CJ Banned?

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Jonathan Rogers
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:03 pm

But what should the public statement be? "CJ, on reflection, wishes he hadn't brought this to your attention; he got a bit carried away just before the prizegiving" will only encourage the media to dig further. With the mainstream media, there may be a case for just staying silent on the basis that it will all be forgotten shortly. As far as the chess community is concerned, perhaps they can stage some event in the near future when CJ meets Lara or has an occasion to give her some award for services to chess, etc, and then that can serve as a suitable resolution of the present unsatisfactory situation.

Mike Gunn
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Mike Gunn » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:04 pm

A statement will be issued, but at this stage I can't say when (discussions/negotiations between the various parties are still taking place).

If anyone sees further references to this matter in the media, could you let us know by mentioning it on here? So far I have seen the piece in the Observer, the Sunday Times and the publication just referred to.

Tom_Field
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Tom_Field » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:08 pm

Type in CJ de Mooi on Google and click on news to see the latest articles.

Have a look at this report in the Caledonian Mercury:

http://sport.caledonianmercury.com/2011 ... rsy/002034

It has an some interesting quotes

David Sedgwick
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:11 pm

Simon Ansell wrote:Can I ask if the ECF is going to make a public statement regarding this matter? It is still being reported with the (implied) 'Homophobic ECF' angle on some news sources.

Lara, undeservedly imo, is taking all the flack. There are other people involved.

We've had the ECF Publicity Director and Director of Home Chess post on this thread (and link to this thread on Facebook!) and neither has really expressed an opinion. The ECF really needs to be more media-savvy imo, this is one reason that the story has run as it has. Lara (an arbiter) shouldn't have been left in the position where she needed to make an (informal) public statement. The ECF's position is still unclear to me.
I'll give my assessment as a former Director.

Everything I know of Andrew Farthing (Chief Executive) leads me to think that he will be working very hard behind the scenes at this moment to try and bring this sad business to a generally acceptable conclusion.

I think it's quite understandable that other Board members have gone quiet while such efforts continue.

Incidentally there is no "ECF Publicity Director"; Ben Edgell is the Publicity Officer. He reports to Stewart Reuben, Director of Marketing. For a matter of this importance, I would expect Stewart to be involved personally in the drafting of any statement.

Edit: I wrote the above before seeing Mike Gunn's post, which essentially confirms my speculation.

Simon Ansell
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Simon Ansell » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:13 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote:But what should the public statement be?
I have no idea. It's not my problem. They could at least release something non-committal at this stage. I saw that last item when my sister (who is in the media) posted it on Facebook. It's been posted on Facebook 121 times and tweeted 80 times. I posted on the comments section myself in an attempt to give some balance. Then they posted the update. That's not my job, it's the Publicity Director's. He should be talking to journalists etc.

Ok, just seen David's post above. I don't care who it is, somebody should be being proactive here.

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:15 pm

Simon Ansell wrote: Lara, undeservedly imo, is taking all the flack. There are other people involved.

Agreed - I follow Jack Rudd's line about things - but would also add there are other issues involved. There seems to have been a "let's not notice" culture at the ECF with regards to CJ. That needs to be addressed in its entirety. No reason it can't be done without resignations.

The whole story behind this is much bigger than "Let's convince the world the english chess isn't homophobic". I should very much like to hear something about the Case of the Mysterious Appearance of Ray.



Anyway, I need to eat something and get back to work.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:16 pm

[quote="Mike Gunn"]A statement will be issued, but at this stage I can't say when (discussions/negotiations between the various parties are still taking place).

I am not surprised to hear that ...

Roger de Coverly
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:16 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote: Surely the bottom line is that the photos would find their way into circulation only if the prizewinners were happy for this to happen.
.
The precedent of last year is that pictures of the prize winners with CJ would be on the website. They are still there to see at
http://www.britishchess2011.com/2010/pr ... g_2010.htm

William Metcalfe
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by William Metcalfe » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:16 pm

Some people have made statements saying schools know how to deal with bullying and homophobia my experiance is some schools obv do not.
So i applaud C J for his publicity of this campain i can also see Laras point of view i hope both partys talk and nobody resigns. English chess can ill afford to lose good people.
And to those people that sent hate mail to Lara i feel very sorry for you.Your no better than the bullys my sons had to deal with.
I am speaking here for myself and not the NCCU which i am now president of

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:24 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Jonathan Rogers wrote: Surely the bottom line is that the photos would find their way into circulation only if the prizewinners were happy for this to happen.
.
The precedent of last year is that pictures of the prize winners with CJ would be on the website. They are still there to see at
http://www.britishchess2011.com/2010/pr ... g_2010.htm
... and the bullies would look it up? In any event, the ECF could agree not to publish, on request. But OK, that was largely my point - there was no time for calm reflection and Lara reporting the instinctive concerns of some parents was probably the right thing to do.

John Wright
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by John Wright » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:52 pm

Local and indeed national press often get their pictures from the net.
(Quite often they nick their stories from there too).

David Sedgwick
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:59 pm

Mike Gunn wrote:If anyone sees further references to this matter in the media, could you let us know by mentioning it on here? So far I have seen the piece in the Observer, the Sunday Times and the publication just referred to.
It's not the media, but there is a thread on the Chess Scotland Forum at http://scotchess.s4.bizhat.com/scotches ... asc-0.html.

When I perused it, the last poster was our very own Carl Hibbard.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:25 pm

Tom_Field wrote:Have a look at this report in the Caledonian Mercury:

http://sport.caledonianmercury.com/2011 ... rsy/002034
I'm very impressed by that report. It is well-researched, moderately in-depth and strives to give a balanced view and some external and local (for the readers) commentary. Much better than the passing or less objective coverage seen elsewhere. Unfortunately, it probably has a much lower readership than some of the other media outlets.

Alan Burke

Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Alan Burke » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:30 pm

I have no problem with CJ (or for that matter, anyone) wearing a shirt with whatever slogan they wish, as long as it is not offensive. (As it happens, I feel the logo for a certain fashion company consisting of 4 letters with UK at the end is far more offensive as it is purposely aimed to shock some people, whilst children are also being openly subjected to the inference that the design has been produced to achieve.)

However, I do feel that there are times and places when certain items of clothing are acceptable and others when they may not be appropriate.

I did not mind what attire CJ wore earlier throughout the event and I never noticed anything which I thought was 'over the top', whilst I would have had no objection with the same shirt he wore at the presentation being worn on playing days during the tournament. However, possibly something a bit more 'neutral' may have been appropriate for the presentations, where, after all, it is the winning players who should be taking the spotlight.

I would have been equally disappointed if the prizegiver at the Championships had worn the shirt of his favourite football team as I feel that would have detracted from the photograph taken when the trophy was presented (eg Would a Sheffield Wednesday supporter want the moment of his crowning glory to be recorded for posterity with someone in a Sheffield United shirt ?)

Please also note one of the conditions of entry for the British Championships:
2) Competitors are expected to maintain acceptable standards of dress ...

OK, it is up to someone's opinion of what is 'acceptable', but I would assume the above should also apply to officials as well as competitors.

Therefore, I don't think it is the actual shirt that CJ wore that was a problem; I think it was maybe just a case of "wrong time, wrong place" - and OK, we've all made errors of judgement at times but that doesn't mean that a person should be hauled over the coals and that all the good work they do be disregarded because of one minor incident. Therefore, I hope that both CJ and Lara continue with their exellent work on behalf of the ECF.

Alistair Campbell
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Re: CJ Banned?

Post by Alistair Campbell » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:38 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Tom_Field wrote:Have a look at this report in the Caledonian Mercury:

http://sport.caledonianmercury.com/2011 ... rsy/002034
I'm very impressed by that report. It is well-researched, moderately in-depth and strives to give a balanced view and some external and local (for the readers) commentary. Much better than the passing or less objective coverage seen elsewhere. Unfortunately, it probably has a much lower readership than some of the other media outlets.
As soon as you said that I knew who the author must have been - Dave Hewitt MM used to be a regular middlegrade congress and league player who contributed a regular (and sadly missed, by me at least) series of well-written and funny articles to Scottish Chess.