On Mar 27, 12:24 pm, Rob wrote:
On Mar 27, 8:26 am, samsloan wrote:



On Mar 27, 5:28 am, Jürgen R. wrote:

Why don't you tell them about the report of Peter Leko's death? Or shall I?

Peter Leko is a well known Hungarian chess player. Sam Sloan is ... well you
have gotten a whiff of Sam Sloan recently, so you have some idea what he is.

Sam Sloan, before he became a publisher, used to pretend that he was,
among other things, a journalist. One day he reported that Peter Leko, who
is a live and well, had died. This became a joke on the chess news groups,
because it describes Sloan's regard for the truth so well.

Not much later Sloan disappeared from his favorite news group
(rec.games.chess.politics)
which I sometimes read for entertainment, apparently because
he hadn't paid his phone bill. So I posted the spoof that he had died.

The "Peter Leko is Dead" incident was a hoax that took place on Dec 1
2002 at 11:46 pm, which is nearly six years ago.

It was first reported on ICC that Peter Leko was dead by a hoaxer who
has never been identified. I heard that Peter Leko was dead almost
simultaneously from several sources, all of whom turned out to have
seen it on ICC.

I reported it to the chess newsgroups and to readers of my email
lists. Several others did as well, including Susan Polgar who
broadcast it on WCN, the World Chess Network.

Only nine hours later, I reported that it had been a hoax. This is the
part of the story that Jürgen R. fails to mention every time he brings
this up, that not only was I one of many who fell for the hoax but
also I was among the first to report that it had been a hoax.

Jürgen R. also fails to mention that Susan Polgar who is Hungarian
like Peter Leko and had actually grown up with him in Budapest, also
reported that Peter Leko was dead.

Almost every news reporter has fallen for a hoax at one time or
another. Dan Rather still to this day refuses to admit that the
infamous "Killian Documents" were a hoax.

None of this justifies the report by Jürgen R. that I was dead, nor
his claim now that I had failed to pay my telephone bill nor his many
other false statements that Jürgen R. (who remains anonymous) has
posted about me over the years.

Sam Sloan

Adam Beneschan and the Bridge Community,
Please be aware that you will begin to become infested with zillions
of cross-posts from Sam Sloan. In short measure his simple interest in
your game will distort his significance beyond all measure. Please be
fore warned and prepared. Do not exibit the least interest in his
projects as you will become embroiled in useless conflicts which can
only damage your game. Pray he does not attempt to entrench himself in
your national organizations or they may soon become targets for his
frivilous lawsuits. Frivilous though they may be they still require a
defense and cost thousands of dollars to simply respond to prior to
dismissal.
Best of luck!
Rob

Please note that Rob, who posted the above, is not a chess player at
all. He is not a member of the United States Chess Federation, much
less an official of one. He has no USCF rating. He has never played a
rated game of chess in his life. He has never had any status or
position in chess.

He has applied several times for jobs working for the USCF and has
been turned down every time.

He became known as Rob ("The Robber") Mitchell after there were
complaints from potential investors that he had been trying to swindle
them. He had been going around claiming that he had a contract with
Bobby Fischer to play a chess match for $14 million and he wanted for
investors to give him $35,000 front money to organize the match. Of
course, Bobby Fischer had signed no such contract and had never even
heard of Rob Mitchell.

Sam Sloan