Shame on the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame...

Shame on the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame...

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Fast and Curious

slatington, pa, usa

Joined
28 Dec 04
Moves
53223
24 Mar 19

@americalost said
@BigDoggProblem
It's amazing that anyone could even question whether Bobby Fischer should be in the Chess Hall of Fame. And regarding your statements about Polgars personality (which is just fine to anyone who isn't a sad sap with a desperate need to keep shoring up a framework of male superiority) and mental illness keeping people out of the HoF, I sense a very rigid personality... and not a very pleasant one. Under your rules that leaves you out of eligibility.
I doubt you could compare the personality of Fischer to Polgar. Fischer went on international TV and radio condemning Jews, even though he was 100% Jewish himself. As great a player as Fischer undoubtedly was, he was in the end, a nut case. Polgar was not even close in that regard.

wotagr8game

tbc

Joined
18 Feb 04
Moves
61941
25 Mar 19

Did i miss some news? Why would anyone have a problem with Susan Polgar?

Chess Librarian

The Stacks

Joined
21 Aug 09
Moves
113592
26 Mar 19

@sonhouse

And to not put too fine a point on it, BDP's point was that he thought personality should NOT be a factor- a point which AmericaLost missed completely.

K

Joined
09 Apr 19
Moves
9
09 Apr 19

Although I agree that Susan Polgar's personality and behavior aren't exactly fitting for a person in her position of influence, I think that everything she's done for women in chess and her record speak for themselves.

Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

Joined
26 Nov 04
Moves
155080
15 Apr 19

Just noticed Wilhelm Steinitz is in there, too...another highly unpleasant person, at times, but an extremely important figure in chess history.

e4

Joined
06 May 08
Moves
42492
15 Apr 19

Why don't they put in Claude Bloodgood, not only has he castled Kingside twice
in surname, he also made a complete mockery of the grading system by manipulating
a rating of over 2700....and he was a chess author.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Bloodgood

Q: What links Bloodgood, Steintz, Fischer (and Staunton).

A: They all died when they were 64.

Trump 2020

Joined
20 Mar 19
Moves
10829
15 Apr 19

Bloodgood killed his mother 😉
He also came up with the Norfolk Gambit.
White gets blacks queen for a rook, bishop and pawn.
Fun to play.

Chess Librarian

The Stacks

Joined
21 Aug 09
Moves
113592
16 Apr 19
1 edit

@greenpawn34

Bloodgood was from my hometown, and I own his book. It is probably worth noting that he warned the USCF about the problem of closed systems and the rating formula, but no one really bothered to notice until he qualified for the US Championship. Our best estimate at the time was that he was about USCF 2200 strength.
It was well known in Virginia that the South Mecklenburg State Penitentiary chess players were all very overrated due to the closed nature of they system, and some outside clubs would arrange matches, just to pick up some easy rating points.

The new USCF system was implemented in part to resolve this issue.

If it were a Hall of Infamy, I suppose he would qualify.