Can you believe this proposal? Incredible! From: Ralph Bowman Subject: Proposal I am making a proposal for your consideration. I have tried to cover every little point so that there could be no misunderstandings by office personnel or the EB about what was to be done. So far this is what I have come up with. Are you in favor or opposed to the idea? What changes, if any, would

From the pages of Chess Life (example: Winter 2004 issue, page 60): "You never lose your rating no matter how long it has been since you last played. If you return to tournament play after a long absence, please tell the Director your approximate rating and year of play. If you rejoin USCF after many years without being a member, please provide this information for the USCF office as...

Just outa curiosity, I was under the impression this newsgroup was for discussing Chess Politics. Was I mistaken? Or is this newsgroup intended for any political discussion, just discussed by people who happen to have an interest in chess?

Just a reminder of why we're all here....

I'm looking for a plastic Staunton design chess queen figurine (or Bishop, Knight, Rook) for trophies similar to the popular Staunton design chess king. Does anyone have a source for this? Best, Allan

Yes, it is fair. What is difficult conceptually about that sentence? Did you leave something out?

This is so significant in my opinion it warrants its own thread. I had asked Mike Nolan for statistics on life member playing activity. Here was his response: (snip) Over those five years , 3071 life members played rated chess. --

To the chess community, Paul Truong continues to send me threats by email, which he copies to other people. Below is his latest threat. Tim Hanke From: To: ; ; ;

I have been stunned at the amount of bickering and general acrimony on chess news groups, and other forums. I see posts clearly designed to offend, and others responding to them - creating absurd flame wars. It seems to me that there is such a low signal to noise ratio that those who want to use these groups for productive discussion struggle to be heard. Im a casual chess player myself. Never...

Just checked on the Linares lineup for today. In the Kasparov-Kramnik game at move 14 GK has used almost 70 minutes and Kramnik less than 23. If these guys know so much about openings, why do they take so long on the first 15 moves? When I do the same it's because I don't know what I'm doing. Is Kasparov just getting old, or what? Angelo

I've been exploring the US Census website where population estimates are published. Very interesting to me anyway. The estimates for 7/1/2003 show California, Texas, and Florida as the three fastest growing states in absolute numbers. That's been the case for quite a few years. But guess which state is the fourth fastest growing? Georgia and Arizona are neck and neck, each gaining about...

Well since I'm "exploring" running for EB, here's my platform: 1. Threaten bankruptcy to bring the Life Member lobby into line. File if threat is ignored. 2. Threaten bankruptcy to bring the scholastic member lobby into line. File if threat is ignored. 3. Sever all ties with the US Chess Trust. Let them do their thing and USCF do its own.

....arrived in Casper, Wyoming today.

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 05:21:39 GMT, (Sam Sloan) wrote: The Democrats always point out that Aristide was a priest. They neglect to mention that he was a Voodoo Priest. Small difference? He's an ordained Catholic priest. Or is that your point? Haiti is the perfect example of a country where we should simply stay out of it and let the people there decide their own fate.

I believe I can clean up USCF. If anyone else wants to back that idea, I'd be willing to run for the board. I believe I am uniquely qualified to oversee a tech upgrade at USCF, make the office more efficient, generate revenue from e-book partnerships and other internet ventures, and bring chess to the masses. I also have no political ties to USCF and wouldn't be swayed by a single special...

It shouldn't be too many days before Peter Nixon posts the latest USCF membership numbers. Anyone care to take a guess? Will anyone guess that the adult numbers will unexpectedly uptick? Not me. I'm guessing down 195. RSHaas

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that scientists at the University of Minnesota found a cheap way to extract pure hydrogen gas from corn based ethanol. The process may point the way to using hydrogen as a cheap fuel. This development hasn't excited the public yet but it may be the biggest breakthrough in energy production since gasoline was first refined from oil. What is neat...

I appreciate what's on offer at Chessbase, and yes although it is a commercial orgnisation I think thye do a good job... except for one thing that I thought slipped well below their usually high standards. I was listening to the live radio.chessbase coverage for one of the rounds in Linares and was astonished to find that this chap called Mig was doing the "analysis". He was throwing pieces...

Okay, I won't. I should quote that person every time someone tries to pitch the benefits of membership.

Subject: What is Aaron Russo's real name? From: (Sam Sloan) Date: 3/1/2004 12:13 PM Eastern Standard Time Message-id: What is Aaron Russo's real name? I am bothered by the name Aaron Russo. What bothers me is that I know a professional conman named Shiloh Quinn. Shiloh is a Jewish name and Quinn is an Irish name. He told...