Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

[Brian Profit]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

Last night I was thinking about what has just been written. What he wants would clearly break the law. Wasn't KS one of those people who were whining about the CFC losing their charitable status? Then he wants us to break the laws regarding that status to funnel money to a chess player so that people can avoid paying tax. Classic. As GM David Norwood wrote - "Chess players think that the world owes them a living. They are wrong."

[Ken Craft]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

I have been involved with other charitable organizations where we have had to reject donations that were individual specific.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

Well, I am not privy to all the particulars of this case, but it is similar to other cases where requests for tax-deductible charitable receipts were denied. There are rules governing the issue of tax receipts: one rule is that charitable receipts are not to be issued where the proceeds are directed to a specific individual.

So it seems the CFC is guilty of: correctly applying the charitable tax receipt regulations, and then encouraging a potential sponsor to amend its gift to follow the regulations.

Of course none of this actually prevents the sponsor from helping Anton’s chess development (maybe 10k without the tax receipt).

[Brian Profit]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

Notice how he never mentions anyone by name? If he had any proof, he would not have been writing an article on it 6 years later.

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in an article on "Spraggett on Chess" website

It would be interesting to hear the CFC's version. Admittedly, Spraggett is fast and loose with facts but it is a very serious charge to suggest that the CFC actively discouraged one of the outstanding talents to pass through Canada.

[Caesar Posylek]

Spraggett on Chess
Canada's Top Chess Website

Kovalyov shames CFC community
January 27, 2014
By kevinspraggettonchess
in Opinion
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To regular readers of this blog 21-year old Grandmaster Anton Kovalyov is no stranger! Born in the Ukraine in 1992, the family emigrated to Argentina while Anton was still a young child. In Buenos Aires he learned the moves and quickly made progress, attracting the attention of the country’s top trainers and coaches. Unhappy with the economic prospects that Argentina offered, the family then moved to Canada in the summer of 2007. Anton was by then a 15-year old IM and one of the world’s top juniors.

I was approached by the mother (while Anton played in Spain and Portugal in 2007) to see if I could help get some financial support for the budding prodigy to develop his worldclass talent. I quickly found a Montreal sponsor for $15,000, but what then followed is a typical story of a chess community crippled by corrupt leadership, mediocrity and petty jealousies.

The Montreal sponsor wanted to have the 15k used for Anton’s chess development and principally to for travel to European tournaments where the opportunities are numerous and of high quality. Problems arose when the CFC was asked to use its tax-charity status to for tax receipts for the 15k: the sponsor quickly realized that the CFC wanted to rip off the money!

First the CFC leadership refused to help Anton because he was not yet a Canadian citizen(!) and next the CFC said it would only help Anton if it could have full control of the 15k and could use it to organize tournaments in Canada for other juniors….where, ofcourse, Anton could participate if he wanted to!

To make a long story short, the sponsor soon walked away and swore to never get involved with the CFC again. Anton –while still one of the top two or three top juniors in the world–was left to stagnate and play in Montreal weekend tournaments.

Anton played in Portugal tournaments on several occasions. He was one of the most gifted juniors I had ever come across.

Over the coming years, even though Anton soon entered the select 2600-plus club for juniors, he was ignored by both the Canadian chess community and the Canadian press. On one occasion Anton phoned a Toronto organizer to ask for an invitation to play in one of its International Opens, but was refused– even though he was clearly the best player living in Canada.

Discouraged by these and other develpments, Anton rapidly began to lose interest in chess and began to increasingly think of a future without chess. By his own admission, this past year Anton did not even try to study chess! FORTUNATELY, only recently he was offered a chess-scholarship to a university in Texas and he accepted. Since then, Anton has renewed his interest in chess and has ignited his passion for the game once more. Anton has won the last two tournaments that he has won…Today Anton is the biggest Open winner in North America!

Congrats, Anton! And shame on Canadian chess…