President’s Report 2007-2008 - Dave Farley

 

Firstly, an apology regarding the Membership Scheme. There were good reasons why things were delayed - for example Jim Wiseman came under immense pressure through changes at work, Ralph Stuttard suffered a close bereavement and I was unfortunate enough to have two bereavements in quick succession. However, as an organisation we should be able to overcome these things and others should be in a position to step in when key people are indisposed. The time taken in getting everything up and running was therefore unacceptable. We are now, thanks to Jim and to Ralph, close to the position when players who need membership should very soon have it – and following this the administration for next season should be automatically in place – but it has been an unnecessarily prolonged process.

 

If I have the honour of being President for another year then I will make proposals to the Committee to help ensure that such a hiatus does not happen again. However, as these problems occurred “on my watch” then I will understand if someone is given a chance to take the Association forward.

 

On a more cheerful note, I would like to thank and congratulate (I am sure on behalf of us all) Steve Connor for his magnificent work on the MCA website. It is supremely professional and the time involved must be immense – and we are very grateful. If we had a Member of the Year award then it would go to Steve without question. The website can only help maintain interest in our competitions and attract in new players.

 

This year there are two standout events which we are privileged to have in Liverpool. Firstly, the British Championships are here in July / August and they have probably never had such a superb setting as St George’s Hall. There should be a tournament to suit everybody – for example I will be entering the Under-125 competition – so I would urge all who can to support the event. In order to enter you must be members of the ECF so we should have our Membership Scheme sorted by then!

 

Secondly, in September the EU Open will take place in the World Museum. Have a look at Steve’s website to see the array of famous name who have already confirmed and I am sure that some of our stronger players will also be taking part. Even if you are not playing then come and see – it is not often you can watch such a number of grandmasters in action. Also, David Robertson and I may be asking for a few willing volunteers to help with some of the practicalities of actually staging such an event – we will be in touch!

 

The AGM is your chance to have a say in the running of the MCA and to make sure that the officers that you want are appointed to the Committee. Could I just ask that contributions to the discussions are constructive, not personal and, especially, to the point and brief! We want a lively and robust discussion – but in a civilised manner and no speeches! There is a lot of business to get through and we will only manage that in a reasonable timescale if people stick to these criteria – thank you.

 

At this point, we should remember those stalwarts of the Association who have passed away this year – John Bendon, Bill Sancto and Bobby Holmes. We are thankful for the contribution they have each made over the years and will show our respects by a short period of silence before the meeting starts.

 

Finally, as ever, I would like to thank John Davis for his selfless and invaluable support throughout the year despite earlier on not being in the best of health himself.

 

 

NCCU Delegate Report - Dave Farley

 

Jim Moran and I are your delegates for the NCCU – and this year I have been President, it being Merseyside’s turn. Jim can fill any gaps that I may miss but the following summarises the year.

 

It started off peacefully, and we managed to successfully negotiate the NCCU MO Scheme with the ECF. This has been in practice a west of Pennines scheme because Northumberland, Durham and Cleveland wanted to see it up and running before they joined in – and Yorkshire is so big and diverse that different parts do different things. However, we may see these counties joining the wider scheme next year (subject to the item below on the ECF). The money generated from the MO should be used for the benefits of the chess players who contributed towards it and this will be discussed at the NCCU AGM next month – so please let Jim and me know if you have any suggestions. Alternatively, the MCA can just have its share of the proceeds back if we wish it – though in view of our surplus we do not need it!

 

There was an interesting meeting with the Manchester Chess Federation (MCF), who following a lot of unpleasantness in 1974 (including a High Court judgement) joined the Midland Chess Union rather than the NCCU. They want Manchester players to play in northern events and we put forward some proposals for them to do exactly that by being a second Lancashire team. However, we were not in a position to overturn the Court verdict and therefore our offer to the MCF was unfortunately not accepted.

 

The final part of the year has been a bit traumatic. We were all delighted (well I was) when Martin Regan became Chief Executive of the ECF and some of his supporters were also voted onto the Board. I went to the ECF Finance Council last month (representing the NCCU) and the next day Martin and 4 others resigned! This was as a result of frustration (as evidenced by the decisions of the Finance Council) that they were proposing a progressive Business Plan for the ECF but it could not be funded – there are substantial funds in a trust but these are not available to the ECF Board and also the option to go to a nationwide, compulsory membership scheme (as has been successfully run by the NCCU) was not supported by the Council. Game alone cannot generate much more income. Dave Welch is actually our ECF representative but this how I saw it.

 

Following the resignations, and pending elections in October, some of the “old guard” have now stepped into the vacant posts – perhaps of necessity We will now have to see what happens in October to see the direction the ECF is taking.

 

As some of you will have seen, there is now a motion to the NCCU AGM that the NCCU break away from the ECF and terminate the Membership Scheme. Personally, I think this is premature and we have to give time to see the lie of the land. The motion is probably more to raise the profile of the issue and provoke a debate – and there have been some very heated e-mails flying around. On a more practical note, the Membership Scheme cannot be terminated because notice has to be given by 31st May and the AGM is not until 14^th June. Jim and I would welcome your views but I would suggest that it would be unhelpful to try to break from the ECF at this point.

 

I step down as President of the NCCU at the AGM and must admit to not being too sorry!

 

 

Division 2 Controller’s Report - Dave Farley

 

In practice, very little controlling was actually done. So thanks to all the captains and especially, again, to Steve Connor. My indisposition at the start of the season meant that I could not maintain my website but Steve more than made up for it.

 

The story of the season at the top was a relatively simple one in that Widnes 2 stormed to promotion (for a long time having a 100% record), confirmed their championship with some time to go and then were able to coast towards the end of the season. Congratulations to them – and good luck to having 2 teams in Division 1 next season!

 

Atticus 4 and Atticus 3 both had fine seasons and again just demonstrated the strength in depth of their club.

 

Southport and Wallasey B were steady throughout and were never in any serious danger of challenging for the title or flirting with relegation.

 

Waterloo had a consolidation season and although just 2 points ahead of the bottom side were not really candidates for the drop.

 

For a long time Hoylake looked as though they would be falling through the trapdoor but a strong end to the season (2½/3) gave them a fighting chance.

 

Liverpool gave them that chance by a poor finish (0/3) including a whole match default and even playing their last match knowing what they had to do could not muster the necessary win at Southport (who had sportingly agreed to play the match rather than just claim it).

 

There was not an excessive number of individual board defaults but having two teams defaulting was disappointing (and in Liverpool’s case fatal).

 

The Player of the Year was, as ever, a tense affair and it looked as though Tom Dugdale of Widnes 2 would prevail but he lost his last game of the season to allow Dave Tebb of Hoylake to sneak up and share first place with him on 10½ points. Dave must have a fine collection of these trophies by now! Only ½ point behind was Liam Cadigan (Atticus 4) and then a further ½ point away was the triumphant Widnes Captain, Andy Kelly.

 

 

The Knockouts – John Ripley and Knotty Ash - Dave Farley

 

Both these events were well-contested, although there were an unfortunate number of defaulted matches in the early stages.

 

The finals were a rather splendid affair at the Adelphi - the venue and having both on the same night added to the occasion. Something for us to ponder on for the future.

 

Congratulations to Widnes who did the Cup double and commiserations to Atticus (but thank you for the venue). Widnes were particularly strong in the John Ripley with a GM on top Board.

 

Yet again many thanks to Steve Connor for keeping everything up to date on his website.

 

Just a point of interest, the Committee has discussed before whether the 3^rd / 4^th place playoff should take place in the Knotty Ash following a predominance of withdrawals in previous years. This year we decided to ask the teams what they wanted to do – EEC were willing to play the match but Southport 2 did not wish to – so it did not happen.

Division 1 - Dave Whitby

 

Season Report

 

The 2007/2008 season continued the drama of last season. The division rapidly developed into one of two halves; with both Atticus teams, Aigburth, Prescot and Widnes vying for Championship honours; and Formby, Liverpool and Wallasey trying to avoid the relegation slot. For the second year running it was the last two matches that finally determined the outcome of both the top and bottom positions of the table. Even more extraordinarily, it was possible for the results at either end of the table to lead to a dead heat position, leading to captains ringing me up for clarification of the rules in these circumstances.

 

Atticus 1 started the season strongly, with 4 wins and 3 draws, enough to be top of the table by Xmas, but still within striking distance of their immediate challengers. A loss to their club mates Atticus 2 however allowed Aigburth to take the lead only for them to retake it by March with 4 wins. Some rearranged matches at this point made the table slightly unclear, but it was in their hands to retain the lead. In the event it was their final match against Liverpool that would determine the Championship. The dead heat was avoided with a very satisfactory 6 – 2 win. So Atticus 1 have finally become Merseyside Champions, last achieved in 2002.

 

Atticus 2 started respectably with 2 wins and 3 draws, but 2 losses just before Xmas saw their immediate challenge for the lead fade. However a stunning second half performance with 7 wins saw them take the lead with just Atticus 1’s game against Liverpool still to decide the outcome. But it was not to be and they finished very creditable runners up.

 

Aigburth, last year’s Champions, also had a fairly good start with 3 wins and 2 draws which saw them in the leading group of challengers by Xmas. 3 wins in the New Year saw them briefly overtake Atticus 1 in February, and it looked like they were on for retaining the Championship. However at this point 3 losses, including two against the Atticus teams, saw their challenge fade as they drifted back into the middle of the table. A final win against Liverpool was enough for them to take 3rd place.

 

Widnes started the season with 2 wins, and led the table till late October. However despite deploying some heavy guns, they were unable to put on a consistent performance. With a further 5 wins and 6 losses against varied opposition, they ended up in a mid table tussle with Prescot, but managed to just hold 4th place.

 

Prescot started the season well with 3 wins and 2 draws, and were in the leading challenger group. However a dramatic loss of form after Xmas with 6 losses, some against the bottom clubs, saw them drop back into the middle of the table finally finishing in 5th place.

 

The bottom of the table was fought out by Formby, Liverpool and Wallasey. The order changed many times as and when one or other gained a win. It wasn’t till the final rounds that the position resolved itself. Wallasey was the first to gain sufficient points to avoid the final nail biting finish and they finished in 6th place. Formby were looking very vulnerable for most of the season until the junior Haslingers appeared, whereupon it was the final match between Wallasey and Formby that would decide the relegation position. Noteworthy was the fact that a dead heat was possible, for which there is no rule defined that would discriminate the position. On the day Formby lost its final match, thus securing the relegation slot., and enabling Liverpool to escape relegation by the skin of their teeth.

 

The Player of the Year looked like it was going to be a repeat of last year with the two Atticus captains, John Carleton and David James, leading the way at Xmas.  This continued until a couple of draws/losses/no shows allowed first Andreas Vogt of Aigburth and then Richard Noonan of Atticus 2 to temporarily take the lead. However it was Nick Martin of Aigburth who was quietly coming up behind them who, with a 6/7 score in the second half, eventually took the lead and held it to become Merseyside Player of the Year on 10/13. Runners up, on 8½, are John Carleton, David James, David Lawson, Graham Lilley and Richard Noonan. If Andreas Vogt, who was the only listed player to remain unbeaten, had been able to make the final 3 Aigburth matches, the result may well have been different. Top Drawers, with 9 draws, were Graham Lilley (for 2nd year running), Ian Campbell and John Redmond.

 

The number of defaults has been a concern for the last few years. This year there were a total of 12 which compares with 9, 10, 7, 9, 5, 14 & 12 in previous years. What was of some concern (considerable to some judging by the comments on the Atticus forum) was the number of high board defaults including 2, not technically defaults but requiring somewhat idiosyncratic last minute replacements. This number is not particularly large except for the number attributed to one team.

 

This year has not been an entirely trouble free year. A postal strike impacted the reporting of results which continued for much of the year. Further I have been unable this year, to give the time or attention this post demands. However I would like to express my personal thanks to Steve Connor, MCA Webmaster, who managed to plug the display of results in a very timely way which no doubt added to the increasing excitement at the end of the season.

 

May I therefore finally offer congratulations to Atticus 1 for winning the Merseyside Division 1 Championship, and to Nick Martin for taking the Player of the Year award.

 

Dave Whitby  (email dave.whitby@dial.pipex.com)