Originally posted by tonytiger41
the USCF has been a poorly run organization for decades because the same cast of characters ran the board.. the last election resulted in the electiion of "outsiders" like truong and polgar.
truong and polgar have done more to promote chess in the US than the USCF organziation
as for sloan, he is of questionable character.
I agree with most of your comments. My previous comment was made mostly in jest, but there was a tiny grain of seriousness imbedded in it. I'm very familiar with Sam's past, but he HAS been known to hit the bullseye. Sam's research was instrumental in an ethics complaint being filed against Robert Tanner for some alleged shenanigans in some tournaments in which he was involved. Mr. Tanner eventually resigned his board seat due to this complaint.
I have no idea what's going on with this Spice Open tournament. Maybe there's a perfectly good explanation that I simply don't know about. All I can say is that it doesn't look good to me at first blush, and Paul is not known for his crystal clear answers to questions that he'd prefer not to address. (Actually, I think any questions regarding this tournament would probably need to be addressed to the TDs of the tournament instead of Paul.) However, If I were in Paul Truong's shoes, knowing the history of the Tanner complaint, and knowing that Sam probably is not going to let anything alone that's even remotely questionable, I'd be bending over backwards to not do anything or be involved in anything in the chess world that would even remotely give someone cause to raise issues.
Yes, Susan and Paul have done much for US chess. And, yes, I think the prior USCF governance leaves a LOT to be desired. I want to believe in Susan, and I sincerely hope that Susan can help improve the USCF's governance problems. However, I don't know much about Paul Truong's past. (Not for lack of trying, mind you!) Paul may be innocent of the Fake Sam Sloan posting allegations in Sloan's latest lawsuit, but I'm not yet convinced of Paul's innocence. If he is innocent of the charges, he sure has a strange way of reacting to the issue. I'll wait for the lawsuit to progress before I attempt to form any personal opinions regarding Paul.