Where I live on the border of VT & NH, the nearest clubs are quite far in any direction. There is a very very small group of people here, and a few interested wanderers that are motivated enough to maybe begin ranked play. The problem is that the only one who has any idea how & what to do, and how ranked play & competition works is me. And “me” is a pretty poor player. Hilarious indeed the poorest player in skills having to teach those that are beginners. They learn the basics, but that is about it, and yes in time they beat me! LOL
Should the poorest player in the group run the club? Everyone is interested, but no one wants to be in charge. I don’t mind, in fact I would be excited to, but what kind of leader/organizer can I possibly make when I am the “easy win” whenever we meet?
It is not that they would refrain from having me lead them, they are all for it. But does that give our club a handicap in starting out? Does it affect anyone’s credibility? I would hate to see our players getting better only to be needled about “playing with those people?”
Or is the point of this whole post worthless, because it just might be that I am afraid to fail. HaHaHa…
The skills needed to start and run a chess club aren’t necessarily the same ones needed to be good at chess. Maybe you aren’t a good chess player, but perhaps you would make an excellent organizer. If you have the motivation, will power, and resources to start a club I say, “go for it!”
It doesn’t matter whether you are the strongest or the weakest player. If you decide to run the club and be the club tournament director your play capability won’t really matter.
Sure, you can teach the beginners the basics and they might get better than you. The internet is loaded with sites that teach and help people of most all levels get better. Also, don’t discount that you yourself can and will get better too.
Organizing a club and rated play takes time and attention on its own. A number of us have noted how organizing and directing a club and tournament makes one’s chess performance less.
Also, what it takes to run a tournament/club are real people skills. I know that when someone new comes into a club it is very good to welcome them and treat them nicely. It is also good for them to have some kind of success at the game while there as well.
If your club is small enough, you can direct and pair a tournament using index cards and the like. You can also get software that helps. SwissSys is a particularly easy one to use for pairing and running a tournament. I also have used it for running a club ladder, where not every game is USCF rated but “club” rated. It makes for some nice and friendly competition in the club. A nice thing that we do in Peoria and in the club I started about 3 years ago in a much smaller area, is to start everyone at the same rating. In Peoria we use 1600. When a person comes to club and plays in the night’s event they receive 15 points added to their rating before any changes are made by the program. This rewards participation as well as Chess success in the club. We end the year and reset everyone’s rating. The person with the highest rating at the end of the year is recognized as the year’s Ladder Champion.
Of course you can also use the online rating estimator on this web site to calculate the ratings instead of the programs.
Anyway, I certainly wouldn’t worry about being a “weak” player when starting a club and running tournaments. I know of a few successful and high quality directors that do not have a high playing rating.
Hello GUYVESTAL,
I was president of the Fresno Chess Club for two years. The club was started 80 years
ago. I was president at a time when most of the players were far, far better than me. I
have learned from that experience that chess playing ability is not really all that
important as a qualification for being a leader of a chess club (many of our
clubs members reassured me of that on many occaisions during my 2 years in
the leadership position). It turned out to be true. We accomplished some important
administrative things during my time.
I believe that leadership of a chess club requires basic leadership skills (that is all that
is required). The hardest thing to achieve is the friendly unity of the club. This type of unity
requires a leader with a vision and it requires that everyone treats everyone else with love
and respect while together at the club. This is the hardest job the president has, to maintain
the peace and tranquility of the club by requiring mutual respect of all members towards each
other . . . and for him/her to prevent any conflicts from developeing between club members.
May God bless you as the leader of your new chesss club.
Sincerely and respectfully
Aaron Hise
Fresno Chess Club
559-228-8089
VERY True. The skills to start and then run are not necessarily the same either. For example, the skillset
necessary in obtaining venues, working with landlords, marketing, promoting, etc, from a background,
are not necessarily the same as the meeting to meeting direction, or for that matter, the tournament direction
of a club. Truly successful clubs tend to have a "village " of interested helpers.
VERY True. The skills to start and then run are not necessarily the same either. For example, the skillset
necessary in obtaining venues, working with landlords, marketing, promoting, etc, from a background,
are not necessarily the same as the meeting to meeting direction, or for that matter, the tournament direction
of a club. Truly successful clubs tend to have a "village " of interested helpers.
VERY True. The skills to start and then run are not necessarily the same either. For example, the skillset
necessary in obtaining venues, working with landlords, marketing, promoting, etc, from a background,
are not necessarily the same as the meeting to meeting direction, or for that matter, the tournament direction
of a club. Truly successful clubs tend to have a "village " of interested helpers.
VERY True. The skills to start and then run are not necessarily the same either. For example, the skillset
necessary in obtaining venues, working with landlords, marketing, promoting, etc, from a background,
are not necessarily the same as the meeting to meeting direction, or for that matter, the tournament direction
of a club. Truly successful clubs tend to have a "village " of interested helpers.
From my own experience, I am not that strong a chess player (though I have managed in the last month to pull my rating up from 710 to a mighty 900). But I seem to have the right skill set for starting a chess club: Over the course of the last year, in a city with no measurable chess pulse before my arrival, I’ve managed to organize an active affiliate with more than 20 members that meets weekly and has held three successful tournaments, one of them fully USCF-rated. Being a strong chess player isn’t nearly as important as having a mental road map for growth, an attitude of openness toward anyone who comes along and expresses interest, and the constant urge to take what you’ve got and make it a little bit better.
One other thing that bears mentioning, even if it doesn’t apply to your situation: What makes a “good chess club” may vary considerably. In your post you mention both rated play and also learning chess. Those can be two very important objectives for a club. But the kind of leader who runs a club primarily devoted to study may require different skills from the kind of leader who runs a club devoted to directing tournaments.
And we haven’t gone through all the possibilities of why a club might exist. What about the social aspect of OTB play - maybe the club doesn’t particularly care if rated play opportunities exist. Or a club which exists as a means to fulfill a civic service. Heck, a ‘club’ might exist just to provide carpooling opportunities to larger tournaments and events.
“Good” clubs often fulfill several different objectives, and like any other body, clubs have the leadership that they have. But you might be well served in forming your club to regularly examine what the shared expectations of your group are. That will reveal what is needed in the leadership of the club. It will also provide the all-too-critical goals which will help you figure out how ‘good’ the club is doing by measuring how well it is meeting those expectations.
In the meantime, since you have the interest and energy to run with it… then run with it! And enjoy your chess throughout it.
I also agree that running a club and being a strong player, don’t have to go hand-in-hand. The founder of our club has found that he enjoys organizing/TDing more, and that since playing required continuous study, while organizing doesn’t, he can fit it into his schedule better.
Also, you may find that if your club get up and running, and you start playing more, you will improve as a player. Also, your group may want to travel to tournaments together, giving yourselves more opportunities to play/improve.
To paraphrase a bad t-shirt:
Chess clubs are a lot like pizza, when it’s good, it’s good. But even when it’s bad, it’s okay.
Hi guyvestal:
I used to live in Nashua and there used to be another NH player who ran some successful events in White River Junction. If you have not already done so, read the " How to build a chess club away from a major population center" article by Glenn Schmiege in the April 2010 Chess Life. I don’t agree with all his ideas, but they are all well thought out. My big disagreement is my belief that a club needs activities beyond just playing chess. I run a tournament almost every week at the Hampton Roads Chess Club and feel that this is what keeps my players interest. That said, you are much more rural than Norfolk or Nashua. Good Luck!
Regards, Ernie
Hi Ernie, do you run (or help) a democratic or authoritarian (or other) type of leadership at your club? Just curious as to how the democratic approach actually turns-out in practice.
We run a democratic type of club where we have a constitution and a fairly-well (it’s evolving) process for making decisions. How are we doing? Well, we are still finding out with the current approach, but here are some points to consider:
too much process (and people) can cause bottleneck and distract from chess.
voting honestly may bring shadow on abstainers.
keeping up and enforcing the rules (i.e. the club’s constitution) can take time, and lapses in such an effort creates holes causing chase & catch-up.
I would be very interested in hearing other points-of-view about types of club leadership and how the various approaches have worked out over time tried.
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Hi Mike:
Mostly authoritarian though I try to get the members to tell me what they want and help. Would like to get more members involved in organizing and running the club events.
When I ran the Charleston, SC club I created my first constitution. One of the articles was:
"The club is organized as a dictatorship. The president can do anything he wants up to and including appointing his successor"
I posted it and, sure enough, one of the players came up and complained about that article. I asked him if he did not like it and he said yes. I then said " in that case, I appoint you President so you can change it." He disappeared for about 6 months. Must have been afraid I was serious.
We actually don’t have members as we don’t charge a fee. The club functions are supported by the low entry fees charged for playing in the tournaments.
Hi Ernie. Our club has a similar “authoritarian” structure. But I consider it to be a benevolent dictatorship with the emphasis on benevolent. I will happily had off the running of the club to whoever wants to do the work to maintain the continuity. Our club has no constitution, no fee to belong. We take donations and run in the black. We have grown to 73 members who enjoy casual chess, tournaments about every four to six weeks, team play in the Pittsburgh Chess League, and other activities. To maintain the primarily social atmosphere, we prefer to do some non-chess things. These have included putting on a play, celebrating birthdays, and having a summer picnic. We have organized and taken kids to state and national scholastic championship. I have taught other people how to direct tournaments.
I agree that you do not have to have a high rating to run a club. Organizational skills plus having help from several other people in a club is more important. I am a 2200+ player, but I find myself greeting people, talking to parents, dealing with the management of Borders, or fussing with club matters more than playing. When I do play, it is with the kids, to teach them. I don’t play with touch move and give plenty of takebacks. My main concern is to develop and keep a positive chess culture. I have seen too many clubs that are quiet, dull, and dreary. I like a certain degree of noisy fun and the gentle teasing that chess players seem to be enamored with. I have told my club members who are USCF members to ignore the USCF Issues forum for it gives a depressing and distorted view of what is going on in chess in this country.
All a chess club needs to get started are some sets, tables, and players. The skill level of the players does not matter. In fact, there is a chess club in my city where the President is an Unrated USCF member. And, since I have played the President, I know that he has plenty of scope for learning. He is definitely not a Class-level player at this point of time. But, he is the most fervent member of the club, and he is the leader as well. The bottom line is that if the players in your area are very interested in and dedicated to chess, you are beyond fit to commence a chess club!
