Two hours before the regular club meeting, Herky convened a special meeting of the organizers and Charles moderated. All were present except Scott Adkins, who was out of town. What follows is a description of the issues discussed and the solutions proposed. Charles will issue separately the minutes of the meeting.

Although it was agreed that we have accomplished a lot during the first five months of our existence, we want to continue to improve our club rather than be satisfied with where we are and rest on our laurels. We want to be more than just a social club; we want to help drive the growth and appreciation of chess in our part of Northern Virginia. Thus the purpose of the meeting was to plot a course for the club in the new year. We want to become more active in several areas:

a. Nurturing young players and beginning adults in improving their game. Herky and Victor spoke of the need for more players to become involved in coaching, and we discussed ways to organize this effort. In particular, we will make the membership aware of the need for scholastic coaches in our area. This is of growing importance; Victor mentioned that the center of gravity of scholastic chess in Northern Virginia is moving toward us, and the program at Stone Bridge HS is becoming even more important to the area.

b. Club organization. To provide coaches and hold events more effectively, Herky suggested that it might be beneficial to organize as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Perhaps our member Ray Atkins, a lawyer, could advise us on this.

c. Helping Sakasa profit from our presence. Various ways of helping to support Sakasa are being considered, such as Herky’s suggestion of awarding Sakasa gift cards as tournament prizes. Victor proposed raising the cost to play in a quad to $3.00, with $2 of this used to purchase a Sakasa gift coupon for use in buying food and beverages there.

d. Finding another venue for our meetings to use when necessary to accommodate more players and longer hours for tournaments. We would like to run some tournaments with slower time controls than Sakasa’s hours permit. A library or community recreation center is a possibility. Herky has been investigating alternate venues and is working on a solution.

e. Getting more of us certified as Club TDs to take some load off Paul and Victor and provide backup. We will explain to the membership the need for more certified TDs and ask for volunteers. Paul and Victor spoke of the certification procedure and requirements. For one thing, it is important for anyone who wants to direct to acquire and become familiar with the USCF’s Official Rules of Chess, 5th Edition. Victor has also suggested that the frequency of our Sakasa tournaments be reduced. Charles and Scott will look into running a club rating ladder.

In most clubs, ladder results are not USCF rated. Instead, they are rated within the club using some rating system such as the Harkness system, which is simple and easy to calculate. But if the club wants to pay the rating fees, the results can be submitted for USCF rating. To save money, the results could be submitted every other week or so, or appended to the quad results as extra games. This is a topic for future discussion.

f. Making our tournaments more attractive to potential participants, especially our stronger players. Currently, the tournaments are attractive to unrated and lower-rated players as a way to get USCF ratings to measure their progress. They are less attractive to the stronger players who may not feel they are being sufficiently tested by playing lower-rated players, and cannot gain many points by winning from them. Longer time controls and offering prizes are two ways to make them more attractive, but the former may require another venue that stays open later, and the latter requires some minimal amount of funding, perhaps by raising entry fees. Victor has proposed running a monthly Swiss with slower time controls at some other venue, perhaps Carver. Also, our hard-working TDs deserve some measure of compensation for their time and work.

g. Continuing to organize matches with other clubs. We have had a successful presence in the D.C. Chess League, thanks to Shawn and Paul and our enthusiastic participants.

h. Offering other events besides tournaments. We can have an occasional simul given by a titled player; Shawn said he enjoyed the one he gave and would be willing to do it again. We could get GM Kavalek again, but a variety of strong visitors would be better. We hope to provide lectures on some Tuesday nights. Shawn again volunteered to do this, and we would like other experienced players to get involved as well. Someone could show a game and talk about it, soliciting ideas. Or talk about some kind of position; for example, the Lucena position. Hammering on this for a couple of hours would benefit us all. Ray Atkins lectures in Purcellville; perhaps he would do it here on occasion, when he has time. Perhaps Dov and Paolo would have time to do this occasionally, or give occasional simuls.

Charles and others spoke about the fun and learning opportunities of “vote chess” on chess.com. Perhaps we could set up a demo board or projector every week or so at Sakasa or some other venue so all present can analyze together and learn from each other.

Perhaps we could get permission from management to stage a simul in Dulles Towne Center. (This idea was suggested by Victor after the meeting.) A simul is an unusual sight for most people and would probably draw a crowd and attract more players if it were played downstairs in the central atrium. Certainly it should not be played in the food court, where a few of us gather on Sundays for informal quads. Perhaps we could get Shawn, Dov, Paolo, or Lubos to do the honors. Or maybe several of these could collaborate, taking turns. We can continue to hold the small, informal quads in the food court or perhaps on the second floor of Wegman’s in Ashburn.

i. Decorum. There was general agreement for the necessity of civil and respectful behavior among all members in the club. We are on display and being judged when visitors watch, and we want to be good ambassadors for chess and show the club favorably. We also want to prevent any personal misunderstandings or conflicts from disrupting the camaraderie that makes our club a special place. It may be helpful and appropriate to issue a formal code of conduct for members. This would include guidelines such as no junior members allowed to run in the meeting room, no horseplay, no profanity that you would not want your child to hear, and no uncivil or disrespectful behavior.

Ashburn Chess Club Administrative Team

Super Admins