2011-12 season was an eventful year!
The European Club Cup in Slovenia (24th September - 2nd October) where Adare and Gonzaga competed. Adare came 49th and Gonzaga 53rd from 64 teams.
Super GM Veselin Topalov played in Dublin against four of our top players (GM Alex Baburin, IM Sam Collins, IM Alex Lopez , IM Mark Quinn): the result was 22.
The World Youth Championship was held in Brazil (17th-27th November) and Ireland was represented just at U12 by Diana Mirza.
Also in November was the Kilkenny Congress.
February: Bunratty Chess Festival was the strongest tournament ever held in Ireland: 10 GMs and 11 IMs. 3 English GMs shared first place: Michael Adams, Nigel Short and Gawain Jones. For this tournament I brought other two Grand Masters: GM Andrei Istratescu and GM Constantin Ionescu. They both gave also simultaneous and excellent lectures in St.Michael's Chess Club, Limerick. Nigel Short was giving simultaneous in Dublin and Ennis.
March: The Irish Junior Championship in Kilkenny and Cork Congress.
April: e2e4 Dublin Easter International and NCC Adare retained the title: National Club Champions even if there were implemented new rules in the middle of the season, Adare having the privation of one of their best player who played for the team board 1 also in ECC and in the Munster League. This International Master (ICU member for last 3 years) is still waiting to hear from the current ICU chairman who did not answer to his email.
The required (April) EGM was rescheduled for May.
EGM
Following the change of the Rules for the NCC in mid-season: John Alfred of Adare Chess Club contested this decision by calling an EGM to reverse the Change of Rules in Mid-Season. Up to 60 names signed the Motion to reverse the Rules change.
A date was set for the EGM and then before the actual date it was noticed by Mr Pat Fitzsimons that the required notice was out by one clear day, and the EGM had to be cancelled.
At the next ICU meeting which I was unable to attend, a date was set for an alternative day for the EGM. The date chosen was the same date that the proposer was holding his Chess Monthly in Limerick and which had been advertised 7 months before and which was available for the Committee to see. Clearly the Proposer of the Motion would be unable to attend.
At the same ICU meeting it was decided to remove me from Office. I had not been asked to see if I was available to attend the proposed date of the EGM. I produced proof that I had booked and paid for a flight abroad prior to the ICU committee meeting and would be out of the country on the date of the EGM.
Public notice of the EGM to remove the Secretary was posted on the ICU website which can be seen worldwide, leaving the ICU open to a possible charge of Libel.
Also of relevance to the EGM date was that it was being held after the NCC finals. The EGM Motion proposer informed the Committee that his Motion had expired with the holding of the NCC finals, and that he had been able to let 40 of the 60 people who signed the EGM Motion know that the Motion had expired, and that he would be not attending a now out-of date EGM (He also could not attend because it clashed with his Chess Monthly).
The ICU Arbitration Officer was asked for his opinion on the validity of the EGM, but he never replied.
The EGM went ahead, and it was decided by the Chairman that the Motion to reverse the Rules change mid-season would be voted on. When it was pointed out that the NCC finals had already been held and the Motion was now invalid, he said that in the event of the Motion passing, the result of the NCC finals would be cancelled and only one team might be allowed go to the ECC finals.
The Motion (which many considered had expired) failed.
The Motion to remove me from Office was then addressed. Mr Andrew Ingram pointed out on a Point of Order that the Motion was invalid as it had not been called by the Secretary, as required by the Constitution. Some discussion followed, and the Chairman withdrew the Motion to remove me.
At the next ICU Committee Meeting, a Motion was proposed to remove me. Agreement could not be reached on how many votes were needed to carry the Motion and this Motion also failed.
No minutes were produced from the EGM (maybe "your chairman" has them).
Minutes of Internal ICU Committee Meetings
During the January ICU meeting which was held on Skype, I was disconnected and nobody noticed that I had gone. Additional notes were not recorded. At the February ICU meeting (held in Dublin City Club where I was physically present) my minutes were rejected by the chairman without a vote being taken. The vice-chairman was asked by the chairman to record the minutes. This eventually lead to attempts to remove me as secretary. All these attempts failed.
Another controversial subject in those Skype meetings and emails was about The Olympic Teams Captains.
Other Events
Summer events: Irish Championship in Dublin FM Colm Daly and FM Stephen Brady again Irish Champions (they both were past Irish champions as well).
Glorney Cup and the associated events were disputed in Daventry, England. Our juniors travelled with their parents and two young Irish coaches FM David Fitzsimons and FM Ryan-Rhys Griffiths. Best Irish performances were from John Cormican (Glorney), Peter Cooke (U14), Jeffrey Alfred (U12) and Diana Mirza in the girls "Jessica Gilbert" Cup.
The World Junior U20 Championship took place in Athens, Greece (1st-16th August) and Ireland was represented by FM Ryan Griffiths who finished on the 48th place.
At the EU Youth Championship (Mureck, 31st July - 8th August), Ireland had four players, one at each category. Diana Mirza won the silver medal at Girls U12 (the previous year she received the bronze medal at U14).
The European Youth Championship U8-U18 was in Prague, Czech Republic where I went with 10 players and 9 parents. Again Diana Mirza had a good performance with 6 points from 9 obtaining the 15th place out of 100 best European girls. Here in Prague I participated at the FIDE Trainers Seminar and after the exams I achieved the Fide Instructor title.
At the Olympiad, Istambul, Turkey (27th August 10TH September) our Men Team came 87th from 150 teams, while the women team 80th from 127 teams. Excellent performance from Monika Gedvilaite who achieved the WFM title; Karina Kruk (who played also the EYCC in Prague and will go also to WYCC in Maribor) got the WCM title. Pity that IM Alex Lopez (with 7 points from 10 games) missed the GM norm.
The last FIDE event where the invited Irish juniors will participate this year will be the World Youth Championship in Maribor, Slovenia (7th 19th November). Also for this international event I completed all the forms and the required documents.
The organizers are still waiting from ICU to receive the payment for which the parents already lodged their fees to the ICU Bank Account.
Summary
Apart from all the above events, I informed all the ICU executive and I advertised about many other International events for the benefit of our ICU members, as they should be informed and our players to take part. I will keep informing our officers about (hoping to see this updated on the ICU web) and I dealt with all the Irish Chess Union correspondence.