(May 2007) Good chess players don't necessarily make good politicians. We could give numerous examples and have often wondered why it should be so. Chess is, after all, a war game, and there are certain similarities between the art of war and the art of politics.
Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, provided some insight into this subject. In 2006, Davis was criticized by none other than Garry Kasparov for his support of Russian membership in the Council of Europe, which Kasparov took for support of President Vladimir Putin. Davis replied in a letter to the Financial Times, 'Chess is a game in which there are two opponents, and everything is black and white. Politics and international affairs are different, but this important distinction is unfortunately ignored by Kasparov'.
Chess is black and white, but politics isn't. Many chess player/politicians can't understand the difference.
There are signs everywhere that chess is gaining in popularity in America. Although it may never achieve the mainstream acceptance accorded to less intellectual activities, that isn't necessary for the game to thrive. It is enough that a few of the best chess talents in the country can earn a comfortable living from their professional chess activities, and not have to pursue another profession to have the same material comforts as everyone else.
Scholastic chess is booming. Only a few short years ago, we had trouble finding scholastic success stories for our regular 'Chess for All Ages' features. Now we have trouble whittling them down to a reasonable number.
The USCF had a close encounter with financial disaster in 2003. Drastic action by then USCF President Beatriz Marinello was needed to avoid the collapse of America's top chess organization. Strong leadership was required. Now that the USCF is back on its feet -- a new look for its flagship Chess Life magazine and for its web site are proof -- strong leadership will be required to position it in the future.
Every two years the USCF has a scheduled election for its top oversight committee, the Executive Board (EB). Since 2003, almost all USCF members have been able to vote in EB elections. The 2007 election is a bit different than previous elections, both for the quality of the candidates and for the size of the issues facing the organization.
Current Status
- President • Bill Goichberg
- Vice President • Don Schultz
- VP Finance • Joel Channing
- Members at Large • Beatriz Marinello, Randall Hough, and Sam Sloan
The candidates for this year's election (in alphabetical order):
- Randy Bauer
- Jim Berry
- Mike Goodall
- Stephen Jones
- Mikhail Korenman
- Joe Lux
- Susan Polgar
- Don Schultz
- Sam Sloan
- Paul Truong
The list presents an unusually well qualified set of candidates, although all have their pluses and minuses. Each candidate received space to make a statement in the USCF's Chess Life for the months of April, May, and June. The 30 statements may be found on President Goichberg's web site Checkmate.US (see the sidebar).
Background
The USCF Executive Board (EB) manages the affairs of the Federation, including employment and other contracts, between meetings of the Board of Delegates and performs other duties as specified in the Bylaws. The Executive Board consists of seven National Officers elected for staggered terms of four years, plus the Executive Director serves as a non-voting member. The EB generally meets four times per year, and also conducts business by teleconference and by email.
Recent Elections: The last regular EB election was held in July 2005. Goichberg, Greg Shahade, Channing, and Robert Tanner were elected to four year terms. Shahade was required to resign his seat in January 2006, when his sister Jennifer was hired by the USCF as Web Editor, a position she still holds. Tanner resigned his seat in December 2006, following a controversy about his chess qualifications.
A special election was held in July 2006 to replace Shahade and Tim Hanke, who was elected in 2003, but resigned after the election in 2005. Hough was elected for a three year term, replacing Shahade. Sloan was elected for a one year term, replacing Hanke.
The 2007 election is for the seats of the three members elected to four year terms in 2003 -- Marinello, Sloan (who replaced Hanke), and Schultz -- plus the seat vacated by Tanner, which has two years left in its term. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes will serve four year terms. The candidate placed fourth will serve for two years.
