A "Pump-and-Dump" Fraud from Brain Games, by David Levy

A "Pump-and-Dump" Fraud from Brain Games, by David Levy

International Chess Master and famous author David Levy has released a
new expose regarding the activities of his former partner, Chess
Grandmaster Raymond Keene. Keene and Levy were previously the joint
business managers for World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov.

According to Levy's paper, Keene is in the midst of a "Pump-and-Dump"
scheme similar if not identical to the last scheme, which brought us
the "Brain Games World Chess Championship" in which Kramnik took the
world chess championship in a match with Garry Kasparov.

According to Levy, Keene raised three million pounds in the Brain
Games scheme but then siphoned off most of the money. Later, Brain
Games transferred the World Championship rights to the Einstein PC
group, but that group has since gone into administration, the
equivalent of bankruptcy. This has affected the world of chess,
because chess no longer has an effective world champion, especially
with the concurrent failure of FIDE to organize a world championship
match.

Now, according to Levy, Keene has embarked with the same people and
players into an even more grandiose scheme. In a fantastic
coincidence, Keene plans to run the world championships for Chinese
Chess, Chinese Poker, Mahjong and several other games out of the 10th
floor of 185 Madison Avenue, New York, New York.

This time around, Keene is using an American Company, RTG Ventures, as
the vehicle for his schemes. The plan is to issue a series of false
and misleading press releases, bringing in unwary public investors,
and simply take the money and run.

Levy cites statements in the press releases of Keene which are almost
certainly false. For example, a press release dated November 6th
states that RTG Ventures will stage a three day convention in Beijing,
China in May 2004, during which Keene "will simultaneously play 100 of
China's best players including 10 Masters and five Grandmasters, all
under the age of fifteen."

Levy correctly points out that China has not a single Chess
Grandmaster under the age of fifteen. I must add that while Keene does
have the grandmaster title, he has not played chess in years and was
never a top level grandmaster. Keene would have almost no chance of
successfully concluding a chess match against even one of China's top
players and he certainly could not give them a simultaneous
exhibition.

A Google search under RTG Ventures has revealed the press releases to
which Levy refers. As games players, we are probably not too concerned
at the prospect of public investors losing their money. Rather, we
look forward to competing in the World Championships of Chinese Poker,
whatever that is, after we learn how to play that game.

Sam Sloan