In an ideal world people would become voting members and volunteer for assignments and lead projects which help the CFC fulfill its mandate. They will be known by their results and demonstrated competence and rise through the ranks and be seen as leaders who can then challenge for higher levels of responsibility based on the positive results and outcomes that they have clearly shown. We don’t live in that world. Our world is a fast food paradise where everyone is in a hurry, everyone wants a participation award and everyone wants to start at the top and become CEO without having to put in their dues. It is not clear what he would do differently than what we are already doing.


I am not going to say anything bad about Mahmud. I have met him a few times over the years and my impression has always been positive. He’s a nice guy but that doesn’t mean that he is the right guy to lead the CFC.


The candidate and his team have stated that I have been a good president but that it is now time for a change of direction. I disagree with the two aspects of this statement. I am a good president right now, present tense, today with seven years of experience as president over the course of which we have totally reversed the negative momentum that had been a feature of the CFC. I am a good president with the experience to deal with the considerable challenges that we are facing today. I have the connections and the skills which are needed to help chess get over the hurdles that have been placed in front of us through nobody’s fault. The direction that we were going was up, up, up.

We already got a taste of a change of direction with the Covid pandemic which has hit us like a train hitting a car at an unmarked railway crossing. If I am re-elected I expect that with the help of the volunteers, officers and executive to reassemble the vehicle that was the CFC and head forward in the same direction we were going previously which was up, up, up. The CFC does not need a change of direction nor does it need a change of leadership.

In any endeavour, there is a learning curve. This is true for the CFC presidency as with anything else. Mistakes will be made. The key is to make lots of them and correct course when results are disappointing. If you do make mistakes, make sure they are not catastrophic ones.