weren't any good" (which includes some he won even) then there are gaps in what I have.
Any of you folk out there who have played him want to send me games you have played against him just email me them in any format you like!
I guarantee that I will get 100% more response than my request for Scottish Open 1984 ones!!
Don't be shy...
Alistair Maxwell - part time historian...

Funny as in weird not ha ha.

The CS Forum has been dead for years. Like most people I seldom even bothered to look at it, let alone post.
When the 1st discussion thread for years came up (eligibility) I thought I would chip in.

What is weird is how the moderators, including the CS President, have tried to shut the discussion down, resorting to threats and personal attacks on more than 1 occasion. Not directed at me, other than a few sarcasm fails, and anyway from experience on other sites I have learned not to get too bothered about what gets posted on them about or to me.

But if the CS Forum is ever going to be more than a waste of space I suggest the culprits do the following
1) take 5 minutes to look back through your posts on that thread and see if you can take any learning points about your style
2) in future pause a minute before typing emotional outbursts

Perhaps killing any discussion was exactly the objective, in which case well done guys.