(12-04-2022, 10:22 PM)Matthew Turner Wrote: I decided that as these votes draw to a close, I would post some thoughts before the results were announced.

Firstly, in the overall scheme of things these votes are not very important, but I think the discussion and this forum more generally demonstrate some of the challenges facing Scottish Chess.

Since last time I visited Scotland, I have played many events in Ireland, some designed to get norms for aspiring Irish talents (even those born outside the Emerald Isle), some with lavish sponsorship, all organised with passion and enthusiasm.  Only last week, I was talking to a senior Irish official about plans for a major project in 2024.

I have also been involved (albeit in a fairly small way) in innovative plans for junior development in England.

This isn’t because I am somehow less committed to Scottish Chess, but like everyone else I have limited time and I want my efforts to have an impact.

I work with Andy Howie on a fairly regular basis for the benefit of chess in general, but not particularly Scottish Chess.  Back in 2011 there were a bunch of young Scottish chess players coming through organizing events and developing innovative ideas for chess development – where are they now.  

We have to recognize that the situation that exists in Scottish Chess at the moment in not conducive to developing our game and those with drive and enthusiasm to fuel our game going forward are pushed to look elsewhere.

I abstained on motion 1.  I want to back CS management and move on, but fundamentally I think it is wrong to put eligibility criteria in the constitution.  We have tied ourself in knots here and this risks hobbling a future organization.  Good luck dealing with our first trans competitors.

I voted yes on motion 2.  This is primarily for three reasons
1. Irrespective of the merits of this case, it sets a tone that we are an inclusive, welcoming organization  
2. It is not the case that I will deprive a hard working Scottish player of a place in the team.  That is simply not the reality; In the modern world it is difficult to take two and a half weeks out of your life to play an Olympiad (I have already ruled myself out of competing this year). It is more a case of the International Director searching for players than players battling for places!  Yes, it true that there would be an issue about what is best for Scottish Chess if there was a choice between myself and Freddie Gordon, but there would also be an issue if there was a choice between Andy Muir and Freddie Gordon.  To my mind that is a selection issue not one of eligibility.
3. I have enjoyed competing at the (Open) Scottish Championships and I feel that has been beneficial for Scottish Chess.  If one day the Championships became closed, it seems both wrong and detrimental to Scottish Chess that I be excluded.

If you have got this far, you have obviously committed a fair amount of time to reading this!  So, I would request that you spend a little more time thinking about what you can do to help Scottish Chess to move forward.  It is little use reflecting on where things have gone wrong;  I hope we can now move to thinking about how thing can improve.  The key is we need a lot of people doing a bit!

Can you make your chess club’s Christmas blitz a fundraiser to help a local junior get coaching before they compete in a major championship?

Can you organize a rota so that someone takes a couple of boards to a local park each Saturday?

Do you know someone in the council you can ask about buying chess boards and books for the local library?

Can you get the best player in the club to do a simultaneous display at the local shopping centre?

If you have other ideas, please post them on the forum and hopefully other will take up the challenge.

Best wishes.

Matt.

(14-04-2022, 05:53 AM)amuir Wrote: I voted against motions 1 & 2 and don't understand the logic of the membership's decision.
They have decided that a person who once lived in Scotland for 2 years or has a Scottish grandparent has the same rights as someone who was born in Scotland and has lived here all their life.
Could someone please explain why they have voted this way ?

• I'd like to see some form of discussion being built in so the membership can reach an informed decision. It felt a bit like the motions were a bit of a fait accompli, given the time that had passed since the EWP was setup in 2019, things have changed and whilst they were charged with taking this forward I think some informed debate in advance of the vote would have helped matters. I think that was the intention of the discussion thread but not sure that worked well? How many people actually read this before voting, I didn't!
  
• I also think Chess Scotland should contact the membership through Associations, Leagues, Clubs, Teams etc. to ensure that members have the correct details with Chess Scotland. The onus is on the individual member, but a friend of mine who is a life member of over 40 years was unaware the vote was happening and couldn't login to the website. The individual concerned assures me they had no junk emails and Chess Scotland confirmed they had the correct email on file so it was a bit bizarre. It was resolved ably by Chess Scotland in a very timely manner for which I am grateful.
  
• I'd also like to see operating procedures for how online votes are conducted including oversight and independent verification. Such a document may already exist but I cannot find it on the website.
  

(14-04-2022, 01:17 PM)David Deary Wrote: [*]I also think Chess Scotland should contact the membership through Associations, Leagues, Clubs, Teams etc. to ensure that members have the correct details with Chess Scotland. The onus is on the individual member, but a friend of mine who is a life member of over 40 years was unaware the vote was happening and couldn't login to the website. The individual concerned assures me they had no junk emails and Chess Scotland confirmed they had the correct email on file so it was a bit bizarre. It was resolved ably by Chess Scotland in a very timely manner for which I am grateful.

(14-04-2022, 02:12 PM)amuir Wrote: It might be that a lot of the membership thought like Ruairidh and that by conferring Matt full status there is a potential for more coaching from him.
It is up to the selectors who pick the teams and Scottish Championship organisers to deal with the politics of all this.
I have been copied in to discussions about the Senior team selections and some people have strong feelings on the type of team they wish to play in.

(14-04-2022, 07:06 AM)Matthew Turner Wrote: Andy and Andy,

I have explained why I voted the way I did

I want to make (hopefully) one final point in response to Andy Burnett

"Now, that is what it is, and if you are deemed eligible for Scotland then that's all there is to say - but stop pretending the vote/you won't have a significant impact. If you want to argue that having you in the team is actually a good thing, then please do so, but again, that's a different point from that you've been trying to make."

You have seen the reasons why I voted the way I did.  I have never said that having me in the (Olympiad) team is good thing.  That is for a simple reason, I am not sure whether it is!  I have said that whilst I would dearly love to play for Scotland, I would not do so if it were detrimental to the team.  That I why I have said and reiterated to Alan Tate, the International Director, that I would only play with the support of the rest of the team.  I have ruled myself out of the forthcoming Olympiad, but post this vote I'll be having discussions with Alan about what that means in practice for future events.  

So, in future, one, or both of you, might have a vote to decide whether I should have a place.  I am placing my trust in you to place your vote for what you think is in the best interests of Scottish Chess (which may be a vote for my participation or against) and not vote on personal self interest.  That I think is a pretty big commitment on my part, but it is what I have consistently said and I stand by it.

I hope there will be the opportunity for me to deprive both of you a place in the team by supporting the next generation of Scottish talent, but today I fly to Ireland to play in a GM norm tournament with Connor O'Donnell, Conor Murphy, Trisha and Tarun Kanyamarala and Tom O'Gorman.

Food for thought hopefully.

(14-04-2022, 06:17 PM)Andy Howie Wrote: Hi David,

Yes it is the highest engagement we have had in quite some time and long may that continue!!

As to your quoted post.  I have checked my sent items and confirmed it was sent.  When the member contacted me I dealt with is quickly to allow them to vote.  At first I suspected an old email address but this turned out not to be the case.

What you are suggesting here is very difficult to do now with GDPR as we can't simply just go to them.  It is a horrible minefield hence we have to rely on members letting us know when they change email addresses.  I also periodically cross check the membership database with the Website logins to see if there is a different email address there then query the member to which is the correct one.  Sharing of information like this is very closely controlled and it would be very hard to implement as we would need to negotiate with each league team and association who in turn would have to get permission from their members.  GDPR has made this very messy!