Regarding the timing of the AGM not being in October or November, it was simply a matter of not finding a suitable date. The preference would be to hold the event in mid-late November, but those Sunday dates already had other activities on (Nov 20 is MCC Allegro Champs; Nov 27 is final round of Teams event), so to avoid a clash (and potentially the absence of a number of clubs/delegates) it was decided to go with the early December date as a compromise, even if it is not strictly within the guidelines set out in the Constitution.

Greetings,

I think this Victorian AGM could be quite explosive and almost a must viewing for interested spectators. This year it is hosted at MCC. Rumors are that they are not happy at all about the Victorian Open bid being rejected. There are conflicting reports about the nature of Box Hill CCs bid. I am getting the feeling that their is growing undercurrent of frustration and animosity towards Chess Victoria. I have to admit I don't quite get half of the angst from opposing camps. But I do believe that it would be in the best interest for all concerned to find some mutual ground and deliver some inspired leadership.

I will be there playing blitz, and watching the entertainment!

Chess Victoria

Treasurer’s comments to the 2011 accounts

1. The accounting year is 1/10/10 to 30/9/11.

2. The statements are audited, by Olgerts Bergmanis.

3. The bottom line of the P&L statement shows a cash-surplus of $10,630 rounded, representing a healthy addition to the Chess Victoria reserves and working capital. The main income for Chess Victoria is now coming from schools activities and this peaks around the closing dates for accounts; this means the P&L surplus is very sensitive to arrival of ‘schools money’ before or after the 30th of September. Clearly there is a significant element of the 2010 schools programme appearing in the 2011 accounts due to late collections of 2010 monies.

4. Cash reserves are in a high-yielding term deposits with the Westpac Bank; these were set up by the former Treasurer and have been recently rolled over by the current Executive.

5. The growth in strength of affiliated Clubs continues with Melbourne Chess Club introducing new events, with Noble Park, Frankston, Croydon and Ranges developing substantial junior programmes, and with coaching organisations creating opportunities for Clubs to tap into a constant stream of newcomers to chess.

6. Victorian schools have the best options for school competitions of any State in Australia. Many schools participate in both the Chess Finals system that has qualifiers from diverse coaching organisations that are licensed to Chess Victoria, and in the Chess Kids strongly branded high-cost qualifiers/Finals offerings. The result of so many opportunities to play school chess has helped Victoria to have an extremely strong showing in the Australian Schools Team Championship for many recent years.

7. The licensing of coaching organisations, to participate in the Chess Victoria qualifying requires: Working with Children Certificates, Public Liability Insurance cover, and payment of a per-qualifier-event licence fee. Coaching organisations are left to their own choices of event structure, time controls, field sizes, and schools invited. The Chess Victoria Executive has long held the view that this diverse arrangement allows scope for innovation and experimentation in approach, while meeting the basic licence conditions.

8. The traditional senior events (the Victorian Championship, the Victorian Teams event, and the Victorian Masters) continue to be supported by the Executive even though these events are not approaching break-even financially. The Executive has the view that chess needs events at the highest level of competition in order to present to newcomers that there is a ladder to be climbed to reach international competition. There are limited Club opportunities for high level chess (the Ballarat week-ender is pre-eminent, The Melbourne Cup week-ender is strong, and a Croydon week-ender increases in strength), but these opportunities are not as frequent as the week-ender programme offered in New South Wales. The financial surplus (from the schools programme) achieved by Chess Victoria allows some cross-subsidisation of profits from junior activities to traditional senior elite tournaments. There is a contrast in this approach to the structures elsewhere in Australia
i. NSW has a separate Junior Chess League, with separate financial accounts (and as a consequence the most significant cash reserves of any chess organisation in Australia.
ii. The Australian Chess Federation has a formal offshoot called the Australian Junior Chess League which has separate accounts, budgets, and constitution.

9. The Executive continues to offer events to affiliated Clubs to host. The Victorian Open week-ender, and the Victorian Junior Championship received multiple bids for 2012 and the winning bids will be declared by the President before the 2011AGM.

10. Similarly, the Melbourne Chess Club bid (successfully) to the AJCL to host the 2012 Australian Junior Championships; the Ranges Chess Club bid for and ran the 2011 Australian Junior Championships; and the Geelong Chess Club bid (successfully) to the ACF to run the 2011-2012 Australian Championship.

Trevor Stanning for Chess Victoria, 17/11/2011.

Detailed P&L and Balance sheet reports to follow.

The schedule of charges at be approved at the AGM in december

Code:

Chess Victoria		
Schedule of charges 2012		
		
Affiliation	Fixed component*	$50

Does this mean all players will have to pay a 50$ fee next year if it passes?

Paul

9. The Executive continues to offer events to affiliated Clubs to host. The Victorian Open week-ender, and the Victorian Junior Championship received multiple bids for 2012 and the winning bids will be declared by the President before the 2011AGM.

Is problem.