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Last update: Tuesday February 6, 2007 10:36
The recent BCF Council on April 23rd approved a number of changes to membership.
The concessionary price on the grading list will be abolished for all categories
of membership with the 2005 list. A provisional list will be published on the
website
prior to the British Championship. The final list incorporating corrections
to any identified errors will be printed later, towards the end of September,
and will also be available on the website. These changes are expected to substantially
reduce the sales of the printed list – hence the change.
The number of paying categories of membership will be streamlined from ten down to six. Renewals will not be permitted in the “concessionary full” categories (Sub £26) – veteran, student, disabled and special from September 1st. These categories will gradually phase out over the coming three years. Renewals will be permitted prior to September 1st and, apart from the grading list change above, the benefits of membership will be unchanged.
It is anticipated that most concessionary full members will want to become
Standard Members (Sub £16). There are a number of changes to the benefits
of Standard and Junior membership. Concessionary entry fees to congresses will
be introduced from June 1st, so this now applies to all BCF
members. Previously this had only applied to Full and Concessionary Full members
and caused some confusion. A three year membership option at £40 will
be introduced from September 1st for Standard Membership (but not junior). The
printed version of ChessMoves will not be a benefit of membership from the renewal
date, though this may be purchased as an optional add-on. Instead On-line access
to ChessMoves will be made available, and members notified by e-mail when a
new edition is ready.
Last, but by no means least, the Northern Membership Scheme (NMS) was approved.
This is a pilot scheme to be run by the NCCU. The key idea is that NMS Members
will not pay game fee and the aim is that at least 50%-60% of graded players
will become members (compared to about 10% currently BCF members). Subscriptions
will be £10 adult and £5 junior, to be largely collected through
the clubs, though players may also join at congresses in the NCCU or on direct
application to Bill O’Rourke, 101 Queens Park Road, Heywood, Lancashire
OL10 4JR. Eligibility is restricted to those living in the area of
the NCCU, or just across the border and playing in a league based in the NCCU.
The initial membership period will be 15 months from June 1st 2005 to
31st August 2006 and thereafter there will be a standard membership
year commencing September 1st. The benefits will be similar to the revised terms
for Standard Membership – reduced entry to congresses, on-line access
to ChessMoves and this is qualifying membership for entry into the British Championship.
Robert Richmond, BCF Finance Director, May 10th 2005