When the Susan Polgar Foundation lost a major sponsor for the upcoming Reshevsky Memorial Category 10 International Invitational Tournament to be held at Texas Tech University, I reached out to my special friends and supporters as well as the local community. (For the record, I fully understand the decision of the sponsor to withdraw the sponsorship and I think it was the right decision. I would never want anyone to commit to anything he/she is not comfortable with. There is no hard feeling and thanked the sponsor for thinking of us in the first place.)
The tournament has to go on because the players already booked their airfares and cancelled other events so they can play here.
I am proud to say that because of the effort of many people in the Lubbock Community and Texas Tech University, as well as many of my friends, this tournament not only will go on, but it will be a category 12 event (above 2525 average rating). It will be one of the strongest International Round Robin events in the United States in recent years. The tournament has been renamed to SPICE Cup in Memory of Reshevsky.
This will be a very special event for the young people in Lubbock. We are inviting a number of children from various local schools to come to this event each day and there will be special activities, raffles and gifts for them. It will be a thrill for these young people to meet many chess stars. My goal is to introduce chess to every child in Lubbock, Texas.
We are still looking for more sponsors as we have not reached our goals yet. But we are getting there and it is real close. If you know of potential sponsors or would like to be a sponsor yourself, please contact me. All our sponsors will be listed in the special tournament Program Book as well as on a number of websites.
I would like to thank everyone in advance for your support for this very special event. For more information, please contact me at SusanPolgar@aol.com. Donations / Sponsorships can be made by checks or via PayPal by clicking here.
Well, you understand the reasons for their withdrawal. Can you help us understand this? To protect their identity, the generic nature of the reasons is good enough.
Susan,
You should set up a paypal site or something similar; many of us can’t afford to sponsor a tournament for a large amount, but many small donations could make a difference.
The sponsor does not want to involved due to the Sam Sloan scandal. It is perfectly legitimate. Mr. Sloan succeeded in what he sets out to do. But we will rise above it again.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com
How much money does all of that cost anyway?
I guess maybe around $15-$20K. It’s the norm for a category 12.
no no, the norm of Kat.12 is > 50.000
(at least in europe
i remember to the early dortmunder-schachtage; a little i was
involved in it.
KK
Yeah, I think it may be $30,000 or more. Good luck in raising this money. Our players don’t deserve be left out in the cold because of Sam Sloan.
It is sad to see that the original sponsor pulled out before any sort of conclusion was reached regarding the law suit. In this country one is supposedly innocent until proven guilty. Apparently, not everyone agrees with that assessment. I hope that others (and I will contribute of what little I have myself) will step up to the plate and show that altough they may be poor finanically they are rich in character.
Check’em Tech
No sane person would ever support Sloan or his sleezy supporters. Someone actually posted on the NY Times stating that this convicted felon is an honorable man. All I can say is WHAT?? Are you serious??
Susan,
I’m afraid your supporters are unfairly bashing your previous sponsor, Dr Moscow, without knowing the facts. Now you should understand why there are so few sponsors for chess in the US. AF4C had enough. Now Dr Moscow too came to the same conclusion.
You may want to moderate the postings by some of your supporters as you have done on other negative postings.
Good luck with the event!
Thank you for pointing it out. I have not said a single negative thing about Dr. Moskow. In fact, I did not even mention his name. I thanked him for thinking about us and wish him the best.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
The ‘SPICE Cup in Memory of Reshevsky’ … it hardly rolls off the tongue, and it’s a pity that ‘SPICE’ is up front rather than ‘Reshevsky’.
The ‘Reshevsky Memorial International Invitational Tournament’ was equally ponderous, but at least it mentally shortened to the ‘Reshevsky Memorial Tournament’.
I guess you can give $30,000 and name it to anything you want 😉
Some people just can’t keep their words. I hope other sponsors would come along to help out. You’ll prevail and we’re behind you all the way.
It’s not right to hurt the players and kids. Promises should always be kept. This is a very sad chapter. I hope enough money will be raised to continue the tournament. Good luck!
Why did Dr. Moskow insult you in the NY Times? What happened?
Please, let’s not start attacking or insulting anyone. I have high respect for Dr. Moskow and other sponsors. I have nothing negative to say about him.
As I stated, I absolutely agree with Dr. Moskow’s decision. He made the right decision.
I’m also very thankful for the support from TTU, the Knight Raiders, the local community, the volunteers and many others to help save this very special event which I hope will put chess on the map of West Texas.
We will invite children from different schools to the tournament every day. We will have special activities for them.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com
Susan, it takes class not to respond to all the garbage. Just keep on doing your good work and ignore all the nuts. Many of us do see through all the lies and BS from these people. Don’t let them get you down. Never sell your heart and soul for money. Others will pick up the slack and come through for you. Rock on!
Why would anyone want to deal with mentally disturbed people like Sloan, Roberts and Gordon? Anyone who even talks to them has no credibility in my book.
I don’t have a problem with mentally ill people mixing in society, so long as they are no threat to themselves or others.
People who even talk to Sam Sloan should look at themselves in the mirror. And people who negotiate with Sam Sloan should … never mind. No word can possibly describe this.
I disagree. People can deal with whoever they choose. That is one good thing about living in a free society. Having said that, I choose to stay away from some people.
I cannot be bought and I will not compromise what my belief. No money can buy integrity and honor.
I chose to come to Texas Tech because I believe in the vision of the Chancellor, the President, the Provost, the Senior Vice Provost, the members of the Knight Raiders and many others in this community. I am proud to be a part of something very special.
I believe that this mess is healthy. In the end, it will shed light to the long time problem in chess. It needs to be fixed in order for chess to excel in the US.
We deserve better.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com
Susan,
Sam Sloan (or someone pretending to be him) posted on the daily toreador (school newspaper) website and claimed that the reason Dr. Moscow withdrew was because he wanted to give money directly to Tech – earmarked for your programs, and you wanted it to go to your foundation.
Whether or not that was a reason, why would it be better to have the money go through your organization than the university? This doesn’t make sense so I hope it isn’t true or there is a good reason that I am unaware of.
I think if Tech is able to create a large chess endowment it will go a long way towards bringing other schools onboard and give college chess a very solid foundation to build a wonderful future.
TT fan,
That is actually not quite the whole story. Mr. Sloan is not capable of telling the truth. The offer to give the money to TT for the tournament came with a specific condition.
I thanked Dr. Moskow for the offer but it was absolutely not possible to accept under the condition that was given. This is a tournament that is organized by me and my foundation with the support from TT, SPICE and the Knight Raiders. No other sponsor sets any condition.
You are free to post my answer there.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com
Susan, lets lay the cards on the table I wanted to give the money to texas tech and I am uncomfortable being associated with paul and this scandel. You refused to allow my request of not being associated with paul. That is my right, we have no prior relationship and I offered a viable alternative. You rejected that as was your right. call it a divorce of sorts but certainly implying (your readers not you) that I left you hanging is the grossest distortion of the truth. I do not like scandals and retreated from a ridiculous and distateful situation.eric d moskow m.d
Dear Eric,
You are correct and I stated this many times before. I agree with your decision. I have no bad feeling toward you whatsoever. In fact, to show you my respect, I kept the Reshevsky name as you originally requested. Unfortunately, some people like controversy and when there is none, they create it.
The other problem is Mr. Sloan chose to falsely state a number of issues to fuel the issue. I know a lot of issues first hand and I am not at liberty to discuss them due to the legal situation.
This matter is closed in my book. Once again, I thank you for thinking about us in the first place and I wish you nothing but the best. It is wrong for anyone to disrespect you. I believe that you are a strong player and you will get your IM title one day soon.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.ChessDiscussion.com
Sam Sloan is a known liar and psychopath. He should have been banned from the USCF long ago. How many lawsuits has he filed and how much money has he cost the uscf already? How could anyone even engage in a discussion or negotiation with him? This is sick. People like Sam Sloan, Marcus Roberts and Ray Gordon belong in mental institutions.
Mr. Moscow,
I hope that if you truely do want to make a gift to the University that will further college chess that you find a way to do so.
I’m very excited about Texas Tech making a huge investment in chess and that we have Susan leading our new program. With that said, I’m sure you could make a donation to Texas Tech with any reasonable restrictions necessary to ensure that your intentions and reputation are honored.
Dr. Moskow could easily set conditions for any gift he would choose to give Tech chess. That is done all the time by our donors whether the gifts are large or small. The funds could be earmarked for particular activites, e.g., tournaments, lecture series, workshops, outreach. research or items, e.g., building, scholarships, equipment etc. There could even be an Eric Moskow Chess Fellow (visiting chess scholar). If Moskow is so set against Susan and Paul he could simply state that they can’t access the funds. He would write that into his conditions. However, is still up to the board of regents to decide whether to accept the gift or not. In one case Tech turned down a $25 million dollar gift because they did not like the source (I believe it was from Tobacco company lawsuits).
However, all this talk about giving this or that means little – anyone can do that. Actions speak louder than words and so far all I hear is words.
Concerned member of the Tech community
Something to ponder. If – and I believe that one is innocent until proven guilty (saying so repeatedly in blogs by Sloan et al. does not make it so) – we were only to donate money to schools that had spotless students, faculty, staff or administrators then no university in this country would ever receive a penny. Hinkley attended Tech for a brief time and then tried to assasinate President Regan. Is Tech to blaim? Two University of Chicago undergraduates cooked up the perfect crime but got caught (the infameous Leopold and Leob case. They murdered the 14-year old Bobby Franks in 1924). Is Chicago to blaim? And lastly we had Virginia Tech and everyone knows that case.
Chess players are supposedly very analytical and good logical thinkers. Does that quality not extend beyond the 64 squares?
TTU Member