Brownian Motion,
or,
Memoirs of a Blame-thrower

Taylor Kingston

CHESSDON, by Don Schultz, 1999 Chessdon Publishing, English
Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 356 pp., $23.95

Don Schultz has been active as an organizer and administrator in
American and international chess circles for nearly 40 years.
Beginning as a tournament director in the early 1960s, Schultz
worked his way up the chess political ladder, eventually holding
high positions in the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the
United States Chess Federation (USCF), most recently serving as
USCF president 1996-1999. He has had administrative roles in
many important chess events, including major tournaments and
world title matches. He has known many top players, and has
worked with many high-level chess officials, such as FIDE
presidents Euwe, Olafsson, and Campomanes. 

Having just retired, Schultz decided to publish his memoirs.
CHESSDON, relating the highlights of his four decades in chess,
has been released to great fanfare. It has been advertised through
expensive direct mailings, and promoted at USCF events, such as
the U.S. Open. The blurbs on the back cover make it sound like the
greatest thing since Viagra: "This is one of the most interesting
chess books ever written ... you will not be able to put this book
down."   "A riveting and exciting book."   "A great book and a
great contribution to chess!"   "A one of a kind book that will
capture and hold the attention of ... the entire reading world."  

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, rarely in the field of chess
publishing has so much hype been dished out to so many for so
little reason. To contradict the cover blurbs directly: this book is
neither very interesting nor exciting, only my reviewer's duty kept
me from putting it down after a few dozen pages, and its
"contribution" to chess is highly questionable. The only sense in
which it might be "great" is in the number of its faults. This review
will now elaborate on them at some length.

The book appears to have two main purposes. One, most apparent
when Schultz discusses USCF politics in the 1990s, is to attack
rivals, settle old scores and lay blame. This will be discussed
further on. The other is to give Schultz's account of various major
and minor events and incidents, both American and international,
that he was involved in from about 1962 to 1996.

Given that among these are the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match and
other world championships, several chess Olympiads and other
major tournaments, and some important controversies and political
fights within FIDE, Schultz does not lack for interesting subject
matter. To give a few examples, he was present at the examination
of Fischer's and Spassky's chairs when the Soviet delegation
alleged that hidden objects  might be affecting Spassky's play. He
worked closely for years with Florencio Campomanes, at first
admiring his energy and managerial skill but finally disliking his
hypocrisy and venality. He was a "fly on the wall" during a phone
call about the cancellation of the first Karpov-Kasparov match. In
short, Schultz was a witness to much of recent chess history.   

However, even the most fascinating story becomes dull in the
hands of an inept writer. Truman Capote once said of Jack
Kerouac: "He does not write, he types." That comment also fits
Schultz's style: a jumpy, disconnected narrative, with little
structure or coherence aside from a loosely chronological
sequence. A proper memoir uses the wisdom of hindsight to give
past events form and sense. Schultz instead seems instead to have
jotted down notes as he went along, then thrown them in the book
with little further shaping. Event simply follows event, issues come
and go, people do this and that in a sort of Brownian motion, like
ping-pong balls in a lottery hopper. For example pages 151-157 are
like fleas on a hot griddle: the topic jumps about from KGB agents
in Soviet FIDE delegations, to a Russian translator who defied her
boss, a briefcase Schultz forgot, a nasty Internet debate with GM
Larry Evans and a resultant lawsuit, the 1989 Karpov-Hjartarson
Candidates Match, the defection and retirement of Gata Kamsky,
and finally Schultz's introduction to future GM Gabriel
Schwartzmann. These events have little or no connection with each
other, and the rapid-fire randomness of their presentation induces a
feeling akin to motion sickness.

Trivialities are focused on as much as important points, narratives
are dropped before reaching a logical conclusion, and chapters
often end with a silly irrelevancy. Describing his first meeting with
Garry Kasparov, Schultz concludes with the vital news that "His
eyes lit up when I mentioned they had a large roller coaster."
CHESSDON would have greatly benefited from a professional
writer's help, as for example was done with The Bobby Fischer I
Knew by Schultz's friend Arnold Denker, who let Larry Parr do
much of the actual writing. Schultz and Parr are not on the best of
terms, but surely other writers were available.

Then there are the games. 32 games are scattered throughout the
book (not 28 as the cover says), most by strong players, but 9 by
Schultz. I recall Raymond Keene once candidly admitting that the
reason one of his books had a large number of his own games was
vanity. At least Keene, a grandmaster, had some justification, but a
player rated below 2000, only USCF class A strength? This excerpt
from Schultz-Unknown, U.S. Amateur East, 1993 (See Diagram),

is a typically thrilling example: 25 Bxd5 Qxd5 26 Qxd5 exd5 27
Rxc7 and wins (1-0, 35). Perhaps only a large majority of players
could figure that one out. I have rejected better games than that for
small club newsletters, but here it is in a book costing $24.

Schultz's games are given light commentary by young GM Gabriel
Schwartzmann. Perhaps a bit too light; in one game he says
Schultz lost because of wasted tempi at moves 16-19. Yet later in
the game, he makes no comment on the likelihood that in this
position (See Diagram)

Schultz (Black) could have held or even won with 28...Bc8 or
28...Rd8. Instead play went 28...Rxa3?? 29 Re1 Raa2 30 Rxd7 and
1-0, 35. And while Schwartzmann is verbally fluent in several
languages, he needs help to produce passable written English. A
few typical flubs: "... handled perfectly by black and not just as
accurate by white.", "Fischer then methodically proceeded to
building his position up.", "Once again I am in a situation to have
played both of these players ...", "... a typical Sicilian with kings on
both sides." Yes, typically in the Sicilian both players do have a
King. 

Schultz seems not to understand the difference between
"disinterested" and "uninterested" or between "principal" and
"principle", and neither he nor Schwartzmann has any idea of the
correct use of capitals, commas or hyphens (if this seems trivial,
consider which you would rather meet: a man-eating shark, or a
man, eating shark). They seem to have obtained many of their
sentences from the Department of Redundancy Department.
Schultz gives us: "As for his match with GM Arnold Denker, GM
Arnold Denker ... won the match ...", "There were a few
translators, such as Valery Gleich a Soviet translator ...", "... we
had to contend not only with the Korchnoi-Karpov match but we
had the Palestine Liberation Organization to contend with ...", and
"He had been a Thai Deputy Minister ... in Thailand ...", to cite
only a few examples. And Schwartzmann: "I was able to
completely eliminate this problem almost completely ...".
Allowance can be made for Schwartzmann, who is not writing in
his native language, but not for Schultz, who apparently neglected
to consult any competent editor or proofreader.

The literary critique could go on, but let's get to the red meat of the
book. Schultz's writing finally has some focus when he gets down
the business of blame-throwing. And considering the dire financial
condition of the USCF in recent years, there is a lot of blame to go
around. Schultz wants to be sure we don't think any of it belongs
to him, and he has some scores to settle with old adversaries, in
particular with Al Lawrence, USCF Executive Director 1988-1996.
As a USCF delegate, your reviewer has had some exposure to these
issues. Also I am acquainted with Lawrence and with another
Schultz target, former USCF treasurer Frank Camaratta, Jr. In the
interest of balance, I solicited their comments. The following
paragraphs each summarize or quote a Schultz claim or accusation,
followed by Lawrence's and/or Camaratta's response.

1. Schultz: "In five months the LMA account [a portion of USCF
Life Member Assets designated for investment] was turned over
five times causing $20,000 in broker commissions   hardly the
type of investing policy a life member account should pursue!" (p.
296). Camaratta replies: "[LMA investments] made a profit of
around $120,000, with $400,000 at-risk capital, over a nine-month
period ... a 40% rate of return conveniently left out of his so-called
analysis ... I for one would gladly pay $20,000 to net $120,000."

2. Schultz: "The lifeblood of USCF, full-paying adult
memberships, had remained flat for over a decade ... The mistakes
of the last six years [apparently 1991-96] were coming home to
roost." (p. 306). This is supported with a bar graph on page 311.
Lawrence replies: "But the intervening years are missing [from
Schultz's graph]! During my time as ED from 1988 to 1995,
regular membership had climbed reliably ... as any complete and
accurate USCF graph will verify ...". And Camaratta: "USCF total
membership soared during the six years Schultz mentions ... After
Schultz took over, we went into a membership tailspin."

3. Schultz: "By the time the deadline for submitting nominations
[for USCF President in 1996] came, most of my likely opponents
concluded they would lose to me and chose not to run." Camaratta:
"More self-deification! I withdrew from the race for professional
reasons ... I never thought I could lose to the likes of Schultz."

4. Schultz repeatedly alleges that ED Lawrence was over-paid, and
that he left the USCF "on the verge of financial disaster."
Lawrence replies: "I do seem to remember that Don, no matter how
good the results were ... hated to see me get a raise or a bonus ...
Bonuses to President Schultz's later Executive Director were
much, much greater ... In fact the audited financials for my entire
eight-year stretch as ED show a $400,000 accumulated profit. So
his assertion that his administration inherited an impoverished
USCF ... doesn't begin to jibe with the facts."

5. Schultz claims a major turnaround at USCF under his
presidency, stating "in less than a year, the foundation had been
reinforced and confidence restored." (p. 310). Lawrence: "The
Federation [has] suffered a loss finally estimated by USCF officials
to be in the neighborhood of $500,000 during Don's term ... There
was indeed a 'turnaround' during the Schultz years. But it was a
turn in drastically the wrong direction."   

The above is only a small sampling; Schultz's claims and
accusations run to many pages, as do Lawrence's and Camaratta's
rebuttals. Your reviewer does not presume to know the full truth in
these matters, but my present opinion is that these portions of
CHESSDON are at best rather selective in their presentation of
facts, and partisan in their interpretations. Though he has
ostensibly retired, Schultz still seems to be making campaign
speeches, and like a typical politician, he tells only the part of a
story that is favorable to him, or unfavorable to his targets.

There are a few positives to note. A few Schultz accounts of
various FIDE controversies, elections, and personalities are
intriguing. One gets some feel for the torturous political juggling
that goes on in such a diverse organization. Also the process of
Schultz's gradual disillusionment with Florencio Campomanes is
of some interest. However, if Schultz has treated him with the
same unfairness as his American targets, one wonders if even
Campomanes is getting a bum rap.  

The final pages only undermine further one's confidence that
Schultz's perceptions are consonant with reality. Of current FIDE
president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov he says: "I liked what I saw. He
wasn't an intimidating know-it-all trying to impose his will on how
FIDE ought to be run." One wonders if Schultz actually met an
impostor masquerading as Ilyumzhinov.

CHESSDON is a vanity project masquerading as a book, a
collection of ineptly told anecdotes, mediocre games, questionable
finger-pointing and self-extenuation. It may interest those
mentioned in it, some of whom may pass it on to their lawyers, but
the great majority of chess readers are advised not to waste their
time or money.