My June Election Statement

The current state of our federation is not healthy! The USCF lost money again! Many sponsors do not want to deal with us. Many supporters are tired of our internal political destruction. Some board members have repeatedly violated the code of ethics, standards of conduct, as well as the members’ trust. There is no end to this destruction in sight unless we demand big positive changes by putting the most capable people in place.

I would like to rebuild the USCF into a strong, successful and respectable organization. This is why I decided to run in this election. Here are some of the past major problems that need to be corrected in order for the USCF to prosper:

• Too many bad financial and business decisions
• Too many decisions made for political reasons instead of the best interests of US chess and the USCF
• Too much frivolous spending without long-term vision
• Too little effort to raise much-needed revenues to ensure the good health of this federation
• Too little focus on positive chess marketing and promotion
• Too little focus on many membership categories such as adult, scholastic, collegiate, correspondence, and military chess
• Too little effort to retain our memberships, especially the scholastic members
• Too little integrity, honesty, credibility and professionalism by some board members
• Too little accountability of our board members
• Too little respect for our members, affiliates, partners, supporters and sponsors
• Too little willingness to keep the USCF up with the times

Here are some of my areas of focus for the USCF if I’m elected:

• Restore respectability, integrity, credibility and professionalism to the USCF
• Reestablish a sound and balanced budget
• Develop strong cooperation and support for adult, scholastic, collegiate, correspondence, military and internet chess
• Establish a strong professional marketing and PR system
• End the petty and destructive politics

I highly recommend three other candidates who can work with me to help turn the USCF into a strong and viable organization:

• Paul Truong: He’s by far the most successful person in chess marketing, promotion, public relations, and management. Paul can bring something to this federation that no one could in the past. We badly need his expertise.

• Mikhail Korenman: He has a strong record in promoting and organizing chess events. He’s a member of the USCF Scholastic Council. He’s well respected by many people, including former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and many others.

• Randy Bauer: He has had tremendous success as the budget director of the state of Iowa, dealing with a multibillion dollar budget. We need his financial expertise.

I cannot fix the USCF alone. Please join Paul, Mikhail, Randy and me in this mission to reform the USCF. The future of the USCF is in our hands. We cannot continue the status quo. It is not working. It is sinking this federation. I will continue to discuss many more important issues in detail at www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com.

Thanks for your support!

Statement by Paul Truong for the USCF election

Dear friends and colleagues,

This is an absolutely critical election for the USCF. It’s also one of the most unique elections ever. Why? Because you, the members, have the power to set this federation on the right course for the next 4 years! You, the members, are in the position to take back control of our beloved federation.

What has happened to the USCF in recent years? Well, it hasn’t been great at all! Every time the USCF took a step forward, it also took two steps backward. There was little sense of pride. There was little sense of responsibility. There was little attempt to positively promote chess or the USCF. There was little sense of urgency.

However, there were plenty of internal political wars. There were plenty of horrific business and financial blunders. There was plenty of frivolous spending for political reasons. There was plenty of dishonesty and unprofessionalism.

Some believe that if it ain’t broken, why fix it? I would say something is broken when we’re losing money year after year. There’s hardly any room left for errors. As each day went by, this federation fell further behind. With massive overheads, shrinking revenues and outdated technology, we’re doomed to fail again.

Every year is a new excuse. Every year is a new finger-pointing game. The Executive Director and his staff weren’t allowed to do their jobs because some board members wanted to micromanage them. We wasted so much time, money and resources dealing with nonsense by chess politicians instead of focusing on improving many needed areas.

What are some of my areas of expertise? What can I bring to the table?

I spent the last 5+ years volunteering my full time to positively promote chess in the US, especially for the Susan Polgar Foundation. I was able to secure more publicity and media coverage for all the events that I was involved with than the entire USCF. I helped create countless headline-news chess events.

The Susan Polgar Foundation awarded approximately $400,000 in scholarships and chess prizes in the last few years. We did it with virtually a zero budget. I proved that we don’t have to spend tens and thousands of dollars to positively and correctly promote our game. We just need to know how to do it and have the passion and diligence to follow through.

I can bring my unique expertise in marketing, promotion, management and public relations, areas that the USCF sorely needs. When doubters said that the US Women’s Olympiad Training Program would not work, I spent two years without pay to help the team as their captain, manager and personal coach. We came home with an unprecedented 4 medals (2 Gold and 2 Silver), first ever in US history.

I can help restore the much-needed integrity, credibility and professionalism back to the USCF. If you’re happy with the status quo then I’m not the right person. If you want success and accountability then I can make a big difference immediately. Thank you!

My statement for the USCF Election

Chess is my life! This is why it’s so important to me to help chess. Unfortunately for all chess lovers, the USCF has had many serious problems in recent years. I would like to help turn this federation around.

Here are some of the past major problems that need to be corrected in order for the USCF to prosper:

- Too many bad financial and business decisions
- Too many decisions made for political reasons instead of the best interests of US chess and the USCF
- Too much micromanaging of staff by the Executive Board
- Too much frivolous spending without long-term vision
- Too little effort to raise much-needed revenues to ensure the good health of this federation
- Too little focus on positive chess promotion in the United States
- Too little focus on many membership categories such as adult, collegiate, correspondence, and military chess
- Too little effort to retain our memberships, especially the scholastic members
- Too little integrity, honesty, credibility and professionalism by some board members
- Too little accountability of our board members
- Too little respect for our members, partners, supporters and sponsors
- Too little willingness to keep the USCF up with the times

The current state of our federation is not healthy! We’re losing money year after year while other chess organizations thrive. Sponsors don’t want to deal with us. Supporters are tired of our internal political destruction. Some board members have repeatedly violated the USCF code of ethics as well as the members' trust. There is no end to this destruction in sight unless we demand positive changes by putting the most capable people in place.

Here are some of my areas of focus for the USCF if I’m elected:

- Restore respectability, integrity, credibility and professionalism to the USCF
- Reestablish a sound and balanced budget
- Develop strong cooperation and support for adult, scholastic, collegiate, correspondence and military chess
- Establish a strong professional marketing and PR system
- End the petty and destructive politics

I highly recommend three other candidates. Here are my reasons:

Paul Truong: He’s by far the most successful person in chess marketing, promotion and public relations. He can bring something to this federation that no one could in the past.

Mikhail Korenman: He has a strong record in promoting and organizing chess events. He’s a member of the USCF Scholastic Council. He’s well respected by many people, including former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, 7-time World Champion Anatoly Karpov, and many others.

Randy Bauer: He has had tremendous success as the budget director of the state of Iowa, dealing with a multibillion dollar budget. We need his financial expertise.

Please join me in this mission to reform the USCF. The future of the USCF is in our own hands. We cannot continue to status quo. It’s not working. It’s sinking this federation. In the upcoming months, I’ll discuss many important issues in detail at www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com and www.uschess.blogspot.com.

Thanks for your support!