|
|
|
Polgar on Chess Susan Polgar
|
The Dirty Hidden Truth Here are some excerpts from my
“State of
… the popularity of chess is growing by leaps and
bounds in
The answer is the ugliest and dirtiest 8-letter word:
POLITICS! My column continued with the
following: There are a lot of opportunities for licensing/merchandising deals as well as other business aspects. As I mentioned before, the problem is that too many people are more worried about their chess political agendas than doing the right thing for the federation. If our political opposition is doing a great job, we must destroy them before they make us look bad. At least that is my take on the situation. It is too bad that so many opportunities have been lost because of politics.
“In my opinion, some of the most critical jobs of the
executive board are to set sound, fair policies and bring in proper,
experienced business people to run the federation. The board should not
be involved in running the federation. Politics should never interfere
with the good of chess or the chess business. Here are some of the stunning facts about the current state of the USCF: Back in March 2003, the membership level of the USCF rose to 95,388. As of April 2009, the number is barely over 79,000 at 79,135. That is a loss of 16,253 members!
Financially
speaking, the numbers are also bad. Here are some basic USCF numbers
from the April 2009 financial report which was provided to me by the
USCF Chief Financial Officer Joe Nanna:
Total
Revenues:
$2,952,904 (less $397,681 bequests = $2,555,223 of actual revenue) in
2009 versus $2,633,658 in 2008.
Total
Membership Revenues:
$1,457,224 in 2009 versus $1,568,324 in 2008.
Total
Expenses:
$3,015,457 in 2009 versus $2,619,019 in 2008.
(We outspent
the previous fiscal year by $396,438, which basically wiped out the
bequests. Excluding the bequests, which clearly cannot be included in normal revenues, that means that USCF has lost, so far, nearly $500,000 in this fiscal year. (This number does not include more losses which were incurred in the month of May.) The federation’s market share is also down. According to various sources, there are as many as 4-5 times more tournament chess players, especially younger players, who are not USCF members, than there are members of our national federation. Because of incompetence, the USCF no longer owns the Book and Equipment business. The entire business had to be outsourced. For the last few years, the USCF has not been capable of holding its own annual U.S. Men and U.S. Women’s Championships. It has to rely on the good will of generous individuals putting up money to save these prestigious events. The USCF can no longer to fully fund the U.S. Men and U.S. Women’s Olympiad teams. Once again, it has to rely on the generosity of outside organizations or charitable individuals. The USCF is even incapable of sending our national team to the World Team Championship. And unless sponsorship can be found soon, the USCF either will not be able to send our “A” team and will have to resort to sending an amateur team to compete against the world’s best. The USCF has no money to fund serious training programs for our most young talented male and female players. The USCF has no money to properly promote chess or the even just the basic agenda of its own mission. How could a national organization, an organization which claims that it has no money to do many things for the benefit of chess and it members, afford to spend $500,000, $600,000, $700,000 or perhaps even more than $1,000,000 in legal fees for political purposes? How could a national organization, an organization which at one time had annual revenues over $6 million, sink this low? Finally, how can we fix the problems, to make things better, when the problems are being hidden and kept secret from the membership at large? One of the key problems is the structure of the organization itself. It is very difficult to implement sound changes when the leadership is so far behind understanding the rapidly changing business world. If we do not understand our customers and do not offer what they want, we are doomed to fail. So many chess politicians have hung around for decades doing everything imaginable to grab and hold on to their power. Some have done this for three, four or even five decades. Why? For some, it is very lucrative. For others, they are addicted to power. Many care more about their personal, financial and political agenda than the welfare of chess, the USCF and its members. Many of my friends, including 3-time U.S. Champion Grandmaster Lev Alburt, have warned me about the dirty and vicious chess politics. I know that it is not easy to make positive changes. However, if no one is willing to step up to the plate and go to bat for the members, how can things get better? What GM Alburt told me is
similar to an interview he did with 5-time U.S. Champion Grandmaster
Larry Evans. Here is an excerpt of that interview (from
This Crazy World of Chess by Larry
Evans, p.129): My experience on the USCF Executive Board in the past two years is like a mirror image of what GM Alburt said, except a lot worse. I am not a chess politician and I have no desire to get involve in the filthy disgusting world of chess politics. I did not want the failed status quo to continue. My sole intention was and is to help chess and the USCF. In the past two years, instead of working with me and helping me promote chess to benefit our entire sport, some of these chess politicians have spread the most outrageous and vicious rumors and lies, trying to destroy my reputation, my employment at Texas Tech University, and my family. They even stooped so low as to use my children (who are only 8 and 10) as one of their targets. Knowing that I am a one of the biggest advocates for scholastic chess in this country, especially for girls, some of these people spewed out the disgustingly offensive rumor that my husband and I were child abusers. They claimed that we abused my children and we even forced them to consume hot sauce. This sort of despicable thing made its way to the internet and even made its way to my employer Texas Tech University as well as to sponsors and potential sponsors. This outrageous lie was even tossed around within the USCF leadership as a way to pressure my husband and me to resign from the board even though they knew that it was false. There were countless remarks and
postings telling my husband and me to go “back to where we came from.”
Some said this is the United States Chess Federation and not the United
Nations Chess Federation Ironically, the USCF and some board members have continued to deny that they have had anything to do with this despicable conduct, but their own attorney made sure to demand that I show proof that I am in the U.S. legally and if I “hot-sauced” my children in the past!? Outrageous, but true! Coincidence? You decide. Some called me a “whore,” “bitch” and worse, with words that are not appropriate to print. They even created a public website about this. I informed the USCF and its board members, but they chose to ignore this and do nothing. Instead of investigating such vile and despicable conduct, the USCF and the board majority spent hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating us! To support their agenda, misleading and one-sided information was published in Chess Life, the USCF website, in mailings and to the email list so I would have no opportunity to respond or correct the record. Here are just some of things which took place in the past year:
I only found out about it during
the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls which took place at We were absolutely shocked. The
USCF, the board members and the ED did not even have the courtesy to
inform me or wait until the tournament was over. This was purposely done
right in the middle of a National event (which is sponsored by
There is a lot more; you can read about the filings here. This will give you a much deeper understanding of what took place. Instead of focusing on doing positive things for chess, the USCF and its members, these parties have abused their authority and power for political purpose. They have wasted over $500,000 of members’ money so far for their own political games. My $1 offer to settle the lawsuit with the USCF still stands but the USCF has ignored it for more than 9 months. Now another election draws near, and the same political, destructive games are being played again. Tens and thousands of emails and post cards were sent out with false information with the intention of smearing my reputation and misleading the members to maintain power by controlling another election. The system has been abused by the use of Chess Life and the USCF website as if it were a private, partisan domain in the sole custody of petty, vindictive board members and Executive Director. I was never given the opportunity to explain or state my case. The current
financial state of the USCF is dire. This pattern of frivolous spending
for political power must stop. That is why I decided to break my silence
and inform you of the facts. I will continue to share with you the facts
and status of these legal cases on my website
www.ChessDailyNews.com. Many people have asked who I
will be voting for in the upcoming USCF Executive Board election. At
this time, I will vote for the following individuals and I will explain
why. 2. Dr. Mikhail Korenman. Why? He is a premier chess promoter, organizer, coach, and he is well respected and admired by many chess players from amateur to grandmasters, world champions and even Presidents. He has successfully organized many mega events in the United States, events which have brought in unprecedented positive media coverage. His experience in grant writing brought in big money for chess in Kansas. Like IM Lugo, Dr. Korenman is an independent thinker, multilingual and understands what it takes to improve the USCF. Many American Grandmasters have publicly endorsed him in this election because he has a most impressive chess résumé. 3. Dr. Eric Hecht.
Why? The USCF has lost hundreds of thousands of
dollars in the last few years and it is or will be nearly bankrupt if a
proper course of action is not soon taken. Dr. Hecht is absolutely the
most successful businessman among all the candidates, perhaps even the
most prolific candidate ever. He has successful managed billions of
dollars on Wall Street and he is a brilliant financial person. He has
used his fortune to help chess by sponsoring many wonderful chess events
from New York to Florida. Dr. Hecht has no personal or political
ambition in chess. Like Blas Lugo and Mikhail Korenman, Dr. Hecht has
the expertise and desire to help the USCF get out of the vicious cycle
of failure and destruction. They are desperately trying to hide many important facts about their actions (which have resulted in devastating consequences for this federation) from USCF members, while using Chess Life and the USCF website for their political propaganda. Bill Goichberg has been involved with the USCF in various capacities for over four decades. Memberships are down, revenues are down, and expenditures are up. But he does not want to let go of his personal and political power even at the expense of the USCF and its members. He has his hands on nearly every election as far as I can remember. He keeps on recruiting people who will vote with him and for his agenda which has caused so much damage to the USCF. Do you want a different direction for the USCF or do you want the USCF to continue down the same path with the same cast of characters? The USCF CANNOT afford to
lose a few more hundred thousand dollars
while doing very little for its members. We cannot afford to have our
leaders spend our money like it is their own. Let your voice be heard
and vote for the most qualified candidates and NOT individuals who have
personal, financial and political interests Make sure you have an official ballot to vote. Your ballot should be outside of your June 2009 Chess Life and it should have your name and USCF ID number imprinted on it. Check the names of the
candidates you are voting for, fold the ballot into three and
mail it back to Taylor, Bilyeu & Company at The United States Chess
Federation belongs to its members. We can take back control of the USCF
by voting in the candidates who will serve the membership and not their
own interests. I am counting on you to make a difference. Every vote
counts. Paul Truong assisted Susan Polgar in the preparation of this column. Susan Polgar is the director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Texas Tech University. For more information, visit www.spice.ttu.edu or email: SusanPolgar@aol.com. |
Visit Shop.ChessCafe.com for the largest selection of chess books, sets, and clocks in North America:
|
|
|
|
[ChessCafe
Home Page] [Book Review]
[Columnists] © 2009 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. |
|
