Today I and several other people received the following email from
Severine Wamala, a leading New England organizer.

Tim Hanke

This is a complaint to USCF/GOICHBERG as well as a caution to all chess
organizers.

Player allowed to play in 2004 Foxwoods open under a false name.

I recently played in Foxwoods open. During round 2 in the U1800 section I
was paired against Jeffrey Viera USCF No. 12875353. (See
www.foxwoodsopen.com). I lost that game. His style of play was resembling
the games I have played against GM Kaprov and IM Foygel. Clearly he was not
a class player but a master player. This player could not speak English
either. I went to Bill Goichberg to complain that he needs to check this
player's ID. Bill checked the FIDE web site to see if he had a fide rating.
There was no fide rating for this player. I insisted that Bill should check
his picure ID to make sure that the person playing was indeed Jeffery Viera.
Bill declined so I moved on to the third round. I kept checking on this
player every round, he was just crashing everybody. I kept compaining to

Sophia Rhode who is the only person who could listen to me but of course
could do nothing because it was Bill's tournament.
So Mr. Viera went on to win clear first in the U1800. section. In the last
round he was up substancial material in a crashing postion and he offered
his oppenent a draw since he already had secured clear first place.
How do I know for sure that this is a player who played under a false name.
As luck would have it, I was holding the 2004 NorthEast Chess Spring Getaway
this weekend and guess who shows up to play? The face of Mr. Jeffrey Viera
and his group I saw at Foxwoods open. He does not speak English he travels
with interpreters. I asked for his picture ID to make sure that the person
playing was indeed the one registering. He produced a venezuela passport
with names ANDRADE ULISES. I kindly asked him to take the passport and make
a copy of it. He accepted and I made a copy. I quickly went to the fide web

site and found that Mr. Ulises who two weeks ago in Foxwoods had played as
Jeffrey Viera was rated 2246. I politely informed the interpreter that now
the new Mr. Ulises can only play in the open section. He did not play.
I am not sure Mr. Goichberg is purposely letting foreigners come and play in
lower sections or not. What bothers me is that I complained to him several
times and he refused to check this player's picture ID. Either Mr. Goichberg
was aware of him that he was playing under some one else's name, I dont
know. But this is very bothersome and a disgrace to our class tournaments.
I need to hear a response from the USCF office about this matter. Like I
mentioned I have a copy of this players passport.
To chess organizers: Be careful and watch out for Jeffrey Viera/ Andrade
Ulises he might be heading to your tournament as you read this.
Regards,
Severine Wamala

On 27 Apr 2004 06:42:51 -0700, (Tim Hanke)
wrote:

Today I and several other people received the following email from
Severine Wamala, a leading New England organizer.

Tim Hanke

This bubbled to the surface only because the cheater, while a strong
chess player, evidently was not an experienced hustler. He crushed
his opponents, rather than playing just good enough to win. And, not
being able to speak English, he was unaware of the suspicions
surrounding him.

I would guess that when something like this floats to the surface,
there's a lot more pollution underneath -- players who are clever
enough to win large class prizes while appearing plausible as an
improving member of the rating class in question.

This is an old story that will be repeated as long as crazy prizes are
awarded to players in the patzer class.

And now, from the "I was a Teenage Paranoid" department...

Last year I was paired against a guy rated a healthy 500 points below me. I
dropped a pawn on move 19 and figured, "so what?" I "sacrifice"material all
the time against A players and sometimes win or draw those games. It turns
out that over the next few moves I was forced to liquidate almost all the
material on the board except for the pawns and one rook. He then proceeded
to play the remaining 27 moves perfectly, grinding me down and sidestepping
several traps that would have resulted in a draw or even a loss to him.

When I got home I put the game into Shredder, which confirmed that he'd
played close to 30 perfect near-perfect moves from the time I dropped the
pawn to when I resigned. I don't know about you but I think R+P endings are
tough and I'm rated about 1830.

My friends say I'm nuts for suspecting something but...

Last night I ran into this guy, whose rating has improved only about a
hundred points and who is still well within the patzer range. He started
rattling off variations from our game, and how I could have played better.
When I was a 1500 player I could barely remember the last move I played in
games in progress, much less from last year.

Still think I'm crazy?

Then he said something that floored me: "You were too concerned about the
back rank mate. That's what my buddy, who was rated #1 as a kid in XXXXXX (a
serious chess-playing country) said when we went over the game."

Like I said my buddies here think I'm a kook, but to this day I wonder if
I'll be reading this guy's name among the winners in the U1600 at some major
event.

Angelo

"Tim Hanke" wrote in message
om...
Today I and several other people received the following email from
Severine Wamala, a leading New England organizer.

Tim Hanke

This is a complaint to USCF/GOICHBERG as well as a caution to all chess
organizers.

Player allowed to play in 2004 Foxwoods open under a false name.

I recently played in Foxwoods open. During round 2 in the U1800 section
I
was paired against Jeffrey Viera USCF No. 12875353. (See
www.foxwoodsopen.com). I lost that game. His style of play was
resembling
the games I have played against GM Kaprov and IM Foygel. Clearly he was
not
a class player but a master player. This player could not speak English
either. I went to Bill Goichberg to complain that he needs to check this
player's ID. Bill checked the FIDE web site to see if he had a fide
rating.
There was no fide rating for this player. I insisted that Bill should
check
his picure ID to make sure that the person playing was indeed Jeffery
Viera.
Bill declined so I moved on to the third round. I kept checking on this
player every round, he was just crashing everybody. I kept compaining to

Sophia Rhode who is the only person who could listen to me but of course
could do nothing because it was Bill's tournament.
So Mr. Viera went on to win clear first in the U1800. section. In the
last
round he was up substancial material in a crashing postion and he
offered
his oppenent a draw since he already had secured clear first place.
How do I know for sure that this is a player who played under a false
name.
As luck would have it, I was holding the 2004 NorthEast Chess Spring
Getaway
this weekend and guess who shows up to play? The face of Mr. Jeffrey
Viera
and his group I saw at Foxwoods open. He does not speak English he
travels
with interpreters. I asked for his picture ID to make sure that the
person
playing was indeed the one registering. He produced a venezuela passport
with names ANDRADE ULISES. I kindly asked him to take the passport and
make
a copy of it. He accepted and I made a copy. I quickly went to the fide
web

site and found that Mr. Ulises who two weeks ago in Foxwoods had played
as
Jeffrey Viera was rated 2246. I politely informed the interpreter that
now
the new Mr. Ulises can only play in the open section. He did not play.
I am not sure Mr. Goichberg is purposely letting foreigners come and
play in
lower sections or not. What bothers me is that I complained to him
several
times and he refused to check this player's picture ID. Either Mr.
Goichberg
was aware of him that he was playing under some one else's name, I dont
know. But this is very bothersome and a disgrace to our class
tournaments.
I need to hear a response from the USCF office about this matter. Like I
mentioned I have a copy of this players passport.
To chess organizers: Be careful and watch out for Jeffrey Viera/ Andrade
Ulises he might be heading to your tournament as you read this.
Regards,
Severine Wamala

By the way this fellow is also from the XXXXXX country.

adp


"Angelo DePalma" wrote in message
...

This is an old story that will be repeated as long as crazy prizes are
awarded to players in the patzer class.

And now, from the "I was a Teenage Paranoid" department...

Last year I was paired against a guy rated a healthy 500 points below me.
I
dropped a pawn on move 19 and figured, "so what?" I "sacrifice"material
all
the time against A players and sometimes win or draw those games. It turns
out that over the next few moves I was forced to liquidate almost all the
material on the board except for the pawns and one rook. He then proceeded
to play the remaining 27 moves perfectly, grinding me down and
sidestepping
several traps that would have resulted in a draw or even a loss to him.

When I got home I put the game into Shredder, which confirmed that he'd
played close to 30 perfect near-perfect moves from the time I dropped the
pawn to when I resigned. I don't know about you but I think R+P endings
are
tough and I'm rated about 1830.

My friends say I'm nuts for suspecting something but...

Last night I ran into this guy, whose rating has improved only about a
hundred points and who is still well within the patzer range. He started
rattling off variations from our game, and how I could have played better.
When I was a 1500 player I could barely remember the last move I played in
games in progress, much less from last year.

Still think I'm crazy?

Then he said something that floored me: "You were too concerned about the
back rank mate. That's what my buddy, who was rated #1 as a kid in XXXXXX
(a
serious chess-playing country) said when we went over the game."

Like I said my buddies here think I'm a kook, but to this day I wonder if
I'll be reading this guy's name among the winners in the U1600 at some
major
event.

Angelo

"Tim Hanke" wrote in message
om...
Today I and several other people received the following email from
Severine Wamala, a leading New England organizer.

Tim Hanke

This is a complaint to USCF/GOICHBERG as well as a caution to all
chess
organizers.

Player allowed to play in 2004 Foxwoods open under a false name.

I recently played in Foxwoods open. During round 2 in the U1800
section
I
was paired against Jeffrey Viera USCF No. 12875353. (See
www.foxwoodsopen.com). I lost that game. His style of play was
resembling
the games I have played against GM Kaprov and IM Foygel. Clearly he
was
not
a class player but a master player. This player could not speak
English
either. I went to Bill Goichberg to complain that he needs to check
this
player's ID. Bill checked the FIDE web site to see if he had a fide
rating.
There was no fide rating for this player. I insisted that Bill should
check
his picure ID to make sure that the person playing was indeed Jeffery
Viera.
Bill declined so I moved on to the third round. I kept checking on
this
player every round, he was just crashing everybody. I kept compaining
to

Sophia Rhode who is the only person who could listen to me but of
course
could do nothing because it was Bill's tournament.
So Mr. Viera went on to win clear first in the U1800. section. In the
last
round he was up substancial material in a crashing postion and he
offered
his oppenent a draw since he already had secured clear first place.
How do I know for sure that this is a player who played under a false
name.
As luck would have it, I was holding the 2004 NorthEast Chess Spring
Getaway
this weekend and guess who shows up to play? The face of Mr. Jeffrey
Viera
and his group I saw at Foxwoods open. He does not speak English he
travels
with interpreters. I asked for his picture ID to make sure that the
person
playing was indeed the one registering. He produced a venezuela
passport
with names ANDRADE ULISES. I kindly asked him to take the passport and
make
a copy of it. He accepted and I made a copy. I quickly went to the
fide
web

site and found that Mr. Ulises who two weeks ago in Foxwoods had
played
as
Jeffrey Viera was rated 2246. I politely informed the interpreter that
now
the new Mr. Ulises can only play in the open section. He did not play.
I am not sure Mr. Goichberg is purposely letting foreigners come and
play in
lower sections or not. What bothers me is that I complained to him
several
times and he refused to check this player's picture ID. Either Mr.
Goichberg
was aware of him that he was playing under some one else's name, I
dont
know. But this is very bothersome and a disgrace to our class
tournaments.
I need to hear a response from the USCF office about this matter. Like
I
mentioned I have a copy of this players passport.
To chess organizers: Be careful and watch out for Jeffrey Viera/
Andrade
Ulises he might be heading to your tournament as you read this.
Regards,
Severine Wamala

Mike Murray wrote ...

I would guess that when something like this floats to the surface,
there's a lot more pollution underneath -- players who are clever
enough to win large class prizes while appearing plausible as an
improving member of the rating class in question.

I myself have been a weak Expert for years: never good enough to win a
major Expert prize, never bad enough to fall into Class A, no matter
how little I study.

Tim Hanke

"Tim Hanke" wrote:
I myself have been a weak Expert for years: never good enough to win a
major Expert prize, never bad enough to fall into Class A, no matter
how little I study.

And even if you did fall into Class A, you still wouldn't have a ghost of a
chance of winning the A section of a big-money tournament. A player must be
at least 400 points underrated to do that.

Bill Smythe

Severine Wamala (or a player in his tournament) wrote:
This is a complaint to USCF/GOICHBERG as well as a caution to all chess
organizers. .... I insisted that Bill should check
[ a player's ] picure ID .... Bill declined ....
As luck would have it, I was holding the [ XXXX tournament ]
this weekend and guess who shows up to play? ....
I asked for his picture ID ....
He produced a venezuela passport
with [ another name ] . .... I quickly went to the fide web
site and found that [ the player ] was rated 2246. ....
What bothers me is that I complained to [ Goichberg ] several
times and he refused to check this player's picture ID. ....

I believe Goichberg's policy is to insist on seeing a photo ID before
awarding a large prize. Does anyone know whether this was done on this
occasion? Of course, even if it was, it would not wipe out the unfairness
done to the player's opponents, at least not those he played in the later
rounds.

Checking photo IDs earlier in the tournament is a thorny issue. Doing it
for all players could cause serious problems. On the other hand, doing it
only on demand by another player could result in accusations of players
being singled out.

There are a lot of double-edged, troublesome issues here.

Bill Smythe

Subject: Sandbagging
From: "Bill Smythe"
Date: 04/27/2004 4:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

"Tim Hanke" wrote:
I myself have been a weak Expert for years: never good enough to win a
major Expert prize, never bad enough to fall into Class A, no matter
how little I study.

And even if you did fall into Class A, you still wouldn't have a ghost of a
chance of winning the A section of a big-money tournament. A player must be
at least 400 points underrated to do that.

Bill Smythe


Very few big money A winners are Master strength. For instance, four players
tied for first in U2000 at Foxwoods this year (see foxwoodsopen.com). I don't
think any are close to Master strength, though 18-year old Matthew Herman will
probably make Master eventually.

At the 2003 World Open, Jahangir Ahmed tied for first in U2000, winning $7500.
He has played in U2000 in many other big money tournaments I ran since 1998,
never winning over $300.

Bill Goichberg

Subject: Prominent TD reports major cheating incident ....
From: "Bill Smythe"
Date: 04/27/2004 4:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Severine Wamala (or a player in his tournament) wrote:
This is a complaint to USCF/GOICHBERG as well as a caution to all chess
organizers. .... I insisted that Bill should check
[ a player's ] picure ID .... Bill declined ....
As luck would have it, I was holding the [ XXXX tournament ]
this weekend and guess who shows up to play? ....
I asked for his picture ID ....
He produced a venezuela passport
with [ another name ] . .... I quickly went to the fide web
site and found that [ the player ] was rated 2246. ....
What bothers me is that I complained to [ Goichberg ] several
times and he refused to check this player's picture ID. ....

I believe Goichberg's policy is to insist on seeing a photo ID before
awarding a large prize. Does anyone know whether this was done on this
occasion? Of course, even if it was, it would not wipe out the unfairness
done to the player's opponents, at least not those he played in the later
rounds.


His ID was checked. He had a photo ID corresponding to the name entered in the
tournament.

Bill Goichberg


Checking photo IDs earlier in the tournament is a thorny issue. Doing it
for all players could cause serious problems. On the other hand, doing it
only on demand by another player could result in accusations of players
being singled out.

There are a lot of double-edged, troublesome issues here.

Bill Smythe

In article ,
(Recmate) wrote:

Very few big money A winners are Master strength. For instance, four players
tied for first in U2000 at Foxwoods this year (see foxwoodsopen.com). I don't
think any are close to Master strength, though 18-year old Matthew Herman will
probably make Master eventually.

I picture a farmer nailing a big sign over a henhouse that says:

2004 Henhouse Open
Big Cash Prizes Guaranteed
No Foxes Here! No Way, Uh Uh!

Mr. Goichberg, perhaps you should not be talking about who is winning the
class prizes in your tournaments, since you certainly have an interest in
persuading people that it isn't the sandbaggers.