English Chess Forum

There’s not going to be an end to this is there. In one sense, there is. Increasingly over the last few weeks, I have been contacted by people concerned over the impact of the endless discussions on this forum. Each has advocated that ECF officials should disengage from this informal dialogue. Th...

The Board took its vote on 1 March on the basis that it was a genuine 'proceed/don't proceed' decision. Jack's stated assumption, quoted by Angus, was therefore correct. Had the Board voted not to proceed, in practice what would have happened is that White & Case would have been instructed to withd...

As stated in the Time-line, the Statement of Appeal filed by White & Case on 24 Feb 2011 was forwarded to all Board members on that date. I have already commented on this Forum that Jack Rudd was not present at the Board meeting in London on 26 Feb 2011. The attendees were myself, Gareth Caller, Mik...

(...) The President’s actions were OK because the Board later approved them anyway. Is that really what is being said? (...) But the current Board seems to be saying “Do what you like, when you like, and we will support you regardless”. Whilst not condoning these premature actions, the Board ...

Absolutely! I am so completely incensed by some of the nominations that I have overlooked the excellent ones - sorry :shock: I think these are people who have offered themselves for re-election. Do they actually have to be nominated by anyone at all? Previously the Board would recommend and nominat...

The Director of Marketing role has been amended to Director of Membership & Marketing for the AGM elections. The revised Directors and Officers Responsibilities Regulations on the ECF website include the following role description: Develops the ECF membership scheme to ensure that it maximises the b...

I promised to confirm when payment of the awarded costs under the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) ruling in the ECF's and Georgian Chess Federation's appeal against FIDE's appointment of vice presidents had been made. I have received documentary evidence that White & Case initiated a wire trans...

Geoff Chandler wrote:I like the Plymouth package. I also like Plymouth.
Chess has strong historical links with Plymouth.

I like the Plymouth package too. I hope that it proves possible to go there at some time in the future. But not 2013.

If I'm reading matters correctly a Plymouth representative turned up unannounced and, in the absence of a director to refer him to, Lara had to deal with the situation as best she could. No - only the fact that he came with a proposal for 2013 was a surprise. Lara tells me that she had been in comm...

I hadn't intended to post again on this subject, but the frequent references to the red herring of who was "on site" at the British on Friday have drawn me in. Adam Raoof, who is the director responsible for the British and to whom the Manager reports, was contactable by e-mail and phone. As for me,...

Notwithstanding what it says in the ECF's internal documentation, recent practice has been that the Manager(s) (prior to 2005 Director) does the leg work of sorting out a venue and the financial conditions surrounding it with the Home Director/ CEO/ Board just rubber stamping the result. How many m...

Andrew Farthing recently claimed that finding a venue is the responsibility of the Home Director. I do not believe that I have ever made this claim, although I have been accused of it by Alex before. I have repeatedly stated that the Board decides where the Championships will be held (which is corr...

The ECF will NOT struggle to afford the Riviera Centre. It seems to me, as a management consultant, that having the CEO shout and bully you ( by putting words in capital letters) does not make a statement more true. It does however indicate that the CEO's case is weak. What it indicates is that sta...

Laras statement had nothing to do with any dispute with some ECF board members anybody that even thinks that obv have there own agendas.Lara made the statement because of information she had been given that there could be a problem and she did not want people lossing money. If a potential sponsor h...

Let's suppose the Board were in fact divided, with an argument going on between a Torquay faction and a Plymouth faction. If you are caught in the middle as being responsible for the 2013 event, you need to bring it out into the open to provoke a decision, or just a reiteration that the choice had ...