A BLACK EYE

The whole business over the Q &A column is a
black eye for the new editor. To be sure, he has the
right to fire GM Evans and hire GM Benjamin. There is
no argument here.

What one finds so deeply unsavory is the
outright lying by Dan Lucas to accomplish the
transition. I would hope that GM Evans will have
something to say. Certainly, the new editor would
never merit a handshake from the 5-time U.S. champion
whose column was the soul of Chess Life..

An editor who resorts to these tactics shows a
character weakness. My God! We know Editor Lucas had
the SUPPORT, for Pete's sake, of the drudges on the
USCF Executive Board when getting rid of GM Evans and
bringing in someone who won't rock the boat.

What courage, in the name of heaven, did it
require from the editor to tell GM Evans, "I have
decided to fire you and to assign the Q &A column to
GM Benjamin. My bosses want someone else and perhaps
I do, too. I am unsure [or sure, for that matter], it
is time for you to go."

A couple of you sent messages expressing
amazement that I knew exactly what would happen and
how it would happen. Hah! The whole ploy was so
obvious and speaks of the editor as a rotter, though
he will likely survive if he just toes the line and
carries out the expected ploys.

GM Evans was owed something more than crapulous
lies from the young editor. He was owed at least a
straightforward firing with frank talk.

Why does chess seem to attract so many
pusillanimous souls? One recollects the drones at
Delegates meetings taking direct orders on how to vote
and raising or lowering their hands literally, at
times, on cue.

We can conclude that Editor Lucas believes that
GM Evans career as author, player and leading
journalist merited nothing more than a lie serving as
part of a ploy.

The man's behavior exhibited cowardice alloyed
with arrogance.



wrote:
ANOTHER PREDICTION CAME TRUE

When editor Dan Lucas cancelled Evans On Chess he said the reason was
Chess Life no longer needed a question and answer column. Here is a
posting that I placed online last June. Lo and behold, the December
2006 issue of Chess Life has a Q&A column conducted by GM Joel
Benjamin. As I predicted.

From: - view profile
Date: Sun, Jun 11 2006 5:19 pm
Email: "
Groups: rec.games.chess.politics, rec.games.chess.misc


WHY GM EVANS HAD TO GO

I, for one, miss the question and answer format
of Larry's column. If Larry won't be doing it anymore,
hopefully the column itself won't die... someone else
can simply fill his shoes. -- Ed Collins

Ed Collins need have no fear. Joel Benjamin will
be conducting a Q&A column in the pages of Chess Life
after a decent interval. Editor Lucas stated that the
format was tired which was why, he said, the Evans
column would not fit into the new magazine. The editor
owed GM Evans something better than this verbal dreck.

In reality, Q&A is never tired in hobbyist publications.

From the first moment I heard the news that one of CL's
two most popular writers was being fired, I predicted that
GM Benjamin would be assuming the column in the pages
of the magazine after a certain interval.

Watch. He will.

The eternal themes are still with us. The Winter
ratpackers, Greg Kennedy as help bot and his ilk
hate the fact that GM Evans has scored so well in
so many reader surveys. Hence they pound the
drumbeat that reader surveys are out of date and
don't mean much anymore.

More dreck.

They literally hate Larry Evans for his long-term success,
and they will deny the evidence that exists for his popularity.

Dropping either Soltis or Evans made no editorial
sense. Soltis survived because his column does not
deal with controversial material. Such is not his purpose.

Larry Evans had to go because his was the last
independent voice left in the magazine. You will NOT
be reading in the new Chess Life about how FIDE
delegates were paid thousands in bribes, being
required to click handphone cameras to show the
bribe givers how they marked their ballot.

Moreover, USCF loyalists will defend the news
blackout as a good thing. What USCF members do
not know will not hurt the political class.