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Home > Archive > Chess politics > November 2006 > The Demolition of the Illinois Chess Association
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The Demolition of the Illinois Chess Association
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| WilburSmith 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| The Illinois Chess Association has been one of the top associations in the
country. Now it's just a has-been. Just a few years ago, even though chess
was declining, it continued to have a steady membership, expanded its tour
events, and had the best attended state championship in history.
At its recent November meeting, the following actions were taken, following
the resignation of its worst president ever. (See
http://www.ilchess.org/cgi/ultimate...ic;f=1;t=000606) The
ICA is almost broke, lost money on the state championship (no wonder since
the former president decided to pay someone $1,500 just to find a hotel),
has a suffering membership, is cutting out the hard copy of its magazine and
is cutting out its tours. The membership looks like it is up but it is
always up right after the state championship! And it's down from the 700 -
1,000 range where it used to be. Where are Gruenberg, Warren, Bachler,
Just, Losoff and others like them when we really need them?
Illinois Chess Association 11/5/2006 Notes
quote:
>Approval of minutes from the June 2006 meeting.
>Approval of resignation of Bill Brock - replacement by Chris Merli
David Long appointed as Downstate VP
Sevan Muradian appointed as Metro VP
quote:
>Officers reports
President (Merli) - the Illinois Open lost money - need to be more
conservative in the future
Treasurer (Dolson)
We have $1800 cash in the operating account (apart from restricted accounts)
on hand but have a liability of $1500 for the Illinois Tour due next May.
Electronic ICBs should cost about $900 per issue.
Secretary (Easton)
ICB-Online (Karagianis)
Membership (Smith) - memberships have started to climb. From a low of 311 it
has increased to about 450
Downstate VP (Long) - Peoria and Bloomington are doing well. There is not
much activity in the rest of the downstate.
Scholastic chess is doing well
Metro VP (Muradian) - two new clubs - Chicago Chess Club/Touchmove
Started soliciting ads for the ICB.
quote:
>Committee reports
Youth (Merli) - continued growth - some overlap in tournaments
Warren Junior Program (Andrea Rosen) - had successful event at the Taste of
Chicago. Had a two day minicamp in August -17 or 18 attendees. St Charles
club donated money.
There will be a 4 week event at the Oberweis Dairy in Glenview - probably in
February/March
quote:
>Old business
quote:
>PROPOSED AMENDMENT: on decoupling USCF delegates from ICA Board
Deferred to the next meeting
quote:
>New business
quote:
>ICA Bulletin - on-line versus print - do them all on-line until the
>financial situation improves. The board may reinstate print editions in the
>future. The Jan/Feb issue will be electronic and the board will decide
>about future issues.
Should we make the electronic issue available to members only? Send out a
postcard?
Moved and accepted that the Jan/Feb issue be electronic.
quote:
>Discontinue tour in 2007? - perception is that it does not motivate many
>people
Moved and accepted
quote:
>Reduce membership fee and offer discounts to affiliates?
Effective 12/1, have a new $5 scholastic membership K-12 - would not get a
print edition or vote
Make the Junior member class official for members through age 20
Combine business,corporate and organization member classes into a single
organization member class
Reduce regular fee to $15 and junior to $10 - moved and accepted
quote:
>Moved that voting be restricted to members age 18 and over - moved and
>accepted
quote:
>Establish a membership drive under which each ICA members receives a one
>year extension for every five paid adult new or long-expired (at least
>three years) former members.
Moved and accepted.
quote:
>Discuss how important it is to have the ICB editor be an Illinois
>resident - makes it easier to get games.
quote:
>All ICA Events - bids/structure for the future
We are trying to put together some guidelines of what bids should look like.
Bidding deadlines, size of room, etc.
quote:
>Tim Just and Wayne Clark have proposed a five year deal for the Iillinois
>Championship.
The board is open to a multi-year deal - for even number of years - four
years and two year extension are a possibility.
It should also be noted that the IL website says that former USCF president
Frank Skoff was recently evicted from his home.
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| Vince Hart 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| WilburSmith wrote:
quote:
> The Illinois Chess Association has been one of the top associations in the
> country. Now it's just a has-been. Just a few years ago, even though chess
> was declining, it continued to have a steady membership, expanded its tour
> events, and had the best attended state championship in history.
>
> At its recent November meeting, the following actions were taken, following
> the resignation of its worst president ever.
SNIP
The ICA is certainly in dire straits, but long time followers of this
newsgroup will recall that was already true two years ago when Bill
Brock decided to run for President. Membership and finances were in
the toilet when he took over.
Title of "Worst Captain" goes to the guy who drove the ship onto the
rocks and put the holes in the hull, not the guy who couldn't bail fast
enough to keep the ship afloat afterwards.
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| RSHaas@aol.com 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
|
quote:
> The ICA is certainly in dire straits, .... " Vince Hart
==============
What is needed is the Mensa model for chess.
Old Haasie
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| marcus@stkittsnevischess.org 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
|
RSHaas@aol.com wrote:
quote:
> ==============
> What is needed is the Mensa model for chess.
>
> Old Haasie
Old Hassie, why don't you start that MENSA club, and just forget about
chess.
Marcus Roberts
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| RSHaas@aol.com 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
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mar...@stkittsnevischess.org wrote:
quote:
> RSHaas@aol.com wrote:
>
> Old Hassie, why don't you start that MENSA club, and just forget about
> chess.
>
> Marcus Roberts
=================
What Mensa club? What are you talking about? The Mensa model for
chess is not a club per se.
Old Haasie
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| The Historian 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
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Vince Hart wrote:
quote:
> WilburSmith wrote:
>
> SNIP
>
> The ICA is certainly in dire straits, but long time followers of this
> newsgroup will recall that was already true two years ago when Bill
> Brock decided to run for President. Membership and finances were in
> the toilet when he took over.
>
> Title of "Worst Captain" goes to the guy who drove the ship onto the
> rocks and put the holes in the hull, not the guy who couldn't bail fast
> enough to keep the ship afloat afterwards.
Ah, the Bachler touch; like that of Midas, but in reverse.
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| Vince Hart 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
|
The Historian wrote:
quote:
> Vince Hart wrote:
>
> Ah, the Bachler touch; like that of Midas, but in reverse.
It pains me to admit it Neil, but Kevin was not the worst. I think the
ICA declined on his watch, but the organization was still solvent and
functioning when he left. Had Bill immediately followed Kevin, it
might have been a different story.
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| Kenneth Sloan 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| RSHaas@aol.com wrote:
quote:
> mar...@stkittsnevischess.org wrote:
> =================
> What Mensa club? What are you talking about? The Mensa model for
> chess is not a club per se.
>
> Old Haasie
>
well then, what *is* it? Can you elaborate?
--
Kenneth Sloan KennethRSloan@gmail.com
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/
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| WilburSmith 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| Hey, Bachler did good stuff. He expanded the tour, got an editor, did stuff
to increase members and had a big state championship with the largest prize
fund and used a scholastic tournament to help pay for it. His biggest
problems was not enough helpers, shitty treasurers, and no one following up
on his ideas in the next officer group. Brock could have done more, but he
drove off workers and people willing to donate.
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| Vince Hart 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
|
WilburSmith wrote:
quote:
> Hey, Bachler did good stuff. He expanded the tour, got an editor, did stuff
> to increase members and had a big state championship with the largest prize
> fund and used a scholastic tournament to help pay for it. His biggest
> problems was not enough helpers, shitty treasurers, and no one following up
> on his ideas in the next officer group. Brock could have done more, but he
> drove off workers and people willing to donate.
Is that you Kevin?
I agree that the tour expansion was a good idea.
The big championship was not a good idea. It turned one of the ICA's
money makers into a money loser. The fact that the scholastic
tournament might have held down the losses is not impressive.
No ICA president ever has enough helpers. Given Kevin's unique
personality, I think it would have been foolish for him to plan any
projects requiring additional manpower.
I am not sure what ideas Kevin wanted the following officer group to
follow through on since he never showed up at any of the board meetings
to explain his plans. I don't think that group felt that it could
afford another money losing ICB mailing, another money losing banquet,
or another money losing state championship. I know that Kevin was
hoping to generate revenue from scholastic dues, but as he was unable
to get his scheme enacted during his administration, it would be
foolish for him to expect a subsequent president to get it done.
I don't know of anyone driven off by Bill Brock. The only complaint I
have heard came from Kevin, and I was responsible for driving him off.
Kevin put a dent in the ICA's savings with some ideas that seem to me
to be based on little more than wishful thinking, but he did not put
the organization on death's door. It was the officer's group between
Kevin and Bill that depleted the balance of the savings while letting
basic organizational functions fall apart.
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| WilburSmith 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| Naw man, just don't see things the way you do. If you don't grow you die,
and sometimes that takes money. Seems like all good presidents knew that.
Maybe instead of complainin you shoulda been helping.
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| Vince Hart 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
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WilburSmith wrote:
quote:
> Naw man, just don't see things the way you do. If you don't grow you die,
> and sometimes that takes money. Seems like all good presidents knew that.
> Maybe instead of complainin you shoulda been helping.
It is nice to have a theory that rationalizes frittering away money on
ideas that produce no benefits. I don't think my help was needed with
that though.
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| RSHaas@aol.com 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| ICA survival looks a bit iffy. I wonder how the Florida Chess
Association is doing. I don't even know what it does if anything.
Old Haasie
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| Matt Nemmers 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
| Vince Hart wrote:
quote:
> WilburSmith wrote:
>
> It is nice to have a theory that rationalizes frittering away money on
> ideas that produce no benefits. I don't think my help was needed with
> that though.
It's too bad the ICA is in the crapper. I would've liked to see it
succeed, but alas, it turned out to be too big for administration.
Damn. Where's Bill Smythe when you need him?
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| Vince Hart 2006-11-19, 8:32 pm |
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Matt Nemmers wrote:
quote:
>
> It's too bad the ICA is in the crapper. I would've liked to see it
> succeed, but alas, it turned out to be too big for administration.
>
> Damn. Where's Bill Smythe when you need him?
I think you may have hit the nail on the head Matt. The answer was not
growing the membership to fit all the things the ICA wanted to do. The
answer may have been shrinking the ICA to a size that membership was
willing and able to support.
Bill Smythe was another resource that the ICA exhausted to meet short
term needs.
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