CD and USCF's Forum Moderation

I've spent wa-ay too much time on the USCF's Forums in the past few months. I had a reason: the campaign against Paul Truong and Susan Polgar. But that's over now. The USCF has expelled them entirely. So now the attacks become ever more petty and the gimmicks to purnish Polgar supporters (me) ever more arbitrary. They won; we lost. And they've made it clear that there will be no olive branch to the loosers.

I can go into the latest problem but why bother? (It was another attack on Susan's Chess Discussion Forum of which I am a Moderator.)

The USCF's forum still has useful information that comes up from time to time so I recommend that you still go there if you can. But I can't recommend becoming too involved in it. Most of the time, they're just going round in circles in meaningless discussions on lawsuits. The central questions surrounding the Delegate's verdict are all hush hush. So, forget trying to find them out.

As for much else, well. It's all so sad, really. On a more positive note, there are several really good chess sites - much the much maligned Susan Polgar's Chess Discussion. And Chessvine, too.

(Yes, I am a contributor to both.) Which brings me to my main point of this: I really need to start spending more of my time on those places (and here, too!) than on the USCF's Forums.

Eye Roll

Polgar's attorney on the expulsion as quoted by the New York Times:

“We are disappointed but by no means surprised in the outcome because it was run by a majority of the executive board who were determined to disregard the U.S.C.F.’s bylaws and to do everything they could to prevent the delegates from hearing the facts.”

Dude. Seriously. You were given 1 1/4 hours to present the "facts" to the delegates. You had a format where you were not bound by the rules of evidence and were free to present any "facts" you wanted. If you couldn't present the "facts" in that time, it's on you.

Breaking News

Susan Polgar and Paul Truong have just been expelled from the US Chess Federation. The Executive Board started the process last month; a final hearing was held last night; and the Delegates rejected the final appeal this afternoon. Susan and Paul appeared with their lawyer shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting lasted until after 6:30.

The preliminary numbers we have to uphold the EB action was:

Paul Truong: 58 for, 18 against, 5 abstaining
Susan Polgar: 55 for, 21 against, 5 abstaining

Bill Hall, the USCF Executive Director has banned any discussion of the meeting from the USCF's Forums. This does not prevent this blog or any other independent news organization from reporting the news about events they deem the public has a right to know.

Polgar and Truong Expelled

Last night the executive board voted to expel Truong and Polgar. They
appealed to the delegates. After 3 hours in executive session, the
delegates voted to uphold the expulsions.

Delegate vote totals for sustaining the EB action:

Paul Truong: 58 for, 18 against, 5 abstaining
Susan Polgar: 55 for, 21 against, 5 abstaining

No further public comment will be forthcoming, in theory anyway.

Ooops

I watched the video of the USCF legal issues workshop posted here. Thanks to Terry Vibbert for recording and posting the meeting.

I didn't learn all that much, but, at the end of the USCF litigation workshop, Bill Hall disclosed some new information on the hacked emails. USCF can document several instances where Susan Polgar quoted verbatim from hacked emails shortly after the hacking, and before the hacked emails appeared elsewhere on the net.

Ooops.