Artwork by Jerry MacDonald
Chessville.com just recently interviewed Dr. Mikhail Korenman, FM Paul Truong, NM Randy Bauer and me about the upcoming USCF election. You can read about it here.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Chessville Interview
ohh my god..this picture is so objectionable!!!that man is touching that women (susan) at odd place!!!
Susan, you have my vote.
…And on an unrelated topic, chess playing women in blue spandex are soooo hot.
Perhaps you would consider your final poster to be something from the movie “Into the Blue”?
http://www.cdwarehouse-asia.com/Wholesale/images%20DVD/into%20the%20blue.jpg
Quick question: Are you permitted to hand out campaign literature at the National Scholastic tournaments?
By the way, I just read in an unofficial summary of minutes of the last USCF Executive Board meeting (posted on Steve Goldberg’s scholastic chess website) that the next Executive Board meeting is scheduled for the 2nd weekend in May in Nashville, to coincide with the National Elementary (K-6) Scholastic Championships. Does that mean that Sam Sloan will be at the tournament?
The EB should have better sense than that. Having a meeting with Sam and the children is opening up the USCF to heavy liability.
Pretty stupid if they do it. But then not much intelligence has been shown in the past. They still have their head in the sand like an ostrich hoping it is not true.
In the interview, one of Susan’s answers was:
In major sports such as the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc., if players say derogatory things about other players, about league officials or the sponsors, the players would get fined and sometimes even suspended. They would even fine or suspend the owners. The point is they do everything possible to protect the integrity of their sports.
Unfortunately, it is not the same in chess. I am stunned by the lack of professionalism within the USCF. I personally have been insulted by a past USCF President, current and past board members, and a former Chess Life Editor. And for what? Because I want to help US Chess and because I am successful in what I do?
Some of these people have treated other USCF supporters and sponsors the same way. How can we move forward unless we fix this very disturbing mentality? No individual or personal ego should come before the integrity and welfare of our sport. We have to treat all our members, supporters and sponsors with kid-gloves.
I see a big difference between the Codes of Conduct (and the associated sanctions) for players, coaches, etc in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Those are professional leagues and the players and coaches are employees of the leagues. They are paid salaries.
That is not the situation in the USCF. Except for a few employees in Crossville, and a few others, such as writers paid by Chess Life, most people involved in the USCF are simply members. They aren’t paid by the USCF; in fact, they pay to be members and to receive services.
The way I read Susan’s comment is that she thinks that the USCF should revoke the membership of any USCF member who expresses a negative opinion about any other USCF member, or even just “insults” another USCF member (whatever that might mean).
Revocation of USCF membership means that you cannot participate in organized chess in the United States. So, to participate in organized American chess, Susan seems to think that you should forego freedom of speech.
I don’t agree with this. There are laws against slander and libel already; I am not talking about allowing illegal defammation. If chessplayers make libelous or slanderous statements about other chessplayers or chess organizers, or indeed anyone, they are liable to be sued. There are courts for deciding those suits.
So why should the USCF be concerning itself with the speech of its members, and trying to restrict it? Besides, do we trust the USCF to hold itself out as a court and impartially and fairly judge the speech of its members and provide due process? Do we want the USCF taking sides whenever a USCF members feels that he/she has been “insulted” by another?
Moreover the USCF is a democratically-run organization, so members need to be able to criticize the decisions of elected officials. Would such criticisms be disciplined as unprofessional and destructive?
All this seems anti-democratic and authoritarian to me. Susan seems to want the USCF to be decorous and professional, but it isn’t a company like a professional sports league defining appropriate conduct for its employees.
The USCF is a democratic membership organization in a democratic country that enjoys freedom of speech (more or less). Democracy isn’t usually decorous or “professional”.
I don’t think the USCF should be placing restictions on its members’ behaviour beyond what society already requires. And it shouldn’t be setting up courts to judge chessplayer’s behaviour beyond the real courts that already exist.
If I have misinterpreted Susan’s comment, I would appreciate her clarifying it. What is she saying here exactly? Can she provide some examples of behaviour that would be sanctioned, and what the sanctions should be, in her view?