b. Match Secretary - Fifty-three teams competed in six divisions this season, making a total of 2537 games by 470 players from 19 clubs. There were 52 adjournments, 86 adjudications, and 4 unfinished games. This is the first year that we have any statistics for Quickplay finishes, which were relatively popular in Divisions One and Two, accounting for 31 matches out of 162, but were only used 8 times in total in Divisions Three and below.
Jerry Humphreys went on to say he had introduced a number of changes to the way the League has been run. Firstly, the fixtures this season had been produced by a computer program. This had resulted in some anomalies, for instance, three consecutive teams in a club playing on the same evening, but he would try to improve the algorithm in time for next season and in particular he would try to ensure that where teams from the same club are playing each other the second half match occurs as soon after Christmas as possible. He had also managed to send out League tables every month, together with KO tables where applicable and a set of performances by individual players.
c. Treasurer - Martyn Sellars presented a set of accounts. He was pleased to report a surplus of £363, though the declining number of teams had reduced income. He was not recommending a subscription increase. A thorough review of the trophies has resulted in £309 of expenditure which will need to be absorbed in the coming year.
The BCT sponsorship by Sedgwick Noble Lowndes had enabled the 4NCL team to receive some financial support.
The accounts would be audited during June.
d. Bristol Chess Times Editor - David Collier said he had not done as many issues as he would like because of a shortage of material. He appealed for articles and for more subscribers.
Alex Easton asked about the possibility of a life subscription. David Collier said it was an interesting idea and he supposed a price could be calculated.
e. 4NCL Team Manager - John Richards reported he had taken over running the team after Fred Appleton's death in March. Both teams had played really well in the final weekend: the first team narrowly escaped relegation and the second team escaped re-election in a tense finish.
f. Grading Officer - Ray Studer said he had posted last year's results to the BCF on 27/6/97. The deadline this year was 7/7/98 and results had to be with Ray by 27/6 at the latest. Chris Carter asked whether the new Match Secretary's spreadsheet was helpful. Ray said yes, but he preferred to work from the actual results sheets.
g. Adjudication Secretary - Gerald Mobbs submitted a written report. He reported slightly fewer adjudications than last year; 81 compared to 89. He thanked the adjudicators for their efforts - there had been four appeals. The turnaround had increased slightly from 21.5 days to 21.9 days. Chris Baker asked whether the outstanding Keynsham-Clifton appeal could go to the BCF. Gerald said he had already sent it to them and hoped for a return in about 3 weeks.
| Kingston Trophy (Summer Lightning) | Keynsham |
| Team KO | Horfield |
| Minor KO | Thornbury |
| Division 2 | Clifton B |
| Division 3 | Harambee A |
| Division 4 | Cabot A |
| Division 5 | Downend E |
| Division 6 | Harambee B |
| Lge Congress Open | Chris Baker |
| Lge Congress U-170 | Mark Furnevall |
| Lge Congress U-140 | Richard Allen |
| Lge Congress U-110 | Bob Radford |
| Lge Congress U-80 | Graham Mill-Wilson |
| Lge Rapidplay Open | Chris Baker |
| Lge Rapidplay Major | Paul Spiller |
| Lge Rapidplay Minor | Michael Green / Sam Buckley |
| Bristol Under-18 | Melanie Buckley |
| Division 1 | either Keynsham or Clifton |
| Open | 1 | Chris Baker |
| 2 | David Buckley | |
| Challengers | 1 | James MacArthur |
| 2 | Duncan MacArthur | |
| Junior Open | 1 | Simon Buckley |
| Jun Challengers | 1 | Michael Green |
| Veterans | 1 | Richard Allen |
Passed nem con.
League Management Committee
| President | Graham Mill-Wilson |
| Chairman | Mike Brigden |
| General Secretary | John Paines |
| 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 | Richard Lobb |
| Tournament Organiser | Nick Harrington |
| WECU Council Member | Richard Palmer |
| Team Manager | John Richards |
| Vice-President | Richard Allen |
| Auditor | Philip Grant |
| Congress Secretary | Graham Mill-Wilson |
C. Continuation. Replace 4.3c by:
"c. Players should decide the continuation date on the night of the match. Failing that they must each take steps to arrange a date at the earliest possible opportunity. If a player makes insufficient co-operation in setting a date, the LMC may declare the game a win for his opponent.
d. Any game that is unfinished by the weekend before the AGM shall be declared void, unless there are reasonable grounds for the delay."
Chris Carter proposed an amendment that the LMC may decide the result of the game. This was accepted and the motion was then passed with one vote against.
D. Eligibility of Players. There should be greater flexibility in playing up or down. Replace Rule 6.3 by:
"a. For each team entered in the Team Championships, the Secretary of the Member Club must provide the Match Secretary with a list of at least six bona fide members of the club to be registered for that team, at least two clear days before that club's first match of the season. It must be the intention that these players shall play regularly for the team for which they are registered, and players should be registered in order of strength as far as is practicable.
b. Additional players are automatically registered for the most junior team in a club by the inclusion of their names on any Match Result form.
c. A player may not normally play in the Team Championships for more than one club during a given season. The LMC may allow this under exceptional circumstances.
d. The LMC shall have the power to veto or cancel registration of a player without disclosing their reason for doing so.
e. For each match in the Team Championships, the club must field six players registered for that team or for another team from the same club. A player may be registered for only one team at any time.
f. The Match Secretary shall publish at the start of each season a set of Grading Thresholds for each division.
g. A player may play for a less senior team than the one in which he is registered, if he has a published grade and his grade is below the Grading Threshold for the division in which the less senior team is competing."
The motion was passed by 37 votes to 8.
E. Default of Game. Amend Rule 3.7 to read as follows:
a. During the period of grace defined for each competition, captains may substitute an eligible reserve in place of a player failing to keep their appointment. Any board on which a captain is unable to field an eligible player shall be lost by default.
b. A team shall be fined the sum of £1 for each board it defaults.
c. If an ineligible player is fielded, the LMC may fine the player's club the sum of £2.
In rule 6.6c, delete "and the club shall be fined £1"
The motion received 30 votes for, and 16 against, so failed to make the 2/3 majority required for a rules change.
G. Quickplay Finishes. That in all divisions, the away team captain shall decide whether the match will be played with a quickplay finish or to adjudication.
Insert new clause 6.4d and renumber:
"d. At the request of the away side games shall be played with a quickplay finish in all divisions. The rate of play for such games will be 35 moves in 1¼ hours in Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4, or 30 moves in 1 hour in all other divisions, followed by the rest of the game in ¼ hour."
In the old 6.4d (now 6.4e), delete last paragraph.
Proposed: Sebastian Buckley (Keynsham)
Seconded: Simon Buckley (Keynsham)
The motion was defeated, with a majority voting against.
F. Quickplay Finishes. That in Divisions 2 & below, the home team captain shall decide whether the match will be played with a quickplay finish or to adjudication.
In Rule 6.4c, Before the second sentence, insert:
"In all other divisions the home team captain shall decide whether the match will be played with a quickplay finish or that unfinished games will be adjudicated. If the home team captain chooses quickplay finishes then the rate of play will be 35 moves in 1¼ hours in Divisions 2, 3 and 4, or 30 moves in 1 hour in all other divisions, followed by the rest of the game in ¼ hour. If the home team captain chooses adjudication then "
In Rule 6.4d, replace "divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4, or 30 minutes in 1 hour in all other divisions," by "division 1".
Proposed: Chris Carter (Grendel)
Seconded: Derek Pugh (Grendel)
The motion was defeated. 15 votes for, 23 votes against, 10 abstentions.
Steve Boniface said that the Hanham Congress would probably not be going ahead in November, but they were hoping to re-launch it in the summer of 1999.