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+--- Thread: State of Scottish Chess (/thread-605.html)
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Jim Webster - 02-07-2013
The offending email being sent is really irrelevant, particularly if the author was not at the council meeting. It is unlikely that they would know any outcomes until the minutes are published. Having said that I think the best way is to simply ignore them and not give the satisfaction of the publication here on the forum.
If the author was at the meeting - then they should have spoken up then - not on irresponsible emails.
Andy has the best answer to all of this "no comment".
I'll simply ignore from here on
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Mike Scott - 02-07-2013
Hardly irrelevant when a current CS director makes very serious public accusations about his colleagues and the very organisation that he is meant to represent.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Patrick McGovern - 03-07-2013
Whilst I agree with you Mike your information is not current. In order to be a director of CS you have to be a member. the gentleman concerned has stated
"I said, will not be re-joining until President and Membership Secretary have resigned after their disgusting abuse of power at council meeting blocking Jacqui and Phil’s membership"
Not only is this information stated inaccurate and misleading, it is also designed to continue the damage previous statements started. For clarity the meeting approved, without any objection, acceptance of Mr and Mrs Thomas' application for membership.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - KevinCampbell - 03-07-2013
It's a shame such things are happening within Chess Scotland.
If the last Council meeting went well, then hopefully the issues have been sorted.
When I spoke of a decline in Chess, i'm in total agreement with Ian, it has been on going for sometime, I am comparing now to when I started playing as a junior about 14 years ago. Back then I played for Holycross and Bellshill. Bellshill had a few juniors but was mostly an adult club. Holycross had loads of juniors and some adults.
In that time the internet has come to dominate, indeed maybe a big reason for the decline. Personally, I have never played on the internet, it's just of no interest to me.
In relation to live chess, maybe it is just what it is. It would be good, however, to see an increase in numbers.
There are a good number of juniors playing, and lots of seniors playing, but not so many in the middle age brackets say 22-55. Also there is a lack of female players in the game. Wonder if this is just in the UK, or if these stats are similar throughout the chess playing world.
It's a really difficult question on how to promote/ increase interest in the game and there is no easy answer.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Alan Jelfs - 04-07-2013
Andrew McHarg Wrote:What positions are coming up at the AGM Andy?
All of them!
CS is a democratic organisation - you are permitted to un-elect incumbents if you think some-one else could do a better job.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - amuir - 04-07-2013
Every CS director must be approved by the AGM. They don't automatically get in. They must make a speech and say why they are suitable and be asked questions. If the majority of people don't like them, or their answers to questions is evasive or untruthful, or they have not fulfilled their duties,the post is unfilled. This happened to Stephen Hilton once. He did not meet with majority approval for an unclear reason. It could happen to all or any this time too if they are shown to be divisive.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Mike Scott - 04-07-2013
Quote:CS is a democratic organisationin theory but not in practice. By this I mean that for something to be democratic in practice you need more than one candidate for each post and you need a significant % of the members to be casting votes on their own behalf. Yes one can vote out someone when there is no other candidate but that it is clearly not a good position to be in.
The first step in activating chess in the wider community is surely for the chess community to activate itself, with more members stepping forward to help out the dedicated long serving few. This would inject new ideas, enthusiasm and energy.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - StevieHilton - 04-07-2013
I was reluctant to comment on this thread because of my involvement in another FIDE affiliate.
There are many reasons for the current state of chess in Scotland.
1 there are more competition for our leisure time now than when most of us started playing
eg: computers, computer games particularly for the younger generation.
2 The population is much more mobile than ever before. This is due to economic necessity and the needs of the job market. It is much more difficult to put down steady roots in one particular place because of this need to be mobile. Military families have had to deal with this for years.
3 status of the game: The lack of funding is also the part of the problem. A change of status maybe needed to allow access to new sources of funding. There has been fierce debate in this forum in the past. I have made my own position clear that chess is a sport and I make no apologies for that. There are many who disagree
with my own position. Alternative sources of funding have to be found. a fund raiser should be hired paid on a commission basis only to raise funds for CS.These are just some thoughts and perhaps others will have other thoughts I have missed.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Graham Kerr - 04-07-2013
KevinCampbell Wrote:It's a shame such things are happening within Chess Scotland.
If the last Council meeting went well, then hopefully the issues have been sorted.
When I spoke of a decline in Chess, i'm in total agreement with Ian, it has been on going for sometime, I am comparing now to when I started playing as a junior about 14 years ago. Back then I played for Holycross and Bellshill. Bellshill had a few juniors but was mostly an adult club. Holycross had loads of juniors and some adults.
In that time the internet has come to dominate, indeed maybe a big reason for the decline. Personally, I have never played on the internet, it's just of no interest to me.
In relation to live chess, maybe it is just what it is. It would be good, however, to see an increase in numbers.
There are a good number of juniors playing, and lots of seniors playing, but not so many in the middle age brackets say 22-55. Also there is a lack of female players in the game. Wonder if this is just in the UK, or if these stats are similar throughout the chess playing world.
It's a really difficult question on how to promote/ increase interest in the game and there is no easy answer.
I know of several clubs with adult novice members who find it difficult to break through into teams. These players often turn up to club nights more regularly than others, but are overlooked for team places because they don't have an established grade, or have been unable to demonstrate the potential to improve.
I've been trying to think of ways to give these adult novices a chance to get involved with matchplay, it's the only way they'll gain the experience to be able to compete in the future. Part of the trouble is that teams want to be competitive, whether that be to win leagues or to avoid relegation, and a team captain might take pelters for playing someone relatively inexperienced when there are others available who are better placed to win games.
I've thought that perhaps lower divisions might introduce rules about playing novices in lower boards (something along the lines of under 21s in football squads), but different leagues have different constructions and team sizes, and some divisions are small, so it simply wouldn't be practical.
I was fortunate enough when i first attended my local club in my late 20s that i played a bounce game against an established player who gave me a royal whooping, but he saw enough potential there that he contacted the captain of one of the club's teams and i got played in the next match.
Unfortunately the ever diminishing funding available is directed more towards juniors, since that's where more potential lies for a future star player, if only there was enough to go round all categories of player.
Re: State of Scottish Chess - Patrick McGovern - 04-07-2013
Quote:CS is a democratic organisationlike all organisations it will only be democratic when the silent majority get more involved.