It’s Saturday Open Forum. What would you like to discuss?
– Gata Kamsky in Elista and should he have a second?
– What role should the USCF play in supporting our top players like Gata Kamsky, Alex Onischuk, Hikaru Nakamura, Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih, etc.?
– The upcoming World Championship in Mexico City with Kramnik, Anand, Svidler, Morozevich, Leko, Gelfand, Aronian and Grischuk
– The USCF Executive Board Election
– The Foros super tournament with Svidler (RUS, 2736), Ivanchuk (UKR, 2729), Jakovenko (RUS, 2708), Shirov (ESP, 2699), Nisipeanu (ROM, 2693), Sasikiran (IND, 2690), Eljanov (UKR, 2686), Karjakin (UKR, 2686), Rublevsky (RUS, 2680), Dominguez (CUB, 2678), Van Wely (NED, 2674), Onischuk (USA, 2663)
– SPICE
The forum is yours!
What does a second do?
Just wanted to say the ballot arrived on Friday and my vote for the Polgar team is in the mail! Good luck Susan, Paul, Mikhail & Randy!
Susan, why do you recommend Dr. Korenman, Mr. Truong and Bauer? Why do you need the entire team elected? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Propongo tema nuevo:
Hay muchas academias de Ajedrez. De ellas a veces sale algun GM entre 1000, y algun MI entre cientos de personas.
Solo una persona conoce un método de enseñanza con casi 100% de efectividad para crear un GM. Enseñó solo a 3 personas, 2 son GM, y una MI.
Que espera esa persona para publicar un libro que se refiera a un metodo para enseñar ajedrez?.
No un libro de problemitas, de tacticas, de aperturas, si no algo más básico, pero mas profundo a la vez.
Un libro que se refiera a cuales son los temas a estudiar, y por cuanto tiempo, por donde comenzar, y cuando se puede pasar a un siguiente paso. Que aconseje cuantas partidas conviene jugar por semana, y a que tiempos…etc.
La persona que debe escribirlo es LAZLO POLGAR, el instructor de ajedrez mas efectivo.
Susan, I just got the itinerary for the Chess Trip to Hungary in just one week.
Exciting stuff!! The agenda is well planned and jam packed.
Adding that simul against you and Sofi and Judit on the first day(Sunday)was an amazing addition.
I’ve always wanted to do that dinner cruise on the Danube as well, Budapest in the evening has to be the best scene in the world with those amazing lighted bridges and that Parliament on the bank.
I’m also looking forward to the Lakatos Gypsy band at Matyas Pince. I got their CD when I saw then in NJ 5 years ago.
Oh yeah the Chess should be pretty good tooo 😉
Can’t Wait!
Michael
A second plays a very important role in the success of a chess player. A second can help his / her player prepare and a second can also give emotional and psychological support.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Here is my opinion.
There are 7 members of the EB. The actions taken will require a majority of the votes. If Susan is elected and the other 6 votes oppose her then how can she accomplish anything. OF course she will not be able to get things accomplished.
If there are 3 new members alongside her with at least a neutral position then she has a chance of getting 4 votes on some issues and some change will occur.
Better is to have 3 other members who have the same vision of change that she has. This will assist the change that can occur.
Even if all 4 team members are elected, Bill Goichberg will still hold EB office with a vote for 2 more years.
I am not sure but I think the office of President will be voted on by the new EB after the election. But it might be by the old EB before it leaves.
I am confused because it is my opinion that the USCF holds an annual meeting during the US Championships. Then after the US Championships and after the meeting the new elected members take office. I really do not know how the transfer of power takes place.
Some one here must know how it works. When do the newly elected EB members take office. When is the President elected and for how long. What happens before and after the annual meeting at the US Championships.
The delegates meet once a year. The position of President is supposed to chosen after the delegates’ meeting. But Goichberg already knew that he was elected President thanks to Schultz and Channing. Their loyalty to him is frightening.
Schultz also led the charge in spending $100,000 for the Chess Life / Website revamp, web editor and Palm Beach retreat. This is why the USCF lost money again this year.
Even if Susan wins, Channing will vote for Goichberg to stay as President. These guys will stop Susan at all costs.
A chess mother just posted this on another forum and I agree with her:
“It sounds like the two party concept is a hold over from a long time ago and may not reflect the current state of USCF politics. Didn’t Joe Lux post something recently that he had ties to both Goichberg and Dubeck? On the other hand, from the gossip on this forum after last year’s election, it sounds like Dubeck worked to get Sam Sloan elected as pay back for something Goichberg did. I think that this is where Susan Polgar’s anti-chess politics campaign theme may have originated. Because if true, it does seem really petty and destructive. I think it is great to be discussing whether and how to find sponsorship for top U.S. players like Kamsky, Nakamura, etc. as well as up and coming juniors like Robson. (Missing in some of those discussions is how great it would be for U.S. chess to have a Magnus Carlsen making the rounds of Letterman, etc.) But if you look at the last few years of USCF politics, you see Sloan alienating A4FC as well as his lawsuit against the board relating to the move to Crossville. I’m not opining on the merits of his lawsuit, but here’s a collateral result of it. At some last year, I wanted to find out about one of the members of the USCF board and did a google search and one of the first things I found was Sloan’s litigation papers questioning whether said board member violated the Patriot Act. If you are representing a corporation who wants to sponsor chess, that kind of stuff (along with Sloan’s high traffic website) is not likely to help. Do I get the fact that she and Paul promote Susan as well as chess? Yes. Do I get the fact that they are trying to make a living at chess? Yes. Lost in all of this criticism of Susan Polgar is the fact that she is someone who both has the chess resume (GM is enough for me), work ethic, track record of encouraging thousands of young and old chess players and proven ability to open govt., corporate and academic doors that have for the most part been closed to chess in this country.”
No one in this country has opened more doors for chess than Paul and Susan. I find it very offensive that USCF President Goichberg placed them in the same category as Mr. Sloan.
Unfortunately, Don Schultz, Stephen Jones and Joe Lux are endorsing the conducts of Mr. Goichberg. This is why things must be changed and it won’t happen until we elect the right people.
Chess Mama,
What I need is qualified independent people who have the best interest of chess and the USCF. We do not have it now. That is why I recommended Mikhail, Randy and Paul.
I strongly recommended them because of their experience, expertise and records of success. They are the most qualified people who can help the USCF NOW and they are also independent thinkers.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
There were some comments that I just deleted. Someone hacked into this blog to make inappropriate posts. I have changed the password and hopefully the problem is resolved.
Sorry about that.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Susan, what is your thought about the constant attacks, lies, and insults from various board members and their supporters toward you and your family?
This is a bit off topic.
Is this a well known error in the Fischer book? In the Lombardy game after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 Nc6 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Nc2 d5 10.cd ed 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 and now Fischer comments on the variation 12.exd5 with 12…Nb4 13.Bc4 Bf5 14.Nxb4 Bxb4+ 15.Kf2 and now Fischer gives 15…Re8 instead of 15…Qh4+ forking the King and Bishop.
“Susan, what is your thought about the constant attacks, lies, and insults from various board members and their supporters toward you and your family?”
Don’t you think it’s slightly dirty politics to attack the board without saying what you’re talking about or who did it? Do you think you’re doing Susan any favors associating her with mudslinging this way?
Susan do you think it is easier to become a GM now than say around the time Bobby Fischer became one? I see all these events on your site of tournaments and I dont even recognise the names of most. It seems to me a GM should have more importance, for example be able to compete with legitamacy for The World Title tournaments selection process.
Dang. The Cubs got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 5th (I’m a Padres fan). Oh well. It’s cool.
Susan,
Would you consider playing on the USA women’s team for the 2008 Chess Olympiad? In your opinion, which players could give us the best chance of possibly winning a team medal again? And, assuming you and your slate are elected to the EB, do you have any plans on the drawing board on how to promote and publicize the 2008 Olympiad to a broader spectrum of people in the US than just chess fans? Could we get the Olympiad teams on Letterman, for instance?
Thanks!
Janet Newton
Susan,
I do think you are doing much good in promoting chess as you have been doing for several years.
That said, I think you could do even more by playing in official US Championships. [I realize, of course, it is easy for me to suggest how you should spend your time, still I think a few more titles after your name could not hurt the cause.]
From Texas
Susan, why do you think the USCF is important? Why should anyone care about what the USCF does? Do you think Pomo was really the world champion, just because FIDE said he was, even though Kasparov was surely a stronger player? FIDE made itself irrelevant in those days, and maybe the USCF is irrelevant now too. The USCF is organized around one type of event, the big-money sandbagging contest where master-level players spend the whole year shedding rating points so they can play other masters in the under-1600 section for 1000’s of dollars. Well, fine, those events are popular with a certain crowd, so they should have an organization to keep some semblance of sanity in the tournaments, and maybe the USCF is that organization. But why should anyone outside that crowd still pay attention to it?
It is definitely easier to become a GM today than in 1970.
One major reason is that you can purchase a computer program that plays at GM level and use it to learn good moves. Back in Bobby’s time it was very difficult to figure out the best move. Many best moves in opening theory took 100 years to work out.
Another help is that people today can play so much more chess on the internet and meet other good players so easy.
Today it is much easier to find a GM who will teach you chess as a kid.
Compared to today, Bobby had to work out everything on his own with almost no help. Today there is help everywhere.
Now it is still tough to become a GM. It still takes talent and hard work. But the path seems more laid out then in Bobby’s time.
Back in Bobby’s time most information was held by the Russians and kept fairly much for their own use. The information was not easily obtainable. For example the games being played in Russia were not easy to get a copy and study them if you lived outside Russia.
Today all the games are almost instantly available on computer databases. The ideas used in the game become public knowledge almost instantly. Back then the ideas might be hidden for years.
It is easier today because the basic tools are available to everyone.
I’m sorry for what Susan has to go through. This is the most vicious and most corrupt board in recent history.
This federation is going nowhere with Goichberg and Schultz. Vote for them and their people and we’ll have another 4 years of the same stuff.
Did anyone read the post card by Goichberg recommending Lux, Jones and Schultz? What a joke! This is our USCF President telling the members that Susan Polgar is the same as Sam Sloan. When I registered for the world open last year, I didn’t know that Goichberg would email me such garbage. I won’t ever play another one of Goichberg event again until he’s gone from this board. I also won’t donate a penny to the USCF until Sam Sloan is off the board and banned from the USCF. What a bunch of crooks!
All the Polgar girls are anxiously awating a post listing the players for this year. Is there any way you could list them? thanks in advance.
Right on.
I thought I was the only one who would boycott the world open because of that postcard. I want to send him a message that we want people with ethics to represent us.
My vote is already mailed in for Susan, Paul who I think is terrific, Mikhail who is really wonderful and Randy who everyone likes. Very professional all. I forgot to say something about Susan. She is the BEST. I thought everyone knew that.
Susan,When you are elected will you have any conflicts of interest like Bill G does and feel you must cease some of those activities? If so, I feel you can do more of all the good things you do now without being on the USChess board.
I will boycott all Goichberg’s events as well. I will also ask all my friends to boycott until he behaves like a human being. I hope everyone will do the same. His recent conducts are despicable and he should be out of chess.
Goichberg, despicable? That’s mild. This was the biggest mistake of his career and I’m sure he’ll feel it for years.
Guys, it’s not Goichberg alone. This board is the most corrupt board in a long time and leading this group are Schultz, Sloan and Goichberg. Channing is OK if he stops being Don’s puppet.
I hope Susan would go after Goichberg in court for his repulsive behavior. I’ve known Goichberg for 30 years and he’s never like this before. He’s letting his ego interfere with what’s good for chess.
This was just posted by Dewain Barber. It shows the reckless nature of Bill Goichberg, Sam Sloan and Don Schultz. They could not care less about scholastic chess and they did everything they could to fool the USCF members and harm the scholastic players.
Dear All,
Well, where do I begin. I have just returned from a 10 day trip that included the National Open in Las Vegas and a trip to Texas Tech University. Although tired from the 20 hours of driving over the last three days, I took the time to check out the forum and see what was being written. Speculation was rampant. The most profound thing about this thread and a previous one is that no one called to ask me what was happening. I did call home every day that I was gone to see if their were any messages.
The answer to all of the questions below is YES.
1. Did I go to Texas Tech and visit their campus?
2. Did I represent Bill Hall, Mitchell Denker, Jerry Nash, Ralph Bowman, Jack Mallory and Harold Winston?
3. Did I sign a letter for a scholarship for the Denker Tournament of High School Championships for 2007 in Cherry Hill, NJ?
4. Did this letter have NO strings attached about the future and NO agreements that would encumber the USCF financially or otherwise?
5. Did this scholarship represent success in what was a very short period of time?
6. Did I get threatened and a board member file a motion to remove me from the Denker Chairmanship, the Scholastic Council and Scholastic Committee?
7. Did I ask Paul Truong to assist me in securing this scholarship?
8. Have I decided to not speculate about the future until after the Denker 2007 tournament is a fact?
9. Have I decided to send to anyone a copy of this scholarship letter upon request?
Best Regards,
Dewain Barber
If you would like to support the campaing to free Alan Johnson, kidnapped in Gaza, please see http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/04/how_you_can_help.html
Thank you
I’m also looking forward to the BUdapest trip. I have a photograph of me with the 3 Polgar sisters taken in NYC back in 1987. I will have to get an updated group shot, 20 years later.