Chess may be an elegant game of the intellect, played sitting down, but don’t let the lack of cross-body blocks fool you. When chess egos clash, sparks fly.
The executive board of the United States Chess Federation, the sport’s national governing body, has long had a reputation for contentiousness, but the latest issue of Chess Life, the organization’s monthly magazine, devotes an entire page to descriptions of six lawsuits in which the USCF and its board are embroiled.
In five of them, present and former board members, as well as the federation itself, hurl charges of identity theft, obscene Internet postings, unlawful copying of e-mails, violation of attorney-client privilege, impersonation, defamation of character, slander and election skulduggery. In the sixth lawsuit, ChessCafe.com, an online store of chess sets, clocks and books, accuses the USCF of violating a contract for the exclusive sale of products to the group’s 80,000 members.
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“It’s all very regrettable,” said Harold Dondis, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the U.S. Chess Trust, a national charity focused on chess education. For many years, the trust was affiliated with the federation, but it broke ties with the USCF two years ago.
Dondis, who is also chess columnist for the Boston Globe, calls the flurry of lawsuits “a scandal.” He has urged the parties to reach a peaceful settlement for the good of the sport. But he has little hope.
“It puts us in a terrible light,” he said.
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