The purpose of FGM Thematics.

As we continue to deepen our understanding of competitor analysis, we begin to realise more and more the importance of Thematics. The obvious reason is to practice the same opening over and over again till we can begin to rely on it as a winning weapon since different opponents will respond to it differently. The less obvious reason is to learn new ways of fighting, new openings. Now why would we want to do that? Lets consider this. If you are an open player and your opponent is a better open player, would you like another option?

The other point is that if you play all Tournaments to win, then you are limiting your creativity and experimentation. You also need to test new ideas and test it in Tournament conditions. I know players who can sack etc in free play but will play conservatively in Tournaments and lose. They just don't have the confidence to apply their knowledge under Tournament conditions. Now they have a Tournament where they can see if the sacks work and not worry about winning or losing. FGM Thematics only pay the Champion. No other placing is published. The Champion is paid for the sharing of his knowledge over the Tournament.

We injected another element to our Thematics after seeing strong players flounder in National Close. We now limit entry to players above 1500. This is to serve our stronger players. In a typical Tournament, you may get to play half the Tournament with strong players and the other half with weak players. This does not help your conditioning. If you play in MSSM for instance, the weakest players are State players. If you play in International Tournaments, the weakest players are still National players.

So to aid players that want to go further and potentially play for Malaysia, we want all 10 rounds in our Thematics to be strong. Conditioning. What would be the point if you beat the top seed and then lose to the bottom seed at the later rounds for instance?

We are planning for Sicilian Dragon next and followed by Kings Indian defence. Look out for our announcement. The date is tentatively set for June 25th and 26th at Jax's place. Mark that date down. Do book early to avoid disappointment. We will only take a maximum of 40 players.