Susan Polgar elected as first ever chairman

U.S. Chess Federation Elects New Officers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joan DuBois
August 6, 2007
931-787-1234 #123
Press Release #21 of 2007
jdubois@uschess.org

(Crossville, TN) The USCF has new officers for the next two years. Former Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar has just been elected as the first ever Chairman of the USCF. Grandmaster Susan Polgar is the winner of four Women’s World Championships and ten Olympiad medals (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze). She was the first woman to break the gender barrier to earn the Grandmaster title with the same qualifications as her male counterpart. She was also the first woman to qualify for the Men’s World Championship cycle. Susan became the #1 woman player in the world at the age of 15 and has remained in the top 3 for 23 straight years. She is currently the Executive Director of the Texas Tech SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) program. She is also the Head Coach of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess team.

Current USCF President Bill Goichberg has just been reaffirmed of his position. He was elected to the USCF Executive Board in August 2005. He received his Bachelor of Arts from NY University in 1963. He played in his first chess tournament in 1961 and he holds the title of National Master and FIDE Master. Between 1964 and 1967, Bill worked in the USCF office located then in Manhattan, as Ratings Statistician. He worked again in the USCF in 2004 as a volunteer in the position of Executive Director. Bill has and continues to dedicate his life to promoting chess. He is also a premier tournament organizer in the United States.

Mr. Jim Berry has been elected as Vice President of the USCF. He is a retired stockbroker and presently serves on the Board of Directors of the two billion dollar Stillwater National Bank. He played his first USCF game in 1962. Since 1991, he has played in over 230 tournaments including last four U.S. Open Championships. He has also directed over 75 chess tournaments. He twice rescued OK state chapter affiliate from bankruptcy. Since 2002, he found sponsors for over $125,000 prize funds for chess, including the recent US and US Women’s Championships.

Mr. Randy Bauer has been elected as Vice President of Finance. He has over 20 years of professional experience in budget and finance, including nearly 7 years as budget director for the State of Iowa. During that time, the State received multiple national awards for innovation and excellence in its budget processes and financial reporting. He has been actively involved as a chess player, coach, director, writer, editor, and elected state and national representative for over 30 years. He is a life member of the USCF, a national master, former Iowa state champion and Minnesota junior, junior high and senior high champion. As a competitor, he has won over 30 Grand Prix tournaments.

Mr. Paul Truong has been elected as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. He has twenty years of experience in senior management, marketing and PR, specializing in branding, customer retention, advertising and innovative promotion. He is a National Master and FIDE Master with numerous national championship titles. His chess experiences include co-authoring best-selling chess books, coaching national scholastic and Olympiad champions, organizing many high profile chess events, being an award-winning chess journalist and photographer. Paul was the captain and business manager of the historic 2004 Silver Medalist U.S. Women’s Olympiad Team. Paul currently is the Director of Marketing and PR for Texas Tech SPICE program. He is also the Assistant Coach for the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess team.

Mr. Joel Channing has been elected as Vice President of Business Development. He has an impressive resume which includes, Channing and Channing, Architects and Engineers between 1963-1971; Channing Corporation, President 1971-1991, Chairman of the Board 1991 to present. Also on the Board of Director for US Chess Trust, Mensa, Miami Beach Planning Commission (1970-1973), State of Florida Condominium Advisory Board (1979-1983), Community Associations Institute, National Speakers Bureau (1980-1984), Florida Home Builders Association Legislative Committee (1979-1982), North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce 1988-1990. Up until 2000 Channing also served on the City of Palm Beach Gardens Planning and Zoning Committee as well as in 1999 was on the Florida Advisory Council to the Commission on Human Relations.

Randy Hough has been elected Vice President and Secretary of the USCF. Elected in 2006, Randy is an active player and former master. He's been a National Tournament Director since 1985, having directed several national championships (including the US Open, US Championship, and National High School), and an International Arbiter since 1989. He served as technical director in the USCF office, 1983-86, on the Executive Board previously (1990-93), and has chaired several USCF committees. He is also an organizer, Southern California Federation board member, president of his local club, has taught chess in the public schools, has published dozens of articles in Chess Life, and serves as secretary/treasurer of the Chess Journalists of America. Randy is a Vietnam veteran. With a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from UC Riverside, he was a government affairs representative for the City of Los Angeles before retiring in 2005.

This is one of the most qualified and diversified USCF Executive Board. Some of the immediate goals of this board are to increase revenues, expand memberships, build a strong, sensible and cost sensitive marketing plan to promote chess and the USCF, aggressively seek sponsors, create strong support systems for scholastic, college, adult, tournament, correspondence, Internet and professional players as well as erect an open and transparent channel of timely communications with its members. This board is also resolutely open to collaboration and cooperation with states affiliates, USCF committees, volunteers and supporters.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members. For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org/.