‘Back in the day’ this writer was fond of playing lesser known openings to get out of the ‘book’. After changing my opening repertoire from the Najdorf to the Caro-Kann, when facing the CK I wanted to play something other than the usual moves. Truth be told, I liked the name of this particular, Fantasy, variation.
Todaze game features two very strong GMs, both of whom have had a problem with their nerves. Both have had some kind of, shall we say, meltdown. Nepo lost his composure in both world Chess championships
and Firouzja came unglued in the Candidates tournament.
Since this was some kine of ‘speed’ game the players were going with what they knew since there was little time for thinking. It has been sad to see a plethora of quick play type games published along with what now is called “Classical” Chess games. At least one can learn something from the opening moves played without much thought. Then again, in the match for the world Chess championship Nepo was playing moves extremely quickly, obviously without much thought, as if it were a speed game. If nothing else Nepo proved, and with this game, continues to prove the fact that SPEED KILLS.
1.e4 c6 2.f3 d5 3.d4 e6 (Stockfish prefers 3…Qb6) 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bd2 Ne7 6.a3 (Although the most often played move SF plays 6 Bd3) 6…Ba5 7.h4 (SF says 7 Bd3) 7…Nd7 (7…0-0 SF) 8.h5 (SF gives 8 Qe2! I give the exclam) 8…h6
White to move
9.Bd3? (This is a weak move. Nepo again misses another chance to play Qe2, which would keep a minuscule advantage for white. 9 exd5 would send the game into minus territory) 9…Bb6? (Back to even, Steven. Firouzja could, and should, have played 9…e5!)
If I had loved all books as much as I loved Baseball books when young my life may have turned out much differently. This is being written after reading a thread at Chess Life Online under the heading, All Things Chess, titled: Electronic Resources and Preservation for the Future.
kbachler
At least since the start of the Internet, various people and groups have organized and saved chess information to digital files. The University of Pittsburgh had an excellent site. I don’t know if it did, but it may have fed part of Bill Wall’s fantastic and PGNMentor sites. There are other numerous sites including Mark Crowther’s TWIC.
Some day, these people will no longer be able to maintain these sites. And make no mistake – these are about more than databases. Often, it’s pgn collections of the games in books (sans notes.)
Google has many chess books available for free, not easily available elsewhere – dating back to Philidor and earlier.
When I moved and downsized, I digitized a portion of my library to save space and provided US Chess a copy of all of the past rulebooks in PDF including the Bluebook and the Handbook by Harkness. Due to copyrights, these are maintained but not made available.
I hope that in addition to the archive of Chess Life, US Chess will consider creating its own archives of the tremendous work people have put in over the years. Perhaps some of this ends up hosted by US Chess through an online database. Perhaps it can partner with places like SCRIBD or Google or others to see that these resources are cost-effectively maintained.
I would just hate to see these efforts eventually lost.
The above was answered by:
nolan
This is a large and growing issue.
The Library of Congress has hosted several seminars in conjunction with the US Archivist on records preservation in the digital age.
For example, census record from 1950 (the first census I appear in) were done on paper and were recently posted to the Internet, but more recent census records are digital and might not be readable in any form by the time they’re scheduled to be released. (The ones from 1960 were stored on magnetic tape and estimates are that only 20% of those tapes are still readable.)
I read recently where experts believe there are 1 trillion (!) digital photographs in existence. At a guess, 99.9% of those won’t exist in 20 years, but the pictures my grandfather took 100 years ago are still in great shape. Many of them were turned over to the county archives by my mother before she died.
Reading the above brought to mind a particular episode from the original television series, Star Trek.
The title of the episode, “Court Martial,” is the twentieth episode of the first season. The Internet Movie Database gives this Storyline:
After encountering a severe ion storm, the Enterprise visits Star Base 11 for repairs. While there, Kirk files a report about the death of crewman and former friend LCDR Finney, who was taking scientific readings in an externally mounted instrument pod before Kirk needed to jettison it for the safety of the ship. However, the computer log shows that Kirk jettisoned the pod before there was a danger, thereby revealing the captain’s willful perjury and culpable negligence in crewman Finney’s death. Or so it would seem. —Tony-B4 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708425/)
Without giving too much away from any reader who will go on a search and find mission to watch the episode I will present only one film clip from the episode, my all time favorite of all the Star Trek shows seen:
The last game of Chess played by this writer was prior to the lockdown caused by the Covid pandemic. The game was contested at the last ever meeting of the Ironman Chess Club. My opponent was a middle aged gentleman with whom I was unfamiliar. Nothing was known about the strength of my opponent but after the game I learned he was a class B player. He opened with 1 e4 to which I responded 1…c6. After he played 2 d4 we made eye contact. Knowing nothing about the player sitting across from me I contemplated playing the usual move, 2…d5, but rejected the notion after thinking about the ‘good ol’ daze’ at the Stein Club (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/06/06/shanglei-lu-seeks-bishops-opening-truth/) and moved my Queen to c7. He looked up, saying, “Hummm, haven’t seen that one before.” After winning the game the gentleman asked for the name of the opening and was surprised to hear I had no idea. “Maybe it’s listed under the Caro-Kann,” he said. “Could be,” was all I said. “Why did you play it?” he inquired. “Just a spur of the moment decision,” came the reply. “You just shot out some random move?” he asked. “That’s about the size of it,” I said. Then came the question every Chess player has been asked, “What’s your rating?” At this point NM Sulaiman Smith spoke up, saying, “Mike was the Atlanta Champion ‘back in the day’.
This memory was brought on by one of the most recent posts, Qe2 Versus The Caro-Kann (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2023/08/14/qe2-versus-the-caro-kann/). It was also caused by an accident. Sometimes late in the evening I will listen to music when winding down and occasionally will input opening moves into the analysis program at lichess.org and just simply watch the program do its thing in order to learn how the program will play the opening. The intention was to input the moves, 1 e4 c6 2 Nc3 d5, but I did not complete the move properly and the pawn wound up on d6. As the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. 3 d4 was inputted, followed by 3…Qc7, and this is what followed:
1 e4 c6 2 Nc3 d6 3 d4 Qc7 4 Nf3 e6
Position after 4…e6
4…e6 could be a Theoretical Novelty. What followed was one of the most amazing Chess games you will ever see…
e4 c6 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 (After this move the Stockfish analysis program at lichess.org shows 3…e5 as best) 3…Qc7 (The most played move according to 365chess.com has been 4 f4, with (57) games contained in the database. There follows, 4 Nf3 (30); 4 Be3 (20); 4 a4 (9); 4 h3 (7); 4 Bc4 (5); 4 g3 (3); 4 Bd3 (2); and then there are 5 moves that have been played only once: 4 Bg5; 4 Bf4; 4 d5; 4 a3; and the move Stockfish considers best, 4 Nge2 (see game below). Let me add that the Stockfish program will, if you allow it to show two moves, show that 4 h3 is the secondary choice of Stockfish. It should be readily apparent to most that the SF program does not want black to be able to exchange the queen Bishop for the white King Knight.
Make of it what you will, but it appears a class player somehow stumbled upon the best move while playing Chess online…
In the Stockfish analysis game after 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 Qc7 (SF will play 3…e5) the move 4 Nf3 was forced by this writer. I did this because most players who are unfamiliar with an opening will probably move the Knight to f3. SF shows 4 Nge2 as best. Surely black would follow with 4…Bg4, right? WRONG, Kemo sabe! Much to my surprise the program produced 4…e6. The proverbial feather knocked me over… The move is not one of the four, 4…e5; Bg4; Nd7; or g6; found at 365chess.com.
After 4…e6 there followed: 5. e5 Nd7 6. Bf4 dxe5 7. Nxe5 Nxe5 8. Bxe5 Qb6 9. a3 Ne7 10. Bd3 Ng6 11. Bxg6 hxg6 12. Qd3, bringing us to this position:
Position after 12 Qd3
Would you take the proffered pawn? Would you advocate a novice take the pawn? If you were attempting to teach Chess to a neophyte would you advocate he take the poisoned pawn? Certainly not, because all who teach Chess stress the fundamentals, one of which is to not waste time taking pawns in the opening before completing development. Every Chess player has heard, “He who takes the Queen’s Knight pawn sleeps in the Gutter.”
The strongest Chess program currently in use, Stockfish, takes the pawn. I kid you not! There follows: 12…Qxb2 13. O-O Qb6 14. Rfe1 Qd8 15. Ne4 g5 16. c4 f5 17. Nd2 Kf7 18. h3 Kg8 19. Nf3
Position after 19 Nf3
Take a good, long look at the position. Frankly, it looks like the kind of position from one of my games from ‘back in the day’ when I was fond of playing the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian. IM Boris Kogan would look at the position from one of my games and say, “Cannot play Chess like this!” After nineteen moves White has completed his development while Black has “developed” nothing and his King looks out of place on g8, does it not? If you taught Chess and one of your students presented this game how would you respond? What is your evaluation of the position?
Many Chess players have said something like, “I spent the first decade of my Chess career learning the rules and the next decade learning when to break the rules.”
From everything I have learned from the program(s) there are no rules. Each and every position is sui generis. The only “rule” is the one that fits the position.
Stockfish prefers 5 h3 over the move played in the game.
Maybe the move 2…Qc7 should be called the Gareyev defense. From what I have been reading about the cad he will probably need a good defense in the future.
Former President Donald Trump appeared angry and giving a death stare in his first-ever mugshot.
Trump’s perhaps most famous picture yet was taken on Thursday night while he was arrested and booked into Fulton County Jail for charges in the Georgia election interference case.
The ex-US president furrowed his eyebrows and frowned in the mugshot released by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office just before 9pm. He wore a red tie, white shirt and dark blue suit.
Trump’s intense expression was markedly different from what many of his 18 co-defendants displayed in their mugshots earlier this week. Some of them smiled.
Deepak Aaron was the eleventh seed in the just completed Master division of the 2º Festival Internazionale Bella Italia Chess tournament. His 2308 FIDE rating was higher than two players with a FM title. “FM” is for “FIDE” Master. ‘Back in the day’ there was no “FM” title. Chess would be much better without the “FM” title. Some in the Chess community think it is better to have multiple titles. They are wrong because practice has proven the plethora of titles has only cheapened the actual titles, such as “IM” and “GM”, both of which once had gravitas.
In the sixth round Deepak Aaron had the black pieces and faced Guohao Li of China. In the first five rounds Deepak had scored two wins and three draws.
Guohao Li (2042) vs Deepak Aaron (2308) 2º Festival Internazionale Bella Italia – Master Rd 6 A88 Dutch Defense: Leningrad Variation, Warsaw Variation
For many years the move 7…Qe8 was considered the main line and many books have been written about that variation. I preferred 7…c6, and now so does the Stockfish program in use at lichess.org. Many different eighth moves have been tried by white. In order at 365chess.com they are: 8 d5; 8 b3; 8 Qc2; 8 Rb1; 8 Re1; 8 Qb3; 8 b4; and the move Stockfish considers best, 8 Bg5, a move having only 72 games in the database. Guohao Li played 8 Rb1.
When teaching Chess to neophytes one of the most difficult things for them to wrap their minds around is asking the question, “Why did my opponent make that move?” It should be the very first question asked by every Chess player because if you do not understand why your opponent made the move how can you consider a response? I this particular case it should be obvious the Rook was place behind the pawn on b2 in order to push it forward two squares on the next move. Once this is realized a player can either make life difficult for his opponent by playing the best move in the position, 8…a5, or play another, inferior, move. Deepak played 8…Qc7. Having played many games with this particular opening I will admit to having attempted placing the Queen on c7 as it seems to ‘fit’ on that particular square…but not after 8 Rb1. After 9. d5 the best response is still 9…a5. Deepak played 9…e5 while digging the hole a little deeper. Li responded by taking the pawn en passant, giving us this position:
Black to move
365chess.com contains 6 games with 10…Bxe6 and 3 with the move chosen by Deepak, 10…Qe7?! Stockfish says, “Inaccuracy. Bxe6 was best.” At the same time the ‘Fish shows 10…Na6 as being the best move. If and when it is played by a human player it will be a Theoretical Novelty. So which is it, Stocky?
Position after 10…Qe7
Only ten moves have been played and Deepak has a lost position. All Guohao Li has to do is play 11 Bf4 and it’s “Turn out the lights” because the par-tee is O-ver. Fortunately for Deepak his opponent 11…Nd4?! and once again it was, “Game On!”
After many moves of an about even game we move along to this position:
Position after 48 b4
What move would you make and why would you play it? Li took the pawn on c6, giving us this position:
Position after 48 Rxc6
FYI, both players had plenty of time. It is one thing to be gifted a win but entirely another to have the chance and not recognize it. Although a pawn down Deepak now has a completely won game. Can you find the winning move? If not, your endgame needs much work.
Guohao Li (2042) vs Deepak Aaron (2308) 2º Festival Internazionale Bella Italia – Master Rd 6 A88 Dutch Defense: Leningrad Variation, Warsaw Variation
Sometimes the realization of having missed a chance will have a deleterious affect upon a Chess player in the following game, or even games. This axiom is not applicable in this situation because Deepak came back to score the full point in his round seven game, with much help from his opponent. That left him with 3 wins and four draws, for an undefeated score of 5-2, for which he was rewarded by being paired with a Grandmaster, Fabien Libiszewski, in the eight round.
After white made his tenth move, Nxd4, the following position was reached:
Black to move
What happened next is almost unfathomable. Deepak did NOT take the pawn! How can any Chess player not take a pawn and give a CHECK?
GM Fabien Libiszewski vs Deepak Aaron 2º Festival Internazionale Bella Italia – Master Round 8 C11 French Defense: Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation
In the last round Deepak had the white pieces when facing a Master, Gabriel Urbani. A win would be nice, but after the round 8 game, a draw could be considered a favorable outcome (he writes while thinking of something SM Brian McCarthy [https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/brian-mccarthy-r-i-p/] was so fond of saying, “Don’t leave the gym on a missed hoop”).
Position after 9…Be6
When he refused to take the Bishop on e6 and it was obvious something was wrong with Deepak.
Some moves later we come to this position:
White to move after 18…Rad8
Deepak played 19 Nh4, once again proving “A knight on the rim is dim.” After his opponent ‘came on down’ with 19…Rd3, Deepak again proved how difficult it is for any Chess player to admit a mistake when he did NOT return the knight to f3, but instead played 20 Rfe1, a move that would have been fine if it had been played in lieu of moving the knight to the grim rim. You will not be surprised to learn Deepak deservedly lost the game. Deepak Aaron has played some fine Chess recently, but the fact is he has also played some terribly bad, and erratic Chess. Deepak needs to take some time away from the board to review his games in order to, hopefully, stop the blood from gushing out of his Chess brain veins.
Deepak Aaron vs Gabriel Urbani (2216) 2º Festival Internazionale Bella Italia – Master C50 Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation
This writer has previously mentioned regularly perusing the excellent Mechanic’s Institute Chess Room Newsletter when it appears. For many years it was a bi-weekly publication but has now morphed into a monthly publication. When the current issue, Issue #1040, published August 12, 2023, appeared, notice was taken of the lead article, Ensuring Safe Play. The excellent issue contains the following picture as a lead-in to the Newsletter:
Ensuring Safe Play Mechanics’ Institute’s mission is to create opportunities for people to enhance their lives. We value the rich diversity of our community and have adopted the following rules of conduct to provide for members who wish to use the Institute’s services and facilities, whether in person or online, without unnecessary and inappropriate interruptions or disturbances, to promote service of members’ interests by the Institute’s staff, to ensure the safety of members and staff, and to maintain the security of Mechanics’ Institute property.
There follows:
Those are the opening lines of Mechanics’ Institute’s code of conduct. These words are the foundation for us to ensure a safe, accessible, and welcoming environment. An environment of safe play. Chess – like many industries and areas of interest – is experiencing deep reflection and action towards safe play, addressing treatment of community members and in particular the treatment of and impact on women.
After the news concerning the reprehensible, and criminal, behavior of some players broke this writer reflected on what was read at the MIN and realized it had been published in response to what had recently been published.
The entire Chess world has waited for a response from the United States Chess Federation and the St. Louis Chess Club, which has not been forthcoming. Those two Chess organizations above have not led, or even followed, with a response, so it appears the USCF and the StLCC have decided to “get out of the way.”
One can only wonder why there has been only silence emanating from those two organizations. The time for getting out in front of the situation has long since passed. Quite simply, those two organizations have “nutted-up.” They have stayed silent so long they are now ‘behind the eight-ball’ so to speak.
Will the young, obviously filled with potential, Laurie Qiu, fulfill that potential or will the sexist male animals of the Chess world ruin that potential with their obviously unwanted sexual advances and drive her out of the Chess world like so many other woman about whom this writer has been reading recently, while the two major Chess organizations run around like chickens with their heads cut-off?
The silence from the USCF and the STLCC has been DEAFENING! It is no longer possible for the people in leadership positions in the US Chess world to get out in front of this problem. Is it possible they have stayed silent because they have been too busy ‘Lawyerin’ up’?
If the males will not protect the girls, teens, and women, who WILL PROTECT THE WOMEN!?
The United States Chess world is badly in need of a leader, and that leader should, and needs, to be a WOMAN!
When asked for comment, Vlad The Impaler said, “I do not care about losing Luna-25, or the Moon exploding, but it breaks my heart to lose Crash, the test dummy.”
Video: Argentine Reporter Reveals Remarkably Clear Photos of Diamond-Shaped UFO August 18, 2023
By Tim Binnall
A tantalizing set of photographs circulating online purportedly show a remarkably clear diamond-shaped UFO hovering in the sky over a plain in Argentina. The jaw-dropping pictures (seen in the video above and isolated below) were posted on social media last week by Argentine journalist Calaverita Mateos. In sharing the photos, he claimed that they were taken in the town of El Escorial and subsequently “sent to me by a resident of the plateau, who asks to protect his identity.” When pressed on if he could provide the images in their “original format” for analysis, Mateos indicated that “I’ll do my best, but I’m not authorized” and went on to explain that the witness was a “field worker” who “does not want to have anything to do with exposing himself so much.”
Although the person behind the camera and the circumstances surrounding the sighting remain a mystery, the photos have understandably caused quite the stir in UFO circles by virtue of their remarkable clarity. To that end, the first picture shows what appears to be a metallic-looking diamond-shaped object in the sky, while the second photo is of what one presumes is the same object turned sideways and appearing as singular dark form. The third image appears to show the UFO departing the scene and the final photo sees the object reduced to a mere blur on the horizon as it flies away. (https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/video-argentine-reporter-reveals-remarkably-clear-photos-of-diamond-shaped-ufo/)
Let me begin by admitting the first this writer heard about the latest in the ongoing Chess Sexual Misconduct Allegations came yesterday when doing the usual Chess website surfin’ with my morning cuppa Joe, and noticed the article at Chess.com (https://www.chess.com/news/view/wsj-chess-servers-end-support-for-saint-louis-tournaments). After firing an email at my friend Mulfish the return salvo began with, “You’ve got lots to catch up on!” Mike had that right… I have utilized lichess.org only for watching games, and for the “analysis” feature. Until yesterday I was unaware there was a forum at lichess.
I will have something to say about what has been read, but first I want to share two stories with you concerning two past occasions concerning women and Chess. The first occurred at the Lucky Street YMCA where the Atlanta Chess Club met on a Friday night in the early 1970s. I was twenty years old and new to Chess. I was also so bad that after losing each and every game in the speed tournament they would not allow me to ante up a quarter to play the next week.
I was involved in a game when two young ladies entered the room, inquiring about playing Chess. I have no idea what was said, but the two young women left in a huff almost immediately because they had not been welcomed. I left my seat, and the ongoing game, to walk down the stairs to catch them. They stopped and after informing them I was new to Chess, I apologized for how rudely they were treated. One softened somewhat but the other was mad as hell. She grabbed the hand of the other young lady, saying something like, “Come on, don’t talk to him. He’s a MAN!” Before they could walk away I said, “I want you to know I have two sisters and Mother taught me to ALWAYS treat a woman with RESPECT.” The dominant one said something that sounded like “HARUMP” before they ran away.
Mother was very fond of saying ‘back in the day’, “It’s a man’s world.” After informing her of what had transpired at the Chess Club she said, “That’s my boy. I’m proud of you, son.”
Another vivid memory is of a time at an out of town tournament when someone let me know there was a very pretty young woman sitting in the front row “showing lotsa CLEAVAGE!” He also said there was a line of players repeatedly walking by her to see the large ‘boobs’. “Come on, Mike, let’s GET IN LINE!” he said. I refused. I could not help but wonder how the young lady was feeling with most of the males ogling her…
Things have changed greatly since that time. Younger people have no idea of how scandalous it was ‘back in the day’ when women began wearing a two piece bathing suit. Men would say things like, “The world is going to hell in a hand basket!” Change can be difficult, but change must be accepted because everything is constantly changing. The fact is that conservative people do not want change, so they try to stop that change, which is like trying to stop the Mississippi river, which ain’t ever gonna happen…
I come from a background of playing Backgammon and Bridge where female players were plentiful. I cannot recall there being any problems with having many female players, possibly because everyone was an adult. There were no female players who were not fully grown women.
From what I have seen, heard, and read, the men in leadership positions have not gotten out in front of the positive change to the Royal Game, and it has come back to bite them in the butt. The men in authority could have handled the change in a much different way, but they “dropped the ball” so to speak. All of those men should be forced to leave their positions and be replaced by more, shall we say, forward thinking people, and not just male, but female administrators must come forward if the game is to overcome the current debacle about which I have been reading, which is DAMNING! For instance, “In a letter informing one of the women about the sanctions, US Chess wrote that they hoped that the woman could “again participate in chess activities without fear.” However, the woman in question, who was previously a highly active chess volunteer, organizer, and official in various roles, says that she has stopped going to chess events.” (https://lichess.org/blog/ZNTniBEAACEAJZTn/breaking-the-silence)
Then there is this: “US Chess is committed to protecting the safety of its members and their right to be treated with respect. Our direct actions in recent months include announcing a new Safe Play training requirement via a partnership with the U.S. Center for SafeSport for all of our Tournament Directors (we have 6,477 active TDs), publishing a list of members who have been sanctioned by US Chess, appointing a Safe Play Working Group, and updating our selection process for team coaches/captains. We will remain vigilant in identifying and adopting additional best practices.”
There follows:
“In our opinion, the Saint Louis Chess Club has also failed to provide a transparent account of its handling of reports about Ramirez. Lichess has seen internal club communications confirming that multiple reports had been received about Ramirez without any action being taken until an investigation was commissioned in September 2022. Lichess has also learned that Jennifer Shahade notified club officials several times about Ramirez’s alleged misconduct – including in summer 2020, October 2020, January 2021, and September 2022 – and that she urged the club to act against Ramirez.”
“For its part, the club has said in public statements that it received no reports of alleged sexual misconduct by Ramirez that occurred while he was a club employee, and that it initiated an investigation as soon as it received reports from an identified source.”
“At the same time, the club has not clarified its procedures for handling serious workplace-related complaints. Jennifer Shahade has told Lichess that when she first learned that Ramirez was scheduled to do commentary for the US Junior Girls Championship in October 2020, she immediately informed STLCC that she would not be willing to work alongside him. Shahade says she told the club that she was aware of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Ramirez, and that she herself had previously been assaulted by Ramirez. This is corroborated by the club’s public statements. Afterwards, however, as was reported in the Wall Street Journal, “she was told to call him and deal with the matter.”
“After speaking to Shahade, Ramirez voluntarily withdrew from the broadcast of the US Junior Girls Championship. But later he worked on many broadcasts for the club, including the 2022 US Junior Championships. In fact, his already high profile in the chess community ascended to new heights after a notable interview with Hans Niemann at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup. Meanwhile, Jennifer Shahade has not appeared on an STLCC broadcast since the 2020 US Junior Girls Championship – the event that Ramirez withdrew from.”
I must add parenthetically that I was not allowed, for whatever reason, to add two pictures from the lichess.org article, so please go there if for no other reason than to see the two pictures, one of Alejandro Ramirez, the other with Alejandro and Rex Singuefield both wearing excrement eatin’ grins (https://lichess.org/blog/ZNTniBEAACEAJZTn/breaking-the-silence). The intention was to write, “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” This song was to be included:
Hummm, no problems posting the video…
This was to go below:
“Given the respective outcomes for Ramirez and Shahade, it is reasonable to ask whether the club has instituted appropriate procedures for handling workplace complaints. Some club policy documents are published on the STLCC website, but they fail to describe what a club employee should do if they were to experience or observe potential sexual harassment involving other employees or on club premises.”
What this writer would like to know is where has Jenny Sinquefield been while this has been happening? Why has she not spoken out? The woman had no problems getting the Boy Scouts to embrace Chess, which only goes to show how much weight any American with a BILLION BUCKS can throw around. A Boy Scout merit badge for Chess? Come on now, that is one of the kookiest things I have seen in my over half a century being involved with the Royal Game. No man involved with Chess had the cojones to tell her how dumb an idea that was because they grovel at the thought of all that money being spent on Chess. That Boy Scout money could have been put to better use on gender education purposes to make the Chess world more accommodating for female players.
I would like to end here, but after reading the conclusion of the article at lichess.org I cannot do so. It is written:
“In June, all four women on the US Chess Accessibility and Special Circumstances Committee resigned in protest at what international arbiter Judit Sztaray described as the hypocrisy of US Chess in addressing inclusion:”
Once again I have been precluded from posting the tweet, so you must go to the original article to read it…
There follows:
“We share their concerns. Given what has been reported and what we have learned about their handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by titled players, we do not trust that the current leadership of US Chess and STLCC can be relied on to protect women and girls in chess.”
“Therefore, the Lichess team has decided to formally end all cooperation with both US Chess and STLCC, meaning that we will not provide them with any technical or direct support, and we will not advertise their events on Lichess or social media.”
“We are particularly concerned about the role potentially played by senior officers and committee members in both institutions in presiding over cultures where alleged misconduct was heard about and discussed but not acted on. Inaction can have devastating consequences.” (https://lichess.org/blog/ZNTniBEAACEAJZTn/breaking-the-silence)
There are links to the lichess.org article to other articles, one of which will be discussed on this blog, hopefully, in the near future.
Frankly, the silence of the Chess community, and I refer to those at the United States Chess Federation and the St Louis Chess Club, has been DEAFENING. It is more than a little obvious those in power have gone into “CYA” (Cover Your Ass) mode. Out of all the emails this writer sent to what I think of as the FIPS (Fools In Power) only one…ONE…responded. That man was Mr. Daniel Lucas, (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2023/08/02/georgians-at-the-us-open-on-my-mind/), who is the “Senior Director Of Strategic Communication” for the United States Chess Federation, who answered my email by writing:
“Sorry Mike, can’t help you here, even off the record.”
The USCF has “nutted-up” while obviously “circling the wagons” while going into “damage control” mode.
The fact is the pooh-bahs
The bottom line is that HEADS MUST ROLL!
If the USCF must CLEAN HOUSE, no matter what it takes, even if that means bringing in all new people!
And if it means USCF turning it’s collective back on all those “Sinquebucks”, and the “Sinquebuckers” so be it, because it’s TAINTED MONEY! Chess would obviously be better off without Daddy Sinquebucks calling the shots because he has obviously engendered a culture in which sexual harassment against females is condoned.
Armchair Warrior 