The democratic deficit

[James Toon]

Do people believe that the leadership of a chess club should be accountable to its members? In principle, yes, but in practice it's not so simple.

Take the case of Pimlico Chess Club and its extraordinary constitutional arrangements. The club is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is managed by its trustees. As at June 2022 there were six trustees. The day-to-day running of the club falls to its officers (Chairman, Secretary etc). The officer posts are currently held by six people. You would think that the officers were accountable to the trustees in the performance of their duties. At Pimlico, however, the officers and trustees are exactly the same group of people. In effect they are accountable to themselves only. This is rather like Boris Johnson deciding that he didn't break his own Covid rules in Partygate.

In practice, one suspects that the same six people do all the work because no-one else is prepared to. That's unfortunately common among voluntary organisations. So credit to them for being prepared to put in the time and effort. The downside is that the group can become inward-looking and unwilling to share its authority with anyone else who offers to help.

The club has no constitution, no annual general meeting, no election of officers. In effect it is a job for life. Members are powerless to bring about change. Of course they may not want to. The main purpose of a chess club is to provide playing opportunities for its members. Pimlico certainly does that through fielding teams in the Central London League, the London League, and the London Public Service League, as well as running an informal club championship. Matches mostly take place at a central venue which is easy to find and conducive to playing. So what's not to like? The arrangement is rather like the policy of bread and circuses in the old Roman Empire. As long as the membership has enough competitive, rated chess, who cares how the club is run? This is the kind of autocratic rule that the Republican Party in America can only dream about.

A word on the Central London League. This is run by Pimlico – very much after the fashion of the club itself. It also has no constitution, no annual general meeting, no election of officers. It is what the club says it is. The club can get away with this because the league is deservedly popular and Pimlico provides the venue for most of the matches. Even such matters as the rules of the league competition and the rules of play are hard to find. The club hid these away for a period of time and only agreed to publish them in response to considerable pressure. But again – does it really matter and does anyone care?

[MJMcCready]

Chess clubs across the land differ so greatly, it's hard to answer the question. At my own club no one wants to lift a finger ever, and no one will unless pushed. They will off load things onto you the first chance they get and are quite happy to leave the club in a mess.

[Chris Goodall]

Archaeologists recently uncovered some scrolls documenting the first ever chess club AGM, in 600AD.

Item 1 was the election of the first ever chess club committee.

Item 2 was the consideration of a resolution that the committee had become inward-looking and resistant to change, and should be replaced by a fresh one

[James Toon]

I need to correct or at least update a couple of statements in the original post.

As at June 2022 there were six trustees. The day-to-day running of the club falls to its officers (Chairman, Secretary etc). The officer posts are currently held by six people. You would think that the officers were accountable to the trustees in the performance of their duties. At Pimlico, however, the officers and trustees are exactly the same group of people.

The information on the number of trustees was given to me by one of the current trustees in an email dated 19 June 2022. However, the latest information on the club as published by the Charity Commission states that there are only four trustees (who are named online). Two of the trustees have been removed. They remain among the officers of the club.

The club has no constitution, no annual general meeting, no election of officers.

In fact, as a charitable incorporated organisation, the club is required to have a governing document (which has the nature of a constitution). Guidance on the standard contents of the document are available on the Charity Commission website. These include "How many trustees there are, who can be a trustee, how they are appointed, how long they can hold office and if they can be reappointed." The text of the governing document would clearly be useful to anyone with an interest in how the club is run. However, the full text is not available online. All that is published is a 66-word section which sets out its charitable objects (not all of which are currently being met).