Prologue

Prologue (ca. 1998, ICC)

As with all stories it will help if you know who the characters are. In the Prologue we are introduced to three of the major players in the Truong Scandal. One of them is obviously Truong himself. So this is a good place to introduce them as we will see all three of them again in the future. In fact the Truong Scandal itself began with those three:

Ronald Scott (BonScott)

A strong Australian player who has been on FICS since the early days (ca. 1996). He also was a former administrator on chess.net who resigned due to PhotoGenic's harassment. Also is the author of the PicnicGuyBlitz interface.

Mark Noble (Noble)

New Zealandic FIDE Master and ICCM who has been on ICSes for almost the same length of time BonScott has. He is also a former administrator of chess.net. You might know him those days on FICS as FilthyAnimal.

Hoainhan Truong (Truong)

South Vietnamese FIDE Master who as a child apparently was very prolific in chess achievements. His achievements never gained the fame that he so craved because of politics. This is apparently what fuels his desire for getting inflated ratings on chess servers in an effort to get that lost fame.

All of this began I suppose when Truong found ICC and became a member. As far as I know, he had several handles including MurphysLaws and others feeding his main account, ChessBum98. He would also cheat with a computer on ChessBum98. ICC has sanctioned him several times and warned him if he abused one more time he would be banished from ICC for life. Here's some evidence:

From http://www.chessclub.com/finger/murphylaws

Information about ICC member MurphyLaws:

          rating   win  loss  draw total    best
Bullet      2019    15    30     1    46    2271  ( 7-Nov-98)         
Blitz       2300     3     2     0     5       0

The 20 most recent games of MurphyLaws.

1	-	2019	B	2614	Wyrm	bullet	rated	2	B00	Flag	Nov 07 98 16:22
2	-	2020	W	2345	master-ghost	bullet	rated	1	A20	Mate	Nov 07 98 16:20
3	-	2024	B	2341	master-ghost	bullet	rated	1	B51	Resignation	Nov 07 98 16:17
4	a	2300	W	2307	dov	blitz	rated	3	A00	Short	Nov 07 98 16:13
5	-	2029	W	2352	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	B50	Resignation	Nov 07 98 16:10
6	-	2033	B	2348	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D02	Resignation	Nov 07 98 16:09
7	-	2038	W	2343	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A25	Mate	Nov 07 98 16:08
8	-	2043	B	2338	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	B00	Mate	Nov 07 98 16:06
9	-	2048	W	2333	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A02	Mate	Nov 07 98 16:06
10	-	2054	B	2327	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D02	Mate	Nov 07 98 16:05
11	-	2060	W	2321	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D02	Resignation	Nov 07 98 16:03
12	-	2066	B	2315	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D10	Flag	Nov 07 98 16:01
13	-	2073	W	2308	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	B50	Resignation	Nov 07 98 16:00
14	-	2080	B	2301	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A46	Mate	Nov 07 98 15:58
15	-	2088	W	2293	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A25	Flag	Nov 07 98 15:56
16	-	2096	B	2285	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D02	Flag	Nov 07 98 15:55
17	-	2105	W	2276	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D00	Mate	Nov 07 98 15:53
18	a	2114	W	2267	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	D00	Short	Nov 07 98 15:51
19	-	2114	B	2267	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A40	Mate	Nov 07 98 15:49
20	-	2124	W	2257	ChessBum98	bullet	rated	1	A00	Resignation	Nov 07 98 15:48

If you will notice the games in his history are all losses to himself as ChessBum98. MurphyLaws has not connected since 1998 which indicates that it has been locked and/or banned. ICC does not delete locked/banned accounts but rather keeps them around to ensure that they have the files they need for any further abuse by the sanctioned member.

Another thing you will notice very easily is that ChessBum98 is on the computer abuser's list. This list does not show up in the normal ICC fingers but it does show up when you do an internet finger. This further supports my case:

From: http://www.chessclub.com/finger/chessbum98

Information about ICC member ChessBum98:

ChessBum98 is a FIDE Master.
ChessBum98 is a computer program.

          rating   win  loss  draw total    best
Bullet      2532   367   134    19   520    2532  (14-Oct-99)         
Blitz       2913   330    61    26   417    2914  ( 1-Feb-99)         
Standard    2411     2     0     0     2       0                      


 1. ELO - Current: 2335 High: 2395 Low: Not yet  :o)
 2. FM, NM, Life Master

The 20 most recent games of ChessBum98.

PostModernist

standard

rated

D66

Adjudication

Dec 28 99 12:12

Resident-Evil

bullet

unrated

D00

Flag

Mar 03 01 15:16

Resident-Evil

bullet

unrated

A80

Flag

Mar 03 01 15:09

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A04

Resignation

Jun 24 00 00:39

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D30

Resignation

Jun 24 00 00:36

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D02

Mate

Jun 24 00 00:34

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D30

Flag

Jun 24 00 00:32

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A30

Resignation

Jun 24 00 00:30

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D37

Resignation

Jun 24 00 00:27

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A43

Flag

Jun 24 00 00:24

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A00

Short

Jun 24 00 00:24

IQ160

bullet

unrated

B96

Resignation

Jun 09 00 19:10

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D02

Resignation

Jun 09 00 19:08

IQ160

bullet

unrated

B96

Flag

Jun 09 00 19:06

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A43

Flag

Jun 09 00 19:04

IQ160

bullet

unrated

D37

Flag

Jun 09 00 19:01

IQ160

bullet

unrated

A43

Resignation

Jun 09 00 18:59

TheLearner

bullet

unrated

B23

Mate

Jun 09 00 18:47

TheLearner

bullet

unrated

D02

Mate

Jun 09 00 18:44

TheLearner

bullet

unrated

B95

Mate

Jun 09 00 18:42

And thus after ICC sanctions to Truong, he was summarily banished from their server. Truong found a new home at chess.net though. This is where Noble and BonScott tie into the story. ICC remains an integral part of the Truong Scandal in later times as Truong would log on to ICC to make slanderous notes towards his enemies. He wouldn't do it on chess.net to keep his 'integrity'. In other words he had to use ICC for his dirty work.

chess.net

Truong then moved his home server over to chess.net, which was desperate for titled players, even feeble FIDE masters. Truong struck a deal there to provide lessons to the general public in exchange for admins looking the other way to his faggotry. This is what later brought chess.net down, apart from it being flawed in the first place. chess.net had taken the FICS code and let a 10 year old boy that just discovered the joys of puberty hack it around so that half of the server was broken. The ironic part is that the new players that played on the server were all like OMG OMG OMG LOL@ TEH SERVER REALLY WROKS, TEH INTARFACES SI TEH BESTESTESESTES ON TEH INTARWEBS!111111111111111111111111111111111.

Jesus. It's almost no wonder why chess.net was too happy to snap up Truong. After the ill-fated Karpov simul, they needed some street cred. CheatyFace(FM) provided that in exchange for the destruction of their server at a date to be specified.

Anyway, here's the finger of the Truong account:

Statistics for Truong(FM)

                                rating        win      loss      draw      total         best
Blitz                          2570         183        3            5           191        2570 (29-May-99)
Standard                   2613         101        1            3           105        2613 (03-Jun-99)
Lightning                  2879         1161      2            0          1163      2879 (01-Jun-99)

My name is Paul Truong, born in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1965, now currently
residing in New York. I am 34 years old, divorced with 2 beautiful and
wonderful children (Brittany 7 & PJ 6).

The following are some of my chess accomplishments:

4-time undefeated National Junior (under 21) Champion of South Vietnam
1970-1974 (age 5 1/2)
5-time undefeated National Champion of South Vietnam 1974-1979 (age 8 1/2)
Obtained an official rating of 2200+ after winning the South Vietnam National
Championship 1974 (age 8 1/2)
Youngest person to qualify and to be invited to the 1975 World Junior (under
21) Championship in Manilla (age 9 1/2)
I came to the US at age 14 1/2 as a boat person and a political refugee
(1980)
Became USCF National Master in 1980 at age 15
I am also a USCF Life Master as well as a FIDE Master
I was ranked among the top Juniors in the US in the early 80's and qualified
for the US Junior Invitational Championship.
FIDE rating was approximately 2400 back in the 80's but I have not played
serious tournament chess since
Currently rank in the top 20 in the World in Blitz on ICC
Currently rank #1 in Blitz and Lightning on USCF ENGAGE Chess
Currently rank #1 in Lightning and top 20 in Blitz and Standard on Chess.net
(the only person to be on the best list in all 3 categories)

Thank you Sandlapper & CK (459) for making this place so much fun for me!
Thank you Asko for inviting me to Chess.net. To the rest of my friends here,
you are GREAT!! Thank you for your support! Chess.net is the best chess
server, however, like everything in life, there will always be a few bad
apples floating somewhere. Please try to act decently and please, NO foul
language as we have minors here at this site. With your help, chess.net will
even be a better place!

Please be kind to everyone! Ratings won't make you a better or worst person!
So be nice to all! My best chess advice to anyone who wants to improve:
"LEARN ENDGAME!" #1 most important! 5 basic rules of chess: #1 Develop your
pieces ASAP and do not move the same piece twice in the first 10 moves. #2
Control the CENTER. #3 Castle ASAP #4 Make plans and shift your pieces
according to plan & keep all your pieces protected. #5 Relax & Enjoy the
great game of chess!

My best chess experience: I was able to travel worldwide, meet great people &
learn new cultures. Most interesting moment on chess.net: Made 9 moves in 1
second in lightning (vs jclark_70 on 3/27/99 ~ pq4 3/29/99 ~ padeschah 4/3/99
~ HanSum 5/29/99 ~ Samboha 6/1/99, etc...).

I would like to state my support and praise for Aardvark and his Admin. staff
for the countless hours they have given us. I know that nothing is ever
perfect and I also know that this is not an easy job. You have given your
best and I am very thankful. On behalf of the members: "Thank you"!! Special
thanks to Aardvark, Sandlapper, RAINHA, Crossarm, Solagel, PhotoGenic,
PREVAIL, TheLearner, Kitty, Ledger, pokie, picosecond, Iccarus911,
gerfleurgen, WebJB, -mE, MikeCarroll, Caisso, source, ChessMater, Jaywick,
shayne, bazuul, Andre and more! To my Best Friend and Sweetheart, thank you!
You are the best! I love you! God will be the final Judge for our actions!

My e-mail is Paultruong@aol.com. I wish you the best on chess.net and I bid
you all FARE WELL! Remember, WIN with Grace and LOSE with Dignity! Have fun!

Let's do some analysis. First of all, he's an obvious E E E E E E E E E E E E K E R. The problem is that even eekers can't go 1161-2-0. I mean, hell, not even Junk from ICC who abused a ***FORCED WIN*** wild variant on ICC could even match that record. Here's his wild line for comparison:

Wild            2806  [6]  2817    58    19  2894   2827 (20-Aug-1997)

Just take a look at the vast eeking Junk did, and yet it's nowhere near a 1161-2 record.

So the question begs, How did Truong get such records?  The answer is mindboggingly simple: He abused.  My God, he ABUSED.

Thus, the Truong Scandal was born.  Read on, dear readers and begin to understand why Paul Truong is a disease upon internet chess.

[Last updated: 11 December 2005 -- Nick Long]