APPROVED  MACA Board Meeting Minutes of October 27, 2000

                     

The meeting was called to order at 7:50 p.m. by President Harvey Reed  at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Waltham.  The attending members were (alpha list) Donna Alarie, Robert Cruickshank, Steven Frymer, William Gennert, Michael Hoffpauir, Mark Kaprielian and Harvey Reed.

 

Other demands on her time have prevented Treasurer Donna Alarie from completing  MACA’s financial reports.  As Membership Secretary she has been able to keep current in processing  a large number of memberships, but there is still a backlog of  previous ones. Under the State Affiliate Support Program (SASP) the U.S. Chess Federation will be paying MACA $1,102. that can be used for various expenses.

 

Motion 0128:  (Hoffpauir moved, Alarie seconded)  The motion to approve the minutes for the Board meeting on September 21, 2000  was passed without dissent.

 

In her report as Tournament Coordinator Donna Alarie noted that the agreement with the Sheraton for the U.S. Open 2001 tournament, scheduled for August  4-12, has had to be renegotiated many times.  The first meeting of the MACA planning committee for this event is being held on November 3.  The Denker tournament will be part of the U.S. Open schedule.  It will be an invitational to determine the high school student championship, and Massachusetts will have two participants.if there is an odd number. 

 

The Greater Boston Open lost about $2,000.  The replies to Donna’s questionnaire indicated that many potential players were too busy to participate in a full weekend tournament. 

 

Scholastics Coordinator Michael Hoffpauir gave a detailed report about future events.  The Fall Foliage tournament (November 19) will feature a “Parents’ Workshop” about the role of being a chess player’s parent.  The State Championships Cycle will have three qualifying tournaments in January-February.  The final championship event (February 25, 2001) will include the top seven players in each grade group and three qualifiers.  The Board accepted Michael’s report and commended him for his well-organized presentation. 

 

Mark Kaprielian mentioned that he has received calls from parents, asking where their children could play chess.  He refers them to the MACA Web site for scholastic and chess club information. 

 

Robert Cruickshank suggested that there should be a MACA presence at tournaments to encourage support and donations.  Harvey Reed asked him for an action plan that might include a MACA brochure, prepared from Web information. 

 

Bylaws Coordinator Mark Kaprielian said that his committee would be meeting soon.  His plan is to start with previously approved material and a review of the more important subjects first. Items such as the size of the Board, quorum requirements and voting by phone were given as examples. 

 

It was agreed that one person should be designated as the contact between the Editor of Chess Horizons and Board members.  Motion 0129:  (Reed moved, Gennert seconded)  The motion to appoint the President as the liaison between the Editor and the Board for matters of policy was passed with 6 in favor (Alarie, Cruickshank, Frymer, Gennert, Hoffpauir, Kaprielian) and 1 abstaining (Reed).

 

There was considerable discussion about aspects of Chess Horizons, including its funding, number of issues and paper quality.  Donna Alarie pointed out that there is no USCF requirement for the annual number of issues.  There are other sources of information about chess activities that include the Web site and e-zine.  It was generally agreed that the expense of producing the magazine has become too expensive.  Motion 0130:  (Reed moved, Kaprielian seconded)  The Board accepts as a matter of policy for Chess Horizons:  MACA recognizes that Chess Horizons provides a sense of community, in great part provided substantially by its record of events, and recognizing that MACA does not want to raise dues, and recognizing that MACA cannot afford the current cost structure of Chess Horizons,  MACA will continue to publish Chess Horizons as a high quality publication, with a minimum of 48 pages on a quarterly schedule for 2001, starting with January, 2001 and continuing with April, July and October.  This motion was passed with 6 in favor (Alarie, Cruickshank, Frymer, Hoffpauir, Kaprielian, Reed)  and 1 abstaining (Gennert).

 

Motion 0131:  (Alarie moved, Reed seconded)  The motion to approve B. Scott Andersen of Acton, MA and Daniel Clark of Cambridge,  MA as Life members was passed without dissent. 

Robert Cruickshank left the meeting at 10:35 p.m.

 

Motion 0132:  (Alarie moved, Kaprielian seconded)  The motion that the Board set the policy that the Editor of Chess Horizons receive 20% of the cost of the contract on new advertisements and that the Editor is also responsible for all invoicing of ads was passed without dissent.

 

Following the Clerk’s letter to all Chess Associations in New England and the replies we received, the Board agreed that our previous policy of providing discounted MACA memberships and Chess Horizons subscriptions for their members has been discontinued. 

 

The funding and scope of the Prison Chess program was discussed at length without reaching a decision.  This subject will be considered further at the next Board meeting.

 

The Board agreed that a maximum discount of $10. in the tournament entry fee could be offered to Senior players at the Tournament Director’s discretion.

 

The date and location for the next Board meeting will be determined later.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m.

 

 

                                                William R. Gennert

                                                Clerk