I received an e-mail from John Donaldson (which he sent to many
players) regarding thoughts on the US Championship. Then I see my reply
was posted here by Sam Sloan without my permission.

I do not know why a response to an e-mail I was sent by someone is
being posted here on this forum. I did not post this here, and I would
ask anything I wrote in private e-mails regarding my opinions on the US
Championship be deleted by the moderator unless I specifically post
them here.

I have no interest in sponsoring or organizing any US Championship, and
never said I was. This makes it seem like I posted something here or
wanted it posted here, when I was simply responding to an e-mail sent
to me by John Donaldson.

Ben Finegold



samsloan wrote:
samsloan wrote:
Possible Chicago Bid to Hold the 2007 US Championship

In the first place, I have the contract that was signed in 2000 with
Erik Anderson. It is sitting right here on my desk. The reason I have
it is that I demanded to see it the first thing I did when I got on the
board in August, 2006. They told me that it had been lost but finally
in late-September (after I kept making a big stink about it, including
postings to the forums) they found it.

Note that they publicly censured me over this issue.

The contract gives Erik Anderson the OPTION to organize the US
Championship, but he must pick up that option promptly. In February,
2006 at a meeting in Seattle, Bill Goichberg was informed that Erik
Anderson was not going to exercise his option for the year 2007.

I do not know the reason but it is certainly possible that two scandals
involving the 2006 US Championship were a factor. One was that a
1600-rated girl and a 1800-rated woman "qualified" to the US
Championship, making the event look ridiculous. The second more serious
problem was that a USCF official announced a prize fund of $20,000 more
than Erik Anderson was willing to pay. Nobody can agree on who made
this mistake and who is responsible, but everyone agrees that the
players did not get $20,000 that they thought that they were going to
get.

In any event, the bottom line is that Erik Anderson HAS NOT EXERCISED
HIS OPTION TO HOLD THE US CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR.

Thus, I am making no complaint, none whatever, about Erik Anderson. He
has been up front, right from the beginning, that he is not going to be
doing it this year. My complaint is with Bill Goichberg, who keeps
running after Erik Anderson anyway, and who keeps advertising his own
tournaments as "qualifiers" to the US Championship.

Now, regarding the contract, although I have it right here in my hot
hands, I cannot show it to you because I am forbidden to do so by USCF
confidentiality rules, but I can tell you about it, just as Bill
Goichberg often does, adding his own interpretations.

Now, turning to the unfortunate little incident involving Larry Cohen
and Ben Finegold and the little mix-up about the pairings and the order
in which the games were played, I will tell you that I for one will
forget all about that, just as long as Larry Cohen comes up with the
one hundred thousand dollars to hold the tournament. LARRY COHEN IS THE
ONE GUY WHO CAN DO IT. We already have a bid from Chicago to hold the
US Woman's Championship there. Presumably, the organizer in Chicago who
bid on the US Woman's Championship did so because Bill Goichberg told
him that the US "Men's" Championship had already been taken.

So, all we have to do is shift that Chicago bid for the US Woman's
Championship over to become a bid for the 2007 US Championship and
presto, we have at least some of the money, we have the director, Larry
Cohen, and Ben Finegold gets to play, as he is one of the top rated
players in the country. He might even finally get the grandmaster title
in that tournament.

Now, of course, we will need a publicity agent, someone who will
generate publicity for the tournament. For this I hereby nominate my
dear friend Bill Brock, a Chicago accountant who has served me well by
providing me with publicity for the past two years, thereby helping me
get elected to the board. Bill Brock even provided me with one thousand
dollars when I was down-and-out in June 2005. Thank you again, Bill.

So, there we have the deal. The 2007 US Championship to be held in
Chicago with Larry Cohen the director, Ben Finegold and 15 other top
rated players the players, and Bill Brock the accountant and in charge
of public relations, and for this deal I will provide one vote and I
think I will be able to rustle up three more votes for this, although
Bill Goichberg will certainly vote against it.

There you have it, but remember this is just a proposal. It is up to
you Chicago guys to bring it to fruition.

Sam Sloan