Bartlomiej Macieja comments an interview with Mr Ignatius Leong ACP Board Dear Mr Ignatius Leong Yesterday I read with the great interest your interview given to Chess Today . Several remarks have come to my mind. 1) Answering a question about drug testing and cheating by using computers you wrote you didn't pay much attention to that subject. I agree with you, that

Because (choose one): A) I'd sooner drink my own urine. B) I would have to reveal my secret identity, and you'd all find out I was a woman. C) I'd end up in the third revision of "Chessdon." D) I have too much Cavallo-envy to function properly in such an environment.

I have just posted the USCF membership numbers at: http://detroitchess.com/USCFmem2.htm Peter C. Nixon http://detroitchess.com/

Just out of curiosity, if the USCF does go under -- like some are claiming it will -- what happens to all the life members? Do they get a monetary stipend after all USCF's assets are liquidated (kinda like severance pay), or are they just SOL? They paid to be members for the rest of their lives.....so what happens to them? I don't think the USCF will go under, mind you, just playing...

The No. 3-ranked player in the world, in an interview in The Indian Express, reveals that his real name is Anand Krishnamurthy and not Vishwanathan Anand or "Vishy" Anand, as he is known in the chess world. Anand says that his father's name is Vishwanathan Krishnamurthy. Check out the full interview, which is available courtesy of http://chessbase.com George Mirijanian

Frank Camaratta has resigned from the USCF Executive Board over the decision by the board to "outsource" the books and equipment business. I believe that the decision to outsource the books and equipment business is a major mistake which may well be the death knell of the USCF. Over the last 65 years that the USCF has been in business, the only consistently profitable area has been the sale of...

As you know.. Mensa HQ funds its local chapters. But not all of the local money comes just from the national membership. Some of it comes from ad revenue gained by their national magazine. Now that USCF has a deal in place to gain at least $350,000 from outsourced B/E, some of that could be used to finance a real Mensa treatment for chess. That would put less pressure on taking all the would-be...

Do you want SLOAN? ME?? (don't worry, I ain't coughing up $250) What the heck: the guy's a budget director in Iowa, a chess master, strong in the opening (like a REAL chessplayer should be), and lord knows, he is one of the few Americans left who actually seems to care about organized chess. Given how many before him have failed, he has the right to see if he can do better, which he probably...

There must be something rotten in New Windsor. The barrel of apples has been fermenting in the trailer there New Windsor for years in the form of Sam Sloan and now at last we are reaching Sam's level at the bottom where things are brown, dark, and frankly don't smell so good. Yet, I am beginning to think that Sam would be an improvement on Frank Camaratta, the member he seeks to replace. Could...

My Winter issue of Chess Life just arrived, and I got a chance to read The Shame of Chess's famous remarks about Lasker, in his 10 Greatest Chess Masters article. I'd heard about the comments, of course, but there's nothing like seeing them in their own jaw-dropping original context: "Lasker...was a coffee-house player...(he) knew nothing about openings and didn't understand positional...

(2) Executive Board members must be motivated solely by the best interests of the USCF in exercising their duties. Any potential conflict of interest, whether due to financial, political, personal, geographical, organizational, familial, or other considerations, must be prevented from affecting any Board member in the discharge of his or her duties. (a) Except where noted below, no Executive...

Does anyone know if you are sending in two tournaments at the same time, can you put the files on different directories on the same floppy, or do you always have to send two separate floppies? --- Douglas Stewart President, Mississippi Chess Association

January 12: Some of the items covered at the USCF Executive Board meeting in Boca Raton this past weekend we (1) Bill Goichberg was appointed Executive Director through 2004. Bill has generously offered to serve at no pay. (2) A motion was passed exressing dismay with the state of affairs in FIDE and indicating pro-active involvement by USCF to achieve change. (3) A task force was established...

International Master Osman Palos died last Saturday in Chicago at the age of 54. Palos, who was orginally from Yugoslavia, moved to the United States around 1997 and settled in the Chicago area. He was a frequent participant in Midwest tournaments the past few years and was particularly fond of playing blitz. Does anyone know if an obituary appeared? Would anyone have background information on...

Sometimes the gossip on these newsgroups gets out of hand, so here is the lowdown on what the USCF Executive Board is doing and the direction USCF is going in. Most of this information has been given publicly before, but here it is again. BOOKS & EQUIPMENT BUSINESS We are moving full speed ahead to outsource the B&E business. Negotiations are well underway and we expect to vote on the final...

Dear Chess Friends: FYI information, I am experiencing some difficulty with my website. I have not been able to update it recently. Telephone connections to the service provider "Florida Digital Network" have been disconnected though the last posted web pages remain accessible.. If this continues I will get a new site and address for the Senior Open as I want to use the site to keep everyone...

I am interested in the service, and I was wondering if anyone uses them here. If so, post back with some info. Thanks. www.chess-express.com lawilson

Here are the choices: 2004 July 2004 September 2005 January 2005 April 2005 June 2005 September 2006 January 0000 Never

You've seen it all over the national news.. the kidnapping of an 11 year old girl from behind a car wash. It is now an Amber Alert case. That took place only a few blocks from old Haasie's humble abode. Old Haasie has his eyes peeled in case they pass this way. I got the old 9 mm oiled and loaded. RSHaas

A new server for playing chess on the Internet and meanwhile to chat about chess problems and training. You can access to CHESSFRIENDS.ORG by Winboard http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/winboard/winboard-4_2_7a.exe choose at starting "Use an Internet Chess Server"