He resigned, but he didn’t quite resign. Does that sound familiar?
Club chairman Alan Palmer “did a Boris” at the Battersea Chess Club AGM last night when suggested he was stepping down, but didn’t quite hand over the baton.
Today the redoubtable Alan, to the relief of the club, finds himself still in post after his arm was twisted to stay on.
The same is true of the club secretary, Your Correspondent, whose heartfelt plea for freedom fell on deaf ears, although David Blackwell kindly agreed to step in initially in a Membership Officer role – and hopefully transitioning to more.
Midhun Unnikrishan, our trusty first-team captain, also finds himself still in a post he tried to resign from. Midhun had seemed resolved to step down but agreed to stay on another year.
In more voluntary appointments, the club appointed a new treasurer in Florence Borrelly, who will be a welcome new face on the committee. The club also welcomes its first Women’s captain and Women’s Recruitment Officer, Zoya Boozorginia with a view to establishing a new female-led team.
Also new is a Junior Recruitment Officer post now occupied by Fabio Buanne.
Away from the election of officers, decisions made at the AGM mean Battersea will seek to enter the Surrey League’s Alexander Cup, with Blair Connell as captain.
Subs will remain the same and the club will hope to attract a similar number of members this as it did in 2021-22 which 121 members signed up.
The club paid tribute to Derek Harvey who sadly passed away this year.
Tweaks to improve the internal Grand Prix and Club Championship were discussed and plans for the traditional club Blitz Tournament over the summer were mooted.
At this stage, Battersea intends to field the same number of teams in the London Chess League and the Central London Chess League as it did at the start of the 2019 season, before the pandemic.
The club will also support the London League’s proposal to return to the unified structure it had in 2019 which will be discussed at the league’s AGM tonight.
Twenty-four members attended, six of whom joined online. Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated at a later date.
