(A few) Members of the Irish Chess Union a disgrace

Banrion Fichille

@T TROLL!
Didn't you say: "what to expect from some of the type of people on that ghastly section of the eboards website which attracts a particularly nasty, ignorant, dishonest, duplicitous element. Well nothing could ever entice me into that viper’s nest."?
And here you are. Ah well!
Point of this thread is that, yet again @T TROLL!
NUMPTIES SABOTAGE

caissa007

Well despite never being at an AGM or on any committee I am following the shenanigans with part horror and part amusement. As a purely non involved spectator I have to say the Banrion has won the debate in my eyes. Don't let the ahem "idiots" grind you down :-)

PS Major own-goal for Treetopchess to engage in "objective" discussions under anonymous. Wouldn't take forensic analysis to see the similarities to chess cogitations post

reunion

Non-mod note: All questions were answered at the AGM. This news item and this one; are looking for people to run the event; not the ICU. Additionally Colm Daly was given a provisional budget as he was on the selection sub-committee for the Irish Championships as mentioned by the secretary at the AGM. If you do think finances are that important, it would be Colm's massive blunder for not having it as a requirement, not UL's.

Mod note: Treetopchess consider this your only and final warning. If you wish to make baseless accusations you are not welcome here at all.

2nd Mod note: It might be time to end the AGM once and for all; and not drag it on forever. It was a low point in Irish chess from many individuals; and damage has been done to Irish chess. Lets start repairing the damage and not make the damage permanent. I will consult with the other mods but my opinion is to close this thread and other AGM related threads.

Myrddin

Cmod note: Incase anyone hasn't read the Chess forum charter, please familiarize yourself with it now, specifically this part:

Do not identify or speculate as to the identity of a poster, not only is this specific to the Chess forum, but it's a site-wide rule

If you suspect a user has re-registered a new account in order to bypass a forum ban, by all means report the post & it will be looked at. Do not publicly speculate, part-identify, or identify any user on thread. The next occurrence of this will be met with a ban, consider this the warning.

brilliantboy

I don't see why people are so aghast at a figure of 2k for security. Seems entirely reasonable to me for 9 full days.
And while the reception area wasn't continually manned, which may be a point of confusion for some people, I did on numerous occasions see security personnel performing their duties about the place.

As for the finger-food at the prize-giving, I wouldn't doubt the explanation given for no finger-food appearing.
An absurd amount of water was consumed during the week, more than anyone would have expected, so I don't doubt that the UL Chess Club would have had to redistribute some funds to keep all us sautéing chess players appeased.

Some people want to see corruption and conspiracy in everything. Be sensible folks.

Chess_Coach

reunion wrote: »

Non-mod note: All questions were answered at the AGM. This news item and this one; are looking for people to run the event; not the ICU. Additionally Colm Daly was given a provisional budget as he was on the selection sub-committee for the Irish Championships as mentioned by the secretary at the AGM. If you do think finances are that important, it would be Colm's massive blunder for not having it as a requirement, not UL's.

Mod note: Treetopchess consider this your only and final warning. If you wish to make baseless accusations you are not welcome here at all.

2nd Mod note: It might be time to end the AGM once and for all; and not drag it on forever. It was a low point in Irish chess from many individuals; and damage has been done to Irish chess. Lets start repairing the damage and not make the damage permanent. I will consult with the other mods but my opinion is to close this thread and other AGM related threads.

@Reunion

I would kindly ask you to do that before things go further. Naming any of the people here is just not correct . Some members are giving 100 h of free work per year for ICU and they do not deserve to be treated like this . It is time for new beginning.

hewhowatches

Myrddin wrote: »

Cmod note: Incase anyone hasn't read the Chess forum charter, please familiarize yourself with it now, specifically this part:



If you suspect a user has re-registered a new account in order to bypass a forum ban, by all means report the post & it will be looked at. Do not publicly speculate, part-identify, or identify any user on thread. The next occurrence of this will be met with a ban, consider this the warning.

is it just me or do others notice that the chess mods here seem to be abusing their position and even their own rules on anonymity? seems they are getting all too personal with their postings. I thought the idea of being a mod was to passively monitor other contributors postings and not get drawn into debates with posters?

Sparks

hewhowatches wrote: »

I thought the idea of being a mod was to passively monitor other contributors postings and not get drawn into debates with posters?

Nope. They're expected to be even-handed and to have a level head on their shoulders. Passivity is not a requirement (and not even a desirable attribute).

Myrddin

hewhowatches wrote: »

is it just me or do others notice that the chess mods here seem to be abusing their position and even their own rules on anonymity? seems they are getting all too personal with their postings. I thought the idea of being a mod was to passively monitor other contributors postings and not get drawn into debates with posters?

For the second time I'll post this, if you have a problem with the mods, or myself, report posts or take it to pm. You've ignored my previous on thread warnings to posters to stay on topic & not to derail threads, so as such, you've been infracted. Do it again, & we'll try a ban out to see if that gets the message across.

As for passive monitoring, that's exactly what I'm doing. I know nothing about Chess, what I do know though, are this site rules. Please have another go at reading the forum charter to familiarize yourself with how to post within the rules here.

zenobi

brilliantboy wrote: »

I don't see why people are so aghast at a figure of 2k for security. Seems entirely reasonable to me for 9 full days.

Speaking about being reasonable , is it reasonable to ask for invoice or proof of payment of 2000 euro for security ?, imagine if taxman came to my business and I claimed 2k for security of business but could show no proof what he would say ?. Has there ever been a case in a chess competition money was given for security ? , alot of money was spent by players for accommodation in the UL campus for rooms that otherwise would have been empty in the summer .

cdeb

zenobi wrote: »

imagine if taxman came to my business and I claimed 2k for security of business but could show no proof what he would say ?

The important point that everyone's overlooking is that UL Chess Club is not the ICU.

So the matter is of no concern to the ICU.

There's really nothing else to say on that.

Sparks

zenobi wrote: »

Speaking about being reasonable , is it reasonable to ask for invoice or proof of payment of 2000 euro for security ?

Not under these circumstances.

To use your analogy, this is the equivalent of demanding your next-door neighbour give you his tax details and claiming it was proof of perfidy if he did not comply.

If someone feels there was an issue with the finances of UL Chess Club, then UL Chess Club are the ones they have the issue with. Asking the ICU to furnish them with UL Chess Club's accounts makes no sense, and the ICU doesn't have any right to demand the accounts either, they tendered for a championships, awarded the tender to UL, gave money towards the prize fund (which was properly distributed) and that's pretty much it. Unless "By the way, we now get to read your accounts" was in the contract, which it wasn't (that was asked and answered at the AGM as well), the ICU hasn't any right to demand the accounts (and no need to do so either).

This is a non-problem that doesn't need a solution but we seem to be having a solution shoved down our throats anyway...

rooms that otherwise would have been empty in the summer .

Doubtful. Trinity college and UCD and just about every other college in the country has the same kind of rooms and they can't fill the demand for them during the summer, to the point where they kick students out before the summer exams unless they pay extra. And they don't rent those rooms out for peanuts either.

brilliantboy

zenobi wrote: »

Speaking about being reasonable , is it reasonable to ask for invoice or proof of payment of 2000 euro for security ?, imagine if taxman came to my business and I claimed 2k for security of business but could show no proof what he would say ?. Has there ever been a case in a chess competition money was given for security ? ,

No, it's not. No more so than walking into any random business premises on the high-street and asking to see their accounts. The ICU executive is not the revenue office.
If they wanted to see the accounts of the UL Chess Club they should have stipulated that in the contract.

zenobi wrote: »

alot of money was spent by players for accommodation in the UL campus for rooms that otherwise would have been empty in the summer .

And a lot of rooms in hotels and hostels and b&b's up and down the country go unused every night.
Doesn't mean an "ah sure there's nobody staying there anyway" will get you in for free.


All of this accusation throwing and poking and prodding at nothing is an unfortunate stain on what was a superbly run and contested Irish Championships. One that was full value for the fee the ICU paid.

Sparks

So we're still accusing someone of theft, are we?

Tramps Like Us

Banrion Fichille wrote: »

Firstly, my reason for my blog on boards.ie: I was deeply disturbed with the writings of our previous Vice chairperson in the weeks prior to the AGM on his irishchesscogitations.com website, which have now been removed. It was obvious that I was not the only one. I felt completely useless in not being able to do anything about it. Engaging in digital discussions is not my forte and would have done nothing. I have not known Jonathan nor Kevin long but have grown to see them as good people who have worked hard to bring chess in Ireland to a better place. At the AGM I saw broken spirits and I found it too difficult to stay in the room. I wandered in and out and on each occasion the injustice grew. I saw the Vice Chairperson sitting smugly with his perfectly worded complacency in a setting he single-handedly created with his blogs that incited this hatred. Complacency on my part would have been another injustice.

More rantings have been uploaded there, about you personally:

Granny Una Is At It Again!
Posted by admin on 8 October 2013, 7:38 am

Not content with posting various nutty nonsense, a sprinkle of lies plus false allegations against her fellow ICU executive committee members Darko Polimac and Bernard Palmer, and myself too as an ex ICU committee member. Now dear old Granny Una has decided she needs more attention and opportunities to spread her nonsensical baloney further a field. No doubt the ICU website would never allow the ICU Pro officer write or publish such rubbish, but she is so comical at this stage that she always going to be good for a laugh or two and will find a place here on this website to be a source of amusement. Accordingly instead of treating Granny Una seriously it is best to just be tolerant and indulge her flaky notions and fabrications. Be warned though, some of the mad stuff from Granny Una is liable to cause an outbreak of laughter and it can be very contagious.

http://www.irishchesscogitations.com/blog/granny-una-is-at-it-again/
I think this is shameful stuff.

With regards to closing the threads I'd implore the moderators to leave them open for a while yet until feelings have calmed somewhat, I have a feeling that there will be more developments over the next few days/week and above all people will want to talk about them - and this is a serious issue... unfortunatly. Perhaps just having one "superthread" would be best?

I'd just like to say, (I haven't been involved in Irish chess for a number of years now, I was just an ordinary/junior member) I think this entire situation is ridiculous. I won't recount some of the negative things I experienced but at the end of the day this is chess we are talking about, a sport but some must think its the UN or something with the amount of politics going on

cdeb

Just speaking as a mod here - if people are going to make suggestions against others of malfeasance or theft or embezzlement or the likes, you need to have proof. Not "I heard she heard he heard". Not "But didn't you hear what Colm said at the AGM?". Not "I'm just asking where it is cos I can't see it and people are asking". Either post proof, or don't post.

mikhail

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

... I won't recount some of the negative things I experienced but at the end of the day this is chess we are talking about, a sport but some must think its the UN or something with the amount of politics going on

It's amazing how irritating a handful of vocal malcontents can be, isn't it?

Can I suggest not giving moronic personal attacks like that air by distributing them?

zenobi

una

just ignore the other website , it is just waste of time , icu should have anti harassment policy with defined punishment for abusers , i heard you wrote a book about chess in irish for children , is it true ? what is it called ? i hope you explained dangers of a bishop to kids in your book , lol . maybe you could write another book in irish about your experiences as a pro in icu ?

[Note: User banned for re-regging new account to bypass forum ban]

Sean_Murphy

Firstly I think the mods should not have allowed any names here,
The OP said a lot...

Sean_Murphy

Let me state that I am not a member of the ICU, nor a strong chess player.

Excludes me from some forums.

Don't think I'd ever call people half wits though

Sparks

Sean_Murphy wrote: »

Let me state that I am not ... a strong chess player.

That's okay, you're probably just an 8-year-old like myself :pac: It's a shame that we even exist of course, I mean we're just dragging all the grandmasters down. We really ought to just do the right thing of course, ie. pay our ICU subs and shut up until we break the 1800 rating barrier and become real chess players; then after that we will be qualified to listen to our betters and apprentice for a few decades to them until we're ready to speak our own minds on whether or not we think chess in Ireland should be run as a club for elites or a game that everyone can enjoy at every level. After all, as every schoolboy knows, chess rating is the sole metric of whether or not someone's opinion is right or wrong, which is why we in Ireland confer exclusively with Magnus Carlsen anytime we need to make a decision and it's why chess in Ireland overtook the GAA in popularity all those years ago, with clubs in every school, every college, every pub, every library and most reputable workplaces, and why the ICU has a membership in the seven figure range.

Ballynafeigh Chess

Sparks wrote: »

why the ICU has a membership in the seven figure range.

Jesus Sparks don't mention figures, they'II want them audited verified Photographed copied in triplicate and signed off by a high-court judge :eek: