Dr. Alexey Root, author of Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators, is a former US Women’s Champion (1989). She is a very important member of the UTD Chess Program. She has done countless wonderful things for chess and she is someone I highly respect. Here is her letter to me about her decision not to be involved with any USCF committee.
Dear Susan,
Over the past 15+ years, I’ve volunteered 100s of hours on USCF committees, including the Women’s, College, and Chess in Education committees. While Sam Sloan is on the USCF Executive Board, my USCF committee volunteering will cease. Sam Sloan now has a powerful voice in the USCF. From what I have read about Sam Sloan (both on his own Web site and in Susan Polgar’s blog) and from what I observed during my brief stop at the Delegates’ Meeting, Sloan’s voice will not serve goodness or brevity.
Yesterday was back-to-school night at my son’s school. Just as I am required to do every year, I filled out the volunteer forms including a record of my past service and a background check. I’ve been a top volunteer with the local public school system for six years. I enjoy volunteering with organizations, like my local schools, that take protecting children seriously by screening all volunteers and employees.
We all have limited time for paid work, for volunteer work, for family, and for personal interests. For the next year, my limited volunteer time will not be spent serving on USCF committees. Although I’ll still be involved in USCF through writing chess articles and playing in tournaments, committee work (which is more closely associated with politics and the Executive Board) will not be on my agenda until Sloan leaves the Executive Board.
Sincerely,
Alexey Root
Dr Root, I commend your actions to stick to your principles and I hope it has some effect on the distressing state of the USCF and their acceptance of that “person” on their excecutive board.
I recently finished reading your book and plan to do so again since it has so much worthwhile info within.
I especially appreciated your references to Csikszentmihaly’s book on the “flow” state. It is a facinating subject in it of itself that we all experience .
Whether it is during a game of chess or performing music or playing golf or any other activity we are blessed to enjoy to the exclusion of all other stimuli.
Best of luck to you in the future and hopes to hear you are able to participate on committees of a cleansed and restructured USCF
Alexey! Felicitations on your successes. I lost your number so please send me an email via my web page. Say hi to Doug. Do you still have the bunny rabbits? I enjoyed playing you at Santa Monica Chess Club and Victorville tournament. It was a blast when we all went together to National Open in Las Vegas. Hope to hear from you soon.
I fully support Dr. Root and GM Polgar. Mr. SS is mentally sick and he has no business serving on the board.
The Correct decision for sure. I support you and all other people who make the same decision or related decisions.
I have not been a recent volunteer. but
1) I will not renew my USCF membership dues until Sam is gone and maybe not even then.
2) I will not support and enter any USCF sanctioned tournament. I really dont need to spend $100 on USCF tournament entry fees all the time.
I want to send a loud and clear message to USCF and all tournament directors that Sam Sloan is not good for chess and not good for their tournaments.
3) I will not purchase any chess books or related chess software from anyone. I want all people who earn money from chess to know that Sam Sloan is not good for chess.
4) I will continue to support Susan Polgar and all those who support her in any way I can. including supporting her tournaments and chess related sales.
5) I will tell all my chess friends what I am doing and will ask them to do the same.
Change comes from the bottom up. not from the top down. I do not expect to see the top of USCF make changes without huge pressure from those at the bottom. this is the way it happens in all organizations.
I will do my part. I hope everyone does their part. Let us send a clear message to USCF that this behavior is not acceptable.
if they voted in Sam because they were afraid he might sue them. then what happens in meetings with his constant pressure that he will sue unless he gets his way. this is sam sloan holding the uscf hostage under the fear of being sued. rediculous to have such a man have more opportunities to sue.
the uscf needs a change in the by laws to keep people like him out of uscf politics.
I was a member of the chess club in Austin, Texas when Alexey Root was there. When she became of member of the club’s board of directors, she showed a total indifference to the needs and wishes of all the club’s adult chessplayers. She appeared to want to turn the club into a place where small children ran around screaming and it was impossible to play serious chess. I was glad when she left Austin, and I do not trust her to act in the best interests of chess and chessplayers.
I was also in Austin while Alexey was involved in Austin Chess. One of the things she did was made it cheap (or free, I don’t remember which) for women to become members of the Austin chess club. Without that financial help, it would have been very unlikely that I would have participated in the chess club at all. Her presence at the club also showed that women can succeed at chess, which encouraged me to stay with chess. I think she has done good things for chess! 🙂