Q & A for US Chess Executive Board Election

JEFF WIEWEL on Tue Jun 02, 2020 (on US Chess Forum):

The biggest questions in my mind regard spending priorities some people said you had during your prior service on the board. US Chess was starting to build an emergency fund and there were claims that you wanted to instead use some of that to increase other programs.

1) Did you want to increase spending in various areas instead of quickly growing an emergency fund?

If so then,

2) What were those areas?
and
3) Do you still hold those views?

ANJELINA BELAKOVSKAIA, Tue Jun 02, 2020:

Hi, Jeff! Thank you for your question – it is definitely a very valid one.

In short, I believed and still believe that while it is imperative to have an emergency fund, we can’t simply stockpile cash and sit on it.

As a risk management professional, who grew up in the USSR with the notion that everyone should live within their means and some money must be put aside for a rainy day, I have never proposed to throw money around.

I simply believe in what I am teaching my students – Risk / Reward analysis, Opportunity Cost and Real Options theory. If we want to secure and increase future cash flows, we have to be willing to grow and invest at the well thought-out and reasonable levels.

My proposals on spending included:

• $15,000 annually for travel support of US Senior Team support playing in the World Championship,

• $12,500 annually for travel support of US Youth Team playing in the U-16 Chess Olympiad,

• $2,500 – $5,000 annual travel support for Seniors representing US in the Individual World Senior Championship (in different categories – please see my answer to Michael Mulford for details).

In addition, I am in favor of supporting women chess development and making chess more accessible to all, proactively looking for effective, reasonable and beneficial opportunities to develop the game and grow US Chess outreach.

For the reference purposes, US Chess emergency fund was set at $1.2 million, which we were actively filling in.

I hope this is sufficient answer to your question. Feel free to follow-up with any additional questions.