Dai,

I'm in the middle of writing a development plan for the WCU. It will be discussed at he next management board meeting on 17th March. Following that (assuming I get the go ahead) I'll circulate it at the AGM, in the next newsletter and also pass a copy to you to circulate in "Winter Butterfly"

Keep in touch.

Kevin

A separate email from him (received 25 Feb)contained the following.

...Copies of newsletters were sent to all secretaries last week. All members should have a copy by the end of this week. If not - nag their secretary.

25th TRW CAM GEARS Neath & District Junior Chess Championships

Many thanks to Peter Bevan for sending me a copy of Martyn's letter regarding this event. Its attached as a .gif file which I hope everybody should be able to access, unless you receive this ezine via your tv set. If is can't open it and you want a copy, I suggest you contact Martyn Griffiths, 15 Brookside, Neath Abbey. SA10 7AG. Tel 01639-636332.

Internet Chess

Good to see that the WCU is getting to grips with internet chess (edition 8g). I had hoped to issue a challenge to Cardiff to play a 4 a side match against Pontypridd Past and Present. I was going to suggest 10 minute per player games, but with a slight difference. Each individual played every member of the opposing team. Not the format the WCU have in mind, they are looking initially at individual playing 30 minutes a side games. But that only shows that there are many possibilities opened up by new technology. I wonder if it will be possible to arrange a evening swiss tournament using the internet. I'll watch developments with interest.

Of course there are problems with internet chess, not least of which is the scope for cheating. But I think that we'll just have to accept that some people will resort to this. Most of us who already play on the internet are aware of this and accept that it occasionally happens. It annoys us when we think its happening, but it doesn't stop us playing. The only suggestions that I would make is maybe the penalties if someone is caught should be draconian (to reflect their stupidity in being caught) and we could always have a close look at the games of players who suddenly puts on 300 points.

I know there are some people, including some on the executive, who feel the whole thing is silly and we shouldn't get involved. I strongly disagree with them. Internet chess is a fact. Sooner or later Welsh players will start to compete against each other. In these circumstances the WCU has a responsibility to become involved (it could be argued that if it fails to do so then it would be in breach of its own constitution). Those that don't like it don't have to play, but they have no right to get in the way of those that want to. Or to put it another way 'Wake up, its the twenty-first century.'

Use of New Technology

While I'm on the subject of new technology isn't it about time we used it to do something about the AGM. At the moment its badly attended and tends to be dominated by players from the association which is hosting it. If North Wales ever comes into the WCU then people could be faced with a round trip of 300 odd miles to attend. This is not satisfactory. We should go for a distributed AGM. Some companies already do this. My idea is that one of the associations should host the AGM but rather than needing to travel to it members should be able to attend centres set up in each of the other associations. Basically, all we need is a sound link between these using the internet. In an ideal world we might even consider using a webcam, but that's not essential. We would have to make appropriate amendments to the constitution and look at the standing orders and protocols for the AGM, for example how to balance the right of people in different centres who wish to address the meeting and how the votes are coordinated. Still, I can't see any difficulties that make this a none starter.

Now if we were really forward thinking we might set up a committee to work out the details at the next AGM. Their proposals could be accepted or amended at the 2003 AGM and the new system implemented ready for the 2004 AGM.

One last point, how about putting the minutes of all committee meeting on the WCU website. They could be removed after a set time. Against the wishes of most committee members, because of the difficulty of disseminating the information, very few people have access to this information. Committees make decisions on behalf of the ordinary members, many of which have financial repercussions. I'm sure they would want to keep the members informed of what they were doing and this seems one way of solving the problem.

I would be interested to hear your views on these points.

Very best wishes

Dai James.