USCF Issues Forum: "Five Sam Sloan Fabrications in a Single Post! (New record?)"

chrisfalter 12754009



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 108


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject: Five Sam Sloan
Fabrications in a Single Post! (New record?) Reply with quote
Sloan hijacked a thread on USCF / scholastic relations by a 6 sentence
post that contained five stunning fabrications. That's a very high
falsehood density, by whatever standard you measure. I am creating
this thread so that those who wish to comment on Sloan's veracity or
lack thereof, including Sloan, can do so here. This will allow the
other thread to remain productive, members willing.

Sloan's original post:

samsloan wrote:
Susan Polgar has never been to school a day in her life. She has no
academic qualifications. As far as I am aware, she has never taught a
regular chess class in a school. She has also never organized or
directed a scholastic chess event.

Nevertheless, she has often suggested that the scholastic chess
community break away from the USCF and form a new organization under
her leadership.

So far, the scholastic chess leaders around the country are not buying
it.

Sam Sloan


The three fabrications, and their refutations, are as follows:

Sloan Fabrication #1. Polgar "has never taught a regular chess class
in a school."

The refutation:

ChessPromotion wrote:
Susan .... does teach in various schools in New York and other states
and she does teach in the classroom as part of the curriculum as well
as after school programs. She has done this on and off for about 10
years. It is amazing to me that board members can flat out lie and
nothing is done about it. So much for professionalism and doing things
for the best interest of chess!


Sloan Fabrication #2. Polgar "has never organized ... a chess
tournament" (as opposed to directing a tournament, a distinction which
Sloan recognizes by talking about organizing or directing).

The refutation:

ChessPromotion wrote:
ueschessmom wrote:
Regarding Susan Polgar, Sam Sloan states: "She has also never
organized or directed a scholastic chess event." .... Susan has
monthly scholastic tournaments (that is to say, they are attended by
school-aged players) at her club and has organized numerous
tournaments for scholastic players around the country, including an
upcoming tournament in Texas and the Tri-State Scholastic Chess
Challenge held in New York City this fall. If there is a distinction,
those of us with chess-playing kids don't see it.


Thank you for pointing out the facts. May I also add something else?
Susan also does organize and hold scholastic tournaments in the
gymnasiums and cafeterias in the schools that she teaches in.


Sloan Fabrication #3. Polgar "has often suggested that the scholastic
chess community break away from the USCF and form a new organization
under her leadership."

And its refutation:

SteveTN wrote:
SteveTN wrote:
samsloan wrote:


Nevertheless, she has often suggested that the scholastic chess
community break away from the USCF and form a new organization under
her leadership.



Do you have a cite for this assertion?


Sloan, are you ignoring this question? Is the assertion you made truth
or lie?


Not for the first time, Sloan has chosen to mount a defense by
completely ignoring the refutations offered by his critics, and
instead defending a single point that no one has disputed:

samsloan wrote:

If you look her up on MSA, you will see that Susan Polgar is not a
certified scholastic director and that she has never organized or
directed a chess tournament.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtDir.php?12452240

How do you propose to prove that my statement is false?

Sam Sloan


Of course, no one ever tried to refute Sloan by claiming that Polgar
has ever directed a USCF-rated event. Unbelievably, Sloan thinks that
offering this factoid somehow redeems his entire original post. I
think any open-minded reader would disagree.
_________________
Chris Falter

Last edited by chrisfalter 12754009 on Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:16 pm;
edited 2 times in total
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ChessPromotion 12123950



Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 379
Location: Forest Hills, NY

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:19 pm Post subject: Three Sam
Sloan Fabrications in a Single Post! (New reco Reply with quote
chrisfalter wrote:
Sloan hijacked a thread on USCF / scholastic relations by a 6 sentence
post that contained three stunning fabrications. That's a very high
falsehood density, by whatever standard you measure. I am creating
this thread so that those who wish to comment on Sloan's veracity or
lack thereof, including Sloan, can continue it here. This will allow
the other thread to remain productive, members willing.

Sloan's original post:

samsloan wrote:
Susan Polgar has never been to school a day in her life. She has no
academic qualifications. As far as I am aware, she has never taught a
regular chess class in a school. She has also never organized or
directed a scholastic chess event.

Nevertheless, she has often suggested that the scholastic chess
community break away from the USCF and form a new organization under
her leadership.

So far, the scholastic chess leaders around the country are not buying
it.

Sam Sloan


The three fabrications, and their refutations, are as follows:

Sloan Fabrication #1. Polgar "has never taught a regular chess class
in a school."

The refutation:

ChessPromotion wrote:
Susan .... does teach in various schools in New York and other states
and she does teach in the classroom as part of the curriculum as well
as after school programs. She has done this on and off for about 10
years. It is amazing to me that board members can flat out lie and
nothing is done about it. So much for professionalism and doing things
for the best interest of chess!


Sloan Fabrication #2. Polgar "has never organized ... a chess
tournament" (as opposed to directing a tournament, a distinction which
Sloan recognizes by talking about "organizing or directing").

The refutation:

ChessPromotion wrote:
ueschessmom wrote:
Regarding Susan Polgar, Sam Sloan states: "She has also never
organized or directed a scholastic chess event." .... Susan has
monthly scholastic tournaments (that is to say, they are attended by
school-aged players) at her club and has organized numerous
tournaments for scholastic players around the country, including an
upcoming tournament in Texas and the Tri-State Scholastic Chess
Challenge held in New York City this fall. If there is a distinction,
those of us with chess-playing kids don't see it.


Thank you for pointing out the facts. May I also add something else?
Susan also does organize and hold scholastic tournaments in the
gymnasiums and cafeterias in the schools that she teaches in.


Sloan Fabrication #3. Polgar "has often suggested that the scholastic
chess community break away from the USCF and form a new organization
under her leadership."

And its refutation:

SteveTN wrote:
SteveTN wrote:
samsloan wrote:


Nevertheless, she has often suggested that the scholastic chess
community break away from the USCF and form a new organization under
her leadership.



Do you have a cite for this assertion?


Sloan, are you ignoring this question? Is the assertion you made truth
or lie?


Not for the first time, Sloan has chosen to mount a defense by
completely ignoring the refutations offered by his critics, and
instead defending a single point that no one has disputed:

samsloan wrote:

If you look her up on MSA, you will see that Susan Polgar is not a
certified scholastic director and that she has never organized or
directed a chess tournament.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtDir.php?12452240

How do you propose to prove that my statement is false?

Sam Sloan


Of course, no one ever tried to refute Sloan by claiming that Polgar
has ever directed a USCF-rated event. Unbelievably, Sloan thinks that
offering this factoid somehow redeems his entire original post. I
think any open-minded reader would disagree.


Actually, there are at least 6 lies:

Susan did try school but it was her parents' decision to homeschool
her. Her academic level was more advance than children of the same
age.

She graduated from the very famous Academy of Physical Sports and
Education in Minsk (same university with Gelfand, Smirin and Shulman,
etc.)

She was trying to keep many of the people in scholastic from bolting
and running their own non-USCF activities. She worked very hard to
convince various scholastic people to give the USCF a chance until at
least the next election.

You got the rest. To make it less confusing, I actually marked the
various lies in the original post above in bold letters.

Thank you for pointing the outrageous lies by board members.

Best regards,
PT
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artichoke 10167825



Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 971
Location: Connecticut

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:23 pm Post subject: Three Sam
Sloan Fabrications in a Single Post! (New reco Reply with quote
ChessPromotion wrote:
.... She was trying to keep many of the people in scholastic from
bolting and running their own non-USCF activities. She worked very
hard to convince various scholastic people to give the USCF a chance
until at least the next election. ...
So was it you who was threatening to bolt, while she was trying to
patch things up and keep the scholastic people within USCF? I sure
remember one of you talking about being unable to tolerate being in
USCF if Sloan took his seat on the EB.
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jacklemoine 10509327



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 247
Location: Atlanta, GA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 2:28 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
Payback: Sometimes I just can't resist:

samsloan wrote:
jacklemoine wrote:
Susan has posted on her blog today a most serious statement that
deserves the widest possible attention.

She asserts that 1) scholastics are deeply disenchanted with the USCF;
2) they are ready to split off from the USCF; 3) the election of SS
brought the matter to a crisis point; and 4) the problem is much worse
than people realize.

If many, if not most. scholastics are ready to walk, and if this would
mean the end of the USCF, then I don't see what could be worse.

My question: are things really this bad?

I have looked at Susan's Blog and I cannot find the statement that you
claim that she made. Where is it?

Probably you are reading something she wrote at the time of my
election in July, 2006 when she was predicting a big exodus as a
result of my election. Her predictions have proven false. Scholastic
membership has increased by five thousand kids since I was elected,
due, of course, to my good looks and charming personality.

Sam Sloan


As some fool once wrote, some people should read more and write less.
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chrisfalter 12754009



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 108


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
I have updated the original post in this thread to acknowledge 2 other
fabrications pointed out by Paul Truong:

Sloan Fabrication #4: Polgar has never been to school a day in her
life.

Sloan Fabrication #5: Polgar has no academic qualifications.

And their refutation:

ChessPromotion wrote:
Susan did try school but it was her parents' decision to homeschool
her. Her academic level was more advance than children of the same
age.

She graduated from the very famous Academy of Physical Sports and
Education in Minsk (same university with Gelfand, Smirin and Shulman,
etc.)



While one would grant to a stranger or an acquaintance the occasional
misunderstanding, Sloan has claimed a deep involvement with Polgar at
a time when she would have just completed her studies at the Academy
of Physical Sports and Education in Minsk. Having made such a claim,
Sloan would look very foolish to claim lack of familiarity with
Susan's personal history.

Truong suggests that "scholastic leaders are not buying it" is a 6th
fabrication, but I regard it as part and parcel of fabrication #3
(Polgar allegedly has a history of openly calling on scholastic
organizers to follow her into a new organization). My difference with
PT is purely semantic, of course; in substance we agree completely.
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samsloan 11115292



Joined: 08 Mar 2004
Posts: 1002
Location: Bronx, New York

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:04 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
I am aware that Susan Polgar briefly attended the Academy of Physical
Sports and Education in Minsk, USSR as an adult some years after I was
involved with her. This is apparently a sports school with a program
in chess. As to what degree or diploma she may have obtained, I do not
know. However, she could not have been there for very long.

As to the claim by Paul Truong above that Susan wanted to go to school
but her parents would not allow her, I have never heard that one
before.

Susan Polgar does not have a high school diploma, nor does she have
any basic schooling in such subjects as math and science. The questing
is whether a person lacking in basic education can read a balance
sheet and income statement or even knows what one is. Can such a
person serve effectively on the Executive Board, where budgetary and
financial considerations are of paramount importance?

Sam Sloan
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jacklemoine 10509327



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 247
Location: Atlanta, GA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:31 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
I really swore I'd lay off SS after I learned he has no meaningful
position on any of the issues, but sometimes something comes along
which is just too good to ignore. Such as the below:

samsloan wrote:
Susan Polgar does not have a high school diploma, nor does she have
any basic schooling in such subjects as math and science. The questing
is whether a person lacking in basic education can read a balance
sheet and income statement or even knows what one is. Can such a
person serve effectively on the Executive Board, where budgetary and
financial considerations are of paramount importance?

Sam Sloan


This from the guy who not even 2 months ago posted in these very
forums that in a list of transactions, he didn't know that "CRJ" stood
for "Cash Receipts Journal"!

Also, Susan doesn't need to know what a "balance sheet" is or an
"income statement", either - because the USCF doesn't have any. As a
non-profit entity, the USCF has a "Statement of Financial Position"
and a "Statement of Activity". Sloan's statement makes me think of him
working at a McDonalds and not knowing the difference between a
cheeseburger and a chicken McNuggets. Maybe Sloan is just a few french
fries short of a happy meal!

Okay, I'm being bad, I know. I really do want to see less personal
attacks, I really do. But you've got to help me out, Sam. You've just
got to stop making yourself such a target. A man can only stand just
so much temptation! I'm only human!

And stop with the Freudian slips, already! Like the "The questing is
whether a person lacking in basic education . . ." from your quote
above. You've got to purge my deathless prose from your poor brain,
Sam. Read Shakespeare, instead.
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Ezri 13485492



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 43


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:36 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
If there was a television show about Sam Sloan, with the supporters
and the anti-supporters; it would be between the televisions shows
like "The case for the existence of UFO's"; and, "In search of the
lost city of Atlantis."
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ueschessmom 13470792



Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 11


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:55 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
Where to begin with this one? First, the high school diploma. Guess
what? Richard Branson doesn't have one either and doesn't seem to have
hampered his ability to run a business. (By the way, I'm not even sure
that this statement is true.) Second, the claim that Susan lacks "any
basic schooling in such subjects as math and science" doesn't bear up
under even mild scrutiny. I think it's well known that her parents
were teachers by training and that they hired tutors for math and
science. Third, Susan has been running her own business for years. As
the previous poster noted, Mr. Sloan makes it too easy.

But really, are people allowed to just make up facts from thin air and
post them on this forum?
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Moogy 12662345



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 20


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:00 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
samsloan wrote:
ISusan Polgar does not have a high school diploma, nor does she have
any basic schooling in such subjects as math and science. The questing
is whether a person lacking in basic education can read a balance
sheet and income statement or even knows what one is.

Sam Sloan


IMPORTANT DISTINCTION:

Schooling DOES NOT EQUAL education!

"I do not let school interfere with my education." (attributed to Mark
Twain, but I have not verified that he was the wise one who made this
statement)

Brenda
Homeschooling parent (now retired since my own very well EDUCATED son
is graduating from college in May and going to medical school next
fall)
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ueschessmom 13470792



Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 11


PostPosted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
Brenda:

Thank you for making that point. I meant to include it in my post but
forgot.

Congratulations about your son,

ueschessmom
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Terry_Vibbert 13076592



Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Posts: 102
Location: Evansville, IN

PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:06 am Post subject: Reply with
quote
Moogy wrote:
samsloan wrote:
ISusan Polgar does not have a high school diploma, nor does she have
any basic schooling in such subjects as math and science. The questing
is whether a person lacking in basic education can read a balance
sheet and income statement or even knows what one is.

Sam Sloan


IMPORTANT DISTINCTION:

Schooling DOES NOT EQUAL education!

"I do not let school interfere with my education." (attributed to Mark
Twain, but I have not verified that he was the wise one who made this
statement)

Brenda
Homeschooling parent (now retired since my own very well EDUCATED son
is graduating from college in May and going to medical school next
fall)


Congrats! Way to go Brenda! You could not be more correct.
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chrisfalter 12754009



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 108


PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:10 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
samsloan wrote:
I am aware that Susan Polgar briefly attended the Academy of Physical
Sports and Education in Minsk, USSR as an adult some years after I was
involved with her.


It would seem like that would actually provide highly relevant
academic qualifications for teaching chess, don't you think? If you
knew that she had attended that institution, Sam, why did you write
the following:

samsloan wrote:
Susan Polgar ... has no academic qualifications.


And if you knew that, why did you write the following:

samsloan wrote:
Susan Polgar has never been to school a day in her life.


You made 5 fabrications, Sam, and there is still no good explanation.

Then to state that Polgar knows nothing about science and math, just
because she did not attend traditional school...? I have organized
(and coach) a homeschooling chess club, and I can assure you that
every single one of the homeschool students is very capable in both
subjects.

Not only have you unjustly oppugned Susan, Sam, but you have also
oppugned a sizeable portion of the scholastic chess community. Sigh...

Finally, I invite readers to carefully examine the following 2 Sam
Sloan quotes:

samsloan wrote:
The questing is whether a person lacking in basic education can read a
balance sheet and income statement or even knows what one is.


Note the spelling of the second word, which I emphasized.

samsloan wrote:
jacklemoine wrote:
samsloan wrote:
jacklemoine wrote:
BTW, I note that Susan, in addition to her claimed inferior education
and teaching skills does not have problems with elementary spelling
and grammar. She's not a native English speaker, either!

How do you know this?


Because she's Hungarian. Duh!

I mean, how do you know that she "does not have problems with
elementary spelling and grammar".


Note that Sloan put the quotation mark before the period, instead of
after the period.

So who's struggling with elementary spelling and grammar?

I hope the thread doesn't descend into a comparison of candidates'
facility with the English language, however. That would be truly
absurd. I'm sure that if anyone looks hard enough, they will find a
generous supply of faux pas in the writings of any of the 10
candidates. I'm sure I'm not immune to the occasional slip, either.
The reason I'm addressing the subject at all is that, IMHO, it is
worth noting that a candidate who has occasional difficulties with
spelling and grammar is stooping to criticize the spelling and grammar
of one of the other candidates. That's not a good way to lead an
organization.
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chrisfalter 12754009



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 108


PostPosted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:01 pm Post subject: Reply with
quote
For those who are interested in homeschooling and chess (and this
includes Mr. Sloan), please note that Matt Hoekstra, one of the top
boards for the Carolina Cobras in the US Chess League, was
homeschooled in the Charlotte, NC area. He is a FIDE Master and is
USCF-rated 2401.

He currently attends Duke University. I think he knows a little about
science and math Exclamation
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Chris Falter