Table of contents
I. Regular Meeting Night 2
II. Membership. 2
III. Special
Introductory Offers. 2
IV. Smoking
Policy. 2
V. Affiliation. 2
VI. Rules
Governing Play. 2
VII. Player
of the Year 4
VIII. Officers. 4
IX. Information. 5
X. Club
Championships. 5
XI. Benefits
of Membership. 5
XII. Website. 5
XIII. Rules
of Order for Meetings: 7
XIV. Motions
by Email 13
XV. Election
Templates. 15
XVI. Revision
History. 18
Figures
Figure 1: Quick Reference
Procedure Diagram........................................................................................................... 12
1.
The Club shall regularly meet only once a week.
2.
Tuesday nights shall be when the club meets.
1.
Regular membership
is $30 per year per individual.
2.
Junior membership
is available to those 18 years of age or younger at $15 per year.
3.
Dues for seniors, by definition, age 65 or older, are waived
while the Club is located at a Senior Center.
(Note: this is part of our current agreement with the Natick Senior
Center)
4.
Introductory
memberships are available (to new members only) at $15 for six months.
5.
Family memberships
are available at $5 per year above the highest applicable single-member
rate. All members must reside at the
same address for family membership to apply.
6.
All memberships end in the next year, on 1st of the month in
which the member has joined.
1.
New to rated play.
a) If a
person joins the club when they join the USCF or have played 5 rated games or
fewer, the club will give them free entry into the current tournament in
progress as well as the next month's tournament.
b) In
progress is defined as round 1 having already been played.
IV.
Smoking Policy
1.
There is no smoking allowed at any time at any club
event.
1.
The MetroWest Chess Club is an affiliate of the United States
Chess Federation (USCF) and the Massachusetts Chess Association (MACA).
2.
The Club shall encourage membership in these
organizations.
3.
USCF membership is offered at a discount when paid through the
Club, in accordance with USCF regulations.
A.
Tournament Play
a)
Unless otherwise announced, event play starts at 7:30 PM.
b)
Normal time
controls are 40 moves in 90 minutes,
followed by sudden death in 30
minutes.
c)
The Laws of Chess as presented in the most current edition of
the USCF (Official Rules of Chess) govern play.
a)
The scheduling of events for the year shall attempt to start
as many events as possible on the 1st Tuesday of a month.
b)
The Club will attempt to meet on every Tuesday night on which
an event is scheduled.
c)
If severe weather makes cancellation necessary, a message to
that effect will be placed on the Club's information line.
a)
Pairing of MCC events shall be done by computer whenever
possible.
b)
"Where questions arise in the accuracy and/or propriety
of a computer-generated pairing, it is the policy of the MetroWest Chess Club
to accept the program's pairings in the absence of an obvious or clearly
understood violation of USCF rules."
c)
1/4 Accelerated-pairing rules shall be used for any section
within an event that meets the recommended criteria for their use as set out by
the most current rules of the USCF. The
"Adjusted Rating" option shall be used. We further define the USCF phrase "far exceeds" used in
its recommended criteria to mean that the number of players is greater than or
equal to, the average of, two raised to the number of rounds and two raised to
the number of rounds plus one. Some
examples are, 4 rounds = 24, 5 rounds = 48, 6 rounds = 96.
d)
If a player is paired out, they will receive a credit of $5 if
they do not end up playing a rated game.
a)
In Swiss-system event of any number of rounds, a
maximum of two half-point byes for the event is allowed.
b)
Players entering an event after the first round will
have their half-point byes applied starting with round 1 until all of
the allowed half point byes are used.
c)
Once a player's half point byes are used, any other requested
byes shall be zero point byes.
d)
A bye requested for the last round must be committed to before
the start of the 2nd round and is irrevocable after the start of the 2nd round.
e)
A player entered in a tournament is always obligated to notify
the club if they will miss any round for which they have not previously
requested a bye. Failure to notify the club properly will result in the player
being assessed a forfeit penalty.
f)
There are only two valid ways to request a bye.
(1)
By filling out the bye sheet at the club.
(2)
By leaving a message on the Club answering machine before 7:00
PM of the night of play.
g)
Email is NOT a valid means to request a bye.
i) A
player will be permitted to enter an event after round 3 has been played only
if this does not result in an already-entered player being paired out.
(1) A
player entered on this basis will pay the entire member or non-member (as
applicable) entry fee for the event and will remain in the section he enters
for all subsequent rounds of the event.
(2) The
player will have the right to take byes on the same basis as every other player
entered in the event, including the right to half-point byes for earlier rounds
not played in accordance with the rules for the particular event.
(3) The
player will have the right to be paired and the risk of being paired out on the
same basis as every other player entered in the event.
E.
Withdrawals
a) Players
may withdraw from a tournament at any time by the same method used for
requesting byes.
b) If a
player's score at the time of withdrawal is sufficient to qualify for a prize,
the player retains eligibility for that prize.
c) Players
who forfeit out or who are expelled from an event lose eligibility for prizes.
a)
A player forfeits a game when he or she
(1)
does not have a valid bye request on record AND
(2)
fails to begin playing their game, due to either absence or
tardiness, within the time permitted by the applicable rules.
b)
Any player incurring a forfeit loss will be fined for each
incidence occurring within a rolling twelve-month period according to the
following schedule: First incidence: $10.00.
Second incidence: $20.00. Third
incidence: $40.00. The amount of the
fine will double with each additional incidence within any twelve-month
period. Once a twelve-month period
expires with no forfeits, the player's forfeit history is wiped clean.
c)
The forfeiting player must pay all assessed fines before they
are permitted to play any subsequent games at the club.
d)
Any player to whom another player forfeits a game will be
awarded a $10.00 credit toward the entry fee for any subsequent MCC tournament.
e)
The MCC Board reserves the right to take additional or
alternative measures as may be deemed appropriate on a case-by-case basis.
a)
Most Club events shall charge an entry fee and pay
prizes.
b)
The Club will not pro-rate entry fees for any tournament
event.
c)
Tournament directors will be given free entry for an MCC event
for each event they work as a TD.
d)
The prize fund shall normally be projected to be 50~60% of the
expected entry pool, and prize funds may be modified based on actual entries.
e)
The prize fund may meet its return goal over an extended range
of events to allow for flexibility in meeting promotional and other goals.
f)
Class prizes may be offered.
g)
Any Club event with a prize fund equal to or greater than
$1,000 shall be advertised in Chess Life.
a)
Any game between current USCF members can be rated.
b)
The decision to play a rated game must be agreed between
players before play starts.
c)
If two players not in a current event wish to play a rated
game, there will be a $1 rating fee collected by the Club.
d)
The Club, pursuant to USCF rules, can oversee multi-game
matches between players.
1.
Currently, no policy is in place regarding the determination
of a Player of the Year.
1.
The Board of Directors is elected in November of each year.
2.
The Board determines the specific procedures for the annual
election as required. These procedures incorporate the following provisions:
a)
Only current members of the Club may nominate and vote for
candidates for the Board of Directors. Any Club member who satisfies the
requirements for candidacy may nominate himself or herself as a candidate for
the Board.
b)
To stand as a candidate for the Board, a person must (i) be a
current member of the Club, (ii) be 18 years of age or older, and (iii) have
routine access to email.
c) Nominations to Board positions will be solicited
during October, and voting, if required, will be conducted during November.
d)
If no positions are
contested, there will be no voting. In this event the election of the
new Directors will be confirmed by acclamation at the next Regular Annual
Meeting of the general membership.
e) With
respect to each person nominated, the Club
President will (i) verify that the person submitting the nomination is a
current member of the Club, (ii) verify that the nominee satisfies the
requirements for candidacy, and (iii) confirm that the nominee is willing to
serve on the Board if elected. If all these conditions are met, that nominee
will be included on the election ballot.
f) The Board will adopt reasonable procedures to
ensure that every Club member has the opportunity to nominate and vote for
candidates, for example, by enabling members to submit nominations and votes in
person, by mail, or by email.
g) The Board will adopt reasonable procedures to
ensure that only those votes are tallied that were cast by members eligible to
vote. With respect to votes cast by email, the Board will assume definitively
that if the vote was sent from an email address that the Club’s records show as
belonging to a Club member, then the vote was cast by that member.
h) The Board will take reasonable measures to
preserve the anonymity of each ballot received in person or by mail; however,
the Board does not and cannot guarantee the anonymity of votes cast by email.
Members choosing to vote by email acknowledge thereby that votes cannot
practically be cast anonymously by email.
i)
The Board will appoint a person, to be overseer of the
election. This overseer may be a member of the Board and preferably will not be
a candidate in the election. This person will validate all ballots received
against criteria established by the Board and will make necessary and
appropriate arrangements for counting them. Ballots determined to be invalid
will not be included in the vote tally.
3.
Terms of Office are for one year and start on the third
Tuesday in January.
4.
Physical Board meetings are held on an as-needed basis.
5.
Board meetings are open to the membership.
6.
Minutes of Board meetings shall be available to the
membership.
7.
The annual Business Meeting of the Club is held on the third
Tuesday in January. At that time,
officers are installed and general business from the membership may be
considered.
A.
The club shall maintain an answering machine to facilitate its
operation.
B.
The club shall maintain a Post Office Box so that it can
receive mail.
A.
Currently, no policy is in place regarding the determination
of a club champion or the holding of a club championship event.
A.
Entry fees for Club members shall in general be set lower than
those of non-members.
B.
Library
1.
Members shall have free access to the books and videos that
comprise the club library.
2.
Members shall be permitted to borrow from the library on an
honor system whereby the member will be responsible for the materials to be
signed out upon removal and then signed back in upon return.
3.
Members shall be permitted to have up to 2 items signed out at
any time.
C.
Study Group.
1.
Members shall have free access to attend and participate in
any study group activity sponsored by the club.
D.
Only Club members may participate in matches against other
clubs or hold titles associated with Club Championship events.
1.
The primary purpose of our site is to enhance the enjoyment
and experience of those who participate in the activities of the club. For those who are not yet participating in
our activities, it is our hope that this web site will provide you some measure
of feel for what our club is like, and, if physical distance allows, that you
will choose to join us as we pursue our love and knowledge of the game.
1.
To serve as a central repository for information that may be
of interest to the club membership.
2.
To serve as a mechanism for organizational memory by archiving
the documents of the organization.
3.
To enhance the ability of the organization to fulfill its
mission statement
1.
Content or links to content, that is of an inflammatory nature
or likely to offend the Chess community and in particular, the club's
membership, shall not be permitted on the site.
1.
The MCC web site may contain links to web sites of other organizations
(e.g. nearby Clubs, State Associations, private business, etc) that may be of
interest to the Chess community. These
information links are provided as a reference service, and shall not be
considered advertising.
2.
Simple listings of events of interest to MCC may be included
on the web site, and shall not be considered advertising.
3.
Substantial event, product, service or organizational content
from third parties shall be considered advertising. Such advertisements will be accepted at the discretion of the web
master.
4.
The Board shall set fees charged for advertising.
5.
Advertising for the web may not be accepted if it not in a
"web ready" format.
1.
The web team is not responsible for the creation or collection
of content. Event sponsors and other
information providers are responsible for ensuring that appropriate information
is made available to the web team for them to publish on the web site.
2.
The web team will make a reasonable effort to see that any
content provided is presented on the site in a clear, concise and useful manner
to the users of the site.
3.
The web team shall ensure that all links to both internal and
external pages are regularly checked and repaired.
4.
The web team shall assist the Board of directors and it's subcommittees
in establishing web-related policies and procedures and in providing guidance
in the effective use of the web for the good of the organization.
5.
The web team shall be responsible for the maintenance and
moderation of the automated email lists.
6.
The web team shall attempt to protect the organization by use
of their judgement regarding the appropriateness of content and defer posting
of the content until such time as the board or at least the President shall be
consulted.
1.
The organization retains all rights and ownership of the URL,
the site and its contents.
2.
One Board member shall be designated as the administrative
contact for the URL and the site and shall have full access to the web site
(the password).
3.
One person shall be designated as the Web Master and shall be
responsible for the functional operation of the web site and co-ordination
among all the web team members.
4.
As long as the organization has a web site, the Board shall
establish a standing committee called the Web Team with a chairman of the
committee called "The Web Team Committee Chairman". If the Chairman is also the Web Master then
Web Master may be used in place of the chairman title.
5.
If the Web Master is not a member of the Board of directors,
the Web Master will be responsible to, and shall take direction from, the Web
Team Committee Chairman or action taken by the board.
1.
Board members and committee members are permitted to provide
content for posting to the web site.
2.
All requests for web related actions such as corrections or
additions to pages or any other matters concerning either the web site or the
lists shall be sent by email to the web team by way of the web masters address,
mailto:WebMaster@MetroWestChess.org
3.
All members of the web team shall receive any email sent to
the web master address. This is done
to relieve the sender from having any knowledge of who is responsible for the
various aspects of the web site or who is available to do the work. Note that when this policy is not followed,
the other members of the web team are unaware of the requests and unable to
ensure that the request is dealt with in a timely fashion.
4.
Requests for changes or corrections must include the specific
URL of the page so that no confusion will arise regarding the proper page to
edit.
1.
Content providers shall, to the best of their ability or
resources available to them (e.g. other people on the committee) format the
content in such a way as to require little or no work by the web team to make
its suitable for posting to the site.
2.
The preferred formats for submitting data are, in descending
order of preference:
a)
Pre-formatted HTML ready for posting. (Note: MS Word 97 generates this quite easily.)
b)
MS document.
c)
Text message or document.
3.
When providing content in MS Word Format the following
techniques should be applied
a)
The entire document should consist of tables with columns used
to provide horizontal spacing and alignment.
Tables when translated to HTML hold their formatting almost perfectly.
4.
When the number of columns needed to organize the data needs
to be different than previously, a new table with the appropriate number of
columns should be used as opposed to using the same table with the rows split
into additional columns.
5.
The use of spaces and tabs for formatting should be
avoided. The use of columns should
generally eliminate the need for spaces and tabs.
1.
The object of rules of order is to facilitate the smooth
functioning of the meeting and to provide a firm basis for resolving questions
of procedure that may arise.
2.
The President has the authority and duty to make necessary
rulings on questions of procedure. All
references to the President regarding the Rules of Order may also be construed
to be a reference to the Officer who is lawfully entitled to be and is serving
as the Presiding officer of the meeting.
If the President decides that the correct procedures are not being
followed he/she declares the action that is being pursued as "Out of
Order" and directs the board as to what may be properly done at that time.
3.
If at any time someone feels that the rules are not being
properly followed he/she may "Rise to a point of Order" by saying
"I rise to a Point of Order" or "Point of Order". This
requires the President to immediately make a ruling as to whether the rules
have been breached or not and if so to immediately correct the matter. If the President is not sure of how to rule
or does not wish to rule on the issue, he/she may put it to a vote. A motion to appeal a ruling by the President
may be made at this time and a vote taken.
During the debate of the appeal, people may speak only once with the
exception of the President who may speak first and last. An appeal must have a Majority in order to
reverse the decision of the President.
4.
The President is always allowed to vote even if his/her vote
may break or cause a tie or cause or block the attainment of a necessary
two-thirds vote.
5.
A "Quick Reference Procedure Diagram" is provided as
a guide to these procedures and is subordinated to these procedures.
1.
During the course of a meeting a general discussion on some
topic may occur. Generally, after some
time discussing the topic at hand, the President may suggest that the board
move onto some other topic or that someone offer a motion pertaining to the
topic just discussed. If no motion is
made the President will proceed to a new topic for discussion. If a motion is made, the procedures that
follow are used.
2.
When someone wishes the Board to take official action, they
must make a "motion" that the board take some specific action.
3.
Once a motion has been made and seconded it is considered to
be question before the Board for consideration and is said to be
"pending" or "on the floor".
4.
When no motions are pending ( on the floor ) a person may make
motions to do the following:
a. To Take some
kind of action
b. To Follow the
order of events on the Agenda.
c. To Rescind or
Amend something previously adopted.
d. To Reconsider
e. To Make a
motion to Adjourn.
5.
All motions must be seconded unless explicitly stated in these
Rules of Order. A second is required to
ensure that at least two people consider the motion worthy of
consideration. It does not mean to
imply that the person seconding necessarily favors the motion.
6.
When a motion is made, it must be seconded by someone saying,
"I second the motion", "I second" or "second". If no one seconds the motion within a short
period of time the President should ask, "Is there a second". If there is still no second the president
declares, "There is no motion on the floor" and shall proceed to the
next topic of discussion.
7.
After a motion has been seconded BUT before debate has begun,
the following things are allowed to occur.
f. A short and
concise suggestion may be made to the maker of a motion to modify his/her
motion. The maker of the motion may
agree to or reject the suggestion. If
the maker agrees to modify their motion, the person who seconded the motion
must at this time confirm or withdraw their second of the modified motion. If the second is withdrawn, go back to STEP
5.
g. A suggestion
to withdraw a motion, with short and concise reason, may be made to the maker
of a motion. The maker may withdraw
his/her motion or reject the suggestion.
No debate is allowed.
h. The maker of a
motion may withdraw his/her motion, providing a short and concise reason for
doing so in the process. No debate is
allowed.
8.
The President shall restate or have restated the motion to
begin debate of the motion.
9.
After debate has begun on the motion that is on the floor, any
of the following motions may be made to change the nature of the motion.
i. To Amend the
motion
j. To Consider
item by item
k. To Divide the
question
10.
The only ways to finish dealing with a motion that is on the
floor is by the following means:
m. Debate appears
to have ended and the President asks "Is there any further debate". If no-one has anything further to say the
President will follow the procedure on taking a vote.
n. Motion to call
the question. When seconded, the President is required to immediately end all
debate and follow the procedure on taking a vote for the question or amendment
to the question that was being debated.
This requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present.
o. Motion to
Refer the question to a committee.
p. Motion to
Postpone until ( a particular date, time or event )
11.
To take a vote, the President shall restate or have restated
the motion about to be voted on to signal that a vote is about to be taken and
that nothing else is in order. The vote
is taken by counting the number of board members responding to the following
questions: "All those in favor", then "All those opposed"
and then "Abstentions". The
President then declares the result of the vote. Once the results of the vote are declared, the vote is considered
closed and no-one may change their vote.
When the board decides to do what a motion proposes, it is said to adopt
the motion or carry the motion. When
the board votes against the motion, the motion is said to be lost or rejected.
12.
Since the vote is now closed, the President will proceed to
the next topic for discussion.
1.
The presiding officer moderates debate and assigns who has the
"floor" or the right to speak.
2.
The originator of the motion has the right to speak first
during debate.
3.
Whoever has the floor is entitled to speak without
interruption.
4.
Questions may be asked of the person speaking if the speaker
wishes to allow it. Questions are not
allowed to turn into private debate.
Questions should be to solicit the speakers opinion or to clarify
information.
5.
Debate must be confined to the merits of the pending question.
6.
Speakers must maintain a courteous tone, and, especially in
reference to any divergence of opinion, should avoid injecting a personal note
into debate. To this end, they must
never attack or make any allusion to the motives of members. The measure, not the person is the subject
of debate.
7.
The presiding officer should assign someone to moderate if
he/she intends to participate very actively in the debate.
To adjourn means to close the meeting.
a)
Must be seconded
b)
Is not debatable
c)
Is not amendable
d)
Requires a majority vote
e)
Cannot be reconsidered
This motion is used to modify the wording of a pending motion
before the pending motion itself is acted upon.
The adoption of the motion to amend does not adopt the motion
thereby amended; that motion remains pending in its modified form. Rejection of a motion to amend leave the
pending motion worded as it was before the amendment was offered.
A member's vote on an amendment does not obligate him to vote in
a particular way on the motion to which the amendment applies; he is free to
vote as he pleases on the main motion, whether it is amended or not.
Majority Vote required to pass, even in cases where the question
to be amended takes a two-thirds vote.
a)
Must be seconded
b)
Is debatable
c)
Is not amendable
d)
Requires a majority vote
e)
Can be reconsidered.
An appeal is a motion used to overrule the President when he/she
has made a ruling on how to properly proceed in carrying out the intent of the
Policies & Procedures. By electing
a presiding officer, the board delegates to him/her the authority and duty to
make necessary rulings on question of procedures.
Is only in order when a Point of Order has been raised
a)
Must be seconded
b)
Is debatable
c)
Is not amendable
d)
Majority Vote is required
e)
Can be reconsidered
This motion is used to cause an immediate vote on one or more
pending questions.
No other motions are allowed until this motion has been dealt
with.
Can be applied to any immediately pending debatable or amendable
motion; to an entire series of pending debatable or amendable motions and to
any consecutive part of such a series, beginning with the immediately pending
question.
a)
Must be seconded.
b)
Is not debatable.
c)
Is not amendable.
d)
Requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present.
e)
Can not be reconsidered.
A motion by which a member can require the board to conform to an
agenda that has been published as the course of business for a meeting. The content and ordering of items on the agenda
is left to the discretion of the President under advisement of the board and is
not binding unless this motion passes.
Is Out of Order if the published agenda is being followed.
a)
Does not require a second.
b)
Is not debatable.
c)
Is not amendable.
d)
Requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present. The motion that was in progress is
considered Out of Order and the next topic on the agenda is discussed.
e)
Can not be reconsidered.
A report or long motion consisting of a series of resolutions,
paragraphs, articles, or sections that are not totally separate questions can
be considered by opening the different parts to debate and amendment
separately, without a division of the question. Only one vote is taken on the motion as a whole when debate has
ended.
a)
Must be seconded.
b)
Is not debatable.
c)
Is amendable.
d)
Majority Vote required to pass.
e)
Can be reconsidered.
When a motion relating to a single subject contains several
parts, each of which is capable of standing as a complete proposition if the
others are removed, the parts can be separated to be considered and voted on as
if they were distinct questions.
This motion would generally be made when it would appear that the
debate on the merits of the overall motion might easily be settled if it were
broken into separate pieces.
The motion must clearly state the manner in which the question is
to be divided.
a)
Must be seconded.
b)
Is not debatable.
c)
Is amendable.
d)
Requires a majority vote.
e)
Cannot be reconsidered.
A Motion is a recommendation or suggestion for action or
decision.
The use of the phrase “Open Vote” in the stating of a motion is
used to proscribe the manner in which the vote on the motion shall be taken.
A motion using this phrase is made to allow a reasonable effort
to be made to contact members of the board who are not currently present to
vote.
The motion is Out of Order if not at a meeting of the board of
directors.
The motion is Out of Order for items on the published agenda.
If an “Open Vote” motion is passed, the President shall start the
tally of the vote with those present at the meeting and complete the vote by
following the procedure of a phone
vote.
Other than the manner in which the vote is tallied, all the other
rules that would otherwise apply to the motion if it were not an “Open Vote”,
ap
