Now, the United States Chess Federation Executive Board proposes to do exactly the same thing with the name of Bobby Fischer, even though the USCF President, John McCrary, has admitted that he has never heard the tape on which Bobby Fischer made his allegedly objectionable remarks and that he does not know exactly what it was that Bobby Fischer said.
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|
Resolved: The USCF Executive Board hereby declares that the name "Alekhine" is expunged from chess history.
The Alekhine Defense shall hereafter be known as the "Blank Defense".
The books of Alekhine's games shall hereafter be known by such titles as "Blank's Best Games of Chess". (World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine expressed Pro-Nazi views during World War II).
Please note that this is exactly what the USCF Executive Board has said is to be done about Bobby Fischer. Instead of selling the book, "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess", it will sell under the title "Blank Blank Teaches Chess."
I am not joking. See the transcript of the February 10th Executive Board meeting, http://www.uschess.org/org/govern/transcript020210.html
13 MS. DuBOIS: We have a couple
14 products in our inventory line, one book is
15 Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and there's a
16 couple other ones his name is prominently in
17 the title. Would that have any effect?
18 PRESIDENT McCRARY: No, because one
19 of those would be in fact the outstanding
20 work by Dr. Brady. In fact, it should
21 remain.
22 MS. DuBOIS: Just need to know.
23 MR. SHUTT: Change the title, just
24 leave a blank.
0042
1
2 MR. SMITH: Blank teaches chess.
3 PRESIDENT McCRARY: It sounds like
4 that matter is resolved then. We'll proceed
5 to the next matter, which I've labeled the
6 membership drive."
======= = = = = = = = = = =
5 DR. BRADY: We could wait until
6 that date and then revoke his membership. I
7 don't know if you want to take a vote on
8 sending the people at the Hall of Fame a
9 letter asking them to do away with the
10 Fischer exhibit. Again, I don't by any way
11 shape or means want to hurt the museum. I
12 want it to prosper. I think it is good. I'm
13 not trying to interfere. But under the
14 circumstances I think something should be
15 done. "
-snip-
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, I'll
7 recognize myself.
8 First of all, as I indicated
9 earlier, I would support revocation of the
10 right to membership. I do support a
11 statement in Chess Life which states more
12 clearly what the basis for that is. And I
13 would support a letter to the Trust and to
14 FIDE expressing our concerns, that it is an
15 area of jurisdiction.
23 DR. BRADY: Why not give our
24 opinions? If indeed the board feels that we
0035
1
2 are going to revoke the membership, you can
3 poll the board as to whether or not you think
4 we should recommend that FIDE revoke his
5 title of Grand Master, and the U.S. Trust
6 revoke his prominence in the Hall of Fame. I
7 would say I would prefer that.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
10 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay.
11 It sounds as though we are in
12 agreement to consult with the Bylaws
13 Committee and the Election Procedures
14 Committee. And then Bob set up the
15 procedures for the special election. Okay.
16 Now, the next item we'll go into
17 would be the committee structure. Why don't
18 we take this one next, the Bobby Fischer
19 matter. Go ahead and do that. I will start
20 by giving the floor to Frank Niro to explain
21 what has been done since the last meeting,
22 and then we'll have discussion.
23 MR. NIRO: Well, simply George
24 DeFeis followed through and sent a letter as
0011
1
2 requested at the October board meeting to
3 Bobby Fischer through his attorney in Los
4 Angeles. That was mailed on January 17th.
5 And to this point we have no response.
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay,
7 discussion.
8 DR. BRADY: If I may.
9 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Yes.
10 DR. BRADY: Yes, I was disappointed
11 to see on page eleven of the March issue of
12 Chess Life such a tiny little notice of what
13 we're doing. I think this is, it just simply
14 states what the board had agreed to do, the
15 U.S. Chess Fedration disassociates itself
16 from the remarks made by Robert J. Fischer
17 about the terrorist action. USCF Executive
18 Board expresses the deepest sympathy for
19 victims of the tragedy and the strongest
20 condemnation of the actions of the
21 terrorist -- it should say terrorists plural,
22 but it doesn't. Mr. Fisher will be informed
23 that his membership may be revoked.
24 Well, that's all true, except that
0012
1
2 I'll bet you that 90 percent of the people
3 who read the magazine wouldn't even notice
4 it. It looks like a little tiny ad in there.
5 And I think this is an extremely important
6 juncture that has infiltrated the U.S. Chess
7 Federation.
8 And admittedly, I have some very
9 personal involvement in that 64 people from
10 my university were killed in the World Trade
11 Center. But aside from my own personal
12 involvement, what Fischer is saying -- and of
13 course it's not indicated here what he's
14 saying -- some of you may have read about it
15 on the Internet or even heard his radio
16 broadcast. His statements are of course
17 outrageous. They are mean. They are unkind.
18 They are perhaps legally treasonous. We are
19 at war.
20 And someone pointed out, well, you
21 know, what would you do in terms of Alekhine
22 during the Second World War? Well, if this
23 was the Second World War -- we are at war --
24 if this was '44 and Alekhine made those
0013
1
2 pro-Nazi statements, I think we should stand
3 up against Alekhine as well.
4 I was absolutely devastated that
5 the Hall of Fame installed Fischer
6 prominently, despite my complaints. If
7 anything, I think the U.S. Chess Federation
8 should do more than just simply revoking
9 Fischer's membership. Some people are
10 getting very technical and saying he's not
11 really a member. Well, I don't know what
12 that means. I think that all Grand Masters
13 automatically become members and receive
14 Chess Life. And I believe that Fischer
15 receives Chess Life, and that he's de facto a
16 member, because he's an American Grand
17 Master. Whether or not he says I am a member
18 or not or whether he walks around with a
19 membership card or not, I still think he's a
20 member. And by all means, he's been given 30
21 days. Not only should we revoke his
22 membership, if he does not answer -- and I
23 hope he does, but I doubt that he will, but
24 that that should be widely, widely
0014
1
2 publicized. And that every effort should be
3 made by the Executive Board to pressure the
4 Hall of Fame to remove Fischer from their
5 exhibits, and further an attempt should be
6 made by FIDE to strip Fischer of his Grand
7 Master title -- well, can't strip him for his
8 World Championship title, but strip him from
9 his Grand Master title. That's all I have to
10 say.
11 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, well, I
12 would support revocation of the right to
13 membership, which he's entitled to as a Grand
14 Master. I would also support a larger piece
15 of some type in Chess Life, which might
16 include such quotes as we are sure were
17 correctly attributed to him. And I believe
18 you actually heard his interview, so there's
19 no question of the authenticity.
20 DR. BRADY: Yes.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: And I would
22 also concur with expressing our concerns
23 about this both to the Trust and to FIDE for
24 the areas that fall within their
0015
1
2 jurisdiction.
3 Now, the question of how to do this
4 as a motion partly comes in with the fact
5 that the letter was sent very late, and so
6 therefore the 30 days have not yet expired.
7 They would expire I believe next Saturday,
8 the 16th. So perhaps we could phrase a
9 motion today which we could pass by
10 objections procedure at that time. Would
11 that be acceptable?
12 DR. BRADY: That would be
13 acceptable. Or we could wait until the May
14 meeting. You know, there's no great rush to
15 do this, but I think it has to be done.
16 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Any other
17 comments on that?
18 MR. CAMARATTA: Well, I guess, you
19 know, it obviously has been suggested that
20 Fischer never made those comments, and that
21 the tape recording was a fraud. I think we
22 need to know whether or not those suggestions
23 are pure conjecture or whether we have
24 absolute proof that it was said. That's one.
0016
1
2 And I've already written my
3 feelings about the other. He was installed
4 in the Hall of Fame in 1986 for his chess
5 playing prowess, not for some of his idiotic
6 thoughts. And I don't think it's
7 appropriate, A) to expunge him from history.
8 He's certainly a major part of chess history
9 and don't see the point on pressing FIDE.
10 His World Championship he was; no longer. It
11 is a fact that actually happened. You can't
12 change history.
13 As much as we despise what he said,
14 if they are his words, they are just words.
15 I don't believe going beyond that really
16 serves any purpose. I don't want to be in a
17 position where this board supports changing
18 history. This has already happened. Fischer
19 is what Fischer is. He's a great chess
20 player, an historical figure. Being an
21 historical figure means he belongs in the
22 Hall of Fame. That's the history of chess.
23 We may not like him, but he's there.
24 Alekhine is going to be there. There are
0017
1
2 some unsavory people that play chess
3 unfortunately.
4 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Any other
5 comments? Steve.
6 MR. SHUTT: How would you
7 determine -- you said you would like to know
8 whether or not he said the words. Now would
9 you go about even determining if the tape is
10 a fraud or not? I wouldn't assume that it
11 was, but if you think it is, how would you
12 determine that?
13 MR. CAMARATTA: I didn't say it
14 was. I said I heard it.
15 MR. SHUTT: How would you
16 determine whether or not he actually said
17 those words?
18 MR. CAMARATTA: A voice print.
19 MR. SHUTT: What?
20 MR. CAMARATTA: A voice print.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, I'll
22 recognize Don Schultz.
23 MR. SCHULTZ: Yes, I'd just like to
24 say a couple of things. One I think whatever
0018
1
2 the board does on this it really should do
3 unanimously. I think the reason to do
4 this -- I mean we don't care much about
5 Fischer I don't think -- it is to completely
6 disassociate the U.S. Chess Federation from
7 these terrible things that he said.
8 As far as history goes, I don't
9 think it's a question of correcting history.
10 I think Fischer had ratings, maybe the
11 highest rating of all times, and that can be
12 changed. He was given a Grand Master title,
13 that can be changed. But you can take that
14 title away, and that really doesn't affect
15 history. The Hall of Fame is just that.
16 It's a Hall of Fame, not a hall of infamy.
17 And he was put in it, and no one is going to
18 say he wasn't. But there's no reason why you
19 can't take him out of the Hall of Fame.
20 I think the thrust here should be
21 to publicize what you're doing. It's not
22 that you want to do something to protect
23 individuals or the federation in a small way.
24 You just want to make it very clear. That's
0019
1
2 why I think Frank's point, the little thing
3 in the magazine is not so good.
4 There have been some very strong
5 letters on this, letters to the editor to
6 post that, maybe a little article in the
7 magazine and see the reaction to it. But I
8 think it's a public relations problem.
9 Because as time goes on and things get worse
10 perhaps, it could really reflect bad on the
11 USCF for honoring somebody who has -- I
12 couldn't listen -- I started to listen to the
13 tape, and after about 60 seconds I had to
14 turn it off. It was so terrible. It really
15 was. And I believe it was Fischer. I don't
16 see how it could not be.
17 MR. CAMARATTA: I'm not saying it
18 was or wasn't. All I'm saying is I heard
19 that allegation. Just reporting what I
20 heard.
21 MR. SCHULTZ: Yeah, I appreciate
22 there are two sides of the argument.
23 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, Dr. Brady.
24 DR. BRADY: There are some people
0020
1
2 that believe that Fischer walks on water.
3 And our support of Fischer, no matter what he
4 did, if he assassinated the president of the
5 United States, they would still want him to
6 remain in the Hall of Fame. And there's
7 nothing we can do about that.
8 One of his biggest supporters
9 indeed posted something on the net saying
10 maybe this isn't Fischer. I listened to the
11 entire tape -- not that I am expert in the
12 field, but I am Fischer's biographer and
13 indeed spoke to him hundreds and hundreds of
14 times over the telephone and in person. And
15 if expert testimony prevails, I am telling
16 you that that was Bobby's voice. And it was
17 not anybody else making it up.
18 We don't want to make this another
19 Watergate where we have tapes and missing
20 gaps and so forth and so on. We'll spend all
21 of our time trying to determine the
22 authenticity of the voice and so forth. I
23 don't think that that's necessary. We all
24 know any reasonable person who hears the tape
0021
1
2 will know that it was Fischer, and anybody
3 who has ever spoken to Fischer will know that
4 it's Fischer.
5 I just stand by my feeling that the
6 Hall of Fame is indeed that. It is
7 recognizing this person. I think sometimes
8 we have to forget about the chess and look at
9 the person. And I know that's heretical
10 among chess players to say. But I believe
11 let's look at the person, and if the person
12 is indeed in this particular case, when the
13 United States is at war and the United States
14 has lost thousands of people, innocent
15 people, and someone says he applauds the act,
16 he's glad United States got what they wanted,
17 the people in the World Trade Center deserve
18 what they got, I think we can not tolerate
19 this.
20 This is our group, this is our
21 organization. As our group and we do have
22 the right -- it's part of the bylaws, that we
23 have a right to expunge people for reasons
24 that we so deem reasonable.
0022
1
2 So I think that we can wait till
3 what date did you say was it, February --?
4 PRESIDENT McCRARY: 16th.
5 DR. BRADY: We could wait until
6 that date and then revoke his membership. I
7 don't know if you want to take a vote on
8 sending the people at the Hall of Fame a
9 letter asking them to do away with the
10 Fischer exhibit. Again, I don't by any way
11 shape or means want to hurt the museum. I
12 want it to prosper. I think it is good. I'm
13 not trying to interfere. But under the
14 circumstances I think something should be
15 done.
16 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, Frank
17 Camaratta.
18 MR. CAMARATTA: Yeah, I want to get
19 back, you know keep in mind, it is not just a
20 Hall of Fame. It is a museum. It deals with
21 history in chess. Bobby Fischer is a piece
22 of history in chess, whether or not we like
23 it. I still feel very strongly we can not
24 change history. There is nothing in the
0023
1
2 bylaws I ever saw that says we can expunge
3 anybody. We can deprive them of their
4 membership, but we can't make them a
5 non-person.
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, I'll
7 recognize myself.
8 First of all, as I indicated
9 earlier, I would support revocation of the
10 right to membership. I do support a
11 statement in Chess Life which states more
12 clearly what the basis for that is. And I
13 would support a letter to the Trust and to
14 FIDE expressing our concerns, that it is an
15 area of jurisdiction.
16 It is somewhat ironic -- I woke up
17 early about 5:30 and in fact picked up Dr.
18 Brady's book on Bobby Fischer to read. And
19 obviously it is a classic book and very well
20 written, and it's fascinating to read. And
21 it is tragic that this person who made such
22 an impact has allowed himself to degenerate
23 the way he has.
24 Regarding the general issues of
0024
1
2 Hall of Fame and museums, it is an awkward
3 matter. If we expunge museums of all
4 undesirable people, you know, we won't have
5 any museums. The question of Hall of Fame is
6 a different matter. In the baseball Hall of
7 Fame, there are persons who were indicted and
8 later found to be involved in serious
9 gambling activities. So baseball has faced
10 the same situation.
11 I guess first I want to ask one
12 question, and then I want to poll the board
13 on a couple of things. And I'm going to put
14 you on the spot, Mr. Belcher. You just came
15 in to visit, and you've got to be put to work
16 immediately.
17 You're an attorney. Do you feel
18 just from a legal standpoint, would there be
19 any issues we would have to consider here. ?
20 MR. BELCHER: Well, as I was
21 listening, I mean all I could think about was
22 what you just said. And as I was listening
23 to what John just said, you know, I just
24 thought about what a tragedy, what a tragedy
0025
1
2 it is. And frankly, some of my thoughts had
3 to do I guess with not legal but had to do
4 with the Association. Because I know that in
5 marketing usually when you try to
6 disassociate yourself from some bad news, you
7 just make it worse. You know, people just
8 link; if they see more items out there, they
9 just link the USCF with Bobby Fischer. So,
10 you know, that's -- so I think how we
11 disassociate ourselves -- I guess, you know,
12 I wouldn't recommend a big article about it.
13 Because frankly, even before this happened, I
14 thought it was probably one of the biggest
15 tragedies for scholastic chess anyway,
16 because here was this hero for the children
17 of America. And if ever there was, you know,
18 a terrible hero, there you are.
19 I don't think that really there's a
20 legal issue. And you know, I think that
21 the -- you notice that was already put in the
22 magazine was, you know, a nice notice, very
23 simple. You know, it wasn't as big as I'm
24 sure we all would want it to be. But in
0026
1
2 terms of a legal point of view, I'm sure that
3 that would suffice. But, you know, I think
4 there's other reasons to continue to do
5 exactly what you're thinking about.
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: So just to
7 follow up before I get to Steve, I didn't
8 hear you express any legal concerns that you
9 could think of off the top of your head about
10 the actual revocation of right to membership?
11 MR. BELCHER: I don't think so.
12 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, Steve.
13 MR. SHUTT: Yeah, I haven't seen
14 the exhibit on Fischer, and is it up? Is it
15 complete?
16 PRESIDENT McCRARY: There are some
17 items there, yes.
18 MR. SHUTT: I think that when you
19 put an exhibit up there's a wide latitude as
20 to how the exhibit is displayed. You can
21 simply list all the world champions and maybe
22 show their picture, the dates they were world
23 champion, and that's recording history. And
24 I wouldn't put a big gap or hole there. But
0027
1
2 on the other hand I know when you get a hero
3 you want to glamourize him and we have always
4 wanted to take our American heroes, whether
5 Paul Morphy or Bobby Fischer -- because we
6 haven't had a great number of chess world
7 champions -- and promptly display them and
8 showcase them. And I think certainly that's
9 an area that we don't need to do in this
10 case. We don't need to put in a big
11 glamorous display showcasing him and building
12 him up up as something that could be
13 idolized.
14 So there's a lot that could be done
15 to restrict the kind of prominence that he is
16 given in the Hall of Fame, should they elect
17 to continue displaying him. It could be
18 merely as an historical figure listing he was
19 world champion at such and such a time
20 without putting a lot of paraphernalia, like
21 this is Bobby Fischer's first chess set,
22 whatever. Which you often find happening.
23 It doesn't have to be a high visibility kind
24 of thing. And that I think would be in poor
0028
1
2 taste. Even if we don't have the authority
3 to dictate that, I think that if they did
4 that, showcase him in a prominent way, that
5 would be in poor taste. Basically I agree
6 with the rest of the membership.
7 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, Frank
8 Camaratta.
9 MR. CAMARATTA: A couple of things
10 real quick. Of course we can always show
11 Spasky prominently and mention who he played.
12 But we will overlook that trick. We know
13 there are people -- that some people believe
14 are legitimate candidates for halls of fame
15 that were never inducted because of their
16 behavior. We can mention one very prominent
17 person who we won't. Have any people
18 actually been removed from Hall of Fame?
19 PRESIDENT McCRARY: I'm not aware
20 of one. Except I'm only familiar with the
21 baseball Hall of Fame.
22 DR. BRADY: Are you talking about
23 chess or just general?
24 MR. CAMARATTA: In general.
0029
1
2 DR. BRADY: In general, I don't
3 know of people being removed from halls of
4 fame, but I remember people having just
5 recently, people who were stripped of their
6 titles, including that of champion of the
7 world.
8 MR. CAMARATTA: That's happened a
9 number of times.
10 DR. BRADY: Yeah, yeah, yeah,
11 boxing and in other things. So the fact of
12 stripping the title is done all the time.
13 MR. CAMARATTA: Let me respond to
14 that though. People that have been stripped
15 of titles when they had them, but they have
16 never been stripped of ex. When Ali lost his
17 he was world champion, he was always referred
18 to as former. Never lost that. You would be
19 very correct if he were world champion, but
20 the fact that he was, he was, that's a fact.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Dr. Brady.
22 DR. BRADY: If I may, just one
23 other very short thing. I'm sorry to keep
24 harping on it. I don't know how you --
0030
1
2 people have responded in your individual
3 worlds, but at university, where I teach, I
4 must have had about a half a dozen people --
5 which is pretty high -- students and faculty
6 have come to me, knowing that I'm a chess
7 player and knowing that I've written a
8 biography of Bobby Fischer, saying what's
9 going on with Fischer? I even had one
10 student say to me: How could you have
11 written a biography of Bobby Fischer?
12 MR. CAMARATTA: A perfect example.
13 I didn't write it.
14 DR. BRADY: I said, you know, that
15 was in '72, and that I'm sorry. You know,
16 but I'm constantly having to explain it. If
17 that's just in my little world, what about
18 the entire chess world? The blight of damage
19 that he's already done is incredible. So if
20 you want to talk about marketing or publicity
21 value and so forth, the harm is already done.
22 And so I think that maybe we can through
23 statements and through articles and through
24 press conferences and through other media
0031
1
2 outlets, we can soften a little bit the
3 damage that he has done to American chess.
4 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Steve, go
5 ahead.
6 MR. SHUTT: Most of the people
7 that I've talked to, most of them are going
8 to be younger than the college age, and they
9 aren't aware of it. They did not hear it.
10 They don't know anything about it, and I
11 don't know. Those that haven't heard about
12 it, I would just as soon they not even know.
13 I don't go into a big long thing with them
14 about it. But I'm a little -- what do you
15 think, Frank, about -- is there a danger of
16 us --
17 DR. BRADY: Well, that is altering
18 history unto itself, if we don't -- you know,
19 if you're giving instruction to your students
20 about chess and Fischer comes up, I mean I
21 think you're going to have to say what he's
22 like.
23 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, I'm going
24 to actually at this point I want to get this
0032
1
2 matter resolved, so I'm not going to
3 recognize persons from the audience.
4 I will comment first. I think the
5 cat's out of the bag already. I mean I
6 suspect, based on what's in the March Chess
7 Life that there will be other letters coming
8 to the editor already and that Peter will
9 probably be considering those for
10 publication, and I think it is within his
11 rights to do so.
12 That being the case, one
13 alternative might be -- your timing was very
14 good Peter; Peter Kurzdorfer I just mentioned
15 your name. We are talking about the issue of
16 Bobby Fischer. And I'm assuming that you
17 might have received other communications
18 besides the one already published on the
19 matter.
20 MR. KURZDORFER: Yes.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: So I think to
22 address one of the concerns of the board,
23 it's likely that Chess Life is going to have
24 to address this matter anyway. And I don't
0033
1
2 think it can be avoided at this point. I
3 could be wrong. But I think it is a
4 legitimate matter of discussion. That being
5 the case, one suggestion might be that
6 perhaps Dr. Brady could write a statement for
7 the letters column on the matter.
8 What do you think, Frank?
9 DR. BRADY: I'm perfectly willing
10 to do that, and shall, if invited. But could
11 we entertain a motion or is that not right
12 now?
13 PRESIDENT McCRARY: No, that's my
14 next point.
15 DR. BRADY: Okay.
16 PRESIDENT McCRARY: I wanted to
17 poll the board on the several points that
18 were discussed and just see where we are
19 informally. First of all, on the matter of
20 revoking his right to membership, is there a
21 board member who would object to doing so?
22 Okay, hearing none I assume there is not.
23 On the matter of conveying our
24 concerns in a letter to the Trust and to
0034
1
2 FIDE, is there any board member who would
3 object to doing so?
4 MR. CAMARATTA: Question, what
5 would be the tenor of it?
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: My
7 recommendation would be to state what has
8 been expressed here, that because of these
9 incredible statements that in fact the board
10 would like the responsible bodies to consider
11 whether action should be taken, specifically
12 such as membership in the Hall of Fame and
13 Grand Master status. And I'd refer it to
14 those boards that have jurisdiction.
15 MR. CAMARATTA: Let me comment a
16 little further. I would support a letter
17 that went out in more of an interrogatory,
18 like what are your opinions, rather than
19 stating our position in a hard we think you
20 should.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Okay, what do
22 you think, Frank?
23 DR. BRADY: Why not give our
24 opinions? If indeed the board feels that we
0035
1
2 are going to revoke the membership, you can
3 poll the board as to whether or not you think
4 we should recommend that FIDE revoke his
5 title of Grand Master, and the U.S. Trust
6 revoke his prominence in the Hall of Fame. I
7 would say I would prefer that.
8 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Peter, did you
9 have something?
10 MR. KURZDORFER: Just one thing
11 about revoking Grand Master. Wouldn't that
12 be politicizing the title? Which is one
13 thing I thought we were trying to avoid.
14 Because essentially, he won his Grand Master
15 title through playing chess, and what he's
16 doing now has nothing to do with chess.
17 DR. BRADY: Nor was Pete Rose doing
18 that in baseball.
19 MR. KURZDORFER: It is the chess
20 world. But chess itself, he's still --
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: All right,
22 seems like there was a third point. I guess
23 those are the main ones. It sounds as though
24 we are in agreement on the first two, which
0036
1
2 is revocation of right to membership and
3 having Dr. Brady offer something to you for
4 publication to be associated perhaps with the
5 letters that you're going to be getting
6 anyway.
7 MR. KURZDORFER: Oh, sure.
8 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Because I think
9 the issue will come up. I think chess
10 players will have strong opinions one way or
11 another. After the issue came out and before
12 I received my copy, I think I got the last
13 copy in America when it finally got to my
14 mailbox. But I had already received an
15 e-mail from someone who I had never heard of
16 complaining that we used the word "may"; that
17 we should have definitely thrown him out. So
18 you're going to get strong opinions both
19 ways.
20 So I think it is going to come into
21 the issue, and I think that's the best way.
22 And it's possible that other board members
23 might want to join with you in doing that
24 after you've drafted something. Perhaps a
0037
1
2 letter sent to these other bodies from board
3 members who are interested.
4 MR. CAMARATTA: Real quick.
5 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Yes.
6 MR. CAMARATTA: There is a way to
7 do that. I would like to not tell anybody
8 what to do. I would like to have a letter
9 going out asking that these bodies join us in
10 condemning this reprehensible act and do it
11 that way, rather than suggest remedies. We
12 could say we revoked the membership, and we
13 are looking for the World Chess Organization
14 to join us, and that type of a letter.
15 MR. SHUTT: Statement of
16 condemnation.
17 MR. CAMARATTA: Yes, absolutely.
18 DR. BRADY: Yes, that's acceptable.
19 MR. SMITH: Condemnation in the
20 very strongest terms.
21 PRESIDENT McCRARY: It sounds like
22 now we have achieved agreement, is that
23 correct?
24 DR. BRADY: Yes.
0038
1
2 MR. SHUTT: Can I?
3 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Yes.
4 MR. SHUTT: I also think we can
5 let the museum know that the kind of display
6 should be carefully considered, and that the
7 word "prominent" is very important. We don't
8 have to change history. We can recognize the
9 historic fact that he was world champion
10 without giving him a prominent type of
11 display that glorifies him. And I think that
12 would be in bad taste. And I think we could
13 convey our feelings about that to the museum.
14 PRESIDENT McCRARY: I would agree.
15 I think as they stand now the display is
16 focussed on his chess ahievements, because
17 before this he was making pro-Nazi statements
18 and everything else. So this is the way that
19 he did before. There's not a heroism concept
20 there. Did you have something else?
21 DR. BRADY: Just to clarify. The
22 statement that we agreed upon in October was
23 that his -- and the letter stated that his
24 membership may be revoked. Now, if he does
0039
1
2 not respond by January 16th -- or February
3 16th, does that mean we are now agreeing that
4 we will revoke his membership?
5 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Well, that was
6 my next point.
7 DR. BRADY: Oh, sorry.
8 PRESIDENT McCRARY: We're thinking
9 alike. It sounds as though if we've reached
10 agreement that we could probably pass a
11 motion by objections procedure after the 16th
12 without difficulty on these points. Would
13 that be reasonable?
14 MR. CAMARATTA: Yeah, we could do
15 it now and have it become effective. I mean
16 anyway you want to do it is fine.
17 PRESIDENT McCRARY: I could write
18 up something while we are doing something
19 else and see what it sounds like. I'm a
20 little hesitant from a legal standpoint to
21 say if we don't hear this we will do that.
22 That kind of anticipates the process. I
23 would prefer to do it by objections
24 procedure. And I think we can expedite it
0040
1
2 and people would e-mail me back very quickly
3 with their responses. We could expedite it.
4 MR. CAMARATTA: Just a matter of
5 when you get an e-mail response, how do you
6 keep a record of that, just for the record
7 and so that it is -- people other than
8 yourself, other boards can access it if
9 necessary; what is your procedure?
10 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Well, for
11 objections procedure motions, we have a file
12 that I have a personal file that I print it
13 out, all the responses. And then that is
14 entered into the minutes of the following
15 meeting. And all of the responses should be
16 copied to the full board at the time they are
17 sending them.
18 MR. CAMARATTA: All right.
19 MR. NIRO: Just a clarification.
20 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Yes.
21 MR. NIRO: You mentioned earlier
22 that we were talking about his right to
23 membership. I thought you said that. I
24 think technically -- and it's merely a
0041
1
2 technicality -- he is not a member and has
3 not been a member since 1985. And we have no
4 record of ever sending him Chess Life since
5 at least 1985.
6 PRESIDENT McCRARY: I think it
7 would be the right to membership as a Grand
8 Master -- well, even if he were to send in
9 his $40, it would be taking away his right to
10 pay up.
11 MR. NIRO: Just to clarify.
12 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Joan.
13 MS. DuBOIS: We have a couple
14 products in our inventory line, one book is
15 Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and there's a
16 couple other ones his name is prominently in
17 the title. Would that have any effect?
18 PRESIDENT McCRARY: No, because one
19 of those would be in fact the outstanding
20 work by Dr. Brady. In fact, it should
21 remain.
22 MS. DuBOIS: Just need to know.
23 MR. SHUTT: Change the title, just
24 leave a blank.
0042
1
2 MR. SMITH: Blank teaches chess.
3 PRESIDENT McCRARY: It sounds like
4 that matter is resolved then. We'll proceed
5 to the next matter, which I've labeled the
6 membership drive.
7 MR. SMITH: John, how do you want
8 to treat this in the minutes?
9 PRESIDENT McCRARY: Well, no motion
10 was passed today. It would be done as an
11 objections procedure motion.
12 MR. SMITH: Okay.
13 PRESIDENT McCRARY: And then that
14 would go into the minutes of the spring
15 meeting.
16 MR. SMITH: Okay.
17 PRESIDENT McCRARY: So the next
18 matter is membership drive. I put this on
19 for a couple of reasons, one being -- for
20 three reasons. One being that even though
21 our membership has topped 90,000, the trends
22 have not changed. We are continuing to lose
23 adult regular members at the same straight
24 line rate.
The following motion is taken from the USCF Delegate's Call 2002, page 15, and is also on the USCF web site. Please note that in addition to expelling Fischer from the USCF, it also directs the Interim Executive Director Frank Niro to write letters to FIDE and to the US Chess Trust. The transcript of the board meeting shows that the purpose of writing to FIDE was to request that Fischer's grandmaster title be revoked and the purpose of writing to the US Chess Trust was to ask that the Fischer exhibit in the US Chess Hall of Fame be either eliminated or substantially downgraded.
I would be interested in knowing if these letters were ever written and sent. I suspect that they were not.
Sam Sloan
Board Actions between Meetings
The following motions were presented through objections procedure.
"EB 02-40: (Board): "The US Chess Federation informs Grandmaster Robert J. Fischer that, because of his deplorable public remarks in support of terrorist actions, his right to membership in the United States Chess Federation is cancelled. The Interim Executive Director is asked to write to FIDE and to the US Chess Trust about this action and about the public remarks of Mr. Fischer, with a request that those organizations join the USCF in condemnation of Mr. Fischer's remarks." PASSED BY THE OBJECTIONS PROCEDURE"
Source: http://www.uschess.org/docs/pdf/15EBactionsvolex02.PDF