What do our top juniors need to move forward?

How did it start? Very soon after Sumant first came to my house, I had this conversation with him. He had come very close to being Champion many times in top events but never quite made it. So I urged him to continue to improve. But he said this to me. "Uncle, I don't know what to do to improve." This was a surprise to me because he had just come back the year before from India after spending a few months with a GM there.

So technical is just not enough but I resolved to help him find the answer. From that time I encouraged him to go to tournaments together with Mark so I can see where the problem was. And so I reviewed his decisions after every tournament. I reviewed how he made decisions.

Lets now look at Zhuo Ren when he came to my house for SEA games training. Sumant had already been given his assignment and was working with Mark. I tried reviewing with him the possibility of beating Mok but he kept saying that Mok was invincible. I then tried to help him identify an area of weakness where we can work together to improve but he denied any weakness. So it was a non starter.

But it was his first time with us and he asked to come. So I assume that was because he wanted to see and then later decide for himself how Mark made the jump from Perak to NJ no. 2 in such a short time and was curious about the training I was giving Sumant. Fair enough.

You see, the first step is self belief. Without that you will not train for training is tough, it can be boring and not much fun. We can arrive at a strategy but without the training there will be little trust that the strategy will work.

So lets look at what happens in the mind during a game or a tournament. If you make a small mistake in a move, the mind can start to dissasemble and then you make another mistake. If you lose a game you should not lose, again the same thing happens. The key is consistency. And for that the mind must hold. You need to trust the strategy and realise that there is a way back. Mental strength. The ability to control the mind from spiralling.

Now this is much harder than technical. The evidence is there. In fact Mark made the journey almost to the top with much less technical than the other juniors. What he had and the training I provided is the ability to hold the mind, to wait for the next opportunity even after a mistake. To stop the mind from spiralling.

And that was what I was teaching Sumant.

So we got the results we got for SEA games selection.

When a horse is saddled, he can be ridden by many riders.

What I tried to do was to rebuild their confidence over time. Jimmy, Greg and Peter all know that. But once the horse is broken then you have taken the Champion out of him. Mental work is hard, much harder than technical. It can only be slowly built up. But it can be broken quickly.

And so we saw the attacks on the players as I have described before. Why? To promote a new boy wonder like they have done throughout Malaysian chess history with no results? For simply put, we do not have the culture or the knowledge to bring up a young GM yet. All that fanfare is just to fill up their classes. In Jimmy's case, it's because he does not want anyone to overtake his Dubai 1989 achievement.

Correction. Dubai 1986.

Is that not the truth about Malaysian chess? Can you come to the same conclusion after all that you have witnessed? Now, why is it so difficult for some of you to see? For some parents to see. It is quite transparent.

Our top boys and girls need to understand competitor analysis, they need the thematics to horne their weapons and they need proper training and support before we send them out or they will be broken. So why have these people moved against this effort?

Could it be that their skill level only reaches U12 or very slightly above OR is it about making money from newbie parents and players coming fresh into the circuit? Or both.

And for that they try to knock off the older juniors.