Wrapup on the 2009 USCF EB Election

Three weeks after my previous post on the USCF's Executive Board (EB) election (see My Four EB Votes), the USCF issued the results.

• 2009-07-23: Executive Board Election Results are in

The winners were the same four candidates for whom I voted -- Jim Berry, Bill Goichberg, Ruth Haring, and Michael Atkins -- listed here in descending order of the number of votes each received. The last of those four received more than three times the number of votes the fifth vote-getter received. Relative to the total number of USCF members, the number of votes is low, confirming my frequent observation on the general apathy that chess players have for organizational issues. U.S. chess players who care about these things solidly backed current USCF management and completely repudiated the negative, divisive campaigning of the Polgar/Truong faction.

After the vote I expected to see a USCF announcement on the new officers, but it appears to have slipped through the cracks. The USCF page Board Members lists 'Jim Berry - President; Ruth Haring - Vice President; ...' (although dated 'February 7, 2009'). Two weeks after the election results were published, the USCF announced that Polgar and Truong were no longer members of the organization.

• 2009-08-10: USCF Revokes Memberships of Polgar and Truong

It has been only two years since Polgar and Truong were elected to the EB, in which time their considerable political capital was wasted on lawsuits where they played leading roles. The lawsuits continue, the story is far from over, and the next chapter in this sad saga remains to be written. Once there was so much promise; now there is so little to show for it.

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Here is a summary of my posts to date in 2009.

• 2009-01-08: Odd Year Means USCF Election
  
• 2009-01-22: USCF Election Means Odd Year
  
• 2009-04-04: Update on the USCF Election
  
• 2009-05-07: More on the USCF Election
  
• 2009-06-08:Judge to USCF EB: 'Sit Down and Work This Out'
  
• 2009-06-18: You Be the Judge
  
• 2009-07-02: My Four EB Votes

I don't intend to be obsessed with subsequent events, but I will follow the evolution of the lawsuits. As a USCF Life Member, I have an interest in the long term viability of the organization.