BLANCHARDSTOWN CHESS CLUB
AGM OF 24.6.2025
1 Chair report
The Chess Club had a very successful year.
I will not provide two many details (you can see our activities on the website: www.blanchardstownchess.com ) but I will mention perhaps five quick points to offer a sense of our achievements.
Five key points from 2024/25 season
1 We re-imagined what a chess club night was
Under Gabor’s leadership, the club had a set of visits from top Irish players, ran various simultaneous displays and we ALSO held advanced coaching sessions. We also participated in new team events (e.g. Branigan Cup, Weekend Team events). Ravi complemented this work by running a series of monthly club blitz events to popular acclaim. As always, our Leinster Chess league matches were played throughout the year at the chess club. Therefore, instead of home chess matches being the sole activity in the club, Gabor and Ravi developed a whole range of new and fresh activities that happened as we met each Monday. In all of this, Gabor especially showed how a chess club night can be re-imagined and become a place where events are held regularly to the enjoyment of all.
It is a challenge for the our next year that we continue along the lines that both Gabor and Ravi has indicated. But this needs a fuller set of volunteers to reduce and remove the burden that (unfairly) fell on Gabor and Ravi during 2024/25.
2 Leinster chess leagues
Gabor organised our Heidenfeld (Division 2) team who missed out on promotion by a whisker. Daniel ran the Division 5 (team), composed mainly of promising adults, with a similar 3rd spot outcome! Ravi ran our Division 6 team, composed mainly of promising juniors.
It is not easy to gain promotion but there is no question but that these teams are very very close and the new season will be a cheerful challenge…..
3 Junior chess club (weekly meeting)
The junior chess club met successfully throughout the year. The junior club is currently held together by a small number of volunteers (Andrew, Mariada, John, Anita, Tanmayee) and had a great year in 2024/25 season.
Compared to previous years, we have more girl members, more teenage members and our juniors are increasingly beginning to play in formal Irish Chess Union rated events. This is in large part due to the junior coaching programmes we ran in the last two to three years and is therefore a pay back for that earlier effort. We do need to keep these coaching programmes going however!
4 Gens Una Sumus series
To help our members get ratings, we have always wanted asa club to run a chess event locally. During the 2024/25 season, we ran two FIDE Rated RAPID events in two local Dublin 15 hotels. Therefore, a long held wish to see our players play locally and acquire FIDE and Irish chess ratings was achieved. It was a fantastic achievement by our club and something that would be great to develop going forward.
5 Premises
Since we were founded in 2010, we have spent half our time trying to find a suitable place to allow our members to meet. During 2024/25, we met in Mountview Sports Hub (our juniors: under 15) and Hansfield Junior school (our seniors: 12+). This separation imposes significant fragmentation on the club as we end up being two halves of a club i.e. requiring two sets of chess kit; storage and other solutions – as well as two sets of organisers to allow the club to function.
Our Chess Club Committee will again look for a single venue – suited to chess – to allow our chess club to meet somewhere in Dublin 15.
Looking ahead
Finally, overleaf I develop some first points relating to our developing a Calendar of Activities for the club – and using that type of calendar to organise our efforts.
Many thanks to the committee, volunteers and the many parents who have helped us to thrive in 2024/25. Looking forward to the new year and achieving your bright ideas for our community and juniors! Please bring them to the AGM!
John Delaney
Chair 2024/25
Looking ahead – a Club Calendar
Marius mentions a club calendar in his submission to the AGM. I heartily agree.
I would recommend to the club AGM that we should focus on developing and actively operating a Chess Calendar in the new season.
This can be put in place late in August and can set out all our proposed meetings or activities out to the end of the season.
Named volunteers will be invited to organise and manage an activity on specific days , Ideally with two volunteers assigned to each event. With enough volunteers we can share this organising work together. Ideally we find we are asked to help once a month. This approach will share skills and knowhow, vital to keep a club (which owns no premises) operating. It will also reduce the heavy burden on our key volunteers. That is very important if we are to prosper and survive!
Purpose of a calendar
a) Administrative
- provides information, published on Website
- Advises parents and members of future activities
- identifies and assigns two volunteers to manage each activity
- allows our volunteers to know when they are needed
b) Chess content
- Describes an attractive series of month to month events
- builds on our past successful events
- coaching versus participation
- provides prizes for our winners
- Organised in a way to develop new linkages within our community
- Some new team events representing age groups / schools or similar
- builds on our past successful events
- Describes the Gens Una Sumus Rapid series
- Describes a Classical chess events to be held in local hotels (by invitation)
- all play all events
- match play event
- junior invitation events (rapid, classical)
John Delaney
Chair 23/6/2025
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