Benjamin Attacks Sam Sloan in New In Chess

Dear New In Chess,

Your current issue contains an attack on me by Joel Benjamin. His
article has absolutely no basis in fact. I would like to be given the
opportunity to respond. However, I do not have your magazine. Could
you please e-mail me the entire article by Benjamin and then I will
respond?

The article by Benjamin states in part:

"Anderson received much criticism from Sam Sloan, a Board member
despite being a convicted felon." He goes on to say that,
"Reportedly, Merrill Lynch lost interest in sponsorship when they
found Sloan's persistent Internet criticisms and learned about his
checkered past (and perhaps his website of questionable content)."
This is all in an article about the US Championship.

Let me just state briefly that in no way, shape or form have I ever
criticized Erik Anderson. However, I was severely critical of a plan
to play the US Championship online over the Internet. It was said that
this plan originated from Erik Anderson. However, since I have never
spoken to Erik Anderson in my life, nor have I ever met the man, I
have no way of knowing whether the Internet plan, which was announced
by Bill Goichberg on the USCF Home Page on October 7, 2006, was Erik
Anderson's plan or not.

What I do know is that of all the grandmasters polled, only one did
not object to playing the US Championship over the Internet. That was
Joel Benjamin. Most of our other top grandmasters, including
especially Hikaru Nakamura, objected vehemently to any plan to play
the US Championship over the Internet. I believe that games played
over the Internet do not count for title norms, ratings or
qualification to the World Championship Cycle and thus would not be
suitable for a US Championship.

The claim that Merrill Lynch was interested in sponsoring the US
Championship was nothing more than a rumor that circulated in May,
2006, three months before I was elected to the board. I know of no
credible source for the claim that Merrill, Lynch ever expressed an
interest in sponsoring the US Championship.

As to the claim that I was ever critical of Erik Anderson, an Internet
search will reveal several postings by an anonymous person known as
"The Fake Sam Sloan". This is a posting by an unknown person who, for
the past two years since June 25, 2005, has been posting scurrilous
attacks over my name. One example is a posting entitled "Erik Anderson
is a Crook". This was posted from email address
That is NOT my email address. That is one of the email addresses used
by the Fake Sam Sloan. An examination of the IP Address shows that it
came from an AOL Proxy Server. I would imagine that Joel Benjamin
should know the difference between the Fake Sam Sloan and the Real Sam
Sloan.

Similarly, a posting dated December 26, 2006 entitled "The USCF must
get rid of Goichberg and Erik Anderson" was from the same email
address of the Fake Sam Sloan. Here I must explain that a trick often
utilized by the Fake Sam Sloan is to take something actually I wrote
and posted to another place and change just a few words before
reposting. This is one such case and the reason why it looks like
something I wrote.

When I demanded that the Executive Board conduct an investigation to
identify the Fake Sam Sloan, the board refused. This has led to
suspicious that the Fake Sam Sloan might be someone close to the
board.

On December 5, 2006 on the USCF Home Page the following appeared:
"Sam Sloan censured by Executive Board". I was censured for three
private emails I sent to board members only which discussed the
original May, 2000 original contract between the USCF and Erik
Anderson. The posting of my private emails sent to my fellow board
members on the USCF Home Page was clearly improper and may have caused
some embarrassment to Mr. Anderson. For that, Bill Goichberg and Joel
Channing must be blamed, not me. Mr. Anderson and the general chess
playing public would never have known about those three emails had not
Goichberg and Channing posted them publicly.

On October 7, 2006, Bill Goichberg announced on the USCF Home page
that the 2007 the US Championship will be a 32 player event consisting
primarily of two-game knockout matches, some of which may be played
online. Goichberg claimed that this announcement had been authorized
by Erik Anderson. In reality, however, Erik Anderson had never agreed
to sponsor this event.

I am hereby demanding an apology from Grandmaster Joel Benjamin. He
should never have published such outrageously false statements in a
wide circulation magazine like "New In Chess" without checking his
facts.

Sam Sloan

On Jul 16, 1:38 am, samsloan wrote:
Benjamin Attacks Sam Sloan in New In Chess

Dear New In Chess,

Your current issue contains an attack on me by Joel Benjamin. His
article has absolutely no basis in fact. I would like to be given the
opportunity to respond. However, I do not have your magazine. Could
you please e-mail me the entire article by Benjamin and then I will
respond?

The article by Benjamin states in part:

"Anderson received much criticism from Sam Sloan, a Board member
despite being a convicted felon." He goes on to say that,
"Reportedly, Merrill Lynch lost interest in sponsorship when they
found Sloan's persistent Internet criticisms and learned about his
checkered past (and perhaps his website of questionable content)."
This is all in an article about the US Championship.

Let me just state briefly that in no way, shape or form have I ever
criticized Erik Anderson. However, I was severely critical of a plan
to play the US Championship online over the Internet. It was said that
this plan originated from Erik Anderson. However, since I have never
spoken to Erik Anderson in my life, nor have I ever met the man, I
have no way of knowing whether the Internet plan, which was announced
by Bill Goichberg on the USCF Home Page on October 7, 2006, was Erik
Anderson's plan or not.

What I do know is that of all the grandmasters polled, only one did
not object to playing the US Championship over the Internet. That was
Joel Benjamin. Most of our other top grandmasters, including
especially Hikaru Nakamura, objected vehemently to any plan to play
the US Championship over the Internet. I believe that games played
over the Internet do not count for title norms, ratings or
qualification to the World Championship Cycle and thus would not be
suitable for a US Championship.

The claim that Merrill Lynch was interested in sponsoring the US
Championship was nothing more than a rumor that circulated in May,
2006, three months before I was elected to the board. I know of no
credible source for the claim that Merrill, Lynch ever expressed an
interest in sponsoring the US Championship.

As to the claim that I was ever critical of Erik Anderson, an Internet
search will reveal several postings by an anonymous person known as
"The Fake Sam Sloan". This is a posting by an unknown person who, for
the past two years since June 25, 2005, has been posting scurrilous
attacks over my name. One example is a posting entitled "Erik Anderson
is a Crook". This was posted from email address
That is NOT my email address. That is one of the email addresses used
by the Fake Sam Sloan. An examination of the IP Address shows that it
came from an AOL Proxy Server. I would imagine that Joel Benjamin
should know the difference between the Fake Sam Sloan and the Real Sam
Sloan.

Similarly, a posting dated December 26, 2006 entitled "The USCF must
get rid of Goichberg and Erik Anderson" was from the same email
address of the Fake Sam Sloan. Here I must explain that a trick often
utilized by the Fake Sam Sloan is to take something actually I wrote
and posted to another place and change just a few words before
reposting. This is one such case and the reason why it looks like
something I wrote.

When I demanded that the Executive Board conduct an investigation to
identify the Fake Sam Sloan, the board refused. This has led to
suspicious that the Fake Sam Sloan might be someone close to the
board.

On December 5, 2006 on the USCF Home Page the following appeared:
"Sam Sloan censured by Executive Board". I was censured for three
private emails I sent to board members only which discussed the
original May, 2000 original contract between the USCF and Erik
Anderson. The posting of my private emails sent to my fellow board
members on the USCF Home Page was clearly improper and may have caused
some embarrassment to Mr. Anderson. For that, Bill Goichberg and Joel
Channing must be blamed, not me. Mr. Anderson and the general chess
playing public would never have known about those three emails had not
Goichberg and Channing posted them publicly.

On October 7, 2006, Bill Goichberg announced on the USCF Home page
that the 2007 the US Championship will be a 32 player event consisting
primarily of two-game knockout matches, some of which may be played
online. Goichberg claimed that this announcement had been authorized
by Erik Anderson. In reality, however, Erik Anderson had never agreed
to sponsor this event.

I am hereby demanding an apology from Grandmaster Joel Benjamin. He
should never have published such outrageously false statements in a
wide circulation magazine like "New In Chess" without checking his
facts.

Sam Sloan

In 1993, Benjaman started **** with me on the floor of the Board of
Delegates. i just e-mailed him my plans to introduce a shareholder
resolution forcing IBM to stop giving money to the US Chess Trust, and
stop computer research. GM Benjamin needs to act like a man, and
complete the rude words he had for me. Otherwise, IBM will probably
cut sponsorship, for the same reasons.

Sam, Benjamin plays that line too much. He is arrogant, rude, and
condensending. The man isn't successful. So, why do you expect him to
do anything but attack you.

Attacking sam Sloan is the safe move. Sometimes, you deserve it,
sometimes you don't. I will not attack you to try to fit into some
group of GM's.

Marcus Roberts

samsloan wrote:

Benjamin Attacks Sam Sloan in New In Chess

Dear New In Chess,

Your current issue contains an attack on me by Joel Benjamin. His
article has absolutely no basis in fact. I would like to be given the
opportunity to respond. However, I do not have your magazine. Could
you please e-mail me the entire article by Benjamin and then I will
respond?

The article by Benjamin states in part:

"Anderson received much criticism from Sam Sloan, a Board member
despite being a convicted felon." He goes on to say that,
"Reportedly, Merrill Lynch lost interest in sponsorship when they
found Sloan's persistent Internet criticisms and learned about his
checkered past (and perhaps his website of questionable content)."
This is all in an article about the US Championship.

Let me just state briefly that in no way, shape or form have I ever
criticized Erik Anderson. However, I was severely critical of a plan
to play the US Championship online over the Internet. It was said that
this plan originated from Erik Anderson. However, since I have never
spoken to Erik Anderson in my life, nor have I ever met the man, I
have no way of knowing whether the Internet plan, which was announced
by Bill Goichberg on the USCF Home Page on October 7, 2006, was Erik
Anderson's plan or not.

What I do know is that of all the grandmasters polled, only one did
not object to playing the US Championship over the Internet. That was
Joel Benjamin. Most of our other top grandmasters, including
especially Hikaru Nakamura, objected vehemently to any plan to play
the US Championship over the Internet. I believe that games played
over the Internet do not count for title norms, ratings or
qualification to the World Championship Cycle and thus would not be
suitable for a US Championship.


If you are correct about that, this seems to indicate that
there are serious issues here, such as... What village idiot
was empowered to make this kind of one-move blunder,
and by whom?


The claim that Merrill Lynch was interested in sponsoring the US
Championship was nothing more than a rumor that circulated in May,
2006, three months before I was elected to the board. I know of no
credible source for the claim that Merrill, Lynch ever expressed an
interest in sponsoring the US Championship.

As to the claim that I was ever critical of Erik Anderson, an Internet
search will reveal several postings by an anonymous person known as
"The Fake Sam Sloan". This is a posting by an unknown person who, for
the past two years since June 25, 2005, has been posting scurrilous
attacks over my name. One example is a posting entitled "Erik Anderson
is a Crook". This was posted from email address
That is NOT my email address. That is one of the email addresses used
by the Fake Sam Sloan. An examination of the IP Address shows that it
came from an AOL Proxy Server. I would imagine that Joel Benjamin
should know the difference between the Fake Sam Sloan and the Real Sam
Sloan.

Similarly, a posting dated December 26, 2006 entitled "The USCF must
get rid of Goichberg and Erik Anderson" was from the same email
address of the Fake Sam Sloan. Here I must explain that a trick often
utilized by the Fake Sam Sloan is to take something actually I wrote
and posted to another place and change just a few words before
reposting. This is one such case and the reason why it looks like
something I wrote.

When I demanded that the Executive Board conduct an investigation to
identify the Fake Sam Sloan, the board refused. This has led to
suspicious that the Fake Sam Sloan might be someone close to the
board.


Or maybe they just don't like Sam Sloan.


On December 5, 2006 on the USCF Home Page the following appeared:
"Sam Sloan censured by Executive Board". I was censured for three
private emails I sent to board members only which discussed the
original May, 2000 original contract between the USCF and Erik
Anderson. The posting of my private emails sent to my fellow board
members on the USCF Home Page was clearly improper and may have caused
some embarrassment to Mr. Anderson. For that, Bill Goichberg and Joel
Channing must be blamed, not me. Mr. Anderson and the general chess
playing public would never have known about those three emails had not
Goichberg and Channing posted them publicly.


I am wondering if this logic works the same way when it
is Sam Sloan who leaks or exposes "insider information"?


On October 7, 2006, Bill Goichberg announced on the USCF Home page
that the 2007 the US Championship will be a 32 player event consisting
primarily of two-game knockout matches, some of which may be played
online. Goichberg claimed that this announcement had been authorized
by Erik Anderson. In reality, however, Erik Anderson had never agreed
to sponsor this event.

I am hereby demanding an apology from Grandmaster Joel Benjamin. He
should never have published such outrageously false statements in a
wide circulation magazine like "New In Chess" without checking his
facts.


As this is a matter of principle, it makes no difference
whether the circulation is large or small. I imagine the
magazine's editor is obliged to correct any stated facts
which were in error, apology or no apology. One thing
which struck me as odd was that this posting seemed
to have a real flow of logic, of rational thinking; that's in
sharp contrast to many of SS's postings here. But even
so, at the end Mr. Sloan attempts to create a cushion
for himself, a special exemption so to speak, by
pointing to the wide circulation of the offender -- which
I take to have the clear purpose of allowing himself to
escape any accountability for the multitude of false
accusations he has posted in rgc. As I said before, it
is not a matter of degree but of principle, and so it
comes off with bit of a sour note. Righteous indignation
just seems more convincing when the actor is, say,
Spencer Tracy, than when it is the wild and reckless
actor, Sam Sloan.

I should think the editor of NIC should publish the
"demand" for an apology, along with such information
as the name of the reporter ["Reportedly, Merrill Lynch
lost interest in sponsorship when they found Sloan's
persistent Internet criticisms and learned about his
checkered past (and perhaps his website of question-
able content)."] and any other substantiating evidence
for this commentary. At first blush, it appears that GM
Benjamin made the mistake of confounding one of the
fake Sam Sloans for the real deal; this just goes to
show how well Mr. Goichberg, Paul Truong, Bill Brock
and the rest have done with these impersonations. ;D


-- help bot

On Jul 16, 3:41 am, wrote:

In 1993, Benjaman started **** with me on the floor of the Board of
Delegates. i just e-mailed him my plans to introduce a shareholder
resolution forcing IBM to stop giving money to the US Chess Trust, and
stop computer research. GM Benjamin needs to act like a man, and
complete the rude words he had for me. Otherwise, IBM will probably
cut sponsorship, for the same reasons.

Sam, Benjamin plays that line too much. He is arrogant, rude, and
condensending.


Grandmasters are not really arrogant, rude, and
condescending; they only *seem that way* because
unlike the rest of us, they know everything, are true
geniuses, and most of all, are more important than
all of us peons put together. So you see, it is really
nothing more than a wee bit of a misunderstanding... .
;D


-- help bot

On Jul 16, 7:38 am, samsloan wrote:

Benjamin Attacks Sam Sloan in New In Chess

Two baldies fighting over a plastic comb.

A SIMPLE APOLOGY

The nub of Sam Sloan's charge is that GM Joel
Benjamin attacked writings that were not his but the
words of the Fake Sam Sloan. If true, I for one think
that GM Benjamin will simply apologize and have done
with the matter.

At least I hope that GM Benjamin does. We had
some differences in the past, but he always seemed
pretty bright and essentially fair.


Offramp wrote:
On Jul 16, 7:38 am, samsloan wrote:

Benjamin Attacks Sam Sloan in New In Chess

Two baldies fighting over a plastic comb.

On Jul 16, 11:48 pm, " wrote:

The nub of Sam Sloan's charge is that GM Joel
Benjamin attacked writings that were not his but the
words of the Fake Sam Sloan. If true, I for one think
that GM Benjamin will simply apologize and have done
with the matter.

At least I hope that GM Benjamin does. We had
some differences in the past, but he always seemed
pretty bright and essentially fair.


In addition to the apparent mistaken-identity, whereby
GM Benjamin seems to have confounded an impostor
for the real Sam Sloan, there was also a little matter of
attributing the supposed withdrawal of support from
Merrill Lynch to Sam Sloan, in which Joel Benjamin took
pains to place the blame squarely on the real Mr. Sloan's
shoulders, tossing up phrases like "convicted felon", "his
checkered past" and "his website of questionable content".

These are the words Mr. Sloan undoubtedly had in mind
when stating that Mr. Benjamin "attacked" him. So you
see, it was not merely a case of an innocent mistake; on
the contrary, the understandable mistaken-identity blunder
was just added to the mix, stirred in, and then fondly
considered for its fine texture and flavorful aroma.

IMO, it is most unlikely for someone who launches such
an unsound attack to simply apologize -- unless by doing
so, he hopes his other mistakes will be quickly forgotten.
But would Mr. Sloan so easily forgive and forget this smear?
And if it turns out that, heaven forbid, Sam Sloan is right for
once and Joel Benjamin was wrong, what does this say
about the integrity [a rare, almost endangered term] of NIC?

No, I don't think a trite apology for just the mistaken-identity
blunder will suffice; Mr. Benjamin needs to apologize for his
whole, cleverly concocted smear, or else substantiate his
attack by providing evidence of the purported Merrill Lynch
deal having been dropped on account of Sam Sloan. If he
can do that, then we can "forgive and forget" the honest
mistake of confounding a good impersonator for the real
Mr. Sloan. My prediction, not knowing anything about GM
Joel Benjamin personally, is that ego will get in the way;
this is simply a matter of statistical odds, as somehow or
other the title of grandmaster seems to go to one's head
(or maybe it is just the the fame that accompanies this title).

Around two thousand years ago, give or take a century or
three, the Romans required that heroes of its competitions in
the arena be told repeatedly to "Remember thou art mortal!",
as otherwise their heads would have swollen up and
eventually exploded in the hot noon-day sun. Unfortunately,
we have long since forgotten such wisdom, and nowadays
it is not uncommon for certain celebrities, as I will call them
for lack of a better term, to self-destruct. In some cases,
something akin to madness results, but more often the
problem is limited to egomania, an exaggerated sense of
self-importance and severely reduced abilities to accept
criticism -- even purely constructive criticism.

I certainly hope this disease has not affected GM Benjamin.
I hope that he proves to be an exception to the rule; but I
would not bet money on it.


-- help bot