SAM'S RESEARCH SKILLS
>Sam, If it is all accurate, then, I am impressed with your
research skills in this instance.> -- John Walker
As I have written several times before, Sam
Sloan is nemesis. He "got" Bob Tanner by forcing his
resignation over the ratings episode. Moreover,
justice, if not mercy, was on Sam's side and the side
of those indirectly affected by Tanner's ego-driven cheating.
The business with Tanner shows Sam's expertise
as a researcher in terms of DIGGING UP information or,
if you will, dirt. In this instance, Sam also bore
down and presented a devastating case.
If Sam had committed some of his replication
errors when presenting research, then l'affaire Tanner
would have been drawn out longer than it was. I like
to think that Sam took extra time to nail Tanner from
a sense of wi****ng to save the man a long period of
twisting slowly in the wind.
Still, since a subject of discussion has been
Sam's research skills, he noticed what OTHERS HAD
FAILED TO NOTICE or, in the case of those running our
ratings, were possibly paid off not to notice. Once
again, the case is typical of Sam: he sees connections
that others miss, though as noted, he sometimes fails
to follow up accurately.
I opposed lifting Bob Tanner's TD credentials
permanently or even for a lengthy period of time
because he paid a big and hard price for his
ego-driven dishonesty to raise his chess rating.
Not only did Tanner have to resign, he suffered
authentic embarrassment within our peer group. He has
the mark on him forever.
That was and is enough.
Concerning Sam's explanation of how he came
about putting the kibosh on Bob Tanner, it is a good
example of one of his ENERGY in our unproductive
little world of chess.
As a researcher, Sam's strongest points are
curiosity and a capacity to notice what others have
either missed or do not wish to have publicized.
Yours, Larry Parr
samsloan wrote:
> On Apr 6, 9:19 pm, "J.D. Walker" <j.d.wal...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > And I agree with several others that it seems to be a very bad idea
for
> > the man to be continuing as a TD after what has happened. It appears
> > that the sanctions applied to Mr. Tanner were basically Bill Murray
> > style, "Aren't you the naughty one! You better be good! Now get out
of
> > here you knucklehead!!"
> > --
> >
> > Cordially,
> > Rev. J.D. Walker, MsD, U.C.
>
> I personally was not out to get Tanner. I discovered this ratings
> manipulation purely by accident while I was looking for something
> else. I basically was having an argument with Jerry Hanken who was
> claiming that Tanner was "never a master" whereas I was claiming that
> he was.
>
> I started looking at Tanner's tournament results. At first I thought I
> was hallucinating, seeing things, and finally I realized what was
> going on.
>
> I filed my ethics complaint but did not tell anybody about it. I
> decided just to let the wheels of justice grind. Nobody knew about it
> until the Ethics Committee made its decision months later.
>
> The actual ratings manipulation took place in 1992 and 1993. However,
> sources who knew him back in the 1980s say that he was manipulating
> his rating even back then. Basically it seems that his real chess
> strength is about 1900 but he manipulated his rating up to 2300.
>
> On the other hand, he is one of the most experienced and qualified
> TDs. How many other directors have experience running tournaments with
> 4,000 screaming kids running around? I see little point in revoking
> his TD Certification.
>
> Sam Sloan
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