The Last Blunder

The last post from San Diego... The last blunder of the US Championship

turns out to have been made many months ago. As the saying goes, to err

is human but to really screw things up you need a computer. Due to an
error in an Excel spreadsheet formula used to calculate the prize fund
distribution, the itemized prizes add up to around $20,000 more than
the prize fund of $253,600. (They didn't count the top two women's
prizes.) This wasn't discovered until they were writing out the checks
after the tournament ended. (I could hear the groans and forehead
smacking coming from the next table.) This meant there was no way to
tell the players until the closing reception when the checks were being

handed out. Most of the prizes were 11% lower than listed, although of
course the actual prize fund was not changed at all.


The four finalist prizes had been publicly announced and could not be
changed. The other 60 were then adjusted to the correct figures and
rounded up to the nearest hundred, increasing the total by about $600.
Of course the players don't just look at the total prize fund, they
look at the prizes they think they might win, especially the night
before they get their checks! The other top money makers "lose" the
most; Ibragimov and Kamsky going from 11,600 to 10,300. The lowest
prizes are 2000 instead of 2200.


Many of the players were annoyed, a few more than that, although it
didn't seem to sour the closing party much. (Photos soon.) The
organizers here had no authority to exceed the prize fund or to bounce
checks a la FIDE. (AF4C prez Erik Anderson wasn't here due to personal
reasons.) Both the correct total amount and the incorrect distribution
are in the player contract, but I hope nobody goes legal about this.
Nobody knew what they were getting until the night before and I doubt
anyone spent the full expected amount before finding out the next day.
On the other hand, there's a casino nearby.


Since they have been up front about taking the heat, and since everyone

will ask, I'll go ahead and name the names of chief arbiter Robert
Tanner and AF4C liason and press dude John Henderson as the ones in
charge of falling on their swords for the blunder. They stress this had

nothing to do with AF4C or NTC. Both are stand-up guys and it's a shame

they have to suffer so much for what was basically a typo they failed
to catch until the last minute. The prize fund is the prize fund and it

didn't change, but perception is important and clearly many of the
players feel like they lost money, at least at first blush. Had someone

noticed before the tournament began it would have been no big deal. And

I wonder how quickly the players would notice if the distribution added

up to LESS than the prize fund!


Of course this is made even more ridiculous (I hesitate to use the word

"stupid" when I worked and ate with these guys every day for two weeks
and know they aren't stupid. Except for their love of Denny's) is that
something similar happened last championship. That was more of a mental

error than a mechanical one, counting the women's prizes twice and
actually increasing the prize fund. Ironically, Robert Tanner (a former

accountant!) was the one who caught the error last time too.


Mig Greengard

As currently stated on the website, the A group earned $3,500 more than
the B group. That is more than $100 per player! Certainly we are not
talking round off errors here.

By the way, I truly suspect there is an error. If you add up all 64
prizes then you get $258,800, which is some $4,600 higher than the
alleged prize fund.

Michael Aigner

Wow, so fpawn is really the fake Sam Sloan!!!!
Who would have thunk it! Tsk Tsk, Michael.

- CF.

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message oups.com...
| As currently stated on the website, the A group earned $3,500 more than
| the B group. That is more than $100 per player! Certainly we are not
| talking round off errors here.
|
| By the way, I truly suspect there is an error. If you add up all 64
| prizes then you get $258,800, which is some $4,600 higher than the
| alleged prize fund.
|
| Michael Aigner
|

The AF4C robbed the players for more than $20,000. What do you say
about that?

Sam Sloan

I agree with you, and I'll be darned. He could have been one of the
brighter lights on this newsgroup. I would never have taken him for a
creep.

Bruce

Chess Freak wrote:
Wow, so fpawn is really the fake Sam Sloan!!!!
Who would have thunk it! Tsk Tsk, Michael.

- CF.

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message oups.com...
| As currently stated on the website, the A group earned $3,500 more than
| the B group. That is more than $100 per player! Certainly we are not
| talking round off errors here.
|
| By the way, I truly suspect there is an error. If you add up all 64
| prizes then you get $258,800, which is some $4,600 higher than the
| alleged prize fund.
|
| Michael Aigner
|

How embarrassing for Michael. But this is what law enforcement
sometimes looks for in serial criminals... for them to eventually slip
up.

Chess Freak wrote:
Wow, so fpawn is really the fake Sam Sloan!!!!
Who would have thunk it! Tsk Tsk, Michael.

- CF.

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message oups.com...
| As currently stated on the website, the A group earned $3,500 more than
| the B group. That is more than $100 per player! Certainly we are not
| talking round off errors here.
|
| By the way, I truly suspect there is an error. If you add up all 64
| prizes then you get $258,800, which is some $4,600 higher than the
| alleged prize fund.
|
| Michael Aigner
|

Come on! Address the issue please. The AF4C really screwed the players
out of more than $20K. Are you just going to sit there and do nothing?

Sam Sloan

Tyrone Slothrop wrote:
How embarrassing for Michael. But this is what law enforcement
sometimes looks for in serial criminals... for them to eventually slip
up.

Embarrassing or not, exposure does not seem to deter him. He is
continuing to bombard the group with offensive messages from
. Also, he seems to be only one of several Sloan-clones
busy here the last few months.

Chess Freak wrote:
Wow, so fpawn is really the fake Sam Sloan!!!!
Who would have thunk it! Tsk Tsk, Michael.

- CF.

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message oups.com...
| As currently stated on the website, the A group earned $3,500 more than
| the B group. That is more than $100 per player! Certainly we are not
| talking round off errors here.
|
| By the way, I truly suspect there is an error. If you add up all 64
| prizes then you get $258,800, which is some $4,600 higher than the
| alleged prize fund.
|
| Michael Aigner
|

So what is the solution? Go to the USCF forum

Sam Sloan

So what is the solution? Go to the USCF forum

Sam Sloan