The Constitution of MCF is an invitation to treat.

My sources tell me that certain officials in MCF are up in arms because MCF's Constitution is made available here. Now why is that? It's a public document. It's an invitation to treat. That means it's a document that invites parents to bring their children into chess; it's a document for investors and sponsors; its an invitation for chess academies, trainers and coaches to enter chess as a business. It does that by spelling out the rules and regulations that the governing body of chess will abide by in the promotion of chess.

(Just like how Fide rules are published for the players before or during a tournament, the Constitution spells out the rules for the rest of the chess community).

So how can it be wrong for us to have a copy? The only reason I can think of is if some people wants to cheat the community by keeping us in the dark as to the rules. Don't you think so?

But allow me to clarify a misconception here. A fellow organiser was complaining on facebook about Datcc and the prices that they charge for equipment and tournament fees. That is not correct. Datcc is a private enterprise, so they must work out their cost structure versus the return on capital invested they want, as a private entity.

This means they will come under the companies act as well as market forces. Another set of rules again. Lets take an example. You can buy all types of blue jeans at different prices depending on the brand. If the public is not convinced that the price is justified, then the company does not do well. That is what private enterprise is about. So the chess public will go to those that gives the best value, perceived or otherwise and private companies have to keep that in mind. Market forces and competition within the rules again.

In other words if you think Datcc is not giving value then just don't go there but you cannot tell them what they can or cannot charge. That is their private affair.

But Associations are different as the Constitution of MCF shows us, particularly if you read Article 4. You cannot use the Associations to penalise your competitors in private enterprise. You cannot tell an enterprise not to do a tournament because you are a spoiler for the private interests of certain officials who is using MCF to benefit privately. That is illegal. You cannot use the Associations to ban National players without grounds or for that matter any player without grounds just because they choose to learn from other private Academies. You cannot use the Associations for your private interests period. The Associations is supposed to protect the legitimate interests of all within the chess community.

And that is what the Constitution tells us. The confusion we see today is because there are no boundaries between what is Association work and what is the work of private enterprise. And we need to be clear on this for us to progress as I will try to illustrate from tomorrow.

And that is why they are so afraid of you having the Constitution. These people have been breaking the law and they are also teaching our children the same thing.

Do note the date the new Constitution of MCF was ratified. From that date MCF was bound by the new rules.

Get your own copy here.