Advance Agenda 1998

1998 Delegates Meeting

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ADVANCE AGENDA FOR
THE 1998 USCF MEMBERSHIP MEETING

AUGUST 7, 1998, KONA, HAWAII

I. Welcome by USCF President Donald Schultz

II. Introduction of USCF Policy Board

Members and Staff

III. Old Business

IV. New Business

ADVANCE AGENDA FOR THE 1998 USCF BOARD OF DELEGATES MEETING

KONA, HAWAII, AUGUST 8 AND 9, 1998

I. CALL TO ORDER BY USCF PRESIDENT DONALD SCHULTZ

II. ROLL CALL OF DELEGATES.

ADM 98-01 (Harold Winston, IL): The Delegates re-elect as Delegates-At-Large those whose terms are expiring or have expired and who are present at this meeting (names to be filled in).

III. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE 1997 DELEGATES' MEETING.

ADM 98-02 (Rachel Lieberman, AZ): Moved, that the minutes of the 1997 Delegates' Meeting be accepted.

IV. CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION RESULTS - Note: No election was held in 1998.

V. REPORTS OF USCF OFFICERS AND STAFF.

A. Report of the President

B. Report of the Executive Director

C. Report of the Treasurer

The following motions are submitted as part of the Treasurer's report:

ADM 98-03 (Board): The 1998 - 99 budget as presented by the Treasurer is adopted.
ADM 98-04 (Board): The employment of the accounting firm of Stanley Marks and Company is ratified.

D. Report of the Editor of Chess Life

E. Report of the President of the US Chess Trust

VI. REPORTS OF THE FIDE DELEGATE AND ZONAL PRESIDENT.

VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS DELEGATE COMMITTEES - Note: Delegate Committees are appointed by the Delegates LMA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE - Report, related motions, and nomination and election of 1999 LMA Management Committee members:

OTHER COMMITTEES - Note: These Committees are appointed by the Policy Board and report to both the Delegates and the Policy Board.

VIII. MOTION TO RATIFY.

ADM 98-05 (Harold Winston, IL): The Delegates ratify all actions of the Policy Board appearing in the published minutes of the Policy Board meetings between the 1997 and 1998 Delegates meetings.

IX. OLD BUSINESS Any motions or reports arising out of past Delegate motions and any routine recurring motions should be considered here.

ADM 98-06 (Harold Winston, IL): Pursuant to Article III, Section 9 of the USCF Bylaws, the Delegates have reviewed the promotional memberships offered by the Policy Board in 1996 - 97 and authorize their continuation.

ADM 98-07 (Harold Winston, IL, and Bylaws Committee) - DISTRICTING - Referred to committee by DM 97-74.

Amend the new Bylaws section on election of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to add:

Upon resolution of the Board of Directors of a State Chapter, communicated in writing to the USCF Secretary prior to April 1 of an election year, a state may be divided into two voting districts for the purpose of insuring geographic representation. The resolution must specify how the division is to be made and how many Delegates and Alternate Delegates will be allocated to each district. The allocation shall be roughly proportional to the USCF membership in each district. Only voters in a district can vote for the Delegates and Alternate Delegates from that district.

X. NEW BUSINESS

The following motions deal with Election and Governance issues:

ADM 98-08 (Don Schultz, FL): For the 1999 USCF elections only, only those receiving votes from a majority of those who voted will be elected to the Policy Board. An exception to this is that at least four Policy Board members are to be elected whether or not they receive a majority.

ADM 98-09 (Henry Terrie, NH) The Delegates formally adopt a One Member One Vote election system for the Policy Board, to take effect for all elections in 2000 and afterward. The Bylaws Committee is instructed to prepare specific language for Bylaws amendments, which the Policy Board is hereby authorized to implement.

ADM 98-10 (Jim Eade, CA/N) - Any individual earning a substantial part of his or her income from chess related sources is prohibited from serving as President of the USCF.

ADM 98-11 (Jim Eade, CA/N) - The USCF President is prohibited from making any representation on behalf of the USCF between Policy Board meetings unless he or she has made a prior good faith effort to contact and solicit appropriate input from each Policy Board member. This policy shall be waived in emergency situations, where time sensitivity prevents such contacts.

The following motions deal with committees:

ADM 98-12 (Myron Lieberman, AZ) Accessibility by e-mail is to be considered a requirement for any USCF committee chair. The e-mail addresses for all committee chairs are to be published in Chess Life. If space is limited the street address can be omitted as long as the e-mail address is published.

Note: Current practice is for the street address to be published and there is no e-mail requirement.

ADM 98-13 (Jim Eade, CA/N) - USCF Committees, excepting those appointed by the Delegates, exist to advise and recommend, but may not make any ruling that affects the status of any member without ratification by the Policy Board, office, or Delegates.

ADM 98-14 (Jim Eade, CA/N) - All Delegate appointed committees must have Delegate approved charters. All actions taken by such committees must conform to the narrow confines of that charter.

ADM 98-15 (Don Schultz, FL): The LMA Management Committee shall publish an Annual Report showing the performance of the Fund's investments, the investments owned, the investment strategy, and an assessment of investment risks.

The following motions deal with the new Bylaws:

ADM 98-16 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) - Allocation of Alternate Delegates - Amend the new Bylaws to read: "Each state with 100 or more USCF members must have at least one Alternate Delegate; each state with at least 300 USCF members must have at least two Alternate Delegates."

ADM 98-17 (Guy Hoffman, WI; Hal Terrie, NH; Dave Kuhns, MN; Mike Nietman, WI) - Allocation of Delegates Amend the new Bylaws to add to the section on allocation of Delegates: "… each state with 500 or more USCF members must have at least two Delegates"

ADM 98-18 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) - Committees appointed by the Policy Board

Amend the new Bylaws to replace this section with: "The Policy Board shall appoint such subcommittees of the Policy Board or committees as it deems appropriate." (Delete all other wording in this section).

ADM 98-19 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) Committees appointed by the Delegates Amend the new Bylaws to read: "The Board of Delegates shall appoint the following committees: 1) Bylaws, 2) Life Member Assets, 3) Ethics. The Delegates may appoint any other committees as needed."

ADM 98-20 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) Number of persons required to nominate candidates for Policy Board. - Amend the new Bylaws to read "25", not "50".

ADM 98-21 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) Limit on holding office of presidency.

Amend the new Bylaws to add the wording "No person shall serve as President more than four consecutive years."

ADM 98-22 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) Additional Alternate Delegates

Amend the new Bylaws to add the wording " All previous Life Voting Members shall automatically be additional Alternate Delegates if they are not elected Delegates.

ADM 98-23 (Harold Winston, IL, and the Bylaws Committee) Appointment of tellers for recall elections.

Amend the new Bylaws to designate as the persons who choose the tellers the following: The Board member being recalled, and the first available (recall) petition signer, with the two tellers chosen selecting the third teller.

The following motions deal with Advance Delegate Motion (ADM) procedures:

ADM 98-24 (Jim Eade, CA/N) - All Delegate Votes on ADMs shall be recorded and published on the USCF web site.

ADM 98-25 (Bob Holliman, MO) - The USCF Secretary shall accept ADMs by e-mail. Any Delegate wishing to submit by e-mail must send a signed statement of their intent to the Secretary within 60 days of being elected/appointed a Delegate along with the address from which all e-mail ADMs shall be sent. The Secretary shall issue a password or numeric code which must be on each ADM as a method of authentication.

The following motions deal with election of additional Life Voting Members/Delegates at Large:

Please note: Per the current Bylaws, election as Life Voting Member requires a 3/4 vote in two consecutive Annual Meetings. Per the proposed new Bylaws, election as Delegate at Large has the same requirement. If these motions pass they will automatically be added to the 1999 meeting agenda.

ADM 98-26 (Jerry Hanken, CA/S; John Donaldson, WA; Steve Doyle, NJ; Al Lawrence, NY; Sylvester Robes, MI; Woodrow Harris, VA; John McCrary, SC; Myron Lieberman, AZ; Rachel Lieberman, AZ; Harry Sabine, TN; Tim Redman, TX; Fred Gruenberg, IL; Bill Snead, TX; Bill Goichberg, NY; Jim Eade, CA/N; Fan Adams, NY; Harold Winston, IL; Allen Hinshaw, VA ): Randy Hough (CA/S) and Frank Camaratta (FL) shall be elected Life Voting Members and Delegates-At-Large.

ADM 98-27 (Harold Winston, IL; Peter C. Nixon, MI; Roger Gotschall, IA; Sunil Weeramantry, NY): Resolved: That Faneuil Adams be elected a Life Voting Member and Delegate-At-Large for his many services to chess.

The following motions deal with Tournament Director Certification:

ADM 98-28 (Tim Just, IL): The Executive Director is not authorized to upgrade anyone's TD Certification level up to Local TD or Senior TD unless that individual has met all experience and testing requirements as outlined by TDCC rules and regulations.

ADM 98-29 (Tim Just, IL): All TD certificates upgraded to Local TD or Senior TD by the Executive Director since January 1, 1998, for individuals not meeting the experience or testing requirements as outlined by TDCC rules and regulations will be rolled back to their original level.

ADM 98-30 (Tim Just, IL): The Executive Director, in consultation with the TDCC, is authorized to upgrade anyone's TD certification level to either Local TD or Senior TD.

ADM 98-31 (Carol Jarecki, NJ; Guy Hoffman, WI - submitted independently): PB 98 37 is repealed.

The following motions deal with rules and the USCF rulebook:

ADM 98-32 (J. Jirousek, NE, on behalf of Bruce Draney, NE): The USCF shall immediately hire or appoint someone to begin work on a new fifth edition of the Official Rules of Chess. The intention will be to replace the current fourth edition within twelve months. This new fifth edition will include all new rules about the use of digital clocks in sudden death time controls and will offer more examples of how to settle disputes or to divide prizes correctly. As much as possible, the new rulebook shall attempt to simplify, clarify, and to put the book in less complicated language. The new book shall include only USCF's rules, and FIDE's rules should be published separately. A strong effort should be made to improve the index and table of contents placing rulings of similar nature on the same or adjacent pages. As much as possible the index should contain cross referencing so that important rulings can be found without having to look up a single key word and no other.

ADM 98-33 (Randy Hough, CA/S): Effective January 1, 1999, all tournaments without exception advertised in Chess Life, in Tournament Life, or elsewhere, shall be required to pay at least 50% of any prize advertised. Minimum penalty for violation of this rule shall be disqualification from advertising in Chess Life for one year. Additional penalties may be imposed at the discretion of the Executive Director.

Rationale: Players are entitled to a clear, universal, "truth in advertising" standard. As current rules stand some advertised prizes need not be paid at all. For instance, a Grand Prix tournament with a "based on" prize fund of $500 or less must pay the guaranteed top prize, but would not have to pay ANY of the other advertised prizes in the event of a poor turnout.

The following motions deal with the USCF web site:

ADM 98-34 (Ralph Bowman, KS): On the first business day of each month, beginning January 1999, the US Chess Office will upload to the Internet the latest ratings. The Internet postings shall be considered an official published USCF rating and may be used for tournament ratings.

ADM 98-35 (Don Schultz, FL): All volunteer expense requests and reimbursements shall be included in a special section of the USCF web site, which is publicly accessible.

ADM 98-36 (Bob Holliman, MO; Myron Lieberman, AZ) - The USCF shall continue to publish the Club Directory in both printed and online format. The printed version is to be reprinted no less frequently than annually, while the online version is to be updated no less frequently than monthly. If no changes are received in a one month period of time the online version is to be updated within a week after the next change is received.

The following motion deals with Chess Life:

ADM 98-37 (Jim Eade, CA/N): All policies governing the contents of Chess Life are repealed at the time the 1999 annual convention convenes.

The following motions deal with personnel issues:

ADM 98-38 (Jim Eade, CA/N): The Executive Director's yearly goals and objectives will be negotiated at the first Policy Board meeting following the Annual Meeting.

ADM 98-39 (Jim Eade, CA/N): The Chess Life Editor's annual performance review will be circulated via the confidential BINFO system at least two weeks prior to the Annual Meeting.

The following motion deals with scholastic dues:

ADM 98-40 (Leroy Dubeck, NJ; Denis Barry, AZ; Tim Redman, TX; Bob Smith, FL; Herman Drenth, NJ; James Pechac, OH; Fan Adams, NY; Myron Lieberman, AZ; Rachel Lieberman, AZ; Bill Goichberg, NY; Garrett Scott, IL; Jim Eade, CA/N; Tom Dorsch, CA/N; Carolyn Withgitt, CA/N; Richard Koepcke, CA/N): The Delegates instruct the Scholastic Committee and the Finance Committee to analyze the present scholastic dues structure and report their analysis and recommendations to the 1999 Delegates' Meeting.

The following motions deal with rating and rating publication issues:

ADM 98-41 (Guy Hoffman, WI): Ratings below the published rating floor shall be maintained by the office and used for subsequent rating calculations.

ADM 98-42 (George John, TX): To encourage submissions of (rating) reports in a timely manner, grant a 10% discount off the normal rating fee for all reports mailed as required under the current rules (seven days after the completion of the tournament). Impose a late fee for those reports mailed after a one month grace period. An additional late fee shall be imposed for each additional month that a report has been submitted late. The minimum late fee shall be the rating fee for the tournament. Recognizing that the rating fee may be only a small percentage of a major tournament, each late fee may be as much as 10% of the entry fees. Furthermore, clubs that fail to submit a report after four months or are frequently late (10% or more of all reports are late in a six month period) may face tournament director and/or affiliate suspensions not less than one week and not greater than one year at the discretion of the USCF Technical Director.

ADM 98-43 (George John, TX): Publish a strict cutoff date for the August (rating) supplement. The motivation for this proposal is that the August supplement is used to determine the scholastic USCF/Pressman All-American team.

ADM 98-44 (George John, TX): Recompute the ratings in correct order to determine All-American status. The motivation for this is that out of order calculations due to late reports distort ratings and can result in a student being denied All-American status.

ADM 98-45 (George John, TX): Grant the Policy Board the power to implement a Life Title system. The motivation for this is to establish a suitable replacement for the Life Title system that was eliminated by the Delegates. Waiting for the Delegates to propose and vote into place a new system is simply too slow. The Rating Committee can propose a high quality replacement that could be immediately approved by the Policy Board for quick implementation.

ADM 98-46 (George John, TX): Extend the Youth Membership rate to all full-time college students (limited to age 23 and under).

ADM 98-47 (Board): Moved, that the following system of Life Achievement Awards, based on a recommendation of the Ratings Committee, be adopted.

ADM 98-48 (Schultz, FL): The use of a professional stenographer as described in the Blue Ribbon bylaws is not intended to mandate verbatim transcripts and is optional. If a stenographer is not used, USCF staff shall provide a meeting report for confirmation by the Secretary.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

USCF recognizes Life Achievement by a series of awards. There is one award for each rating Class, ranging from Senior Master to Class J. Awards are based on maintaining an established rating in the Class for a significant number of games. The number of games required depends on the Class. This system is an extension of the Original Life Master award. Except for addition of the "Special Rules" listed below the table, the requirements for the Original Life Master award are unchanged by this proposal.

DETAILS

The office currently maintains a counter for games toward the Original Life Master title. When a player's post-event established rating is greater than or equal to 2200, then the number of games played in that event is credited towards the Original Life Master title. When this counter reaches 300, the Original Life Master title is awarded.

This proposal extends that proposal to every Class recognized by the USCF (currently Senior Master through Class J). For each Class, a separate counter will be maintained and a separate title awarded (see below for title names). When a player's post-event established rating is greater than or equal to the lowest rating for a particular Class, the counters for that Class and all lower Classes will be incremented by the number of games played in that event. The counter is incremented before the player's rating floor is applied in the rating calculation. Thus, a player with a 1600 rating floor whose rating drops below 1600 prior to the floor raising it back to 1600 would not have the Second Category counter, corresponding to Class B, incremented. Players with provisional post-event ratings do not have their counters incremented. Each title requires a separate number of games, according to the table below:

SPECIAL RULES

Games shall be counted toward titles only if the player completes his or her schedule, in a tournament of at least three rounds, with no forfeit losses. Games played in matches shall not be counted.

TITLE AWARDS

The issue of which awards should be mailed to players by the office, and under what circumstances, is referred to the Executive Director.

REPORTING PROGRESS

The issue of how a player's title and progress toward the next higher title should be displayed on mailing labels and in rating supplements is referred to the Executive Director.

TRANSITION

To ease the transition to this system, the counters for every current player should be initialized by scanning tournament records from 1991 forward. Original Life Master counters should not be changed (some may include games played before 1991). Initial awards should be made based on this retrospective scan of the records. New players have their counters set to zero and start accumulating games in the first event in which their post-event rating is established. The issue of whether credit may be given, upon request, for games played prior to 1991 is referred to the Executive Director. The proposed system applies only to "standard" time-control events, and not to Quick Chess or correspondence events.

INTERPRETATION

The interpretation of the Life Achievement awards necessarily varies somewhat over the range from Senior Master to Class J. At the lower end of the scale, the award can be seen as a "participation" award, recognizing a significant number of games played. At the top end, the Original Life Master award remains as recognition of a significant number of games at a very high standard of play, and the new Life Senior Master award should be even more prestigious. It is possible that slowly improving, but very active, players may collect a series of Life Achievement awards as they improve. Life Achievement awards are not intended to be "terminal." However, it is expected that most players will receive at most 2 or 3 such awards, with the final award recognizing the effort required to maintain their individual peak standard of play. Just as with current players striving for the Original Life Master award, it provides an incentive for a player at his plateau to continue playing.

XI. PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATE OF GOVERNANCE

Note: Certificate to be given to Faneuil Adams, outgoing Member-At-Large

XII. INSTALLATION OF NEW POLICY BOARD MEMBER

Note: No election was held in 1998.

XIII. ADJOURNMENT

Class Name Life Title Name Rating Range Games Required

Senior Master Life Senior Master 2400 & up 300

Master Original Life Master 2200-2399 300

Expert Life Expert 2000-2199 200

Class A 1st Category 1800-1999 200

Class B 2nd Category 1600-1799 150

Class C 3rd Category 1400-1599 100