2. Opening Comments of Chair

[Lyle Craver]

Fellow Assembly Members please welcome our president

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I would like to welcome all the CFC voting members to this fall meeting. The year has been unprecedented in the way it has changed every aspect of life in reaction to a once in a hundred year pandemic, COVID-19. Chess has largely shut down with the exception of online tournaments. We had close to 150 players play in the National Youth Chess Championship put on by Juniors to Masters (Victoria Doknjas and GM Gergely Szabo). This was in part due to the last minute decision to make this tournament a qualifier to the FIDE Online World Cadets & Youth Rapid Chess Championships. The tournament tripled in size when it became the qualifier for that event. I don't want to steal any of our youth coordinator's thunder but it speaks well to the great interest in chess that so many kids wanted to play in this event and become representatives for Canada in the larger event.

Covid has locked everyone down and an unprecedented number of Canadians have taken this as an opportunity to join the world of online chess mostly through chess.com or lichess.org. Most of these players are not CFC members but many are interested in getting better at chess. I have been getting a surprising number of inquiries from adult players interested in improving their game.

A separate but related phenomenon has been the Netflix series, "The Queen's Gambit" which follows the adventures of the fictional female Bobby Fischer with issues of drug and alcohol dependence. I have received many questions from potential students, players, journalists wanting to discuss the series and its depiction of chess. Currently Chess.com has been the main beneficiary of the show with increases in players breaking records. At the point, when we can resume regular tournaments, I suspect that we will experience a bit of a jump in membership as players want to get the real chess tournament experience of over the board, face to face play. I suspect that this show also played at least a bit of a role in the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) contacting us about their anti-doping program. I am not aware of any drug that enhances chess performance but in reviewing the WADA guidelines which FIDE has signed on to, I was somewhat alarmed that insulin and blood pressure medication could result in a failed test which is somewhat ridiculous from the point of view of your average weekend chess player. CCES wants to set up a program of compliance with WADA which will cost us $5000 per year. More ominously they want us to set up a series of yearly renewable contracts with each and every CFC members which acknowledge their authority to conduct random tests. It seems to me that administering and keeping these contracts on file and up to date would constitute a major burden on the CFC and its members. We brought up this topic with FIDE and they are not interested in administering such a series of contracts and no other federation is being asked to do this by their anti-doping commission. We may say more on this later but I don't see how we can take this on at this time. We have informed FIDE of this contact as they did say that FIDE could be fined for WADA violations if any Federation is not compliant with FIDE's rules under WADA. FIDE does not seem worried and no other chess federation is being asked to take similar steps. I will try to talk to my member of parliament who is chess friendly about this situation. We will comply with whatever FIDE requires within reason. It was I who looked up the WADA requirements and noted that marijuana was a banned substance which players, coaches, federation officials, organizers, arbiters and everyone else would be required to refrain from. A positive test would be grounds for disqualification from competition.

We continue to experience issues with allegations of online cheating, real and imagined. I have been involved in discussions with chess.com arising from allegations of cheating levelled against a number of players, mostly but not exclusively juniors. We had one situation where our Executive Director had his account on lichess.org suspended and then reinstated with a somewhat mealy mouthed apology about a mistake by their algorithm. Hopefully Bob can illuminate us with more about this situation but hopefully it will help him gain some empathy for others similarly afflicted by the online platforms. I did sign a non-disclosure agreement with chess.com and sat in on an explanation of their anti-cheating methods which of course I am not at liberty to disclose.

We have been watching the situation with FIDE with great interest and some appreciation of the difficulties facing FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich trying to keep the great ship of FIDE moving forward in this pandemic. Given the circumstances, I would give our FIDE president an A+ for his performance so far. We did discuss the recent FIDE general assembly meeting among the executive. I thought Hal was being a bit hard on the FIDE leadership with respect to certain financial projections and asked him to tone it down a little. In specific, Hal was taking issue with a Greek Federation letter which was going after the Verification commission about certain aspects of budgets and financials presented. Questions of having spouses in different branches of FIDE not in a direct supervisory relationship came up in the Greek letter and frankly I found the position of the Verification Commission to be problematic. I believe we have a good relationship with FIDE and would like to keep it that way and strengthen it, if possible.

The letter of the CFC supporting the English Federation resolution against Iran is a bit problematic. The situation had already been subject to an agreement between the English Federation and FIDE specifically the FIDE president's proposed resolution of the matter which was later ratified by the general assembly. Hal did bring up the idea of supporting England to the executive but it was a last minute discussion where the larger discussion was about the Greek Federation letter castigating the Verification Commission. I was the only one who said anything about the English proposal with some support for possible sanctions for taking liberties with FIDE rules but I was a bit surprised to read the letter to FIDE drafted by Hal. I support Israel's right to participate fully in FIDE play without having to deal with boycotts based on anti-Semitism but I have some reservations about the way this letter was put forward with insufficient thought and discussion among the executive. My fear is that this could have repercussions for our players down the road. I was asked about the legalities and specifics of our resolution and whether there were minutes and details of a vote of the executive supporting the letter sent forward and there were not.

I have at least one success story to relate about getting involved with FIDE. I managed to get a waiver for one of our Manitoba players Gilbert "Bong" Perez to represent our federation and Canada, and transfer from the Philippines national federation without paying a transfer fee and allowing him to play in the online Olympiad for Players with Disabilities. The initial response from Hal was that there was not much we could do for Mr. Perez as the fees were from FIDE and the federation from which he was being transferred. I contacted Vadim Tsypin, CFC voting member from Quebec and Secretary to FIDE president Dvorkovich. With Vadim's help and the help of the delegate from the Philippines, we were able to get a request to the presidential board for a waiver for the fees for Mr. Perez and ask for similar treatment for every disabled player requiring such a transfer. We were successful in our request for Mr. Perez and I think the whole process took only two or three days thanks to Vadim. This is a good example of what is possible when you have a good relationship with FIDE. The rules can be bent and stretched to help deserving individuals.

I would also like to thank Richard Berube, Voting member from Quebec and Bob Gillanders counterpart in the FQE for graciously agreeing to serve as team Captain for our team in this online Olympiad for Disabled players. He was along with Vadim Tsypin instrumental getting the possible team players organized and making it easy for me to register the players with FIDE by compiling all necessary information.

Christina Tao, our masterful youth coordinator, also managed to show that showing appreciation and respect for organizers and officials can yield unexpected dividends as she was offered 19 spots for Canadians to play in the first leg of the FIDE Online Rapid Youth Chess Championships. This did generate some controversy with some who were upset with our allocation of some of these spots to our top rated youth players. Our picks were however largely successful with five out of the six players that qualified for the world championship stage coming from the the nine or ten kids who we seeded by rating. The only other player Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux who managed to qualify was one that we would have invited if he had not already qualified by finishing first in his section at the National event.

[Pierre Dénommée]

A separate but related phenomenon has been the Netflix series, "The Queen's Gambit" which follows the adventures of the fictional female Bobby Fischer with issues of drug and alcohol dependence. I have received many questions from potential students, players, journalists wanting to discuss the series and its depiction of chess. Currently Chess.com has been the main beneficiary of the show with increases in players breaking records. At the point, when we can resume regular tournaments, I suspect that we will experience a bit of a jump in membership as players want to get the real chess tournament experience of over the board, face to face play. I suspect that this show also played at least a bit of a role in the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) contacting us about their anti-doping program. I am not aware of any drug that enhances chess performance but in reviewing the WADA guidelines which FIDE has signed on to, I was somewhat alarmed that insulin and blood pressure medication could result in a failed test which is somewhat ridiculous from the point of view of your average weekend chess player. CCES wants to set up a program of compliance with WADA which will cost us $5000 per year. More ominously they want us to set up a series of yearly renewable contracts with each and every CFC members which acknowledge their authority to conduct random tests. It seems to me that administering and keeping these contracts on file and up to date would constitute a major burden on the CFC and its members. We brought up this topic with FIDE and they are not interested in administering such a series of contracts and no other federation is being asked to do this by their anti-doping commission. We may say more on this later but I don't see how we can take this on at this time. We have informed FIDE of this contact as they did say that FIDE could be fined for WADA violations if any Federation is not compliant with FIDE's rules under WADA. FIDE does not seem worried and no other chess federation is being asked to take similar steps. I will try to talk to my member of parliament who is chess friendly about this situation. We will comply with whatever FIDE requires within reason. It was I who looked up the WADA requirements and noted that marijuana was a banned substance which players, coaches, federation officials, organizers, arbiters and everyone else would be required to refrain from. A positive test would be grounds for disqualification from competition.



There is at least one substance known to increase the playing strength of a Chess player: ritalin. It is prescribed to increase the concentration of hyperactive children, but apparently, it can increase the concentration of anybody. There is another substance used to lessen the effect of the jet-lag that is also suspected of improving chess performance.

We should tell the CCES that, contrary to all Federations subject to WADA testing, we do not receive any Federal funding to help cover those costs. We were lucky to have been left untouched by this problem until now, but in the end, we will be compelled to comply. Unfortunately, in Canada, dope testing is considered to be an invasion of privacy to which the athletes must explicitly consent. Other Countries have a Sport Code that makes those tests mandatory, so no consent is required. One of the consent also concerns data protection because the CFC must transfer the personal information of the players. Here is the short story in 85 pages https://cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/pdf/cces-policy-cadp-2015-v2-e.pdf.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

There is at least one substance known to increase the playing strength of a Chess player: ritalin. It is prescribed to increase the concentration of hyperactive children, but apparently, it can increase the concentration of anybody. There is another substance used to lessen the effect of the jet-lag that is also suspected of improving chess performance.

I am told that there is something that they give special forces which allows them to function without sleep for periods of a few days when they are on a mission without the degradation in functioning that normally occurs with lack of sleep. I suspect that would be a performance enhancer but I am unaware of what that substance is. I understand that some people use ritalin to help them study. I understand that it has side effects. I have not heard of any study which looked at ritalin and chess. Are you aware of any such study?

Keeping track of five thousand or more consent forms every year would require adding considerably to the duties of the CFC office. You were present when we discussed this at the FIDE privacy meeting. FIDE wants no part of maintaining records of millions of chess players. The CFC would similarly not be enthused at having to keep track of thousands of contracts which have to be updated every year and once a year. I was told that we could not make it something which was like signing the online agreement to join a website or install a piece of software. FIDE is not concerned with this and no one else has been contacted by their anti-doping agency. There is a threat of sanction against FIDE which FIDE did not seem concerned about.




We should tell the CCES that, contrary to all Federations subject to WADA testing, we do not receive any Federal funding to help cover those costs. We were lucky to have been left untouched by this problem until now, but in the end, we will be compelled to comply. Unfortunately, in Canada, dope testing is considered to be an invasion of privacy to which the athletes must explicitly consent. Other Countries have a Sport Code that makes those tests mandatory, so no consent is required. One of the consent also concerns data protection because the CFC must transfer the personal information of the players. Here is the short story in 85 pages https://cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/pdf/cces-policy-cadp-2015-v2-e.pdf.

I probably need to talk to FIDE before we take any action as the implied threat is to them and not the CFC.

[Pierre Dénommée]

The FIDE Medical Commission has targeted Ritalin and other substances. https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/Chess%20Anti-Doping%20Education.pdf https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/WADA%20Anti%20Doping.pdf.

[Pierre Dénommée]

If we are compelled to assume all the fees related to drug testing, we would get all the disadvantages of being a sport without any of the advantages.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

The FIDE Medical Commission has targeted Ritalin and other substances. https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/Chess%20Anti-Doping%20Education.pdf https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/WADA%20Anti%20Doping.pdf.


The problem is that we don't get to pick and choose what we ban. Insulin and certain commonly used blood pressure medications are subject to restriction with medical exemptions available but we would have to apply to CECC to get those exemptions on an individual basis. You are right in your analysis.

[Pierre Dénommée]

If we are ever compelled to comply, we should make a list of inactive players, so that they are not required to participate and we save the trouble of having them sign a contract.

According to CECC, their primary target are players who represent Canada in international competition and the players in our two Zonals.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

If we are ever compelled to comply, we should make a list of inactive players, so that they are not required to participate and we save the trouble of having them sign a contract.

According to CECC, their primary target are players who represent Canada in international competition and the players in our two Zonals.

So far the FIDE response has been somewhat dismissive. I might start a human rights complaint if they try to ban insulin or a blood pressure medication that I am taking.

[Pierre Dénommée]

So far the FIDE response has been somewhat dismissive. I might start a human rights complaint if they try to ban insulin or a blood pressure medication that I am taking.

They would never do that, they would only ask for a Therapeutic Use Exemption https://www.wada-ama.org/en/questions-answers/therapeutic-use-exemption-tue

[Vladimir Drkulec]

They would never do that, they would only ask for a Therapeutic Use Exemption https://www.wada-ama.org/en/questions-answers/therapeutic-use-exemption-tue

To be clear I would make the complaint against anyone who tried to enforce it in Canada, not FIDE. Marijuana would also be a problem because officials, coaches, instructors, arbiters etc. would be required to inform on others if they had knowledge of use.

I had previously read that nicotine was the only substance that was proven to improve chess play.

Does anyone know how many cups of coffee are safe to consume without worries of exceeding the limits according to WADA?

[Roger Langen]

On the English federation's objection to Iran's boycott of Israel: -- Nigel Short uses the term "racist" occasionally, but generally the sense is clear that the discrimination is political rather than racist. The Iranian boycott is anti-Israel, not "anti-Semitic." This is a critical distinction because conflating the two is dangerous. Our own government is inclined to do so, which then threatens censorship of human rights observation. So I hope the CFC's draft letter of support did not make that mistake.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

On the English federation's objection to Iran's boycott of Israel: -- Nigel Short uses the term "racist" occasionally, but generally the sense is clear that the discrimination is political rather than racist. The Iranian boycott is anti-Israel, not "anti-Semitic." This is a critical distinction because conflating the two is dangerous. Our own government is inclined to do so, which then threatens censorship of human rights observation. So I hope the CFC's draft letter of support did not make that mistake.

The words racist and "anti-Semitic" did not appear in the letter. It was somewhat restrained but did call for suspension of the Iranian Federation on further acts of non-compliance with FIDE rules.

[Roger Langen]

On the English federation's objection to Iran's boycott of Israel: -- Nigel Short uses the term "racist" occasionally, but generally the sense is clear that the discrimination is political rather than racist. The Iranian boycott is anti-Israel, not "anti-Semitic." This is a critical distinction because conflating the two is dangerous. Our own government is inclined to do so, which then threatens censorship of human rights observation. So I hope the CFC's draft letter of support did not make that mistake.

[ian findlay]

So far the FIDE response has been somewhat dismissive. I might start a human rights complaint if they try to ban insulin or a blood pressure medication that I am taking.

Sadly, because of my type 2 diabetes, I am also taking a cocktail of drugs, but I do not think any would be performance enhancing. Not sure where I saw the study, but I believe Ritalin helped performance the most (by about 15%), but caffeine also increased performance by about 10%. I have never tried Ritalin, as it seems like a radical solution, but I understand Ritalin is the drug of choice for university students before exams. I usually try to get a coffee before my games and I do find it does help me think better.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Sadly, because of my type 2 diabetes, I am also taking a cocktail of drugs, but I do not think any would be performance enhancing. Not sure where I saw the study, but I believe Ritalin helped performance the most (by about 15%), but caffeine also increased performance by about 10%. I have never tried Ritalin, as it seems like a radical solution, but I understand Ritalin is the drug of choice for university students before exams. I usually try to get a coffee before my games and I do find it does help me think better.

I remember in the 1990s they made noises about banning coffee as a performance enhancing substance. I can't print the reactions here. It seems that some of these quasi-governmental bodies are solutions in search of problems.

My understanding of WADA rules are concerning especially given the ban on life preserving things like insulin and anti blood pressure drugs (the latter which seems to me to harm performance and not enhance it so much so that when I am playing in a tournament, I do not take it until the evening after all the games are over). I read a provision where officials are required to report instances of drug use (marijuana for example) if they are aware of it. Lots of legal, human rights and moral implications follow.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

There has been so much news in so many areas over the last five months that it is easy to forget some rather significant ones. Specifically the online merger of the CFC chess club on chess.com with the Team Canada club under the auspices of the CFC. The CFC got some 2800 new online members for the combined club and also some online organizers active in organizing matches with other countries. These organizers got additional rights to organize events reserved for national federations. Some CFC members are taking advantage of these friendly matches.

You can join the club here and start playing in the matches almost immediately:

https://www.chess.com/club/chess-federation-of-canada

Our combined clubs had about 2900 players when we first merged in mid to early October and we are already up to 3149.

We need to leverage online resources to get more people interested in chess play.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

In the 2020 AGM election, a couple of issues were thrown out there somewhat unfairly. One was the idea that I had somehow obstructed the idea of an ethics commission. In fact, no one had raised the idea in executive or voting member or even governor meetings in my now close to 10 years of being involved in the CFC. I launched a thread on the CFC forums on this issue and aside from Aris Marghetis, Kevin Pacey, Egidijus Zeromskis and Pierre Dénommée there was not much response. No one who was making hay of this during the election has joined the conversation.

The thread can be found here:

http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/showthread.php?5481-FIDE-Code-of-Ethics

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I did initiate discussions on updating the strategic plan on the CFC discussion board as well in at least a couple of threads.

http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/showthread.php?5489-English-Chess-Federation-Strategy-Statement

http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/showthread.php?5471-The-plan-or-lack-therof

There was little uptake aside from Chris Mallon asking a question which is okay. It is a bit foolish to be making plans while the house is burning down in the COVID crisis. We need to put out the fire and deal with the new realities based on the situation that we are in post pandemic. I think once people start getting vaccinated we are in a position where two years later we will be in a better position than we were just before the pandemic started, which was a pretty good place.

[Aris Marghetis]

In the 2020 AGM election, a couple of issues were thrown out there somewhat unfairly. One was the idea that I had somehow obstructed the idea of an ethics commission. In fact, no one had raised the idea in executive or voting member or even governor meetings in my now close to 10 years of being involved in the CFC. I launched a thread on the CFC forums on this issue and aside from Aris Marghetis, Kevin Pacey, Egidijus Zeromskis and Pierre Dénommée there was not much response. No one who was making hay of this during the election has joined the conversation.

The thread can be found here:

http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/showthread.php?5481-FIDE-Code-of-Ethics

I would think that a CFC Ethics Commission (or Committee or whatever) would be a good thing. I guess the next step is for someone to offer to propose it, etc.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I would think that a CFC Ethics Commission (or Committee or whatever) would be a good thing. I guess the next step is for someone to offer to propose it, etc.

We actually have an ethics committee on the books going back to 2005 or maybe earlier. There just doesn't seem to be much interest in populating it. With all proposals there have to be champions who are willing to serve on it and carry it forward.

There is an interesting idea proposed by Warren Buffett, one of the world's richest men who got there by investing in other companies. His idea applies to individuals, for profit companies and not for profit companies. His idea was that you should write down the top 25 things that you want to accomplish in life. You should rank them in the order of their importance to you or your company. You should draw a line under number 5. You should never again work on number 6 through 20 unless one of them rises up to the level of and displaces one of the first five. Buffet's idea is that no one has the time to pursue 25 goals. You should work on the five most important ones to the exclusion of all the rest and you will be much better off than you would have been if you split your attention 25 different ways. The reason that you even want to make the full list is that whenever you see yourself working on one of the bottom 20, you must immediately stop yourself because you are wasting time and taking that time from one of the five important tasks and issues. In effect, the 20 less important goals are a way to distract from turning your attention to the things which will help you accomplish your most important goals.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I am not sure how much this Buffet idea is derived from the Paretto Principle which states that 80% of the outcomes or outputs are derived from 20% of the actions or inputs. If you can identify the 20% and exclusively concentrate on them your results will be multiplied.

[Lyle Craver]

what do you think the mandate of such a Commission ought to be and if we are talking sanctions due to violations should this be part of the National Appeals Committee or a separate body?

Anybody know how this is handled by bodies for Olympic sports?

[Vladimir Drkulec]

what do you think the mandate of such a Commission ought to be and if we are talking sanctions due to violations should this be part of the National Appeals Committee or a separate body?

Anybody know how this is handled by bodies for Olympic sports?


I think it would be important to look at how this is handled by other chess federations like the USCF, the English Chess Federation and FIDE. We did have a bit of a conversation on our forums but this petered out though there was some concern over some of the FIDE rules in this regard. Anyone who would like to wield it like a cudgel should be careful as any weapon can be turned around and used against the person who forged it. I don't think that this is one of the five top things that we should be doing. Obviously, it was not considered critical because no one followed through with it when the rules were passed almost decades ago.

[Pierre Dénommée]

I think it would be important to look at how this is handled by other chess federations like the USCF, the English Chess Federation and FIDE. We did have a bit of a conversation on our forums but this petered out though there was some concern over some of the FIDE rules in this regard. Anyone who would like to wield it like a cudgel should be careful as any weapon can be turned around and used against the person who forged it. I don't think that this is one of the five top things that we should be doing. Obviously, it was not considered critical because no one followed through with it when the rules were passed almost decades ago.

Decades ago, I have no difficulty beating a computer and computer cheating was not a serious issue.

The USCF Code of Ethic http://www.uschess.org/index.php/Governance/Code-of-Ethics-of-the-US-Chess-Federation-US-Chess.html , the CFC Governors did enact something similar, but no actual follow-up ever happened.

FIDE http://ethics.fide.com/

France : irrelevant because local Laws from the Minister of Sports have a too great influence on the system. Just fill in the blanks (....) on this mandatory form https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000035425233/ to setup the Disciplinary Commission of first instance and of Appeal.

You are right that this is a weapon that could be used against anybody. In former foreign chess elections, frivolous complaints were made against candidate to an Executive position. In the FIDE campaign, complaints were made and withdrawn after the election.

[Aris Marghetis]

I think it would be important to look at how this is handled by other chess federations like the USCF, the English Chess Federation and FIDE. We did have a bit of a conversation on our forums but this petered out though there was some concern over some of the FIDE rules in this regard. Anyone who would like to wield it like a cudgel should be careful as any weapon can be turned around and used against the person who forged it. I don't think that this is one of the five top things that we should be doing. Obviously, it was not considered critical because no one followed through with it when the rules were passed almost decades ago.

I'm not sure about the English Chess Federation, but the USCF has an Ethics Commitee, and FIDE has an Ethics Commission. I would also be horrified if it were to be "wielded", fundamentally because an Ethics function must be, well, the MOST ethical! To Lyle's point, judging from what I have seen/heard via the USCF and FIDE functions, this would be separate from our National Appeals Committee. Our NAC has simply become like the Supreme Court of Canadian Arbiters, where from time to time, a player/parent APPEALS a ruling from a tournament. As current Chair of the NAC, I don't see why we would touch the NAC, it actually works.

Back to a potential CFC Ethics Committee, I would suggest that if someone wants to, they can prepare a proposal in the coming months, and provide it to the CFC Executive. If the idea and the way it is proposed have merit, then the CFC Executive can provide useful feedback, to finalize the proposal for the next CFC meeting after that (a quarterly one like this one, or maybe the AGM is more likely). I think it's much better to have all key parties agreeing before presenting for vote, etc.

Whereas I'm providing my opinion here, I will not be involved with any CFC Ethics proposal. I am fine with the NAC, and hoping to build CFC Arbiter development.

[Pierre Dénommée]

Whereas I'm providing my opinion here, I will not be involved with any CFC Ethics proposal. I am fine with the NAC, and hoping to build CFC Arbiter development.

I agree, the fact that nobody has too many official officess is a sign of an healthy organization. Not so long ago, I was not contemplating getting involved in CFC Arbiters development, that would have left me available as an Ethic Committee member. Even then, I could have been considered to be in conflict of interest because, at least on one occasion, the NAC did recommend a suspension against a player. If there has been en Ethic Commission, I couldn't have voted in favour of a suspension that I have recommended as an NAC member.

FIDE has define the following requirements for EC eligibility.



The Chairman and three members of the Ethics and Disciplinary Commissions
27are elected by the General Assembly among candidates having sufficient practical background and expertise in law and justice(at least 4years of experience as judge,or lawyer,or notary,or scholar or professor on legal subject matters,or similar professional experiences). The other three members are elected by the General Assembly among candidates having sufficient background in the administration of FIDE or of a Member Federation (at least 6years of experience as FIDE or Member Federation office bearer). They may not belong to the same Member Federation and shall not be re-elected for more than two consecutive terms.

We are seeking both legal experts and persons with a suitable experience of the CFC. The members shall not be from the same province. In France, EC members cannot be office bearers of the national Federation and cannot have any relationship with the Federation other then their membership. The EC is at arms length with the Federation which should result in greater independance. There is also a provision the the Executive cannot issue orders to the EC and cannot terminate their mandate.

An EC would be nice to have, but creating it would be tricky. If the Law considers the EC actions to be discipline of the members, then the EC should be elected by the VM.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I agree, the fact that nobody has too many official officess is a sign of an healthy organization. Not so long ago, I was not contemplating getting involved in CFC Arbiters development, that would have left me available as an Ethic Committee member. Even then, I could have been considered to be in conflict of interest because, at least on one occasion, the NAC did recommend a suspension against a player. If there has been en Ethic Commission, I couldn't have voted in favour of a suspension that I have recommended as an NAC member.

FIDE has define the following requirements for EC eligibility.



We are seeking both legal experts and persons with a suitable experience of the CFC. The members shall not be from the same province. In France, EC members cannot be office bearers of the national Federation and cannot have any relationship with the Federation other then their membership. The EC is at arms length with the Federation which should result in greater independance. There is also a provision the the Executive cannot issue orders to the EC and cannot terminate their mandate.

An EC would be nice to have, but creating it would be tricky. If the Law considers the EC actions to be discipline of the members, then the EC should be elected by the VM.

FIDE is under Swiss law. We are under Canadian law and the NFP act. We cannot configure such a committee in the same way as FIDE has done theirs.

[Pierre Dénommée]

FIDE is under Swiss law. We are under Canadian law and the NFP act. We cannot configure such a committee in the same way as FIDE has done theirs.


The NFP Act specifically allows the articles or by-laws of a corporation to give the power to discipline a member or to terminate their membership to the directors, the members, or any committee of directors or members.

The Law gives us ample choices.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

We are not going to change the articles. That requires a two thirds majority and involves additional costs over and above changing bylaws which also require payment unless they have changed the rule.

[Pierre Dénommée]

We are not going to change the articles. That requires a two thirds majority and involves additional costs over and above changing bylaws which also require payment unless they have changed the rule.

Changing bylaws cost nothing. The required majority is what has been decided by the voting members.

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs04956.html

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Changing bylaws cost nothing. The required majority is what has been decided by the voting members.

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs04956.html

Changing bylaws in such a way that the structure of the organization changes requires a 2/3 majority. If we have an ethics committee similar to the one on the books no change is required. If as in the FIDE model you make it a super committee that has power over everyone and everything, that would require a 2/3 affirmative vote of all the voting members.

[Pierre Dénommée]

If as in the FIDE model you make it a super committee that has power over everyone and everything, that would require a 2/3 affirmative vote of all the voting members.

I do not believe that this would be remotely legal even with the unanimity of all members, voting and non-voting. Elsewhere, the power to terminate the mandate of a member of the Executive usually comes from a delegation of Power from the Minister of Sports. In Canada, Chess is not a sport, an even if it was, the Minister would not delegate such Authority to a mere Committee because that would goes against everything that the NFP Act stands for. There is only one way to end the mandate of an elected official: by a 50%+1 vote of the VM. No Committee could ever have such a power and the old EC motion did mention the power to recommend to the VM the termination of an elected person. I sincerely do hope that this provision will never be used but, when drafting the language of an EC motion, one cannot ignore the possibility that computer cheating could have been done by a member of the Executive.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I do not believe that this would be remotely legal even with the unanimity of all members, voting and non-voting. Elsewhere, the power to terminate the mandate of a member of the Executive usually comes from a delegation of Power from the Minister of Sports. In Canada, Chess is not a sport, an even if it was, the Minister would not delegate such Authority to a mere Committee because that would goes against everything that the NFP Act stands for. There is only one way to end the mandate of an elected official: by a 50%+1 vote of the VM. No Committee could ever have such a power and the old EC motion did mention the power to recommend to the VM the termination of an elected person. I sincerely do hope that this provision will never be used but, when drafting the language of an EC motion, one cannot ignore the possibility that computer cheating could have been done by a member of the Executive.

A WADA violation would also be grounds for removal of an executive or even a voting member according to the WADA regulations that CECC is pushing. So if I had to take my insulin and blood pressure medication and someone else on the executive had to do the same and someone else smoked marijuana which is legal in Canada, we could wipe out almost half the executive. I don't think that the voting members would move to remove an executive except for malfeasance or breach of fiduciary duty. There would be a very specific procedure that would need to be followed and it would need the support of at least one member of the executive to put forward the motion considering the requirements for a member motion. You are right that it would only take 50% + 1 to accomplish such a motion. Getting it in front of the voting members would be the hard part. I would have to check the most recent regulations but the notice period is greatly lengthened for such a motion and might only be feasible at an AGM at which point the idea would be moot because there would be an election in any case.

[Pierre Dénommée]

Removal of directors

130 (1) The members of a corporation may by ordinary resolution at a special meeting remove any director or directors from office.

Requisition of meeting

167 (1) The members of a corporation who hold the prescribed percentage of votes that may be cast at a meeting of members sought to be held, or a lower percentage that is set out in the by-laws, may requisition the directors to call the meeting for the purposes stated in the requisition.

Marginal note:Form

(2) The requisition referred to in subsection (1), which may consist of several documents of similar form each signed by one or more members, shall state the business to be transacted at the meeting and shall be sent to each director and to the registered office of the corporation.

Marginal note:Directors calling meeting

(3) On receiving the requisition referred to in subsection (1), the directors shall call a meeting of members to transact the business stated in the requisition, unless

(a) a record date has been fixed under paragraph 161(1)(a);

(b) the directors have called a meeting of members and have given notice of the meeting under section 162; or

(c) the business of the meeting as stated in the requisition includes matters described in paragraphs 163(6)(b) to (f).

Marginal note:Member calling meeting

(4) If the directors do not call a meeting within the prescribed period after receiving the requisition referred to in subsection (1), any member who signed the requisition may call the meeting.

Marginal note:Procedure

(5) A meeting called under this section shall be called as nearly as possible in the manner in which meetings are to be called under the by-laws and this Part.


The required percentage is 5% of the VM, which is very small. https://corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs05006.html

The court can also force a meeting if the directors are dodging destitution. There is no indication of longer notice. And certainly no obligation to wait for an AGM.

The VM can remove a director with or without cause. Directors are not unionized employees.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

The required percentage is 5% of the VM, which is very small. https://corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs05006.html

The court can also force a meeting if the directors are dodging destitution. There is no indication of longer notice. And certainly no obligation to wait for an AGM.

Special rules kick in when an AGM has not taken place for a specific period (18 months) after the anniversary of the last one.

While it is possible that the regulations have changed since I have last familiarized myself with them a quick glance shows me that they have not. Note line 66 which seems to limit member proposals to the AGM and 90 to 150 days notice being required. I would never be a stickler for that but some future president might be. I do not recall ever preventing a member motion from reaching the floor if proper notice of three weeks allowed a member of the executive to introduce it to a meeting. Strictly speaking all non-executive motions would require at least 90 days notice and as much as 150 days notice if opposed by the executive.

If you would like to continue this discussion we could do so in English chat of the CFC forum or in the voting member section of the forum if you want it to be for the voting members only. I will close this and any threads where there is discussion last.

Member Proposals

64 For the purpose of subsection 163(3) of the Act, the prescribed maximum number of words is 500.
65 For the purpose of subsection 163(5) of the Act, the prescribed percentage is five per cent.
66 For the purpose of paragraph 163(6)(a) of the Act, the prescribed period is 90 to 150 days before the anniversary of the previous annual meeting of members.
67 For the purpose of paragraph 163(6)(d) of the Act, the prescribed period is two years.


68 (1) For the purpose of paragraph 163(6)(e) of the Act, the prescribed minimum amount of support is

(a) three per cent of the total number of memberships voted, if the proposal was introduced at one annual meeting of members;
(b) six per cent of the total number of memberships voted at its last submission to members, if the proposal was introduced at two annual meetings of members; and
(c) 10 per cent of the total number of memberships voted at its last submission to members, if the proposal was introduced at three or more annual meetings of members.


(2) For the purpose of paragraph 163(6)(e) of the Act, the prescribed period is five years.

69 For the purpose of subsection 163(8) of the Act, the prescribed period is 21 days.