The Playing Season
Duncan Roy Follows Up His Original Piece With A Formal Proposal To Amend League Rules
15th January 2010
I would like to make the following propose that the rules of the league
be altered so that they read as follows:
2.1 Season The season will commence with the distribution of
Fixture Lists in accordance with rule 2.5. All matches, other then
additional matches [see rule 12], should be completed by
14th May, unless permission has
been obtained from the League Secretary to play the game at a later
date.
14.1 Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the
League will be held in June
each year. The League Secretary shall circulate the AGM agenda to clubs
at least 14 days before the date of the meeting in order that clubs have
time to consider proposed rule changes. The business of the meeting
shall include reports from league officers, submission of annual
accounts and election of officers for the forthcoming season, and may
include proposals for rule changes and consideration of other matters of
concern to the league.
All I have changed is the dates. The reasoning behind the proposed changes is that it will alleviate the pressure on the league to complete so many games in so little time, so to speak. I propose adding one month to the season, which will inevitably mean that clubs with several teams will have less pressure on their accommodation. Everyone in the league benefits from more teams playing but larger clubs with more teams are inhibited from increasing their entries with the present rule. This is particularly needed in view of the fact that no clubs can host matches on a Thursday - we are effectively playing on a 4 day week!
Duncan Roy
Secretary & Webmaster of Brighton & Hove Chess Club
Should The Playing Season Be Extended?
2nd October 2009
Duncan Roy, Secretary of Brighton & Hove Chess Club, poses the question:
"I wonder if it would be possible to extend the Mid Sussex Chess League season, so that those clubs amongst us with more teams do [not? Ed} face such a tight squeeze on the dates we have to play in? Could you please post this as a message on your forum for general discussion. If there is enough support our club might make a proposal to change the rules for next year."
Ed. The current playing season is quite
clearly defined in the Rules, with matches to start in mid-October and
to be completed, unless specifically agreed otherwise, by 15th April.
I suspect this is something that has been discussed in detail in the
past. With the current number of team entries, it has been
possible to schedule all matches within the specified dates, while still
allowing a generous break for christmas and new year. However, as
Duncan notes, it starts to get a bit tight for clubs with multiple teams
or who are unable to host 2 matches simultaneously. While some
member clubs operate throughout the year, others have little or no
activity over the height of the summer and find it demanding to confirm
entries and provide all the necessary information in time for the season
to get underway promptly. If the season was to be extended
significantly beyond mid-April, it might be possible to delay the start
by a couple of weeks. From a grading perspective, all matches
would have to be completed by the end of May in order to be included in
the following season's grading list. Hence, I would suggest that
if this idea was taken up, then the end of May would need to be set as
an absolute cut-off.