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Date: 01 Apr 2007 13:15:05
From: samsloan
Subject: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
The board has been confronted with the issue of articles by or about
Susan Polgar in Chess Life magazine while she is running for election.
The issue is that it is unfair for a candidate to have articles
published about her when other candidates are not receiving the same
exposure in Chess life.
On the other hand, relations between Polgar and the previous editor of
Chess Life were often contentious, with Polgar threatening to sue the
USCF if her articles were not published as she wrote them. Polgar has
also claimed to have a contract requiring the USCF to publish her
articles, although she has failed to produce any such contract.
Finally, to resolve this quagmire, the board decided to direct the
Executive Director, Bill Hall, to politely ask Susan Polgar to
voluntarily agree that her column not be published in Chess Life until
the election was over.
To everyone's surprise, the Executive Director reported back a few
days later that Polgar had agreed to this.
Thus, there was a clear understanding that neither the picture of
Syusan Polgar nor any free ads for Polgar nor any other mention of
Polgar's name would appear in Chess Life magazine except on an equal
basis with the other nine candidates, unless Polgar did something
independently noteworthy, such as win a chess tournament. Since Polgar
is not known to have won a chess tournament since 1989 other than
blitz tournaments and tournaments in her own club against players
rated 1600, it was a fairly safe bet that she would not be winning any
major chess tournaments any time soon.
These extreme measures were necessary because Chess Life under the
current editor has been filled with such a glut of gratuitous mentions
of Polgar and pictures of Polgar that it has become hard to turn a
page of Chess Life without seeing her name or her picture again. Chess
Life has been dubbed Polgar Life magazine, even though Polgar has done
nothing truly noteworthy since refusing to defend her Woman's World
Championship title in 1999.
Finally, the April Chess Life has arrived. This is the magazine where
the editor promised us no more gratuitous mentions of Polgar.
So, we turn to page 14 of the April issue of Chess Life and it says:
"Due to the coming USCF Executive Board Election, Polgar's Pick has
been suspended through the election season. It will resume in August."
This clearly violates the agreement made with the Chess Life editor
and with Miss Polgar that her name would not appear in Chess Life
except on an equal basis with the other nine candidates. Also, the
statement is not true. It is understood that her column will NOT
appear in the August issue if she wins the election. It will only
appear if she looses, unless she agrees to write her column without
pay, and she has made no such agreement.
Also, note that Polgar's Pick is the only Chess Life column that has
the name of the columnist in the title.
But that is not all. On page 9 of the April, 2007 issue of Chess Life,
there is a full page ad for the Susan Polgar World Open Championship
for Girls. If Susan had paid for this ad, there would be less of an
objection, but we know that Polgar never pays for anything. To the
contrary, she expects to be paid. Also, at the bottom of the full page
ad there is a URL for her website at http://www.SusanPolgarFoundation.com
. You are told to turn there for more information, but when you get
there you find a request for donations to the Susan Polgar Foundation,
ads for books and other products by Susan Polgar and links to her
campaign statements by Susan Polgar and her election team.
So, what are we going to do about this?
We have told the Chess Life editor and the Executive Director over and
over again not to give free and unfair publicity to Polgar while she
is running against us for election.
The Chess Life editor is not listening.
What is going to be done about this?
Since Mr. Lucas and Mr. Hall are unwilling to abide by the directives
of the board, I suggest that THEY be suspended as Chess Life Editor
and Executive Director until after the election has been held.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 02 Apr 2007 16:55:17
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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[quote="nolan"]I don't know if Frank Berry was consulted, Bill's note
said that Bill Hall was consulted. (I posted just an excerpt, the
entire note should be available in the BINFO system in another day or
two.)[/quote]
The difference is a major one.
If Bill Goichberg is doing it he must be doing it on the basis of a
vote by the board.
The board never voted on this. Also, I did not receive a BINFO about
this.
Have they made a "mistake" in my email address again?
Sam Sloan
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Date: 02 Apr 2007 01:42:10
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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[quote="Harry Payne"]Welcome back Mr.Sloan. I see you are still in
there battling. :)
Mr Sloan,
I do have some serious questions for
you, as I sometimes feel you are the hardest person to understand.But
I also know it is as impossible for a person to be 100% wrong,100% of
the time as it is to be 100% right ,100% of the time.
How ,as a person that voted for you in
the last election,am I to believe you are ,working to better the
USCF,when none of your colleagues,ever agree with you,or seemingly
come to your aid?
Do I believe the other three persons I voted for are dishonest, or
incompetent ,are they all on the EB incongruous? I trow not.
I believe in all honesty,you could have
been,a great asset.But I have failed to see it.This is in my opinion a
grave loss.There were other people, Mr. Sloan who voted for you,as I
am sure my single vote did not elect you. So this would lead me to
believe , as myself , they may not have agreed with everything you
said,but did with enough to vote for you.What can you tell us that
placed that trust in you,about our vote of confidence? What can you
say to have us vote for you again?
This may be more important, than what
Ms. Polgar is or is not doing at this time. I hope you take no offense
in the post, as none is meant.
Harry Payne 12705633[/quote]
Dear Mr. Payne,
You seem to believe that none of the other board members agree with me
and that I am a lone wolf crying out in the wilderness.
This is not the case. There are two other board members who fairly
consistently vote with me on the big issues (although one of them
generally "abstains" when he sees that he is on a side that cannot
win).
Right now, the board is on a 3-3 deadlock on most of the big issues.
Bill Goichberg has one lapdog board member who almost always votes
with him.
A motion by a board member (not by me) to disclose the identities of
the moderators to this forum has just failed by a 3-3 tie vote.
A motion passed by 6-0 in Los Angeles that no decisions be made
involving the US Championship without a vote by the board. Yet, we see
that a new set of Patron Entry Fees has just appeared on the USCF
website. The board never voted on this. We have not even been informed
of this. The only way that the board ever knows what is going on is
that somebody sees something posted on the Internet and tells us about
it.
I am beginning to see that Bill Goichberg is the most biased and
politically motivated president that the USCF has ever had. However,
you on the outside cannot see what is really going on in the inner
corridors of power.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 02 Apr 2007 01:07:19
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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[quote="chessoffice"]Sam, you are on the Board. If you imagine that
something has occurred that the Board disapproves of, MAKE A MOTION
inviting the Board to express its disapproval along with a possible
remedy. However, if your motion fails to pass, do not post that the
Board agrees with your position, as they obviously do not.
Bill Goichberg[/quote]
It is perfectly obvious and everybody knows by now or if they do not
know it they will soon, that Bill Goichberg strongly opposes me for re-
election and backs, for the time being at least, Polgar.
There have already been two motions made and lengthy discussions at
two board meetings plus many exchanges of emails over this issue.
No regular columnist in Chess Life has ever run for the board before
and thus this issue has not previously come up.
That exchange of two emails back in 2002 which you and Bill Hall call
a "contract" was clearly not a valid and legally enforceable contract.
The Polgar column keeps getting published only because Polgar keeps
threatening to sue and the USCf cannot withstand a lawsuit, even a
meritless one.
A motion by a board member (not by me) to disclose the identities of
the moderators to this forum just failed by a 3-3 tie vote. As long as
Bill Goichberg holds enough votes to block any motion, a motion
directed to the fairness issue is a waste of time.
Bill Goichberg's vote against revealing the identities of the
moderators was especially objectionable since the maker of the motion
states that Bill Goichberg IS one of the moderators, which he has not
denied.
The by-laws require that a tape recording or a transcript of all board
meetings be posted on the website. This still has not been done. The
tapes of the August and November 2006 board meetings and the February
3, 2007 board meeting and the February 25, 2007 conference call board
meeting still have not been posted. If these tapes had been posted,
the membership would be able to see clearly what is going on here.
A full page ad in Chess Life costs $5,000. I want to know who paid for
the Polgar ad on page 9 of the April Chess Life. If this is another
one of those free ads that Polgar keeps receiving, the members have a
right to know about it.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 01 Apr 2007 18:38:04
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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At 05:35 PM 4/1/2007 -0400, [email protected] wrote:
> your email states the Board agreed to request a voluntary suspension of
>the columns, which Polgar agreed to. i think the suspension announcement in
>the magazine is simply information to the readers. I do not know what if
>any agreements were made about tournament ads. Legitimate tournaments can
>get their names in tournament announcements or ads.
This issue was discussed at great length during both the November and
the February meetings of the board and it was clearly understood that
Polgar's name would not appear in Chess Life magazine except on an
equal basis with the other nine candidates.
The board corresponded with Dan Lucas, who acknowledged this.
Free Ads for Polgar appeared in the January, February and ch issues
of Chess Life even though Polgar declared herself as a candidate in
December. Both the Chess Life Editor and the Executive Director were
told repeatedly that once she becomes a candidate neither her name nor
her photograph should appear in the magazine except on an equal basis
with the other candidates.
It seems that both the Executive Director, Bill Hall, and the Chess
Life editor, Dan Lucas, have this obsessive compulsive need to make
secret deals with Polgar and to give her all kinds of free publicity
while denying publicity to equally deserving or more deserving chess
personalities.
One good thing is that Irina Krush has her picture on the cover of the
April Chess Life. This was long overdue. With her great achievements
she has been entitled to a cover story since at least 2000 and I have
often said so.
Bill Goichberg also has a full page ad in Chess Life. It is for the
Chicago Open. However, he is entitled to this because he pays for it
at standard rates. I feel certain that Polgar paid nothing for her
full page ad, which priily advertises herself, because she never
pays for anything and because the "Susan Polgar World Open for Girls"
that she is advertising might not even get 50 players.
I would like to know why Bill Hall authorized this free ad for Susan
Polgar. I would like to know why he keeps doing this.
On another subject, I have included an extra 100 words on my
conviction for "attempted abduction" of my own daughter in both the
April and May issues of Chess Life. Do you feel that the by-laws
requires the 100 words in the June issue as well? I understand that
the by-laws committee is divided on this issue.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 02 Apr 2007 00:19:53
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
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This week Chessville has sensational news about Polgar, which may please Sam
Sloan - it sure pleased Larry King
Phil Innes
"samsloan" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]
> Entire purpose defeated to suspension of Polgar articles
>
> The board has been confronted with the issue of articles by or about
> Susan Polgar in Chess Life magazine while she is running for election.
> The issue is that it is unfair for a candidate to have articles
> published about her when other candidates are not receiving the same
> exposure in Chess life.
>
> On the other hand, relations between Polgar and the previous editor of
> Chess Life were often contentious, with Polgar threatening to sue the
> USCF if her articles were not published as she wrote them. Polgar has
> also claimed to have a contract requiring the USCF to publish her
> articles, although she has failed to produce any such contract.
>
> Finally, to resolve this quagmire, the board decided to direct the
> Executive Director, Bill Hall, to politely ask Susan Polgar to
> voluntarily agree that her column not be published in Chess Life until
> the election was over.
>
> To everyone's surprise, the Executive Director reported back a few
> days later that Polgar had agreed to this.
>
> Thus, there was a clear understanding that neither the picture of
> Syusan Polgar nor any free ads for Polgar nor any other mention of
> Polgar's name would appear in Chess Life magazine except on an equal
> basis with the other nine candidates, unless Polgar did something
> independently noteworthy, such as win a chess tournament. Since Polgar
> is not known to have won a chess tournament since 1989 other than
> blitz tournaments and tournaments in her own club against players
> rated 1600, it was a fairly safe bet that she would not be winning any
> major chess tournaments any time soon.
>
> These extreme measures were necessary because Chess Life under the
> current editor has been filled with such a glut of gratuitous mentions
> of Polgar and pictures of Polgar that it has become hard to turn a
> page of Chess Life without seeing her name or her picture again. Chess
> Life has been dubbed Polgar Life magazine, even though Polgar has done
> nothing truly noteworthy since refusing to defend her Woman's World
> Championship title in 1999.
>
> Finally, the April Chess Life has arrived. This is the magazine where
> the editor promised us no more gratuitous mentions of Polgar.
>
> So, we turn to page 14 of the April issue of Chess Life and it says:
>
> "Due to the coming USCF Executive Board Election, Polgar's Pick has
> been suspended through the election season. It will resume in August."
>
> This clearly violates the agreement made with the Chess Life editor
> and with Miss Polgar that her name would not appear in Chess Life
> except on an equal basis with the other nine candidates. Also, the
> statement is not true. It is understood that her column will NOT
> appear in the August issue if she wins the election. It will only
> appear if she looses, unless she agrees to write her column without
> pay, and she has made no such agreement.
>
> Also, note that Polgar's Pick is the only Chess Life column that has
> the name of the columnist in the title.
>
> But that is not all. On page 9 of the April, 2007 issue of Chess Life,
> there is a full page ad for the Susan Polgar World Open Championship
> for Girls. If Susan had paid for this ad, there would be less of an
> objection, but we know that Polgar never pays for anything. To the
> contrary, she expects to be paid. Also, at the bottom of the full page
> ad there is a URL for her website at http://www.SusanPolgarFoundation.com
> . You are told to turn there for more information, but when you get
> there you find a request for donations to the Susan Polgar Foundation,
> ads for books and other products by Susan Polgar and links to her
> campaign statements by Susan Polgar and her election team.
>
> So, what are we going to do about this?
>
> We have told the Chess Life editor and the Executive Director over and
> over again not to give free and unfair publicity to Polgar while she
> is running against us for election.
>
> The Chess Life editor is not listening.
>
> What is going to be done about this?
>
> Since Mr. Lucas and Mr. Hall are unwilling to abide by the directives
> of the board, I suggest that THEY be suspended as Chess Life Editor
> and Executive Director until after the election has been held.
>
> Sam Sloan
>
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Date: 01 Apr 2007 15:41:00
From: Ray Gordon, creator of the pivot
Subject: Are you scared?
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Are you afraid of a woman? Is that what you're telling the world? What
a coward! No wonder why you hide behind your wife's pants.
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