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Main
Date: 22 Jun 2008 07:30:56
From: samsloan
Subject: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
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The Chessville website, which calls itself the most popular chess
website, has an article this week which states that Chess Life
magazine will go under. This article was apparently written by Phil
Innes.
The article reflects many claims to be found on Susan Polgar's
http://www.chessdiscussion.com website. Innes is known to be in close
contact with Susan Polgar. See, for example, the Susan Polgar "April
Fools Joke".
Many of the claims made by Phil Innes are not true, as far as I know,
or a least they are not true yet.
Still, there should be concern about this article, in view of the wide
readership of the Chessville column plus the lack of any official
public response from USCF President Bill Goichberg.
Here is what the Chessville column says at
http://www.chessville.com/Editorials/AlekhinesParrot/Index.htm#squaawk
"Chess Media =96 Chess Life optional
"USCF announced last week that the flagship print chess magazine Chess
Life will become an optional purchase with USCF membership. USCF will
also terminate its scholastic magazine Chess Life 4 Kids. The plan is
the mind-child of President Goichberg and is receiving severe
criticisms in the chess community.
"Chess Media =96 More Trouble from ChessCafe
"One upshot of these draconian measures is that the principal of
Chesscafe who retails USCF=92s book and equipment business has made
several complaints including the mention of lawyers =96 Hanon Russell is
himself a lawyer and is probably not kidding around. He seems to have
taken great offense at President Goichberg=92s actions, not only cutting
back the magazine but also by using other retailers without any due
process, or notification to himself; behavior he says which hurts his
business prospects representing USCF.
"Interactions between Russell and board-member Bauer are in danger of
becoming more than a little uncivil, and the confrontational tone can
surely only end in tears. Here is Bauer=92s comment to Russell:
'You and I have had this discussion about what actually
happened at the US Amateur Team East, and you know for a fact it is
true. You are an attorney - put up or shut up.'
"Since these acrimonious interchanges are with USCF=92s dedicated
trading agent, it would surprise me to hear about any mediation
services taking place before law-suits are engaged in earnest, and the
inevitable ending in divorce.
"I selected on of many options to add to the tool-bar including a
direct Wikipedia button in case I ever want to find anything at
Chessville. [In-house joke]. The truth is Chessville is perhaps the
most quoted source at Wiki, and there is so much stuff on this site =96
its hard to find, no?
"TheParrot Squaawks=85.!
"Chess Life Gone Out Of It.
"Considering the past debt of about $100,000, and estimated $200,000+
this year, no equity yet in the new building, having exhausted cash
reserves, and despite nonsense law-suits, serious new ones are
appearing on the horizon, possible initiated by its only main partner,
Chesscafe, encouraged and stimulated by Diplomat Bauer and Buffalo
Bill in responses to Hanon Russell of ChessCafe, this sea of disasters
hardly needs mention of the likely forthcoming counter-suit from
Polgar & Truong... <gasp, pause for breath >
"The unexplained 'award systems' catastrophe for the national rating
system which are not just demonstrated to be without any quality
assurance, but without any sense of needing any.
"Confidential board memoranda are leaked to agents with no official
role at USCF, and even personnel records show up on the internet.
=91Unclear=92 relations with long time cronies of board members seem to
empower these un-elected outsiders to work directly against current
board members in a world which is all politics.
"Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
cheating or 'monkey business' =96 degrading the national championship.
That's wasn=92t true of the men's competition, but then again, many top
players didn't even show up.
"The discontinuance of the communication vehicle to USCF=92s main
market, scholastic chess, coupled with the proposition of Chess Life
standing on its own commercial legs [pause for hilarity] are eye-
wateringly bad decisions to not even serve those who are current
members, never mind reaching out and checking someone=85
"Its sad when a long-time public institution goes under, usually.
"But what America needs is an organization established to vigorously
promote chess to the general public, to mainstream education, and to
mainstream media. That is in fact USCF=92s own mission statement, but
not its behavior, not this year, nor for the past 35."
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Date: 23 Jun 2008 15:32:13
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
GREG KENNEDY IS WRONG AGAIN
<This "interview" was published many, many
years ago in Chess Lies magazine.... > -- help bot
GM Evans' interview with GM Alburt was NEVER published in Chess
Life,
nor would it ever be permitted in the USCF house organ.
And so it goes.
help bot wrote:
> On Jun 23, 11:38 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > ALBURT: I felt a great temptation to be more conciliatory. You see,
> > after all, they are not evil people. Personally many of them are very
> > nice. When you?re in the same room and spend a lot of time together,
> > exchange jokes and try to solve problems, you develop a sort of
> > camaraderie. It?s natural. But I had to remind myself that although we
> > were friendly, the things they were doing in secret were plainly
> > wrong. The system which existed, a system of secrecy, could be easily
> > abused. It certainly invited corruption.
> >
> > EVANS: Board member Harry Sabine said all that the reformers would
> > accomplish by trying to open things up is to force the board into
> > doing more things behind closed doors.
> >
> > ALBURT: Okay. It just shows their type of mentality. A siege
> > mentality.
> >
> > EVANS: I was under the impression that the board only had the right to
> > go into closed session to discuss things like sealed bids or legal and
> > personnel matters.
> >
> > ALBURT: They do many other things that should be discussed openly. For
> > instance, they went into closed session to discuss candidates to
> > replace Don Schultz as FIDE delegate. They argued it was necessary
> > because otherwise they could not say nasty things about other
> > candidates in public, like so-and-so is a drunk. My position was that
> > if someone wanted to say something derogatory, they could stop briefly
> > to go into closed session.
> >
> > EVANS: But doesn?t much of this information get out anyway?
> >
> > ALBURT: Of course. They leak information all the time to their
> > friends. For instance, when executive director Gerard Dullea was given
> > authority to fire Larry Parr as editor in closed session, it was
> > supposed to be a deep dark secret. But when I came out of the meeting
> > I was met by Jerry Hanken who told me how sorry he was, that if only
> > he had been elected instead of Sabine such a dreadful thing never
> > would have happened. Probably some board member broke the news to him
> > on the way to the bathroom.
> >
> > EVANS: Why should there be such a need to classify information? Chess
> > is not the Pentagon.
> >
> > ALBURT: The board is playing with its power. I can hardly ever recall
> > when any justification was given for going into closed session. Often
> > they just wanted to bad-mouth people not being considered for jobs.
> > Especially people who were my friends, but even some I didn?t know.
> > When I challenged them and asked for proof, they said they were merely
> > speaking their piece and giving their opinion.
> >
> > EVANS: But, Lev, you say these are decent people. Decent people don?t
> > do these things.
> >
> > ALBURT: I agree. But people are not all black and white. I think the
> > problem is they created an artificial environment. It creates a
> > bankrupt mentality. It creates a sense of belonging to an exclusive
> > club. They feel they can do almost anything, and that others are
> > beneath them?even grandmasters.
> >
> > But when Ed Labate sued them, they immediately retreated. So what I am
> > saying is that they are not evil people, they are not bad people. But
> > the system is so bad that even normal people are encouraged to act
> > wrongly.
>
> This "interview" was published many, many
> years ago in Chess Lies magazine, yet we
> still see folks like Sam Sloan and Susan
> Polgar complaining and /acting surprised/ to
> find that they are unable to get their own way
> on the USCF board with only one or two
> votes against the entire BG clan.
>
> Lev Alburt specifically pointed out that even
> a grandmaster was unable to break through
> this "bankrupt mentality", yet here we are with
> Susan Polgar-- it's deja vu all over again. The
> USCF board is a lot like a cemetery in that
> new people are always dying to get in. Once
> in, however, they soon discover that their vote
> is meaningless; they then complain that the
> system which got them elected is unfair; they
> each wish to become the new Tank Murdock.
>
>
> -- help bot
|
| |
Date: 23 Jun 2008 14:51:20
From: help bot
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
On Jun 23, 11:38 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected] > wrote:
> ALBURT: I felt a great temptation to be more conciliatory. You see,
> after all, they are not evil people. Personally many of them are very
> nice. When you=92re in the same room and spend a lot of time together,
> exchange jokes and try to solve problems, you develop a sort of
> camaraderie. It=92s natural. But I had to remind myself that although we
> were friendly, the things they were doing in secret were plainly
> wrong. The system which existed, a system of secrecy, could be easily
> abused. It certainly invited corruption.
>
> EVANS: Board member Harry Sabine said all that the reformers would
> accomplish by trying to open things up is to force the board into
> doing more things behind closed doors.
>
> ALBURT: Okay. It just shows their type of mentality. A siege
> mentality.
>
> EVANS: I was under the impression that the board only had the right to
> go into closed session to discuss things like sealed bids or legal and
> personnel matters.
>
> ALBURT: They do many other things that should be discussed openly. For
> instance, they went into closed session to discuss candidates to
> replace Don Schultz as FIDE delegate. They argued it was necessary
> because otherwise they could not say nasty things about other
> candidates in public, like so-and-so is a drunk. My position was that
> if someone wanted to say something derogatory, they could stop briefly
> to go into closed session.
>
> EVANS: But doesn=92t much of this information get out anyway?
>
> ALBURT: Of course. They leak information all the time to their
> friends. For instance, when executive director Gerard Dullea was given
> authority to fire Larry Parr as editor in closed session, it was
> supposed to be a deep dark secret. But when I came out of the meeting
> I was met by Jerry Hanken who told me how sorry he was, that if only
> he had been elected instead of Sabine such a dreadful thing never
> would have happened. Probably some board member broke the news to him
> on the way to the bathroom.
>
> EVANS: Why should there be such a need to classify information? Chess
> is not the Pentagon.
>
> ALBURT: The board is playing with its power. I can hardly ever recall
> when any justification was given for going into closed session. Often
> they just wanted to bad-mouth people not being considered for jobs.
> Especially people who were my friends, but even some I didn=92t know.
> When I challenged them and asked for proof, they said they were merely
> speaking their piece and giving their opinion.
>
> EVANS: But, Lev, you say these are decent people. Decent people don=92t
> do these things.
>
> ALBURT: I agree. But people are not all black and white. I think the
> problem is they created an artificial environment. It creates a
> bankrupt mentality. It creates a sense of belonging to an exclusive
> club. They feel they can do almost anything, and that others are
> beneath them=97even grandmasters.
>
> But when Ed Labate sued them, they immediately retreated. So what I am
> saying is that they are not evil people, they are not bad people. But
> the system is so bad that even normal people are encouraged to act
> wrongly.
This "interview" was published many, many
years ago in Chess Lies magazine, yet we
still see folks like Sam Sloan and Susan
Polgar complaining and /acting surprised/ to
find that they are unable to get their own way
on the USCF board with only one or two
votes against the entire BG clan.
Lev Alburt specifically pointed out that even
a grandmaster was unable to break through
this "bankrupt mentality", yet here we are with
Susan Polgar-- it's deja vu all over again. The
USCF board is a lot like a cemetery in that
new people are always dying to get in. Once
in, however, they soon discover that their vote
is meaningless; they then complain that the
system which got them elected is unfair; they
each wish to become the new Tank Murdock.
-- help bot
|
| |
Date: 23 Jun 2008 08:38:03
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
FROM THE FIDE NEWSGROUP
"Confidential board memoranda are leaked to agents with no official
role at USCF"
This claim is made on the Susan Polgar http://www.chessdiscussion.com
site. Susan claims that confidential board documents were given to
Jerry Hanken and also reached me. Hanken denies this. -- Sam Sloan
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
ALBURT: I felt a great temptation to be more conciliatory. You see,
after all, they are not evil people. Personally many of them are very
nice. When you=92re in the same room and spend a lot of time together,
exchange jokes and try to solve problems, you develop a sort of
camaraderie. It=92s natural. But I had to remind myself that although we
were friendly, the things they were doing in secret were plainly
wrong. The system which existed, a system of secrecy, could be easily
abused. It certainly invited corruption.
EVANS: Board member Harry Sabine said all that the reformers would
accomplish by trying to open things up is to force the board into
doing more things behind closed doors.
ALBURT: Okay. It just shows their type of mentality. A siege
mentality.
EVANS: I was under the impression that the board only had the right to
go into closed session to discuss things like sealed bids or legal and
personnel matters.
ALBURT: They do many other things that should be discussed openly. For
instance, they went into closed session to discuss candidates to
replace Don Schultz as FIDE delegate. They argued it was necessary
because otherwise they could not say nasty things about other
candidates in public, like so-and-so is a drunk. My position was that
if someone wanted to say something derogatory, they could stop briefly
to go into closed session.
EVANS: But doesn=92t much of this information get out anyway?
ALBURT: Of course. They leak information all the time to their
friends. For instance, when executive director Gerard Dullea was given
authority to fire Larry Parr as editor in closed session, it was
supposed to be a deep dark secret. But when I came out of the meeting
I was met by Jerry Hanken who told me how sorry he was, that if only
he had been elected instead of Sabine such a dreadful thing never
would have happened. Probably some board member broke the news to him
on the way to the bathroom.
EVANS: Why should there be such a need to classify information? Chess
is not the Pentagon.
ALBURT: The board is playing with its power. I can hardly ever recall
when any justification was given for going into closed session. Often
they just wanted to bad-mouth people not being considered for jobs.
Especially people who were my friends, but even some I didn=92t know.
When I challenged them and asked for proof, they said they were merely
speaking their piece and giving their opinion.
EVANS: But, Lev, you say these are decent people. Decent people don=92t
do these things.
ALBURT: I agree. But people are not all black and white. I think the
problem is they created an artificial environment. It creates a
bankrupt mentality. It creates a sense of belonging to an exclusive
club. They feel they can do almost anything, and that others are
beneath them=97even grandmasters.
But when Ed Labate sued them, they immediately retreated. So what I am
saying is that they are not evil people, they are not bad people. But
the system is so bad that even normal people are encouraged to act
wrongly.
THIS CRAZY WORLD OF CHESS (page 132) by GM Larry Evans
SBD wrote:
> On Jun 23, 8:25 am, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > "even personnel records show up on the internet."
> >
> > This is a claim that Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell keeps making. Rob
> > says that when I complain that USCF Executive Director Bill Hall often
> > is out sick or fails to come to work for a variety of other reasons
> > such as "had a car accident", "fell in the shower" or "wife is in the
> > hospital", that I am revealing confidential medical information about
> > Bill Hall. Of course, I have no confidential medical information about
> > Bill Hall. I only know that he often misses work.
>
> To be fair, didn't he claim this when you were on the board and did
> have access to such information?
>
> > This again apparently refers to claims by Susan Polgar about "leaks"
> > of information to Jerry Hanken. It is noteworthy that Susan Polgar
> > promised to run an open administration, but now she constantly
> > complains about "leaks".
>
> Well, of course. That's the only way the scared mommy brigade knows
> how to operate, making claims of high morality and then excusing their
> own bad behavior.
>
> >
> > "Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
> > indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
> > championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
> > cheating or 'monkey business'"
> >
> > Another fantasy by Phil Innes. Nobody is complaining about "cheating".
> > The question is whether an Armageddon playoff should be used to decide
> > an important title like the US Woman's Championship. International
> > Master Ken Regan has done a frame-by-frame analysis of the video on
> > the Chessbase.com website and has concluded that the result, under the
> > rules, was correct.
>
> That was quite a good analysis and quite convincing. The bad taste in
> one's mouth over staging such photo finishes is not relieved, but that
> the actions in doing same were correct, yes. However, that won't
> change Innes' fantasy world; he hates facts and ignores them
> fervently.
|
| |
Date: 23 Jun 2008 06:36:45
From: SBD
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
On Jun 23, 8:25 am, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> "even personnel records show up on the internet."
>
> This is a claim that Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell keeps making. Rob
> says that when I complain that USCF Executive Director Bill Hall often
> is out sick or fails to come to work for a variety of other reasons
> such as "had a car accident", "fell in the shower" or "wife is in the
> hospital", that I am revealing confidential medical information about
> Bill Hall. Of course, I have no confidential medical information about
> Bill Hall. I only know that he often misses work.
To be fair, didn't he claim this when you were on the board and did
have access to such information?
> This again apparently refers to claims by Susan Polgar about "leaks"
> of information to Jerry Hanken. It is noteworthy that Susan Polgar
> promised to run an open administration, but now she constantly
> complains about "leaks".
Well, of course. That's the only way the scared mommy brigade knows
how to operate, making claims of high morality and then excusing their
own bad behavior.
>
> "Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
> indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
> championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
> cheating or 'monkey business'"
>
> Another fantasy by Phil Innes. Nobody is complaining about "cheating".
> The question is whether an Armageddon playoff should be used to decide
> an important title like the US Woman's Championship. International
> Master Ken Regan has done a frame-by-frame analysis of the video on
> the Chessbase.com website and has concluded that the result, under the
> rules, was correct.
That was quite a good analysis and quite convincing. The bad taste in
one's mouth over staging such photo finishes is not relieved, but that
the actions in doing same were correct, yes. However, that won't
change Innes' fantasy world; he hates facts and ignores them
fervently.
|
| |
Date: 23 Jun 2008 06:25:27
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
On second thought, I do not believe that Phil Innes wrote the
Chessville article.
This is because the article contains no grammatical or spelling
mistakes. Phil Innes is not capable of writing a complete paragraph
without making a serious grammatical or spelling mistake.
However, the Chessville article contains statements that only Phil
Innes would make. Therefore, I feel that Phil Innes wrote the initial
draft and then somebody who knows English cleaned it up.
Here are a few examples of dubious statements in the Chessville
article.
"Confidential board memoranda are leaked to agents with no official
role at USCF"
This claim is made on the Susan Polgar http://www.chessdiscussion.com
site. Susan claims that confidential board documents were given to
Jerry Hanken and also reached me. Hanken denies this.
"even personnel records show up on the internet."
This is a claim that Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell keeps making. Rob
says that when I complain that USCF Executive Director Bill Hall often
is out sick or fails to come to work for a variety of other reasons
such as "had a car accident", "fell in the shower" or "wife is in the
hospital", that I am revealing confidential medical information about
Bill Hall. Of course, I have no confidential medical information about
Bill Hall. I only know that he often misses work.
"=91Unclear=92 relations with long time cronies of board members seem to
empower these un-elected outsiders to work directly against current
board members in a world which is all politics."
This again apparently refers to claims by Susan Polgar about "leaks"
of information to Jerry Hanken. It is noteworthy that Susan Polgar
promised to run an open administration, but now she constantly
complains about "leaks".
"Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
cheating or 'monkey business'"
Another fantasy by Phil Innes. Nobody is complaining about "cheating".
The question is whether an Armageddon playoff should be used to decide
an important title like the US Woman's Championship. International
Master Ken Regan has done a frame-by-frame analysis of the video on
the Chessbase.com website and has concluded that the result, under the
rules, was correct.
Sam Sloan
|
| | |
Date: 23 Jun 2008 12:02:06
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
"samsloan" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On second thought, I do not believe that Phil Innes wrote the
Chessville article.
This is because the article contains no grammatical or spelling
mistakes. Phil Innes is not capable of writing a complete paragraph
without making a serious grammatical or spelling mistake.
However,
**Oh dear! But i'll let it pass, since everyone does it, however well... ;)
the Chessville article contains statements that only Phil
Innes would make. Therefore, I feel that Phil Innes wrote the initial
draft and then somebody who knows English cleaned it up.
**Yeah, Chessville employs a pretty-good Parrot to do all that stuff.
Here are a few examples of dubious statements in the Chessville
article.
"Confidential board memoranda are leaked to agents with no official
role at USCF"
This claim is made on the Susan Polgar http://www.chessdiscussion.com
site. Susan claims that confidential board documents were given to
Jerry Hanken and also reached me. Hanken denies this.
** 'this'? That he had confidential board documents forwarded to him, or
that he related them to you?
"even personnel records show up on the internet."
This is a claim that Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell keeps making. Rob
**Sam Sloan has obtained his opinion from something at Ed Trice's site...
:)
says that when I complain that USCF Executive Director Bill Hall often
is out sick or fails to come to work for a variety of other reasons
such as "had a car accident", "fell in the shower" or "wife is in the
hospital", that I am revealing confidential medical information about
Bill Hall. Of course, I have no confidential medical information about
Bill Hall. I only know that he often misses work.
**Well well! Sam Sloan, who has been more specific than he admits above,
about Bill Hall and his wife's condition at any time, doesn't seem to
understand the law in respect of reporting people's medical conditions. If
Sam Sloan 'only' knows that he often is absent from the office, then why
mention any medical condition at all? But I think Rob Mitchell wanted to
know why people's applications for USCF work showed up on the internet. Let
me see... I'm just trying to remember who did it, and how come he even saw
confidential personel records, nevermind published them. Can you remember
who that was? My mind has gone blank, but that may be for the shear audacity
of this post.
"�Unclear� relations with long time cronies of board members seem to
empower these un-elected outsiders to work directly against current
board members in a world which is all politics."
This again apparently
** laugh! apparent only to Sam Sloan, since all things for the Sloan are to
do with Susan Polgar?
refers to claims by Susan Polgar about "leaks"
of information to Jerry Hanken. It is noteworthy that Susan Polgar
promised to run an open administration, but now she constantly
complains about "leaks".
**Wouldn't you say it was true that she would run an open administration?
There are two tests of this:
A: (1) Who asked for the entire USCF record about the FSS to be opened
up? (2) Who stopped that?
B: Just this weekened I wrote the board, stating any opinion expressed
would be on the record, and public information, and (1) who reported it at
her blogsite? (2) Who criticised her for that?
**Not that we should resort to facts... but there are some board members
past and present who speak with forked-tongue. They say one thing, but their
own actions contradict them.
"Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
cheating or 'monkey business'"
Another fantasy by Phil Innes. Nobody is complaining about "cheating".
**Sam Sloan has surveyed everyone! Not noticing comments in this very
newsgroup. I shan't bother him further, but will bother USCF since I already
have received enough information from them on 'ambiguous' rules to explore
further.
The question is whether an Armageddon playoff should be used to decide
an important title like the US Woman's Championship.
**The question for whom? I would say that the people writing at Chessbase,
including TDs, who used the terms 'degrading and demeaning' are quite clear
on 'whether'.
International
Master Ken Regan has done a frame-by-frame analysis of the video on
the Chessbase.com website and has concluded that the result, under the
rules, was correct.
**My own questions go a tad deeper than that, since very little chess
activity is the result of any single rule. But those I have addressed to the
board and also to those involved in the tournament. And I have received some
responses, one of which is actually an answer to a question I put - though
there are 3 other questions still a tad 'ambiguously' responded to.
Phil Innes
---
Sam Sloan
|
| |
Date: 22 Jun 2008 16:16:55
From:
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
Since no one has suggested that _Chess Life for Kids_ be dropped, that
claim by Innes is simply false. (Many of his other assertions are
questionable, but at lest he qualifies them with hypotheticals.) As
far as I can tell, the only place this claim was ever made was in an
rgcp post by ... Sam Sloan.
The existence of such people is an unfortunate but unavoidable
byproduct of the 1st Amendment.
|
| |
Date: 22 Jun 2008 17:27:38
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Chessville claims Chess Life to "go under"
|
The Sloan takes exceptional and unusual use of copyright to state what is
'apparent' to him. [publisher elsewhere copied] Though the clarity of his
what is apparent goes unmentioned.
Naturally, he refutes nothing, contradicts nothing, nor provides any other
basis for his vagaries.
The Sloan does not even include quotation marks of what are his comments or
what is quoted - and merely provides us his usual sad commentary on how sad
others are. :((
The Sloan only cites Sloan's bete noir, Susan Polgar, and an April Fool's
joke as possible proof of something, while still, without refuting or even
contesting a SINGLE fact, can say that these [whatever they are] 'claims' as
he himself proposes whatever they are, are not true, as far as he knows.
[ROFL]
People should be concerned, says The Sloan.
Of course they bloody should! He himself has been venting on the issue all
week. But venting in a way that would shame the movie "Kill Bill."
As an abstract and generic criticism, who could beat this porridge? Of
course CL will go under if it is to become a market product. Of course it
will go under in terms of quality of content, if reduced to 17 life members.
The Sloan offers no comment whatever on current relations with Chesscafe,
where Hanon Russell is clearly waving lawyers in USCF's space. But as Larry
Parr says, this is the only way anyone can proceed these days - but
objective enforcement, rather than fluffy personal stuff, which seems to
have broken down.
As for what US needs in chess, read the last para below, to which I failed
to mention, should not be run by geriatrics.
Phil Innes
"samsloan" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:03fe019a-71a0-4dac-8bc6-7d5e0cac6f02@k30g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
The Chessville website, which calls itself the most popular chess
website, has an article this week which states that Chess Life
magazine will go under. This article was apparently written by Phil
Innes.
The article reflects many claims to be found on Susan Polgar's
http://www.chessdiscussion.com website. Innes is known to be in close
contact with Susan Polgar. See, for example, the Susan Polgar "April
Fools Joke".
Many of the claims made by Phil Innes are not true, as far as I know,
or a least they are not true yet.
Still, there should be concern about this article, in view of the wide
readership of the Chessville column plus the lack of any official
public response from USCF President Bill Goichberg.
Here is what the Chessville column says at
http://www.chessville.com/Editorials/AlekhinesParrot/Index.htm#squaawk
"Chess Media � Chess Life optional
"USCF announced last week that the flagship print chess magazine Chess
Life will become an optional purchase with USCF membership. USCF will
also terminate its scholastic magazine Chess Life 4 Kids. The plan is
the mind-child of President Goichberg and is receiving severe
criticisms in the chess community.
"Chess Media � More Trouble from ChessCafe
"One upshot of these draconian measures is that the principal of
Chesscafe who retails USCF�s book and equipment business has made
several complaints including the mention of lawyers � Hanon Russell is
himself a lawyer and is probably not kidding around. He seems to have
taken great offense at President Goichberg�s actions, not only cutting
back the magazine but also by using other retailers without any due
process, or notification to himself; behavior he says which hurts his
business prospects representing USCF.
"Interactions between Russell and board-member Bauer are in danger of
becoming more than a little uncivil, and the confrontational tone can
surely only end in tears. Here is Bauer�s comment to Russell:
'You and I have had this discussion about what actually
happened at the US Amateur Team East, and you know for a fact it is
true. You are an attorney - put up or shut up.'
"Since these acrimonious interchanges are with USCF�s dedicated
trading agent, it would surprise me to hear about any mediation
services taking place before law-suits are engaged in earnest, and the
inevitable ending in divorce.
"I selected on of many options to add to the tool-bar including a
direct Wikipedia button in case I ever want to find anything at
Chessville. [In-house joke]. The truth is Chessville is perhaps the
most quoted source at Wiki, and there is so much stuff on this site �
its hard to find, no?
"TheParrot Squaawks�.!
"Chess Life Gone Out Of It.
"Considering the past debt of about $100,000, and estimated $200,000+
this year, no equity yet in the new building, having exhausted cash
reserves, and despite nonsense law-suits, serious new ones are
appearing on the horizon, possible initiated by its only main partner,
Chesscafe, encouraged and stimulated by Diplomat Bauer and Buffalo
Bill in responses to Hanon Russell of ChessCafe, this sea of disasters
hardly needs mention of the likely forthcoming counter-suit from
Polgar & Truong... <gasp, pause for breath >
"The unexplained 'award systems' catastrophe for the national rating
system which are not just demonstrated to be without any quality
assurance, but without any sense of needing any.
"Confidential board memoranda are leaked to agents with no official
role at USCF, and even personnel records show up on the internet.
�Unclear� relations with long time cronies of board members seem to
empower these un-elected outsiders to work directly against current
board members in a world which is all politics.
"Then there is, according to whatever the rules were, if any, and
indeed if this was even chess at all - the resolution of the Women's
championship this year. Popular sentiment was that this was either
cheating or 'monkey business' � degrading the national championship.
That's wasn�t true of the men's competition, but then again, many top
players didn't even show up.
"The discontinuance of the communication vehicle to USCF�s main
market, scholastic chess, coupled with the proposition of Chess Life
standing on its own commercial legs [pause for hilarity] are eye-
wateringly bad decisions to not even serve those who are current
members, never mind reaching out and checking someone�
"Its sad when a long-time public institution goes under, usually.
"But what America needs is an organization established to vigorously
promote chess to the general public, to mainstream education, and to
mainstream media. That is in fact USCF�s own mission statement, but
not its behavior, not this year, nor for the past 35."
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