St.

John's Chess Club

Minutes of Annual General Meeting of St. John's Chess Club held at The Coachmakers Arms P.H.,
Norwich on Thursday 18 July 2019 commencing at 8.00 p.m.

1. Members present (18): Ken Ellis, Phil Sneesby, Gerry Clayton, Alan Holmes, Charlie Neil,
Dan Frean, David Elsey, David May, David McLean (Harry), David Payne, Dennis Driscoll,
Ed King, Mark Lim, Nathan Abbott, Oliver Nelson, Richard Downing, Rod Mills and
Sebastian Parker (prospective members Jonathan Wells and Geoffrey Moore were also in
attendance).

2. Prior to the commencement of the business of the meeting a minutes silence was held for
Trevor Nichols who died earlier this year. Ken Ellis then made some opening remarks as
Chairman (see attached).

3. Apologies (4) received from Brian Cunningham, Crumpton Clarke, Javier Vara and Simon
Nichols.

4. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 5 July 2018 were circulated by the
Secretary prior to the Meeting and were accepted as an accurate record.

5. Matters arising from the minutes. Post the Annual General Meeting, the Committee agreed
the following matters: Gerry Clayton was appointed Captain of the Bishops team and a fifth
league team (“Knaves”) was entered and captained by Ken Ellis.

6. Reports of Club Officers

a) Crusaders Team Captain and Cups Team Captain: report by David Payne attached.

b) Templars Team Captain: report by Crumpton Clarke attached (delivered by Phil

Sneesby).

c) Bishops Team Captain: report by Gerry Clayton attached.

d) Knights Team Captain: report by Alan Holmes attached.

e) Knaves Team Captain: report by Ken Ellis attached.

f) Internal Club Competitions Organiser: report by Brian Cunningham attached (delivered

by Phil Sneesby).

g) Website Manager: Richard Downing reported that the website had been thoroughly
updated and enhanced by Harry and now was the time to formally hand over the
responsibility to him.

7. Treasurer's Report: see attached.

a) Club Subscription for 2019/20: agreed to be maintained at £20.

Page 1 of 3
 b) ECF Membership: all members who wish to play in the Norfolk League and/or Cup
Competitions and/or in the Graded Club Competitions must be at least Bronze ECF
members and should make individual membership payments to the ECF.

8. Team Entries for 2019/20

a) League Teams: prior to the Annual General Meeting, members of the Committee met to
discuss various matters relating to our possible entries. The Club had 29 members, but it
was expected that only 23 would renew for 2019/20. It was thought that is was possible
to support five teams again, with one team in Division 1, two teams in Division 2 and
two teams in Division 3 being ideal. It was intended to keep Thursday as the main
evening for club fixtures and internal competitions, but that league matches between St.
John's teams and cup matches to be rearranged for another evening. It was important
that each team had two drivers within their nominations. The proposal of five team
entries was put to the Annual General Meeting and this was accepted.

b) Other Competitions: it was agreed to enter one team in the NCCA Williamson Cup,
Rapidplay Cup, Norfolk and Suffolk Cup (new for 2019/20) and to the EACU Team
Competition.

9. Election of Officers for 2019/20: the following members were elected or re-elected:

a) Chairman: Ken Ellis

b) Secretary: Phil Sneesby

c) Treasurer: Gerry Clayton

d) Team Captains

i. Crusaders: David Payne (also cup captain)

ii. Templars: Crumpton Clarke

iii. Bishops: to be determined

iv. Knights and Knaves: Alan Holmes

e) Website Manager: David McLean

f) Internal Club Competition Organiser: Richard Downing and David May

g) Membership Secretary: Brian Cunningham

The above members comprise the Committee of the Club.

10. The standard of lighting in the playing room was mentioned (it is too dark in certain areas).
The Club Committee should review the provision of lighting and purchase extra free-
standing lights as necessary. Mention was also made of the new time limits (Fischer
increments) to be introduced to the league next season. Our new digital clocks will need to

Page 2 of 3
 be programmed with the new limits as presets and these should be used in our internal
competitions where appropriate. Members were also reminded that they should pack any
remaining equipment away and vacate the venue promptly (it officially closes at 11 p.m.).
Other ideas were mentioned, such as some formal coaching sessions or more social events.

11. Presentation of Trophies: the following trophies were presented;

a) Club Champion (Ritchie Downie Clock) – Mark Lim

b) Club Rapidplay (Wooden Queen) – Dan Frean and Sebastian Parker (shared)
c) Player of the Year – Dennis Driscoll
d) Rabbit of the Year (with special thanks to Rod Mills for the donation of the trophy) –
David May

(The above trophies are retained by the winner(s) for one year and should be returned to the
Committee prior to the next Annual General Meeting).

12. There being no further business, the meeting closed at approximately 9.45 p.m.

Page 3 of 3