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FreeMindStuck · 06-19-2008, 01:01 AM

I went to a chess tournament in Kansas City and was cheated out of some of my prize money and I feel that other people should be aware of this because many of the chess players at the tournament weren't even aware of what was going on until I complained. I happened to know both the chess players involved. So even if I can't prove they cheated in the court of law I know they were both guilty. When I first showed up to the tournament they were sharing a pitcher of beer. I believe what happened is since John Doe was the strongest player by far, at the tournament that they prearranged the draw, if they played. Maybe in return for a ride to the tournament. Because he could afford to throw away a half point and still win the tournament. Since I was a B player at the time, I am an A player now, it ended up directly costing me some of my prize money since I had a split with Robert Johnson. I confronted Robert, who is a friend of mine, directly and asked him if they had prearranged that game. He looked at me and smiled, not saying anything. I am changing both their names so that I won't be sued for libel. After complaining to the T.D. who was running the tournament and getting no satisfaction. He should have kicked them both out of the tournament! I proceeded to complain to the USCF ethics department and got no satisfaction. Here is my first letter to them:

Date: Tue 25 Sep 2007 2:55:13 pm CDT
Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7
Subject: USCF 318: Other

To Whom It May Concern,
I have a complaint about a blatant violation of rules 20L and 14B6 at the Westport Flea Market Open on the date of Sept 22. John Doe - Rating 2440, USCF ID xxxxxxxx was playing Robert Johnson - Rating 1792, USCF ID xxxxxxxx, in the third round of the tournament when the two players agreed to a draw after five moves. John Doe and Robert Johnson are well known friends and Robert Johnson gave John Doe a ride to the tournament because Doe does not have a drivers license. While normally it is difficult to prove collusion in a short draw, after complaining to the tournament director I directly confronted both players at the beginning of the fourth round. When confronted John Doe denied collusion and then stated that he had to go somewhere. Which is an admission of guilt to prearranging the outcome of the game since Doe needed Johnson to drive him where ever he needed to go. Taking a half point buy would not have been sufficient. Please conta
ct the tournament director Gene Bate (xxx) xxx-xxxx, Email: gbate@blitz-it.net if you have any further questions. You may also contact Sam Roe xxx-xxx-xxxx, Email: xxxxxxx@gmail.com, who was a witness to the events above and personally knows both players.
FreeMindStuck
xxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
USCF ID xxxxxxxx

And here is the USCF's response:

Sept. 25, 2007
Dear Mr. FreeMindStuck,
I will forward your email to Judy Misner who handles these types of complaints. You should hear from Judy soon regarding what you need to do next.

Thank you-
Yours for Chess,
Joan DuBois
U.S. Chess Director of:
Communications, Affiliate Relations &
Correspondence Chess
PO Box 3967
Crossville, TN 38557
(931) 787-1234 #123 or #130
(931) 787-1200 (Fax)

So I replied:

Dear Ms. DuBois,

Thank you for your prompt response.

FreeMindStuck

So then Ms. Misner sends me this email:

September 26, 2007

Hi Mr. FreeMindStuck,

Walter Brown is our USCF Liaison to the Rules Committee. Walter is out of the office until next Tuesday and I will be sure that he see's your email.

In the meantime you do need to provide us with a signed copy of your complaint and a $25.00 good faith deposit.

You may send this to my attention and I will see that Walter receives it upon his return to the office.

US Chess
Attn: Judy Misner
P.O. Box 3967
Crossville, TN 38557

Sincerely,
Judy Misner
USCF Managing Director of Operations

Can you imagine? I have been victimized by cheaters and what does the USCF do. It tries to shake me down for another 25 dollars. So this is how I responded:

Hi Ms. Misner,

I would have no problem provided you with a signed copy of my complaint. What I do have a problem with is risking another 25 dollars on this debacle after I have already lost money due to cheating in this last tournament. To be frank, I am not a rich man and am currently unemployed and will probably drop this matter rather than risk losing another 25 dollars. Under the code of ethics of the United States Chess Federation it states, "The deposit shall be returned unless the Committee rules that the case is frivolous." Perhaps you could give me a precise definition, as it pertains complaints of ethics violations, of the word frivolous and I might be willing to continue this matter. As it is conspiracy to predetermine the outcome of a game would be a difficult charge to prove in the court of law and thus deemed frivolous even if the charges are true. Furthermore I feel the USCF's policy of demanding a good faith deposit from the victims of ethical violations does nothing more then silence most people willing to speak out. And that such policies must do nothing more then encourage rampant cheating at USCF sanctioned events. I can't help but wonder how much more crime there would be in our society if when calling 911 the operator asked for a credit card number for a good faith deposit against frivolous 911 calls?

Sincerely

FreeMindStuck

And this is how Judy responds:

Hi FreeMindStuck,

Thank you for your reply.

Here is what I recommend. Since this appears to be a rules violation problem and should go to the Rules Committee, to see if they accept juridisdiction, I suggest that we wait until Walter Brown returns to the office next Tuesday, October 2, 2007.

I will review this with him and let's see if he feels that that your complaint would be accepted by the Rules Committeee. To be honest with you even though I have been employed with US Chess for 37 years, I have only been the liaison to the Ethics Committee since March 2007. So I feel more comfortable if you don't mind, we wait for Walter's return to the office and see what he recommends to you regarding the $25.00 fee.

Please let me know.

Thanks,
Judy

Let the run around begin. lol and it continues:

Hi Judy,

Thank you for your prompt replies, your time, and recommendations.

Sincerely

FreeMindStuck

Applying a little sugar...:

Hi FreeMindStuck,

Your welcome.

So is it OK with you that I review this Walter Brown next Tuesday and see what he recommends?

Judy

Giving me the run around...:

Hi Judy,

Yes that would be fine with me. I will keep in touch.

FreeMindStuck

And so this is what she sends me next and is the last bit of correspondence I received on the issue:

October 1, 2007

Hi FreeMindStuck,

Walter returned from the tournament however, it was due to a death in his family. So he had to go out of town again and will return to the office on October 3 or 4th. As soon as I can I will have him review your request.

Thanks for your patience.

Judy

At this point I am certain that they are going to do nothing and am ready to drop the issue but I reply:

Hi Judy,

That will be satisfactory. Please convey my condolences to Walter. I will look forward to your correspondence.

Patient as ever,

FreeMindStuck

So that is it. It is my opinion that the USCF is about as effective at enforcing its rules as the Bush adminstration is at inspecting Chinese products coming into the US. So I have thought about short draws and I have decided that the only way to keep people from cheating using the short draw is to change the rules so that losses are worth zero points, draws one point and wins worth 3 points. I would be interested in other peoples solutions or opinions on this subject.

06-19-2008, 01:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
FreeMindStuck Forum Knight/Bishop Posts: 27 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Chess Profile	Short Draws and Cheating at Chess I went to a chess tournament in Kansas City and was cheated out of some of my prize money and I feel that other people should be aware of this because many of the chess players at the tournament weren't even aware of what was going on until I complained. I happened to know both the chess players involved. So even if I can't prove they cheated in the court of law I know they were both guilty. When I first showed up to the tournament they were sharing a pitcher of beer. I believe what happened is since John Doe was the strongest player by far, at the tournament that they prearranged the draw, if they played. Maybe in return for a ride to the tournament. Because he could afford to throw away a half point and still win the tournament. Since I was a B player at the time, I am an A player now, it ended up directly costing me some of my prize money since I had a split with Robert Johnson. I confronted Robert, who is a friend of mine, directly and asked him if they had prearranged that game. He looked at me and smiled, not saying anything. I am changing both their names so that I won't be sued for libel. After complaining to the T.D. who was running the tournament and getting no satisfaction. He should have kicked them both out of the tournament! I proceeded to complain to the USCF ethics department and got no satisfaction. Here is my first letter to them: Date: Tue 25 Sep 2007 2:55:13 pm CDT Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.7) Gecko/20070914 Firefox/2.0.0.7 Subject: USCF 318: Other To Whom It May Concern, I have a complaint about a blatant violation of rules 20L and 14B6 at the Westport Flea Market Open on the date of Sept 22. John Doe - Rating 2440, USCF ID xxxxxxxx was playing Robert Johnson - Rating 1792, USCF ID xxxxxxxx, in the third round of the tournament when the two players agreed to a draw after five moves. John Doe and Robert Johnson are well known friends and Robert Johnson gave John Doe a ride to the tournament because Doe does not have a drivers license. While normally it is difficult to prove collusion in a short draw, after complaining to the tournament director I directly confronted both players at the beginning of the fourth round. When confronted John Doe denied collusion and then stated that he had to go somewhere. Which is an admission of guilt to prearranging the outcome of the game since Doe needed Johnson to drive him where ever he needed to go. Taking a half point buy would not have been sufficient. Please conta ct the tournament director Gene Bate (xxx) xxx-xxxx, Email: gbate@blitz-it.net if you have any further questions. You may also contact Sam Roe xxx-xxx-xxxx, Email: xxxxxxx@gmail.com, who was a witness to the events above and personally knows both players. FreeMindStuck xxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com USCF ID xxxxxxxx And here is the USCF's response: Sept. 25, 2007 Dear Mr. FreeMindStuck, I will forward your email to Judy Misner who handles these types of complaints. You should hear from Judy soon regarding what you need to do next. Thank you- Yours for Chess, Joan DuBois U.S. Chess Director of: Communications, Affiliate Relations & Correspondence Chess PO Box 3967 Crossville, TN 38557 (931) 787-1234 #123 or #130 (931) 787-1200 (Fax) So I replied: Dear Ms. DuBois, Thank you for your prompt response. FreeMindStuck So then Ms. Misner sends me this email: September 26, 2007 Hi Mr. FreeMindStuck, Walter Brown is our USCF Liaison to the Rules Committee. Walter is out of the office until next Tuesday and I will be sure that he see's your email. In the meantime you do need to provide us with a signed copy of your complaint and a $25.00 good faith deposit. You may send this to my attention and I will see that Walter receives it upon his return to the office. US Chess Attn: Judy Misner P.O. Box 3967 Crossville, TN 38557 Sincerely, Judy Misner USCF Managing Director of Operations Can you imagine? I have been victimized by cheaters and what does the USCF do. It tries to shake me down for another 25 dollars. So this is how I responded: Hi Ms. Misner, I would have no problem provided you with a signed copy of my complaint. What I do have a problem with is risking another 25 dollars on this debacle after I have already lost money due to cheating in this last tournament. To be frank, I am not a rich man and am currently unemployed and will probably drop this matter rather than risk losing another 25 dollars. Under the code of ethics of the United States Chess Federation it states, "The deposit shall be returned unless the Committee rules that the case is frivolous." Perhaps you could give me a precise definition, as it pertains complaints of ethics violations, of the word frivolous and I might be willing to continue this matter. As it is conspiracy to predetermine the outcome of a game would be a difficult charge to prove in the court of law and thus deemed frivolous even if the charges are true. Furthermore I feel the USCF's policy of demanding a good faith deposit from the victims of ethical violations does nothing more then silence most people willing to speak out. And that such policies must do nothing more then encourage rampant cheating at USCF sanctioned events. I can't help but wonder how much more crime there would be in our society if when calling 911 the operator asked for a credit card number for a good faith deposit against frivolous 911 calls? Sincerely FreeMindStuck And this is how Judy responds: Hi FreeMindStuck, Thank you for your reply. Here is what I recommend. Since this appears to be a rules violation problem and should go to the Rules Committee, to see if they accept juridisdiction, I suggest that we wait until Walter Brown returns to the office next Tuesday, October 2, 2007. I will review this with him and let's see if he feels that that your complaint would be accepted by the Rules Committeee. To be honest with you even though I have been employed with US Chess for 37 years, I have only been the liaison to the Ethics Committee since March 2007. So I feel more comfortable if you don't mind, we wait for Walter's return to the office and see what he recommends to you regarding the $25.00 fee. Please let me know. Thanks, Judy Let the run around begin. lol and it continues: Hi Judy, Thank you for your prompt replies, your time, and recommendations. Sincerely FreeMindStuck Applying a little sugar...: Hi FreeMindStuck, Your welcome. So is it OK with you that I review this Walter Brown next Tuesday and see what he recommends? Judy Giving me the run around...: Hi Judy, Yes that would be fine with me. I will keep in touch. FreeMindStuck And so this is what she sends me next and is the last bit of correspondence I received on the issue: October 1, 2007 Hi FreeMindStuck, Walter returned from the tournament however, it was due to a death in his family. So he had to go out of town again and will return to the office on October 3 or 4th. As soon as I can I will have him review your request. Thanks for your patience. Judy At this point I am certain that they are going to do nothing and am ready to drop the issue but I reply: Hi Judy, That will be satisfactory. Please convey my condolences to Walter. I will look forward to your correspondence. Patient as ever, FreeMindStuck So that is it. It is my opinion that the USCF is about as effective at enforcing its rules as the Bush adminstration is at inspecting Chinese products coming into the US. So I have thought about short draws and I have decided that the only way to keep people from cheating using the short draw is to change the rules so that losses are worth zero points, draws one point and wins worth 3 points. I would be interested in other peoples solutions or opinions on this subject.