Here are some of the recent posts by bloggers of this blog:
– It is quite telling about the state of affairs at the USCF that the Susan Polgar Blog covers US chess activity BETTER than the USCF website. Keep up this great effort!
– No doubt. This site moves quick, and the other moves with the speed of a glacier.
– Yep. Not ten minutes after forwarding to Susan, she posted it. Ten minutes… unbelievable. Thank you Susan.
– I sent her information and it was up on the blog in 4 minutes. Shocking!
Here is one of the big problems with the USCF that I hope to fix if my team and I get elected. We live in the 21st century and the USCF still operates sometimes with the 19th century mentality. There are too many “why can’t things be done” instead of “we’ll get it done one way or another because it will help the USCF!”
The USCF needs to improve drastically. If you have ever taken a look at the USCF forum, you know why this federation has so many problems. Imagine how much things could be improved if some of the posters would volunteer to help out the USCF instead of wasting so much time attacking, insulting and playing politics 24/7.
I am not a trained computer or high tech person but I do my best to teach myself so I can keep up with things. I am a full time Mom with 2 young sons. I have a full schedule teaching, writing, lecturing, doing special appearances, etc. I correspond with fans and fellow bloggers daily. I run my chess center which opens 7 days a week. And I am still able to accomplish everything that needs to be done because I love chess and I take everything I do very seriously. How much more can 50-100 volunteers do for the USCF? But we need strong leadership with a positive direction.
Here are some of my areas of focus for the USCF:
– Restore respectability, integrity, credibility and professionalism to the USCF.
– Reestablish a sound and balanced budget.
– Develop strong cooperation and support for adult, scholastic, collegiate, correspondence and military chess.
– Establish a strong professional marketing and PR system.
– End the petty and destructive politics.
If we keep electing the same people with the same mentality, how on earth could you expect different results for the USCF? If you keep making the same mistakes with the same openings all the time, how can you expect to win in chess? Same concept, isn’t it? That is why I decided to run in the upcoming election because we need fresh ideas from the most qualified people. And that is why a highly recommend Dr. Mikhail Korenman, FM Paul Truong and NM Randy Bauer. I am absolutely positive that this is the team that can turn the USCF around and make it a strong and viable organization.
I would like to thank all of you for your support and for sending me materials and information for this blog.
This is by far the most informative website in America. Thank you Susan for all you do for chess. You and your team will have my full support.
You’re the best thing that happened to US chess. You’re a true ambassador to chess!
“If you have ever taken a look at the USCF forum, you know why this federation has so many problems.”
That about does it for me in selecting you for one of my votes. I’ll tell you why.
The Forums have seen drastic improvement against tremendous odds. That they are now vital to informing the USCF electorate should speak volumes to a chess politician such as you. I am at a loss to understand any honest criticism from you regarding the forums or the content therein since you are the most protected person in there!
A new Forum Oversight Committee is in place and is performing admirably with the new moderator system. There are kinks that have to be ironed out but I have seldom seen a group of volunteers do such an admirable job.
The fact that, despite the changing conditions, you feel the need to fall back on this same criticism indicates to me that your other positions also need to be examined.
It is also a fact that looking at the Forums one will find a wealth of solutions. In summary, your statement about the Forums is blatantly false and insulting to those of us that participate there in trying to facilitate the process of bettering the USCF. You owe us all a big apology.
SteveTN USCF #12467003
Steve,
I am very surprised at your comments. This is not my idea of leadership. You do not start something to have disastrous results and then scramble to fix it. That has been a long method with the USCF.
This is not how I conduct myself, how I run my chess center or how I run the Susan Polgar Foundation.
I am very appreciative of the volunteers and I have told some of them in PM. But that is not the point. The point is the USCF needs strong and competent leadership with strong ability to help the USCF become an efficient, productive and viable organization.
You and I obviously have different views about the forum. Why do insist for people to apologize if they disagree with what you see? I am not happy with how the USCF is right now.
If you think other candidates have better vision or can do a better job then please vote for them. That is what I told everyone from day 1. Members must vote for who they think can do the best job. If they are happy with what they see then vote for the same people or the people with the same mentality.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
Steve,
I am very surprised at your comments. This is not my idea of leadership. You do not start something to have disastrous results and then scramble to fix it. That has been a long method with the USCF.
This is not how I conduct myself, how I run my chess center or how I run the Susan Polgar Foundation.
I am very appreciative of the volunteers and I have told some of them in PM. But that is not the point. The point is the USCF needs strong and competent leadership with strong ability to help the USCF become an efficient, productive and viable organization.
You and I obviously have different views about the forum. Why do you insist for people to apologize if they disagree with what you see?
I do not see the same thing you see. I am not happy with how the USCF is right now. I speak to a lot more people than most USCF members and they are not happy either.
If anyone believes that other candidates have better vision or can do a better job then please vote for them. That is what I told everyone from day one. Members must vote for who they think can do the best job. If they are happy with what they see with the USCF right now then vote for the same people or the people with the same mentality.
Aren’t we losing money again this year?
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
sdo1: Dude, those forums are a wasteland.
It’s the playground of a small cadre of bile-filled people with little else to do exept pretend they have some type of epiphantic relationships with the Federation.
Most people/members are not even at all aware that there is a forum section. Thepowers-that-be seem to have it well hidden, and for good reason: It’s cesspool of bad ideas and bad juju and is mostly an embarassment for a national organization.
How can something that serves close to zero purpose, and that the majority of members remain ignorant to, be considered vital?
Thus, I do not think that word means what you think it does.
“I am very surprised at your comments. This is not my idea of leadership. You do not start something to have disastrous results and then scramble to fix it. That has been a long method with the USCF.”
That is a very skewed view of what has transpired in the Forums. The Forums were not started to have “disastrous results.” They were envisioned as a place where regular members could interact with those in governance OTHER than in RGCP or FIDE-CHESS. That a few have tried to spoil it does not mean that it is a failure.
There has not been a “scramble” to fix it. There has been a measured response by those in governance and by regular members to rid it of the more negative aspects. It has never been as bad as the two former venues mentioned above. Have their been mistakes? Yes. Are they being fixed. Yes.
I am surprised that you think that governance initiatives to communicate with membership in this interactive manner “is not [your] idea of leadership.”
“I am very appreciative of the volunteers and I have told some of them in PM.”
Yet you have just insulted them by denigrating their efforts.
“But that is not the point. The point is the USCF needs strong and competent leadership with strong ability to help the USCF become an efficient, productive and viable organization.”
You have yet to detail just what actions or plans you have that would demonstrate that you are any more competent, efficient, productive, or able to effect a viable USCF.
“You and I obviously have different views about the forum. Why do insist for people to apologize if they disagree with what you see?”
First, I stated that you owe an apology. I did not insist. Second, your comment about the forum, as I stated in the first post, is not true. The opposite of what you claim is actually the case.
The Forums have enabled membership, for the first time since OMOV was put in place, to have more than just the Chess Life candidate statements to go on when choosing leadership and have done so in an interactive environment. How is that an indication of why the USCF has so many problems? The fact is that it is an indication that governance is looking for and finding solutions to the problems that face the federation and doing so in a manner that includes the general membership.
“I am not happy with how the USCF is right now.”
Not a lot of us are.
By the way, where is the positive campaign you promised?
Steve is very wrong with his view. Don’t worry about him. Keep going Susan! We need you!
Steve,
We see things very differently. Let’s leave it at that. The USCF forum is not my world of chess. It is a very small percentage of USCF members and many of them like to argue with just about every issue.
I do not have time for that. I am busy meeting tens and thousands of chess players every year and doing hundreds of other things.
My concerns with the USCF involve all membership categories which include 80,000+ people, not a few dozens who post frequently.
As I said before, if you feel that there are others who do more for chess than I do and can help the USCF more than I can then vote for them.
I am as positive with my campaign as possible. Pointing out the real problems and offering my views on what needed to be fixed is not negative.
Let’s move on please. I just finished an event with 200 kids and I am going to another one with a few hundred more. In the next 2 days, I will meet more than 1,000 players of all ages. I can’t keep arguing about the same point 100 times like some do in the USCF forum.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Susan, I agree with you 100000%. The USCF forum is a joke and if anyone thinks that it’s productive then they should have their head examined.
What planet does sdo1 live on? I’ve been a member of the forum for 4 months and I’ve never posted. It’s sad to see what’s going on in the USCF forum. Susan is kind in describing the state of the forum. Sure, it got better but she’s right on the money with lack of direction when the board wanted to promote it. They have wackos like Sloan, artichoke, oldtimer and Lafferty making that place look like a mental institution and the board just looked at each other clueless for months. You’re way of base sdo1. You can vote for who you want. I’ll vote for Ms. Polgar and her team.
Actually, Steve does make some sense but he’s blowing smokes at the wrong people. The problem is not Susan or the people she endorsed. The problem is the current USCF board with a convicted felon and a bunch of life long chess politicians.
yo you steve, chill dude! what’s your problem? susan has done more for chess in this country than anyone in the past 30 years. relax dude. things will be better in a few months. take some pepto bismol and smile my friend.
The USCF issues forum has about 2 dozen regular posters. Most of them will argue about the color of their underwear. There are very little serious or meaningful discussion. Many people there are outright rude. You have to be crazy to follow that junk daily. No thanks!
I’m a new USCF member, never joined before, and I thought I’d check out the forums after hearing so much about them once I got my ID.
Most of the forums are what you’d expect–the latest opening fads, draw offers or not, is MonRoi a good thing, etc. But the USCF Issues forum is a pit.
It was this month that I last signed on. At the time, a few posts in USCF Issues has been pulled, one for having a link to a porn site (!), and one for being threatening to Susan along the lines of “we don’t like you running for the board, so we’re going to sic the IRS on you”.
Evidently, the pulling of these posts was controversial, enough so that the anonymity of the moderators was called into question (with corresponding threats to resign from the moderators).
sdo1, that forum is out of control. If what I saw earlier this month is an improvement, then I can’t imagine how vile it was before.
Maybe you’re saying that it has improved since earlier this month. That could be, but you need more than a month to know.
If Susan has been complaining about an incident six months ago, that hadn’t been repeated since changes in forum goverance, then I could see how you’d consider her criticism to be a bit unfair. But the porn link post was this month! Worse, it was a repeat offense, from the same poster! How is it “drastic improvement” to allow such goings-on?
Not many people have had the courage to stand up and take the risks that you have on behalf of the future of chess in the US, Susan. And that is just one more thing I admire about you. You put yourself out there, knowing well that the people who resist change and promote the sordid status quo — and what a sordid one it is — would be trying to assassinate your character, etc.
Bobby Fischer created a chess renaissance in the USA single-handedly. But then he went away. You are doing something that really takes a lot more courage and stamina…at least Fischer did not have to take on perverts and slimey characters.
sdo1, I disagree with you. Susan has run a positive campaign. She’s the first to state her mission. Others have unfairly attacked her and threatening for political reasons.
In addition, the USCF issues forum is a garbage dump with so many undesirable people.
I do agree that there’re some good discussions but overall it’s a failure on the EB’s part to properly control it. They had no plan and they were caught in an unpleasant situation.
You should apologize to Ms. Polgar for your remarks. She’s done nothing wrong. She’s the best thing that ever happened to US chess.
E.Sanchez
Steve, you’re way off base. Please don’t knock one of a few people who actually doing positive things for chess.
I agree with Jeff. The USCF forum is out of control. sdo1, I couldn’t disagree with you more.
Hi Steve,
Maybe I am looking at the forest instead of an individual tree; but I think that you are missing the main point of Susans post. Content updates and urgently needed process changes move way too slowly with the USCF, and she is contrasting this with the speed that this blog is being updated. The contrast provides excellent evidence to highlight her point.
Yes, much needed changes have been made to the USCF forums. The jury is still out whether the changes will be effective or not, but it is a step in the right direction. However, these changes should have been made long ago. Why have we suffered one of the posters there for the last year? Again, the point is well taken that changes are slow in coming, and this too needs to change.
Just my take,
Gregory Alexander