Annual General Meeting on 8th May, 2002

19:30 in the Cairngorm Room at the Pleasance Societies Centre

Present:

Chris McKnight (President), Anna Dowding (Secretary), Simon Taylor (2nd Team Captain), James Clark, James Morrison (Treasurer), Alistair Rivett, Kieron Green, Moritz Reuter (1st Team Captain), Chon Lee, Phil Stanger (web site developer - late)

1. Apologies for absence

James McGregor (ordinary member), Kevin O'Rourke (3rd Team Captain), Ben Schroeder, Richard Miller

2. Minutes of the last AGM

The minutes of the 2001 AGM were approved - proposed by Chris McKnight, seconded by Simon Taylor.

3. Committee Members' Reports

• President's Report

  Overall it has been a reasonably successful year. Despite the lower membership than last year (41 joined) there were around 10-15 people who showed an interest in the Club towards the end of the year. This is promising for next year. The tournaments were successful. We joined Chess Scotland this year so the matches we played in the Club Championship counted for grading eligibility. The Club Championship in the first two terms was more successful than the Club ladder of previous years, and those results were put forward. The final was not resolved due to work and time commitments, and so the joint champions are Chon and Ben. The Allegro was run well by Anna, and the winners were Chon and Moritz. Ben won the Blitz.

  We sent a team to the Inter-University competition in Warwick in term 2. There were 5 players, captained by Moritz. We did really well, and came 5th out of 12. In fact, we were unlucky not to win in the end because if we had won the last game we would have been the overall victors.

  The downside to the year was the struggle of the 1st Team and its eventual dissolution. This was due not to a lack of good players joining the University, but rather to their playing for other clubs rather than for the university. This is a shame, and there have been attempts to attract new 1st Team members. The 1st Team will start next season in the First Division rather than in the Premier League.

  Moritz Reuter asked what steps have been taken to attract new people.

  Chris replied that he's been looking out for people and sending out emails and looking on bulletin boards.

  Chris concluded his report by saying that we will probably have some new players next year, so we will be able to field a reasonable 1st Team. The future looks bright.

• Secretary's Report
  

  The social side of the Club has been good. In Fresher's Week the profile of the Club was raised by a number of events such as lunch-time chess under the Potterrow Dome. We wore the new Chess Club t-shirts at these events and on the stall, which helped people to recognise us. Overall we got 41 members as Chris said, and some of these were new people who continued to get involved. As many people graduate and leave each year, these new people have to be targeted and recognised as forming the lifeblood of the future of the Club. Throughout the year there was a pub crawl and a meal out each term, which were fairly well attended, and mostly ended drunkenly at one of Chris' many parties. Finally, Chris and Anna attended the Proctor and Gamble afternoon, where they failed to sell themselves to the corporate world (and therefore failed to win the £500 to buy the proposed giant chess set - sorry guys!).

• Treasurer's Report

  Because of the drop in membership we only made £175 from these fees. The sponsorship from the Holyrood Tavern was up though to £90, which is good. After some wrangling we will get a pay-out from the EUSA Disbursement Committee toward the Club's costs, especially that of sending the team to Warwick. Initially we were refused this money, but we then sent a letter explaining the situation more clearly and were given it. This helps quite a lot as we might have had a problem paying league fees next year.

  The expenses went up this year because of the (presumably one-off) purchase of Club t-shirts and the tournament in Warwick. We did, however, get roughly half of this back from EUSA. The balance carried forward is therefore in the high £300s. Overall, James is happy to leave the job!

  The accounts were approved.

• 1st Team Captain's Report

  Not really much of a 1st Team this year. Two players from last year's team left, and there was no-one new. But the Inter-University Championship went well and Moritz thanks those who took part and wishes them luck for next year.

• 2nd Team Captain's Report

  The team finished fourth in the league, with five wins, one draw and three losses. This is much better than last year, with a squad of similar strength. James and Craig did particularly well, with five out of six each, and Alistair was also good.

• 3rd Team Captain's Report - given by the president in Kevin's absence

  The 3rd Team did very well, but came second in Division 3. We think they were undefeated, but had some draws. The question of promotion comes up in the Set Motion.

4. Set Motion - The Third Team will not be promoted.

Chris said this seems a little spiteful, but he thinks the 3rd Team should be kept as a basement team for new players entering the Club. This year's stars of the 3rd Team can go up to the 2nd Team if they're good enough to play in Division 2. We don't want the new people to be beaten lots and become disheartened.
James Morrison asked whether there are any regulations governing the strength of a squad in the 2nd Division.
Chris said he doesn't think so. This is not an issue as we can always put a 3rd Team out.
James pointed out that it would help the 2nd Team if the 3rd Team was in the same division as them, as they would be sure to win at least that match (joke!).
Chris replied that there was no urgency for that.
Even though, as James reminded us, it was close this year.
The motion was carried, with 6 in favour, 2 against, and 2 abstentions.

5. Election of Office Bearers

Chris Pointed out that people are free to nominate themselves or other people.

6. A.O.C.B.

• James asked whether the Club will be attending any Inter-University tournaments next year, as money might be a problem.
  Chris replied that we got some money, and so should do it if we can.
  Kieron asked whether this is paid for under one-off expenses.
  James said that tournaments come under a special category, and that EUSA pay for 60% of the cost.
  Chris (pointedly) said that next year's committee will be better prepared and will know how much to ask for, and so we should definitely do it again.
  James agreed because we were stabbing in the dark this year as the application had to be in before we properly knew the costs.
  Chris said we can be realistic next year.
  
• Simon enquired about the clocks in the repair shop: should we get them back?
  Chris laughed and said that's for next year's committee to look into. It would cost almost as much as to buy new ones. But it would be nice to have more clocks as that would allow us to have two teams with home matches on the same night.
• Anna asked whether we should keep the t-shirts as permanent Club t-shirts.
  Chris says they're an asset and that yes, we should.

There being no other business, Chris closed the AGM and the assembled company was free to go to the pub and play chess...