b. Match Secretary - Chris Carter said this would be his last ever report as he was standing down as Match Secretary. He had not been able to devote as much time as he wished to the job. 494 people had played in the League. Three teams - Cossham C (Div 2), Thornbury C (5), and GE (6) - dropped out at the start of the season. Two more - University C (4) and Grendel G (6) - had gone by Christmas. University B (3) nearly completed the season, but not quite. So the season started with 61 teams and ended with 55. We lost one club, GE, but that was balanced by the entry of UWESU. Chris Carter gave a run-down of results in the league and KO competitions. He mentioned that Keynsham and Grendel are contributing most of the tournament entrants. He hoped a Sunday League would get started next season. He then talked about his long time in the post. He would not be standing for any other posts but he would still be around. He hoped to relax and enjoy his chess.
Michael Brigden then proposed that Chris Carter should be elected a Life Vice President. This was seconded by Michael Wood and passed nem con.
Questions were then taken on Chris's report. Chris Baker asked how often trophies were undecided by the time of the AGM. Chris Carter said that usually at least one division (often the first division, because of adjournments) was still undecided, together with the cups. Ron Gregory asked what would happen to the relegation position in Division 1 if University A reached 45 default penalty points (two match results had not been received). It transpired that they would not reach 45.
c. Treasurer - Martyn Sellars presented a set of accounts. He said there has been a healthy surplus, boosted by the (possibly one-off) sale of books, so there was no need to increase registration fees. Tyson Mordue asked about the absence of trophy costs for last season. Martyn Sellars explained that we had not paid yet - this cost would appear next year. Sebastian Buckley asked how much it would cost for the League to put its tables in the BCF Handbook. Chris Carter said it would cost about an extra £100. Michael Brigden said we had argued this point with the BCF 2 or 3 years ago.
d. Bristol Chess Times Editor - David Collier said he was aiming to produce five issues a year; he had done four and had one planned for June, pending receipt of articles. He was always looking for articles. The sponsorship of the BCT production costs by Sedgwick Noble Lowndes meant that we had been able to eliminate a notional deficit on subscriptions.
e. 4NCL Team Manager - Fred Appleton said the team had done extremely well: lost first five, but won the next seven to come seventh! The champions were Midland Monarchs with 21 points. There were 18 teams in the league this year and two divisions are to be formed next season. The aim is for there to be 12 teams in each. We will be in Division 1! The team showed tremendous resolve with some convincing wins. There has been no news about any possible sponsorship.
f. Grading Officer - Ray Studer said that in 1996, 3753 games were graded. The 1997 exercise is due by mid-July. Chris Carter questioned the competency of BCF in correctly calculating grades. Martyn Sellars said we could make representations through our BCF representative (i.e. the General Secretary). Steve Boniface pointed out that using BCF grading numbers would be less prone to error. Tyson Mordue asked whether space could be created in match score books for BCF numbers. Michael Brigden recommended that any grading issues be referred to our BCF rep for taking up with the BCF.
g. Adjudication Secretary - Gerald Mobbs submitted a written report. He reported the number of adjudications were much the same as last year. He thanked the adjudicators for their efforts - there had been only one appeal. The turnaround had improved from 24.5 days to 21.5 days.
h. Junior Organiser - Jerry Humphreys said that league clubs seem to be more willing to expand their junior activities. However, active support for non-club juniors is lacking; the junior league may not exist next season. But chess is flourishing at primary school level. This was his last year in the post, but he will continue to be involved n the organisation of the junior league. No replacement had been found yet - ideas/nominations were invited.
i. Publicity Officer - Sebastian Buckley said that the Evening Post had published some press releases. He intended to organise a FIDE-rated tournament in the near future.
| Kingston Trophy (Summer Lightning) | Keynsham |
| Division 1 | Keynsham A |
| Division 2 | Grendel B |
| Division 3 | Horfield B |
| Division 5 | Civil Service A |
| Division 6 | Clevedon C |
| Minor KO | either Harambee or Thornbury |
| Team KO | Clifton/Keynsham |
| Division 4 | Yate & Sodbury A/South Bristol A/Hanham B |
| Open | 1 | Chris Baker | £100 |
| 2 | Melanie Buckley | £25 | |
| Challengers | 1 | D Osborne | £100 |
| 2 | P Sartain | £25 | |
| Junior | 1 | David Buckley | £50 |
B Add to 2.6, after "Auditor", "Congress Secretary". (proposed by LMC).
Both motions were carried.
League Management Committee
| President | Jim Boyce |
| Chairman | Mike Brigden |
| General Secretary | John Richards |
| Match Secretary | Jerry Humphreys |
| Treasurer | Martyn Sellars |
| Chess Times' Editor | David Collier |
| Grading Officer | Ray Studer |
| Junior Organiser | vacancy |
| Adjudication Secretary | Gerald Mobbs |
| Recruitment and Publicity | Sebastian Buckley |
| Tournament Organiser | vacancy |
| WECU Council Member | Richard Palmer |
| Team Manager | Fred Appleton |
| Vice-President | Graham Mill-Wilson |
| Auditor | Philip Grant |
| Congress Secretary | Colin Axon |
David Evans suggested an amendment making it apply to Division 1 only as they are the ones most keen on weekend congresses, and hence most inconvenienced by playing league matches on Friday. John Risdon disagreed: he said he attended many weekend congresses and thought that more non-Division 1 players were interested in them. D Evans said he would not press his amendment. The motion was passed with 2 votes against.
D In Rule 7.4, replace "Team Championships." by
"Team Championships, except the adjournment session will be concluded by
a ½ hour quickplay finish after the second time control at move
60."
In Rule 8.4, replace "division 1 of the Team Championships"
by "the Team Knock-Out" (proposed by LMC).
Sebastian Buckley questioned whether this motion would make much difference to the progress of the KO competitions. He thought the first session should be settled by a quickplay finish. Chris Baker believed one of the problems is abuse of the adjournment rules. Sebastian proposed an amendment:
"…except the rate of play will be 35 moves in 1¼ hours followed by the rest of the game in ¼ hour."
The amendment was seconded by Chris Baker and Tyson Mordue. It was passed by 17-15. A vote was then taken on the substantive motion, with 18 in favour and 14 against. Having failed to reach the 2/3 majority required for a rules change, the motion fell.
There was a discussion on adjournments. Chris Baker repeated his view that the rules were being flouted. Chris Carter said this was a constant problem; he would welcome a rules change that would deal with the problem if one could be found.
b. Bristol-Hannover Exchange
Steve Boniface said this was its 50th year. The Germans were coming to Bristol in the first week of October. He was still looking for more people to act as hosts.
c. Hanham Congress
Steve Boniface said that Hanham would be on 31 October to 2 November. They were expecting an increased entry this year as the Torbay Congress has been cancelled.