The official organisation for shogi in the UK is the British Shogi Federation (BSF). With declining memberships from the early 2000s, the BSF started operating informally, with almost everything being managed by one or two people. This meeting is seeking to put things on a more formal footing and hopefully reduce reliance on a small number of key individuals.
More information is provided below
Refreshing shogi organisation in the UK - matters for discussion
TIMING
It would be helpful for key elements of any refresh of UK shogi to be completed by early next year as there may be another International Shogi Forum in Japan. This would require rounds of communication with the Nihon Shogi Renmei. It would also be important to have a process to determine the format of any UK selection tournament, and to make it clear that the tournament is being run in a way which is as fair as possible and avoids conflicts of interest to the greatest extent possible.
SHOULD THERE BE A NEW ORGANISATION AND IF SO WHAT SHOULD THE ORGANISATION BE CALLED
The British Shogi Federation has for many years not operated in full accordance with its constitution. We don‘t have a copy of the constitution but we know there was one which required AGMs and election of officers. It could be argued that the BSF as originally formulated no longer exists.
Going forward, should we recreate the British Shogi Federation or should we have a new organisation?
Personal recommendation from Steven Cain: I suggest we create a new organisation. Both to provide a clean break from an organisation not operating in accordance with its own specifications, and to remove the word Federation which seems inappropriate. A more modern name for an organisation would also probably refer to the UK or United Kingdom rather than British. For example Shogi UK.
The main purposes of the organisation would probably be
- communications with the Japanese professional shogi body the Nihon Shogi Renmei
- communications with the Federation of European Shogi Associations
- communications with other relevant bodies such as The Japan Society, the Mind Sports Olympiad and Hyper Japan
- organisation of face to face shogi tournaments including the British Shogi Championships, and also helping any tournaments organised in the UK by others
- managing shogi equipment such as boards, clocks and demonstration boards
- holding an Annual General Meeting or other regular and open communication with members.
The London Shogi club might or might not be considered part of the organisation‘s role
Actions required following decision: a constitution or other statement of purpose should be circulated and agreed. This can probably be done by email. Zoom or similar discussions might also be possible.
SHOULD THERE BE A MEMBERSHIP FEE? HOW SHOULD MEMBERSHIP BE DETERMINED.
Currently the main expenditures incurred for shogi organisation purposes are hall fees for tournaments (more than £1000 for two tournaments per year) and a small 10 Euro annual payment to the Federation of European Shogi Associations. Tournaments are normally run at a loss with that loss being made up by the organisers. Having a small membership fee could reduce these losses.
If there is no membership fee, there will still need to be a criterion for determining whether people are members.
Personal recommendation from Steven Cain: I suggest a membership fee of £10 but that this should only be levied once the constitution is agreed. Until then membership can be achieved by face to face or email communication, with voting membership open to all shogi players resident in the UK. A list of all members to be appended to minutes or notes of meetings, whether or not those members were present at the meeting. A list of those present to be also provided.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Formal election of officers would mostly need to follow the agreement of a constitution or other document. That might for example specify some officers elected with specific responsibilities, but the organisation might also want to have other roles fulfilled by volunteers without election. On an interim basis before agreement of the constitution it would be good to have three or four people elected to demonstrate that work is being done having regard to the views of members.
Comment from Steven Cain: I am willing to be one of the elected members but would aim to have a changing set of such members if this is sustainable. I would also recommend Kevin Butchart who is the other person currently organising shogi in the UK.
It would be good to know who else would be willing to be an elected member.
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