Council meeting

[David Deary]

Derek,

The points you raise were debated at length as I had similar concerns that a Council meeting would be required but was assured that going to an AGM the fees could be finalised hence the TBC was agreed upon. Another Council meeting was mooted for May but I'm not sure it will be required or necessary.

Also, I doubt any junior organisations will have to wait until August, my intention would be to publish the proposal well in advance of that. Admittedly it will need to be voted on at the AGM but I would hope we can reach a consensus before then. As before, any submissions can be forwarded to myself for consideration at the Home Junior Board meeting or you could even attend. 7:15pm March 28th on Skype.

[Jacqui Thomas]

Thankyou for your update David. I, like Derek am concerned that no actual decision, whether approved or not will not be known until August.

However, I have a bigger concern & it's always been paramount to me & outweighs any reason to charge the likes of SJC etc, that is schools/small junior clubs. You only have to look at the grading to see that some school/club internal tournaments are graded & of course there are events, like the Lanarkshire Primary team. There is no way that they can affiliate, as it is, a lot of schools struggle to keep their chess clubs going. What is proposed regarding grading & Derek has mentioned this as a concern also, will kill school chess. This is outrageous when Chess Scotland keeps on mentioning implementation of Chess in Schools across Scotland. Yet I still haven't seen evidence of this & now it seems what already exists is threatened.

I also wish to add incase members are not aware, that it is the area graders that initially input all the information/ results of tournaments into the grading system & that part of process is not done by Chess Scotland.

[David Deary]

Jacqui, your concerns are noted and will be considered.

All I can say is wait and see the proposal before prejudging whether it will work or not. I certainly wouldn't propose something that could kill schools chess. [-x

[StevieHilton]

David,
What provisions are being made for disabled kids within your plans?
There is a tremendous opportunity to help integrate kids into regular society at an early age as possible here.
This question applies to all organisations involved in junior chess.

[Andrew McHarg]

In this case why would anything different be required for disabled kids Steve?

[StevieHilton]

Disabled kids want to be part of society Andrew as much as anyone else. Chess offers them a real opportunity to compete on a level basis as their able bodied brothers and sisters. This is something that is not available to field sports.
The association could help by providing appropriate equipment for braille players to use. Club have to accessible to everyone.
Generally blind players will have their own sets anyway. I have helped some kids by providing them with braille sets. The federation can do more than I can as an individual

[Jim Webster]

Oh dear, Steve your post starts off very well

Disabled kids want to be part of society Andrew as much as anyone else. Chess offers them a real opportunity to compete on a level basis as their able bodied brothers and sisters. This is something that is not available to field sports.

but then in the very next paragraph you then start putting restrictions in

The association could help by providing appropriate equipment for braille players to use

Surely the visually impaired are only a section of the disabled and in many cases braille sets would be of no benefit whatsoever.

There may well be an argument for the association to consider an appeal for disability assistance, but each case in it's own merits. I don't think I could personally support such a specialized provision as braille sets only.

All disabilities should be considered and treated equally.

Perhaps there is a case for Chess Scotland to hold, disability friendly, chess sets that could be used at congresses - on an "as required" basis. That would however have to go to council or AGM for discussion.

[seanmilton]

[quote="Phil Thomas"][quote="David Deary"]Phil, Derek,
For the record
(b) In my time as IJD hefty chunks of the budget were spent subsidising costs to the families of attending overseas events.
© Indications are that this practice ceased when I stepped down in 2011.


Phil, Really? :-o

[Andrew McHarg]

Disabled kids want to be part of society Andrew as much as anyone else. Chess offers them a real opportunity to compete on a level basis as their able bodied brothers and sisters.

I know but I thought we were primarily talking about the grading fee issue. Not sure if there were any points raised specifically relating to disabled players?

[StevieHilton]

Quoting from Jim Webster

but then in the very next paragraph you then start putting restrictions in

The association could help by providing appropriate equipment for braille players to use

Surely the visually impaired are only a section of the disabled and in many cases braille sets would be of no benefit whatsoever.

There may well be an argument for the association to consider an appeal for disability assistance, but each case in it's own merits. I don't think I could personally support such a specialized provision as braille sets only.

All disabilities should be considered and treated equally.

Perhaps there is a case for Chess Scotland to hold, disability friendly, chess sets that could be used at congresses - on an "as required" basis. That would however have to go to council or AGM for discussion.[/quote]

Jim,
You must surely realize that blind players need specially adapted sets. They also need adapted chess clocks, in order to allow them to compete in tournaments especially those with incremental time controls. Of the 3 disability groups it is only the blind that need adapted equipment, though this equipment can be used by other disabled groups as well. How can you object to that?

I was not advocating the provision of braille sets only, that is your interpretation, it is not mine. There are many things that Chess Scotland can do to help all disabled players. There are guidelines from FIDE regarding play with the disabled which CS must adopt. These cover such things as access to tournament halls, provision of refreshments and assistance before and during games. These are important things. Tournaments have to be open to everyone.