Knightfall Chess Association??

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

Bob - what is the name of the organizer - i.e. the author of the email?

Abdishakur Omarhassan CFC# 153679

[Nikolay Noritsyn]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

You are perhaps misunderstanding my comments. To be clear, his email today is more coherent than the one that is posted above.

This is a very obvious scam..but its like someone is really trying to make us, chess players, look very stupid.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

Bob - what is the name of the organizer - i.e. the author of the email?

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

..anyone else here think they are capable of writing this much...coherent text? :)

You are perhaps misunderstanding my comments. To be clear, his email today is more coherent than the one that is posted above.

[Nikolay Noritsyn]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

..anyone else here think they are capable of writing this much...coherent text? :)

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

I have received another email from the organizer this evening. The tournament is being rescheduled to March 12. The organizer is hoping to secure a new site tomorrow and has promised an update by this time tomorrow. He has given me permission to post his previous email on chesstalk, so here it is below. I am happy to report his email today was much more coherent.

So here it is:


Hi,
I believe we've spoke before on the phone a while back, i just wanted to give you a quick email regarding updates on my tournament. In the spirit of full transparency, i want to justify to you why my results have been in dissonance with my actions. I want you to understand that i have been a long time CFC member, and i've been running tournaments in St.catharines. This will be my first time running tournaments in Toronto, as it is probably apparent with the chess community. Now, the question people are wondering is probably why my overheads and traffic has been so much, but i have not been producing results. The reason is for this is, i have sacrificed everything to do this and i am a risk taker. Usually when big companies are starting out, they have this kind of controversy because they are led by one risk taker who is stubborn and unwilling to hire anybody. I realize that there is way too much demand in Toronto, and i have to start saying no to some people. I have been reflecting about this for two days now and within these two days, i have not slept, even now i still have not slept. I have made myself go through a profound mental change so i can fully be into this. I just want you to know that all i want is for this to succeed, and all i want is the chess community to trust that i am doing my best. I will not heavily edit this, cause it's coming straight from the heart. I have money to back me up, and that's why my association has been gaining so much traction, even though i have just started up. I am saying all this because i really need all the help i can get, and i realize that one person cannot do this all alone, even though there are people in my staff, i am mainly doing the majority of the work. I know you have the power to influence the chess community and i want you to let them know that i have changed in terms of my ability to seek help. I am generally an intense guy, and a bit of a control freak. I can no longer leave this to chance and speculation, i have spent the majority of my money creating a model that is based on what other corporations have done and now realize that chess is not a corporation, chess is a community. Starting tommorow i will be setting up meetings with everybody to make sure everyone is happy. And if they want their money back that is definitely an option, in fact since i have money to back me up, i will even offer a free next tournement to anyone who feels they have went through profound difficulties with this business model. If you have stuck through this paragraph and you can see even a glismp of the struggles and the mistakes i have went through. You will know i am the rightr person to go into business with. So if you have anytime to speak i am available to meet you at my office or your office anytime. Please also note that a lot of what inspired this change in my approach is from what i observed on your website and what i have learned. I don't want to wait any longer to say this message, cause i want to come from a place of true sincerity. And if you still feel like the mistakes i have made were to large, please still feel like you can trust me enough to go into business with me, i want you to know that this controversy is a result of my leadership and risk taking ability. I have trapped myself in a corner for these two days i've benn up for, and when times get tough all my mind and body knows is to make it the absolute best of the situation. With that said i have come up with a bright bright idea to completely revolutionize the chess industry, and this is another risk i will take. But, i will use what i learn now to ensure the risks are mitigated as much as possible. The basic premise of this model is using data collection software to create great chess games with the community that . Sorry i have to cut th e email short, this computer is extremelyslow, but i would appreciate setting up a meeting.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

My goodness, you are patient! As I said above...

Or, perhaps it is a scam??? Or a joke on the readers and the CFC???

Ask yourself, "Would you be sending cash to this event at this point?"

Pull it and see what happens. Ask for a good faith deposit before listing again. You won't hear from them.

Ken, I took your advice and did pull the ad again about an hour after your post.
I did finally hear from organizer Abdi Hassan in an email late last night. It was on my personal email, and I just noticed it this morning.
I have asked him for further tournament details: exact site location, pre-registered list, and can I post his email on chesstalk?.
Will advise all when I get a response.

But for now, I would advise members NOT to send them any money.
Hopefully they can get their act together.

[Rahul Gangolli]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

Just as an aside: I went up again to their 'offices' on the 57th floor on Thursday on behalf of a friend who wishes to register her son...and again no one was in the office and no one has yet to return my call. When I told the receptionist that I was looking for information on the tournament, she told me to register on the website. How one gets their money back if the tournament is cancelled is anybody's guess.

At this point, I would perhaps just defer on playing/paying for this.

[Glenn Giffen]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

The Annex Chess Club has no knowledge of Knightfall Chess. 918 Bathurst is indeed the venue for the Annex Chess Club on Mondays at 7 p.m. 918 Bathurst will not be hosting any Knightfall tournaments.

http://annexchessclub.com/
http://918bathurst.com/

I notice on the Knightfall site that round 4 of their tournament starts at 1:15 a.m. Seems a bit early in the morning. Their website is now claiming that the games of players who have CFC ratings will be CFC rated. It might be hard for them to do any of this with no hall to play in.

[Ken MacDonald]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

Thanks John. Now I am totally pissed.
They phoned me, they told me they would add names on their website and posters, that most of them were or former CFC members, yadda yadda yadda, now I am not so sure. Would somebody please vouch for these guys. If not, their posting is going to be pulled again.

Their names are:

Abdi Hassan
Ronnie Ho
Daniel Akif
Shahbaz Balouchi

An interesting note:
They mention that in case of a venue change, it would be at 918 Bathurst St.
Is that not the site for Annex Chess Club?

My goodness, you are patient! As I said above...

Or, perhaps it is a scam??? Or a joke on the readers and the CFC???

Ask yourself, "Would you be sending cash to this event at this point?"

Pull it and see what happens. Ask for a good faith deposit before listing again. You won't hear from them.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

I'm suspicious.

Their site says, "This event will be held at the University of Toronto St. George campus (The Great hall). "

At the UofT The Great Hall means the one at Hart House (where Alex F. runs his events).

I just phoned Hart House, and they have no booking for the hall on March 5.

In addition, their site says "Our organizers and directors listed above are CFC members", but none of the four people listed are current CFC members, and two of them do not seem to ever have been CFC members.

If I was in Toronto and considering playing, I might show up -- but where? -- and would definitely NOT send $ to enter this event.

Thanks John. Now I am totally pissed.
They phoned me, they told me they would add names on their website and posters, that most of them were or former CFC members, yadda yadda yadda, now I am not so sure. Would somebody please vouch for these guys. If not, their posting is going to be pulled again.

Their names are:

Abdi Hassan
Ronnie Ho
Daniel Akif
Shahbaz Balouchi

An interesting note:
They mention that in case of a venue change, it would be at 918 Bathurst St.
Is that not the site for Annex Chess Club?

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

Their FAQ also states:

"Question: What happens if there is a venue change?

A change in the venue of an event is unlikely, but if such event does occur, the tournament will take place at 918 bathurst (8 mins away from U of T). We aim to not have this happen, but for any situations out of our control, we will contact all players about such change ahead of time. "

That's the Annex CC, isn't it? Are they aware of anything?

[John Upper]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

I received a call from Knightfall Chess Association this afternoon. All is good.
We will be reposting their tournament shortly. :)

I'm suspicious.

Their site says, "This event will be held at the University of Toronto St. George campus (The Great hall). "

At the UofT The Great Hall means the one at Hart House (where Alex F. runs his events).

I just phoned Hart House, and they have no booking for the hall on March 5.

In addition, their site says "Our organizers and directors listed above are CFC members", but none of the four people listed are current CFC members, and two of them do not seem to ever have been CFC members.

If I was in Toronto and considering playing, I might show up -- but where? -- and would definitely NOT send $ to enter this event.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

I have deleted their listing until we have greater transparency.

I received a call from Knightfall Chess Association this afternoon. All is good.
We will be reposting their tournament shortly. :)

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Knightfall Chess Association??

I have deleted their listing until we have greater transparency.