Leland, Thanks for the call yesterday to inform me of the NCCA concerns.  I looked at your message board and decided to provide some information I looked up. On the NC Secretary of States website I found that the NCCA filed Articles of Incorporation on 12/4/1981 (document number 292959) and in 1989 on June 23 a change of Registered agent was filed with the SOS (document number 457708). Next issue is the 501(c)(3) question.  This comes up every time people talk about the efforts to get funding.  The NCCA is a club/association and that allows it to be a not-for-profit entity.  However, it is not a charitable organization that allows contributors to get tax deductions when giving money.  Contrast that with the CMSCA which is a 501(c)(3) and can accept donations that allow the giver to take a tax deduction.  The primary difference is that the CMSCA is a teaching organization and the NCCA is an association.  I have been told that some states have qualified for 501(c)(3) status; however, it appears they have structured themselves as a teaching organization with a focus on Scholastic chess. The NCCA is a not-for-profit corporation and will file IRS form 990 when and if they ever get over $25,000 in annual revenues.  At the current rate of membership dues they would need 5,000 paying members to be required to file a tax information return. In my 30 years of NC chess I have seen many changes.  The one that saddens me the most is the loss of the Gambit.  The members voted to make the Gambit a non-paper, on-line magazine and then no one ever created the on-line version of a Gambit.  In your time at the helm, you worked hard to get a Gambit out bi-monthly and I remember several of our more dedicated members helping me assemble them in my living room.  Chris Worley and John Lane to name a couple of helpers.  We were fortunate that the CMSCA allowed us to us their Not-for-Profit mailing certificate in exchange for having their logo on our magazine.  That move saved the organization hundreds of dollars in postage.  During my Presidency, the Gambit won Most Improved State Chess Magazine in the country award.  In addition, Larry Goldberg and I received money from a corporation to help defray the cost of putting out a significantly larger more robust magazine.  We covered Scholastics, local club activities, statewide chess events, national events and international events.  Because we got the data live, we were able to publish games and results from around the world before the Chess Life could.  As I remember, you complained because the magazine came out four times per year instead of six; however, we had more material in those four issues than we ever did in the six issues before. (and we saved more money on postage).  Now, what do we have?  NO GAMBIT at all.  Plus, no one is complaining about that fact. We have both worked very hard for NC chess.  You brought Korchnoi, Reshevsky, and Shamkovich to Charlotte for simuls.  (sidebar: I drew both Sammy and Leonid.  I didnt get the chance to play Korchnoi.)  We both ran clubs out of Shoneys, yours on the south side and mine on the east side of town.  Mine competed with Monday Night Football, you had the better night on Wednesday.  We both ran the NCCA in a more professional manor than our successors.  However, after it was nearly destroyed by Jeff Jones, Neal Harris came in and fixed it back up.  He taxed the scholastic folks thousands of dollars by virtue of having a fee per entry into the NC Scholastic Chess Championship.  The bulk of that money goes for the Denker and Polgar representatives travel expenses and the $1,500 annual scholarship.  But, when Neal first took over most of the money went to the NCCA coffers to recover from the Jones era.  Once the NCCA had the financial cushion, then the NCCA could take on the obligation of providing scholarships and travel expenses.  None of the membership fees goes towards these initiatives. We should be consulted more by the NCCA leaders because of our vast experience.  Unfortunately, we both have our regular lives to lead and can not commit to full officer status at this time. Sincerely, Ken Baxter PS Bring Back the GAMBIT