Circumstantial evidence revisited.

Nepal trains for the Olympiad. Here.

I said here that if we assume that they are here to plunder then it will make a lot more sense.

So lets see. Lets revisit the FGM Asean training 2010 for the juniors. We had GM Ziaur Rahman.

Note: FGM is a registered company just like Datcc or Polgar. We are not an Association and thus we exist for profit while giving a needed service. And so in the normal course of business, whether we are successful or not, should be determined by the market and the quality of our product and services.

But lets see what happened. FGM was informed by MCF that there were roughly 20 plus players going to Asean. We did our calculation and felt that with that number we should be able to provide the service of training the juniors for Asean 2010 with the support of our sponsors and come out with some monetary compensation for our time and effort. So we put in our proposal to MCF. Our proposal meant that the parents and players can go to Asean for a fraction of the original cost and with the added benefit of training by a GM. A win/win for all.

But after studying our proposal and agreeing, Greg went around saying that FGM was making MCF look bad. He then promoted the Asian event in China and calling up the parents behind our backs and asking them to go there instead of Asean. Now why would he do that? Doesn't it make more sense that we send our players to an event properly trained? Why go to China with untrained players and split up the Malaysian team? That reduces our chances of a medal significantly. Especially with Asian being much tougher. And why the about turn after agreeing to our proposal?

How does training our players before going out to meet tough opponents make MCF look bad? Look above, even Nepal is doing it.

So that halfed the numbers for Asean 2010. And FGM was looking at roughly break even (if we subtract the cost of our time and effort) or less now. But even that was not all. We contracted to hire Ziaur from Najib and his quotation included project management fees on top of supplying the GM when that was not appropriate. In a normal contract we pay for services rendered and Najib merely acted as a supplier. And so after the event I asked for a meeting to go over the costs. This is normal business procedure as we shall also see later from the Asian Amateur experience.

Najib agreed to a meeting after Asean and we turned up at the agreed venue but he ignored us. Meaning the meeting was aborted after we turned up. I then spoke to Greg and said that Najib's quotation was wrong but Greg insisted that it was correct and even told my partner then that. So I was "forced" to pay for a service not rendered as I could not clear up the misunderstanding and FGM was still seeking a working relationship with MCF then. We ended up making a significant loss for the event. So tell me which company do you know that will continue with this type of relationship after this experience?

So now we have 2 incidences that doesn't make sense. Why did MCF work against the training and why were we overcharged by the supplier with the support of Greg?

It makes a little more sense if we remember the myth they promote that chess doesn't make money and these guy are sacrificing themselves for the love of chess.Think about it. That is the story and if FGM was able to provide training at a much reduced cost to parents and players and still make a profit then certain other crony organisers will have a big problem charging high fees for similar services. Therefore it is looking like only certain people are allowed to make money from chess. And there is some collusion between MCF (Greg) and them. Any attempt to reduce cost to players and parents and to provide better products and value and at the same time still make a profit is sabotaged.

Note: FGM is an intiative by people who are also parents of national juniors. If it succeeded then the myth of no money in chess will be broken and other parents may find out.

Does this provide some logic to their actions now? Is the motive to plunder? And are only certain gangsters allowed to plunder? Was the charging of FGM for services not rendered not a form of extortion? Is the double act of first halving the numbers and then doubling the cost to us not sabotage?

Question. Did Greg benefit financially from the inflated quotation? Is that how it works? Otherwise why support an obviously fraudulent quotation? Is that the twisted logic behind this fiasco? Sabotage on one hand and then still plunder with the other.

But who were they really sabotaging? That was the first ever proper centralised training for our Malaysian Juniors before an International Tournament. And now there is no more training. At Asean 2011, the parents and players paid a lot more and without training. I do not know what was paid for Asean 2012 but for sure no training as well. Now our Olympiad Team is going without training.

Was Malaysia sabotaged?

The above is abridged. Actually more happened. But also consider this. MCF brought in Ziaur and he was given to Najib (a private entity) to manage. Nothing wrong with that unless you see how the GM resource was used. We learnt at the Asean training that Ziaur was not appropriate with young kids. His level was too high and the younger juniors could not follow or benefit from his lessons.

So does this also not raise another alarm bell? Ziaur was used to teach beginner classes subsequently when even younger national level juniors could not follow his lessons. So what are MCF's resources used for? To develop our more advanced players to the next level or to deceive new parents of beginners to make money? And money for whom? An MCF resource given out to a private company. Was MCF compensated or did the money go into other pockets like in a few other cases that I will write on later.

All these questions need to be answered so that there will not be wastage and sabotage like this in the future. There is also serious implications for future organisers if this is not addressed. If my assertions are true then new organisers will be similarly ripped off by collusion from within MCF and certain suppliers etc.

This is a serious matter. We will not be able to get our own GM under these circumstances of wastage or sabotage. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

To be continued. Next. Jimmy's role in Asean training.