What have current ICU executive achieved this year

Sharkey47

Hi guys. I was a person who played chess to a reasonable level in the 1980s and 1990s before life got in the way and I had to stop . It is the game I love even if my only chess playing now is trying to solve JJ Walsh's puzzle every morning.

I am horrified by what I have been reading here over the past few days. The level of vitriol and aggression is beyond belief. Is this what chess has become in Ireland?

I think it is imperative that rank and file chess players should attend the forthcoming AGM as it is patently obvious something has gone very badly wrong in the administration of chess in Ireland. Whether this is due to the current Executive or is a continuation of a trend over a number of Executives is for each individual to make up his own mind.

Irish chess deserves better than this.

CINCLANTFLT

Same here... I've been watching these interactions for a while now... It makes me have no interest in getting involved in chess in Ireland...

cdeb

CINCLANTFLT wrote: »

Same here... I've been watching these interactions for a while now... It makes me have no interest in getting involved in chess in Ireland...

Can't say I blame you.

Which is a shame, as for the vast part, there's a great social element to the game here and 99% of the players get on great with each other.

But you'd surely struggle to find a sport with a more destructive 1%.

Pete Morriss

CINCLANTFLT wrote: »

Same here... I've been watching these interactions for a while now... It makes me have no interest in getting involved in chess in Ireland...

I can well understand that, but that would be a great shame. I can assure you (and Sharkey47, and any others reading) that almost all chess events in Ireland are very enjoyable, and that the players at them are welcoming, kind and generous. That's why I got drawn back into chess some ten years ago, after having been out for over 20 years.

The trouble is that some two or three people lose the run of themselves on social media - though even they can be warm in person at chess events. The trouble is compounded because two of these people are on the current ICU executive, and are using it as an extension of their social media campaigns. Hopefully they will no longer be on the executive in a month's time (one of them is not standing anyway) and we can then get back to playing chess in a supportive and friendly atmosphere again.

NubieOne

If I can get back to the original subject of this thread, this is my considered contribution based my own research over the last week or so since I started following Chess on boards. It’s been an interesting journey indeed.

Positive achievements
1. Glorney ( Best Ever ? ) This has to be number one on the list and the proposed new incoming team ( see details )seem to acknowledge this by not running a candidate against the man who almost single handily achieved this, the Junior Officer Desmond Beatty
2. Getting the President of Ireland to agree to be the Patron of the Irish Chess Union This one shouldn’t be underestimated as it should seriously help get outside sponsorship of ICU events
3. Child Protection Policy No previous executive have managed to get this sorted to the extent that this one has. There is now a recognisable framework for all involved in chess in Ireland to come officially under the umbrella of a proper Child Protection Policy
To be fair to the current executive, I think these are very good achievements. The others listed by Chess_Coach are either normal expected items that any executive would be criticized for not doing or they just haven’t done them yet (i.e. transparent budget)
Negative achievements
1. Failure to submit the Galway Rapid Play for FIDE rating As far as I know, this event was not submitted for rating because the ICU executive believed that one of it’s members had been denied admittance to the event without an acceptable reason being given. In a recent statement on the official website, the chairman claims that it was not rated because, and I quote “could not be rated because they did not comply with the relevant FIDE rules” I have scanned the FIDE handbook and I can’t see any FIDE regulation that was breached here, maybe the ICU Tournament Director can point me to what I’m missing. If so, then this item should be taken off this list.
2. Disciplinary Process irregularities It has been the practice of previous executives to form an independent subcommittee to deal with the disciplinary matters, in accordance with the code of practice on the website. However, it must be pointed out that clause 13 of the constitution allows them to deal directly with these matters provided the requirements of Natural Justice are adhered to. In both the cases of Mark Orr and more recently, Gerry Graham, the committee can hardly claim that they adhered to the principals of natural justice (see here)
3. The alienation of the Irish event organisers The initial decision to introduce this new policy doesn’t seem to have been given much discussion at executive level and was certainly never discussed with the major event organisers before the rushed introduction. This rushed introduction seems to have been designed to target the largest event in the calendar, Bunratty. Only after a backlash from the event organisers did a meeting happen to consult and I believe discussions were on-going for a while. If the recent statement from event organisers is to be believed, these discussions have now broken down. The ICU executive have stated that some of the event organisers have contacted them to agree with their new proposals. If they would tell us who these are, it might help us make up our minds as to who to believe in this debate before we have to vote at the AGM.
4. Failure to update the Constitution with the changes agreed by the 2014 AGM To be fair, this one could probably be levelled at most previous executives as well but this executive seems to claim to be the most open and transparent of all and the proposed new Constitution coming before the EGM on October 4th is not correct. Whether or not the changes being introduced are adopted, the changes made to the Constitution at last year’s AGM will be lost, see here post numbers 172 and 175. If this is a fair and open executive, this needs to be addressed before the EGM goes ahead.
5. The National Chess Club Championships fiasco Where do I begin with this one, let’s just make a list of what we know happened
1. The executive give the event to the wrong province, it should have been Leinster’s turn, it was awarded to Munster
2. Instead of appointing an arbiter themselves, as the rules dictate, they ask the Ennis Chess Club to source an arbiter for the event themselves
3. They offer no advice or guidance to the organisers / arbiter as to how this event should be run except to point them to the rules
4. The inexperienced arbiter (at least inexperienced in running the NCC) makes a mistake in the draw of the 3rd round, leading to no legal draw possible in round 4. This leads to repeated pairings and, as has been explained to me since, this actually does mean that the FIDE server will refuse to accept the event for rating.
5. However, the ICU ratings officer could easily have edited / deleted the duplicated games and then ICU rated the event, this they decided not to do.

My question in all this is - where was the ICU Tournament Director during all this and why was he not more involved to make sure these types of problems didn’t happen? In either the current rules, or the new proposed rules, he’s the person responsible for this event !

Retd.LoyolaCpt

NubieOne wrote: »

If I can get back to the original subject of this thread, this is my considered contribution based my own research over the last week or so since I started following Chess on boards. It’s been an interesting journey indeed.

Positive achievements
1. Glorney ( Best Ever ? ) This has to be number one on the list and the proposed new incoming team ( see details )seem to acknowledge this by not running a candidate against the man who almost single handily achieved this, the Junior Officer Desmond Beatty
2. Getting the President of Ireland to agree to be the Patron of the Irish Chess Union This one shouldn’t be underestimated as it should seriously help get outside sponsorship of ICU events
3. Child Protection Policy No previous executive have managed to get this sorted to the extent that this one has. There is now a recognisable framework for all involved in chess in Ireland to come officially under the umbrella of a proper Child Protection Policy
To be fair to the current executive, I think these are very good achievements. The others listed by Chess_Coach are either normal expected items that any executive would be criticized for not doing or they just haven’t done them yet (i.e. transparent budget)

No arguments here.

Pete Morriss

NubieOne wrote: »

Positive achievements

2. Getting the President of Ireland to agree to be the Patron of the Irish Chess Union This one shouldn’t be underestimated as it should seriously help get outside sponsorship of ICU events.

Just for the record, this was an achievement of the previous Executive, not this one.

NubieOne

Pete Morriss has just correct me, it seems the previous committee got the President of Ireland to be Patron of the ICU. I also notice that my post didn't appear as I wanted it to, the links didn't show ( I don't have that privilege yet ) and the spacing was't great either. I'll try to improve the readability below.

Positive achievements

1. Glorney ( Best Ever ? ) This has to be number one on the list and the proposed new incoming team ( see details )seem to acknowledge this by not running a candidate against the man who almost single handily achieved this, the Junior Officer Desmond Beatty

2. Child Protection Policy No previous executive have managed to get this sorted to the extent that this one has. There is now a recognisable framework for all involved in chess in Ireland to come officially under the umbrella of a proper Child Protection Policy
To be fair to the current executive, I think these are very good achievements. The others listed by Chess_Coach are either normal expected items that any executive would be criticized for not doing or they just haven’t done them yet (i.e. transparent budget)

Negative achievements

1. Failure to submit the Galway Rapid Play for FIDE rating As far as I know, this event was not submitted for rating because the ICU executive believed that one of it’s members had been denied admittance to the event without an acceptable reason being given. In a recent statement on the official website, the chairman claims that it was not rated because, and I quote “could not be rated because they did not comply with the relevant FIDE rules” I have scanned the FIDE handbook and I can’t see any FIDE regulation that was breached here, maybe the ICU Tournament Director can point me to what I’m missing. If so, then this item should be taken off this list.

2. Disciplinary Process irregularities It has been the practice of previous executives to form an independent subcommittee to deal with the disciplinary matters, in accordance with the code of practice on the website. However, it must be pointed out that clause 13 of the constitution allows them to deal directly with these matters provided the requirements of Natural Justice are adhered to. In both the cases of Mark Orr and more recently, Gerry Graham, the committee can hardly claim that they adhered to the principals of natural justice (can one of the mods edit a link to any definition of natural justice please )

3. The alienation of the Irish event organisers The initial decision to introduce this new policy doesn’t seem to have been given much discussion at executive level and was certainly never discussed with the major event organisers before the rushed introduction. This rushed introduction seems to have been designed to target the largest event in the calendar, Bunratty. Only after a backlash from the event organisers did a meeting happen to consult and I believe discussions were on-going for a while. If the recent statement from event organisers is to be believed, these discussions have now broken down. The ICU executive have stated that some of the event organisers have contacted them to agree with their new proposals. If they would tell us who these are, it might help us make up our minds as to who to believe in this debate before we have to vote at the AGM.

4. Failure to update the Constitution with the changes agreed by the 2014 AGM To be fair, this one could probably be levelled at most previous executives as well but this executive seems to claim to be the most open and transparent of all and the proposed new Constitution coming before the EGM on October 4th is not correct. Whether or not the changes being introduced are adopted, the changes made to the Constitution at last year’s AGM will be lost, see here post numbers 172 and 175. If this is a fair and open executive, this needs to be addressed before the EGM goes ahead.

5. The National Chess Club Championships fiasco Where do I begin with this one, let’s just make a list of what we know happened

1. The executive give the event to the wrong province, it should have been Leinster’s turn, it was awarded to Munster

2. Instead of appointing an arbiter themselves, as the rules dictate, they ask the Ennis Chess Club to source an arbiter for the event themselves

3. They offer no advice or guidance to the organisers / arbiter as to how this event should be run except to point them to the rules

4. The inexperienced arbiter (at least inexperienced in running the NCC) makes a mistake in the draw of the 3rd round, leading to no legal draw possible in round 4. This leads to repeated pairings and, as has been explained to me since, this actually does mean that the FIDE server will refuse to accept the event for rating.

5. However, the ICU ratings officer could easily have edited / deleted the duplicated games and then ICU rated the event, this they decided not to do.

My question in all this is - where was the ICU Tournament Director during all this and why was he not more involved to make sure these types of problems didn’t happen? In either the current rules, or the new proposed rules, he’s the person responsible for this event !

cdeb

I guess just as a mod note - this thread is for discussing the positives of the current exec.

No problems with Nubie's post - but there's a separate thread (kind of by default) for the negatives of the current exec here.

So if Nubie's contra points do generate discussion, I might move the relevant posts over to the other thread to keep everything together.

RoundTower

NubieOne wrote: »

Positive achievements
1. Glorney ( Best Ever ? ) This has to be number one on the list and the proposed new incoming team ( see details )seem to acknowledge this by not running a candidate against the man who almost single handily achieved this, the Junior Officer Desmond Beatty

I'll point out that Pat is also not running a candidate for junior officer (see his post on icu.ie). Desmond doesn't want to run as part of either team and I expect both teams want him as junior officer.

really123

Just finished my evening shift and posting here as a long time member of the ICU.

I have great respect for Pat and I really do think that he has the best interests of Irish chess at heart.

Pat secured a mandate last year and this really could have been a new dawn for Irish chess.

Pat's first mistake (and probably the one that will be his undoing) was allocating the role of PRO to the most toxic and divisive candidate available. Daly had ran for election previously for an ICU role. The members voted and elected someone else. Its really unclear how Pat could have thought putting Daly into this PRO role could have benefited chess in Ireland.

Two members of the ICU exec post here regularly (Darko at least identifies himself), Daly has numerous nom de plumes and the aggression is uncomfortable (I wont name all Daly's aliases here as the mods will probably ban me) . Darko has threatened people through IM, Daly denies he even reads the posts here, when his posts are so obvious to everyone that knows him.

One could have allowed Pat his year to learn, but when he nominated Daly for the position of PRO again for the upcoming year???? One has to really question his logic. Has he not seen the divisions created by the PRO? Has he not seen the facebook page that is run by two of his executive members Darko and Daly?

Even Daly realised that he would never be elected and withdrew as he and everyone else knew that he would never have been voted in. Darko will align to anyone and really needs to take accountabilty for whats being posted on a site where he is moderator along with the PRO.

I like Pat, he could have made a difference. Darko is a good coach and should stick to that. He comes across as ignorant and foolish on social media. (his response to this is 'what have you done for chess' but this mail will go over his head). Daly is toxic and anyone who has been even remotely related to chess in Ireland knows that. I'm not sure what his agenda is but PRO was a crazy allocation. Fair play to him for refusing the nomination.

reunion

Mod note: combined 2 threads together, to avoid duplication.