Welcoming in Spring of 2025, the growth of the league continues with its projects racing ahead. March’s committee meeting discussed all the important issues with a breakdown for you in this article.

A first thank you should go out to Cameron Ferguson, offering to act as an unofficial funding officer, searching for funding and sponsorship. If your club is looking to meet the costs of a project, get the budget and description to us and he’ll see what he can do. I’d mention that funds are more likely received if we can show they help a certain audience, whether it is the elderly, juniors, disabled, low-income etc. Not only will Cameron’s work help the league get funding, but it will hopefully aid our affiliated clubs as well.

We are now looking for volunteers to aid the league in its maintenance and development. There’s a big thank you to all those who help; Bill Hewitt, Moss McCarthy, Adam Musson, Steven Smith, Donovan Sipho – the list goes on! However, there are several roles that need to be filled if the league is to continue. With a few jobs already, I am pulling out as treasurer. This is a key role that, thanks to modern technology, is easy going for most of the season. However, having the three core officer roles in the committee is crucial to an efficient representation of a democratic system. If you take on this role then you can be critical to the league that has run since 1932.

We’re also looking for members to aid with publicity, an important role that will help us draw in sponsorship. Writing the odd article and sharing around on Facebook groups will help us spread the word and get the name of the West Wales Chess League known to everyone, not just to those who wish to take part in league chess. Currently, schools, parents and online players often don’t know about the existence of the WWCL, something we would like to correct.

Finally, our accounts need auditing every year and this can be quite a significant cost - unless there is a volunteer! I shouldn’t imagine it would be too large a job, the accounts aren’t usually brimming, but it is a crucial role to our constitution.

Amongst the juniors the Dragon League has continued with the Barbarians just about leading over Glynneath Library. There have been some slip ups with fixtures, I hold my hands up, but nevertheless there is good interaction with the schools and a form of “competitive” chess that our non-league kids can take part in. Thank you to Clare O’Connor Gunston for running the league and well done to all the juniors participating. Rolling on from funds and volunteering, the committee has discussed how the league intends to interact with the new Thinker’s Journal. The Thinker’s Journal is a magazine that has been developed by our league Secretary, Donovan Sipho, interesting and definitely worth a read. A few clubs have participated in selling and providing their members with copies, and Donovan is always happy to supply more. Bi-monthly, the next copy should be coming out any time soon. In the end, it was agreed that Donovan would run the journal as an external body, accepting articles from WWCL and space for sponsors and advertising. If anyone does have some ideas for articles or would like to contribute, give Donovan a shout.

Another item of discussion has been the end of year tournaments. The AOJ is now set to run on the 29th of June, a buffet being provided by Morriston Rugby Club with the costs met by the entry fees. In the past, Morriston have had issues with food being brought to the AOJ so this should solve the issue and provide more for our members. Bill Hewitt is taking on the organisation of this tournament and he will get the word out when we start taking entries. With Bill also organising the Cup, I would like to give him a big thank you.

Fixtures and venues have been more difficult to fit in this year with an increase in the size of the league. The first round of cup games are organised for the week of the 22nd of April (21st being Easter Monday). This year Castell Nedd and Morriston have offered their clubs as default venues, allowing all matches in the first round to be played on the 22nd if they haven’t got their own that week (U1650 in Castell Nedd and U1900 in Morriston). If the home team would like to rearrange for another day that week, this is acceptable as well. With the quarter final complete on the week of the 21st, the semi-finals and finals can be organised by our controller thereafter. For the Open, there are only three teams taking part, so a round robin and play-off will decide on the title. Good luck to everyone.

Thank you as well to Moss McCarthy who has taken up organising the EJ Clarke again this year. We have begun looking into possible fixtures and will keep everyone informed.

The free from registration first match system has had a few bumps and bruises but seems to be settling in. One heads up is that if you’re bringing in a player (the last date for this is the 31st of March) could you contact the grading officer to organise their grade (and therefore allow effective board order) before the match. Although we’ve allowed leniency, captains have based approximations on online grades, FIDE where they have only played a couple of games, and grades that are extremely old and outdated. The grading officer knows what approximations should be based on as some of these methods can be very ineffective. Speaking of the free from registration match, please do remember that you are also not registered with the Welsh Chess Union as well. Although to be registered with the WWCL you must register with the WCU, these are two separate entities. If you have not paid your WCU then you are not covered by their insurance (your club may have some cover) and the match doesn’t count toward a grade.

We would also like to remind people to keep their phones off during games, as per the yearbook rules. However, teams also often forget that phones in the background can be disturbing, and it is down to the home club to provide an atmosphere suitable for chess. If a ringtone is going off, then, as arbiter, it will be up to the captain to make sure it is switched off.

Moving on, the league is developing a disability policy to help those with conditions and impairments. The ECF certainly provides very efficient documentation, and it is time to make sure we provide for everyone. Many of our clubs provide aid and are thoughtful toward the disabled, but having written policies will allow us to make sure the league provides equal opportunities for all.

Finally, the introduction of digital clocks into the second division has been discussed. Before lockdown, the first division was used as a trial to see how the move to digital would go. The league is now looking to see how we can push toward all our divisions using digital. The suggestion of allowing the away team to bring digital clocks will be put forward at the AGM.

All in all, a very busy start to the year and it will be interesting to see how things continue to progress!

Hywel