March 11, 2002

RE: Jeff Jones

Dear President Harris:

I have reviewed the letters from Robert Singletary and Ken Baxter regarding the application of NCCA funds during the tenure of Jeff Jones as President.

I will not repeat what is contained in those letters. I have total confidence in the judgment of these two men and their conclusions. Both men have given significant support to chess in North Carolina. Robert Singletary's tireless and continuous contributions are unequalled. He is respected in the highest councils of chess, including the state, nation and internationally. Ken Baxter made the Gambit a substantial, serious chess magazine worthy of national attention while he was President. He was the first of our Presidents to amass and nurture a treasury with a significant amount of money. I have relied upon these men for their advice for nearly two decades and their opinions carry much weight with me.

Thus I concur with the conclusions of these two men, both certified public accountants. I am an attorney and bring a different perspective to the mix. Uncovering fraud and determining the truth is part of my trade. My first observation is that if a man is corrupt and wants to embezzle money, he usually does so in such a manner as to not arouse suspicion or draw attention to himself. Submitting or creating financial reports which show reasonable expenditures give rise to opportunities to take a little here and there which goes unnoticed. Rarely does an embezzler in a high profile situation steal large amounts which are radically revealed and represent a high proportion of the funds.

I am impressed by the huge amounts of wasted money spent, not on Jeff Jones, but on others. I admire Matt Hoekstra and feel the Invitational is an important event, but I could not justify under any scenario, under my administration, to pay forty percent of the entire treasury on only a handful of the hundreds of my constituents. These kinds of expenditures indicate lack of judgment and concern for the future, but not self centered theft. Mr. Jones spent money, I am sure with good intent, on projects his fragile budget could ill afford, especially with no prospect of collecting fees to cover what had been spent. Ill advised expenditures, no Gambit and no aggressive collection of memberships fees doomed the treasury.

Jeff Jones, I believe, is not a bad man and did not intend any malfeasance which borders on criminal behavior. He is certainly guilty of misfeasance, or just plain bad judgment and poor business sense. I recommend no action. The NCCA is in good hands now. Our treasury is healthy again and the Gambit still lives. Any further action would be counterproductive and a waste of energy for our officers who are, after all, volunteers. If Jeff Jones were to desire office in the NCCA again, I would have grave reservations about his ability to carry out his duties and I would recommend revisiting his actions during his tenure for further review and making the membership aware of his clearly unbusinesslike decisions.

For those who read this letter and do not know me, I am a past two term President of the NCCA, Delegate to the USCF for the NCCA, former member of the Legal Liaison Committee for the USCF, legal counsel for the NCCA and the founder and organizer of the Land of the Sky Chess Tournament.

Sincerely,

A. Wilder Wadford, Esq.