How can our players be strong?

How can our players be strong when we are enveloped in a culture of fear? If you bring up a grievance or suggestion, you risk being "fixed". You risk being shouted down. Even the parents are afraid to voice up abuses. What kind of example are we setting for our kids?

Lets look at the game of chess again. One party presents a problem/idea and the other party is asked to refute it if he can. So its a game of reasoning. And it is presented in a civil manner. You can't shout at the opponent.

The game and its reasoning has to be played out in the full glare of the public. So part of the skill sets necessary for a strong player is the ability to present his ideas reasonably. You cannot be afraid of demonstrating your ideas in real life and suddenly be a lion on the board. The two are linked. Fear in life is shown up by fear on the board.

Fear of new ideas, fear of change, fear to experiment, fear to prepare and fear to train. I do not condone rudeness, I never have. If you disagree then let us discuss to find a solution.

And that brings us to the fact that I shouted at Peter Long at Mal/Sing. Am I proud of that fact? No, but it was necessary. If the morale of the contingent was lost in that moment, then it would have been irretrievable. So is there ever a case for shouting? Not when a child is speaking to an adult. And not as a weapon of first resort but maybe the very last when all possibility of reasoning has failed or when its an emergency situation. Or walk away.

So does that mean that I dislike Peter? Also no; I just dont think he is a good front man. He has no manners but I think there is a role for him in the backend. Just like I think Hamid is best suited as a tournament director. This is my sincere opinion.

I am told that Peter issued an apology to Greg but his offence is to every member of the contingent including the parents and other officials present. There were many people there so this can easily be verified.

As for IM Jimmy Liew, he has to learn to read and verify facts before he supports and promote hate and slanderous postings. It is not my responsibility to point things out to him. He is an adult.

Belligerence is a form of cowardice. It has no basis and comes from a culture of fear. We need the culture of reasoning to bring forth strong players.