Massachusetts Chess Association
Board of Director Meeting Minutes
Thursday, April 5, 2018, 7:00pm
Panera Bread, Cambridge, MA
ATTENDEES: Nathan Smolensky (President), John Sadoff (Vice President), Bob Messenger (Treasurer), Andrew Hoy (Clerk), Paul Arond, Dmitry Barash, Jeffrey Caruso, Steve Frymer, Oleg Poliannikov, and Steven Winer.
NEXT BOARD MEETING: MACA annual meeting, May 28 at the MA Open
1. Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Approval of minutes from the February 22, 2018 board meeting (NS/OP).
VOTE: Passed, 8-0
2. Committee Reports
Financial/Membership
Specific financial data was distributed to the board and discussed. The 4th qualifier had an $1110 profit, up from $275 last year. The Spiegel Cup had a loss of $1059, but that was an improvement of $100 from last year. Total membership since the last board meeting has increased by 16 members.
Election
Paper ballots have been prepared for the annual meeting. 8 copies will be mailed to members.
Publications
Material for Chess Horizons has been coming in, but more is still needed. Nathan hopes to deliver an issue in May, likely a double issue. If that does not work out, then hopefully after the Mass Open there will be additional material to support a publication.
Education
Pilot programs are currently underway in Somerville’s JFK Elementary School. Existing pilots at the West Somerville Neighborhood School are going well, especially the Pre-K program. The Education Committee is hoping to revise and update the guide for educators with assistance from the pilot program and chess educators around the area to prepare for new programs in the fall.
Investment
After discussion via email, the following motion was submitted:
MOTION: Open a Vanguard Federal Money Market fund online with funds up to but not exceeding $30,000 (PA/RM).
VOTE: Passed, 10-0
Library
A donation of books has been arranged and Steve Frymer has received about 100 so far. These books will support on-going programs. Additionally, Oleg Poliannikov anticipates receiving a box of old Chess Life magazines which will be used for the Prison and Library programs.
3. Chess Horizons
Publishing a quarterly magazine has become very expensive, including printing costs and the costs to have regular feature articles. The MACA board thinks that it can better use the resources for other programs and still offer timely periodicals delivered online through the masschess.org website.
MOTION: Terminate publication of printed Chess Horizons at the end of the 2019 budget year (NS/SW).
VOTE: Passed, 6-3-1
FOR: Nathan Smolensky, John Sadoff, Paul Arond, Dimitry Barash, Oleg Poliannikov, Steven Winer
AGAINST: Bob Messenger, Andrew Hoy, Jeffrey Caruso
ABSTAIN: Steve Frymer
MOTION: Prorate memberships for printed Chess Horizons received during the phase out of the periodical at a rate of $2 per issue (BM/PA).
VOTE: Passed, 10-0
4. Spiegel Cup Series
Many players do not know about the SCS qualification, and although several players do try to qualify via the SCS spot, the SCS qualifiers have historically been in the lower half of the results of the Spiegel Cup Finals. On the other hand, the SCS does support the clubs in Massachusetts. The scholastic committee might reconsider the SCS parameters, including limiting the number of SCS events that count for points (for example, the top 4 results count towards SCS qualifying points). Finally, the scholastic committee and the MACA board wish to thank Dimitry Barash for organizing the program and building the MACA affiliate system.
MOTION: Remove the qualification slot that goes to the winner of the SCS (SW/SF).
VOTE: Defeated, 3-5-2
5. Thank outgoing board members
MOTION: Thank the outgoing board members for their service to MACA. Sincere thanks to Tiffany Wang and Lawrence Gladding for their dedication and volunteerism to Massachusetts chess.
VOTE: Passed unanimously.
6. Next Meeting
Next meeting will be at the Massachusetts Open on the morning of May 28th.
MOTION TO ADJOURN
VOTE: Passed by acclamation |