The Way Forward For English Chess: Development or Status Quo?

Dear Chess.com readers, what follows is a report on the state of English chess, two weeks ahead of a key election for the Chief Executive of the English Chess Federation (ECF).

While some of the issues raised in this report are unique to the UK, many will be relevant to you wherever you are in the world. The urgent question facing many national chess federations as we emerge from the pandemic is whether we look outwards to pursue a pro-active development strategy, or look inwards and simply stick with the 'status quo.'

(In many cases, of course, the 'status quo' actually equates to a slow decline if the demographic trends in chess organisations tend towards an older, less diverse membership.)

The issue is particularly acute in English chess, as the incumbent Chief Executive, Mike Truran, is on record as saying that he sees the Federation's role as merely a hands-off 'enabling' one, whereas the challenger, Malcolm Pein (the organiser of the London Chess Classic and Chess in Schools and Communities' 'ChessFest' on Trafalgar Square this summer) favours a more active Federation that raises sponsorship and puts a strong case to government for official recognition (and funding) of chess.

(Unlike in many countries, where chess is recognised as a sport, in the UK chess has no official governmental designation, and lost its small government funding more than a decade ago.)     

With that brief introduction over, here is my message to ECF members:

Why English Chess Needs a More Pro-Active Leadership

"There is still a lot of work to do to get English chess back on its feet after a year and a half dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic. It is good to see most clubs and leagues restarting over-the-board chess, and now some congresses, but sad to see the full-scale British Championships in Torquay postponed for a second successive year.

At the October 16 AGM, the Council will decide the future direction of the ECF, as a contested election will take place for the post of Chief Executive between Mike Truran, the incumbent, and Malcolm Pein, the current International Director.

In addition, there is a contested election for the post of Chair of the Governance Committee between the incumbent, Robert Stern, and Chris Fegan, the outgoing Director of Women’s Chess.

On a very positive note, it is excellent to see two highly qualified new female candidates standing in the elections – Aga Milewska for Director of Women’s Chess, and Shohreh Bayat, as Director of Events. Both are unopposed, as is Director of Junior Chess and Education Alex Holowczak.

The election addresses for all the candidates have been published, along with various reports to Council. They can be read here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/about/ecf-council-and-board/

Policy Debate On The Way Forward

I believe it is very positive for ECF democracy that there are contested elections, particularly when the debate focuses on the way forward for English chess and sticks to policies, rather than personalities.

Essentially, the main difference between Mike Truran’s and Malcolm Pein’s visions is that Mike believes in a more hands-off, ‘enabling’ approach for the ECF, while Malcolm wishes to see a more pro-active approach, including much more focus on fundraising from sponsors and recognition for chess from government.

My personal view is that the last 18 months have shown the clear need for a more pro-active approach from the ECF. We need to:

• Reach out to bring more new players, particularly young people and women and girls, into chess;
• Rebuild grassroots chess clubs and organisations after the pandemic;
• Raise more funding for chess from sponsors and government; and
• Restore England’s position as one of the leading chess nations by providing more opportunities for our young players to excel, through new initiatives such as the Northumbria Masters and other international tournaments and congresses.

For these reasons, I am recommending support for Malcolm, as his manifesto (https://developingenglishchess.com/) spells out how these objectives can be sensibly achieved.

Meanwhile, Mike Truran’s record in office in his key responsibility as CEO of fundraising – zero sponsorship raised, and no progress in getting chess officially recognised by government – unfortunately speaks volumes.

Malcolm has underlined his campaign’s priorities by putting forward three motions to Council, making it clear that he favours tidying up the ECF’s finances in a way that gives Council and the Board control of how its funds are spent, and also that getting government recognition would be a top priority. Tellingly, Mike Truran has said he cannot support these motions.

It also seems as though other AGM business will be dominated by the contested elections.

In a normal year, you would expect reports from the Governance Committee and Non-Executive Directors to the AGM to be non-partisan and independent, but this does not seem to have been the case this year. Instead, unfortunately, both reports have been extremely partisan, launching an apparently coordinated series of personal attacks on Chris Fegan, the outgoing Director for Women’s Chess.

I can only conclude that it is not a coincidence that these attacks are occurring at a time when Chris has questioned the effectiveness of ECF governance systems and is standing for Chair of the Governance Committee. To my mind, this partisan use of AGM reports to denigrate the good work of a director over the last three years is wholly inappropriate and should be repudiated by Council.

An Opportunity For Positive Change

Overall, I believe that this AGM represents an opportunity for the ECF to change for the future in a positive direction, while building on the work of its many hard-working volunteers. Electing a new CEO does not mean a rejection of past work and past progress (including the sterling work by Mike Truran in building up the 4NCL and its congresses), but it does signal a more pro-active vision that will benefit English chess as a whole.

Please do write to me and my fellow Silver members rep, John Reyes, expressing your views on the AGM and the future direction of the ECF. While John and I may have different opinions on some issues, we both take our responsibility very seriously to listen to your views and to properly represent the thousands of ECF Silver members."

Tim Wall is currently one of two Direct Representatives for ECF Silver Members on the English Chess Federation's Council (the governing body of English chess, which meets twice-yearly). To write to him expressing your views, please send an email to:  dnr-silver-01@englishchess.org.uk, specifying your ECF membership number if you have one. Whether you are a member of the ECF or just a chess.com reader, your comments are very welcome.