From: LA Chess Club
Date: Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 11:33 AM
Subject: RE: 1st Metropolitan International
To: anatolyxxxxxx@xxxx.com
We don’t allow players from terrorist countries in our tournaments!
Good Chess!
Mick Bighamian
Los Angeles Chess Club
Founder & Chief Director
USCF Life Senior Master
(310) xxx-xxxx
L.A. chess club under investigation for anti-Semitic e-mail
February 8, 2011
By Ryan Torok
Mick Bighamian, founder and director of the Los Angeles Chess Club, denies writing an e-mail to 22-year-old Israeli grandmaster Anatoly Bykhovsky in mid-January that read, “We don’t allow players from terrorist countries to participate in our tournaments.”
Bykhovsky, a freshman at Texas Tech University, received the e-mail the day after sending a request to Bighamian to play in an upcoming tournament.
In a phone interview, Bighamian said that he usually leaves his e-mail app open on the club’s computer, and anybody there could have sent the e-mail, which included his name at the bottom. He denies being anti-Semitic or being prejudiced against Israelis, but he refused to discuss his feelings about Israel.
“I don’t think my views of any countries is anyone else’s business,” he said.
Bighamian said he has not found out who sent the e-mail, but added that he has placed new restrictions on the computer to limit who can send e-mails.
After The New York Times published an article about the e-mail on Jan. 24, people in the chess community dug up anti-Semitic and anti-Israel messages on Web bulletin boards from the late 1990s written by someone using the name Mansour Bighamian (Mansour is Bighamian’s real first name).
Bill Hall, executive director of United States Chess Federation (USCF), is currently investing a complaint about the e-mail and said Bighamian or his club could face sanctions, probation or expulsion.
Shortly after receiving the e-mail, Bykhovsky forwarded it to officials at the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Texas Tech.
“Basically he didn’t know how to deal with the situation,” said Paul Truong, director of marketing and public relations at SPICE.
“He was stunned…. [He] thought somebody was playing a prank or something,” Truong said.
Bykhovsky, who moved to the United States from Israel last year to study at Texas Tech and ranks in the top half percent of 80,000 USCF members, declined to discuss the incident with The Journal. In an e-mail, he said he wants the appropriate authorities to resolve the matter.
He also didn’t respond to the Los Angeles Chess Club e-mail. “He found this was something beneath him to respond to such remarks,” Truong said.
On Jan. 19, SPICE filed a complaint with the World Chess Federation. The World Chess Federation has 170 member federations, including the USCF; the Los Angeles Chess Club is an affiliate member. The USCF started the investigation after the complaint was filed.
A misunderstanding led to the initial e-mail exchange. While reading a chess newsletter, Bykhovsky came across an advertisement for the First Metropolitan International, a tournament in August that is being organized by Metropolitan Chess Club, another Los Angeles group. But Bykhovsky accidentally wrote to Bighamian, whose club was also advertising an event in the same issue.
Ankit Gupta, chief organizer for the Metropolitan Chess Club, denounced the e-mail, whether it was sent by Bighamian or not, and welcomed Bykhovsky to play in his club’s tournament.
— Ryan Torok, Staff Writer
Did Mick offer an apology? The email is deplorable.
I enjoyed the story.
People should not be banned because of there home countries are unpopular or not well regarded by others on the international stage.
Many countires have a bad acts in there history at one time or another. Its wrong to blame chessplayers for actions of others.
Chessplayers are all one family.
Chess overcomes all barriers, race, gender, ethic background, money, disabilites,etc this is the magic of chess
“Mansour a Muslim name…” SO WHAT?
Isn’t this a prejudice ??? Aren’t prejudices the basis of any kind of fascism?
What the LA guy did was not appropriate for sure. That’s because to reject a man because he is from X country is discrimination. Calling a terrorist a terrorist is just telling the truth though…
I have Jewish friends in Istanbul who are also anti-Israelis… So not to be the same thing as anti-Semitism… Let us choose the words carefully…
He should either publicly apologize for this email or be banned for 10 years from chess.
Calling Israel a terrorist country is not the same thing as “anti-Semitic”. It is unfortunate that political issues and race/ethnic ones get confused in this way. It confuses the debate over political/military tactics by tarring critics with an ugly brush, effectively ending any kind of rational debate.
Mick for USCF President! Finally someone as evil as Goichberg.
Goichberg and his goons won’t do anything. Just look at how Bill Goichberg, Randy Bauer, and Jim Berry treat an immigrant like Beatriz Marinello. They’re a bunch of racists.
People like this has no business being in the chess industry.
I don’t believe Mic wrote this. I have not known him for too long. But, in every tournament I have played, he has been nothing but cordial to every single players regardless of nationality. This type of comment would be completely out of character and I think someone is trying to smear him.
This guy refused to even offer an apology even though it’s clear that the message was sent from his club from his computer. What gives?