EGCA

Bridgend Chess Club, Hope Baptist Church, Bridgend

Tuesday 17th June 2025 1930 start

In attendance: Anthony Baker, Bill Harle, Phil Jones, Martin Ricketts, Anthony Williams, Mark Chinnick, Robert

Wallace, David Llewelyn, Wayne Holland

Apologies were received from: Roy Thomas, Liam Penny, James Williams

Minutes from AGM 2024 were accepted as true record

No matters arising from AGM 2024 minutes

No correspondence received

No correspondence received in my role as secretary for the EGCA. Nothing really happens for me

outside of these meetings. Thanks to the members' patience in the timings of these meetings, I had a bit

of difficulty getting them dates booked in. I believe some of you may have already been contacted, but I

have been approached by an American Chess player who has a new book and is willing to send any

interested clubs a copy for free, let me know if anyone is interested.

Can all clubs ensure they update me if there is a change of secretary to ensure emails are sent to the

correct person

Accounts have been audited by Dai James from Pontypridd, would like to extend my thanks to Dai for

his service as Auditor, I hope someone steps into the role to avoid the situation we have within the WCU

There has been no Junior Spending this year with a unspent budget of £300

Lloyds have introduced bank charges for community accounts estimated to be around £60 a year.

Thanks for suggestions regarding cheaper alternatives, I will focus on sorting this as soon as possible.

Membership costs are on the upward trend, our clubs are the busiest they have been since pre covid

with members

A good season with less issues reported than in previous years. However, these issues are all covered

in the proposals to update the Playing Rules. Membership has climbed to over 270 members. Although

there has been growth over the past 5 years, the number of league teams has not increased

accordingly.

Good to see some new teams winning trophies –

Division 1 winners Cardiff Pawns (their first ever trophy)

Division 2 winners Pontypridd Barbarians (their first trophy since 2019/20)

Division 3 winners Cardiff Monarchs (a relatively new team winning their first ever trophy)

Division 4 winners Bridgend C (their first trophy since 1973/74).

There were only 8 boards defaulted and 9 postponements. Some matches were played on different

days of the week or were brought forward. If you check the WCU fixtures or holiday commitments etc

it should really be an opportunity to check the fixtures and make amendments prior to the start of the

season. This would reduce the workload once the season has started.

The issues I became aware of were related to the 5 minute rule (3 issues noted on matchcards) and 1

of an inappropriate team selection. There may be more instances of these types that were not reported

but that is what the comments section of the matchcard should be used for.

(d) Report from the Ratings Officer - No report Submitted

It has been decided to set up a sub committee of 5 specific committee members to authorise any

payments over £250. As our funds are running low we need to keep an eye on all requests for funds.

Olympiad Funding

In 24 the Olympiad costs took up 35% of WCU funding. This is unsustainable. Captain’s expenses

were £1000 each. A sub committee may need to look at finances. A player captain is not feasible. We

cannot afford trainers either at the moment. This tournament is the pinnacle of our year and to continue

we need to raise more funds. Fundraising to be considered by Lynda Smith. We may consider not

offering or reducing prize money in tournaments including the Welsh Championships unless we can

earn sponsorship.

Membership data needs to be reviewed. Names should be the same as FIDE. We need to consider

using FIDE Ids where possible plus WCU ids for non FiDe registered members.

At their AGM the Constitution was changed so that all members must pay their WCU fees via a member

club. This takes away the choice of direct membership and the membership Director is unhappy with

this decision and feels that it is unconstitutional to affect another organisation's (WCU) constitution.

Marketing of events needs to be improved to include regular updates on facebook to include reports

post events, winners, prizes etc asap.

It was agreed that we need a more up to date website allowing administrators. The current

administrator feels he does not have the knowledge to revamp the website and we don’t have the funds

to pay someone to do it. Lynda Smith, who lives in England, agreed to contact the ECF to see if we can

piggyback onto their management system website as they have already completed this.

In 2022 the WCU lent £1000 to this event. This money has now been repaid. In 2023 there was a loss

of £500. In 2024 the event broke even after receiving £400 in early entry fees for the 2025 tournament.

Our accounts have been audited up to 2022. The auditor, Paul Scott has now retired and is not now

qualified to remain as auditor under our constitution. We either need to update the constitution or

appoint a new auditor. Costs from a firm could be as high as £2K which we can’t afford. We will ask

Malcolm Jones of West Wales and Charles Kett (if he has completed his qualifications) to undertake this

role or ask the clubs/zones if they know of anyone who can do this for us without cost.

The only significant point from this meeting is that we don’t currently have an auditor so we cannot

publicize audited accounts for 2023 and 2024.

Our Finance Director and Membership Secretary tendered his resignation although he will not leave the

WCU in the lurch and will continue in situ until a suitable replacement can be found.

(b) Home Committee - No report Submitted

(c) Development Committee - No report Submitted

(d) Publicity Committee - No report Submitted

(e) International Committee - No report Submitted

(f) Junior Committee - No report Submitted

(g) Ladies’ Committee - No report Submitted

The Treasurer proposed to make no change to the fee structure and to waive the fee for EGCA

Membership for the 2025-26 season.

This proposal was passed with a Majority vote and will apply to the upcoming season.

Division 1 - The Chairman presented the Cardiff Pawn with the Division 1 Trophies

Division 2- The Chairman presented the Pontypridd Barbarians with the Division 2 Trophies

Division 3- The Chairman presented the Cardiff Monarchs with the Division 3 Trophies

Division 4- The Chairman presented Bridgend C with the Division 4 Trophies

QP League - The Quick Play league is still underway

(b) The Alec Wood Trophy was awarded by the Chairman to James Choung from North Cardiff for his

increase in grade (July 2024-June 2025)

(a) Chairman - Anthony Baker was duly re-elected without Opposition

(b) Vice Chairman - Bill Harle was duly re-elected without Opposition

(c) Secretary - Anthony Williams was duly re-elected without Opposition

(d) Treasurer/ Zonal membership Secretary - Martin Ricketts was duly re-elected without Opposition

(e) Executive Director - Phil Jones was duly re-elected without Opposition

(f) Rules Director - Kevin Stevely was duly re-elected without Opposition

(g) Designated Safeguarding Officer - Alan Macdonald was duly re-elected without Opposition

(a) Management Board - Phil Jones was duly re-elected without Opposition

(b) Home Committee - Post left vacant after no election

(c) Development Committee - Post left Vacant after no election

(d) Publicity Committee (this person will be our publicity officer) - Post left Vacant after no election

(e) Junior Committee (this person is our junior organiser) - Alun Smith was duly re-elected without

Opposition

(f) International Committee (this person is automatically the rep. to the Selection Committee) - Tom

Brown was duly re-elected without Opposition

(g) Ladies’ Committee - Post left Vacant after no election

(a) Quickplay League Secretary - Phil Jones was duly re-elected without Opposition

(b) Ratings Officer - David Norris was duly elected without Opposition

(a) Vice President to the WCU -Roy Thomas was duly re-elected without Opposition

(b) Auditor - Post left Vacant after no election .  Subsequently John Smart of Pontypridd has agreed to take on this role.

The current Grant of £300 was approved by a majority vote for the upcoming season.

The current honoraria of £125 for the Executive Director and £50 for the Treasurer was approved by a

majority vote for the upcoming season.

(This proposal did not get supported for submission by the PRE AGM and was proposed by Mark Chinnock.)

The existing rule is “ Positions in the league shall be decided first on game points, then on match points”

Proposed change “Positions in the league shall be decided first on match points, then on game points”

Discussion was had regarding the way other leagues inside and outside of chess run their leagues and no direct

comparison was found with a debate regarding who is right and who is wrong.

The vote failed to pass with a majority and the proposal was defeated

The existing rule is If a player has less than 5 minutes left on their clock then they are not obliged to record further

moves.

Proposed change “ Remove the above”

Discussion was had about how our current increment system allows for continuous notation and that it does feel like

it becomes a more level playing field especially when one player has managed their time better.

This proposal was passed with a Majority vote and will apply to the upcoming season.

That the following be included as Item ii of the Rules of Play for League Matches, with subsequent items renumbered

accordingly:

ii. It is expected that matches are conducted in a competitive spirit, while being equally guided by the principles of fair

play as defined by FIDE. The following was read out as an additional accompaniment.

Although the proposal may speak for itself, we wish to offer a few supplementary comments following

the pre-AGM discussion and observations made at that meeting

To state the obvious, we all share in the principle of Fair Play

FIDE has defined this, and the current East Glam Rules already offer an implicit agreement to this since

“All games shall be played in accordance with the official code of the Laws of Chess as compiled by FIDE”

However, this proposal seeks to reaffirm this standard as an explicit statement within the EG Rules

FIDE Fair Play Rules are extensive, but exceptions can and have been made by East Glam, e.g. mobile

phones

If adopted, this proposal would represent a commitment by us all and set an example to our juniors and

new members by encouraging competitive play, but guided by FIDE Principles

Although members may have observed incidents where Fair Play may have been questioned, our

proposal looks forward, not backwards

It reaffirms our shared values and serves as a guiding light for all players, of a continual commitment to

sportsmanship and rejection of gamesmanship.

Although it was agreed that of course we should be playing under the guide of fair play but there was concern that

how far we should take this compared to the guidance set out by FIDE.

This proposal was passed with a Majority vote and will apply to the upcoming season.

16 AOB

Bill Harle from Cardiff would like to extend an invitation to any member to join their summer programme

every Wednesday at the YMCA in Cardiff. Check their website for details.

The Secretary quiered the desire for a new Quickplay Div 2 trophy with the costs about £90. Other

options of alternate trophies will be looked into before committing to the expense.

The chair called the meeting to a close at 2055