CFC FIDE Representative: Aris Marghetis endorses Victor Plotkin

[Mike Ivanov]

Hey everyone,

as this is certainly an important decision in Canadian Chess for years to come, I wanted to endorse Victor Plotkin for the position of CFC rep.

I don't know Vadim Tsypin enough to say anything, as our conversations were limited.
However in Victor I see a person who's capable of both understanding chess players' interests, and taking action to address them,
without any need for personal gain overshadowing those interests.

In our interactions for over 10 years now he has proven to be responsible, civil, yet not a pushover,
basically what I'd want to see in a "chess politician". Moreover he's been helping Canadian chess for at least my whole time here, and probably longer.

After our over the board games he's been only generous with advice and stories, as a man who really loves chess.
Lastly as a highly ranked player, he understands both what titled players require to advance, and what lower rated players/kids need to develop,
having raised 3 chess players himself.

Hope this turns out best for Canadian Chess.

Cheers,
FM Mike Ivanov

[Aris Marghetis]

Dear CFC voting members, colleagues, friends, and chess supporters:

It has been a while since most of you heard anything public from me, however, I realized that this is the time to express my feelings about the current situation.

First off, I would like to thank IA Hal Bond for his dedication, over all these years, for chess in our country. I can definitely say that his advice and support helped me to become a better arbiter and to obtain a better vision of how things work on a larger scale!

Initially, we had three candidates for the position, however, currently, obviously wishing IA Aris Marghetis and his family all the best, we are down to 2 candidates now.

Both candidates have different qualities. I will not waste anyone’s time expressing my personal opinion on each of them, as, by now, you probably red it all, including the PROGRAM, etc. Or should I say lack of attention on the program?

While both candidates have their strong and “to improve” qualities, what really bothered me is the approach of the voting “clans” and “tribes”. I would like to remind all my respected colleagues that we are not in the United States, not trying to make anything Great Again, nor wishing to have a 50% vs 50% hate and verbal violence!

It really touched me personally when I saw a comment that Chess ‘n Math is a direct (I guess in a strategic sense) competitor with the Canadian Chess Federation. I don’t work for this organization for the past 20+ years, and have no financial or any other interest in showing my support, except for the crucial fact. Growing up in Canada, in 90s, I know I would have been a sad shell of a human if I didn’t have an opportunity to play against other kids of my age! I do teach chess as a hobby (after all, I still am a FM with an IM norm) and would that make me a competitor to the CFC as well? As they say nowadays: L O L !

Voting members do have a moral obligation to think about what is best for our kids, for our chess players, and how to PROMOTE and UNIFY us!

Ones who know me personally will confirm that I am very patient, until the bubble explodes… In Canada, we have a very popular saying: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”!

I realize, that regardless to the results of the vote, I risk to face reciprocations for my today’s post, but it is what it is. Worst case scenario, there will be one more retired, hopefully respected, International Arbiter with over 20 years of job experience, who actually knows how to play the game (FM with IM norm & former U20 Canadian Chess Champion) and loves it since the age of 3 (when my dad first showed me the moves)!

In the light of the information that I have obtained from my own sources, I am no longer sure about IA Aris Marghetis intent in endorsing Mr. Plotkin, and that is the most politically correct expression of my true feelings.

Subsequently, following the announcement of IA Aris Marghetis to withdraw his candidature, I would like to reach to all his former supporters and the undecided ones and ask you NOT TO VOTE! With all the “trash talk” going around, I think we will pass a strong message to the eventual winner, making him understand that we exist and commit to watch every step! However, we will also SUPPORT and UNIFY all attempts to promote chess in Canada!

Sincerely,

IA / FM Danny Goldenberg

P.S. Dear members, please note that I decided to read/post/reply not more frequently than about 2-3 times per decade )) Subsequently, please keep all the personal messages, insults, or requests to after-pandemics, when I will see you live at any upcoming chess event! Please stay safe!

P.S.S. to all the attempts to manipulate my message. We know that Mr. Marghetis decided to support Mr. Plotkin. The issue is different. I have questions in regards to WHY REALLY Mr. Marghetis is supporting Mr. Plotkin. Subsequently, I was offering to the ones (like ME! after an initial phone conversation with Aris Marghetis) who wanted to support HIS (Aris) CANDIDATURE not to vote! Lets wash our hands from all the dirt!

Hello everyone, the above post is on several forums, so I'm attempting to reply to it wherever it is.

It seemed to generate a misunderstanding on the part of another reader, so just to clarify things:

1) I confirm that I completely continue to endorse Victor Plotkin.
2) I can't believe I need to confirm this: and I didn't get any favour for withdrawing my candidacy.

[Kerry Liles]

Hello everyone, the above post is on several forums, so I'm attempting to reply to it wherever it is.

It seemed to generate a misunderstanding on the part of another reader, so just to clarify things:

1) I confirm that I completely continue to endorse Victor Plotkin.
2) I can't believe I need to confirm this: and I didn't get any favour for withdrawing my candidacy.

Yikes, this keeps getting even worse (although I could hardly imagine how...)
It is beyond belief that ANYONE could believe that Aris would have accepted any compensation to withdraw from the "race"...

There was a tweet today quoting Kasparov:

"In chess the rules are fixed and the outcome is predictable,
whereas in Putin's Russia the rules are unpredictable and the outcome is fixed"

I wonder if that also applies to FIDE? lol

[Aris Marghetis]

Yikes, this keeps getting even worse (although I could hardly imagine how...)
It is beyond belief that ANYONE could believe that Aris would have accepted any compensation to withdraw from the "race"...

There was a tweet today quoting Kasparov:

"In chess the rules are fixed and the outcome is predictable,
whereas in Putin's Russia the rules are unpredictable and the outcome is fixed"

I wonder if that also applies to FIDE? lol

Thanks Kerry.

I was also kinda shocked, but I guess I had to reply.

[John Brown]

Why are you wasting so much crap on this stuff???One guy already has a position. Give the Job To Victor. The CFC has had it's head up it wazoo so long it cannot see the future.The Future is with change not trust the dogmatic CFC which to me is really not worth it's salt let alone it's existence.
The CFC could be alot better if it saw what the real chess world does. The CFC is not really a federation it is a clown show with a puppet show as a back up.

[Victor Plotkin]

I want to confirm that I had many conversations with Aris Marghetis. The first one was before my decision to run as a FIDE Representative. When Aris called me from the beginning, I told him that I would not, under any circumstances support Vadim Tsypin.

After I decided to run for the position of FIDE Representative, Aris called me and proposed to endorse me and suspend his candidacy. Aris privately told me that his family was dealing with health issues. Also, he believed that this was the best chance to stop Vadim Tsypin from taking full control of our federation. Obviously, I was happy to hear his decision to support me, however I did not make any promises to Aris (or anybody else) other than that I would see this election to the end.

I want to make it extremely clear that Aris made this decision without my influence. It is completely normal that people step down from certain positions due to family issues.