SAM SLOAN
April 2007 Chess Life:
Ever since I took office last August, I have fulfilled or tried to fulfill
every campaign promise I made. I have tried to determine why the USCF lost two
million dollars in past years. I have exposed payments made by board members to
their political allies. I have in most cases (but not in all cases) stopped
wasteful expenditures. Most importantly, I have opened the doors to the inner
sanctum and exposed political deals and secrets which are not secret anymore.
Tremendous efforts were made to stop me from taking the office to which I had
been elected. Efforts have been made to censure me, to reprimand me, and to
recall me. Big bucks are going to be spent this year to stop me from being
re-elected, and for good reason. It is up to you, the voters, to decide whether
you want to return to the politics of secrecy, whether you want the door that I
have opened to be slammed shut again.
The delegates, in their wisdom, have voted to give me 100 words to explain my
court case in Virginia. I have eight children. One of them is Shamema, whom many
of you met when I used to bring her to international chess tournaments. When
Shamema was eight years old, she was kidnapped by persons unrelated to us and
taken to Virginia. When I came to Virginia to try to rescue my kidnapped
daughter, I was immediately arrested, tried and convicted of attempted abduction
of my daughter.
Editor's comment: Sloan has not "exposed payments made by board members to their political allies," nor have there been any such payments. I am not aware of any expenditures that he has stopped. As for exposing "political deals and secrets," he has posted a lot of misinformation such as charging that "virtually all USCF financial records have been destroyed" when virtually none were destroyed, Polgar Chess Club tournaments were "re-rated for political reasons" when there is not a shred of evidence that any such thing happened, two Executive Board candidates were allowed to run in 2005 without paying filing fees when it is clear that they paid these fees, and many other whoppers.
Regarding Sloan's criminal record, note that the
"kidnappers" he complains about had originally been hired by Sloan to care for
his daughter and continued to do so for two and a half years after his payments
to them ceased. Also, Sloan violated a court order by removing his
daughter from New York in 1982, then did the same with Virginia in 1986, was
jailed for the latter in Virginia in 1990, and then attempted to abduct his
daughter during a supervised visit in Virginia in 1991. The court order
awarding custody to the "kidnappers" stated in part, "Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Roberts have raised the child in a stable normal middle class lifestyle and the
child is thriving well in school. They have developed a close
relationship... and she views them as her parents. Shamema indicated to
the court her desire to live with Mr. and Mrs. Roberts and that she did not wish
to see Mr. Sloan." Also, "On September 5, 1991 while Shamema was visiting
Mr. Sloan under the supervision of Mr. Rick Groff of the Amherst County
Department of Social Services, Mr. Sloan tried to leave with her running to a
rental car which he had parked near her home. In his posession were
airplane tickets to Japan and the child's passport. The child ran from him
to Mr. Groff's vehicle and locked herself in the vehicle. Mr. Sloan was
arrested and charged with abduction in the City of Lynchburg." SEE LINKS BELOW.
May 2007 Chess Life:
Ever since I took office last August, I have
fulfilled or tried my best to fulfill every campaign promise I made. I have
started an investigation into how the USCF lost two million dollars. I have
exposed payments made by board members to their political allies. I have in
most cases (but not in all cases) stopped wasteful and ridiculous expenditures.
Tremendous efforts were made to stop me from taking the office to which I had
been elected. Efforts have been made to censure me, to reprimand me, to recall
me. Big bucks are going to be spent this year to stop me from being re-elected.
It is up to you, the voters, to decide whether you want to return to the
politics of secrecy, whether you want the door that I have opened to be slammed
shut again.
Finances
Prior to the current year, the USCF lost two million dollars since 1999. We
keeping being told: "Prosperity is just around the corner". So far in the first
eight months of the current fiscal year, the USCF has lost a reported
$241,682. I believe the true amount is higher. We are told that we will make it
all back in the Super Nationals in the Spring and will just about break even
for the year. I do not believe it.
I have become the watchdog on the finances. I have consistently voted against
needless expenditures. I have stopped aimless boondoggles.
The Board Vote to Censure Me
When I demonstrated that a board member had rigged his own rating by submitting
fraudulent rating reports involving fictitious players, causing him to resign,
and when I notified the membership that the USCF had no money and no sponsor to
hold the US Championship, the board voted to censure me the next day for telling
the truth. It is up to the voters to
decide whether they want the Official Secrets of the USCF to remain secret.
Scholastic Chess
I have a specific plan to bring in one million scholastic members by 2009. My
plan is right now being tested in two elementary schools. So far the results
seem promising. If this test program is successful we plan to expand it
nationwide.
One million scholastic members is not unrealistic when you consider all the
millions of kids who play Grand Theft Auto and other video games which cost more
than USCF membership.
US Championship
I am opposed to qualifier tournaments allowing otherwise unqualified players to
get into the US Championship. I am opposed to allowing players to buy their way
into the US Championship.
Do you want your chess federation to continue on its downward spiral? My
detractors and opponents say that I am too extreme. "I would remind you that
extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!" Would you rather have a board
member who looks the other way, or the back-scratching board members we now have
who prefer to overlook the
serious problems the USCF is now facing?
Editor's comment: It is misleading to claim great losses in the current fiscal year based on an eight month figure, as USCF is a seasonal business and the first four months (June-Sept) are the weakest. Prior to joining the Executive Board, Sloan did file an Ethics Committee complaint that resulted in the resignation of Robert Tanner from the board due to rating manipulation that occurred about 14 years before. The board censured Sloan twice, first for falsely posting that board candidates had been permitted to run without paying filing fees as well as insulting language and attacking a sponsor, and the second time for posting a pornographic link and associating it with a sponsor.
Sloan's "scholastic chess plan" is utter nonsense. USCF is experimenting with a bulk membership plan in a few school districts, not a few schools, and Sloan had nothing to do with beginning this plan.
Regarding Sloan being "opposed to allowing players to buy their way into the US Championship," that is not what he wrote on March 5, when the board discussed this issue. He said, "I think we should be very careful about this. I do not think we should advertise this in Chess Life." He then mentioned the names of two promising young players and wrote, "I think these players should be contacted privately and offered these opportunities, avoiding an ad in Chess Life." Of course, many would complain that making private deals with players rather than a public announcement offering standard conditions for all would be improper.
The Federation is not on a "downward spiral."
In the past seven months (9/1/06 through 3/31/07), USCF has enjoyed the second
largest membership increase of any seven month period in its entire history
(6016 members gained), and the largest gain of adult members (494) of any seven
month period in twelve years. Our total membership of 84,495 is the
highest in almost three years.
June 2007 Chess Life:
I played in my First USCF Rated Tournament, the North Carolina Open, in 1956. As
a tournament player for more than 50 years, just about everybody in chess knows
me or has heard my name.
The USCF has annual revenues of $3.2 million, down from $6.5 million at its
peak. $3.2 million is enough for us to live very well. Yet, the USCF has lost
money for 9 of the last 11 years. There is no excuse for this!
Since I was elected to the board, I have been fulfilling a campaign promise to
examine the books and records in detail to find out how and why we lost this
money. I have exposed corruption and improper payments. One board member was
forced to resign because of my discoveries.
I have opened doors to the inner sanctum, revealing secrets the insiders did not
want revealed. I have received an award for "Shining Light on the United States
Chess Federation 2007".
I have only one vote on the board. I have not been able to stop the improper
payments and the financial hemorrhaging. Optimists on the board say we will lose
ONLY $50,000 this year. I say unless immediate measures are taken, we will lose
AT LEAST $150,000 and possibly considerably more.
In meetings with the board, I have consistently advocated specific changes that
must be made RIGHT NOW to stop losses by increasing revenues and reducing
expenses. Other board members say it is POLITICALLY UNACCEPTABLE to make any
changes now and this must wait until after the election.
AFTER THE ELECTION will be too late!!
I am a man of action. Everybody who knows me will tell you I get things done.
Two things we need to do are expand scholastic chess and elderly chess. As
people age, they want to keep their minds active. Tournament chess would be an
ideal way to help them accomplish this. The baby boomers are a vast pool of
potential members.
You will have seen strident attacks by some of my election opponents and their
anonymous Internet trolls. You should ask yourself, "Why do all these people
keep attacking Sam Sloan? Is it because he really is one of the worst people in
the world, or is it because, since he was elected last year, their gravy train
has slowed?"
Most of the other candidates and continuing board members are insiders, the same
people who were there when the USCF lost $2 million. Are you going to keep them
there or return them to power? Are you going to believe they will bring
prosperity to the USCF, when their actual record is one of milking the
membership funds for their own benefit?
I have specific plans and programs which I believe will bring prosperity back to
the USCF. I am available by phone or email to discuss this any time. Are you
going to give the USCF a chance to prove that it can be done? Are you going to
return control of your federation to the same crusty curmudgeons who lost the $2
million in the first place?
The delegates have voted to give me 100 words to explain my case in Virginia. I
have eight children. One of them is Shamema, whom many of you met when I brought
her to international chess tournaments. When Shamema was eight years old, she
was kidnapped by persons unrelated to us and taken to Virginia. When I came to
Virginia to try to rescue my kidnapped daughter, I was arrested, tried and
convicted of attempted abduction of my daughter and failure to appear for trial.
Editor's comment: USCF has lost money 8 of the last 10
years (not 9 of 11), but since the end of May, 2003 we have GAINED well over
$500,000. Sloan has exposed no improper payments. The "Shining Light
Award" is not a USCF award, never existed before, and was provided by Sloan's
most prominent political supporter. I also support reducing expenses, but
it is very unlikely that we will lose $150,000 or more this year.
Sloan's charges of a "gravy train" and "milking the membership funds" are unsupported and outrageous. Sloan's reckless charges and the sexual content of the samsloan.com website have hurt the image of USCF, and cost us at least one major sponsor during the past year.
Sam Sloan may mean well, and he may really believe that he is exposing corruption and saving the Federation, but it is a disgrace for USCF to have on its Executive Board a person who has made so many false charges and attacked so many people. Please see the links below, and visit www.uschess.org/forums for more.
Sloan charges, "Virtually all USCF financial records have been destroyed."
Sloan charges, "Tournament was re-rated for some political reason."
Sloan charges that "insider" candidates did not pay filing fees
Sloan accuses Polgar
of computer theft
Sloan recklessly attacks Korenman's credentials
Shots at Random: Mike Goodall and Sam Sloan email exchanges with Bill Goichberg, March 2007
SLOAN'S FELONY CONVICTIONS:
Order of Judge Michael Gamble awarding custody of Shamema to Charles and Shelby Roberts
Opinion of US Magistrate Judge Marilyn Go regarding Sloan federal lawsuits
Sloan accuses US Senator John Warner of joining the conspiracy to kidnap his mother and daughter