| Incident
at the CCC Rectified It is the responsibility of this Director to report an incident which took place at the CCC last Wednesday evening, 11-13-13, between two of our club's top players. A verbal disagreement at the conclusion of their game caused one player to use "unacceptable profanity." In doing so, his opponent, as well as other members were "disturbed and offended." Furthermore, in recent times, the violator seems to have developed a pattern for repeating this type of behavior. Such outbursts shall not be tolerated at the Charlotte Chess Club. Therefore, per the USCF Official Rules of Chess, 5th Addition, USCF Code of Ethics, p.233, para. 5, it has been determined that the violator's behavior was "inconsistent with the principles of fair play, good sportsmanship, honesty, and respect for the rights of others..." Accordingly, he has been censured from participating at the CCC for the next 2 weeks. He will also be subjected to a 6 month probationary period. Chess is a rare form of human competition. Due to our relatively accurate rating system, it is one of the few competitive arenas where a 70 year old may be paired against an equally rated 13 years old! If, per chance, the younger player wins, it certainly does not give him the right to be disrespectful to his older opponent!? Regardless of the outcome of any game, all members should maintain decorum and render respect to his opponent; win, lose or draw. In almost every chess club in the world, when most of the games are winding down, a certain amount of commotion naturally occurs after an "exhilarated winner" begins post-mortem analysis with an "angry loser" at their board!? And, like clockwork, the director and players whose games are still in progress never fail to promptly turn and "shush" them and demand that they discuss their game elsewhere!? The problem is, the guys who were "shushing" last week are the ones who are talking this week??! No chess player on the planet is completely innocent of ever having done that! Therefore, it is this Director's obligation to remind all CCC members to render respect to your fellow players by being "quiet" after your game has concluded. By the way, if anyone wishes to know the names of the two players involved, come to the club next week and I'll tell you... NM Leland Fuerstman, STD Charlotte Chess Club |