New Met League resources - blog is moved

The website is up: http://metrowestchess.org/NewMetLeague/
The blog is up: http://newmetleague.blogspot.com/
The email list for news is up. Many of you received a newsletter already.

From this point on, please use the resources above for New Met League. This blog will resume discussion about general chess organization philosophy and the symbiosis between OTB and correspondence chess in cyberspace....

New Met League Website Up

Details in the (new) New Met League blog

http://newmetleague.blogspot.com/

Dedicated Blog for New Met League

We now have a dedicated blog for New Met League. This will complement the New Met League website which will have it's debut tonight.

This blog will remain active, discussing further development of "hybrid" chess - the complement of OTB and correspondence chess.

And a special deal for the first match

I was just notified by the CCLA President that for the first Quad match, the OTB Club will only pay $25.00. This is great.

The fee structure discussed below will be discussed and voted on by the CCLA Board shortly.

Initial Fee Structure - A Great Value!

After initial discussions with CCLA leadership, we have arrived at a fee structure that is a great value. The key is that the OTB Club is the payee for an annual Affiliate fee, and each match has a per player fee, also payable by the OTB Club.

• Annual OTB Club Affiliate fee: $19.00
• Per Quad Match OTB Club fee: $25.00

For an OTB Club with 4 players this works out to $6.25 for the match (6 games). The OTB Club should collect the individual fees, and send the total amount ($25.00). If the players also pay the 1st annual fee ($4.75 per player) they will pay their OTB Club $11.00 each to get started. I'll have the website up this weekend (working on it now) with details including how to make payment (PayPal, check, etc.).

This is a great value for the OTB Club, and the OTB players also. The OTB Club gets to play in organized national OTB Club competition. The OTB Players represent their OTB Club and play on a professional quality webserver with great staff, an official recognized rating system (separate from USCF OTB rating - no rating risk) that allows for the potential for playing in international events!

I'll be following up with the OTB Club organizers about the fees, and working with CCLA to get a new start date for a Quad.

The initial Quad will be:

• Punxsutawney CC (PA)
• MetroWest CC (MA)
• Greater Worcester CC (MA)
• Sven Brask CC (MA)

CCLA mentioned some Idaho OTB Clubs they may invite to participate, and we're still getting a proposal together for the Boyston CC in Boston. This really can be the start of something big!

Getting Entry Fees Straight

I sent a New Met League fee proposal to CCLA last night. A small annual fee for the OTB Club to be a New Met League Affiliate, and a small per match entry fee also paid by the OTB Club. The intent is to cover their cost of rating and webserver fees charged by ICCF. When the details are finalized, they will be published.

Website on the Way!

I was notified today by Kappy that the "Web Expressions" (Vista FrontPage) software has been ordered. I hope to be up and running this weekend. That will be a priority.

We will initially put up the New Met League website on the MetroWest Chess Club website. I'll post the URL when I get the first page started.

Now all we need are OTB Club graphic icons to serve as "logos" :-)

We are still waiting to hear back from CCLA folks. I think there are vacations going on for the next week or two.

Should the first match be a Quad?

Jason (Punxsutawney CC) is wondering if the first match should be a Quad, since we have a few teams ready...

Website Update

A website page for New Met League is still in the process of being constructed. This blog will have an announcement as soon as it is available.

Club #5 for New Met League

Univ of Connecticut joins us, and they are constructing their roster.

Current list:

• Punxsutawney CC
• MetroWest CC
• Greater Worcester CC
• Sven Brask CC
• UConn CC

Welcome UConn CC!

Update

Quick update for New Met League:

• CCLA will run the first match - Punxsutawney CC vs. MetroWest CC. CCLA wanted a few days extension to the Aug 6 proposed date (to configure the ICCF webserver), so we're waiting on that
  
• CCLA is thinking about next steps
• I've asked some of the CCLA Board members to see if CCLA can formalize the generic proposal to OTB Clubs. Boylston CC wants to consider a proposal with the rules spelled out including fees before signing up. Getting Boylston CC would be huge.
• Hopefully PA Chess will mention New Met League in their newsletter
• Hopefully someone from Punxsutawney CC will talk to folks in Pittsburgh soon.

August will be a quiet month with so many vacations. Also, work has been rather intense, so I haven't been updating the blog as much. However, I'm getting a fair number of pings, so I think in September activity will really heat up...