There having been confusion as to the date of the meeting, minutes for the previous meeting were not available.


Treasurer's report. George reported income of £114 50, outgoings of £212 (mostly on new clocks). This left a healthy balance and meant the state of the finances was sound.


Secretary's report had it that chess-wise we had been very successful, winning two trophies; to have won the Derbyshire League with a team representing half the club was a memorable achievement; the Summer League had also been retained, again by a team for which half the club's strongest could not play.
The concern remained not the strength of the chess, but the numbers playing it...


Sheffield AGM. Dave recounted the various dealings between the YCA and the ECF; compared what we got out of playing in Derbyshire (where we have to be ECF members) with what we get out of playing in Sheffield. The meeting decided, among other things in the interest of those in Sheffield to whom £12 is a significant sum, not to support attempts to make the Sheffield League an ECF members' league.


Club officers: assuming the consent of those not present, and of course we will change tack if they are not prepared to carry on -


Mike Johnson as President; Dave Latham as Secretary; George Peters as Treasurer; Captains in Sheffield - Martin Howard, Brian Crofts, Ian Edmundson; in Derbyshire, Dave Latham and AN Other. Andy Mort has since indiocated his willingness to take on that role.

We will enter two teams in the Sheffield League; two in the Richardson and three in Derbyshire.

Fees and subscriptions: £6 club fee; club championship to be free.

​Present: Mike Johnson (chair), Martin Howard, Mike Smith, Dave Dunnett, Pete Willoughby, Steve Bracey, Brian Crofts, Steve Housley, Ian Edmundson , Dave Latham (minutes). Apologies: Kevin Fairburn, Trevor Webster, Andy Mort, George Peters, Harry Schofield.

Minutes of 2009/10 were agreed as an accurate record; no matters arising.

Treasurer's report: Brian handed out accounts as prepared by George; thanks to George; healthy surplus, equipment looked good buys; no financial problems.
Secretary's report: smooth, success on chess front; no admin problems; flagged up ECF's financial difficulties and likely need for a response to their proposals for solving these.

Captain's reports: Sheffield A a strong second; some very fine individual results; second +11 = 1 -4; would have sneaked the league but for two 3.5-4.5 losses to Worksop, who also foiled us in the Cup. The Summer |League was won! and with it the historic New Woodhouse Cup.
Sheffield B fought the good fight in a "very tight" division; with 3 matches to go promotion or relegation were still possible; neither happened; very competitive, good times. So too in the Summer League, solid performance.

Derbyshire A retained the league title by a wider margin than looked likely after two points from three matches; we then won all the rest. Consistent turnout by our strongest the secret weapon, though vital points were scored by folk who stood in. Cup Final too. Can't be bad.
Derbyshire B were promoted; their second place behind an excellent Long Eaton team was a fine achievement.
Derbyshire C looked like struggling after three matches, but were unbeaten in the rest to win promotion. Superb by Pete and his men; Pete's view that he should resign in the interests of strengthening the side was greeted with the appropriate horror and he'll be staying on.

Competition Secretary. Mike Alcock and Dave Latham will share the Championship. Much appreciation for Pete's successful revival of this tournament. Pete plans a second Swiss, 6 rounds this time. The meeting was keen for him to approach GM Stewart Haslinger to see if he would be interested in a simul / lecture.

Derbyshire AGM: Mon 15th. Steve B and Brian will go and Dave will give them the info needed for our main objective - getting matches swapped from  Monday to Tuesday wherever possible. We have a draft fixture list and, now A & B are in top division, coordinating with Sheffield looks difficult.
Sheffield AGM: was held, minutes coming. Standout items: we'll be in divs 1 + 3 (out of 5). Peter Hulse will be taking on the Sheffield website and is keen for all to get creative, expand it from the blog model. The Sheffield Congress was a big success and should return; why not see now if your family will allow you to help make this our big end of season event, where we show the world what we learned in the year?

Trophies: were shown off, starring a final appearance (for now?) of the Sheffield and Derbyshire League trophies in the same room. Also the Summer League trophy. Our own trophies: the Championship trophy's chez Mike Alcock; possibly the best game trophy too, though Mike Johnson said he might have that. We have the old trophy for the Championship Major, also one captain's prize (the queen). 

Election of Officers: President: Mike Johnson. Secretary: Dave Latham. Treasurer: George Peters. Auditor: Brian Crofts.  Competition Secretary: Pete Willoughby. Sheffield A: Martin Howard. B: Steve Bracey. Derby + District A: Dave Latham. B: George Peters. C: Pete Willoughby. Summer League A: Dave Latham. B: Brian Crofts.

Competitions: Two teams in Sheffield, one in the Richardson, not entering the Plate.
Three in Derbyshire; one in the Cup, one in the Plate based on the C Team.
No ideal solution to the dilemmas of having A + B in the same division. Thanks to all who expressed tolerance of whatever we decide, which is a split of strength, chief ambition both stay up.
Team A: Dave Latham, Mike Johnson, Steve Bracey, Brian Crofts; Steve Housley (board 3 or above) when available.
Team B: Mike Alcock, Andy Mort, Martin Howard, Mike Smith, George Peters; Hubert Mossong (board 1) when available. Martin and Andy, having near identical ECF grades, will share the higher board.
All other club members will be needed, hopefully for board 4 only (unless we get a strong recruit) so as to remain available for the C Team, and will go with whichever team needs them first.

AOB: the ECF's letter was considered; seemed to propose a levy of £13 for people who play in leagues, £19 for those who play in congresses also. Need to consider what we get for this and whether other fees (e.g. D+D, currently £107) will come down if the new scheme gets going. Entirely possible it won't happen and if it does it's not this year. 

​Present: Steve Bracey, Brian Crofts, Andy Mort, George Peters, Mike Johnson, Dave Latham (minutes); Steve Burke was visiting and also sat through it.

Some apologies were received, and thanks for them, but with the AGM being on the bank holiday no apology needed: it was felt unreasonable to expect people to turn out. On the other hand,the AGM had to be early because some decisions had to be taken before the Sheffield and Derbyshire AGMs next week.

Since it may be that someone really wanted to be here and couldn't be, because of the date of the meeting, we agreed to give them time as soon as feasible to discuss any point they would have wished to raise.

Matters arising from previous minutes:
 
A proposal by Andy Mort was unanimously carried that we owe a debt of gratitude to David Bentley for his creation of the website. Andy thanked Dave L too for helping make it "the website of the year", and Dave accepted the plaudit while saying that, in his opinion, on the writing side Nomads still set the standard in this department as in most others. There's a good one by Barnsley too,  and like Nomads they have a games feature, which Dave hopes to emulate with the help, again, of David Bentley. Dave  will give George and Steve the codes so they can add stuff, in the History (GP) and B Team (SB) areas especially.

George put it that the last meeting had been too rushed; Dave had it that we didn't want meetings getting in the way of the chess and discouraging guests and new members. Issue unresolved.

George said that the change of venue had been a success and an escape from potential disaster, thanks for those responsible for trying out the various alternatives. Mike J did the leg work round town, while Steve B and Dave L had had a swift half at the Three Merry Lads, a hard job and a vital contribution to chess.

Treasurer's Report: George listed our assets, which were felt by most present to represent a very sound financial position. Last year we got £100 in, and spent £41 on league fees. A short debate on whether to buy more equipment decided we needn't. George will see if his woodwork skills extend to increasing the size of the box to take all the boards etc easily. If not, the meeting authorised £100 for a bigger box, it being stressed we need something landlords will be prepared to have live at their pubs.

Secretary's report: mostly covered by a read of the website. We won everything going in Derbyshire, and had it tougher in Sheffield. This was probably a fair reflection of our strength: a step behind Nomads and the University when they're on song; generally, punching our weight. Dave said that he had no concerns for the quality of chess we play, more about the numbers playing it. Let's think about encouraging more new members and getting publicity. To this end, he asked people to think about the old May Day tournaments at The Winding Wheel, can we revive?

Sheffield AGM: we  discussed the proposals and mandated Dave to vote a) in favour of the Junior chess organiser position; b) to keep the Davy at 8 boards. No strong opinion on the others. Andy hopes to make the fixtures meeting.

Derbyshire AGM: we decided we would put a B team in. Dave will attend the Derbyshire AGM/Fixtures meet (in the event, Mike Alcock was able to do this, thanks) and pass on the fixtures for what will probably be heavy horse trading at the Sheffield fixtures.

Trophies: We located most. We will change the Saunderson back to its original role (pointed out by Brian) as the B Team captain's prize. A team prize will be the small queen.
We invite offerings as best games for the last few seasons, to catch up on that trophy, currently in the possession of Mike Alcock.

Club Officers: President, Mike Johnson. Secretary, Dave Latham. Treasurer, George Peters. Auditor, we hope for the thoughts of Terry Hand. For the teams: changes. Sheffield A Team: ANDY MORT.  B Team: STEVE BRACEY. Derbyshire A team: DAVE LATHAM.  B Team: GEORGE PETERS.
Various expressions of thanks and relief were made: not only to those who took on the jobs, but to David Bentley who had offered to step in if we really were desperate, and to Brian Crofts, who said maybe next year once he's seen Steve Bracey in action.

Fees and Subscriptions: George said he'd try to ensure all paid and called on them to do so. We ended the free membership for pensioners as some of them are well off baby boomers; won't push anyone who actually is starving in a garret.

Competitions: same as last year except for the new team in Derbyshire. Internal competition, notably the club championship, hasn't happened much in recent years. This has much to do with the number of league matches. Other ideas were floated as to how to get a name on the championship trophy: award for performance against other clubs? Or to the highest placed Chesterfield player in an open competition, e.g. at The Winding Wheel? Or to the winner of an internal one dayer? Or to the winner of a May-September internal competition to keep things going over Summer? No decision.

Present: George Peters, Mike Alcock, Andy Mort, David Bentley, Mike Johnson, Dave Dunnett, Steve Housley, David Andrews, Trevor Webster, Terry Hand, Steve Bracey, Carlos Ferrinho, Dave Latham (mins).

Minutes of previous meeting (Sept 07) taken as read.

WELCOME BACK:  Mike Alcock, who'd missed last season through illness.

VENUE: Steve B and Dave L described recent events. Dave had been to The Spital on a recent Monday to find the place closed and the landlady locked out. At that stage, she had said that the pub was closing indefinitely, and that there would be a chance to pick up our belongings the next day. Dave and Steve had duly salvaged enough sets, clocks etc to keep us functioning, which were now in our trunk. Our cupboard, containing other things, was still inside The Spital.
It now transpired that The Spital had reopened, at least temporarily, under new management.

Mike Johnson, Steve and Dave had scoured Chesterfield for a new venue and this search had resulted in the offer of a free venue at The Three Merry Lads. Its obvious downside was that it is out of town; plusses, that it's free and in various ways an agreeable place: quiet, easy for parking, good beer, no obvious drug trade. It was agreed, nem con, to give the Three Merry Lads a trial, until May 09 at least.

​It was suggested that as folk wander round Chesterfield they give thought to possible future venues and ask prices, etc; but the experience of finding a free venue suggested that our bargaining position was stronger than we had supposed and, qv Nomads, it seems feasible to expect a free venue if we buy beer, a sacrifice which Steve B indicated he at least was prepared to make.

CLUB OFFICERS: were eventually appointed on the usual principle of selection of those prepared to do it, with anyone who wants to take on these jobs being very welcome. There was a dispute as to how far the captains' discretion should extend in deciding board order. We ended with Dave L taking on A team captain for Sheffield and Derbyshire, his intention being that the higher grading entitles a player to claim the higher board without forcing him/her to take it. Steve B remains B team captain; George treasurer; Dave secretary and Mike J club president.

OFFICERS REPORTS:  Andy described a successful season, especially given that illness and absences had made it no easy matter to get out our strongest sides. We had won the Richardson Cup; put up a strong showing in Sheffield including a close challenge to the immensely strong champions from Nomads. We'd played a valuable part in winning the Woodhouse Cup, and finished a good second to Breadsall in Derbyshire.

Steve B recounted leading the B side to promotion and so laying hands on Sheffield's largest trophy. He regretted we'd probably lost some of the team, but thought we'd do fine in the third division.

George ran through the finances and reported we still have a solid amount in the bank for future emergencies. We then voted to reduce subs to £10/£5 children/ free to pensioners, which the treasurer thought a mistake.

COMPETITIONS: We decided to stick with the same tournaments as last season, to wit, two teams in the Sheffield League; one in the Derby & District; one in the Richardson Cup; one internal competition to be organised by Mike Johnson.

CLUB SEASON: At Steve B's suggestion we decided to close the club for next Summer; recent Summers hadn't been a success, and if prospective members turn up it might be better for them to hear "try September" and find us at our best, than be left with the impression that there's very little going on. We decided to hold a second meeting in May before closing for the Summer.

WEBSITE: Dave L said that he still hoped to start a website, but there had been some technical difficulties. At this, David Bentley said (and later proved) that he'd get one sorted out witin 24 hours; he invited interested parties to contribute to it once it was up and running.