20 June: Pictured from last night, successful Wimborne A captain Ian Clark (right) at the presentation with Secretary Pete Donaldson. One of the decisions reached was to extend Time Increments as the default to B&D 2 next season. Time Increments can be used in B&D 3-5 matches as well, but only if both captains agree in advance. There are other photos from the presentation at the foot of these notes:

 

 

 

 

Summary of the AGM

• Well attended AGM.
• The curtain raiser 2 Towns match at the start of the season was won by Poole 17-12.
• A minute’s silence was held for David Lockwood who passed away in November 2018. He had been a loyal and supportive member of Poole Chess Club for over 25 years and had previously played for Merck Chess Club.
• A healthy set of accounts was reported by the League Treasurer.
• Junior chess initiatives continue to generate good interest and Eric Sachs was congratulated for this but the League President, Chairman & Secretary separately reported that concerns had been raised by members around its management. As a result of these concerns the actions taken by the committee were explained and fully endorsed by the meeting.
• It was reported that all divisions were very competitive but that Division 3 was especially exciting as 5 of the 6 teams were in contention for winning it with 2 matches to play.
• The League Controller reported that the newly introduced time increments seem to have worked well in B&D 1, without problem and we should consider extended use.
• League winners were Division 1 – Wimborne A, Division 2 – Ringwood A, Division 3 – Southbourne C, Division 4 – New Milton B, Division 5 – Southbourne E
• Individual winners for best performance in each division were David Fuller (Poole) Urry Cup (Division 1), Niall Woodger (Ringwood) Boardman Shield Division Two, Adam Jaggard (Poole) Boardman Shield Division Three, Paul Sandy (Southbourne) Boardman Shield Division 4 and Chris Ambrose (Poole) Boardman Shield Division 5.
• The League Controller reported that the Bacchus East League more than met its objective in providing players new to league chess, including juniors, an opportunity to play competitive games.
• The League Controller advised that draft 2019/20 league fixtures will be prepared in the summer and requested all club secretaries to assist with this. The Website Officer advised that the role of the website has now redefined to primarily trying to promote chess in Dorset, reporting events such as Congresses and publishing news reports. Feedback on the website’s role in the future would be much appreciated.
• The Website Officer reported that the ECF’s League Management System (LMS) has operated extremely well, especially as it is user friendly. Also pleasing that the fantastic commentary has brought matches to life and all Team Captains were congratulated.
• 8 teams competed in the Team Handicap Knockout Cup which was won by Highcliffe who beat Purbeck 4-2 in an exciting “Friendly Final”. Only Poole and Highcliffe have won this competition in the last 6 years.
• Casual sessions continue to prove a successful means for promoting the game and reaching out to possible new members. There are now 9 informal chess sessions a week across the county, Tuesday to Friday. Details appear on the Southbourne website, with photos and also the Dorset Chess website (“Relaxed Chess”, very top menu bar)
• The ECF will introduce an experimental monthly grading system in 2020 and Phil Wallace explained this and answered questions.
• All existing Officers were elected, except the League Treasurer will now be Richard Ursell. Following the resignation of the B&DCL Junior Chess Officer, Eric Sachs, this role will be managed by a sub-committee on a transitional basis for 2019/20 in order to ensure good governance. David Fuller (Poole) was welcomed as a Committee member replacing Chris Ambrose (Poole). All other existing Committee Members continue to stand.
• Clubs were reminded to enrol new players with the ECF to minimise the cost of game fees
• All 5 Rule Change Proposals were approved including making Time Increments the default option in B&D 2 next season. The new consolidated B&DCL rules will be posted on the website in due course.
• The Two Towns Match is likely to be on Wednesday 11th September (to be confirmed) and the new Poole Captain will be Ciprian Stanciu.
• Both the B&DCL and DCCA’s constitutions will be reviewed in 2019/20 with the purpose of having a stronger single constitution, whilst also slim-lining both organisations’ administration duties and roles. Barry Jolly is leading this project.

20 June ‘19