IN THE 39^TH JUDICIAL COURT OF LIMESTONE COUNTY AT ATHENS,

STATE OF ALABAMA

EDWARD LABATE                                               )

               PLAINTIFF                                               )

                                                                                    )

VS.                                                                              )   CIVIL ACTION No.

                                                                                    )   CV-08-206

ED TRICE                                                                )

              DEFENDANT                                            )

                                                                  COMPLAINT

            Comes now the Plaintiff, Edward Labate, a resident of Limestone County, by and through his attorney, Alfred T. Newell, pursuant to Code of Alabama 6-7-100 Ala. Rules of civil procedure 17c, is suing Ed Trice; asking this honorable court to take jurisdiction.

            The defendant, Ed Trice is a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is engaged in the business of Gothic Chess Association, Incorporated, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, publishing internet information regarding chess games, books and chess tournaments.

            On or about, to wit, the 1^st day of February, 2008 through the 7^th day of May, 2008, Ed Trice published false and libelous and defamatory statements concerning the plaintiff and continues to do so by publishing numerous articles, letters, E-mails, or matter, regarding Edward Labate being the perpetrator behind a marketing scheme for a book entitled “My 61 Memorable Games”.

             Said book was supposed to have been written and/or authorized by chess celebrity Bobby Fischer as memoirs of his chess games. The book deal, “My 61 Memorable Games”, has now been established as a hoax and the book’s “marketing campaign”, originally undertaken by Ed Trice on the internet, therefore constitutes fraud. (EXHIBIT A)

            Ed Trice’s false, libelous and defamatory statements, letters and E-mails were sent to numerous mutual business associates and professional colleagues in a prestigious field and posted on numerous websites, chat rooms and bulletin boards in the public domain of the internet, copies of which are attached hereto: (EXHIBITS 1A-11C attached as evidence, pursuant to Code of Alabama 6-5-187)

1.           “Ed Labate = “Helgi” from “My 61 Memorable Games”, now established as a book publishing hoax; (Exhibit #1A)

2.           Accused Edward Labate of selling a fraudulent Bobby Fischer autographed book entitled “My 61 Memorable Games”;(Exhibit #2A)

3.           Accused Edward Labate of being the perpetrator of the “My 61 Memorable Games’ hoax to the point of actually printing a very large quantity of said books and shipping them to Europe;(Exhibit #3A)

4.           Accused Edward Labate of posting fraudulent correspondence with Ed Trice on Labate’s Website; (Exhibit #4A)

5.           Trice stated, “I am in possession of an AOL representative’s letter stating they were spoofed, fabricated entirely by Labate.” ;(Exhibit #5A)

6.           Accused Edward Labate of fabricating and ‘doctoring’ correspondence from other contacts; (Exhibit #6A)

7.           Accused Edward Labate of fabricating E-mails with Cathy Purdy of Bookmasters, Trice’s contact person with whom he himself inquired about printing the book “My 61 Memorable Games” in the summer of 2007; (Exhibit # 7A)

8.           Accused Edward Labate of fabricating Trice’s attempts to procure investors including but not limited to Frank Camaratta, Bruce Towell, and others for Trice’s unauthorized printing of the book, “My 61 Memorable Games”;(EXHIBIT #8A)

9.           Trice stated he successfully had the Limestone County Sheriff visit Edward Labate on or about January 17, 2008 at his ‘residence’, wherein Labate had not resided since June of 2007.(EXHIBIT #9A)

10.       Trice posted this E-mail on CHESSGAMES.COM:   “Labate you’re the liar who fabricated EVERYTHING on that page. And since you don’t know what “per se defamation” is, you’ve been invited to Philadelphia to learn all about it.  You claim the sheriff never visited your house, yet why then, did you remove the slander from your eBay auction one day later? I called and spoke with “Pat” (who answers their phone) many times. I called the local police on you because HARASSMENT is the first item that needs filing before civil proceedings commence. And the local police told me it was a Limestone County issue, since the mudhole you live in does not dispatch officers to your location. That’s already on the ledger, first things first.   I’ve already have had an arbitration board convene to assess damages at $1,000 per day for each day you have that b.s. on your page. I’ve asked you to remove it, you’ve refused (God knows what you have to gain by it) so now each day from the first day of contact will be money in my pocket. I’ve already negotiated 50 cents on the dollar to a firm that buys civil judgements. Let’s see where you’ll move to next, since you have gone bankrupt in California.” (EXHIBIT #10A, EXHIBIT #10B)

            11.   Trice accused Labate of having “severe psychological problems”; asks Labate, “Dude, are you on drugs?”; accused Labate of forwarding his confidential E-mails (EXHIBIT #11A; EXHIBIT #11B; #11C)

            Said remarks, articles, letters or E-mails were and are currently being published to the general public and still remain posted to this day under the name of Ed Trice, as well as his numerous aliases, including but not limited to, Edward A. Trice, Edward J. Trice, ‘James’, ‘Mark’, ‘Paul Mungo’, ‘Blood of Bulls’, ‘Chess V’, ‘Alan McCormick’, ‘GothicChessInventor’, and ‘AverageWoodpusher’. (EXHIBIT A)

            Said remarks, articles, letters or E-mails were also published to numerous websites including but not limited to:   chessgames.com, Chess ninja.com, NY Times Daily Blog, ChessVibes.com, uschess.org, rehotpawn.com, polgarchess.com, and GothicChess.com. (EXHIBIT A)

            Said remarks were also published to numerous mutual business and professional contacts including but not limited to:  Frank Camaratta, House of Staunton; Dan Heisman, Chess Master, Teacher and Chess Columnist; Cathy Purdy, Printer/Bookmasters; Ed Hall, US Chess Executive Director. (EXHIBIT A)

            Plaintiff was damaged by said false and defamatory statements as follows:

a.       Said statements undermined long established trust between plaintiff and numerous professional colleagues within his field of endeavor (marketing books and games on the internet).

b.      Plaintiff suffered public ridicule, extreme embarrassment, stress and emotional distress from having to answer related E-mail queries from colleagues in a prestigious field in which bad publicity and/or even one blemish on his reputation ruins career opportunities, causes lost opportunities to be invited to prestigious matches and tournaments, and damaged his ability to sell his legitimate products on the internet.

c.       Plaintiff incurred medical bills due to emotional distress and stress.

d.      Plaintiff suffered a loss in sales from professional pursuits during the last year and continues to do so as the libel/slander is on-going.

e.       Other damages are costs of taking legal action and attorney fees.

            Plaintiff claims punitive damages of the Defendant. Plaintiff avers that on the 5^th day of May, 2008, Plaintiff, pursuant to the Code of Alabama, 6-5-184 through 6-5-186, requested that Defendant publish a retraction of said statements and that defendant wrongfully refused to retract same. A copy of this notice is attached herewith. (EXHIBIT B)

            When the Defendant published said statements, the Defendant knew it was false, and the Defendant published said statements with reckless and gross disregard as to whether said statements were true or false.

1.      Said actions are brought under Code of Alabama 6-5-180 through 6-5-189, namely for libel and slander per se. Plaintiff asks this honorable court to award damages and permanently enjoin defendant from engaging in any such libel or slander ever again.

2.   Second cause of action common law fraud, Code of Alabama 6-5-100, wherein same said Ed Trice attempted to sell Edward Labate non-existent books and that is his basis for continually slandering Edward Labate, because he was unsuccessful in his endeavor to defraud Labate, and therefore Plaintiff demands punitive damages.

            WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendant in the sum of $1.2 million compensatory and actual damages and $20,000,000 in punitive damages, plus costs.

            PLAINTIFF DEMANDS TRIAL BY STRUCK JURY.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

_________________________

ALFRED T. NEWELL

ATTORNEY AT LAW

P. O. BOX 101432

BIRMINGHAM, AL 35210

(205) 956-8281

FAX (205) 951-2855

******************************************************************************OOn May 8th, I, Edward Labate, through my attorney Alfred T. Newell, mailed Ed Trice/Gothic Chess the following 'Demand For Retraction',

ALFRED T. NEWELL, IV

ATTORNEY AT LAW

P. O.  Box 101432

BIRMINGHAM, AL 35210-6432

PHONE (205) 956-8281

FAX (205) 951-2855

NOTICE OF DEMAND FOR RETRACTION

TO:      ED TRICE

            GOTHIC CHESS ASSOCIATION

            1735 MARKET STREET SUITE A-456

            PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103

DEAR ED TRICE:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT THE UNDERSIGNED REPRESENTS EDWARD LABATE.

            ON THE 1st DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2008 THROUGH THE 7TH DAY OF MAY, 2008 YOU PUBLISHED FALSE AND DEFAMATORY REMARKS BY PUBLISHING ARTICLES, LETTERS, EMAILS, OR MATTER, COPIES OF WHICH ARE ATTACHED HERETO REGARDING EDWARD LABATE;

1] IN THAT YOU SAID “Ed Labate = "Helgi" from "My 61 Memorable Games”, NOW ESTABLISHED AS A BOOK PUBLISHING HOAX; 

2] ALSO ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF SELLING A FRAUDULENT BOBBY FISCHER AUTOGRAPHED BOOK, MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES; 

3] ALSO  ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF BEING THE PERPATRATOR OF THE ‘My 61 Memorable Games’ HOAX TO THE POINT OF ACTUALLY PRINTING A VERY LARGE QUANTITY OF SAID BOOKS AND THEN SHIPPING THEM TO EUROPE;

4] ALSO ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF POSTING FRAUDLENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOU ON HIS WEBSITE;

5] ALSO STATED YOU ARE IN POSSESSION OF "...an AOL representative's letter stating they were spoofed, fabricated entirely by Labate."

6] ALSO ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF FABRICATING AND 'DOCTORING' CORRESPONDENCE FROM OTHER CONTACTS;

7] ALSO ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF FABRICATING EMAILS WITH CATHY PURDY OF BOOKMASTERS, YOUR CONTACT PERSON WHEN YOU YOURSELF INQUIRED ABOUT PRINTING ‘My 61 Memorable Games’ IN THE SUMMER OF 2007.

8] ALSO ACCUSED EDWARD LABATE OF FABRICATING YOUR ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE INVESTORS FOR YOUR UNATHORIZED PRINTING OF ‘My 61 Memorable Games’, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FRANK CAMARATTA, BRUCE TOWELL, ETC. 

9] ALSO STATED YOU SUCCESSFULLY HAD THE LIMESTONE COUNTY SHERIFF VISIT EDWARD LABATE ON OR ABOUT JAN. 17, 2008, AT HIS 'RESIDENCE' WHEREIN HE HAD NOT RESIDED SINCE JUNE 2007;

10] ALSO YOU POSTED ON CHESSGAMES.COM;

        "Labate, you're the liar who fabricated EVERYTHING on that page. And since you don't know what "per se defamation" is, you've been invited to Philadelphia to learn all about it.

        You claim the sheriff never visited your house, yet why then, did you remove the slander from your eBay auction one day later? I called and spoke with "Pat" (who answers their phone) many times. I called the local police on you because HARASSMENT is the first item that needs filing before civil proceedings commence. And the local police told me it was a Limestone County issue, since the mudhole you live in does not dispatch officers to your location. That's already on the ledger, first thing's first.

        I've already have had an arbitration board convene to assess damages at $1000 per day for each day you have that b.s. on your page. I've asked you to remove it, you've refused (God knows what you have to gain by it) so now each day from the first day of contact will be money in my pocket. I've already negotiated 50 cents on the dollar to a firm that buys civil judgments. Let's see where you'll move to next, since you have gone bankrupt in California."

SAID REMARKS, ARTICLES, LETTERS OR EMAILS WERE PUBLISHED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND STILL REMAIN POSTED TO THIS DAY UNDER your name of Ed Trice, as well as your numerous aliases, including but not limited to, 'James', 'Mark', 'Paul Mugno', 'Blood of Bulls', 'ChessV'; 'Alan McCormick', 'GothicChessInventor'; 'AverageWoodpusher';

        to numerous websites but not limited to; chessgames.com; chessninja.com; NY Times Daily Blog; ChessVibes.com; uschess.org; redhotpawn.com, polgarchess.com; GothicChess.com; etc.; 

        to NUMEROUS CONTACTS BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FRANK CAMARATTA, House of Staunton;  DAN HEISMAN, Chess Master, Teacher, and Chess Columnist; CATHY PURDY, Printer/Bookmasters; Ed Hall, US Chess Executive Director, etc.

            PURSUANT TO CODE OF ALABAMA, 1975, 6-5-186, I HEREBY DEMAND THAT YOU PUBLISH A FULL AND FAIR RETRACTION OF SUCH ACCUSATIONS IN AN EQUALLY PUBLIC AND PROMINENT PLACE AND MANNER WITHIN FIVE (5) DAYS OF YOUR RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER.

            DATED THIS 7^TH DAY OF MAY, 2008.

SINCERELY YOURS,

_______________________________________

ALFRED T. NEWELL, IV

ATTORNEY AT LAW

which was received and signed for on May 12, 2008.  Instead of Ed Trice retracting all his lies, he continues to provide more counts for my lawsuit. 

Therefore, we have no choice and are proceeding with a $12 Million Lawsuit against Ed Trice for libel/defamation.  The email all of you recieved couple hours ago was the 12th count of libel/defamation we officially have.  I have stated numerous times that the date on my Bobby Fischer autographed 'My 60 Memorable Games' was inserted by Betty Roberts, and not Bobby Fischer.  Yet, this SCUMBAG TRICE has a 'Gregory' give his 'professional' opinon of Betty Roberts signature from 1975...WELL DONE, ED TRICE!!!  I'm quite confident we will problably exceed 30 counts by time this gets to trial.

As anyone who has been involved in a lawsuit know, the first thing each side files are discoveries and requests for depositions.  This is where the 'fun' now starts.  Everything you say in these are considered 'under oath' and false statement are criminal acts, punishable by fines and jail time.  For example Ed Trice claims that I had 'My 61 Memorable Games' printed.  Our very first question will be for Ed Trice to provide proof of this statement.  Now let's see whose story changes, and whose story remains the same!!

Additionally, anyone receiving this notice and publishes Ed Trice's lies, will also be held accountable.  I am sick and tired of these last six months having to deal with this scumbag Trice, who can't seem to read a damn thing presented to him.   I have never, ever dealt with such a low life in my 53 years.  And yes, some of you will be getting letters as to your communication with Ed Trice.  I'm sorry, but I didn't bring this on, Ed Trice did. 

I will admit it, I have only one goal: 

To destroy Ed Trice for lying about me, and for taking advantage of a dying Bobby Fischer!!

Edward Labate

May 23, 2008