ORDER OF EVENTS BY SUSAN WANG

Order of Events
CalChess Grade Level Championship
December 3-4, 2011

Susan Wang

• 12/03/11
• At approximately 1:50 pm, my husband and I, among other parents who settled in the second floor balcony area of Santa Clara Hyatt were told by Mr. Salman Azhar that the Hyatt staff needed to clear the area to get ready for a party later that evening.  My husband and I moved our belongings to the Weibel team room, and my husband stood outside of the Magnolia room where my daughter was playing chess in the Grade 6 section to wait for her.  I then proceeded to walk over to the Santa Clara Convention Center where my son, Michael Lu, was playing in the high school Grade 9 section.

• At approximately 2:00 pm, I got to the Santa Clara Convention Center and was just in time to see the players start their clocks and begin playing.  However, I saw that my son’s opponent has not shown up yet and my son did not start his clock.  Baffled at that, but at that time, the two TDs (I do not know their names) in the room had begin closing the door.  Thinking that my son had played chess long enough that he knows that he should start his clock regardless whether his opponent is present or not, I did not think any further and left.

• At approximately 4:30 pm, my son finally returned from the G/60 game.  Before I asked him how his game went, he asked me if ‘they’ can tell him not to start the clock.  I was baffled and asked him to explain.  He said that the TD in the room had told him that his opponent was going to be late and he cannot start his clock until 2:15 pm.  It was not a question to ask for his permission or agreement, but a statement/command.  To me, this did not sound legal, but I am not a chess player and I don’t know all the rules.  However, it just happened that two of our coaches, Dr. Alan Kirshner and Mr. David Lee, were present.  I immediately asked them about this situation.  Both had said that the TDs cannot prevent him from starting the clock at the time when others have begun their games.

• Dr. Kirshner immediately went to look for the Tournament Director, Mr. Salman Azhar, and report this incidence.

• Dr. Kirshner came back with Mr. Azhar, and Mr. Azhar said to me that because Michael’s opponent is his son, Aamir Azhar, he doesn’t want to get involved and defer the complaint to the head TD, Mr. John McCumiskey.  He also requested that we don’t tell Mr. McCumiskey who Michael’s opponent was.  We then proceed and waited for Mr. McCumiskey to come.

• When Mr. McCumiskey arrived, Dr. Kirshner explained the situation to him, and he immediately said that this was very clear as illegal, and ruled in my son’s favor.  My son was to get a forfeit win because his opponent did not return within the 30 minutes window from the start of the round at 2 pm, and the game that played was thrown out.  (This ruling was later overturned by someone, and I don’t know the details.  The final ruling became both my son and his opponent received a forfeit win, and the game played was counted as an extra rated game.  It would be beneficial for us if someone can investigate into this and fill us in.)

• My husband and I, in addition to our two coaches, thought the situation was settled and went home.

• 12/04/11
• Second day of the tournament, we arrived back to Santa Clara Hyatt at approximately 8:20 am for rounds 4-6.  I settled my kids in the team room for them to go through their openings as their coach has requested previously.  I then walked over to the Santa Clara Convention Center side as I wanted to confirm the outcome of the previous day ruling.  What I found was that my son did get a forfeit win, but his opponent, Aamir Azhar, received a ½ point bye for the round (round 3 in this case).  I thought it was odd, but I did not think too much into it.

• Later that morning, I had passed Dr. Kirshner in the waiting area and briefly mentioned about the ½ point bye that Aamir received.  We both laughed about it and let it at that.  It was also at this time, through two sources, Dr. Kirshner and Mr. Carl Moy, that I had learned Mr. Azhar had been making slandering remarks about my son, Michael, either calling him or implying that he is a liar.  I was really upset, but I figured that the coaches will be taking care of this, and I didn’t want to let my kids know, which would upset them for the games to come.  

• At approximately 11:10 am, I walked over to the Convention Center to see if my son had finished his game, as the next round was at 11:30 am, and I wanted him to eat something.  When I arrived, he just finished and took a couple of minutes to tidy up his notation book and filling in a couple of missing moves while he can remember them.  We left the room, and in the hallway leading to the doors to the Santa Clara Hyatt, we pass by Mr. Azhar as he was coming from the opposite direction.  Upon passing, my son and I did not say anything, and then we heard Mr. Azhar said “nice lies” in a level that we both heard it.  I was shocked, but I didn’t want my son to get involved, so I asked Michael to go ahead and look for his dad and eat his lunch.  I then turned around and went back into the game room where Mr. Azhar is now.  I asked him directly what he had just said.  He rudely yelled that he did not say anything.  I repeated that I heard him say something in the hallway to us.  He yelled at me again saying that he did not say anything to me.  I then turned around and walk briskly away, not wanting to talk to him anymore.  Mr. Azhar proceeded to chase after me out of the room, and telling me to stop repeatedly.  I ignored him, as at this point why should I think that he was talking to me.  He then yelled, “Michael’s mom, stop!”  I turned around and he motioned me to follow him back into the room.  He yelled to me again that if I had any complaints about him, I should complain to the TD (not the same TD as in day 1 of the tournament) in the room.  I asked him, why and what should I complain about.  He said, “I don’t know.”  I turned around and left again.

• One additional note, a friend sent me a facebook trail of what Aamir Salman had posted on facebook.  In it, Aamir admitted being 40 minutes late and there were 35 minutes remaining on the clock for Aamir, and Mr. Azhar continued to slander my son, as well as myself and my husband, on his son’s facebook.  This showed that the clock for my son’s game was indeed started late.  If the clock was started at the time of the round start time as with everyone else, the time remaining on the clock would have been 20 minutes, not the 35 minutes that Aamir stated in his facebook.  This originally had just been a simple question to clarify whether the action of the TD was valid.  We would have been fine with the chief TD telling us that Michael should have started raised his concern at the time that the TD told him not to start.  It would have been a lesson learned.  However, the actions of Mr. Azhar really were uncalled for and not ethical.

• Mr. Azhar’s verbal abuses have defamed both my son Michael’s and my integrities and our reputations.  To be honest, to this date, neither one of us really know what Mr. Azhar is accusing my son of lying.  All that my son had questioned and said thus far was whether the TDs can tell him not to start the clock until a later time, plus his opponents came in approximately 2-3 minutes before the 30 minutes limit for forfeit from the start of his clock at approximately 2:17 pm.  As a tournament staff, let along the tournament organizer, I would think that Mr. Azhar is required to be impartial, especially when neither my son nor I have done or said anything to provoke the situation or to deserve the abuse.  I hope that USCF will investigate into this matter, and would like a formal apology from Mr. Azhar.  We left the tournament without waiting to receive my son’s trophy or their team trophy, as none of us wanted them.  We don’t plan to return to any of Mr. Azhar’s tournaments in the future.