John McCrary
564 Rainbow Circle
West Columbia, SC 29170
e-mail: mccrary@axs2k.net
or rjmccrary@prodigy.net
Phone: 803-794-5773

Fellow USCF leaders:

Congratulations on your selection as Delegates and Alternate Delegates of the US Chess Federation. One of your tasks will be to serve as Electors of the USCF Executive Board, to be done by secret ballot this summer. I am a candidate for the Executive Board in the 2001 election. In this first letter I will briefly discuss some of the issues I will address if elected.

Please note that I am including a brief description of my record as a Board member ( or as another officer) on each issue. I do this because of my public accountability. I will be glad to answer questions from anyone, including my rationale for voting on any motion unless such explanation would violate closed-session confidentiality.

The issue: In October 2000, the office announced a huge increase in the cost of advertising tournaments in Chess Life. This change was declared without any prior knowledge or input by several Board members, including me.The change was apparently planned in August 2000, but neither the Delegates nor some Board members were informed before its October announcement.

My Board record: At the October 2000 Board meeting, I moved to return Tournament life ad (TLA) costs to their pre-Saint Paul levels, in order to cancel the huge increases just announced. This motion failed by a 3-4 vote, with Smith, McCrary, and Ippolito in favor. Because the motion failed, the huge TLA increases remained in effect.

Recommendation: Although subsequently moderated by the ED, the TLA policy as it stands is still a serious mistake. Bob Smith stated in debate that increasing the TLA rates was a "penny-wise-and-pound-foolish" policy. Without the work of our local and state leaders, we cannot achieve membership growth.Without membership growth, we cannot achieve our long-range objectives, and there will be no "gain" from increasing TLA costs. The local organizer is the backbone of USCF growth, typically giving up considerable time and money purely to help chess. The USCF must help our organizers help the USCF through an inexpensive TLA policy!

The issue: At the January 2001 Board meeting, a plan was presented which causes me significant concern. This plan would make fundamental downsizing changes in the USCF book-and-equipment operations. Central to this plan is the movement toward the USCF’s selling only "basic" items. The more specialized items will be farmed out, in effect, to other providers, perhaps through deals that allow USCF members to get a discount by going directly to those providers. Also, suppliers will be encouraged simply to advertise in Chess Life rather than letting us sell their items. This plan will create a significant long-term erosion of a fundamental membership benefit. The book-and-equipment operation should be improved rather than downsized.

Correspondence chess is also a major membership benefit that is highly valued by thousands of members. Even when staff costs are figured in, this program basically pays for itself.

My Board record: My record is clear. I argued against the downsizing or elimination of both the book-and-equipment operation and correspondence chess, and voted against the motion endorsing the former course.( No motion was presented regarding correspondence chess.)

Recommendation: The book-and-equipment operation must remain a major resource for our members. There is no good economic reason for its downsizing. I have monitored its income and expenses carefully since joining the Board, and even in lean times, the operation still provides important financial support for other USCF programs. Just as importantly, the book-and-equipment operation provides a major membership benefit. Service must be improved, but the operation itself should not be reduced and serious players forced to look elsewhere for specialty books on chess. The arguments for downsizing this operation are not economically justified.

Similarly, we have thousands of correspondence players who belong to the USCF mainly for that program, and the program pays for itself. Eliminating long-standing member benefits is inconsistent with the long-term growth of our organization.

The issue: Scholastic chess remains the most successful and growing USCF program. Our scholastic organizers deserve 100% of the credit for this.They must be allowed to have a greater voice in USCF decisions that affect their activities.

My record: At the August 2000 Delegates’ Meeting Joe Ippolito and I co-sponsored a motion

( ADM 00-80) to create a Scholastic Council that would have clout in policy-making. This council was created after the scholastic workshop extensively enhanced our original motion. I have argued on several occasions in Board debate that major matters of scholastic concern, when brought to the Board, should be delegated to the council for the major work and primary recommendations. At the January Board I argued, as did Joe Ippolito and Bob Smith, that concerns from the Scholastic Council about processing of rating reports must be given high priority by the office.This resulted in motion # EB 01-76 requiring more flexibility by the office in expeditiously processing rating reports with minor flaws.

Recommendation: The influence of the Scholastic Council in policy making should continue to be encouraged. By working together within the larger picture, we will achieve maximum benefit.

4) WE MUST EXTEND SPONSORSHIP: Presently, two of our biggest sponsors are Excalibur Electronics and the Seattle Chess Foundation. Both of these have tremendous potential to develop a growing parnership with the USCF that should exceed the original sponsorship arrangement.

My Record: As President of the US Chess Trust, I negotiated and helped to develop the agreement with Excalibur Electronics, and I signed the contract with them. I also made a crucial amendment to a motion last May that helped assure success in achieving agreement with the Seattle Chess Foundation. Although Bob Smith deserves most of the credit on the Board for reaching that important agreement, I was pleased to play a role.

Recommendation: Although both these sponsors have defined roles with the USCF ( the US Championship and the Hall of Fame), both are open to expanding their partnership with the USCF for the overall growth of US chess. I pledge to continue to promote opportunities and to seek additional sponsorship.

5) WE MUST RESPECT OUR VOLUNTEERS AND WORK WITH THEM: Bob Smith and I voted against the activity-points proposal for ratings in October 1999. We did so because of the overwhelming opposition of the Ratings Committee to activity points, which they regarded a completely unsound and unworkable idea that would have ultimately greatly damaged the rating system. The activity points proposal, though passed, was later rescinded without implementation, causing confusion because it had been publicly announced. Never again should a Board majority ignore overwhelming volunteer input!

My Board record: In March 2000, I published a Chess Life article dealing with membership demographics. Using age data provided by Nebraska’s Mike Nolan, the article identified the serious aging of our adult membership population.I also helped to develop a member survey, and suggested creation of a Membership Growth Committee.

Recommendation: We must work mainly with our local and state affiliates to improve membership trends. This includes working with the affiliates to find ways to sign and retain younger members. In addition, we must prevent the loss or downsizing of membership services as described above.

There are a number of other issues that will be discussed in future letters. I hope to hear from any of you at the contact information at the heading of this letter.

Thank you and regards,

John McCrary, USCF Vice President

USCF Vice President

President, US Chess Trust

Chair of Ethics Committee

Chair of FIDE Advisory Committee

Chair of Hall of Fame Committee

Chair of Membership Growth Committee

Member, Bylaws Committee

Member, Regions and States Committee

Delegate in all USCF Delegates’Meetings since 1984 ( except 1985)

President, South Carolina Chess Association ( eight terms)

Vice President, South Carolina Chess Association ( two terms)

Editor, Palmetto Chess ( two terms)

AWARDS: Received the USCF "Special Services" Award in both 1994 and 1997, and chaired the Hall-of-Fame Committee in 1988 when it received the "Committee of the Year" award. These three awards were granted by three different Policy Boards.

Author of about 20 published articles on chess history, including two cited in the Oxford Companion To Chess and several cited in about 12 chess books.

Author of about 15 Chess Life articles, including one cover article.

Correspondence chess player, rated 2010 (I have no time to play recently due to USCF governance demands.)

Member of four-person committee designing the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Chaired for twelve years ( 1987-1999) the corporate Board of the tallest residential building in South Carolina,( Senate Plaza) a 20-story building next to the campus of the University of South Carolina and two blocks from the state Capitol. I left that position voluntarily after twelve years of fiscal stability and with the building debt-free.

Directed a major hospital program with 110 staff and a multi-million dollar annual budget.

Personal: Professional psychologist; married 31 years; two daughters in college; age 52.

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