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Thread: Open letter to CFC governors.

  1. #11
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    Default Fred McKim

    Thank you for your post, Fred. It’s very unusual to see so many interesting points in just few sentences. Theoretically, it could be a good idea to place B. Sambuev lower and E. Porper higher, but in the real circumstances I couldn’t do it.

    I don’t mind to move forward. I want to say again: twice Porper was the first to attack me. Twice I reacted. Hopefully, you can agree with me that it’s not a big pleasure to see characteristics like “incompetent amateur” or “person who made only harm” about myself.

    I really hope that now Porper will stop writing about me in his posts or articles, and stop attacking me while teaching his chess students. In this case I will not be the first to start the next round of “personal shots”.

    But if he is unable to do so, I have a lot of interesting stories about him to share…

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Victor Plotkin View Post
    Unlike M. Barron, I can't blame V. Drkulec for his choice (as you know, Vlad was the final decision-maker). It was a bad call, as every other possible player (T. Krnan, B. Cheng, A. Samsonkin, R. Panjwani) certainly would have performed much better. But we know this with hindsight; 11 months ago, this was not clear. I completely understand V. Drkulec's approach (he chose the highest-rated player). Vlad can't be held responsible for Porper's performance.
    I was asked to break a tie when the Selection Committee was deadlocked between two candidates. I was given an anonymous quote which I supposed was from a prominent Canadian chessplayer based on the description. I deduced that the quote was from one of two players, both of whom I respect greatly. The anonymous quote said that though the player was not personally acquainted with Edward and though Edward was probably the stronger player, for reasons of team chemistry he should be passed over for player Y. I was being asked to reject the stronger player for some vague reasons of personal team chemistry put forward by an anonymous source. I was told that Edward had been passed over the previous time though perhaps he had deserved to go based on his play.

    There is a saying that says believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see. Based on rating and the testimony of the anonymous detractor Edward was the stronger player. Eric Hansen who presumably was quite familiar with Edward was publicly supporting Edward Porper. I talked to my own coach, Viktor Gavrikov who has some experience in such matters. He pointed out that members of the Soviet Olympiad teams had managed to perform well despite including teammates that positively hated each other. They had managed to rise above the chemistry and play their best when all the chips were on the table. Finally I spoke to a personal friend, Jim Daniluk who had moved out west, whose wedding I had flown out to Calgary to stand up in more than twenty years ago, and who I still keep in occasional contact with. I have known Jim for some forty or more years since we played against each other in the Windsor High School Chess League. He gave me his perspective on Edward Porper and it was quite complimentary. I made what I felt was the fair decision to send the strongest available player even based on the description of his anonymous detractor. I felt that to make any other decision than the one I made would have been unfair. I had a good opinion of Player Y which made it a difficult decision. Someone who was a worthy member of the Olympiad team was going to stay home.

    Thanks to V. Drkulec and A. Marghetis for some kind words. Among the governors who participated in this meeting, I counted 14 who know me, have talked to me, have played in the same tournaments with me, etc... Only 2 decided to write something regarding this matter. Maybe for a CFC forum 2/14 is not too bad.
    Any kind words directed your way are a direct result of what I have observed of you at the various tournaments I have attended and the conversations which we have had.

    6. He lies when he describes his WYCC 2012 experience as "nothing but positive". As far as I know, nobody among the CFC governors was in Maribor.
    Governor Frank Lee was there with his daughter Melissa Lee. George Zhou, Lily Zhou's father and William Cheung, Lukas Cheung were the rest of the Windsor contingent and they were fairly positive in their recollections of Edward as a coach. I believe that he quoted something that I wrote on the CFC board with regard to the comments I received from the Windsor contingent.


    At the same time, he is a strong chess player and right now may be the most powerful person in CFC.

    As a chess player and a father of chess players, I felt it was my duty to write this post. This guy must be stopped.
    I doubt that he feels that he is the most powerful person in the CFC. Obviously both of you are angry and hurt about what the other has said about you and there are bad feelings between you. The problem is that the angry words are hurting the person who is making the comments. With both of you it were best if you just stop digging before the hole you are both standing in gets any deeper. You are both better than this and you both deserve better than this. Life is too short to get caught up in these flame wars. Soon enough or too soon we will all be dust.

  3. #13
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post
    Soon enough or too soon we will all be dust.
    Vlad, I could open lengthy discussion here saying that what will become dust is our mere bodies - what about the eternal part of ours? Lets do it on our next personal encounter.

    For now let me just say that life being short does not mean you have to pass on every fight, and it looks like Victor felt that this one he cannot pass on. Also, from his posts you can see he concerned not only (and maybe not mainly) about his reputation but about influence this can have on CFC and on Canadian chess in general.

    I got to know Victor quite well in last 5 years, and I know Edward back from Israel. Although I have nothing personal against him, I, definitely, wouldn't like to see someone with such qualities holding any influential position in Canadian chess.

    BTW, I don't think comparison of "team chemistry" importance in Soviet and Canadian Olympiad teams can lead to some meaningful results.

  4. #14
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    Question How the decision was made?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post
    I was asked to break a tie when the Selection Committee was deadlocked between two candidates. I was given an anonymous quote which I supposed was from a prominent Canadian chessplayer based on the description. I deduced that the quote was from one of two players, both of whom I respect greatly. The anonymous quote said that though the player was not personally acquainted with Edward and though Edward was probably the stronger player, for reasons of team chemistry he should be passed over for player Y. I was being asked to reject the stronger player for some vague reasons of personal team chemistry put forward by an anonymous source. I was told that Edward had been passed over the previous time though perhaps he had deserved to go based on his play.

    There is a saying that says believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see. Based on rating and the testimony of the anonymous detractor Edward was the stronger player. Eric Hansen who presumably was quite familiar with Edward was publicly supporting Edward Porper. I talked to my own coach, Viktor Gavrikov who has some experience in such matters. He pointed out that members of the Soviet Olympiad teams had managed to perform well despite including teammates that positively hated each other. They had managed to rise above the chemistry and play their best when all the chips were on the table. Finally I spoke to a personal friend, Jim Daniluk who had moved out west, whose wedding I had flown out to Calgary to stand up in more than twenty years ago, and who I still keep in occasional contact with. I have known Jim for some forty or more years since we played against each other in the Windsor High School Chess League. He gave me his perspective on Edward Porper and it was quite complimentary. I made what I felt was the fair decision to send the strongest available player even based on the description of his anonymous detractor. I felt that to make any other decision than the one I made would have been unfair. I had a good opinion of Player Y which made it a difficult decision. Someone who was a worthy member of the Olympiad team was going to stay home.
    Thank you, Vlad, for explaining how the decision was made!

    If I understand correctly, you made the decision based on opinions of several respectable people.
    Sorry, but it looks like a root cause of the problem...

    Did you analyse any objective data?
    Did you look at any Edward's games?
    Did you look at his tournament results during the selection period (March 2011 - February 2012) ?

    Let's look at his CFC history:
    http://chess.ca/players?check_rating_number=136955

    Do you see any tournament result supporting your conclusion that in March 2012 Edward Porper was "the strongest available player"?
    Thanks,
    Michael Barron

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Barron View Post
    Thank you, Vlad, for explaining how the decision was made!

    Do you see any tournament result supporting your conclusion that in March 2012 Edward Porper was "the strongest available player"?
    I am not aware that I made any such conclusion nor was I asked to make such a determination.

  6. #16
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post
    I am not aware that I made any such conclusion nor was I asked to make such a determination.
    Vlad,
    Thank you for your reply!

    I'm not nitpicking, but I believe it's important to understand:
    How the decision was made?

    I was referring to your previous post:
    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post
    I made what I felt was the fair decision to send the strongest available player...
    Sorry, if I misunderstood you...

    If so, could you please clarify:
    Why you decided to send NOT the strongest available player?
    Thanks,
    Michael Barron

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