Odd Year Means USCF Election

This being a USCF election year, I plan to spend a few posts on the election, of which the most important issue will be the several lawsuits that popped up as a direct consequence of the 2007 election. They were nicely summarized by Bill Wall in a blog post for Chess.com.

• 2008-11-10: Lawsuits, Chess Politics, and Susan Polgar • 'It looks like there are at least six lawsuits involving Susan Polgar, Paul Truong, the USCF, and the Fake Sam Sloan.' (www.chess.com)

Six lawsuits? I count four: the Sloan suit, the Parker suit, the USCF email suit (in two flavors), and the Polgar suit, with a fifth -- the removal of two USCF directors -- added since Wall's post in November. Have I missed an action worthy of counting as a separate suit?

The chess journalist best qualified to cover these lawsuits is undoubtedly Dylan Loeb McClain of the New York Times. The Times has the reputation, the stature, and the reach to make the most jaded observers of chess politics sit up and take notice. To date McClain has written well over a dozen articles covering the lawsuits in his Times column and blog.

• 2007-05-25: An Opening Gambit With an Odd Acronym • 'Texas Tech announced with some fanfare on May 12, the day of its graduation exericises, that it had hired this year’s commencement speaker -- Susan Polgar, the former women’s world champion -- to head something called the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, or (wait for it) Spice.' (thelede.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2007-10-08: Chess Group Officials Accused of Using Internet to Hurt Rivals • 'A lawsuit filed in federal court last week accuses two officers of the nation’s leading chess organization of posting inflammatory remarks on the Internet under false names in order to win election to the group’s board.' (www.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2007-10-08: The Lawsuit Against Polgar and Truong, et al • 'A federal lawsuit accuses Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, two members of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation, of posting inflammatory remarks on the Internet under false names in order to get elected. The lawsuit was filed by Samuel H. Sloan, who ran unsuccessfully for re-election to the board.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2007-10-10: Interview With the U.S.C.F. President; a Chess Sponsor Says He’s Had Enough • 'The United States Chess Federation, the governing body of chess in the United States, finds itself in a difficult position following the filing of a federal lawsuit accusing Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, who are married and are members of its executive board, of posting inflammatory remarks on the Internet under false names in order to get elected. The lawsuit by Samuel H. Sloan, who ran unsuccessfully for re-election to the board, was brought a week after an administrator of the federation’s Web site published a report showing that Mr. Truong was most likely the author of the posts.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2007-10-23: Polgar Responds on Her Blog; Texas Tech Voices Its Support • 'Under the headline, "Stating the Fact," Susan Polgar has posted a long comment on her blog in which she says that the lawsuit and allegations against her and Paul Truong, her husband, are the actions of a group of "small minded people will do everything to protect the status quo." She adds, "Due to the legal situation, I cannot go into details. But once the legal issues are over, I will speak out about this extensively." Here is her entire statement.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-01-15: Member of U.S. Chess Federation’s Board Is Asked to Resign in Dispute Over an Election • 'A majority on the executive board of the United States Chess Federation plans to formally ask a member to resign amid allegations that he had posted messages under other people’s names to Internet bulletin boards to get elected to the board.' (www.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-01-24: Second Computer Expert Offers Opinion on Report at Base of USCF Lawsuit • 'A report released yesterday by a computer expert supports the methodology of another report that concluded a member of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation posted messages under other people’s names to Internet bulletin boards to get elected to the board.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-02-23: New Lawsuit Against Chess Federation • 'Gordon Roy Parker has filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania accusing several current and former chess officials of conspiring to destroy the United States Chess Federation to profit from its demise.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-03-29: Drive to Recall Member of Chess Federation’s Board Is Under Way • 'A petition has been started seeking a recall election to remove a member of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation. The petition, which was posted on the Internet on March 3, seeks the removal of Paul Truong from the board because he has “neglected his fiduciary duties.”' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-04-02: Polgar on the Lawsuit Against Her and Her Husband, the Recall Petition and Her ‘Departure’ • 'Susan Polgar, a member of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation, said she and her husband, Paul Truong, who is also a member of the board, are not planning on stepping down despite a lawsuit against them and the federation and a petition to hold a recall election to have Mr. Truong removed.' (gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-04-11: United States Chess Federation Executive Board Member Resigns • 'Joel Channing, one of the seven members of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation, has resigned citing concerns about his personal liability by continuing as a board member.'(gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-08-16: Claims of Fake Web Postings Roil the Chess World • 'On June 25, the federation, contending that the e-mail messages had been stolen, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court seeking subpoenas for Internet service providers to turn over the Internet protocol addresses that had been used to gain access to the board’s e-mail accounts. The federation was also seeking to take depositions from Ms. Polgar and Mr. Truong about the issue.' (www.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-09-03: Federal Lawsuit Against Chess Officials Is Dismissed in Dispute Over Online Messages • 'A lawsuit in Federal District Court in Manhattan against the governing body of chess in the United States and some of its members was dismissed last week, but the dispute is not about to go away. The lawsuit was filed in October by Samuel H. Sloan of the Bronx, a former member of the executive board of the United States Chess Federation.' (www.nytimes.com)

As part of that last article, McClain covered the Polgar suit en passant.

• 'Last month, Ms. Polgar filed a lawsuit in Lubbock, Tex., against the federation, four board members, Mr. Sloan and others involved in the case. She claimed libel, slander and business disparagement, among other things, and seeks $25 million in damages. Last week, she offered to settle her lawsuit against the federation if it would pay her $1, publicly apologize to her and Mr. Truong and stop its investigations into the postings.'

I'm a Life Member of the USCF, and I take an attack on its assets to be an attack on my own interests and on the best interests of chess. I'm pleased that two of the lawsuits have already been settled in the USCF's favor.

• 2008-09-10: Second Lawsuit Against Federation Is Dismissed • 'Less than a week after a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Manhattan against the United States Chess Federation and some of its members was dismissed, another lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the federation and many of those same officials was also dismissed.' ('first lawsuit was brought by Samuel H. Sloan [...] second lawsuit was filed by Gordon Roy Parker'; gambit.blogs.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2008-11-04: Chess Federation Says E-Mail Was Filched • 'The United States Chess Federation, the nation’s governing body for the game, has sued one of its board members, claiming she unlawfully gained access to e-mail between some members of the board and a lawyer hired to investigate accusations against her and her husband.'(www.nytimes.com)
  
  
• 2009-01-03: U.S. Chess Federation Seeks to Oust 2 Board Members • 'In the latest twist, the federation filed a lawsuit last week in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court in Illinois seeking the removal of Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, who are married, from its board.' (www.nytimes.com)

I trust that the other lawsuits will be settled to exert the maximum positive influence on the election. • To be continued...

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Later: The latest blog carnival pointed to another page on the same subject by John Hillery, a USCF insider.

• 2008-09-12 (plus updates): Nut Cases • 'There have been four lawsuits filed since last October, maybe five if you stretch a point.' (westernchess.blogspot.com)

Hillery also serves as editor of the CJA's quarterly journal.