The Wesley So Conspiracy
In a recent ChessDom interview, Lotis Key, a devout Christian and a friend of Wesley So with whom he is living in Minnesota, said, "Bobby Fischer lived in my older sister’s house in Pasadena. There is no mystery to Wesley wanting to live with us. He is a good fit here, as we all enjoy each other’s company."
Bobby Fischer? Yes, this revelation is especially troubling. How did this lady find So? Considering she is Philipino and familiar with chess, probably not difficult in 2015.
Lotis Key's Website can be found at http://www.lotiskey.com/
Unfortunately some people abuse Christianity and use it as a means to control others. I don't know why, but I get a whiff of impropriety when I read Lotis Key's reports of So's situation. In the scenario I imagine, So was estranged from his biological family and this Lotis Key lady, being Filipino and following So's career online, and because her family had a previous history with Fischer, saw an opportunity. So had just won $100,000. So had a life savings controlled by his estranged parents. One could argue that cult-like predators victimized a naive Fischer into "donating" his money to religious groups in California. It's well known that Fischer sheltered himself in Pasadena and did not invest his money after a big payday in Iceland.
So's biological mother, despite being estranged from him, still has credibility when she claims that So's personality changed. When a young person gets involved with a cult-like situation, they get "brainwashed" and quickly shift allegiances. Let's not forget that So is only, what, 21? I'm not saying this happened, but the puzzle pieces are in place and seem to easily fit. When one joins a cult or gets "brainwashed" by another, personalities begin to change and money begins to disappear.
Where does Paul Truong and Susan Polgar fit in to all this? This man has lost much credibility in the chess world because of his alleged past unethical behavior and his past legal battle with the USCF. His legal battle lost the USCF tens of thousands of dollars, and people dislike him and Susan Polgar because of this and his apparent lack of ethics. We certainly must remember this history. But he and S. Polgar, despite their issues, still run a championship Webster team and succeed at developing world-class GMs for the U.S. Conrad Holt and Ray Robson, two top U.S. GMs who have succeeded under the Webster system (never mind So's success under the Webster system) are empirical evidence. These GMs succeed at Webster because of, not despite, Truong and Polgar's ethical issues. I think Truong and Polgar are so devoted to chess and each other than they ignore ethical concerns. What does this mean about the So situation? I don't think Webster wanted So to leave. He was too valuable for the team. I don't think Truong would have kicked So off the team, even if he did allegedly violate team rules (whatever they may have been). Almost every time Wesley So did something terrific in the chess world, the Polgar blog listed the accomplishment. I think a more likely scenario, given Truong's track record for saving face and my "cult" theory described above, is that So asked to leave the team and Truong had to create an "official" explanation to appease the university and other official parties. This official explanation remained private until Truong made it public in the ChessBase interview.
My conspiracy theory believes that So is being "brainwashed" by Lotis Key. Based on her sister's success with Fischer, Lotis Key believes she must do everything in her power to control So's money and career. When So abruptly decided to leave Webster, whether for philosophical differences with the Truong/Polgar leadership or not, the ostensibly official and most easily accepted reason would be to claim rules violations. In fact, given Truong/Polgar's track record, it wouldn't be hard to believe that So's decision to leave was based on philosophical and personality conflicts with Truong/Polgar, in addition to Lotis Key's encouragement. Truong/Polgar come up with the most plausable sounding reason for So's departure from Webster, and we accepted it without question.
None of the four parties here are "innocent." Truong/Polgar seem to be playing their old "save face" game. So has note-taking issues that have gotten him into some minor trouble in the past. Apparently, he never bothered to learn the rules or to take them more seriously, and he suffered a forfeit which led to public shame and the opening of his private life, for this lack of attention to detail. So's biological parents had estranged themselves from their son, and it is hard to determine what kind of relationship they had with So before he moved to Webster. Probably not good. If So is under some sort of "brainwash" from Lotis Key, however, then he is probably describing his relationship with his biological mother as worse than it truly is. But there is some estrangement there, or else So would not live in MN and his parents in Canada. As for Lotis Key, well, what can I say? Her sister allegedly harbored Fischer. I can only speculate that Lotis Key is making an effort to repeat history.
Yes, these are all speculations. It is a conspiracy theory. But this is how I have interpreted all the recent public information made available in recent days.
