Only 2 or at most 3 days left to send back your ballots for the USCF Executive Board Election. This is a crucial election for the health of US Chess and the USCF. The ballot counting will commence at the USCF offices in Crossville TN on Wednesday, July 25th.
This board has lost 3 potential multi-million dollar sponsorship deals in the past 7-8 months alone! Some board members have not conducted themselves ethically. The USCF lost money in 9 of the last 11 years. Some of our USCF leaders and their supporters resort to vicious attacks, personal insults, name calling and malicious lies to try to win this election instead of focusing on fixing the USCF. They have no plan or idea on how to do this. This is what they have done in every election and we ended up with the same problems year after year.
If you are happy with the current state of the USCF, vote for the status quo. If you think the USCF needs professional help, I recommend Mikhail Korenman, Paul Truong and Randy Bauer.
You have the power to change the course of the USCF for many years to come. Please vote!
These are my take on some qualified candidates:
– Susan Polgar: You already know about me and the countless successes I have in positively changing the culture of chess. Here is my vision for the USCF. Here is more election information.
– Mikhail Korenman: He is one of the key components for a successful USCF as an organization. Very few people in the USCF can successfully work with scholastic, college, adult, professional and Internet chess. Mikhail not only can work and bridge all these membership groups; he has one of the most impressive records of success. Many chess membership groups do not understand each other and cannot work together. Mikhail can change this. He can also help raise the membership level which means more revenues for our federation. This is why I ask you to please vote for him.
– Paul Truong: As you all know, Paul is by far one of the most successful persons in chess marketing, promotion and PR in US chess history. He has a unique combination that few possess. He was a chess prodigy and competed at a very high level. But he gave up chess to pursue an incredibly successful professional career. Therefore, he understands the mentality of chess players and he understands how businesses operate. This is why he is able to combine them and make some of the most spectacular deals for chess while no one else can even come close to this. Without his guidance and lead in this area, the USCF will go nowhere. Anyone who spends 5 minutes talking to him will understand that he is in a different league than the rest of the field in these areas.
– Randy Bauer: How often do you have a person with Randy’s experience? He was the budget director of the state of Iowa, dealing with multi-billion dollar budgets. Randy is also a chess master and supporter. He served on the USCF EB one year and helped this federation achieve a remarkable turn around. He is a finance guy. His skills and experience in finance is crucial for this federation.
I know it is not a lot, but I sent in my vote and I also got 32 more of my chess friends to vote for your team also (it pays to be the club champion!).
If Susan’s team is going to win this election I am going to take my woman and family to celebrate. I vow on that! If won this will be most most impressive . Using a blog effectively.
Best wishes
AB
I voted for Susan’s team long ago and am confident that they will win. However, I think the following idea has not been given enough thought by my fellow chess fans who support Susan and want to see…no, need to see a change in the USCF:
If, for whatever reason, the current board remains ensconsed on the board, then why not take the team that GM Polgar has assembled and begin a new chess organization that truly has the best interest of U.S. Chess at heart?
Pretty simple question…very few responses over the months (if any) to this idea. It’s not revolutionary as Susan has the name recognition, the fans, I dare say now the name of UT at Dallas behind her (that’s a big help to chess fans, folks), a great PR person with Mr. Truong who could help get sponsorship for any new organization, and utilizing the skills of the others on her team, I do not see why a NEW and BETTER U.S. chess organization could not be formed and flourish after the initial “getting started” period???
Please, everyone, enlighten me if you think this concept is completel foolish. Maybe I’m missing something and welcome your thoughts. For now, I think a new organization would be better.
To my knowledge, there is no law, no nothing, that could prevent a new U.S. chess organiztion to be founded that does represent the goals set forth in Mrs. Polgar’s vision (and her team’s vision) of what chess can be in this country.
Sure, it might take some time to get up and started but in the long term, I truly believe a new, rival organization would be beneficial.
Think of it: If the USCF was a small business, they would have had to close their doors long ago due to the malfeasance, utter incompetance, and questionable legality of the actions that certain board members tend to do. If it were a large “not for profit” organiztion, then at least there might be some government oversight of it….and this wouldn’t be bad considering the shady characters currently in power.
Competition, both in the business world and in the chess world, often brings out the best in both sides because to keep your doors open you have to change.
So, again, can someone please let me know why this is or is not a good idea, that is, to start a new, better, American chess organization and let the USCF either change or become a mere historical embarassment.
Also, again, I truly believe that if this was initiated then some of this nation’s best GM’s and IM’s would jump on board.
It’s time to stop talking everyone and do something.
So…what say you, my fellow bloggers, about the idea of starting a new American chess organization?
If anyone thinks the jokers on the board do not have a final “hat trick” to rig this election in their favor (or try to) are giving them too much credit.
The only thing that gives the USCF any power at all is the fans. If all or most of the current members would simply boycott them, it would eventually drive them out. They cannot function without us, the fans.
Hey, the American colonists got the English Parliament to rescind the infamous “Stamp Tax” in the 1760’s with a “non importation” agreement that hurt the wallets of British merchants.
My point: Hit’em where it hurts and send your membership dues to a new American chess organiztion if it comes to be.
Only then will U.S. Chess have any chance to survive in the decades ahead.
An interesting letter that was sent to http://www.chessville.com column that is quite enlightening…here it is:
A Mission for USCF– or a New National Chess Organization [Why not?]? Here is a response from the Parrot to someone who could entirely fund either, and fund Fide too! Opinions below are entirely those of the Parrot.
“I have a number of things to say – to come immediately to the greater point: without standards we only discuss personality issues – and USCF is seemingly run /only/ on that basis. Therefore, I suggest to you that USCF or any succeeding organization, needs to complement personality politics with more than a little bit of science [of management].
In fact, it seems as though we do nothing but talk about the political level of chess, and nothing of how this chess organization is run by the people in it, the staff – and it seems to me that the problem is not getting better people to do the same thing, but in adjusting the balance so that the staff of the organization receive enough insulation from political meddling to be able to deliver good services to the members.
I don’t think this can be done without standards – which really means that there are processes in place to channel directives from board or delegates, which also have checks and balances built into them.
Constantly we read here about especially board members simple doing things without reference to any standards whatever, or even to the knowledge of other board members. This sort of rampant individualism has been universally destructive, actually undermining our confidence in USCF to do anything well.
They list of personality-crimes is huge! Whether its unwonted sponsors, poor organization of national events, in-the-pocket ‘journalism’, or the ridiculous forum which is entirely politicized according to an ex USCF Pres. [Reminds me of the bad days of the Soviet Union! Pravda = Truth!]
When you read about any board member promoting a measure ensuring clear and cogent process that the staff can sensibly undertake to member’s benefit, and without further interference from the board, then this will indicate the route to recovery has begun.
But instead of fixing anything by grounding procedures in staff activity, problems are attended to by blaming either outside parties or other chess personalities. The obsession with this character-level orientation as the sole means of governance is itself why USCF has declined in the chess community’s confidence. It now needs considerable balancing activity – and a shift of power to the staff.
Consider this – if USCF were an actual small business, and had no board at all, what would the difference be? In effect, would it be better or worse?
If USCF were a small incorporated business, then it would normally have a quarterly board meeting composed mostly of people outside its own market, but with substantial business experience who can propose clear directions to staff, and means to measure results.
If USCF were a national non-profit, pro-bono Caissa, it would actually perform a governance activity in setting standards for chess, in spirit and in law, aimed at greater public acceptance and incorporation of the game – which certainly includes normative community standards for USCF’s main market, scholastics.
Some current board members look unlikely to even pass a high-school back-ground check.
All these things would allow us to rest our confidence [and out dollars!] in it. Absence of these things make the issue of confidence more one of hopeful expectation, and as for money – can the organizational structure actually contain any?
Therefore, in the above I respectfully change the subject from personalities! When there are sufficient standards in place, including checks and balances on rogue-personalities, then the true role of personality can be contained, and better channeled for the benefit of all. That, I submit, is the remedy, and this gaping void of decent standards of behavior is ignored by those who resent the constriction this will place on their own activities – even if such channels makes their contribution more useful to chess in the country!
That criticism of personality politics applies to the entire board – and perforce, by which I mean, necessarily – makes for ‘dirty politics’, since that is the only means that warring egos can take to get their way – for good or for ill, but for sure!”
-Makes sense.
Susan,
Can you be certain that the counting of the votes cannot be interfered with by corrupt persons? I am just wondering if it isn’t beyond the wherewithal of your powerful opponents in the USCF to rig the election. How transparent and rigorous is the vote counting process? Such rigging has happened before in supposedly democratic elections of various kinds in both the US and UK, and no doubt other countries.
Richard, UK.
I hope Susan and her team will win. I’m not sure if that’s possible because of the corruption of Goichberg’s gang. They’ll do anything to retain power.
OK, this will finally be over then.
Please bring us real chess news again then…
(and stop that silly moderation feature that makes me leave the site every time i post something)
Thank you
It’s real chess news. It’s the future of chess in America. I see one post out of every 15 or 20. What’s the problem? If you want to read about it then read another post. Plenty of them. Chess players in America need to know what’s going on with the USCF.
The problem with starting a new organization is that uscf has the official recognition with fide as the usa representative of chess.
Now if a new scholastic organization were formed and all scholastic players moved over to the new organization then the income lost to uscf might or might not cause uscf to bankruptcy. If the uscf went out of business then Fide would look for a new representative.
It is still a little early to form a new organization. Susan and her team might just be able to fix the uscf. Only a few more days to get the results of the election.
For a new organization to really be successful it needs to have some people donate some start up money. It can not be done for free.
Then it is most important that the new group form the correct organization. Any errors here might doom the new organization. All this has to be carefully tought out. I do not think we want another parallel organization to the uscf. The problems with uscf need to be addressed with a different organizational structure and goals which of themselves will avoid and or solve some of the present problems. No sense in a new organization that does not address the present problems with good solutions.
As of today, the USCF has received 4,324 ballots. The envelopes will be opened and then the votes for each candidates tabulated next week.
This is about 1,000 votes less than the last general election two years ago.
This is very bad news for Paul and the rest of the Polgar team.
Regarding the start of a new organization, Thomas Jefferson once said, “A little revolution once in a while is a good thing…”
It’s sad that only a single person is willing to even talk about this issue. I appreciate that person’s post. This silence is indicative, I think, to the uncanny ability of humans to close their mind’s to any possibility of true “change.”
Hey everyone out there…can you read? Do you have an opinion? Sure you do. It doesn’t hurt anything to discuss this idea. It’s being discussed on other chat boards….seems logical it would be here, too.
Of course it would not be the easiest thing but this does not mean it should not, at the very least, be considered an option for some future date.
The USCF is a lost cause. If Susan’s team doesn’t win and the same people remain in power there, what real hope is there for the future of both the USCF and chess in general within the U.S.?
I’m not of the belief “if you can’t beat them, join them” but rather “if you can’t beat them, then boycott and start a rival organiztion.”
Let the fans choose…let the people choose (at that point) which organiztion they would support. This is what it’s all about: fan support. If any new organization had the support of the chess community with the U.S., then it would succeed regardless of what FIDE thought. Again, does it really matter what some guy who claims to have been visiting aliens really matter?
We have to concentrate upon what is best for American chess….hence, the title “U.S.” Chess Federation. If, in time, the majority of chess fans join the new organiztion, then it can only help the state of chess here in America.
However, as I mentioned, no one said it would be easy at first. But, Susan’s team already works very hard and does more for chess (especially Scholastic which, I think, is more important right now as we’re assisting a new generation of possible GM’s and IM’s) than the USCF does.
So, if nothing else, then starting a new scholastic organiztion would be a good start if Susan’s team doesn’t win.
Americans have a unique ability, when pushed too far, to make change happen…and I mean positive change. We gained our independence from the British Empire, we fought a Civil War to make this country the “United States” rather than the United “States” (i.e. a loose confederation), and tend to use the ballot to change the status quo.
But, if the ballot doesn’t work in this USCF election, then it is a perfect time for U.S. chess to have a “New birth of freedom” with the beginning of a new American Chess Organization.
It would work in the long run. Who cares what FIDE thinks? It’s not as though we’re going to have an American WCC anytime soon. But if we focus our efforts on Scholastic chess, then maybe in 20 years, we could have.
A new organization is precisely what we need if this election maintains the status quo. The money is there…you just have to convince people why to donate.