OCA Board Meeting Minutes – 29 January 2006
by Mike Swatek

An OCA Board meeting was held at the OKC Winter Open on Sunday morning of 29 January at 8:45am. Those participating included: President Chuck Unruh (presiding); VP John Dunlap; Treasurer Jim Gray; Secretary Mike Swatek; Members at Large Herschel Counts, Bill Molton and Ben Shaffer; and OCA Members Jeff Carter, Charles Unruh and Aaron Shaffer.  

President’s Report by Chuck Unruh:

The USCF has good leadership that is improving the financial outlook for the organization. Chuck is on the USCF Finance Committee and has a lot of confidence in the ability of Joel Channing as Committee Chair to do what needs to be done. Expect changes and improvements from the USCF.

The state of Oklahoma chess is also looking up. The participation in open events for all ages is still somewhat flat, due largely to the ongoing OCF fostered controversy. However, OSCO is having record turnouts at its tournaments this year. We’re starting to see more scholastic players moving up to open events, some new faces and a few others that are returning to chess after sitting out for some time.

Just like the USCF, the OCA is going to have to consider significant changes to encourage growth in open events for all ages. One of those changes is already under way with OCA encouragement of independent events that don’t require anything other than USCF membership. The new low cost USCF tournament memberships may also help to remove some of the cost barriers to chess tournaments and encourage more participation. It will also be interesting to see how some of the new tournament formats work out.

If anyone can provide a copy of the January OCQ it would be appreciated. A repeat of the OCF 2005 Grand Prix rules that actually caused financial harm as threatened to players and tournament organizers is not going to go unanswered this year.

Treasurer’s Report by Jim Gray:

The checking account was at $1466 plus another $135 in memberships received at the tournament. This is more than we started with in June 2003.

The largest single expense of the OCA is printing of the OCB, which consumes nearly all of the membership fees.

Patron memberships account for nearly half of the revenue.

OCA tournaments are neutral with break-even finances, in keeping with the business model of financially responsible tournaments.

Board members are no longer inflating membership numbers and revenue with memberships they bought themselves for large numbers of other people, as was happening before June 2003. Also, scholastic players are no longer forced to join the OCA and pay membership dues to play in scholastic tournaments. Conversely, unless they have voluntarily joined the OCA, OCBs are no longer sent to scholastic players, the cost of which is literally 60-100% greater than their $5 OCA dues.

Secretary’s Report by Mike Swatek:

The membership, including those joining at the OKC Winter Open, stands at 89. This includes: 24 Patrons, 46 Regular and 19 Youth. This number is down from about 120 due entirely to the longer time between OCA required tournaments to allow for more independent events. OCA members only join or renew at tournaments, with very few exceptions.

OSCO membership stands at 357 players that have participated in at least one of the first 4 OSCO Grand Prix tournaments this school year, plus many adult volunteers that make it all happen. Also, OSCO has processed 236 USCF memberships in relation with these tournaments. The most recent OSCO Grand Prix, the Jenks Winter Open, broke a record for the largest rated tournament in Oklahoma history with 229 players. The growth in Oklahoma scholastic chess is incredible this year with average tournament participation at almost twice that of last year.

USCF Delegate Nominations:

The current USCF Delegate has abused the trust of the Oklahoma USCF members with procedural attempts to take the USCF State Chapter Affiliate designation away from the OCA, without regard for the desires of most Oklahoma chess players. An attempt was made to give it to an organization that discriminates against chess players, does not represent the interests of ALL chess players, and does not have an open and democratic organization. Therefore, it is imperative that there be a change in the USCF Delegate and Alternate for Oklahoma.

The OCA Board has nominated Chuck Unruh to be on the top of the ballot for USCF Oklahoma Delegate. He has participated in the past two Annual Delegates Meetings at the US Open and is an active member of the USCF Finance Committee. Chuck has several long-time friends and new associates on the USCF Executive Board and some influential committees.

Jim Gray has been nominated to be second on the USCF Delegate ticket on which Oklahoma USCF Members age 16 and older will have two votes (Delegate and an Alternate). Jim has also been to the last two USCF Annual Delegates Meetings to represent the interests of ALL Oklahoma chess players. He is an active member of the USCF States Committee and has also developed many relationships in USCF leadership circles.

Chuck and Jim were both USCF Delegates at the USCF Annual Meeting the past two years, acting on the behalf of other states that were short representation.

Tournament Structure and Schedule for 2006

All OCA Championships have been visible on the Clearinghouse and website schedules for many months. There have been fewer OCA required events to make room for independent tournaments and make those more appealing without the added cost of OCA membership. Some of these are experimenting with new formats to provide variety and determine what appeals to players.

The Quick Chess Championship ad for Chess Life will be finalized by 10 February. It will not be announced until after the ad editing deadline, to address continuing concerns about conflicting events which have also been scheduled nearby on several occasions.

The OSCO 2006-7 tournament schedule has 8 Grand Prix events, four each in the OKC and Tulsa areas. Points will add up from the two state championships and any other 4 events. This may reduce scholastic participation in open events for all ages somewhat during the OSCO tournament season from October through March.

OSCO Update and Growth Forecast

Included in the prior topics for the most part.

New school clubs are participating in OSCO tournaments at every event this year and others have indicated an interest in doing so at future events.

The Premier section for players rated 1000 and over continues to grow and these players are starting to appear more often at open events for all ages.

Nominations for the OCA Policy Board in June

All positions on the OCA Board are up for election this year. Active members are needed for the Board to help distribute the effort. Those interested in an active role on the OCA Board to help advance chess for everyone in Oklahoma are encouraged to express their interest to the OCA leadership. The OCA Board will prepare a list of Nominees for the election, and floor nominations may be added to the ballot by the OCA Members present.

OCB Articles and Format

A list of the current content was provided for Board review and comment.

Herschel Counts recommended an article stating what all is available on the OCA website.

Adjourned for the 4th round of the OKC Winter Open