The Irish Chess Union

The Executive Committee met on Thursday 27th August to consider nominations and motions for the forthcoming AGM.

From Michael Bradley – ICU 6756 Cork Chess Club.

Proposal:

For the incoming season 2016-17, the constitution for the election of officers and other matters at the AGM is changed as to have one vote per club as opposed to one vote per member.

1. Each club will have a vote as opposed to the individual member.
2. A club will be defined so as to prevent frustration of the process.
• a) Minimum quantity of players.
• b) Registered team.
• c) Facilities to play team games.
• d) Active for a minimum period of time.
3. Clubs would be registered with ICU to gain any voting rights an subject to basic but fundamental criteria.
4. Club representative for the season would be notified to the ICU secretary ahead of the AGM.
• a)A maximum number of terms would be set for any individual to be the representative to the ICU meetings.
• b)The aim of this is to encourage diversity of participation for club members.
5. For any EGM called during the season, a quorum of elected officers and minimum club representatives would be required to facilitate the EGM.
• a) Suggestion that the minimum number of clubs has to have geographical representation.
• b) Example - a quantity from each province which needs to be agreed / discussed.
6. Election of officers or matters needing debate can be decided by democratic vote by the clubs of Ireland.

• The driver for this change is that it is quite a successful model in other sports.
• It removes the platform of those setting out to frustrate progress in developing chess in Ireland.
• It will encourage broader participation in matters that influence chess in Ireland.
• It will go a long way to remedy the self-serving notions of an organisation and deliver for the players at all levels.



You will note that Michael is suggesting that from the 2016/17 season onwards the constitutional voting provisions for the election of officers and other matters at the AGM should be changed from the current situation whereby each individual member has a vote to each club having one vote instead. As this proposal is far reaching and would fundamentally alter the manner in which the ICU is structured and how it conducts its business, the Executive Committee considered that it should be subject to a wide consultation process to get the views of the membership generally before any proposals are put to either an AGM or an EGM. Accordingly, it is suggested that members, possibly through their club and provincial structures, review Michael's proposal and consider its merits. Members can leave a comment on the website or email any comments they may have to [email protected] . Any material received will be published on the ICU websites to help inform the debate on this issue.

From Ray O'Brien – ICU 1220 Limerick Chess Club.

Proposal:

Add the following to the Constitution as Article 10.8:

The Executive shall operate a fair and consistent Rating System on behalf of the ICU members. The Executive shall not withdraw or withhold rating facilities as part of a dispute with a competition’s organisers.

The Executive considered this motion and can confirm that it already operates a fair and consistent rating system. Members should also note that considerable consultations have taken place with various tournament organisers about the rules for registering events for rating. Proposals for such registration have been developed in response to representations from some tournament organisers (click here for the relevant document). This document was circulated to tournament organisers in recent weeks and a number have already responded to indicate their acceptance of its contents. The ICU Executive can also confirm that once the rules in the attached are complied with, there will be no difficulty with rating events.

Members should also note that there were two events that were not rated during the 2014/15 season, the Galway Rapidplay event and the Irish National Club Cup competition. In both cases, they could not be rated because they did not comply with the relevant FIDE rules.