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Home > Archive > Chess politics > February 2006 > Is it time for "ratings affirmative action?"
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Is it time for "ratings affirmative action?"
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| Ray Gordon 2006-02-26, 7:33 pm |
| Looking at the current debate over the hiring of a web content editor, I
have come to the conclusion that the fairest hiring process would involve
using criteria similar to that used when awarding the Samford Fellowship
(except for age, due to the ADEA).
What we have here is a chess-related job that would be a plum to any
talented player who is committed to training full time at chess. In fact,
it might even be better to turn it into a fellowship that carries web
content editing with it as a duty. Who better to serve as web content
editor than one of our most promising players or someone on the level of a
Samford winner? This standard wouldn't even favor me, as I'm rated 1900 and
haven't played a rated game in fifteen years.
Someone like Patrick Wolff would have been perfect for the job fifteen years
ago, for example, as would Max Dlugy, who might not have quit chess to trade
securities, or Gata Kamsky, who might not have quit in order to become an
attorney so quickly if chess had offered him a steady income throughout his
career. Even for a top GM, bagging a top prize internationally is no easy
feat, and no one likes to live hand to mouth. Would Josh Waitzkin have quit
so fast if this job were around then? Come to think of it, he has a book
deal as well.
On the female side, without a doubt this would also qualify Jen Shahade (on
ratings), who currently has the job, although I don't know from what I read
if she's more seriously into poker, chess, or writing. If she is like her
brother and a poker player, it would be ironic if she wrote any articles on
the USCF payroll about how poker was getting all the press! Even if she is
not, for the sister of a professional poker player to do it would also be
ironic.
Another female I think would have been very good for this job is someone
like Roza Eynullayeva (Azerigirl), an 18 year-old pre-med student in Boston,
and a WFM in her own right with a lot of knowledge of Eastern European chess
culture, as she's from Azerbaijan. I'm sure someone her situation would
love the option of a chess-related job to help with both school and chess.
An organization supposedly dedicated to furthering chess in the United
States would be foolish to overlook the "Fischer Boom" and how much
publicity this brought to chess. You couldn't have had that boom without
the chessplayer, and the next chessplayer who brings us international glory
may not be born wealthy, and may need to pay bills for several years before
he is able to compete at the top levels.
USCF has a chance to help its top players here, and is ignoring it. I would
assume that since chess is their mission, that these factors would be kosher
for their hiring practices. Even now I see them brag about how the people
who answer their phones are usually decent class players and above, and that
is as it should be.
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| Ray Gordon 2006-02-26, 7:33 pm |
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quote:
> An organization supposedly dedicated to furthering chess in the United
> States would be foolish to overlook the "Fischer Boom" and how much
> publicity this brought to chess. You couldn't have had that boom without
> the chessplayer, and the next chessplayer who brings us international
> glory may not be born wealthy, and may need to pay bills for several years
> before he is able to compete at the top levels.
Oversight: he OR SHE (see last line above). Or, as I write it, "s/he."
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