Women's World Freestyle Championship

[Irma Sierra]

Open each email, take a picture with the key that says: print_screen over the numbes, then you click start, accesories, paint, then u click on edit, then paste..u save it as jpg and u show them here...

[Lindus Edwards]

I wish to make it known that I have all the emails exchanged between members of the WCDF and Jan Mortimer, together with the original final statement by Hugh Devlin. I have copied every page of this chain to my hard drive for any subsequent investigation purpose in the event of these pages being deleted.
Having read Hugh Devlin’s “final statement” I positively concur with Jan Mortimer’s above post that it is an absolute “whitewash.”
Mr Devlin’s statement is completely one-sided and in no way represents the matter in its entirety. The GA must be in possession of all the facts before it reaches a fair decision.
I too “rest my case” so far as this chain is concerned.

[Mac Banks]

I want to thank Irma Sierra, Liam Stephens, Lindus Edwards, Tommy
Canning, Dennis Cayton, and others who have the common sense to realize
that Jan Mortimer has not been fairly represented by the WCDF's decision
to not allow Jan to play for the women's title. Some players on this
forum has accused Jan of not wanting to play the match. Jan has
traveled thousand of miles and spent thousands of her own dollars getting
qualified for this match. Additionally, she has been working with top
players in Europe and the U. S. to improve her play so she would have
an excellent chance to win the title. Never in my 55 years of playing
checkers have I seen so much interest by women as there is today.
For much of the past 55 years I would go to checker tournies and see no women
playing at all. Now for example , in the U. S., our secretary and treasurer of the
American Checker Federation is a woman, Kim Willis. Women have come a long
way in checkers but I feel the decision by the WCDF to forefeit Jan from
playing the match will undermine other women from wanting to spend the
time, and money on getting qualified for a title match. Checker players
are a dying breed and we need as many people as possible interested in
our game to keep it going in the future. Alan Millhone has the right
idea in that he doesn't want to leave any checker player behind. Alan
was right when he stood up to the South African Checker association and
supported Lubabalo Kondlo playing when otherwise he would have been forced
to stay home. Surely, the WCDF has the common sense to realize that Jan
Mortimer is not solely responsible for the women's match not taking place.
As Liam stated, errors was made on both sides. Hopefully, the GA will review
all the emails of all the parties and select a new date and location for
the match as it is so important for the survial of women and men checkers.

All the best,
Mac Banks

[tommyc]

Now theres the voice of experience talking "good horse sense"...........will someone listen.!!!

[kiwinurse]

Thankyou Mac for that.I cant really see where i committed the errors,except for my spelling mistakes,which i apologize for.I was earnest in my endeavours to get this match going,but both Hugh Devlin and Hoja made the whole thing unworkable to negotiate with.Both John Guetta,secretary of the NZDA and myself tried hard,my husband Jim threw up his hands in absolute frustration,at the contradictions and the changes in venues,and the lack of information to work with.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

I don't think WCDF should support racism and people who made racists statements. Some sanctions must be taken by GA ... perhaps disqualification ? In my opinion - WCDF should have low tolerance with such behavior of it's member. Maybe NZDA also should say it word.

I, personally, am against any forms of racism or discrimination.

We all should stand together and say - NO RACISM AND NO RACISTS IN CHECKERS !!!

Alex

[Pedro Saavedra]

Alex and Josh assume that reluctance to travel to certain countries is tantamount to racism. There are many persons who will not travel for a variety of reasons. Some are political -- distrust of certain governments or systems. I left my native land under duress fifty years ago and will not return while the regime endures. And I distrust any close ally of that government. That has nothing to do with racism. Other persons have fear of flying, or a strong distrust of political instability (which may be real or perceived).

You will next want to expel anybody who is strongly opposed to a particular checker playing country's government. Well, the world took seriously Victor Korchnoi's refusal to play in the Soviet Union, and I think we should strive to accommodate the feelings of particular players. I would not want an ideological police demanding that every checker player embrace a form of uncritical internationalism or be expelled from the federation.

Pedro

[Lindus Edwards]

I fully agree with Pedro. In fact the outrageous posting by Alex could be considered libelous.
I strongly urge the moderators to end this thread.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

I would not want an ideological police demanding that every checker player embrace a form of uncritical internationalism or be expelled from the federation. Pedro

I totally agree with you, Pedro - we are on the same page. Lets take all this politics out of checkers. Jan putted here very insulted and disturb statements regarding nation, religion and traditions. We can't tolerate this.

I am glad that me, Lindus and Pedro agree on that.

I disagree with Lindus only on two things:

1) Supporting racism. I, personally, against any form of racism.

2) Censoring forum messages. Lindus, in United States it is called anti-democracy. You can find and learn more about democracy here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

[Lindus Edwards]

Alex,
I do not need you to advise me on democracy or, for that matter, any other subject.

[Pedro Saavedra]

Alex says:

> Pedro - we are on the same page. Lets take all this politics out of checkers.
> Jan putted here very insulted and disturb statements regarding nation, religion
> and traditions. We can't tolerate this.

Alex,

When Jan is nervous about play in a particular country you attribute it to racism. I would be nervous about playing in my native land, and it is certainly not due to prejudice against my own ethnic background.

I believe that every effort should be made to accommodate players who do not feel comfortable playing in a particular venue. And that we should not ascribe motives to any. Now, I have not read every message, so I will not interpret any of Jan's messages. But sticking to her nervousness about the venue, I am sympathetic.

Now I have one question for you. My thing is turn-based play. That fits my style, my schedule, my bad back and my aversion to travelling. I have jokingly referred to you as the Mac Banks of crossboard play.

But we do not have a title for live Internet play. That is possible today without travel, and witnesses could be obtained that would keep contestants honest. Is there any reason why such competition (with judges to insure players not using computers or notes) would not be comparable to crossboard. Is there any reason (other than our desire to socialize at tournaments) why world championships should not be played that way and have it count as crossboard?

Pedro

[kiwinurse]

I think you are absolutely right Pedro.I have not a rascist bone in my body,and it is wrong to say i have,and libellious.My issue was not about race or religion,but to get the match played with the proper information that i needed to go over to Turkmenisten.My son David is from an ethnic background,having quarter Maori in him.Ive always agreed to the idea of internet playing,as you have suggested,i think its a great idea,and far less cost to everyone involved,as long as it was done properly with all the brakes in place.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Now I have one question for you. My thing is turn-based play. That fits my style, my schedule, my bad back and my aversion to travelling. I have jokingly referred to you as the Mac Banks of crossboard play.

But we do not have a title for live Internet play. That is possible today without travel, and witnesses could be obtained that would keep contestants honest. Is there any reason why such competition (with judges to insure players not using computers or notes) would not be comparable to crossboard. Is there any reason (other than our desire to socialize at tournaments) why world championships should not be played that way and have it count as crossboard?

Pedro

Not a bad idea. I proposed it back to 2002 when we had title controversy with Ron King and difficulties setting match in venue acceptable to both of us. I agreed to sit in ICHF and play here at the same time when Ron sits somewhere else (Barbados or Ireland).

This idea never was considered seriously, but for some period of time it was in the air until we find a final solution with Cookstown.

There is a lot of problems around to make this happened and I don't beleive it will be much cheaper than standard way. First of all you need to have two referees in both location. And these referees must be indeed from other countries. I, personally, would never feel comfortable with referee from the country of my opponent, especially if I can't see things.

It will be referee responsibilities to accept move from Internet and make it on the board. In addition, there is always a chance higher than zero that communication can be terminated for some period of time, which will highly frustrate everyone. And some player may get advantage by having a chance to spend more time on move.

So, I think it's not a bad idea for social matches, lets say USA vs Barbados, or other countries. But it maynot be a perfect idea for official World Championship.

=========================================================================================

Concerning Jan insult, friustrated statements ... You are smart and intelligent man and understand things. In this particular situation it was a typical profiling and for me profiling is synonim of racism. This is extremely sensitive subject for me, because being an immigrant for years with strong accent, I have to live with this profiling. And by the way, Hoja also felt very badly about Jan remarks. In fact, when Turkmenistan government people read this, they had the same feelings and this hurt and partially ruined Hoja efforts.

So ... she didn't like to play in Turkmenistan and did everything she can for not coming. This became a reason of match cancellation. Whats wrong ?

WCDF is not in charge of organising match or bid. They only keep control on title and make sure match take place. Bid was selected and accepted - what else ? After this one player continued to say that (s)he doesn't like this. What else WCDF can do ???

[Dennis Cayton]

I have just read Hugh Devlins account of the goings on in the negotiations for my match with Amangul,and its the biggest whitewash of what actually happened ive ever seen in my life,making me look like a fool.Hugh is presenting this at the GA.Im appalled that the president of the WCDF could stoop so low as to twist and doctor events so efficiently.
If Im at fault,why has the WCDF not allowed an independant person to peruse all emails,on both sides.If there is nothing to hide,why not open up everything and let it be examined,rather than printing a one-sided version of what happened.?
Im not ashamed to present all my emails for examining. Jan Mortimer

Hello Jan,

I was getting ready to send you a copy of Hugh Devlin's compilation when I read that you had already received a copy.

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

As I was reading through his complilation, I was struck with the following thoughts, which proceeded to repeat themselves constantly in my head:
_________

"This is only the WCDF side of the story."

"Is this the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Have any additional facts and documents been omitted?"
_________

I was not impressed with Hugh Devlin's compilation. Instead of answering my questions, it only raised new ones and aroused my suspicions.

This is why any additional documents and facts you have, which were omitted from Hugh Devlin's compilation, must and should be presented for a thorough examination and review, before an independent investigative body, before a just and final decision can be rendered.

The fact that you have officially expressed your willingness to present all of your email communications pertaining to this case for investigation reveals that you have nothing to hide.

I wish to make it known that I have all the emails exchanged between members of the WCDF and Jan Mortimer, together with the original final statement by Hugh Devlin. I have copied every page of this chain to my hard drive for any subsequent investigation purpose in the event of these pages being deleted.
Having read Hugh Devlin’s “final statement” I positively concur with Jan Mortimer’s above post that it is an absolute “whitewash.”
Mr Devlin’s statement is completely one-sided and in no way represents the matter in its entirety. The GA must be in possession of all the facts before it reaches a fair decision.
I too “rest my case” so far as this chain is concerned.

Hello Lindus,

Thank you very much for coming forth and bringing this information to light.

Your statement above provides corroborating testimony that vital documents were, indeed, omitted and withheld from Hugh Devlin's complilation, which not only renders it as biased and one sided, but which also invalidates it as well.

It is now clear that Hugh Devlin's compilation does NOT present "the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

As a result, the argument in support of an investigation of all documents from both sides has now been cemented.

On behalf of human decency and justice, I consider it a moral imperative for all documents and supporting arguments from both sides be presented to an independent body for investigation, and that a just and fair decision be rendered.

What I find shocking is that there are those who have already rendered a personal "guilty" verdict against Jan Mortimer, without examining the additional documents which she has compiled in support of her side.

One striking irony of this is that some of her accusers are charging her with "prejudice", while their failure to examine the evidence from her side is prejudicial in itself and to the extreme.

As a result, a gross and severe injustice against a valued member of our checker fraternity is being perpetuated.

Very Sincerely,

Dennis Cayton

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Dennis, I saw all emails which you are referring. At least ones which cicrculated in the last few days in email. I don't think they turn things around and I don't think Mr. Hugh Devllin intentionally hide them. My verdict remains unchanged.

GA should examine all additional sources & information, and if they find WCDF statement correct - GA should take additional sanctions against Jan who made significant damage to checkers and Woman checkers in particular, and raise atmosphere of hateness. We can't tolerate this.

If WCDF statement is incorrect - WCDF should resign (the whole cabinet) and we should have new elections.

Respectfully,

Alex Moiseyev