Who can vote in state affiliate elections?

All Things Chess
1

I am a board member of the Missouri Chess Association, the USCF State Affiliate.

Some BOD members have proposed a new amendment that says ONLY USCF members can vote in the Missouri Chess Association election even though they are members of the MCA in good standing.

We feel that this violates the USCF By-Laws. Article VIII Section 2

"Each State shall guide the chess activity within the state in a manner that provides representation to all groups of chessplayers within its state."
I own The Chess Club powerpawn.net with 35 members and around 100 casual players and chess parents. We feel that our MIssouri Chess Association members who are NOT USCF members are being discriminated against. The Missouri Chess Association is NOT providing “representation to all groups of chessplayers.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau daily feature for February 10, ‘Some 7 million people in the U.S. enjoy playing chess at least once a year without the aid of a computer or playing against one. More than 900,000 play at least twice a week.’ • There are currently about 300 million Americans.

We are using the USCF by-laws we found on the web which are below.

Many of our members would like to vote because our chess club is being attacked. We have a club in a shopping mall with over a $1,000 a month in rent and bills. So this is a serious matter. We run hundreds of USCF tournaments per year. Please check are stats on ucchess.org. A6017882

Thanks for your time,

Ken Fee Owner of The Chess Club A6017882 powerpawn.net Missouri Chess Association BOD member

Article VIII: Organizational Units.
Section 1. State Chapters. Every state (the District of Columbia being treated as a state for all Federation purposes and Northern and Southern California being treated as separate states for all Federation purposes) shall be entitled to have an affiliate designated as the State Chapter, provided that any state having more than 5000 members may have two state chapters divided along geographical lines. Credentials of affiliates applying for designation as State Chapters submitted before June 1 shall be presented by the Executive Board to the Board of Delegates with recommendations, if any, one month before the next Annual Meeting. Credentials submitted after June 1 shall be presented by the Executive Board to the Board of Delegates one month before the Annual Meeting of the following year.
Section 2. Functions. Each State shall guide the chess activity within the state in a manner that provides representation to all groups of chessplayers within its state. Each State Chapter shall nominate Delegates and Alternate Delegates as provided in Article V Section 4 of these Bylaws. Each State Chapter shall fulfill other responsibilities as the Board of Delegates may from time to time designate.
Section 3. Affiliates. Any organization of chessplayers may affiliate with the Federation upon payment of the fee of $40 per year. Any organization of chessplayers who are exclusively scholastic players may affiliate with the Federation as a Scholastic Affiliate upon payment of the fee of $40 per year. Any organization of chessplayers who are incarcerated in a penal institution may affiliate with the Federation as a Prison Affiliate upon the payment of the fee of $15 per year. Affiliation does not constitute the affiliate as an agent of the USCF for any purpose.
Section 4. Rights and privileges. Each affiliate shall:
(a) Receive a subscription to Chess Life.
(b) be entitled to conduct USCF-rated tournaments in accordance with USCF tournament rules

Ken Fee 816-835-7529
powerpawn.net
kcchess.org

2

I don’t think your reasoning holds up. There is no requirement for a specific governance structure for State Chapters in the USCF Bylaws. All of them limit the right to vote in some way – you have to pay for a membership, or be of a certain age. How does this differ in kind from requiring USCF membership as well? That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea (I suspect it’s not), but I can’t buy the argument that it’s illegal.

3

In what way is the club being “attacked” and by whom?

4

Doesn’t it strike anyone as odd that the original poster wants the USCF, a membership organization, to protect ‘rights’ of people who are not USCF members?

5

Most chess players are not USCF members.

The USCF should support ALL chess players, not just USCF players, and Chess Life does this with articles about celebs.

We have clubs in Kansas City with 20-30 players who play chess but are not USCF members. We have kids clubs with 40-60 kids. We should support them.

Maybe we would get more sponsorship. The Cub Scouts even have a merit badge but many are NOT USCF members.

Your type of thinking is keeping the USCF down in my opinion.

Ken Fee JR USCF Life Member

6

Your type of thinking is keeping USCF membership down, isn’t it?

The USCF actually DOES things that support non-USCF members, but those activities don’t help to pay the bills to run the office.

I think most of us would like it if the USCF didn’t have to be so revenue-dependent, but unless Congress starts providing us with an annual subsidy (like the chess governing bodies of most other countries get), I don’t see how to change that.

7

Inquiring minds still want to know: how is your club being “attacked”, and by whom?

Is this left over from the old Missouri chess-political battles of a decade or two ago?

Bill Smythe

8 
 According to MSA, The Chess Club has run 246 events since September 2002: [uschess.org/msa/AffDtlTnmtHst.php?A6017882](http://www.uschess.org/msa/AffDtlTnmtHst.php?A6017882)
9

We have scheduled this year and run …

52 G10 USCF scheduled this year on Saturdays. Chess Life June
52 G60 USCF scheduled this year on Saturdays. Chess Life June
12 or so Kids Club USCF on Saturdays. No Chess Life
12 or so Wednesday USCF G75 tournaments. No Chess Life
2-3 USCF weekend tournaments
3-5 USCF Kids tournamnents

So over 100 USCF events.

Thanks for all your great feedback and hard work for chess.

I will not go into the attacks because we have legal actions pending.

If you are in Kansas City, please come by our club. We are in a shopping mall, and all we do is chess. It is nice having a place 7 days a week 24 hours a day just for chess. powerpawn.net

Ken Fee USCF Life Member