Somebody posted to this group that Beatriz Marinello is a US citizen. I am almost certain that this is not true. I do know that she had difficulty withdrawing $513,000 from the Key Bank in Newburgh because of questions related to her immigration status. Then, the judge froze the account and for that reason the money is still there.
One reason that I believe that it is unlikely that Beatriz is a US Citizen is that I know several other immigrants who have been in the US longer than Beatriz and they have not been able to become citizens yet. Of course, it is entirely possible that Beatriz got her papers through faster than others.
Another factor is that Beatriz got her green card by being married very briefly to a chess player. The law has been changed so that now a green card expires if the persons do not remain married for two years. The marriage between Beatriz and this chess player lasted a lot less than two years, although it is possible that a paper marriage between them lasted longer than that.
The first tournament that Beatriz Marinello played in on the USCF MSA database took place in December 1991. I believe that Beatriz first came to the USA in 1990.
http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtHst.php?12537449.2
Beatriz is from Chile. Another curious fact is that I can find no record of Beatriz playing in any Womans Tournaments in Chile at all. When she came to the USA, she was clearly a master strength player, which would make her by far the strongest female chess player in Chile. Yet, on the Chess Databases, there are no recorded games or tournament results of any kind in which the name of Beatriz Marinello appears.
According to the fide.com ratings database, Beatriz Marinello was born on May 14, 1964.
http://www.fide.com/ratings/card.phtml?event=2005484
Most chess players reach their peak strength by their late 20s. When Beatriz came to America, she would have been 26. By then, she must have been a master. I do not recall seeing her at the 1986 World Chess Olympiad in Dubai 1986 or at the World Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki 1988. I was at both Olympiads and I am always looking at the girls. I do not remember seeing Beatriz there, but I could easily have missed her. By then, she would certainly have been strong enough to play first board for the team from Chile.
http://www.samsloan.com/polgars.htm
What I suspect is that she has another name. She even spells her first name two different ways: Beatriz and Beatrice. I have seen her spell it both ways.
Her last name indicates Italian origin. The ll combination sounds like a y in Spanish.
It is definitely odd that the strongest woman chess player from Chile and one of the strongest in all of South America never played a published chess game or reported tournament result in Chile or anywhere else in South America, at least not that I can find.
Right after she was elected USCF President in August 2003, Beatriz was diagnosed with kidney disease and she went back to Chile reportedly to seek a kidney transplant from one of her relatives there. She came back after two months. Therefore, she must have legal entry papers.
Last month, Beatriz went to Spain for the World Chess Olympiad, and now she is back again, so she must have a legal visa.
However, we have a right to inquire as to her legal status. We are about to hire her as Acting Executive Director of the USCF, a salaried position. We are legally required to see her WORKING PAPERS before giving her a job. Beatriz needs to be carrying a work permit from the INS Department of Homeland Security and we are required by law to ask her to show it.
When she takes office as ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR as currently scheduled on December 20, 2004, Beatriz Marinello will have complete control over all of the USCF funds, not only the $513,000 in the account holding the proceeds from the sale of the building (assuming that the account is unfrozen by that time), but also the general account from which employee salaries and bills are paid. Beatriz will be given access to nearly one million dollars in USCF funds.
Can we really afford to give control over such a large amount of money to someone whose immigrations status and perhaps even her real name is unknown?
Sam Sloan