Well attended B&DCL AGM at Tuckton 19 June ’19 – Meeting outline, including competition winners

Richard Ursell, Highcliffe KO Handicap Cup winners

20 June: Pictured immediately above is successful Wimborne A captain Ian Clark (right) at the presentation with B&DCL Secretary Pete Donaldson. Main picture is Richard Ursell, who led Highcliffe to success in the B&DCL KO Handicap Cup, beating Purbeck in a close match.

The new B&DCL rules, as agreed at the AGM, appear under “B&DCL League” on the main menu bar, then “Bournemouth & District League Rules”. You will see there is a version highlighting the changes agreed at the AGM 19 June ’19, then a pdf version is available without highlighting, and finally the actual text of the amended rules appears.

There are a few other photos from the presentation at the foot of these notes below and also on Facebook “Dorset Chess”

BOURNEMOUTH AND DISTRICT CHESS LEAGUE – AGM SUMMARY

The B&DCL AGM took place at Tuckton Social Club on Wednesday 19th June 2019. It was well attended with 28 members present and all Clubs which have taken part in the League represented.

Members showed their respects with a minute’s silence being observed for David Lockwood who had passed away in November 2018. David had played in the League for over 25 years representing Poole and Merck Chess Clubs.

The curtain raiser 2 Towns match at the start of the season was won by Poole 17-12.

A healthy set of accounts was reported by the League Treasurer and it was agreed that team entry fees to the League would remain at £15 per team next season. Richard Ursell was elected to serve as the new League Treasurer and Club Treasurers / members should now take up any financial matters with him.

Junior chess initiatives continue to generate good interest and Eric Sachs was congratulated for this but, after receiving all Officers’ reports, the League President, Chairman and Secretary separately reported that concerns had been raised by members around the management of Junior Chess in the Bournemouth area. As a result of these concerns, the subsequent actions which have been taken by the Management Committee in 2019, were explained and fully endorsed by the meeting.

Following the resignation of the B&DCL Junior Chess Officer, Eric Sachs, in May 2019, the Chairman is now looking for volunteers to serve on a Junior Chess Sub-committee for 2019/20 to ensure good governance. Anyone interested in serving on this Sub-committee or who wishes to have their ideas / views considered should contact the Chairman, Martin Simons or Secretary, Pete Donaldson.

Clubs were asked to approach players who were not members of the ECF and urge them to join in order to avoid having to pay game fees.

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. He also stated that the newly introduced time increments seem to have worked well in Division 1, without problem and we should consider their extended use.

The Webmaster 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 are to be congratulated. Particularly in light of this, he also advised that the role of the website has now redefined, to primarily try 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.

Mike Jay advised that, although he would continue as League Controller / Webmaster for the forthcoming season, he would be standing down at the next AGM. Anyone interested in taking on these roles and/or shadowing Mike should contact him as these are important roles.

After a very successful and competitive season the following teams were congratulated on winning their respective Divisions:

Wimborne A – Division 1

Ringwood A – Division 2

Southbourne C – Division 3

New Milton B – Division 4

Southbourne E – Division 5.

The winners of the individual trophies for the best performance in each Division were:

David Fuller (Poole) – Urry Cup – Division 1

Niall Woodger (Ringwood) – Boardman Shield – Division 2

Adam Jaggard (Poole) Boardman Shield – Division 3

Paul Sandy (Southbourne) Boardman Shield – Division 4

Chris Ambrose (Poole) Boardman Shield – Division 5

The League Controller advised that the draft 2019/20 B&DCL league fixtures will be prepared over the summer and requested all club secretaries to assist him with this process.

8 clubs took part in the Team Handicap Knockout Cup. Highcliffe was congratulated for winning an exciting ‘Friendly Final’ narrowly beating Purbeck. Only Poole and Highcliffe have won this competition in the last 6 years.

Casual daytime 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 Grading Officer advised that the ECF will be introducing an experimental monthly grading system in 2020 but this should not impact the B&DCL grades used for the 2019/20 season.

There were a number of Constitutional and League Tournament Rule Changes which were all passed and which will be posted on the Dorset Chess website once these have been incorporated into the existing document.

David Fuller was welcomed onto the Committee as a General Member and he replaces Chris Ambrose who has stood down after many years of valuable service to the League.

The 2 Towns Match is likely to be on Wednesday 11^th September at the British Legion Club in North Road (to be confirmed). The Bournemouth captain will be Martin Simons and the new Poole captain will be Ciprian Stanciu.

Both the B&DCL’s and DCCA’s constitutions will be jointly reviewed in 2019/20 to identify possible improvements in governance and also reductions in any duplication of work across both organisations. Barry Jolly, New Milton, is leading this project.

22^nd June 2019

Photos from the Presentation (the speed can be adjusted – “medium” might be best!)

Order of photos: