US Chess Discussion

Welcome! This blog has no connection with the USCF. It's a blog where I provide chess fans with general information about US Chess as well as the USCF. It's also a site where everyone can productively discuss or ask questions about various USCF issues! Your contributions and comments are welcome! PLEASE KEEP IT CIVIL & RESPECT OTHERS! Enjoy! All posts that do not meet this guideline will be deleted -- WIN WITH GRACE, LOSE WITH DIGNITY!(TM) --- 2006 Susan PolgarĀ©

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Direction of the USCF?


A few days ago, the USCF just lost one of its biggest supporters in the AF4C. There will be no more $250,000+ US Championship. The most amazing thing is there are actually some chess politicians cheering for this. They feel that they accomplished something by contributing to the exit of this wonderful organization.

It is a sick mentality and destructive mentality for many long time USCF politicians. They do not like professional or successful organizations or people. Why? I do not know. Perhaps they do not like to admit their own failures? Perhaps they need to see a therapist?

These are the same people who cannot raise a penny for the USCF and cannot contribute anything positive for this organization. But they have opinions about everything and everybody and they are very loud about it. They will lie and attack anyone who opposes them. And they wonder why people are so turned off and tuned out about the welfare of the USCF. It is not surprising that this is one the biggest reasons why so many called for a new federation.

This election has just begun and it has taught me a lot. It clearly showed me that DRASTIC CHANGES are needed and it also clearly showed me that I made the right decision to stay out of the mud with these people. It also shows me that I have the righ teammates that can change this destructive direction.

It is amazing that the USCF spent a lot of money to create a new website and forum and yet failed to create and enforce a set guidelines. It is like building a beautiful car but neglecting to install the engine. It reminds me of some old sad jokes but unfortunately, it is the reality.

Instead of USCF members utilizing the forum for positive ideas and meaning discussions to help this federation, it has become a paradise for lies, deceit, personal attacks and chess politics. And when the ED made a decision to enforce the rules, board members challenge his authority by voting to reverse his decision to protect its own board members.

People complain when an ED is unproductive. And when we have a good ED trying to his job, he is not allowed to.

Spending $50,000, $100,000 or more for the US Championship and the US Women's Championship is not in within the budget of the USCF, not now, not in the near future. This federation was and still is in a bad financial situation. Even though things are getting a little better financially speaking, we are nowhere near the position of being able to throw out this kind of money. We need to start to be fiscally responsible. That is why sponsors are needed and we are not going to get serious sponsors if we do not clean up our act and image.

There are plenty of things to spend that money on such as promoting chess, scholastic chess, college chess, Internet chess, military chess, clubs and affiliates, etc. But these politicians do not want to talk about the real issues and solutions. They only want dirt, lies and deceit.

It is a very tough battle to fight to change this destructive mentality but I am confident that if we continue to take the real issues and solutions to the members, we will succeed.
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14 Comments:

  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 9:46:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm not sure how you can fix things with people like Sloan on the board. People like him should be banned from chess.

    H. Binder

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 9:50:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    H.Binder, you're right on. Sloan is a disgusting individual. He shouldn't even be a board member. I hope the new board can be more serious about the state of the uscf.

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 12:49:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Susan,

    I have spent a great deal of time thinking of what advice I could give you that might help you succeed. I have no illusions that I am anything more than just a little fellow in the grand scheme of things, someone who lives in the shadows of much taller trees, therefore I am quite accustomed to my advice being disreguarded for after all what do I know. Yet for some reason I feel compelled to speak in this matter when normally I would remain silent.

    These people are politicans, you are now a politican, and that is an important point. I have had some experience in dealing with politicans, both in public and in private, and I have found that most politicans do not care about anything but themselves and their own power. Henry Kissenger once said that 90% of all politicans are ruining it for the other 10%. Meaning that this is the ratio of bad politicans to good politicans, and from what I have seen it is very accurate. If you and your family were dieing and needed the politicans to do something to help they would not lift one finger to help, or even care what happened to you unless they had something to gain personally from doing so. Holding on to power, and looking for ways to gain more power is what they are about.

    You wish to reform the situation and see US chess reach its fullest potential, and I support you in this fully and express great convidence in your chances of suceeding. I offer my advice for you to either accept or dismiss as you will in hopes it will assist you in this. Let us say you get elected then what? You will have to govern, and most likely with some of the same people who have you so frustrated now. In order to get your reforms instituted you are going to have to form a consensus with this people in all likely hood, or achieve nothing. This will mean back room deals, compramise, and a long slow road to achieving your goals while they are attacking you and perhaps your family as well while being nice to your face. Watching them take credit for you sucesses and blaming you for every failure. Are you prepaired for this? Perhaps you will be elected with a majority vote, but perhaps you will not as well. To be a politican will mean being pragmatic, and often swallowing your pride. To achieve reform will be understanding that it will be one difficult step after another.

    I hope you understand that I am not being negative or against you only trying to prepare you for the road ahead. I have seen many good people fail, but I think that if anyone can suceed it will be you. We are quite different you and I. The same nay saying took place here in America that you so beautifully discribed taking place in Hungry, but the difference is not everyone has the strength to over come them. I wish you luck, but I have the feeling you don't really need it so much.

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 1:12:00 PM, Blogger Chess Daily News said…

    IrishSpy, I agree with you. I am sick and tired of these same old people doing nothing but destroy US Chess and the USCF. That is why I AM doing something about it. That is why I am NOT engaging in any discussion or debate with this kind of people at the USCF forum. Some of them are the most vicious, vindictive and sickest individuals. They are the cancer of chess that needs to be removed.

    worst_chess, I have no problem with what you said and I appreciate it.

    This is a big dilemma. I will give you an example. The NY Knicks have the biggest payroll in the NBA. Year after year, they have a losing record and can hardly make the playoff.

    However, every year, the same issue comes up. Should they scrap the team and rebuild with youth, passion and excitement or try to add one new disastrous player at the time?

    The USCF as it is has run its course. Many good people are fed up and walked away from it. The federation has not grown. That is why I need to be able to change it. But if I do not have a team, I cannot make changes by myself. That is why I asked the most qualified people to run with me.

    With a strong team, we can make the positive changes.

    Best wishes,
    Susan Polgar
    www.PolgarChess.com

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 6:04:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    yes the anonymous posting is still allowed. You need to shut it off again.

    Peace

    David

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 8:07:00 PM, Blogger Chess Daily News said…

    This was posted by USCF President Bill Goichberg today: "...EA heard from his major sponsor that they had done an internet search, found objectionable posts by Sam Sloan and others, and were very concerned. A few days later, it was announced that by mutual agreement between AF4C and USCF, AF4C would not fund the 2007 Championship."

    I think this is the 3rd or 4th sources that directly stated this.

    Best wishes,
    Susan Polgar
    www.PolgarChess.com

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 8:53:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    irishspy, I urge you to reconsider. If all the people that find Sam Sloan (and those of like mind) objectionable, end up leaving the forums, then new posters might actually BELIEVE what he says.

    david, I'm not sure that they would have seen this material on the USCF site. Mr. Sloan also runs a newsgroup and frequently post the same material to the USCF Issues Forum, the BINFO system, and his own newsgroup.

    Well, the break was nice, but Mr. Sloan is back at it with a vengence (intentional use of that particular word). He has submitted a response to my ethics complaint against him. He did this well after the deadline, which was January 5th. It definately was not delivered by that date, and in fact it was posted earlier today -- 8 days after it was due. I don't believe I will even respond (I have 15 days to do so). His justification for his actions is pretty inadequate, IMO. By not replying, the matter gets sent to the ethics committee right away instead of having to wait for my response and then giving Mr. Sloan another chance to respond. Hopefully, by this time next month we'll have a decision on the five charges where the ethics committee decided to accept jurisdiction.

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 8:56:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I have a few comments... I agree that you are now a politician. So, let us know who your slate contains and we will vote for them. Even if you don't get the fossils like myself to vote for you (but I think you will), rally the youth and their parents. Can they vote? I was surprised to see the sad shape the USCF is in. Based on some of the comments that I see on the various sites, I plead with some of the current regime to simply step-down, assign an interim board and get going on the business that will make USCF strong again. My agenda is on my other post (Open Discussion at the end).

    But, you need to help us and NAME YOUR SLATE... we will do the rest.

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 8:59:00 PM, Blogger Chess Daily News said…

    Susan Polgar
    - Randy Bauer: Finance Expert - Worked with multibillion dollar budget for the state of Iowa
    - Mikhail Korenman: Scholastic and Organizations - Incredible success in both
    Paul Truong: #1 Chess Marketing & PR person in the US

    Best wishes,
    Susan Polgar
    www.PolgarChess.com

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 10:49:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm not a very good player and I don't play OTB anymore. However, I still love chess and play at least 5-7 games everyday on ICC. I stopped caring about the USCF long ago due the problems you stated. I'm glad you're doing something to clean house. Good luck!

    H. Binder

     
  • At Saturday, January 13, 2007 11:45:00 PM, Blogger Chess Daily News said…

    Thank you David! We will win this election and we will make a positive difference for the USCF and US Chess.

    Best wishes,
    Susan Polgar
    www.PolgarChess.com

     
  • At Sunday, January 14, 2007 4:39:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    irishspy, I disagree. Do we know how many people will just drop in between now and the elections to just find out what's going on. I've looked at the number of views as opposed to the number of posts and they seem to justify continued participation.

    When I'm writing on there, I'm writing TO the individuals but I'm writing FOR the occasional drop-in. I think that these forums and blogs are like a TV talk show. Only a limited number of guests talk to the same hosts. It's an incestuous conversation but for the fact that millions of different people watch and listen in.

    I share your antipithy for this kind of work but we all must sacrifice. That's how this work is best viewed - not as a labor of love but one of sacrifice.

     
  • At Sunday, January 14, 2007 4:42:00 PM, Blogger Chess Daily News said…

    Jack, even though this blog is less than a week old, I have about 1,900 unique users daily. All my blogs and website combine have about 1 million unique users monthly.

    Best wishes,
    Susan Polgar
    www.PolgarChess.com

     
  • At Sunday, January 14, 2007 4:42:00 PM, Blogger gregory said…

    Well said Tan,

    Irishspy, I hope that you reconsider, and at least occasionally; continue posting on the USCF forums. I believe that most of the readership, and the posters for that matter are good people that really care about the USCF. It is the small minority that ruin the forums, and the lack of decisions made to moderate it, that make it an unsavory place to be at times. However, if most of decent folks run away, the readership will only hear the views from the cancer on the forum; and the board.

    One of the very reasons why a particular candidate won was that folks decided to ignore his postings, and not contend with his views. That gave him ample opportunity to deliver his message without refute.

    Just my take,

    Gregory

    PS thanks for the generous and kind comments on another thread Tan.

     

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