Paul Truong

Paul Truong, (born Hoainhan Truong in June 1965 in South Vietnam), is a US chess player, trainer, promoter and organizer.

Truong learned the moves of chess along with his father at the age of five and played at the National Sports Center (CSS) in Saigon, a center for the chess life of the country. From an early age, he won the annual tournaments organized by the National Sport Center, which were informally recognized as the National Championships of South Vietnam. In all, he won the annual under-21 event 4 times, starting when he was five years old, and the annual adult event five times, starting when he was eight. [References for this include [http://www.samsloan.com/truong-chess-life.pdf Paul Truong: Happy to be a USCF Member, Chess Life, September 1986, p.26] and [http://www.chesscafe.com/text/polgar14.pdf Interview of Paul Truong by Susan Polgar, 4 Aug 2003] . Independent verification is difficult, due to the lack of sources from South Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon in 1975.]

As a chess player, he holds the USCF title of National Master and Life Master, and the FIDE title of FIDE Master. [ [http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=2001390 Hoainhan Truong FIDE rating card] shows the FIDE Master title and a rating sufficient for the USCF titles]

As a promoter and organizer, he is closely associated with former Women's World Chess Champion Susan Polgar. [ [http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007/05/special-thank-you-to-all.html Susan Polgar Chess and Information Blog: A special thank you to all! ] ] He is Polgar's husband, business manager, and Vice-President of the Susan Polgar Foundation. He organized and/or promoted most of the events in which Polgar has been involved since she relocated to the United States, being the main organizer of most of them. He is Chairperson of the USCF Polgar Committee, which oversees the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls. In May 2007, Truong become the Director of Marketing and PR of Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and assistant coach of the Texas Tech University chess team, with Polgar as the Executive Director of SPICE and head coach. [ [http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/529932/ 12 May 2007 news release from Texas Tech University titled "Texas Tech Hires Chess World Champion, Establishes Excellence Institute"] ]

Truong has collaborated with Polgar on most of her books and videos, and he has co-authored with her numerous chess columns and articles. In 2003, Polgar and Truong won the Cramer Award for Best Chess Column and three Chess Journalist of America Awards for Best Magazine Column, Best Endgame Analysis Column, and Best Chess Promotion column. [ [http://www.chessjournalism.org/aw2003.htm CJA Awards 2003] ] They also won the 2004 Chess Journalist of America Award for the best endgame column in Chess Horizons. [ [http://www.chessjournalism.org/aw2004.htm CJA Awards 2004] ]

In 2004, Truong served as the captain and business manager of the U.S. Women's Team for the 36th Chess Olympiad, [ [http://www.uschess.org/news/bio/2004uswomenolympiadteam.pdf 2004 United States Women's Olympiad Team] , USCF web site] which won a Silver Medal after defeating Vietnam in the last round. [ [http://www.olimpbase.org/2004w/2004fa14.html#usa OlimpBase :: 36th Chess Olympiad (women), Calvia 2004, final A, round 14 ] ]

Election campaign and subsequent litigation

In December 2006, he announced his candidacy for USCF Executive Board, as one of four candidates in the Susan Polgar team. Both Polgar and Truong were elected, as Chairman and VP of Marketing and Communication respectively.

On June 21, 2007, Paul Truong filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York. [ http://www.yousendit.com/download/Q01HNU1BcG9oMld4dnc9PQ] His filing fees were paid by his wife, Susan Polgar. He was discharged in bankruptcy on October 30, 2007. This was the second time he filed for bankruptcy. The first time was in Northern District of Illinois on August 28, 1991. On that occasion, he was discharged in bankruptcy on March 13, 1992. [Case reference number 91-18337 Hoainhan Truong, Bankruptcy, Chapter 7, Honorable Ronald Barliant presiding.]

On October 2, 2007, Sam Sloan filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to overturn the results of the 2007 election, alleging that that there were more than 2,000 obscene "Fake Sam Sloan" newsgroup postings by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong impersonating Sloan, as a result of which Polgar and Truong were elected. Susan Polgar has responded to the charges primarily against her husband on her blog. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/nyregion/08chess.html Chess Group Officials Accused of Using Internet to Hurt Rivals - New York Times ] ] [ [http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007/10/stating-facts.html Susan Polgar Stating the Facts] ] [ [http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/polgar-responds-on-her-blog/ Polgar Responds on her Blog] ] [ [http://www.samsloan.com/mottershead.pdf The Mottershead Report] ] [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/nyregion/08chess.html NY Times: Chess Group Officials Accused of Using Internet to Hurt Rivals] ] [ [http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/interview-with-the-uscf-president-a-chess-sponsor-says-hes-had-enough/ NY Times: Interview With the U.S.C.F. President; a Chess Sponsor Says He’s Had Enough] ] [ [http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/founder-of-af4c-the-chess-federation-needs-a-new-structure/ NY Times: Founder of AF4C: The Chess Federation Needs a New Structure] ] On August 28, 2008, US District Judge Denny Chen dismissed the suit with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(6). [ [http://chessusa.blogspot.com/2008/09/update-text-of-sloan-vs-truong-decision.html UPDATE: Text of Sloan vs. Truong Decision] ] [ [http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/Rule12.htm Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Rule 12] ]

On January 15, 2008, four members of the USCF Executive Board issued a statement asking Truong to step down from his position on the Board for "neglecting his fiduciary duties" through not providing an affirmative defense to the lawsuit. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/crosswords/chess/15chess.html Member of U.S. Chess Federation’s Board Is Asked to Resign in Dispute Over an Election] , New York Times, January 15, 2008.] This was not, however, an official vote of the Board. [ [http://main.uschess.org/docs/gov/reports/2007-08_EB_Motions.pdf List of all motions passed by the USCF Executive Board] ] Truong has denied any wrongdoing and has refused to resign. The "New York Times" reported that Brian Mottershead (a former volunteer systems administrator at the federation) claimed that Truong posted inflammatory remarks on the Internet in the names of other members of the federation, including Sloan, for more than two years, based on matching of IP addresses from which the posts were made. [ [http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/drive-to-recall-member-of-chess-federations-board-is-under-way/#more-187 Drive to Recall Member of Chess Federation’s Board Is Under Way] ] [ [http://www.chesspals.com/Mottershead%20Report%20PDF.pdf Evidence that Paul Truong is the Fake Sam Sloan] ] Two computer experts have examined Mottershead’s report and concluded that its methodology was accurate. [ [http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/second-computer-expert-offers-opinion-on-report-at-base-of-uscf-lawsuit Second Computer Expert Offers Opinion on Report at Base of USCF Lawsuit] ] The USCF Internet expert and attorney, [http://karlkronenberger.com/ Karl Kronenberger] , stated at a meeting of the USCF Delegates on August 9, 2008 in Dallas, Texas that he believes, "Paul Truong is the fake Sam Sloan." [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6976612952648489471&hl=en] [http://chessusa.blogspot.com/2008/08/recall-recap-goichberg-comments.html] [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/nyregion/04chesssuit.html Federal Lawsuit Against Chess Officials Is Dismissed in Dispute Over Online Messages] ]

On Monday, July 28, 2008, the USCF instituted legal proceedings against Polgar and Truong in the District Court of Lubbock, Texas for "leaking confidential emails" from the USCF Executive Board. [http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/072808/loc_310582593.shtml] [ [http://kohm.org/news/?p=287 "Polgar Checked into Lawsuit"] ] USCF attorney, [http://www.kronenbergerlaw.com/karl_kronenberger_profile.html Karl S. Kronenberger] , has characterized this as wire fraud, and the U.S. Secret Service has said that the case has been referred to its San Francisco office for investigation. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/crosswords/chess/17fight.html?_r=1&ref=crosswords&oref=slogin Claims of Fake Web Postings Roil the Chess World] , McClain, Dylan Loeb, New York Times, 17 August 2008.]

On Saturday, August 9, 2008, a motion to remove Paul Truong from USCF Executive Board was put before the delegates of the USCF at their meeting in Dallas, Texas. Truong was present to defend himself. The motion was defeated by a clear majority of the delegates present. Subsequent to this vote, USCF President Bill Goichberg stated in an online forum that the evidence against Truong [being the "Fake Sam Sloan"] "is powerful" and ignoring it would be a violation of fiduciary duty. [http://chessusa.blogspot.com/2008/08/recall-recap-goichberg-comments.html]

References

External links

*fide|id=2001390|name=Paul Truong
* [http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtHst.php?12123950 US tournament record of Paul Truong]