6. Officer + Committee Reports

[Lyle Craver]

This thread is reserved for reports by CFC non-Executive Officers and Committee reports

[Bob Armstrong]

Public Relations Coordinator Report – Bob Armstrong, CFC Public Relations Coordinator

Bylaw 3 of the CFC Handbook, under Duties of Officers in Section 8C, gives the mandate of the Public Relations Coordinator position ( created at the 2010 AGM ) as:

“ 8C. The Public Relations Coordinator will be responsible for promoting the image of the CFC and for promoting chess generally to the public. As such the Public Relations Coordinator will, among other things:

- deal with mainstream media to promote significant chess news, such as Canadian Chess Champions, a new Canadian GM, major tournaments like the Can. Closed, Canadian Open, Can. Women’s Closed, CYCC, etc., the various benefits accruing from playing chess and other positive aspects of the chess culture. “

Here is the update on activity since the 2012 Winter Meeting ( Jan./12 ):

1. “ News “ items ( on the CFC Website Homepage under “ Latest News “[copies on the CFC " News " Discussion Forum, Facebook, and Twitter ] ) – Posted 43 news items ( to and including April 1 ). In particular, have started a series of posts promoting the new “ quick chess rating system “ to Canadian organizers ( and have posted on numbers of discussion board threads, where appropriate, about the new CFC system, that now parallels the normal “ regular rating” system ).

2. Press releases: issued 1:

Bond - Canadian Deputy Arbiter for 2012 World Chess Championship!

3. Discussion Boards: posted numbers of times on the members’ CFC Chess Chat Forum, and the CMA ChessTalk, answering CFC issues raised.

4. New Media Links: I have been provided by members with media links across the country, and will slowly be integrating them into the CFC Media E-mail Groups as time permits.

5. New CFC Facebook Non-Profit Corporation Page: have continued incremental building from about 100 “ Likes “ in January, up to 121 by April. Adopted early the new FB page format change, and introduced Banner Picture of public playing chess outside with large chess set. The majority of “ likes “ are not CFC tournament players, and many are not CFC members. We are reaching out in the social media to the non-CFC public.

Bob Armstrong, CFC Public Relations Officer

[Michael Barron]

Will we see Olympiad Coordinator Report?

I would think, this Meeting is a good opportunity to inform the Assembly of Governors of the preparation for the next Olympiad, as outlined in the CFC Handbook (http://chess.ca/handbook#section-12):

"1201. Olympiad Coordinator

The CFC Executive shall appoint an Olympiad Coordinator:

(a) The Olympiad Coordinator shall oversee the implementation of the Selection Procedures set out below and shall supervise and facilitate fund raising and the obtaining of sponsorship for the Olympic Teams.

(b) The Olympiad Coordinator shall submit a monthly report to the CFC Executive and Governors on the implementation of the Selection Procedures, fund raising to date, planned fund raising activities and sponsorship for the next Olympiad."

[Kevin Pacey]

Based on the last emails I received from my committee members in March, the CFC Membership Drive Committee has sent emails to a total of at least 1800 ex-CFC members' addresses to date (from a list of 2167 that Executive Director Gerry Litchfield sent to me in October 2011), asking these ex-CFC members to rejoin.

While the rate of emails sent to ex-CFC members by this committee became not quite half of what it was at the end of December (at least 1300 were sent by then), we are still well on track to achieving our committee's goal of finishing sending emails to all the ex-CFC members on our list before 1 July 2012.

Our committee's emails to ex-CFC members asked them to contact Gerry, rather than committee members, if they wished to rejoin the CFC, as I stated in my January report. In handling my own share of emails, I found that, starting in January, some (7) of the ex-CFC members that I had emailed replied to me indicating that they had already rejoined the CFC.

Since ex-CFC members on our list were instructed to contact Gerry if they wished to rejoin, it is somewhat difficult to judge the success of our committee's efforts so far. As of December, six ex-CFC members had elected to at first contact committee members (instead of Gerry) to indicate that they wished to rejoin, as I stated in my January report. This number of six known positive reponses still had not changed by the end of March.

However, a hint of more possible success is provided by looking at recent CFC membership stats. As I mentioned in my January report, the total CFC membership for 1 May 2011 was 1821, and as of 1 January 2012 it was 1852. The total CFC membership for 1 February 2012 was 1873, as is noted in the 2011-12 GL #3, in Appendix 2 there.

This is an encouraging trend for the CFC, regardless, though as I noted in my January report, Gerry has stated that it would be best to compare a given month's total for the current year with the same given month's total of the previous year, to obtain a truer picture of the trend. Hence I look forward to seeing the 1 May 2012 CFC membership stats.


Kevin Pacey
CFC Membership Drive Committee Chairman

[Paul Leblanc]

Based on the most recent quarterly data available (31 Dec 2011), the average rating of players active in the past 12 months was 1194. This continues a slow uptrend that began when the average bottomed out at 1138 in early 2009 after five years of downtrend. This average appears healthy. http://www.victoriachess.com/cfcstat...g_type=regular

Last week the CFC office updated the CFC:FIDE comparisons and the numbers look quite stable http://www.chess.ca/cfc-vs-fide-rating-comparison

Incorrectly submitted junior events continue to cause me much work. Since the CFC office provides minimal quality control, I have to ferret out tournament details from websites and flyers and contact organizers to properly audit events. The most common error continues to be 30 minute events submitted for Regular rating. Despite the fact that the governors re-confirmed the policy on time controls at the last quarterly meeting, a few organizers continue to ignore the rules and the CFC office continues to improperly rate junior events. Apparently, the statement of duties does not include any screening of rating submissions and there is no requirement for organizers to report the time controls for their events.

As promised, I have prepared a motion to replace the existing bonus point system with a better one. The new bonus point formula contains two components - a bonus for achieving a lifetime high rating and a bonus for gaining an exceptional number of points in a single event. I believe that the new formula will help address the issue of under-rated juniors since these criteria are very often met in junior events. The formula is based on a tremendous amount of work done by Roger Patterson and I owe him a great deal of thanks.

I have presented two other motions, one which proposes that we publish rules for rating internet events and one which spells out clearly in one place in the handbook what the CFC expects for events to qualify for rating.

I hope to see most of you at the AGM in Victoria in July!

[Michael von Keitz]

Will we see Olympiad Coordinator Report?

I would think, this Meeting is a good opportunity to inform the Assembly of Governors of the preparation for the next Olympiad, as outlined in the CFC Handbook (http://chess.ca/handbook#section-12):

"1201. Olympiad Coordinator

The CFC Executive shall appoint an Olympiad Coordinator:

(a) The Olympiad Coordinator shall oversee the implementation of the Selection Procedures set out below and shall supervise and facilitate fund raising and the obtaining of sponsorship for the Olympic Teams.

(b) The Olympiad Coordinator shall submit a monthly report to the CFC Executive and Governors on the implementation of the Selection Procedures, fund raising to date, planned fund raising activities and sponsorship for the next Olympiad."

Michael, no one stepped forward to take on the role of Olympiad Coordinator, so the duties have been largely divided between Hal, Ilia and myself. The team breakdowns are currently as follows:

Men
Bator Sambuev - Champion - ACCEPTS
Mark Bluvshtein - Rating - DECLINES
Kevin Spraggett - Rating - DECLINES
Leonid Gerzhoy - Rating - ACCEPTS
Nikolay Noritsyn - Committee - ACCEPTS
Eric Hansen - Committee - ACCEPTS
Edward Porper - Committee - ACCEPTS

Women
Natalia Khoudgarian - Champion - PENDING
Yuanling Yuan - Rating - PENDING
Iulia Lacau-Rodean - Rating - ACCEPTS
Alexandra Botez - Rating - ACCEPTS
Jackie Peng - Committee - ACCEPTS
Liza Orlova - Committee - PENDING
Dalia Kagramanov - Committee - PENDING

The intent of Natalia's role on the selection committee was an advisory one in relation to the picks for the women's team. Unfortunately, being constitutionally bound to a committee of 2 proved problematic, as there was a divide over the selection of Edward Porper. In the end, as the elected Masters' Rep, Vlad Drkulec accepted and executed the tiebreaking vote. It was a rather uncomfortable experience for all involved and I'd like to recommend that someone bring a motion to the floor mandating a selection committee of 3 members, not 2 - it probably won't solve all of our problems, but I think it would be a start.

Our fundraising to date has resulted in the collection of a little over $2000. The website needs to be updated to reflect the one or two donations we've brought in since the last update - I'll try to get on that tonight. There are some concerns that our revoked charitable status is having an effect on our numbers, but it's hard to say to what extent at this point.

We are seeking the governors' approval for guaranteed financial support of the Olympic teams, as well as encouraging TDs/Organizers to get involved by holding waive events. Going forward, we hope that we are approved for RCAAA status, but, if not, this year may prove a useful measure for future expectations.

Hal will be back in the country late this evening. As fundraising coordinator, he may be able to provide a fuller update.

[Michael von Keitz]

Incorrectly submitted junior events continue to cause me much work. Since the CFC office provides minimal quality control, I have to ferret out tournament details from websites and flyers and contact organizers to properly audit events. The most common error continues to be 30 minute events submitted for Regular rating. Despite the fact that the governors re-confirmed the policy on time controls at the last quarterly meeting, a few organizers continue to ignore the rules and the CFC office continues to improperly rate junior events. Apparently, the statement of duties does not include any screening of rating submissions and there is no requirement for organizers to report the time controls for their events.

My thanks to Paul for his work on this portfolio. I can attest to the outright abuse he has had to endure as a result.

[Bob Armstrong]

As a governor not directly involved in ratings, I'd have to say I've been impressed by Paul's diligence in tackling tough issues which have been hanging fire during the terms of a number of prior Rating Auditors.

And he is winning - note the number of motions starting to clean up the messy aspects.

And he is to be commended for recruiting outside help, working with a member volunteer with expertise in rating stats, Roger Patterson.

I have to believe the hours spent on his file have been considerable since last July. Congratulations and thanks, Paul.

Bob A

[Michael Barron]

Michael, no one stepped forward to take on the role of Olympiad Coordinator, so the duties have been largely divided between Hal, Ilia and myself. The team breakdowns are currently as follows:

Men
Bator Sambuev - Champion - ACCEPTS
Mark Bluvshtein - Rating - DECLINES
Kevin Spraggett - Rating - DECLINES
Leonid Gerzhoy - Rating - ACCEPTS
Nikolay Noritsyn - Committee - ACCEPTS
Eric Hansen - Committee - ACCEPTS
Edward Porper - Committee - ACCEPTS

Women
Natalia Khoudgarian - Champion - PENDING
Yuanling Yuan - Rating - PENDING
Iulia Lacau-Rodean - Rating - ACCEPTS
Alexandra Botez - Rating - ACCEPTS
Jackie Peng - Committee - ACCEPTS
Liza Orlova - Committee - PENDING
Dalia Kagramanov - Committee - PENDING

The intent of Natalia's role on the selection committee was an advisory one in relation to the picks for the women's team. Unfortunately, being constitutionally bound to a committee of 2 proved problematic, as there was a divide over the selection of Edward Porper. In the end, as the elected Masters' Rep, Vlad Drkulec accepted and executed the tiebreaking vote. It was a rather uncomfortable experience for all involved and I'd like to recommend that someone bring a motion to the floor mandating a selection committee of 3 members, not 2 - it probably won't solve all of our problems, but I think it would be a start.

Our fundraising to date has resulted in the collection of a little over $2000. The website needs to be updated to reflect the one or two donations we've brought in since the last update - I'll try to get on that tonight. There are some concerns that our revoked charitable status is having an effect on our numbers, but it's hard to say to what extent at this point.

We are seeking the governors' approval for guaranteed financial support of the Olympic teams, as well as encouraging TDs/Organizers to get involved by holding waive events. Going forward, we hope that we are approved for RCAAA status, but, if not, this year may prove a useful measure for future expectations.

Hal will be back in the country late this evening. As fundraising coordinator, he may be able to provide a fuller update.

Thank you, Michael, for information!

Could you please clarify the procedure:
Did all mentioned players got the invitations?
Or only the first 5, and additional players will get it only when initially selected decline?

I'm willing to submit a motion to compose a selection committee of 3 members.
Any seconder?

[Michael von Keitz]

Could you please clarify the procedure:
Did all mentioned players got the invitations?
Or only the first 5, and additional players will get it only when initially selected decline?

Yes, the latter scenario is correct. Liza and Dalia have not received invitations and will not if both Natalia and Yuanling accept.