7-30-09    (Please note: This unexpurgated message was written and published one year ago!)

After 37 Years, Fuerstman Quits NCCA!
NCCA Board Rejects Call for Complete Audit
By NM Leland Fuerstman

The following is a chronological explanation of the circumstances surrounding the scholastic accounting episode.
I strongly maintain that any member of this organization has a right to ask questions, and be provided with answers. Regardless of the spin this thing has taken, I wish to make it clear that I have never made any allegations against the "Organizer" in any article which I posted. I have only asked questions, which he has never answered.

As a symbol of my disapproval of the current affairs of our non-profit organization, it is with great disappointment that I voluntarily renounce my membership to the NCCA. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult for members to obtain accurate information from our officers without experiencing extraordinary resistance. In my opinion, the current administration is the most incompetent and secretive in our almost 70 year history. And, the recent "Scholastics Accounting" issue has finally pushed me over the edge.

Approximately 4 months ago, I received a phone call from an Asheboro Director who shared with me his curiosity about how the $17,000+ collected from the scholastic community had been accounted for (since the winner only received $1,500 and the scholastic community received none?!). Being concerned long time members of the NCCA, we both decided to find out why? I am a journalist and the editor of the CCC website. Without ever accusing anyone of anything, I published 5 articles directly related to the subject that included many questions, both rhetorical and direct, (which have still never been answered). All of the evidence which I cited came directly from the mouth of the event organizer, people with whom he spoke and documents which he had provided. One of the problems is that during this investigation, some information which was stated by involved parties directly contradicted statements which the organizer had made to me. That aroused our suspicions and caused us to dig a little deeper in order to try to ascertain the truth.

If someone were to publish a statement about me on the internet that I believed not to be true, it might take me 3 minutes to respond! Considering the fact that the organizer had previously contributed a number of elaborate responses to messages on the CCC website, I was surprised when he curiously fell silent?! Not only did he not respond within 3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks or even 3 months, he never actually made any statements disagreeing with what I had published nor addressing any of the questions which had been asked?!

Finally, instead of simply addressing the issues, he attempted to "kill the messengers" and attack the character of the two people who were simply asking questions?! He lodged a complaint to the NCCA Board of Directors to the effect that the Asheboro Director and I were harming "his" reputation. In addition, he sent a private E-mail to 41 members, including at least 2 under 18 years old, which slandered both me and the Asheboro Director. Finally, an attorney who has been a long time member of the NCCA was called upon in an attempt to settle the matter.

I have known this attorney for 30 years. We were good friends. After I was elected President in 1984, I served as his Vice-President a few years later. We have worked together on many important issues and seemed to have always solved them successfully. However, we have been out of touch for many years. It seems that his current involvement has taken on a different tone. Whether members are aware of it or not, the NCCA is virtually under "martial law" after President Beaman demonstrated that he was unable to address the issue and quickly dropped out of sight. It is my understanding that the NCCA board then transferred "all decision making powers" to the attorney who quickly cautioned everyone to stop "publicly" discussing the matter. Both the Asheboro Director and I co-operated and complied with that "order" for more than three months.

After little progress had been made, in a response to an inflammatory message which a friend of the organizer had posted on the NCCA Message Board, I finally broke the silence with an article entitled "Explanation of Possible $4,100 Error in Scholastic Accounting." (I wish to let it be known, that I have since voluntarily removed all postings, including that one, in hopes of putting an end to this debacle).

Soon, it appeared to me as if the attorney was personally representing the organizer in this matter? Because, I am disappointed to report, during his entire investigation, though he spoke to the Asheboro Director and others numerous times, he never once called me on the phone, and even demanded that everything which I wished to communicate to him must be presented in writing? Nor was I afforded the same opportunity to personally discuss issues and receive his valuable professional counsel.

In the mean time, the attorney originally drafted a settlement which included two important ideas; one that Fuerstman and the Asheboro Director had the "right to ask questions," and the other that the organizer, by his own admission, used "sloppy accounting." Still, neither I nor the Asheboro Director endorsed that agreement... A few days later, the attorney published his findings which, to my surprise, completely exonerated the organizer from any wrongdoing and made me and the Asheboro Director out to be the wrongdoers?! Needless to say, it is one of the most verbose compilations of confusing legal jargon I have ever personally observed! However, accuracy and spin notwithstanding, it is obvious that the attorney spent a significant amount of time and effort composing it.

Subsequently, after having spent literally months discussing this issue with me and so many others and taking so much time away from his own business and family, the Asheboro Director became weary of continuing the battle and quickly struck a deal with the attorney. Since we had "already made our point," the Asheboro Director then asked me to do him a personal favor and remove all of the posting about the Scholastic Accounting from the CCC website, which I promptly did. He then suggested that the attorney had drafted a new resolution which, if I were to endorse, would allow every shred of evidence of this matter to disappear! For the good of everyone involved, like a suspect who was being grilled by 4 detectives for 12 hours, I agreed to consider that in order to be done with it...

Finally, I was personally called by the attorney who reiterated the same thing to me. With no assurances and without thoroughly reading his lengthy resolution, I jumped the gun and agreed to endorse his findings!? Again, it was my understanding that it would "all" go away. However, that seems not to be the case?!

Since then, I have more carefully read those finding and I am sorry to say that I am respectfully unable to agree with much of what has been determined. One must understand that the committee which the attorney assembled only included the officers and members involved. Neither I, nor the Asheboro Director, nor any certified public accountant was invited to be part of that process? Furthermore, virtually none of the final amounts reported were the same as the organizer's original accounting. In a free, democratic society, without an equal opportunity to observe and verify evidence first hand, what kind of proof is that? Furthermore, all formal requests by the Asheboro Director to observe related bank statements and the NCCA checkbooks and ledgers have been denied?

In the mean time, the attorney has required that his findings be posted on the NCCA website for "one month," and that it also be boldly posted on the CCC website as well?! That is hardly "removing every shred of evidence" of this unfortunate episode as I was led to believe would occur. His final statement does not include anything about our right to ask questions, nor any mention of belated, or improper accounting by the organizer. However, it does offer legal opinions which may only serve to scare some members away from ever voicing their own opinions. And, it clearly diverts the attention away from the many questions which we have asked for months. Worse, it makes NM Leland Fuerstman out to be the bad guy?! And, I resent that.

More recent E-mails by the attorney to me include threats of NCCA sanctions if I don't comply precisely with his terms. Remember, "this is not a court of law. It's a chess organization." Since I have now renounced my "life" membership, such sanctions are unnecessary. Therefore, I assume that all information about the Charlotte Chess Club, the Hall of Fame, and chess lessons which I continue to offer will be deleted. Anyway, considering the incompetency of our current administration, right now, I do not want the Charlotte Chess Club to even be associated with the NCCA in any manner.

In closing, regardless of the final determination of his findings, I maintain that the accounting of the 2009 Scholastic event was incomplete and should have been available 4 months ago! The idea that members are forbidden to observe the NCCA books is unacceptable. If, and when, we establish a "new state organization," I will guarantee that every bit of business which is discussed and transacted or voted upon by officers or committee members will be thoroughly documented and that all members will be allowed to verify everything upon request in a democratic and transparent manner.

I wish to reiterate that, to the best of my knowledge, everything which I have reported in this statement and all others pertaining to the Scholastic event is absolutely true and I will be happy to volunteer to take a polygraph test in order to prove it. According to the convoluted NCCA roster, NM Leland Fuerstman was the longest currently active member in the entire organization. I have served as President in 84-85, Vice President, Secretary Treasurer, Gambit Editor, Delegate to the National Meeting, achieved the Title of National Master, been elected to the Hall of Fame, organized and directed hundreds of tournaments, run the Charlotte Chess Club and worked my entire life to increase the popularity of chess in North Carolina. I insist that both the Asheboro Director and I believe that what we did was for the good of the future of chess in this state.

I hold no grudges. I had rather spend my energy fending off the threats of my opponents over the chessboard. On Wednesday evenings, you will find me conversing, enjoying a wonderful meal and playing one tournament game of chess at the Charlotte Chess Club. I'll see you there.

I do not intend to address this issue again.

I remain,
NM Leland Fuerstman
Charlotte Chess Club
Independent