There was a period of silence for lost colleagues and extra recognition for the special contribution that Phil Wallace had made across several years as the DCCA Grading Officer.

In his President’s opening remarks Ian Clark confirmed that he would carry on for at least one more year with the knowledge that the current year is the Centenary Year. He did ask for new blood to come forward. He also highlighted the superb work in coaching juniors and the excellent progress of many of them.

The Treasurer’s report showed there were extra costs mainly due to 2023 being the Centenary year which has resulted in an overall loss of £329 for the year.  It was agreed to raise league fees to £15 per team. The two high value trophies for the Dorset Individual and Major to be professionally valued for insurance purposes.

Ian, in his capacity as League Controller, reported on 3 very close leagues with Weymouth A winning Division 1, with Bournemouth winning Division 2 and Poole B taking Division 3. Trophies were handed out to Weymouth and Bournemouth but there was no representative from Poole was in attendance.

Nikki Forster gave her report on Junior activity which showed a big involvement in league chess already and many junior events and coaching. Malcolm Steevens also gave a report on growing junior activity in Weymouth.

John Belinger confirmed it was possible for individuals to play 3 games in separate leagues / internal club competitions without the need to join the ECF. However, if they do not join and play 4 games in 2 or more separate leagues / internal club competitions, then there could be more than one £18 charge by the ECF.

Peter Anderson advised that the Dorset Chess website continues to attract plenty of interest, which, in terms of the number of hits, is believed to be better than other similar chess websites. This is helped by being high on Google searches and local tournaments doing particularly well (1,000+ hits). Peter also confirmed he will be stepping down as the Webmaster at the 2024 AGM, therefore a new Webmaster is sought.

Martin Simons reported on the successful Dorset Rapidplay held in March 2023 and, in Steve Peirson’s absence, the equally successful Dorset Blitz tournament held in September 2022.

All the same officers were elected with addition of the new rating officer, John Belinger.

Looking forward to next season, the same rating levels were agreed for Divisions 2 and 3 and a possibility of a Division 4 with average limit of 1400 was discussed if enough teams could enter.

Ian explained he was hoping that a Dorset Closed for the Dorset Championship might be arranged in November and a special Dorset Open celebrating the Centenary year in April 2024 (watch this space)!!

Proposed rule changes were discussed bringing some of the rules up to date. The main rules updated related to:

• Postponement of matches in that was agreed the League Controller must be advised at least 7 days before matches due to be played with agreement of both team captains and then to be rearranged within one month. If advised less than 7 days can only be in exceptional circumstances.
• Penalties for exceeding the maximum divisional rating limits were clarified from defaulting boards to deducting game points.
• Reduction of the time to 30 minutes for the period when a player would forfeit game for not having arrived, and any errors in the 75 point rule cannot be corrected retrospectively once a match has started (similar to the latest B&DCL rules).

There were further rule changes and the full new rules for 2023-24 can be found here.