I am heading to Chicago tomorrow for the US Open and the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls. I will update my blog daily from Chicago. I will also let you know if the USCF delegates will certify Mr. Sam Sloan or not. I truly hope that they do not because I think the USCF will lose a lot of members if they certify a convicted felon (who was arrested and spent time behind bars for kidnapping) and a sexual predator who had countless inappropriate sexual relations with young female (according to his own admission on his website and other forums).
I will also let you know how the USCF Executive Board handles this matter. I think it is time for the USCF EB and delegates are held accountable for their decisions. The outcome in the next 10-12 days will play a heavy role in the future of the USCF. Stay tune! 
Thanks Susan! I hope they’ll do the right thing.
While I think the election of Sloan is a farce that may become a tragedy, I can’t see how the delegates can refuse to ratify his election without violating the bylaws. Honoring the democratic process and the rule of law is an important principle, too. I hope they can finda way to legally do it, but I rather expect we’ll have to either put up with Sloan for a year, or break off contact with the federation.
And here I just rejoined, too. :/
Susan:
Good luck representing the interests of the tens of thousands of scholastic players! We are behind you all the way.
I’ve been following the discussions on the USCF boards and there are two points that I want to address:
1. Several people have proposed spinning off the scholastic arm of the USCF as a way of solving the issue of the new board member. I can’t believe how shortsighted these people are. They would rather keep this guy who doesn’t bring anything worthwhile to the table and lose thousands of new members every year!!!! I don’t know anything about USCF membership but I have to believe that on an annual basis, many if not most new memberships come out of scholastic chess. They would be willing to give up that source of revenue (to say nothing of the future of chess in the U.S. !!) to hold on to this guy who strikes me as being one step away from a psychiatric ward. I would be happy to work with others in the scholastic community on starting our own organization but if the USCF thinks we’ll come back when our kids are 25, ha ha. Seriously, the most impressive people I’ve met in the chess world are involved in scholastics. I know that some of them have had their differences over the years but imagine the corporate sponsorship opportunities for an organization devoted to helping children succeed through chess. 2. Other people on those discussion boards have stated that an Executive Board member is no more an “agent” of the USCF than a regular member. I am fairly certain that this is an incorrect statement of the law of agency. Officers and board members ARE agents of the organization they are elected to represent and the organization can be held liable for their actions while acting in their capacity as officers and directors. In this situation, the USCF would not have liability for Sloan’s actions in a purely private setting but would certainly be named in a lawsuit if Sloan did something at a chess tournament. The question is whether other board members and officers would have personal liability as well. I think you could make an argument that having been put on notice about Sloan’s past actions, they could have personal liability as well. Something to think about.
Thanks! I have children and I would never trust my children with Mr. Sloan.
I am very disppointed that some people feel that it is more important to preserve Mr. Sloan’s right than the rights of tens and thousands of young members.
This is the sad state of chess in America. The chess politicians do not like me because the know that I will not compromise the welfare of chess, especially with young chess players.
Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
Susan said:
“I am very disppointed that some people feel that it is more important to preserve Mr. Sloan’s right than the rights of tens and thousands of young members.
This is the sad state of chess in America.”
Well, this IS America, and people do have rights, even clowns like Mr. Sloan. Bill Clinton couldn’t be removed from office for having an affair with an intern either.
Blaming those who support democracy is not the answer
Blaming those who support democracy is not the answer
You are saying, essentially, Susan, that the voters are not knowledgeable enough to make up their own minds when election time roles along.
It’s apparent you don’t like Sloan; that’s not what I have a problem with. You actually want a governing body to throw out the results of an election because you believe that one of the people who won has character issues. That’s not democracy; we don’t do that in America.
Sloan served his time for kidnapping, so why must you go on and on about him? Come on out and say it; you question the merits (and possibly even the intelligence) of the people who voted for him.
Just let him serve on the board; it’s only for a year. It’s quite possible that he [gasp!] may not win next time. You need to adopt a “wait and see” attitude about this one, even though everybody knows that you don’t like Sam for your own personal dealings with him.
I just hate to see these types of things play out in the USCF; I let my membership run out when I was 11 year old back in 1991. I’m seriously considering rejoining; it all hinges upon whether or not this campaign of yours to void a legitimate election is successful.