Had Glenn Petersen remained as editor, none of these so-called political letters would have appeared. It was wonderful that in the October Chess Life a letter from the Ratings Committee was published objecting vehemently to the fiddle points plan. That letter more than any other brought about the demise of the fiddle points (although I have not heard that it has officially been killed yet). The one letter supporting fiddle points in the March Chess Life was so obviously stupid and ill informed, especially when it said "the ratings committee is comprised of individuals who appear to have little understanding of the technical issues", when in reality the ratings committee consists largely of PhDs in math and statistics, that it will not convince anybody. To keep his job, the editor had to publish something supporting his president, Tim Redman. Also, the notes made it clear that the editor had been overwhelmed with letters opposing the fiddle points plan, but he felt obliged to publish the one letter he had received supporting fiddle points.
I think this is a really good time for Tim Redman to resign and not to bother us any more. March Chess Life contained letters from even small children who object to his fiddle points plan, not to mention his drug testing plan. With the overwhelming majority of USCF members vehemently opposed to Redman and his policies, every day he insists on hanging on to his power will be another day that that many more people hate him.
Sam Sloan