To All Clubs – a message about membership from the NZCF President
Kia ora clubs,
Hope everyone has enjoyed their long weekend! Apologies for the long email that follows, but this is important information (for most clubs at least).
The main request is for clubs to start registering club members with NZCF, which means getting their agreement/consent if you haven’t already, and sending us member names and other information on the provided forms. Obviously this will be less applicable for clubs that don’t run many (or any) NZCF-rated competitions.
As previously advised, NZCF has reregistered as an incorporated society, so the new NZCF Constitution and Supplementary Bylaws are now in effect. That also means that individual membership (who will mostly be players) is now open for applications. To that end, the Council has approved new Membership Bylaws – see attached. NZCF membership will be administered by Membership Administrators – currently the Chairperson (myself) and NZCF Admin (Richard Christie) – subject to Council oversight and appeals (and some decisions are reserved to Council). General contact email for membership matters is admin@newzealandchess.co.nz, transition and rules queries to me (president@newzealandchess.co.nz is fine).
With that done, it’s time for NZCF and clubs to start the transition to the new system, and to help club members join NZCF. There will be a workshop on Sunday 15 February at 7pm where I will go through the system and answer questions – link as follows:
- https://zoom.us/j/9949864360?pwd=nJKDerCRYb00Im4uAwFZ21YGRLwJay.1&omn=97645157714
- Meeting ID: 994 986 4360
- Passcode: 515924
Clubs and NZCF will get used to the system over time, but important points:
- NZCF ID will be key to identifying individuals over time and data matching – https://newzealandchess.co.nz/new-zealand-ratings-list/ has NZCF IDs for clubs that don’t have them in their membership records (I recommend including NZCF IDs in club membership records – FIDE ID can be useful as well).
- It is mandatory to include NZCF IDs and FIDE IDs where members have them. First and last name, date of birth, gender, email address, address and phone number (mobile preferred) are also mandatory where NZCF does not already hold that information (club will default to the club sending the form if not stated, and if a player has an NZCF or FIDE ID, NZCF usually has their name, date of birth, and gender).
- Please include membership category (the forms have options) – at this time of year, most memberships will be Club Member memberships = $20 until 31 March 2027 (members who join after 31 March will have their expiry date as 1 year after that).
- Individuals may apply to join the NZCF online or by completing approved forms and emailing to Admin@newzealandchess.co.nz – an individual only becomes a member once the application is approved and subscription paid (applications to join will not be declined often but the option is there)
- Clubs may act as agents of NZCF with respect to individual members joining NZCF and correcting/maintaining member information with NZCF
- Clubs should provide new members on the attached spreadsheet (NZCF Membership Form Submission) – once approved, the club will be invoiced
- NZCF Life Members don’t need to complete a form to join the NZCF or pay a subscription. Clubs can include them in a membership submission spreadsheet for any information corrections/updates (including club membership)
- Clubs must appoint 1-3 membership contacts for information and queries between clubs and NZCF – replying to this email to advise their name(s) and email address(es) is fine
- Information requests about club members can go both ways – Membership Administrators will send queries to clubs, but clubs are welcome to send us queries to ensure club records are correct.
- New members and corrected information should be forwarded to Admin@newzealandchess.co.nz within 10 working days of receipt, or 10 working days of the last day of a rated competition if they joined to play in that competition.
- There is a section regarding compliance – hopefully Council doesn’t need to do more than issue the occasional directive or warning.
Two approved individual membership forms are attached – one for current members of your club (since they don’t need to rejoin your club), and one as a template Word form (NZCF Template Club membership application form) for clubs to use to sign up members to the club and NZCF. Hopefully the template is not too difficult to set up but I am happy to help clubs with that. Also attached is a tournament entry sheet, and bulk membership join sheet – clubs can use either of these to get permission from a group of existing members to join NZCF and pass on their information from club records. Clubs can use their own forms but need to get them approved – please email your request along with a copy of the proposed form.
Regarding Competition Fees:
- Competition Fees for rapids are now $5/player
- The Council approved a reduction of Competition Fees for standard competitions from $10/player to $7/player for the 2026 calendar year as a transitional measure (will be $10 from 1 January 2027)
- Members whose applications to join are submitted with the rating file will be considered to be members on the last day of the competition
- Where a club competition for members on a regular club night is rated and some non-members slip through (it happens) or a membership application is declined, the Council has provided for waiving competition fees and charging a 1-month membership fee ($5) per non-member instead (if a club’s regular ‘night’ is not actually at night, it will still be eligible for this…)
- Where a club has a ‘try before you buy’ arrangement e.g. prospective new members may attend and play for 1-2 weeks before having to join, a 1-Month Membership fee is waived for those members if they don’t pay the club anything – clubs should still collect at least some information from them, but everyone on Council is well aware that sometimes it doesn’t work out that way and will not penalise clubs for occasional lapses.
As announced late last year, NZCF has partnered with Sporty (sporty.co.nz) for its membership management system, which will also come with a new website. This is well underway but, in the meantime, players may join through their clubs or directly on an approved form. Clubs will also be able to use Sporty – more on that later. In the meantime (or instead), attached is a template register of members that clubs can use – this meets the requirements of the new legislation. If a club needs some assistance setting it up for their specific requirements and/or getting their members into it, please let me know.
Any queries or requests for assistance, please feel free to email or call me. I want to reassure clubs that the Council will not take a punitive approach toward inadvertent lapses and errors – the key points are to get players into the system, and to work with clubs and administrators to make things as simple and accurate as we can. As above, there will be a Zoom session on Sunday 15 February at 7pm – we will hold a few more sessions, but will assess need before scheduling. Clubs are also welcome to request a session for their membership contact(s)/committee.
Attached forms and documents:
https://newzealandchess.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NZCF-Membership-Form-Submission.xlsx
https://newzealandchess.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NZCF-Membership-Bylaws-2026.pdf
https://newzealandchess.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Club-NZCF-Join-Sheet.docx
All the best,
Craig Hall
New Zealand Chess Federation President
E: President@newzealandchess.co.nz
WWW: https://www.newzealandchess.co.nz
M: +64 21 1289543