Massachusetts Chess Association

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, July 19, 2022, 7:30pm

Boylston Chess Club, 40 Norris St., Cambridge, MA and via Zoom

ATTENDEES: Andrew Hoy (President), Robert Messenger (Treasurer and Membership Secretary), Jeffrey Caruso (Clerk), and Directors Igor Klempf, Alonzo Ross, and Elsie Smits.  Director Dmitry Barash joined later.

CALLED TO ORDER at 7:33 p.m.

1. Minutes

MOTION (AH/AR): to approve the minutes of the June 15, 2022 Executive Board meeting.  Passed 6-0.

2. Membership Report

Mr. Messenger presented the membership report (appended).

3. Club updates

Mr. Hoy reported some recent club news:

1.     The Massachusetts High School Chess League Championship was held at the Boylston Chess Club.  The MHSCL is a student-run league, originally playing online, and they decided to hold their championship in-person.  BCC supplied the venue and refreshments.

2.     The Boylston Chess Club will move to its new Boston quarters in October. They plan to kick things off by hosting a tournament in early October.

Mr. Barash joined the meeting.

4. Executive Session

The Board met in Executive Session from 7:46 p.m. to 8:06 p.m.

5. Tournaments

Mr. Messenger reviewed the tournament schedule for the fall. All MACA-organized tournaments except the MA Senior Open have been assigned dates:

First Spiegel Qualifier – Sept. 18

Greater Boston Open – Oct. 23

Second Spiegel Qualifier – Nov. 13

Pillsbury Memorial – Dec. 4

The New England Open (Sep. 3-5) will not have scholastic sections but will be changed to include an Under-400 section. When this was considered for the MA Open there were concerns that we might overflow the space available, and we still have some concerns but will try this format.

6. Scholastic Tournaments

In light of the fact that there were no scholastic sections at the MA Open, Mr. Barash proposed expanding the tournament schedule for scholastic tournaments. We have good coverage in the Spring, so it would make sense to schedule one in the fall.  The Scholastic Committee will consider this further.

7. Next meeting

Unanimous consent motion (AH): the next meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, at 7:30pm at the Boylston Chess Club, 40 Norris St., Cambridge, MA.  Passed without objection.

ADJOURNED at 8:47 p.m.

Minutes written by Jeffrey Caruso, MACA Clerk