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Date: 06 Apr 2008 16:14:31
From: -
Subject: NY Times -- Susan Polgar's remarks about Lawsuit, Husband, Recall, & `Departure'
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http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/polgar-on-the-lawsuit-against-her-and-her-husband-the-recall-petition-and-her-departure/
April 2, 2008
Polgar on the Lawsuit Against Her and Her Husband,
the Recall Petition and Her �Departure�
By Dylan Loeb McClain
Susan Polgar, a member of the executive board of the United States Chess
Federation, said she and her husband, Paul Truong, who is also a member of the
board, are not planning on stepping down despite a lawsuit against them and
the federation and a petition to hold a recall election to have Mr. Truong
removed.
The lawsuit and the recall petition stem from a report last year by Brian
Mottershead, a former systems administrator at the federation, that Mr. Truong
posted inflammatory remarks on the Internet in the names of other members of
the federation for more than two years. Four of the seven members of the
federation�s board have asked Mr. Truong to resign.
Until now, Mrs. Polgar and Mr. Truong have insisted that they did nothing
wrong and have resisted calls for their departure. Tuesday, as part of an
April Fool�s prank, Mrs. Polgar announced on her blog that they were quitting
and moving to Hungary, where Mrs. Polgar was born and raised. The announcement
was linked to a fuller �article� on a Web site called chessville.
In a telephone interview last night, Mrs. Polgar sounded bittersweet as she
said the story was a joke, but �some parts of it have some basis for truth.�
Mrs. Polgar said that things have come to a standstill on the board because of
the lawsuit and the rift between the directors and it would be difficult to
patch things up even if she and Mr. Truong are exonerated. She said she was
�not concerned� about the recall petition.
The dispute has become personal, Mrs. Polgar said. Referring to her divorce
from her first husband, Jacob Shutzman, she said some people were �using
personal details about my children and my divorce that doesn�t belong here and
is not even true.�
On the merits of the case against Mr. Truong, Mrs. Polgar e-mailed three
statements she had posted to chessdiscussion.com, a Web site forum she started
last year. Among her contentions, she wrote,
We requested the same access to the USCF database as the
contractors so that our own experts can examine the validity
of the data as well as matching IPs of suspicious posters. Our
repeated request was ignored. We needed to examine the evidence
at that time, not 5, 6 or 7 months later when the evidence can
be compromised.
We pointed out a handful of suspicious handles and postings
directly related to this case to the attorney and other board
members. We asked them to investigate. This request, and
others, have also been ignored or denied.
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1. April 2nd, 2008
The question begs; Which part of Ms. Polgar�s prank has �some basis for
truth?� I suppose that depends on how Ms. Polgar and her husband define the
word �truth.�
� Posted by Brian Lafferty
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2. April 2nd, 2008
In all that effort to prove innocence, one wonders why Mr. Truong
refused to submit a Sworn Deposition to the Attorneys representing the
USCF,(and Mr. Truong at that time). Or a request by those same Attorneys for
access to Mr. Truongs ISPs. I wonder if that might have had more to do with
the committee formed by the USCF to investigate the �Fake Sam Sloan� issue to
request Mr. Truong�s resignation. Perhaps more than the �Dirty Politics� we
continue to hear charged to the Executive Board Members of the USCF. One would
think such a conspricy would be aimed at someone having more importance than
Mr. and Mrs. Truong IMHO.
� Posted by Harry Payne
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3. April 2nd, 2008
Turns out that it was an April Fools Joke, as I suspected, and as Susan
revealed this morning at:
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/04/april-2.html
The tip off to me was that it was posted on her blog at 1:41 AM, just
after midnight on April Fools Day, and the new name, which was to be M. I. C.
E.
While explaining that it was an April Fools Joke, Susan adds, �However,
there were some important facts in the article which will be officially
announced soon�.
We are waiting to see what those �important facts� are.
As to her other comments noted above: There has never been a firm
denial, under oath by affidavit, that Paul Truong was the Fake Sam Sloan, nor
have they revealed the evidence they claim they hold that Truong did not do
it. Instead, they demand the right to go on a vast fishing through more than
2,000 pages of data files, hoping to be able to claim to have found some
discrepancy that casts doubt on their guilt. The board has every right to
refuse this request, when they have utterly failed to cooperate in any way
with the board�s investigation or the assigned counsel�s investigations into
the facts.
Sam Sloan
� Posted by Sam Sloan
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4. April 3rd, 2008
A dumb blond joke is on Polgar�s blog this morning. I have to wonder
whether it was board member Polgar who put this on her blog or her husband who
has been know to make misogynistic comments in the past (See Jen Shahade�s
book Chess Bitch).
What�s next from our board members in limbo? Polish jokes.
African-American jokes? Irish jokes? Fat jokes? Old people jokes? I think that
we deserve better from our USCF board members.
My wife who is an eye surgeon and blond is appalled by Ms. Polgar�s
latest humor. She has fought the dumb blond stereotype all her life. My
daughter is blond and a USCF member. She is appalled as well and wants Ms.
Polgar to apologize to her and all the other blond girl chess players.
If Ms. Polgar and Mr. Truong won�t leave the US, the next best option
would be for them to leave the USCF board.
� Posted by Brian Lafferty
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5. April 3rd, 2008
Legal Question: Can She Take Back Her Resignation?
On April 1, 2008, Susan Polgar announced that she was resigning from the
Executive Board of the United States Chess Federation. See:
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/03/very-important-
announcement.html
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/04/im-moving-back- to-hungary.html
http://www.chessville.com/misc/PolgarQuits.htm
The first announcement, which was on March 31, 2008, said:
�My husband and I have been in a number of negotiation sessions (via
phone) this entire weekend which could immediately effect our USCF board
members status as well as our status at the Texas Tech University Susan Polgar
Institute for Chess Excellence. Stay tuned!�
The second announcement, dated April 1, 2008, stated:
�Here is the full story of my announcement. I plan to reunite with my
sisters to represent Hungary in future Olympiads. I hope to have the paperwork
done ASAP with FIDE.�
This referred the readers to the third announcement, which stated in
part:
�Shocking is not an adequate word for this announcement from Lubbock
Texas, home of Susan Polgar, that she is resigning all her chessic positions
in the USA - the Chairmanship of the USCF has already been stripped from her
by President Bill Goichberg, and now she exits from the board too.�
It seems to me that this is a clear resignation. When a player says �I
resign� in a chess game, he cannot change his mind one minute later and thus
take it back. Therefore, I believe that her announcement that she is resigning
is legally effective.
However, the following day, April 2, 2008, Susan Polgar stated on her
website:
�It was meant for good fun on April 1. Humor is needed from time to time
and we all need to laugh and smile more :)�
However, I do not believe that a person can say �I am resigning from the
board� and then claim the next day that this was just an April Fools Joke.
Also, her statement on March 31, which was NOT April Fools Day, said, �I
expect to be able to bring you the latest news within the next 48 hours.� That
must have referred to the statement made the following day that she was
resigning, since no other �important statement� appeared within 48 hours.
Also, I understand from other sources that the �number of negotiation
sessions (via phone) this entire weekend� mentioned in the March 31
announcement referred to the request by Polgar that Texas Tech University �buy
out� her contract with them, and it was only after Texas Tech refused to buy
out Susan Polgar and Paul Truong that she announced that she was staying.
Thus, I believe that her resignation was legally effective and Susan
Polgar is no longer a member of the Executive Board of the United States Chess
Federation.
Sam Sloan
� Posted by Sam Sloan
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6. April 3rd, 2008
In answer to the question of whether Susan Polgar�s resignation has to
be accepted before it is effective, when Governor Spitzer resigned as Governor
of New York State recently, there was never any acceptance by the New York
State Legislature or any governmental body.
In the USCF, there have been numerous resignations by board members. I
am not aware of any of them that had to be accepted by the other board members
to become effective.
The following USCF board members have resigned since 1991: Doris Barry,
Helen Warren, John McCrary, Frank Camaratta, Frank Brady, Greg Shahade, Tim
Hanke and Robert Tanner. I may have left out one or two. If, in any of those
cases, the resignation was �accepted�, I do not recall it.
Sam Sloan
� Posted by Sam Sloan
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7. April 3rd, 2008
On April 1, 2008, Susan Polgar wrote, �Tuesday, April 01, 2008
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I�m moving back to Hungary ��. Here is the full
story of my announcement. �
She then referred the readers to another website, which stated,
�announcement from Lubbock Texas, home of Susan Polgar, that she is resigning
all her chessic positions in the USA - the Chairmanship of the USCF has
already been stripped from her by President Bill Goichberg, and now she exits
from the board too.�
Thus, Susan Polgar has made a clear statement that she is resigning from
the board �now�.
�Now� means now. I do not see how she can legally revoke this
resignation the following day. Also, please take a close look at her actual
words. Nowhere until even now does she say that she did not resign. She says
�some parts of it have some basis for truth.� She has yet to specify exactly
which parts of her announcement were true and which parts were a joke.
Sam Sloan
� Posted by Sam Sloan
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8. April 3rd, 2008
Getting the resignation to stick might not be as difficult as you
imagine.
I have today mailed a letter to the judge on this case, with a copy to
all the lawyers. I believe that her own lawyer, Nixon Rose LLP, will realize
that I am right, in which case she will have to either follow his advice or
fire him and get another lawyer. Every day she stays on the board increases
the legal liability both for her and for the USCF. Why should she be fighting
a losing battle anyway? It is up to the judge and the lawyers and it is clear
that she did say that she resigned.
Sam Sloan
� Posted by Sam Sloan
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9. April 4th, 2008
Mr. Sloan has announced that an Amhest county sherrif has had Sloan�s
websites closed down for indecent material and blatently false claims aimed at
causing personal damage. Sloans ISP�s have pulled his websites. Simce that
time he has begun to use the Gambit blog as a surrogate to publish attacks. My
personal feelings about Mr. SLoan I will keep to myself. I question the wisdom
of continuing to publish his statements. Statements which a law official and
ISP provider have since had removed from another location because of legal
liability implications.
� Posted by Rob Mitchell
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10. April 4th, 2008
Once upon a time, then-President Ronald Reagan made a joke about
declaring war on the Soviet Union and launching some missiles. I�m glad the
Soviets didn�t take it as seriously as Mr. Sloan is taking the Polgar joke.
� Posted by Marc Weeks
2008 The New York Times Company
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Date: 07 Apr 2008 04:32:42
From: Quadibloc
Subject: Re: NY Times -- Susan Polgar's remarks about Lawsuit, Husband,
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On Apr 6, 11:14 am, [email protected] (-) quoted Sam Sloan:
> However, I do not believe that a person can say "I am resigning from the
> board" and then claim the next day that this was just an April Fools Joke.
Whether or not her resignation has to be *accepted*, it would have to
be *submitted*. Posting a claim that one is going to resign on a
website does not constitute submitting one's resignation to the
appropriate parties.
This isn't like a game of Chess, where only your opponent needs to
hear you say "I resign". Chess has its rules, and so does life, but
they have different rules.
John Savard
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Date: 07 Apr 2008 05:00:16
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: NY Times -- Susan Polgar's remarks about Lawsuit, Husband,
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On Apr 7, 6:32 am, Quadibloc <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Apr 6, 11:14 am, [email protected] (-) quoted Sam Sloan:
>
> > However, I do not believe that a person can say "I am resigning from the
> > board" and then claim the next day that this was just an April Fools Joke.
>
> Whether or not her resignation has to be *accepted*, it would have to
> be *submitted*. Posting a claim that one is going to resign on a
> website does not constitute submitting one's resignation to the
> appropriate parties.
>
> This isn't like a game of Chess, where only your opponent needs to
> hear you say "I resign". Chess has its rules, and so does life, but
> they have different rules.
>
> John Savard
I disagree. Governor Elliott Spitzer of New York announced his
resignation on TV. I have not seen any indication that he submitted
his resignation in writing to anybody. Who would he submit it too?
Also, Governor Spitzer's resignation was conditional. He said that he
was resigning "effective" the following Monday. I was wondering when
this happened if he could revoke his resignation prior to the
effective date. Fortunately, this issue did not come up, because
Spitzer did not try to take back his resignation.
Then, of course, there is Senator Larry Craig who said that he "will
be resigning", but when the time came, he did not resign.
Sam Sloan
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