After 3 rounds in Nanjing, the strongest and richest ever round robin tournament in China, Bu Xiangzhi and Levon Aronian are in the lead.
The Ivanchuk scandal is now being covered worldwide. What will FIDE do? Which way will they go? How can they resolve this?
The National K-12 is taking place right now in Orlando with over 1,200 players.
It’s Saturday Open Forum. What would you like to discuss? The forum is yours.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Will the uscf go out of business due to the incompetence of Goichberg and pips?
Is USCF on the verge of going bankrupt ? If so, how soon does the money run out ?
I will drop the $25 million lawsuit against the USCF when the USCF publicly apologize to me and sign an affidavit that they will never harass or bother me or my family again. This is the one condition I will not budge on.
I have put up with the constant harassment and abuse for more than a year. Enough is enough. This organization has done this to everyone good person who wants to help. This has gone on for decades. The difference is when this happened, good people simply walked away and many never came back.
I ran for the board with the mission to clean up the same old dirty and disgusting chess politics that destroy this federation. It is time someone stands up against this kind of corruption and incompetence at the highest level or this federation will never get better.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
It strikes me as counterproductive to sue the USCF. If you sue the individual culprits you will acheive the result you want without jeopardizing the future existance of our federation.
She has to sue the USCF since Goichberg and his gang are hiding behind it. They’re not using their money for legal fees. They’re clearly abusing their authority and members’ money. I hope Susan will go all the way so this federation can be fixed at once.
I don’t think Polgar has a choice. The USCF filed a frivolous lawsuit against her first. The party which loses should be banned from chess forever.
Kudos to Susan for having the courage to stand up against these political thugs.
Fight all the way. No settlement please. Let’s fight to the death.
If the USCF loses this lawsuit, all members should start a class action against Goichberg, Berry, Bauer, Hough, Lafferty, Bogner, Hanken, Mottershead and Hall. They’re the ones who are responsible for destroying this federation.
Susan
You should sue them individually too, for personal liability for their actions.
Seeing their name personally on a $25 million lawsuit would be quite sobering.
Especially since punitive damage awards do not go away with a personal bankruptcy.
She’s suing them individually as well. Any sane individual could see that the USCF and the Goichberg gang are in big trouble. But they’re too proud to apologize for their stupidity.
William Goichberg:
You are the President of the United States Chess Federation and the leader of the board majority of the United States Chess Federation. It is important to ask you a number of questions dealing with the amount of legal fees that has been spent against Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. The reason why I ask, as I never in my life notice any type of organization willing to spend or willfully undermine anyone that is in the minority of a political organization as it has been with Susan Polgar and Paul Truong.
My question is why the Kronenbeger attorneys were hired when Chubb insurance had assigned attorneys without cost to the United States Chess Federation. It is also a question why the Kronenberger attorneys were going at Paul Truong and Susan Polgar when they were claimed to be going after the Sam Sloan lawsuit. It also begs the question on the slow response of Kronenbeger attorneys to get the lawsuit file by Sam Sloan to be dismissed (dismissed for lack of jurisdiction).
It is also a question, why the records of the United States Chess Federation have not received independent examination with the data, the database and all records dealing with the charges imposed against Paul Truong. The board majority of the United States Chess Federation was so determined just to prove their case against Paul Truong: it would have been more convincing if an independent examination was performed. Since the headquarters is in Crossville Tennessee, in my judgment the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would have been a neutral investigation.
It is also disturbing, that the Kronenberger attorneys that defended the United States Chess Federation in the lawsuit against Sam Sloan were the same attorneys that sent an attorney to the Delegates Meeting to prove to the delegates that Paul Truong was the Fake Sam Sloan and to convince the delegates to recall Paul Truong. The Kronenberger attorneys were hired to defend the United States Chess Federation from the lawsuit from Sam Sloan. It was their job to have the lawsuit filed from Sam Sloan dismissed and if it was not dismissed to prove to the courts that Paul Truong was not the Fake Sam Sloan. There is a conflict of interests with the Kronenberger attorneys to turn around, send a lawyer to the Delegates Meeting and to prove to the delegates that Paul Truong was the Fake Sam Sloan. It is also a given fact, that the lawyer sent to the Delegate Meeting in Dallas Texas was paid five thousand ($5,000) dollars just to turn around and convince the delegates that Paul Truong was the Fake Sam Sloan.
It must be interesting to Chubb insurance, that they were being changed to defend the United States Chess Federation from the liability of Paul Truong to be the Fake Sam Sloan and also being charged to prove a liability that Paul Truong was the Fake Sam Sloan. In all my years of life, I have never noticed an insurance company willing to defend against a liability and to prove a liability. If this is the practice of the United States Chess Federation, it begs the question if the United States Chess Federation is not an honest company.
It is also a question why the United States Chess Federation is paying the legal fees for the Continental Chess Association and other private members that has supported the majority of the United States Chess Federation Executive Board. Since the United States Chess Federation is paying the legal fees for the Continental Chess Association: this does raise the ethical question that William Goichberg as the President of the United States Chess Federation is profiting from the United States Chess Federation. If the United States Chess Federation was not paying the legal fees to the Continental Chess Association: William Goichberg would have to pay for the legal fees himself.
t is strange that the majority members of the United States Chess Federation Executive Board have been so determine not to find a practical settlement. True, I do understand that the majority just spent their political capital with an effort to remove Paul Truong and their belief that Susan Polgar would leave at the same time. Still, it has always been my personal belief that the leaking of information and the lawsuit from Sam Sloan was prearranged. Just my personal judgment, that the reason that the majority on the United States Chess Federation Executive Board does not want to settle: is that the leaking of information and the lawsuit from Sam Sloan was prearranged and the lawsuit would be covered under the insurance from legal lawsuits. If it was prearranged and the evidence was produced, the insurance company could cancel the coverage and bring their lawsuit against the United States Chess Federation on the grounds of insurance fraud.
Willfully leaking confidential information and willfully encouraging someone to bring a lawsuit against the United States Chess Federation just to be used as a political tool and to be covered under the insurance is in my judgment insurance fraud. True, this is just my personal judgment and my personal viewpoint of the majority on the United States Chess Federation Executive Board. The only resolution with the conduct of the majority on the United States Chess Federation Executive Board would be the election of new members during the 2009 executive board election. To prove or disprove, the United States Chess Federation Executive Board would have to open their records to an independent investigation that has the authority to prosecute if need be.
Still, my primary question needs to be debated. Does the United States Chess Federation have zero insurance coverage from lawsuits from the elected delegates and elected alternate delegates of the United States Chess Federation?
If the insurance does not cover director to director lawsuits, and during the Delegates Meeting the delegates made it clear that the delegates are the directors of the United States Chess Federation. Then a lawsuit filed from an elected delegate and a elected alternate delegate against anyone that is an elected delegate or an elected alternate delegate and even members of the United States Chess Federation Executive board with a lawsuit against the United States Chess Federation – would not be covered under the insurance because it is a director to director lawsuit. If that is the case, that would greatly empower the ability of anyone that is a elected delegate or even a elected alternate delegate of the United States Chess Federation.
In my judgment if and only if the United States Chess Federation does not have insurance with a lawsuit, it would empower the elected alternate delegates to seek changes to the United States Chess Federation outside the scope of the Delegates Meeting. Changes to the United States Chess Federation that would not happen during an up or down voted during the Delegates Meeting would have to be settled in the courts or to withdraw the lawsuit with a settlement of a change in the rules with a vote to change the rules with the United States Chess Federation Executive Board. In theory, elected alternate delegates that would not wilfully attended the Delegates Meeting because of distance or a feeling they could not get the votes with an up or down vote at the Delegates Meeting could change policy or rules with a lawsuit against the United States Chess Federation and the United States Chess Federation being forced to pay legal fees as it is a director to director lawsuit.
Why is the United States Chess Federation paying the legal fees of Hal Bogner, Brain Mottershead, and Brain Lafferty with the very limited money the United States Chess Federation has? Why also is the United States Chess Federation paying the legal fees to Chess Magnet and the Continental Chess Association?
Have been debating with myself the practical and social reasons why someone would be interested in the political nature of chess politics. More to the point, the personal reason someone would be willing to deal with the politics of the United States Chess Federation. The basic argument that people of good standing and willing to be a productive volunteer would stand for a public election. If elected serve as a volunteer and provide for the wellbeing of the United States Chess Federation without public of private monetary rewards during their tenure of service.
Are we really better off with a United States Chess Federation when our leaders are unpaid volunteers?
Other then utopia societies written as a political theory, there has never been a political organization that controls the people and the leadership is unpaid volunteers that does not receive monetary rewards. True, the United States Chess Federation does mirror the most with organized religion. Still, the highest level of leadership of organized religion does receive some type of monetary reward for their services.
In fairness, the vast amount of the citizenship has willfully volunteered their services for some organization or even for an unorganized society that only serves the interests for family members or a group that wants to give enrichment for their children and others. Whatever the level, it is altruism.
Altruism is important, but, altruism with an organized political body is counterproductive and ends as an oxymoron. Sure, the United States Chess Federation can have volunteers that perform selfless acts with concerns for the welfare of the United States Chess Federation. Accepting political power with the goal of performing selfless acts with concerns for the welfare of the United States Chess Federation: only produces people wanting respect and achieved status.
Max Webb (1864 – 1920) with the three (3) dimensions of stratification has property, prestige and power as the core principles. The achieved status the United States Chess Federation provides is prestige and power only. With the United States Chess Federation, altruism increases prestige and prestige increases power.
The reason why the United States Chess Federation is so engaged with character assignation is because it devalues the prestige of the person. If a group can devalue the prestige of someone it is their belief you have devalued their political power. The downfall with this system, it is so engaged with character assignation it fails to address the social and political willpower to the current economic status.
In my judgment, the unpaid volunteer system has left the United States Chess Federation stunted and has retarded the progress of chess within the United States. As other organizations has produced growth with monetary rewards to encourage their leadership base and therefore increase the general population within the organization. The United States Chess Federation has only the ability to increase the membership base with prestige.
I agree with the former and possibly with the latter, but it would not change the mission/charter of your organization. New educational programs should have been introduced.
By the way, I am not saying that tournaments were not part of your original charter or that they should not be a part of USCF activities. I am only suggesting that successful non-profit organizations of your type keep education as the foundation of their existence.
I brought up education because I expect it to be part or the USCF charter, yet I have not heard any mention of educational activities contributing to USCF cash flow; only memberships and tournaments.
If you are suing your own federation, it’s high time to go back to Hungarya.
“This is the one condition I will not budge on.”
Aw, come on!
Another troll post deleted! Thanks moderator!
During the fiscal year 2007-2008, the USCF financial statements recorded the receipt of $120,000 of this imaginary money. Since it did not actually get this money, this means that instead of losing the reported $70,000, USCF actually lost $190,000. However, it lost even more than that because the financial statements also included an “accounts receivable” of approximately $85,000 from Hanon Russell. It was already known by the time of the meetings in Dallas that Hanon Russell was refusing to pay this amount. This has been confirmed by the lawsuit that Hanon Russell filed against the USCF last month, so the real loss for the 2007-2008 fiscal year was $275,000, unless, of course, the USCF wins a money judgment and collects from Hanon Russell.
All this is still being ignored by the USCF President. In a posting I wrote that has not been allowed to appear on the USCF Issues Forum but will appear in the BINFOS shortly, I stated that the USCF has consistently lost $250,000 per year except for the one year that I was on the board. Bill Goichberg wrote back denying this, saying that the USCF has only lost $250,00 one year and that was back in the beginning of 2000 when Goichberg was neither on the board nor Executive Director. He also claimed big profits when he was executive director, ignoring the fact that most of those “profits” came from the sale of the USCF’s building in New Windsor NY. Since the building which had been owned by the USCF since the early 1970s had been depreciated down to almost nothing, the full revenues received from the sale of the building was recorded as a “profit”, even though we had to spend more to build a smaller building in Crossville TN.
Goichberg is the most incompetent USCF President ever. The USCF will die because of him and his gang. It is a fight to the death because the USCF will die if people like Goichberg keep ignoring the continuing huge financial losses the USCF suffers every year and remain unwilling to make any changes or to do anything about it.
Right now the USCF is losing an average of $250,000 per year. This has been the case for the past decade .
Until now the USCF’s involvement in scholastic chess has been passive. The kiddies send in their money and the USCF cashes their checks. There is absolutely no promotion of scholastic chess. Have you ever seen any publicity or a news announcement regarding a scholastic event? Do not you find it remarkable that sometimes more than 4,000 (four thousand) ,kids show up for a scholastic chess tournament that the USCF has never advertised or done anything to promote? Think of how many more kids would come if they knew about these events.
Goichberg’s idea to cut expenses is to cut Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids magazines. This has to be the worst idea imaginable. The magazines are the only benefit that most members get.
The “change in the dues structure” that Bill Goichberg now so proudly gives himself credit for was to eliminate Chess Life magazine for all regular members of the USCF. Most members of the USCF do not know about this yet but they will find out when they renew and discover that they are no longer receiving the magazine in the mail.
Now Goichberg wants another 4 years to completely bankrupt this federation. I think not.
Jackass and his crooked friends must be desperate. He knows that he’ll lose big time and his old lady will throw him away. Sad!