President M. Reilly called the October Board Meeting to order at 3:04 PM at the Papa Gino’s in Natick. Twelve people were in attendance: President Maryanne Reilly, Vice-President Kenneth Ballou, Treasurer Robert Messenger, Clerk Nicholas Sterling, and Directors George Mirijanian, Alex Relyea, Brian Lafferty (departed 5:21 PM), Brian Mottershead, Warner Smith, Stephen Dann, Robert E. King, and one guest: Nita Patel.

Agenda of the October Board Meeting were distributed by President M. Reilly.

Minutes of the September Board Meeting were distributed by N. Sterling. G. Mirijanian requested all names on the Minutes to be typed out in full when mentioned for the first time. * * Motion (1009-1) made by B. Lafferty and seconded by A. Relyea; the September Minutes were unanimously approved. * *

Editor Search: G. Mirijanian reported that an online advertisement on Wednesday received one response from a possibly interested candidate, and that a short list has been compiled of other candidates who will shortly be solicited for the position.

Tournaments: K. Ballou passed around fliers for the Greater Boston Open (10/25/09 in Natick) and the Pillsbury Memorial Open (11/29/09 in Leominster). Together with the fliers was a MACA Tournament Survey. K. Ballou said that mailings went out the previous Tuesday containing all three of these documents, to current and Life Members and Members whose dates of expiration are within a year back, for a total of 415 envelopes.

Treasurer’s report was read by B. Messenger. Net loss for the General Fund as of 9/30/09: -$799.81. Net profit from the Fall Foliage Chess Festival: ca. $448.05 (after an additional ca. $700 expense not listed). * * Motion (1009-2) made by B. Lafferty and seconded by K. Ballou; the Treasurer’s report was unanimously accepted as read. * *

Membership: (a) B. Messenger read the Membership numbers as follows: Adults 204; Family 41; Junior 361; Life 218; Affiliate 1; Complimentary 6; Exchange 17; Library 5; Prison 237; Subscriber 52. * * Motion (1009-3) made by B. Lafferty and seconded by M. Reilly; the Membership report was unanimously accepted as read. * * (b) * * MOTION (1009-4) made by B. Messenger and seconded by K. Ballou to approve Calvin Hori of Wellesley as a Life Member. Motion passed unanimously. * *

Education: S. Dann reported: (a) There were two recent chess presentations delivered at libraries, one at Andover Public Library that was not a MACA event, and one at Plymouth Public Library overseen by R. E. King. The Plymouth event drew 5 librarians, but few other outside chess players. It may take persistence to see future events like these draw more players. (b) There is a pressing need for an Education-related page on the MACA website; M. Reilly asked S. Dann to supply her with a descriptive paragraph that she will forward to Tiffany. (c) As part of the Library Chess Challenge, S. Dann is working to get MACA-related information listed on the MA State Library website.

Public Relations: G. Mirijanian reported: (a) He is pleased at the prompt reporting of news on the MACA website, which gives the page real immediacy. (b) He would like to contact local newspapers to advertise the Pillsbury Memorial Open. (c) He would like to run an Auction at the next MA Open, at which on sale will be books from the MACA inventory currently kept in storage by Steve Frymer; A. Relyea commented that MACA must check whether they need permitting in Boxboro to do this, and what the procedure is for getting it if needed. * * Motion (1009-5) made by M. Reilly and seconded by B. Lafferty; the Membership report was unanimously accepted as read. * *

Scholastics: M. Reilly reported: (a) (i) The 1st Spiegel Cup Qualifier, held at Sage School in Foxboro on 10/4/09, received 100 players, and was generally regarded as a big success; M. Reilly thanked all those who participated. (ii) New Members joining at the Tournament were granted a discount $15 Tournament fee. (c) The 2nd Spiegel Cup Qualifier will be held on Saturday, 11/21/09 at BB&N School in Cambridge. (d) The 3rd Spiegel Cup Qualifier will be held in Hudson on Sunday, 12/6/09, with a back-up snow date of Sunday, 12/20/09. (d) Because Natick High School is no longer available as a site, there are two other places under consideration for the 4th Spiegel Cup Qualifier: Weston High School, and the Hilton Hotel in Woburn. An increasingly serious problem with schools is the need to bring in long rectangular tables from outside, as schools have generally given those up to be replaced by round tables. Therefore, we must consider hotels as alternative sites.

LMCF: B. Lafferty reported: (a) He has purchased, on behalf of MACA, 200 chess sets and chess boards at $790. (b) In response to a concern from G. Mirijanian, B. Lafferty said that he had previously submitted a full accounting of the whereabouts of LMCF sets and boards to Tiffany to publish on the website, but it has not yet been placed there. (c) 25 sets are slated for the Needham school system (M. Reilly). (d) G. Mirijanian requests 6 sets for Crocker Elementary School and 6 sets for McKay Elementary School, both in Fitchburg. (e) B. Lafferty asks to be relieved of the task of storing LMCF inventory at his house; in response to this, S. Dann suggested that an LMCF Committee, composed of Members living in several parts of MA, be formed that will enable more efficient transportation of sets and boards to schools that need them in widely separated parts of the state.

Prison: none

Old Business: none

New Business: (a) (i) An ADVANCE MOTION from B. Lafferty, which read, “Moved, that Chess Horizons be made an independent entity subject to funding by subscription costs and advertising. No funding of Chess Horizons from the MACA budget shall be permitted” was WITHDRAWN. 
(ii) * * MOTION (1009-6a) made by B. Lafferty and seconded by B. Mottershead, with FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS by B. Mottershead and K. Ballou (supported by W. Smith) that the next two issues of Chess Horizons (the last two within this fiscal year) be published within an interim budget not to exceed $3875 plus the combined amounts of donations, sales, and advertisement revenue raised over the period in question. (These figures were based on calculations made from prior expenses for this fiscal year to date.) 
(iii) * * MOTION (1009-6b) made by B. Messenger and seconded by S. Dann, with a FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by K. Ballou, that MOTION 1009-6a be referred to a Committee to be named (which was originally going to be the previously existing E-Zine Committee). 
(iv) * * MOTION (1009-6c) made by K. Ballou, after further discussion, to CALL THE QUESTION on MOTION 1009-6b. The VOTE was taken; with four votes in favor, four against, and two abstentions, the Motion was defeated. * * Discussion continued. 
(v) The VOTE was taken on MOTION 1009-6b; with six votes against versus four votes in favour, the Motion was defeated. * * 
(vi) The VOTE was taken on MOTION 1009-6a; with six votes in favor versus four votes against, the Motion passed. * * 
(vii) * * MOTION (1009-6d) made by M. Reilly and seconded by W. Smith, with a FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by K. Ballou, to form a Dues and Membership Restructuring Committee, with M. Reilly as Chair with authority to appoint Members. The VOTE was taken; the Motion passed unanimously. * * 

(b) Two ADVANCE MOTIONS from B. Lafferty, which read, “Moved, that funds in the LMCF shall be distributed in the memory of Gus Gosselin as follows: $5,000 to US Chess Trust, $5,000 to Kasparov Chess Foundation, $5,000 to America's Foundation for Chess, [and] the remaining monies will be used for the continued purcha