Queensland: The AGM of the CAQ will be held in Brisbane on 3 December 2011 commencing at 12.30 pm. Watch the CAQ website for more information.

Once again the CAQ Membership has not being informed by the email news letter that any member can be nominated for a place on the CAQ.
Nominations must be in one month before the AGM is held.

The reason for this is because the inner click does not want any one new on the council with new ideas as it will upset the control that Garvin Gray and Gail Young has over the CAQ Council.

I am told that Mark Stokes has nominated for President? If this is correct Garvin Gray’s time may be up at last.

I am unsure why Mark would want to stick his hand in a hornets nest, but its his call. My view is that it will take more than one or two good people on council to change things for the better on the CAQ. So unless Mark is accompanied by others like Kevin Casey and Amir, nothing will really change.

Still, I wish him well in trying, and hope he succeeds.

does the Brisbane Chess Club stoush have any relevance?

The 'age-old issue of lack of volunteers' you mention is indeed a problem, Howard, though this reluctance to be a part of CAQ Council seems (at least to me at least, and I've been on the Queensland chess scene for over a quarter of a century) to have become far more pronounced in recent times (the 'past decade' you refer to). Whether this disinterest/lack of confidence is related to recent Council leadership is for others (existing CAQ members) to decide, and to vote upon. Certainly if you have figures comparing attendance at CAQ tournaments under your (or Garvin's) presidency with, for example, attendances under past presidents such as Bill Powell, I'm sure all Queensland chess players would be happy to see them.

I'm afraid there are a lot of folks in this state who may perhaps have wanted, at some point, to put their hand up for CAQ positions but now see it as rather a futile exercise: maybe they view it as too monumental a task to try to displace the well-entrenched status quo. I think this is sad. My post was not meant to denigrate the Brisbane Chess Club, which is a fine old Brizzy institution (I think I even played a few games there, back in the day), nor was it an expression of personal animus toward any individual members of that club. I have none. Rather, it was an expression of disappointment at the fact that, instead of getting a complete overhaul, CAQ Council remains, in my view, still little more than an extension of the Brisbane Chess Club.

Let's look at facts, Howard, as opposed to, say, the 'hopelessly erroneous'. You may recall back when Bill Powell contested the CAQ Presidency against Garvin Gray, and won it 24 votes to 1. No lack of interest in CAQ AGMs back then, it appears. Not quite the current degree of apathy, I would suggest. Indeed, I remember how vibrant the QLD chess scene was back when the likes of Powell, Stokes and Braybrooke held the reins. Open tournaments were everywhere, membership grew, this state was leading the way in Grand Prix activity, and the state's best players felt the State Championship was worth playing in. By contrast, Garvin Gray limped into the Presidency in 2008 only after the existing president (John Surridge) had to resign for personal reasons. I'm sorry, but Garvin has never had a mandate to lead Queensland chess. And, lest you jump to the conclusion that I'm some sort of member of the Bill Powell fan club, the truth is, I don't really even know the man - I think we may have spoken briefly once or twice in the past two decades. His (Bill Powell's) record of considerable accomplishments does speak for itself, though. I'm not a member of any faction at all (except perhaps the common sense faction). I mention Bill merely as a point of comparison.

I am not at all 'jaded', Howard. Indeed, I can't wait for the CAQ Council to re-establish itself as a force in Australian chess, fully supported by a healthy, growing membership. And, as I've previously stated, I wholeheartedly believe that having Stokesy and John heading things up is a step in a positive direction. And, to repeat myself yet again for you, I wish them very well.

Cheers,
Kevin Casey