MACA Board Meeting Minutes
February 13th 2011
Burger King, Chelmsford
Minutes prepared by Bob Messenger
President George Mirijanian called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. Present were Vice President Steve Frymer, Treasurer Bob Messenger (acting as Clerk), Director Stephen Dann, and guest Robert E. King. A quorum (four out of seven board members) was present.
In the absence of Clerk Brian Mottershead there were no minutes of the January board meeting.
MOTION 0211-1: Mr. Mirijanian nominated Robert E. King to fill a vacancy as a Director. There was no objection to voting by secret ballot. The motion PASSED.
Mr. Mirijanian gave the president’s report. He commended several MACA volunteers for a successful Barry S. Spiegel Cup scholastic championship and Holiday Team Challenge.
Mr. Messenger presented the treasurer’s report. There was net income in January of $1,962.22 in the General Fund and $2,717.81 overall, with total fund balances of $54,529.39. Scholastic Qualifier #4, held in Woburn on January 9th, had net income of $1,248.85; the Holiday Team Challenge, held in Boxborough on January 23rd, had net income of $950.65; and the Barry S. Spiegel Cup, held February 6th in Woburn, had expenses of $1,375.00, with no income since entry was free to players who qualified for the tournament.
Mr. Messenger presented the membership secretary’s report. There were 719 members, 603 people receiving Chess Horizons, and 1055 people with current expiration dates in the database.
In the absence of scholastic chair Brian Mottershead there was no scholastic committee report. Mr. Messenger brought up the question of Massachusetts naming its representative to the K-8 Tournament of State Champions.
MOTION 0211-2: To name Andrew Wang as the Massachusetts representative at the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions, and to name Grant Xu as the Massachusetts representative at the K-8 Tournament of State Champions (Messenger/Frymer). PASSED without dissent.
MOTION 0211-3: MACA will pay up to $500 each from the Living Memorial Chess Fund to reimburse expenses to the Massachusetts representatives at the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions and the K-8 Tournament of State Champions (Messenger/Mirijanian). PASSED without dissent.
Mr. Messenger presented the tournament committee report. The Massachusetts G/60 Championship will be held April 17th at the Four Points by Sheraton in Leominster and the Massachusetts Open will be held on Memorial Day weekend at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough.
The tournament committee presented its proposal for MACA’s bid on the New England Open.
MOTION 0211-4: The 71st New England Open will be held on Labor Day weekend, September 3-5 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Leominster. There will be 3-day and 2-day schedules in the main tournament, plus scholastic side events each day. There will be no adult side events. The hotel is charging $700 per day plus a 20% administrative fee for function room space, total $2,520, with a room rate of $85 for players staying at the hotel ($110 for Executive King rooms).
Main tournament:
6 round Swiss. Time control is 40/2, SD/1 in the 3-day section, G/45 for the first three rounds in 2-day.
Prizes: $3,000 75% guaranteed based on 100 players.
Entry fee: $49 3-day or $48 2-day in advance, $60 at the door. Discounts TBD.
Scholastic side events:
Two sections each day, one age group each day (K-12, K-6, K-3).
Time control is G/45 for K-12 and K-6, G/30 for K-3.
Trophies to the top 3 players in each section. Medals to players scoring 3+ points or tieing with a trophy winner and not getting a trophy.
Entry fee is $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
Other details (sections, prize structure, byes, etc.) will be determined by the MACA tournament committee.
Moved by the tournament committee. PASSED without dissent.
Mr. Messenger reported for the publications committee. The January-March issue of Chess Horizons is extremely late because of other demands on Mr. Messenger’s time. Mr. Messenger told the board that the photography editor, Warner Smith, was planning to create a cover for the issue that was a montage of photographs of various players at MACA tournaments, the “Faces of MACA”, and that he wanted to hold a contest for the first person to correctly name all the people on the cover. MACA board members and Chess Horizons staff members would not be eligible. The prize would be a free entry in the Massachusetts Open. There was no objection.
MOTION 0211-5: To appoint George Mirijanian as the editor of Chess Horizons, beginning with the April-June issue, on the condition that Max Sewell continues as layout editor (Messenger/Dann). PASSED without dissent.
The board discussed the coming MACA election.
MOTION 0211-6: To appoint Ken Belt as the chair of the elections commission (Messenger/Dann). PASSED without dissent.
MOTION 0211-7: To appoint Stephen Dann to fill a vacancy as a member of the elections commission (Messenger/King). PASSED without dissent.
The bylaws committee had no report on Motion 1210-5a allowing email voting on board motions, which was referred to the bylaws committee at the December meeting.
MOTION 0211-8: To adopt as a standing rule of the MACA board that minutes of board meetings may be posted on the MACA web site one week or more after the meeting if approved by a majority of board members who were present at the meeting. Voting will be conducted and the results certified by the MACA president (Messenger/Mirijanian). PASSED without dissent.
Mr. Dann reported that the volunteer committee would award a plaque to the MACA Committee Member of the Year at the annual meeting.
It was the sense of the board that the president would determine the date, time and location of the March board meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 5:36 p.m.
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