MACC Fall Meeting Notes

October 13, 2012

Attendees: Ed Rudnicki Dick Powell Kurt Klappenbach

Tom Sandford Dan DeLuca Ron Lewis

1. Treasurer’s report for the 2011-2012 events showed an approximate $800 loss. This coupled with a $500 shortfall the previous year has cut deeply into the MACC treasury. Primary reasons are a dwindling participation and rising costs. In order to counter this, pending recovery of finances, the Board discussed options and decided to increase entry fee rates to $7 per player for USCF-rated sections (in addition to the traditional USCF membership requirement) and to $10 per player for the Novice sections.

2. Following discussion and input from coaches concerned with competing events on March 2, the following dates were selected for the 2012-2013 championships (pending confirmation of availability of space):

a. All teams – March 9

b. Snow Day for teams – March 16

c. Individuals – March 23.

For reference, Nationals are a Super Nationals this year at Nashville on April 4-7, 2013.

3. Volunteering for assignments were:

a. Team Event Tournament Leaders:

i. Elementary and JHS – Kathy Richards assisted by Ron Lewis

ii. High School – Kurt Klappenbach

b. Individual Event TL: Ron Lewis

c. Trophies: Andy Bryan (tentative)

d. Coordination with the University: Tom Sandford

e. Entry forms: Ron Lewis

f. Treasurer: Kathy Richards

g. Overall Coordinator: Ron Lewis

h. Publicity: Kurt Klappenbach/Ron Lewis

i. Signage: Kurt Klappenbach

j. Nametags: Dick Powell

k. Sidekick Quads: Andy Bryan (tentative)

l. Tournament Directors:

i. K-3 Team – Dan DeLuca

ii. HS Championship and Reserve: Philip Lowell

iii. All Novice: Tom Sanford

iv. K-3 and K-6 Individuals: Dan DeLuca

v. JHS Individuals: Philip Lowell

vi. Sidekick Quads: Andy Bryan (tentative)

Remaining are TDs for K-6 Team, K-6 Individual, and HS and U1200 HS Individual TDS. Others to be provided through the MECA.

4. Based on minimal perceived value for Tournament Announcements placed with Chess Life (events are publicized in the newspaper, through mailings, and on the ChessMaine website), these are cancelled for the foreseeable future, saving about $75 per year.

5. The Coaches’ meeting after the second round of the HS Team event drew about 8 coaches and parents. While this is relatively small, such feedback is deemed valuable and we should still try to offer this as a means to raise issues or concerns. That meeting raised two concerns: one being the level of noise in the upper level where the HS Championship is generally played. The second was use of headphones that often were played so loud that they were a distraction to neighboring players. To try to alleviate excess noise we hope to encourage players to recognize the ongoing games, to seek other locations to discuss games or hang out, and perhaps to seek alternate routes other than passing through that area. Discussion on the use of headsets was mixed, with some suggesting total banning of headsets (as is done at Nationals), while others suggested that announcements be made to alert users of headsets to minimize the volume, and, if a neighboring player, indicates that it is a distraction, to further turn down the volume. Feedback on this issue will be solicited through the ChessMaine webpage, and some decision may be forthcoming at the January Committee Meeting.

6. No further revelations were offered as to the decline in participation over the past few years. Last year was only slightly smaller than the preceding year, but, as noted in the Treasurer’s report, the level of participation has dropped to where the entry fees no longer pay for the events and significant decline in the MACC treasury has occurred. This affects MACC’s ability to provide some support to players and teams moving on to Nationals.

7. The All-Girl’s event participation has also dropped. While this may mean that its purpose to raise participation and comfort level for girls’ participation in the regular events has been accomplished, it also means that we have lost a means of determining Maine’s representative to the prestigious Susan Polgar All-Girls Invitational. We have sent several players to this event over the past years, and all report having a great time with much of the cost subsidized by the Susan Polgar Foundation. To select a representative to this event, the Committee discussed and agreed to a scheme whereby an event would be held (February 9, 2013 as a tentative date), pre-registration only, to decide a champion. If an insufficient number of players pre-register (less than 4), then a representative would be selected as that active player with the highest USCF rating in the Mach 2013 Rating Supplement. The Polgar Invitational is scheduled to take place in late July 2013.

8. The current procedure of sending coaches to TDs first and then settling up with payment seems to have streamlined check-in and TD pairings for Round 1, and will be maintained.