University of Bedfordshire & Luton Chess Club Agenda for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 1st of September 2026 at the University of Bedfordshire Library from 7.30 pm.
1. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND SECRETARY FOR THE MEETING & Minutes of previous meeting.
2. ELECTION OFOFFICERS. The club needs to elect a Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Nominations will be accepted in Advance or at the meeting. As stated at last year’s AGM, the Club Secretary intends to retire from his role. A new Club Secretary must now be elected. The current Club Secretary would be able to advise and support the new elected officers of the club.
3. OFFICERS REPORTS FOR 2025/2026. Chair, Treasurer, Web Master & Team Captains.
4. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS. The club needs to raise income to pay League fees. Fees for the coming season will depend on the Treasurers report.
5. CLUB TOURNAMENTS. The club to decide what types of tournaments club members wish to play for the 2026/2027 season. e.g. Club Championship, Rapid and Blitz tournaments. The club needs to elect Tournament Coordinators to run club tournaments.
6. BEDFORDSHIRECHESS LEAGUE. The club needs to decide how many teams to field in the Bedfordshire League in the 2026/2027 season. The club needs to elect Team Captains and Deputies as appropriate.
Note during the previous season, it was requested that University of Bedfordshire & Luton Chess Club make enquiries regarding entering a team with restricted ratings in the Hertfordshire League. Consequently, Luton Club Secretary wrote to at the Hertfordshire League Secretary with this request. The request to consider to entering a Luton team in the Hertfordshire League was declined.
7. EQUIPMENT Luton Chess Club now has an abundance of tournament standard chess clocks and chess sets for all league and county championship matches. The was thanks to a very generous donation. A larger secure storage cupboard for the University security / reception office for match equipment is now required.
8. BEDFORDSHIRE CHESS LEAGUE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (BCL AGM) 2026. The club needs two members to represent Luton CC at the BCL AGM on 10 September 2026 at the Open University Milton Keynes. The club needs to decide whether to to accept or reject the proposed change to BCL Rules and vote at the BCL AGM. Bedford Club are proposing - New rule 14: Sufficient chess clocks must be provided. The normal rate of play being all moves in one hour and twenty minutes plus ten thirty seconds per move. There will be no adjournments or adjudications. Note the Club Secretary recommends opposing this proposal on the grounds it gives advantage to slower Bedford players avoiding time scrambles.
9. OPENING AND CLOSING THE CLUB ON TUESDAYS. The current Club Secretary has been opening Luton Chess Club at the University of Bedfordshire almost every week since 2018. It is not sustainable that one member of the club has the sole responsibility to open and close the club for all other members every Tuesday. As with all other chess clubs in Bedfordshire, opening the club should be a shared responsibility amongst all members. Now that the University of Bedfordshire & Luton Chess Club has been established at the current location for many years, with many members in possession of the key to the equipment cabinet, it is reasonable to share that responsibility with other members who regularly attend. A rota of members opening the club needs to be established, with additional keys provided as required. (NOTE the Club Secretary will be away on holiday 15th and 22nd September.)
10. COMMUNICATION AND WEBSITE Currently the club uses WhatsApp and has a website, https://www.lutonchessclub.com/ The club needs to confirm a WebMaster and will need a new content contributers for the website.
11. Any Other Business (AOB).