"David Kane" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
GREG KENNEDY'S LIE

The editor received numerous letters blasting his decision to fire GM
Evans.

Parr continues to repeat this lie. GM Larry Evans continues
to write for the USCF, only now his boring and factually
inaccurate answers appear in Chess Life for Kids. The
crime is the same - only the victims have changed.



Here is some of the recent output of GM Evans writing
for the USCF: (Questions are from the readers. Answers are from
GM Evans himself. Source: Chess Life for Kids Dec. 2006)

"Q. I have never been rated. How can I get a rating?

A. [Evans]You must compete in an official USCF tournament
to be assigned a number of based on your performance..."

This is, of course, false. There are half a dozen ratings that
would likely answer a reader's questions about how
good he is, some of which he could obtain more easily
than the method Evans suggests. Moreover, the
target reader for the magazine, scholastic
players, might be 7 years old. Possibly the very worst
advice for such a player would be to seek out a non
kid-friendly USCF tournament where everyone will
outrate him by 1000 points. Not only would he *not*
learn much about his strength, he'd likely
have a horrible time in the process.

Later in the answer, Evans plugs one of his Cardoza books
and repeats a paragraph from it.

"Q. I'm an avid player but not very good. I've long been
interested in signficantly improving my ability, but how
does one go about finding a reputable instructor? They
aren't exactly listed in the Yellow Pages. What's the going
rate for chess lessons?

A. [Evans] Good teachers charge anywhere from $25
to $100 for a lesson. The best way to find one is at
your local chess club. Or phone the USCF and ask
if they know of someone in your area. ..."

Another barrage of innacurracy and bad advice.
Possibly the scholastic player's "local chess club"
(which he attends at school) consists of his fellow
1st graders and one instructor - who might not be
counted on to give impartial answers being himself
an instructor. The suggestion to call an office
worker 2000 miles away to learn about local
chess coaches, most with little or no connection
to Tennessee, is not helpful.

"Q. We know that White has the advantage of the first move.
Just how big of an advantage is it?

A. [Evans]The first move gives White the initiative. It can be compared
to having the serve in tennis. A summary of results by color
of 6000 games in 45 tournaments from 1851 ot 1932 shows that
White won 38%, Black won 31% and 31% were drawn. Over the
years it has been increasingly harder to win with Black, but somewhat
easier to draw.

The better player will win with either color - it just takes longer
with Black. ..."

It is noteworthy that Evans refers to statistics covering
the period 1851-1932, ignoring the last 74 years of chess
and reminding us all of his distance from the modern game.

His claim that the "better player" will win with either color is
not supported by the evidence. Kasparov won 35% of
his games as Black. Who were these "equal-or-better-
than-Kasparov" players in the other 65% of his games?