Present:
Robin Young Paul Davies Mark Chapman Tom Leonard Mark Chia Zelda Masan Martin Hill Steve O'Sullivan Pablo Sanchez Steve Rix Andrew Davies Sebastian Mhatre Martin Vogt Gavin Anderson Graham Burgess Jonathan Perry Alex Stockert
Apologises were received from Steve Pickles and Andrew Masters
After a brief introduction by Robin Young, the first proposal was made that Club Night should be moved from Monday to Tuesday. Jonathan Perry said Tuesday was better since the Holyrood Tavern appeared emptier on Tuesdays, booking rooms might be easier, the Club wouldn't clash with the Bridge Club, and the Freshers Handbook was already going to say that the Club met on Tuesdays. Paul Davies expressed the opinion that there was not much difference between Mondays and Tuesdays concerning the booking of rooms and how busy the Holyrood Tavern was. A vote was held with overwhelming support for changing Club night to Tuesdays
Robin then proposed that the Club annual fee should be raised from the current 3 Pounds to 5 Pounds. He explained the Club had overspent considerably this year, the main factors being the League fees, the purchase of six new chess sets with clocks and the Club Tournament where the Club made a loss of approximately 30 Pounds. While the Club had applied for a grant from EUSA, they had not heard anything yet. Martin Hill was concerned that raising the fee to 5 pounds might deter new members. He mentioned that some Clubs had one fee for new members, and another, higher one for previous members, though he didn't personally think this was a good idea. It was generally agreed that a raise of one pound would not deter new members and since the purchase of new equipment was a 'one off' a new membership fee of 4 pounds should cover the cost of league fees and other expenses. This was put to a vote with a majority of 9 in favour of raising the fee to 4 pounds, 1 person against.
The Club has been considering joining the Scottish Chess Association. The main benefit being the free grading of games within a Club tournament. However, it was generally expressed that this benefit did not offset the cost of joining. A majority of 10 voted against the Club becoming a member of the SCA.
There then followed a general discussion on what members would like to see from the Club. Martin Vogt was disappointed that the Chess Ladder had not been more successful and wished to see it tried again. Mark Chia suggested that there should be someone appointed to organise Club tournaments. Zelda Mason said that was the responsibility of the President. There was general discussion as to whether the Club should have an on-going tournament throughout the year, or lots of individual tournaments. Graham Burgess suggest a tournament night once per a month. No vote was held, next years programme being left to the new committee.
Election of the new Committee. The following people were appointed unopposed
President: Zelda Mason Secretary: Martin Hill Treasurer: Mark Chia 1st Team Captain: Mark Chia 3rd Team Captain: Graham Burgess Web Page Maintainer: Steve O'Sullivan The following were also co-opted to the committee Jonathan Perry Paul Davies Robin Young Mark Chapman Andrew Davies
Note, no second team captain was appointed at the meeting due to lack of interest. However, since then Anu Chandra has accepted the post.
The meeting was then closed by Robin with general thanks to the outgoing committee for all their hard work.