Altrincham & Hale Chess Club


Minutes of the 2018 AGM held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 11th September 2018


1. Attendance


Present – Tony Lane, Nick Lowe, Steve Ward, Bill McCartney, Peter Hawes, Kip Sumner, Denis Osborne, Vijay Kakarparthi, Jeff Foy, Stuart Sumner, Daniel Potts, Mike Davies, Mark Whalley, Sheraz Khalil, Vipin Mehta, Ying Chen, Reg Clucas


Apologies for absence – Mark Hann, Thomas Hague, Tom Tomkins


2. Minutes of the 2017 AGM were agreed as correct and accepted.


3. Matters arising -

Tom Tomkins contacted Sale with regard to a possible merger of the two clubs, and they did not reject the idea. However, as both clubs seem to be managing OK at the moment, the feeling at the meeting was that we should not pursue the idea. It is an unfortunate trend that many clubs have had to merge in recent years, and this reduces the the number of potential opponents for league matches.


4. Officers' reports


Treasurer's report for year ended 31 August 2018 (Nick Lowe)


I have received fees from 16 members, although there are at least two subscriptions still to be collected.

Last year we had agreed to abolish the reduced rates and of the remaining categories, these are broken down on the statement into those paying at the full rate and rate for new members. The club did pay the ECF fees for some members and hence separately shown.

On the expenditure side, the main items are:

The net result is a deficit of £43.03 leaving the accumulated reserves at £157.78.


Subscriptions for 2018/19 agreed at AGM


The subscription rates:



Secretary (Reg Clucas)


The most notable thing to report in the year since the last AGM must be the unprecedented success of our teams on the playing front. You will hear about this in more detail from the various captains, so I will just summarise here.


The successful year began just a week after the last AGM, when we won the Summer League knockout competition. We then embarked on the 2017-18 winter season, at the end of which we had achieved the following -


We then followed this up this summer with


On top of this there were individual successes in congresses for Mark Hann (at the Stockport Rapidplay), Vijay (at Heywood and at the Darnall & Handsworth Rapidplay), Samuel (at the Manchester Major) and I even managed a minor prize myself at the Bolton Rapidplay.


It is good to see some new members join during the last year, which augurs well for the continued success of our teams and the financial viability of the club. On the downside we will be saying goodbye to a long standing member Pete Arland, who is leaving the area, but only as far as Greenfield near Oldham, so we may well see him again in a rival team from that part of the world! I am sure you will join with me in wishing Pete well in his new home.


Reg Clucas

11th September 2018


Competitions report (Nick Lowe)


We had only managed to complete the quick play tournament this year.


There were 15 players who took part over 7 rounds.


This saw Danilo and Mark dominate the tournament winning six matches and drawing just the match between themselves in round 4.


Reg finished third with 5 points, with his two defeats against the top two.


A group of players finished with a creditable 4 points – Bill, Tom, Mike, Vijay and Nick.


Everyone scored at least one victory where they played in all seven rounds.


* * * * * *


It was suggested that next year's Club Championship commence early in the year, to give people more chance to fit in their games.


A volunteer is sought to take over the organiser's role from Nick.



Team Captains' reports – Reports from the captains of the Manchester League, Stockport League, Stockport Rapidplay League and SE Lancs Summer League teams were read to the meeting, and are attached in separate documents. They will also be added to the respective pages of the club website.


5. Presentation of trophies


No presentations this year as the Blitz competition was the only event played, and the trophy was presented to the winners on the night of the event.


6. League Entries for 2018-19


We will continue with one team in the Manchester League, and three in the Stockport League (A team, B team & Limit League team).



7. Membership fees


The subscription rates remain at:


It was asked whether new members need to pay subs straight away. The answer is no, they may attend the club several times to help them decide whether it is suitable before joining.


The above rates do not include ECF membership, which will now be up to each individual to arrange if they need it, i.e. if they intend to play in more than 3 matches in any league. The current ECF Bronze membership rate is £16 per year.


8. Election of Officers


Secretary - Reg Clucas to continue

Treasurer - Nick Lowe to continue

Competition Organiser - TBA

New member representative - Steve Ward to continue

Manchester League Captain - Tony Lane to continue

Stockport A - Reg Clucas to continue

Stockport B - Vijay Kakarparthi to continue

Limit League - Steve Ward

Summer league A team - Tony Lane to continue


9. Any other business


It was suggested that the inclusion of adverts (e.g. Google Ads) on our website could generate some revenue for the club. Reg Clucas will look into this.


Sheraz asked if team captains could include all members when sending out emails advising of match results, rather than just sending to the players involved. This was agreed to be done in future. Although both the club and League websites are usually updated with results fairly quickly, there is inevitably some time lag, so an email would alleviate this for those who are interested.


Daniel Potts mentioned that he had found the club via our Facebook page, so this highlights the importance of this page.