The NCCU Constitution states that the NCCU AGM is to be held on the 2nd Saturday in June (i.e. 13th of June in 2026). However, from inquiries made of the ECF County Championship controller, it appears that the County semi-finals are normally held on the 2nd Saturday in June, which this year would take out various NCCU officers and some county delegates from an NCCU AGM on that date.

County Championship semi-finals in recent years have been held as follows:

2021-22 11th June 2022, i.e. 2nd Saturday,

2022-23 10th June 2023, i.e.2nd Saturday,

2023-24 8th June 2024, i.e. 2nd Saturday,

2024-25 7th June 2025, i.e. 1st Saturday which appears to have been an exception as rules for 2024-25 stated the 2nd Saturday.

Under the Constitution, the NCCU Secretary has the discretion to alter the AGM date, and after a discussion with NCCU officials regarding the best date, it appears that

the 2026 NCCU AGM would best be held on 27th June 2026.

Since there seems a systematic “clash” between present NCCU practice and current ECF practice, to prevent future recurrence of this problem, it is intended to propose a change to the Constitution at the 2026 AGM so that the pre-set date of the NCCU AGM is the 3rd or even 4th Saturday in June.

As there is now expected to be an NCCU Council Meeting by Zoom on 22/02/2026, the date of the 2026 AGM could be discussed there. It is desirable to decide and publish the date of the 2026 AGM, if it is to be changed, as soon as possible so that people can work round it as necessary.

Already published dates for events on Saturdays in June 2026 are as follows:

6th

1. N.E. League weekend – takes out Tim Wall (officer, Northumberland delegate),

2. Possibly the ECF Counties Semi-finals – takes-outs as below

13th

1. Almost certainly the ECF Counties Semi-finals – takes-outs some NCCU officers who would normally be playing in the County Semi’s; also, some regular county delegates would normally be playing in the County Semi’s, though this is less important since counties can send alternative delegates to the NCCU AGM. County delegates are not perceived in the NCCU as “fixed” in the way they are fixed in the ECF (until explicitly changed beforehand).

20th

1. Newcastle Summer Congress – takes out Tim Wall, as NCCU officer and Northumberland delegate,

2. Scarborough Rapidplay Congress (doesn’t obviously take out any key persons, but other individuals are likely to be affected)

3. White Rose Chess Ilkley Congress (doesn’t obviously take out any key persons)

27th

1. Crewe Congress (doesn’t obviously take out any key persons),

The above list is the reason for a number of NCCU officers preferring 27/06/2026 as the date for the 2026 NCCU AGM.