Dear Leland, I posted the following commentary yesterday in the SC Chess website, so since I noticed that you posted my e-mail to you the other day in the Charlotte Chess website, you may also post this then there as well.  Also. I really seldom join chess tournaments because of work, so you might not see me in the weekend tournaments you organize at Charlotte, but I certainly appreciate your organizing them for the good of chess in our two states. Edsel Dear SC and NC Chessplayers, James McDougall just alerted me to the postings in the SC Chess website, and I just read most of the postings. Let me share some of my thoughts. First of all, I would like to commend Leland and David Causey for organizing the SC vs NC Challenge. This is the first one we had, and I believe many of us enjoyed it immensely. The idea of playing for a team and for the state was quite interesting for me. I also second Wayne's suggestion about having a discussion on how to improve the format in future NC vs SC Challenge to make it fair to everyone and to the two states. It did not also bother me at all that both TDs played. We don't have many chess players, so having Leland and David play during the tournament was good. In fact, we should instead compliment them because by being TD's it would be hard for them to concentrate during their games, and they still persevered. Second. we must all realize that there will always be problems in our tournaments, such as noise, pairings, etc., but my personal feeling is that we should go beyond these problems. Let's just enjoy playing and competing, and be sportsmanlike about everything. When we lose, let's compliment our opponents and shake their hands; and when we win, let's enjoy it but still be humble about it and not gloat. There is a nice article that Benjamin Franklin wrote about chess in 1786, entitled the "The Morals of Chess" which basically discusses how to be a gentleman in chess and make chess remain a noble game. Let's observe such morals! Third, I consider Timur Aliyev a friend and I was happy to see him come to SC as this heighten's chess in SC. However, I do not agree with Timur's approach in trying to improve chess tournaments here. There are better ways to bring change than overt complaining and personal attacks. Of course, I also recognize that he is entitled to voice his feelings, as I am also voicing my feelings now. Let us refrain from personal attacks, and let us be respectful of everyone else, and this appeal is for everyone, not just Timur. I do NOT specifically agree with Timur that we should boycott some chess tournaments, including those organized by Leland. I am still thankful for Leland for his organizing of this tournament, and I take it that he lost money over this venture.  As an amateur chess player, and who wants to remain an amateur chess player, I am just happy to have tournaments that I could participate subject to all the constraints that many of us have: family, spouses, children, profession, etc. Also, I noticed that in one of his postings, Timur mentioned that Leland offered so many draws to his opponents. I believe that that info partially came from me since in my game against Leland he did offer me a draw several times. Offering a draw is a valid move in a chess game, and there is no limit to how many draw offers one could give. The opponent certainly has the right to either accept or reject the offer. Hence, I never took Leland's offer in a negative light; in fact, I took those as psychological ploys on his part since he made those when he had some tactical schemes hatched up, so he might have been making my guard down a little, which of course I happily did not do. In truth, Leland and I had a very enjoyable game. Thus, please do not construe the draw offers as ungentlemanly as they are always part of a game of chess. For many of us, including me, which considers chess as a hobby, we will just be thankful when we have opportunities to join tournaments. Thus, let us be more forgiving and patient with regards to tournaments conditions, BUT certainly let us not be forgiving nor patient in our chess game!! That is where all the fun of chess is, the creative aspects and the psychological aspects in playing the game. I close by saying that I made and met many friends during the tournament, and I hope to keep doing so. I look forward to having this SC vs NC challenge in the years to come, and hopefully we could improve tournament conditions and the match system. Let us therefore make SC and NC chess better, and let us all have fun doing so. Let's enjoy our games, win or lose. Remember, this is just a chess game, and it is not a matter of life and death. It would be the worst type of checkmate if by playing chess we lose friends instead of acquiring new friends. Then chess would not be so much fun, and I for  one would detest such a situation, and would withdraw from the game. Sincerely, Dr. Edsel A. Pena ************************************************************ Dr. Edsel A. Pena Professor Department of Statistics University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208