AGM

By all accounts the AGM held on the 21st June was a fairly tumultuous affair. However, by the time the dust had settled only one major change to the rules had been introduced although a number of issues were thrown into the hands of the Executive committee. The major change concerned a change in the time control with the existing control replaced by all moves in 90 minutes.

However, the Executive were left with the problem of filling a couple of vacant offices (Secretary and Officer for Junior Chess) and deciding whether the University teams be allowed to play their away matches at the University.

Committee Meeting

At the follow up meeting of the Executive held on the 25th June they decided to co-opt Sam Pritchard into the post of Secretary while Eleanor Collins was co-opted as Officer for Junior Chess. Both Sam and Eleanor are members of the Morriston Club as are the new grading officer and yearbook editor, Sean Denton and Steve Lockely respectively.

The question of whether the University be allowed to play away matches at home is a highly contentious issue that has threatened to fracture the League. The depth of feeling among some clubs, especially those with the longer travelling distances to the University, meant that the Executive did not believe that the concession could be continued. Next season the University teams will now be required to travel to away venues unless the opposing team agrees otherwise.

The other major change that affects all clubs is that the League structure has been changed yet again. With some clubs having an overwhelming presence in each of the divisions a change in the number of teams in each was decided upon. Next season the teams in each Division will be as follows:

Division 1 (9 teams) Briton Ferry All Blacks Briton Ferry Nidum Castell-Nedd Emperors Morriston A Morriston B University A White Knights A White Knights B White Knights C

Division 2 (8 teams) Briton Ferry Brunel Briton Ferry Giants De la Beche A Morriston C Morriston B University B Upper Killay Merlins White Knights D

Division 3 (8 teams) Castell-Nedd Tribunes De la Beche B De la Beche C Morriston E Morriston F Morriston G St Michael’s School Upper Killay Harriers

Each team would play the others twice only, once at home and once away. This will result in 16 matches for teams in Division 1 and 14 matches in the other two divisions. The season will start with the traditional Lightning Tournament to be held on the 3rd September 2018 at the Morriston Chess Club. The Closed Championship as in previous years will be run as a travelling Swiss Tournament on dates yet to be decided. The opening matches for the KO Cup competitions will take place week beginning 28th January 2019 while the Rapidplay Championship has been scheduled for Saturday 9th March 2019.

27/06/2018