A class act

This is Dr. Jim Roberts, a board member of the AF4C

I just saw this story on Chess Ninja and I feel that I must share it with everyone. I met Dr. Jim Roberts a few years ago in San Diego at the US Championship. He was the sponsor of the Bent Larsen fighting prize ($5,000) at the US Championship. He is a kind, generous and professional man. He and Erik Anderson (AF4C) have done so much for chess and the USCF.

A few days ago, it was reported that Gata Kamsky’s laptop died. This is a tragedy for a professional chess player, especially for someone like Gata who has to go directly to Elista for his candidate’s match against Bacrot right after Mtel. It is not easy playing something like 15 games against 2700+ opponents without a laptop and database to prepare.

Today, Mig Greengard reported that when Dr. Jim Roberts heard about this, he bought a laptop and sent it to Gata in Sofia, Bulgaria. Frederic Friedel also sent ChessBase by express mail. Gata got his new laptop and ChessBase today. This is a class act by both of these gentlemen.

Dr. Roberts and Mr. Anderson are two very special individuals. Unfortunately, the unprofessionalism by a USCF board member and the lack of respect shown to them and their foundation over the past few years forced the AF4C to withdraw their sponsorship of the $250,000 US Championship, the richest US Championships in US history.

We cannot continue to go down this road and expect to attract any serious sponsors. Whether any sponsor continues to support the USCF or not, we CANNOT allow any of the USCF officials to insult, attack or demean ANY of our sponsors or supporters. This is simply INEXCUSABLE. I know this for a fact because they also do it to me and my foundation as sponsor and supporter of the USCF. This has become the norm for the USCF for years and no leaders even attempted to change this. Unfortunately, it will not stop unless we have strong leaderships to restore sanity and professionalism to this federation.

I hope that everyone will understand why I am so adamant about changing the USCF culture and why this upcoming election is so critical for the health and future of this federation. You cannot expect different results if we do not change the course of actions. This is not about politics. This is about the future of the USCF. Our members need to know the truth. Our members need to know what goes on behind the scene and they need to know why this federation often struggles to survive.

I would like to thank Dr. Roberts for his incredibly thoughtful and kind act as well as Frederic Friedel. This is the kind of story that should be shared so we can learn from it. We must protect and respect our supporters and sponsors at all costs!