Ref: Here.
Jimmy on board 4 against a higher rated FM. Keeping my fingers crossed. With Mok and Yee Weng doing well and Li Tian having a chance to use his strongest weapon, we have percentages. Go Malaysia go. Fighting chess.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Susan Polgars R3 report.
Ref: Here
I hope this shows what we are up against to climb that ladder. Depth of preparation, tough strong minds. Strong team mates. No weak links. There is a camaraderie between players that is formed during tough selection. I can see a new and deeper bond forming between Yee Weng and Mok now. You need to be able to rely on one another to be able to play team. Selection is the way forward is it not?
I hope this shows what we are up against to climb that ladder. Depth of preparation, tough strong minds. Strong team mates. No weak links. There is a camaraderie between players that is formed during tough selection. I can see a new and deeper bond forming between Yee Weng and Mok now. You need to be able to rely on one another to be able to play team. Selection is the way forward is it not?
Olympiad R3- A FGM Merdeka commentary.
Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! What a beautiful gift for our Country. Very well done Mok and Yee Weng!!
What Merdeka truly means for me is the freedom from tyranny.
And there cannot be a more resounding way for us to express that than by fighting hard for our beloved Country.
We can see the fight and the thinking on the table. There is no need to write up treatises to defend why a draw should be given, because the opponent is 300 Elo points higher, even when we are winning, like what was done after the last Olympiad.
We are an immensely talented and gifted people. All we need to do is to find back our courage and confidence. Mok and Yee Weng, there is a GM in the both of you. I hope Mok will look into his black game with this new surge of energy. We need genuine wins to get that energy. It cannot be bought cheaply. That is why we need to prepare and train hard before we go. Now you guys can step out of the shadow of the past and make your stake in the new chess world. All my best to the both of you.
My concern for the team now is the lack of a fighting reserve after this tremendous expenditure of energy. That was why I asked for Nicholas to replace Jimmy. I could see that Jimmy has been seriously damaged by something from his past during Datmo and from his writings. And I believe this is an objective evaluation and not personal.
We need our players trained and able to compete in healthy competition at home before we send them out instead of feeding their delusions of grandeur. That is why selection is important. It's a reality check.
Can Jimmy bolster the team now and give those that need to rest a break? Does he have it in him still? Well there are still many more rounds to go.
Malaysia Boleh!
ps: Players do get damaged from time to time in our intense mental sport. I always advocate we find ways to repair the damage before we send them out again. Or the damage can be compounded.
What Merdeka truly means for me is the freedom from tyranny.
And there cannot be a more resounding way for us to express that than by fighting hard for our beloved Country.
We can see the fight and the thinking on the table. There is no need to write up treatises to defend why a draw should be given, because the opponent is 300 Elo points higher, even when we are winning, like what was done after the last Olympiad.
We are an immensely talented and gifted people. All we need to do is to find back our courage and confidence. Mok and Yee Weng, there is a GM in the both of you. I hope Mok will look into his black game with this new surge of energy. We need genuine wins to get that energy. It cannot be bought cheaply. That is why we need to prepare and train hard before we go. Now you guys can step out of the shadow of the past and make your stake in the new chess world. All my best to the both of you.
My concern for the team now is the lack of a fighting reserve after this tremendous expenditure of energy. That was why I asked for Nicholas to replace Jimmy. I could see that Jimmy has been seriously damaged by something from his past during Datmo and from his writings. And I believe this is an objective evaluation and not personal.
We need our players trained and able to compete in healthy competition at home before we send them out instead of feeding their delusions of grandeur. That is why selection is important. It's a reality check.
Can Jimmy bolster the team now and give those that need to rest a break? Does he have it in him still? Well there are still many more rounds to go.
Malaysia Boleh!
ps: Players do get damaged from time to time in our intense mental sport. I always advocate we find ways to repair the damage before we send them out again. Or the damage can be compounded.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The case for proper policies, guidelines and rules.
If what TS Sabbarrudin said of MCF is true, then even Presidents can be deposed after bringing in vast sums of money. Ref: Here.
If I have read my own personal experience with Greg correctly, then even the immense power accorded to the Secretary can be broken by threats, intimidation or the lure of big money. Ref: Here.
So who truly determines the course of Malaysian chess?
I submit that there is a small group of people who act in concert to prevent any progress. I submit that is why Jimmy, acting as the front man for these people, attacks any real form of training for our juniors. They are ok if a GM is brought in to teach total beginners but not otherwise. And also, so long as the money is made by one of their co-conspirators. That is a waste of resource we cannot afford.
I also submit that there is big money to be made from the big tournaments. Some obviously as in the case of entrance fees and from the sponsors. I also suspect there may be some from a side business of fixing matches. The only way to confirm or deny this will be to do an audit. And for that only Fide, the sponsors or MCF will have the authority to investigate. Even COS may be handicapped because of a lack of detailed knowledge of the technical intricacies involved.
Acting in concert, these people can openly conduct a fraudulent selection and then give you the finger because they cannot be touched. So you see, your level of chess makes no difference. It's all sewn up. You can only get in if you play ball with them. These are their methods. Here. This is the only way in. Here. And there is only so much butt space.
I submit we would be seeing a much stronger team at the Olympiad now if we have proper selection at all levels. And this they will not allow. If this were to happen, they will lose power. They cannot play God and only put in who they like. This can also stop all their side incomes because with proper selection players will be a lot more motivated to point out the incidences of match fixing etc.
So just a new President is not enough. We need to also curb the power of the Secretary. We also need to put in good policies, guidelines and rules. Without that no decent sponsor who care about their reputation will stay in for long. I was informed that even the Raja Muda of Perak declined the post when approached recently.
We need to think very deeply about this if we really love chess and not the illicit power to play God. That is the real opposition isn't it. So don't change just the President, change the team. Put in good people who can design policies and guidelines. Put in people who can enforce rules.
Otherwise this coming AGM will be just about rearranging the dust.
If I have read my own personal experience with Greg correctly, then even the immense power accorded to the Secretary can be broken by threats, intimidation or the lure of big money. Ref: Here.
So who truly determines the course of Malaysian chess?
I submit that there is a small group of people who act in concert to prevent any progress. I submit that is why Jimmy, acting as the front man for these people, attacks any real form of training for our juniors. They are ok if a GM is brought in to teach total beginners but not otherwise. And also, so long as the money is made by one of their co-conspirators. That is a waste of resource we cannot afford.
I also submit that there is big money to be made from the big tournaments. Some obviously as in the case of entrance fees and from the sponsors. I also suspect there may be some from a side business of fixing matches. The only way to confirm or deny this will be to do an audit. And for that only Fide, the sponsors or MCF will have the authority to investigate. Even COS may be handicapped because of a lack of detailed knowledge of the technical intricacies involved.
Acting in concert, these people can openly conduct a fraudulent selection and then give you the finger because they cannot be touched. So you see, your level of chess makes no difference. It's all sewn up. You can only get in if you play ball with them. These are their methods. Here. This is the only way in. Here. And there is only so much butt space.
I submit we would be seeing a much stronger team at the Olympiad now if we have proper selection at all levels. And this they will not allow. If this were to happen, they will lose power. They cannot play God and only put in who they like. This can also stop all their side incomes because with proper selection players will be a lot more motivated to point out the incidences of match fixing etc.
So just a new President is not enough. We need to also curb the power of the Secretary. We also need to put in good policies, guidelines and rules. Without that no decent sponsor who care about their reputation will stay in for long. I was informed that even the Raja Muda of Perak declined the post when approached recently.
We need to think very deeply about this if we really love chess and not the illicit power to play God. That is the real opposition isn't it. So don't change just the President, change the team. Put in good people who can design policies and guidelines. Put in people who can enforce rules.
Otherwise this coming AGM will be just about rearranging the dust.
Olympiad R2- FGM commentary.
What a far cry from our last Olympiad!! Fighting chess at last. As I have said, today's chess is very different from the chess of yesteryear. Netherlands with their Super GM's are also falling in R2. So we no longer need to be intimidated by big numbers if we are able to perfect our competitor analysis.
Well done Jimmy, good sacrifice. Now we know you can stand against an older and declining 2200 FM. Aren't you glad you went to play at Datmo rapid now? Some chess player said that a good thrashing at the right time does wonders for your game. It's about confronting your fears Jimmy, your demons. Now that you have done that and have a truer sense of your level, I hope you will continue to forge forward.
I don't know where you got the notion that I hate you Jimmy. I don't hate you, I am just not impressed by your lack of intellectual honesty, by your cheap manipulations and by the way you swindled your place from the other strong chess players. You see, I am not worried if you play fighting chess when you fight for Malaysia. I am only worried if you go down without a fight. Keep it up.
If you come back to Malaysia with your courage still intact, we hope to meet you on the table in healthy competition. For only then will you be a worthy adversary. All my best for the rest of the tournament. Remember, its only over when the fat lady sings. Good luck.
Well done Jimmy, good sacrifice. Now we know you can stand against an older and declining 2200 FM. Aren't you glad you went to play at Datmo rapid now? Some chess player said that a good thrashing at the right time does wonders for your game. It's about confronting your fears Jimmy, your demons. Now that you have done that and have a truer sense of your level, I hope you will continue to forge forward.
I don't know where you got the notion that I hate you Jimmy. I don't hate you, I am just not impressed by your lack of intellectual honesty, by your cheap manipulations and by the way you swindled your place from the other strong chess players. You see, I am not worried if you play fighting chess when you fight for Malaysia. I am only worried if you go down without a fight. Keep it up.
If you come back to Malaysia with your courage still intact, we hope to meet you on the table in healthy competition. For only then will you be a worthy adversary. All my best for the rest of the tournament. Remember, its only over when the fat lady sings. Good luck.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Will the real Najib Wahab please stand up?
Here we see Najib making a pitch. Good for him.
But then here we see the other face of Najib. Here.
Is there a disconnect? Which is the true face?
Why am I taking notice of this? Well, here is my reason. Obviously we are competitors. I believe in my Vision and methods in developing the first GM and so does Najib. That's a good thing. Healthy competition. May the better idea succeed. If he does it better than me, I would like to be the first to congratulate him.
But you see in business, there is also a code of conduct. You don't publicly call your competitor a dog. There are boundaries. So let me try to explain some of those boundaries to you Najib. If I raise an issue about Datmo, I address it to the organising committee and I give my reasons why I think there should be an audit. But I put it in the form of a request. Boundaries. I cannot tell them what they can or cannot do.
When I talk about the selection I must address it to MCF and not Jimmy for they are the ruling authority. But I can use Jimmy as a example to question their judgement. FGM has a legitimate reason. How can we show our method works if there is no selection? We do not believe in the back doors.
If you are still not able to discern the difference, let me try to point it out to you again. I use Jimmy's words and action as evidence. Just like I am using yours now. I don't call you a dog. I take what you do/say and then appeal to the authorities with the power to act. That is the proper way.
People like Jimmy and Ab Salim abound in the world and usually they are harmless and insignificant unless they work in collusion with the authorities. So if the authorities don't act we continue to take it to a higher authority. Get it? But as one business to another, as one Academy to another we need to have boundaries and mutual respect. A public attack on FGM will need to be addressed. Are you getting the picture now?
I hope you will be able to conduct yourself more professionally in the future. Respect our boundaries and we will respect yours. Slander us in public and we will take counter measures. Fair enough?
It's just like chess. If you can produce that GM by having good ideas, you win on the board and there are no hard feelings. Those are the rules of engagement. Attack us or our players by sabotage and we will respond accordingly.
I hope you learn from this Najib. Boundaries. That is the code of conduct between business people. I hope you can adhere to business principles from this point onwards. FGM is acting within it's rights and cannot be intimidated into silence.
A constructive suggestion. Try developing players above 8yo and you will start to see the magnitude of that undertaking. If it was easy, it would have been done many years ago; as one Academy to another.
Ps: A friend of mine met TS Sabbaruddin Chik (former President of MCF) at a function recently. And it was reported to me that at the mention of chess he had a lot of unedifying things to say about MCF. This is the problem. We are trying to build a good image for chess to attract the sponsors. No matter how many PR road shows we do, a negative word from someone like him can cause more damage than all our road shows. So lets all act professionally to build up chess. Really, all these gangster methods are very unappealing to the general public. Lets try to fix this. This affects all of us in chess. Support the audit of Datmo individual rapid. That is a good solid first step. Thank you for your time Najib. All my best.
Note: If even a President of TS Sabbaruddin's stature couldn't change MCF, it points to perhaps some "monkeys" on the ground doesn't it? Worth thinking about no? Could it be the culture and/or the collusion of the "monkeys"? Good question don't you think? I hope whoever is vying the Presidents post at the next AGM will take note of this.
But then here we see the other face of Najib. Here.
Is there a disconnect? Which is the true face?
Why am I taking notice of this? Well, here is my reason. Obviously we are competitors. I believe in my Vision and methods in developing the first GM and so does Najib. That's a good thing. Healthy competition. May the better idea succeed. If he does it better than me, I would like to be the first to congratulate him.
But you see in business, there is also a code of conduct. You don't publicly call your competitor a dog. There are boundaries. So let me try to explain some of those boundaries to you Najib. If I raise an issue about Datmo, I address it to the organising committee and I give my reasons why I think there should be an audit. But I put it in the form of a request. Boundaries. I cannot tell them what they can or cannot do.
When I talk about the selection I must address it to MCF and not Jimmy for they are the ruling authority. But I can use Jimmy as a example to question their judgement. FGM has a legitimate reason. How can we show our method works if there is no selection? We do not believe in the back doors.
If you are still not able to discern the difference, let me try to point it out to you again. I use Jimmy's words and action as evidence. Just like I am using yours now. I don't call you a dog. I take what you do/say and then appeal to the authorities with the power to act. That is the proper way.
People like Jimmy and Ab Salim abound in the world and usually they are harmless and insignificant unless they work in collusion with the authorities. So if the authorities don't act we continue to take it to a higher authority. Get it? But as one business to another, as one Academy to another we need to have boundaries and mutual respect. A public attack on FGM will need to be addressed. Are you getting the picture now?
I hope you will be able to conduct yourself more professionally in the future. Respect our boundaries and we will respect yours. Slander us in public and we will take counter measures. Fair enough?
It's just like chess. If you can produce that GM by having good ideas, you win on the board and there are no hard feelings. Those are the rules of engagement. Attack us or our players by sabotage and we will respond accordingly.
I hope you learn from this Najib. Boundaries. That is the code of conduct between business people. I hope you can adhere to business principles from this point onwards. FGM is acting within it's rights and cannot be intimidated into silence.
A constructive suggestion. Try developing players above 8yo and you will start to see the magnitude of that undertaking. If it was easy, it would have been done many years ago; as one Academy to another.
Ps: A friend of mine met TS Sabbaruddin Chik (former President of MCF) at a function recently. And it was reported to me that at the mention of chess he had a lot of unedifying things to say about MCF. This is the problem. We are trying to build a good image for chess to attract the sponsors. No matter how many PR road shows we do, a negative word from someone like him can cause more damage than all our road shows. So lets all act professionally to build up chess. Really, all these gangster methods are very unappealing to the general public. Lets try to fix this. This affects all of us in chess. Support the audit of Datmo individual rapid. That is a good solid first step. Thank you for your time Najib. All my best.
Note: If even a President of TS Sabbaruddin's stature couldn't change MCF, it points to perhaps some "monkeys" on the ground doesn't it? Worth thinking about no? Could it be the culture and/or the collusion of the "monkeys"? Good question don't you think? I hope whoever is vying the Presidents post at the next AGM will take note of this.
Can Swiss Manager be "fixed"?
Ref: Here.
From the evidence of the Swiss Manager file that has been sent to me, it shows that you can manually over ride any pairing in any round. And I have been told this is fairly common in the last 2 rounds with the collusion of the Arbiter and/or Tournament Director. That is a very strong assertion.
And it seems that if say you forced pair 2 weak players at R1 you would probably have at least one player at R2 that really doesn't deserve that one point since usually strong players are paired against weak players on the first round. This can be manipulated to give easy point/passage to a 2nd round player.
This is one possible use of a high rated players paired as unrated. The guy from India was accused by a Malaysian player that he was actually a 2200. So he can be used to ambush someone in the first round especially if the unrated players are not entered in an alphabetical order. Of course once inserted into the system falsely he can do random damage all along the way. I am not quite sure here but maybe there is a use for him also in the later rounds. But that is already bad enough if it can take place.
The more damning assertions are that even those at the last 2 rounds can be forced paired together without anyone noticing if they are the same points or a floater from below. Say an odd player half a point below and he can be used to pair against someone at the next level.
Maybe I am not explaining this too clearly but I think that with Hamid's boast and the players complaint, the Datmo individual rapid deserves an independent audit.
Note: I did inform the player from Malaysia who is a known strong player that he should make a formal complaint but he said he felt it was the organisers responsibility. I think he has a point.
It should be fairly easy to audit this. Apart from the administrative issue of checking for false unrated players and keeping to strict alphabetical order when entering into the system, just run the program again as it was done at Datmo individual rapid using the same parameters and tie breaks. Then just run it for 11 rounds. It should show up if there was any manipulation. Thats what I think.
Hamid's boast as well as the players complaint should be enough grounds to do this for the sake of the Tournaments reputation. It would help to clear the air and exonerate our esteemed IA's and FA's.
This will be good for Chess as a whole. That is again just my opinion. As an International event attracting many foreign players to our Country, we need some due diligence at least to ensure that they are spending their money on and giving support to a clean tournament.
From the evidence of the Swiss Manager file that has been sent to me, it shows that you can manually over ride any pairing in any round. And I have been told this is fairly common in the last 2 rounds with the collusion of the Arbiter and/or Tournament Director. That is a very strong assertion.
And it seems that if say you forced pair 2 weak players at R1 you would probably have at least one player at R2 that really doesn't deserve that one point since usually strong players are paired against weak players on the first round. This can be manipulated to give easy point/passage to a 2nd round player.
This is one possible use of a high rated players paired as unrated. The guy from India was accused by a Malaysian player that he was actually a 2200. So he can be used to ambush someone in the first round especially if the unrated players are not entered in an alphabetical order. Of course once inserted into the system falsely he can do random damage all along the way. I am not quite sure here but maybe there is a use for him also in the later rounds. But that is already bad enough if it can take place.
The more damning assertions are that even those at the last 2 rounds can be forced paired together without anyone noticing if they are the same points or a floater from below. Say an odd player half a point below and he can be used to pair against someone at the next level.
Maybe I am not explaining this too clearly but I think that with Hamid's boast and the players complaint, the Datmo individual rapid deserves an independent audit.
Note: I did inform the player from Malaysia who is a known strong player that he should make a formal complaint but he said he felt it was the organisers responsibility. I think he has a point.
It should be fairly easy to audit this. Apart from the administrative issue of checking for false unrated players and keeping to strict alphabetical order when entering into the system, just run the program again as it was done at Datmo individual rapid using the same parameters and tie breaks. Then just run it for 11 rounds. It should show up if there was any manipulation. Thats what I think.
Hamid's boast as well as the players complaint should be enough grounds to do this for the sake of the Tournaments reputation. It would help to clear the air and exonerate our esteemed IA's and FA's.
This will be good for Chess as a whole. That is again just my opinion. As an International event attracting many foreign players to our Country, we need some due diligence at least to ensure that they are spending their money on and giving support to a clean tournament.
Olympiad R1- FGM commentary.
Ref: Here.
Responsible blogging is about telling the truth to the best of your ability. It is not about maligning someone elses reputation or name calling. It is not about twisting the truth. The format was changed repeatedly. The proof is there for all to see. It is about respecting the intelligence of your readers enough to write with honesty and integrity. Factually honest arguments, not cheap emotional manipulation.
We are seeing the beginning of a marked change in the performance of the Olympiad team this year. Mok and Li Tian using different strategies as white and Yee Weng and LZR playing aggressive responses as black.
Well done Mok, a big congratulations and well done too Zhuo Ren for getting that draw as black.
This team is showing more responsibility and accountability than the previous team had shown. Mok pushed from a winning position. Mental strength. You see Andrew, it's about telling the truth so we may improve. It's not about protecting a lie.
So we call a spade a spade and a crook a crook. We give credit where credit is due and we do not paint a false hero with misinformation, manipulation and lies.
The thought on my mind now is if there would be a difference if we had sent Nicholas instead of Jimmy. Hopefully Jimmy is playing the role of support as second to our fighters there against strong fields (not checking out the women's and other players rooms as he was doing earlier on his blog) and maybe appear against weak Countries.
I think Nicholas could have played that role better and with more flexibility. He could also have played reserve and come in to relieve when our fighters are tired and fighting another strong team. This Jimmy cannot do looking at his current form and so we have lost an option with this current team.
MCF is responsible for making the best decision for Malaysia. I hope their decision will be vindicated by the final result since we are only past R1.
You see, the word responsibility again. Journalists have a strong tradition about getting the truth to their readers. Bloggers should do the same too don't you think Andrew? Learn what that word means before you try to use it again.
I will try to find time to write about how Swiss Manager can be manipulated later. It was very revealing what I just found out.
Transparency, Responsibility and Accountability. Powerful words full of meaning.
Question: If the truth had remained hidden about what our players did at the last Olympiad, would we be seeing a more serious attempt now?
Responsible blogging is about telling the truth to the best of your ability. It is not about maligning someone elses reputation or name calling. It is not about twisting the truth. The format was changed repeatedly. The proof is there for all to see. It is about respecting the intelligence of your readers enough to write with honesty and integrity. Factually honest arguments, not cheap emotional manipulation.
We are seeing the beginning of a marked change in the performance of the Olympiad team this year. Mok and Li Tian using different strategies as white and Yee Weng and LZR playing aggressive responses as black.
Well done Mok, a big congratulations and well done too Zhuo Ren for getting that draw as black.
This team is showing more responsibility and accountability than the previous team had shown. Mok pushed from a winning position. Mental strength. You see Andrew, it's about telling the truth so we may improve. It's not about protecting a lie.
So we call a spade a spade and a crook a crook. We give credit where credit is due and we do not paint a false hero with misinformation, manipulation and lies.
The thought on my mind now is if there would be a difference if we had sent Nicholas instead of Jimmy. Hopefully Jimmy is playing the role of support as second to our fighters there against strong fields (not checking out the women's and other players rooms as he was doing earlier on his blog) and maybe appear against weak Countries.
I think Nicholas could have played that role better and with more flexibility. He could also have played reserve and come in to relieve when our fighters are tired and fighting another strong team. This Jimmy cannot do looking at his current form and so we have lost an option with this current team.
MCF is responsible for making the best decision for Malaysia. I hope their decision will be vindicated by the final result since we are only past R1.
You see, the word responsibility again. Journalists have a strong tradition about getting the truth to their readers. Bloggers should do the same too don't you think Andrew? Learn what that word means before you try to use it again.
I will try to find time to write about how Swiss Manager can be manipulated later. It was very revealing what I just found out.
Transparency, Responsibility and Accountability. Powerful words full of meaning.
Question: If the truth had remained hidden about what our players did at the last Olympiad, would we be seeing a more serious attempt now?
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Experience with Greg. Why bring it up now?
Ref: Here.
There are a few parents new to the circuit who tells me that all this doesn't affect them. So lets consider this for a bit.
The new environment that we have now is actually barely 2 years old. And it took a lot of effort to bring it about. The match fixing, the bannings without grounds etc have all been around for a long time. That culture has a long long history. Very honestly if Greg did not appear at the time he did, we may have left chess altogether. There are too many horrendous incidences from the past to recall here. Power was a lot more concentrated during Hamid's era.
Did you know that until the time that Mark broke into the National Junior squad there was no new comer for around 10 years? For instance at Mal/Sing 2011 when we won against Singapore for the first time in 10 years was also the 10th year of playing for Malaysia for Sumant and Mark's very first.
What Greg did with written selection was to open up the field to competition so new blood could come in. He at least succeeded for the junior levels. Credit where credit is due.
There is a very distinct possibility that this gain can be reversed if Greg is removed and we go back to the Hamid era.
Do you know that the vibrant atmosphere we now have is because Greg brought in selection at the senior level for the last SEA games? Suddenly many strong players who got tired of waiting on the sidelines returned to the game with the brand new chance to win honours.
The atmosphere was not always like it is now. This is a recent occurrence. But in that moment of weakness when Greg allowed Jimmy and party to go to the Olympiads without contest, Greg lost significant support. And interestingly it is the very people that he allowed back in, in the hope that they will spare him, that is using the incident to finally take him down; to go back to the good old days.
I can already see the different posturings. I have some insights into the politics of Malaysian chess. Back to the good old days is good for them but not good for the new U16, U14, etc etc. Without strong competition they will all wilt as we saw what happened to the older crop of players. We have seen that over 30 years of our chess history. This one is only 2 years plus old.
But I agree, the current President is too lax. He brings no solution and he cannot control Greg. I have suggested that the Secretary should be paid a salary in the past. I think that will help. But something else more important must also happen to solidify our small gains over the last 2 years. We must bring in proper policies, guidelines and rules.
Otherwise it is just too easy for them to dip their hands into the cookie jar. The Secretary carries a heavy burden. He must be able to resist the venomous attacks we see around us on the blogs and he must also be able to resist the temptations of big money within his easy reach. So those extraordinary powers of his must be curbed and he must also be of strong character.
The work is only partially done. I hope the new President or the current one if he survives the AGM, will consider more deeply about what it takes to move Malaysian chess into the next level. Very honestly we are all fed up of only developing tournaments for them to make more money and seeing Malaysians trashed over and over again. We need to also look at development and we need to be wary of those that do not want us to develop.
For those people who want the good old days back again when they were supreme lords and masters cannot even tolerate the training of the juniors, can they? They revel in the culture of lies and will attack you virulently and relentlessly if you dare to tell the truth. They are coming out again because they can smell blood now. Greg is deeply wounded of his own making and they now see a strong chance of making a come back. No more will they have to worry about competition on the board if they succeed. Their place will be "guaranteed for life". They have a powerful arsenal of tricks for the manipulation of results, tools for banning players stronger than theirs/them etc etc etc.
Just thought you may want to know why I bother spending so much of my time writing all this.
The next AGM will be a major cross roads. Do we go back to the Hamid era or do we forge forward and bring in Malaysia's first GM. The situation is very complicated and we will all need much wisdom. Or all the hard won but tenuous gains can be reversed in a blink.
ps: Please help me to circulate this to the new parents so that they are aware of what is at stake now. All my best to Malaysian Chess.
There are a few parents new to the circuit who tells me that all this doesn't affect them. So lets consider this for a bit.
The new environment that we have now is actually barely 2 years old. And it took a lot of effort to bring it about. The match fixing, the bannings without grounds etc have all been around for a long time. That culture has a long long history. Very honestly if Greg did not appear at the time he did, we may have left chess altogether. There are too many horrendous incidences from the past to recall here. Power was a lot more concentrated during Hamid's era.
Did you know that until the time that Mark broke into the National Junior squad there was no new comer for around 10 years? For instance at Mal/Sing 2011 when we won against Singapore for the first time in 10 years was also the 10th year of playing for Malaysia for Sumant and Mark's very first.
What Greg did with written selection was to open up the field to competition so new blood could come in. He at least succeeded for the junior levels. Credit where credit is due.
There is a very distinct possibility that this gain can be reversed if Greg is removed and we go back to the Hamid era.
Do you know that the vibrant atmosphere we now have is because Greg brought in selection at the senior level for the last SEA games? Suddenly many strong players who got tired of waiting on the sidelines returned to the game with the brand new chance to win honours.
The atmosphere was not always like it is now. This is a recent occurrence. But in that moment of weakness when Greg allowed Jimmy and party to go to the Olympiads without contest, Greg lost significant support. And interestingly it is the very people that he allowed back in, in the hope that they will spare him, that is using the incident to finally take him down; to go back to the good old days.
I can already see the different posturings. I have some insights into the politics of Malaysian chess. Back to the good old days is good for them but not good for the new U16, U14, etc etc. Without strong competition they will all wilt as we saw what happened to the older crop of players. We have seen that over 30 years of our chess history. This one is only 2 years plus old.
But I agree, the current President is too lax. He brings no solution and he cannot control Greg. I have suggested that the Secretary should be paid a salary in the past. I think that will help. But something else more important must also happen to solidify our small gains over the last 2 years. We must bring in proper policies, guidelines and rules.
Otherwise it is just too easy for them to dip their hands into the cookie jar. The Secretary carries a heavy burden. He must be able to resist the venomous attacks we see around us on the blogs and he must also be able to resist the temptations of big money within his easy reach. So those extraordinary powers of his must be curbed and he must also be of strong character.
The work is only partially done. I hope the new President or the current one if he survives the AGM, will consider more deeply about what it takes to move Malaysian chess into the next level. Very honestly we are all fed up of only developing tournaments for them to make more money and seeing Malaysians trashed over and over again. We need to also look at development and we need to be wary of those that do not want us to develop.
For those people who want the good old days back again when they were supreme lords and masters cannot even tolerate the training of the juniors, can they? They revel in the culture of lies and will attack you virulently and relentlessly if you dare to tell the truth. They are coming out again because they can smell blood now. Greg is deeply wounded of his own making and they now see a strong chance of making a come back. No more will they have to worry about competition on the board if they succeed. Their place will be "guaranteed for life". They have a powerful arsenal of tricks for the manipulation of results, tools for banning players stronger than theirs/them etc etc etc.
Just thought you may want to know why I bother spending so much of my time writing all this.
The next AGM will be a major cross roads. Do we go back to the Hamid era or do we forge forward and bring in Malaysia's first GM. The situation is very complicated and we will all need much wisdom. Or all the hard won but tenuous gains can be reversed in a blink.
ps: Please help me to circulate this to the new parents so that they are aware of what is at stake now. All my best to Malaysian Chess.
Fide membership should come with responsibility.
Ref: Here
We would like to see Chess in the Olympics. So I think we should at least try to get in alignment with the Olympic mindset. Here is one opinion. Should we also be thinking along the same lines?
Right now I have been sent a file which purports to show how pairing can be manipulated. I probably won't understand it so I will wait for Mark to have a look. Shouldn't the big sponsors of Malaysian chess also do the same so that they don't risk having their reputation smeared in case manipulation happens at their tournaments? I am not accusing anyone. It's just good due diligence. Take a suspect event and do an audit.
Suggestion: Perhaps Fide can provide this facility for those with concerns for the reputation of their event. This will also ensure that the titles Fide award to arbiters will not be abused.
We would like to see Chess in the Olympics. So I think we should at least try to get in alignment with the Olympic mindset. Here is one opinion. Should we also be thinking along the same lines?
Right now I have been sent a file which purports to show how pairing can be manipulated. I probably won't understand it so I will wait for Mark to have a look. Shouldn't the big sponsors of Malaysian chess also do the same so that they don't risk having their reputation smeared in case manipulation happens at their tournaments? I am not accusing anyone. It's just good due diligence. Take a suspect event and do an audit.
Suggestion: Perhaps Fide can provide this facility for those with concerns for the reputation of their event. This will also ensure that the titles Fide award to arbiters will not be abused.
My experience with Greg. P2
Ref: Here.
My early intense interaction with Greg started at an interesting juncture of events. This was the year 2009. I had just tried to bring in written selection to PICA. I experienced first hand the very strong resistance from parents that felt that their child was entitled with angry phone calls in the night. I experienced very strong reaction from the committee of PICA, even from the people that got into the committee on my ticket.
Selection touches on a very sensitive nerve. It touches on the ability of officials, parents and certain Mr Fix it players to play God. I want my player in no matter what their ability is, no matter if they are perceived to be from another State etc.
And Greg was the brand new Secretary of MCF. So I shared a lot with him of my recent experience and I encouraged him to do the same at the National Level hopefully with better results than I got. So with the experience of one attempt to guide us, we worked together to bring written selection into the national level.
And it succeeded to a degree. The written criteria for juniors was brought in without too much obstacle. At the senior level it was a different ball game.
So why did it subsequently fail? Why was selection introduced for SEA games and then withdrawn from the Olympiad?
Here you will need to allow me some speculation as I cannot see inside Greg's head. For me it was not just about introducing the written criteria, it was also about the culture. You saw for yourself what happened when I tried to train the juniors for Asean 2010. Jimmy came up with anonymous blog after anonymous blog to attack the training all over the net. And venom and lies were spewed all over the place and Greg had the facts. So I appealed to him to use the power he had in MCF to issue a correction but he never did.
An aside: Recently we have seen a few people hurling new abuses at me who claim to be morally just about the Olympiad Team even though this team was fraudulently formed. But they were totally silent when the training was attacked, when the juniors were attacked before SEA games. So I do not think their new venom comes from any moral conviction or there would have been consistency.
So what do I mean by the culture? I think every parent/mother knows about positive enforcement. We reward those that train hard. We reward those with good chess etc. We do not reward those that lies, manipulate results, try to ban players without justification etc.
Without changing the culture any small gains we may have will be quickly reversed at the first opportunity.
Very basic, but Greg could not see that. I think there are many reasons for that but I will not go into it here. Stop and think for a while. What do you think the qualities of a Secretary should be? Especially a Secretary with the all encompassing powers that Greg has.
The shift in Greg's position was noted by me around the time of SEA games too. At final selection, I suddenly saw his inclusion of 2 people outside the pre-qualified list. A small corruption perhaps. Ref: Here. And then at Asian Amateur he was fully turned. He went back to his past cronies. Threats and then temptation. Yes, Greg was equally attacked over the Asean training. And then there was the really big money seen at Asian Amateur. Temptation.
Note to Greg: You see Greg, they won't take you back. I tried to tell you. You touched on their holy grail. You brought in selection and showed the entire chess community how weak our IM's are. They are now falling like flies. They will never forgive you for that. And now even the one that you gave that free holiday to at the Olympiads is working to get rid of you. Why do you think he worked so hard to make sure that he broke and controlled 4 out of the 5 players going to the Olympiad? He has you over a barrel now hasn't he, despite all the power you have. And Hamid and Peter has the big tournaments. And they all want you out. You should have thought this through better. You shouldn't have pulled back, you should have followed through.
Coming soon: Alarming revelation brought to me about the possibility of manipulation of pairing using Swiss Manager. I am now verifying it before I release the information. Thank you Yatz, my reply to you got responses from my readers. If this information is true, then many tournaments can now be brought into question. Btw the Secretary of Fide, besides the other people I have mentioned, is also copied on my posts.
My early intense interaction with Greg started at an interesting juncture of events. This was the year 2009. I had just tried to bring in written selection to PICA. I experienced first hand the very strong resistance from parents that felt that their child was entitled with angry phone calls in the night. I experienced very strong reaction from the committee of PICA, even from the people that got into the committee on my ticket.
Selection touches on a very sensitive nerve. It touches on the ability of officials, parents and certain Mr Fix it players to play God. I want my player in no matter what their ability is, no matter if they are perceived to be from another State etc.
And Greg was the brand new Secretary of MCF. So I shared a lot with him of my recent experience and I encouraged him to do the same at the National Level hopefully with better results than I got. So with the experience of one attempt to guide us, we worked together to bring written selection into the national level.
And it succeeded to a degree. The written criteria for juniors was brought in without too much obstacle. At the senior level it was a different ball game.
So why did it subsequently fail? Why was selection introduced for SEA games and then withdrawn from the Olympiad?
Here you will need to allow me some speculation as I cannot see inside Greg's head. For me it was not just about introducing the written criteria, it was also about the culture. You saw for yourself what happened when I tried to train the juniors for Asean 2010. Jimmy came up with anonymous blog after anonymous blog to attack the training all over the net. And venom and lies were spewed all over the place and Greg had the facts. So I appealed to him to use the power he had in MCF to issue a correction but he never did.
An aside: Recently we have seen a few people hurling new abuses at me who claim to be morally just about the Olympiad Team even though this team was fraudulently formed. But they were totally silent when the training was attacked, when the juniors were attacked before SEA games. So I do not think their new venom comes from any moral conviction or there would have been consistency.
So what do I mean by the culture? I think every parent/mother knows about positive enforcement. We reward those that train hard. We reward those with good chess etc. We do not reward those that lies, manipulate results, try to ban players without justification etc.
Without changing the culture any small gains we may have will be quickly reversed at the first opportunity.
Very basic, but Greg could not see that. I think there are many reasons for that but I will not go into it here. Stop and think for a while. What do you think the qualities of a Secretary should be? Especially a Secretary with the all encompassing powers that Greg has.
The shift in Greg's position was noted by me around the time of SEA games too. At final selection, I suddenly saw his inclusion of 2 people outside the pre-qualified list. A small corruption perhaps. Ref: Here. And then at Asian Amateur he was fully turned. He went back to his past cronies. Threats and then temptation. Yes, Greg was equally attacked over the Asean training. And then there was the really big money seen at Asian Amateur. Temptation.
Note to Greg: You see Greg, they won't take you back. I tried to tell you. You touched on their holy grail. You brought in selection and showed the entire chess community how weak our IM's are. They are now falling like flies. They will never forgive you for that. And now even the one that you gave that free holiday to at the Olympiads is working to get rid of you. Why do you think he worked so hard to make sure that he broke and controlled 4 out of the 5 players going to the Olympiad? He has you over a barrel now hasn't he, despite all the power you have. And Hamid and Peter has the big tournaments. And they all want you out. You should have thought this through better. You shouldn't have pulled back, you should have followed through.
Coming soon: Alarming revelation brought to me about the possibility of manipulation of pairing using Swiss Manager. I am now verifying it before I release the information. Thank you Yatz, my reply to you got responses from my readers. If this information is true, then many tournaments can now be brought into question. Btw the Secretary of Fide, besides the other people I have mentioned, is also copied on my posts.
Today's Contemplation.
The most significant discovery of the human potential movement is that you can change your beliefs through your actions as easily as you can change your actions through your beliefs.
-- Dr Robert Anthony
-- Dr Robert Anthony
Monday, August 27, 2012
Musings
Some of us learn about the Swiss Manager program so that we may get the best out of the system to get the results that shows the true strength of the field in honour of the players hard earned skill and sacrifice. And I guess, some learn the same program to find ways to hide the truth and to give false results.
Some of us teach our young to be honest, civil and law abiding; to train and work hard to achieve their goals and I guess some want to teach them how to write false emails or lure them with false promises of back door entries to misguide them and to teach them gangster ways.
Some of us use ratings to gauge our true strength in chess and I guess some try to cook the numbers to give the illusion of strength.
Some of us try to find the truth and determine the facts so that we have a compass and direction to achieve our goal of developing Malaysia's first GM and I guess some practice very hard at developing factually dishonest arguments to keep their free holidays, illicit power and ill gotten gains.
Now it is my contention that the former should be in the leadership of Malaysian chess and the later in positions of doing the least harm. What would occur if the later was to take the lead? Or have they already?
Some of us teach our young to be honest, civil and law abiding; to train and work hard to achieve their goals and I guess some want to teach them how to write false emails or lure them with false promises of back door entries to misguide them and to teach them gangster ways.
Some of us use ratings to gauge our true strength in chess and I guess some try to cook the numbers to give the illusion of strength.
Some of us try to find the truth and determine the facts so that we have a compass and direction to achieve our goal of developing Malaysia's first GM and I guess some practice very hard at developing factually dishonest arguments to keep their free holidays, illicit power and ill gotten gains.
Now it is my contention that the former should be in the leadership of Malaysian chess and the later in positions of doing the least harm. What would occur if the later was to take the lead? Or have they already?
Latest info on blatant lie.
I have been informed in a post by Yatz, that you can still retrieve the information by a circuitous route. The first step is by clicking on the final ranking after round 9, then click on the team that you want to see the details of. I won't send you to his link simply because it is full of foul languages.
Note: This round about way shows a format that is more difficult to see but it's possible if you are a little more conversant.
This still proves my point. The format that was published by Yatz is gone.
Chess is partially technical so information can be disguised in many ways. Actually Mark attended a Swiss Managers Course and even he was not aware of this. The question still remains, why keep changing the format till even those that have attended the course but have not practiced as a pairing arbiter cannot tell the difference? So how do you expect the general public to get a clear picture? Why the need to keep changing the format? From an easy to see format to this?
And since we are on the topic of pairing, Hamid made a boast to me at Datmo that he can fix Mark to meet Jimmy if he so desires. I told him I have no problems with that. In fact that would be welcomed if he can achieve it. I have some ideas to test and it will also be good to see if he can make good of his boast.
So I have been thinking about his methods of forced pairings on the first round as well as the way he enters unrated players. I have written earlier that there were an unrated player that was identified by a Malaysian player who said that the guy was actually a high rated player from India.
I know there are more experienced technical people reading this blog. Would appreciate if you can give me further information on this. Can this method be used to determine desired pairings? If Hamid can indeed make certain pairings appear, it will finally answer the few remaining questions in my mind.
I did find that Mok being paired against Li Tian in the last round of Datmo individual rapid slightly suspicious.
So thank you Yatz. I can now continue with my analysis of the players performance. I am always open to learning new things. Maybe I can use this knowledge when I am reviewing the performance at the Olympiad.
ps: Thank you again Yatz. The picture is much clearer now. Very interesting results for those that want to see in detail what Jimmy means by the excellent performance of the juniors going to the Olympiad. Mok's results are also revealing. Here if you want to check it out for yourself. Just follow the steps I mentioned above.
Note: This round about way shows a format that is more difficult to see but it's possible if you are a little more conversant.
This still proves my point. The format that was published by Yatz is gone.
Chess is partially technical so information can be disguised in many ways. Actually Mark attended a Swiss Managers Course and even he was not aware of this. The question still remains, why keep changing the format till even those that have attended the course but have not practiced as a pairing arbiter cannot tell the difference? So how do you expect the general public to get a clear picture? Why the need to keep changing the format? From an easy to see format to this?
And since we are on the topic of pairing, Hamid made a boast to me at Datmo that he can fix Mark to meet Jimmy if he so desires. I told him I have no problems with that. In fact that would be welcomed if he can achieve it. I have some ideas to test and it will also be good to see if he can make good of his boast.
So I have been thinking about his methods of forced pairings on the first round as well as the way he enters unrated players. I have written earlier that there were an unrated player that was identified by a Malaysian player who said that the guy was actually a high rated player from India.
I know there are more experienced technical people reading this blog. Would appreciate if you can give me further information on this. Can this method be used to determine desired pairings? If Hamid can indeed make certain pairings appear, it will finally answer the few remaining questions in my mind.
I did find that Mok being paired against Li Tian in the last round of Datmo individual rapid slightly suspicious.
So thank you Yatz. I can now continue with my analysis of the players performance. I am always open to learning new things. Maybe I can use this knowledge when I am reviewing the performance at the Olympiad.
ps: Thank you again Yatz. The picture is much clearer now. Very interesting results for those that want to see in detail what Jimmy means by the excellent performance of the juniors going to the Olympiad. Mok's results are also revealing. Here if you want to check it out for yourself. Just follow the steps I mentioned above.
Proof of a blatant lie
This is the proof that Yatz showed to call me a liar. It shows the board pairings. As I said, this was available until R4. Then it was taken off at R5. Then put back at R6 again so Jimmy, Andrew and Yatz can call me a liar.
Link to Yatz chess here in case that screen shot is not clear. Here.
This is the screen shot I just took this morning with the board pairings removed yet again. Actually it was removed again at R7.
Link here. Accurate when I last checked at 12.50pm today.
Doesn't that show a coordinated effort to lie to the chess public? Would this need the help of the Chief Arbiter, Tournament Director, to execute? This is more reminiscent of the Hamid era isn't it, for those that were around during that time. Lies, character assasination, venom all allowed. Truth of what is really happening is banned.
I can only speculate here since the evidence has been removed again but I suspect Mok, Zhuo Ren or Li Tian did not do well at the later rounds. Or maybe it was Nicholas who did well. We can only make an accurate evaluation if we can see who each player played against. A win by Jimmy against a 1600 for instance is not something we all want to stand up to rock the stadium with applause and hugging and tears of joy, is it? We may hug each other from sheer relief that he made it but that's about it. So Jimmy's point count here means nothing without the board pairings.
Don't you think that the back and forth play of the format tells us something is not right? What are they so scared of? Why hide? If you are strong enough to get in by the back door, you should stand tall and show everyone how you did it. That's what I think anyway.
Link to Yatz chess here in case that screen shot is not clear. Here.
This is the screen shot I just took this morning with the board pairings removed yet again. Actually it was removed again at R7.
Link here. Accurate when I last checked at 12.50pm today.
Doesn't that show a coordinated effort to lie to the chess public? Would this need the help of the Chief Arbiter, Tournament Director, to execute? This is more reminiscent of the Hamid era isn't it, for those that were around during that time. Lies, character assasination, venom all allowed. Truth of what is really happening is banned.
I can only speculate here since the evidence has been removed again but I suspect Mok, Zhuo Ren or Li Tian did not do well at the later rounds. Or maybe it was Nicholas who did well. We can only make an accurate evaluation if we can see who each player played against. A win by Jimmy against a 1600 for instance is not something we all want to stand up to rock the stadium with applause and hugging and tears of joy, is it? We may hug each other from sheer relief that he made it but that's about it. So Jimmy's point count here means nothing without the board pairings.
Don't you think that the back and forth play of the format tells us something is not right? What are they so scared of? Why hide? If you are strong enough to get in by the back door, you should stand tall and show everyone how you did it. That's what I think anyway.
My experience with Greg.
Ref: Here.
Lets put some context to this story first. Mark was Champion U12 MSSPK in 2005. That was still in the Hamid era. At that time Perak were not sending players to National Close, National Age Group and National Junior was not yet in existence. Perak were only sending players to Merdeka Team events. Information was closely guarded and only those that were old timers or a select few were given information. And things were really bad.
Let me give you one example. There was a selection for the Perak Junior Team for Merdeka and Mark was invited by the VP of PICA to participate as the State Champion at the time. When we got there the VP was told off in public as the information was supposed to be kept secret from us. And we were asked to leave. This gives you an idea of the type of climate Malaysian Chess was under at that time.
During the Hamid era there was no such thing as written criteria for selection, junior or senior according to the information provided to me by the Juniors of that time. It was just who Hamid wanted. Plain and simple.
So when I first met Greg, it was like a breath of fresh air. He encouraged us to go to KL to try for National level. And he was the one that first put up a proper written selection criteria for the Juniors. He also started the National Juniors and then he brought in the first selection for the senior team for SEA games. He made a lot of bold moves which pissed off a lot of people. And FGM did what we could to support him at that time. So what happened after? Why do they want him out now? Coming next in part 2.
But let me put in a brain teaser here. In chess we frequently see this. A bold and correct move and then the failure in courage. We pull back for whatever reasons and then the game is lost. There is the element of judgement, the element of moral conviction and character. You may have noticed that around that time I wrote a story about the scorpion and its nature. That was written because I could see what was happening at that time.
Lets put some context to this story first. Mark was Champion U12 MSSPK in 2005. That was still in the Hamid era. At that time Perak were not sending players to National Close, National Age Group and National Junior was not yet in existence. Perak were only sending players to Merdeka Team events. Information was closely guarded and only those that were old timers or a select few were given information. And things were really bad.
Let me give you one example. There was a selection for the Perak Junior Team for Merdeka and Mark was invited by the VP of PICA to participate as the State Champion at the time. When we got there the VP was told off in public as the information was supposed to be kept secret from us. And we were asked to leave. This gives you an idea of the type of climate Malaysian Chess was under at that time.
During the Hamid era there was no such thing as written criteria for selection, junior or senior according to the information provided to me by the Juniors of that time. It was just who Hamid wanted. Plain and simple.
So when I first met Greg, it was like a breath of fresh air. He encouraged us to go to KL to try for National level. And he was the one that first put up a proper written selection criteria for the Juniors. He also started the National Juniors and then he brought in the first selection for the senior team for SEA games. He made a lot of bold moves which pissed off a lot of people. And FGM did what we could to support him at that time. So what happened after? Why do they want him out now? Coming next in part 2.
But let me put in a brain teaser here. In chess we frequently see this. A bold and correct move and then the failure in courage. We pull back for whatever reasons and then the game is lost. There is the element of judgement, the element of moral conviction and character. You may have noticed that around that time I wrote a story about the scorpion and its nature. That was written because I could see what was happening at that time.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
What does "Gens Una Sumus" mean?
Gens Una Sumus. We are one people.
This is an often used quote by people in chess. It basically means that there is a place for everyone in chess. This was recently used by a guy called Abd Salam who then called me all sorts of names. Ref: Here.
Actually I do agree that we should not reject anyone in chess so long as they obey the rules as laid out by Fide etc.
Even if they do ban our National players without justifiable cause like Peter Long, there should still be a place for him.
But this is where I differ from the views of some who take the extreme interpretation of this quote; I simply do not think that we should put Peter as the front man of any organisation. I do not think that Peter is suited to teach young children. That is my opinion. I think we should find him a place where he can do good and no serious damage.
Similarly I do not think we want people like Jimmy or Abd Salam as helmsmen or in leadership position. That's all I am saying. We certainly do not want Jimmy to play at the Olympiad without winning a selection. We want strong players who can do the Country proud. Someone who has the chance to beat a GM and is not afraid to try from a winning position.
People like Jimmy and Peter all have their roles in life and possibly in chess. But not at where they are now. We simply should not allow their unethical practices.
Gens Una Sumus. There is a place for everyone. But there is also the right place for anyone. Another example. Hamid is a good organiser. Let him organise. But he seriously bombed as the previous Secretary. We are still reeling from the damage caused during his days as I will talk more on in my next post.
That term taken to an extreme means we can also have monkeys to lead us or play chess at the Olympiads. I am sure that was not the spirit of the quote.
ps: The name used in the comment box is posted as Abd Salam. Actually the real person is Ab Salim who posted those comments on facebook. My apologies to the real Abd Salam. I hope this correction will help to clear up the misunderstanding.
This is an often used quote by people in chess. It basically means that there is a place for everyone in chess. This was recently used by a guy called Abd Salam who then called me all sorts of names. Ref: Here.
Actually I do agree that we should not reject anyone in chess so long as they obey the rules as laid out by Fide etc.
Even if they do ban our National players without justifiable cause like Peter Long, there should still be a place for him.
But this is where I differ from the views of some who take the extreme interpretation of this quote; I simply do not think that we should put Peter as the front man of any organisation. I do not think that Peter is suited to teach young children. That is my opinion. I think we should find him a place where he can do good and no serious damage.
Similarly I do not think we want people like Jimmy or Abd Salam as helmsmen or in leadership position. That's all I am saying. We certainly do not want Jimmy to play at the Olympiad without winning a selection. We want strong players who can do the Country proud. Someone who has the chance to beat a GM and is not afraid to try from a winning position.
People like Jimmy and Peter all have their roles in life and possibly in chess. But not at where they are now. We simply should not allow their unethical practices.
Gens Una Sumus. There is a place for everyone. But there is also the right place for anyone. Another example. Hamid is a good organiser. Let him organise. But he seriously bombed as the previous Secretary. We are still reeling from the damage caused during his days as I will talk more on in my next post.
That term taken to an extreme means we can also have monkeys to lead us or play chess at the Olympiads. I am sure that was not the spirit of the quote.
ps: The name used in the comment box is posted as Abd Salam. Actually the real person is Ab Salim who posted those comments on facebook. My apologies to the real Abd Salam. I hope this correction will help to clear up the misunderstanding.
We owe our respect to...
We owe our respect to those players that train hard to improve their chess. We owe our respect to those that is not afraid of competition and win their place in fair and healthy competition and then fight hard, to the best of their ability, for our Country. We owe our respect to the parents that put out their hard earned money in paying for the training, in paying for the trips to represent our Country. We owe our respect to the sponsors who invest good money into a noble mind sport to see that our boys and girls are given the chance to develop the mindset to be world beaters.
We do not owe any respect to those that tell lies and spew venom; those that use official power and intimidation to beat down our own players, those that fix matches and hide the truth from the chess community. We do not owe any respect to those that represent our Country at the senior level via the back door when we have better players and they cannot even beat our more talented juniors. We do not owe any respect to those that rob our Associations blind to enrich themselves.
Give me one good reason why we should show them any respect. Just one. Our respect is misplaced. Do not honour the con men and put down our real heros.
We do not owe any respect to those that tell lies and spew venom; those that use official power and intimidation to beat down our own players, those that fix matches and hide the truth from the chess community. We do not owe any respect to those that represent our Country at the senior level via the back door when we have better players and they cannot even beat our more talented juniors. We do not owe any respect to those that rob our Associations blind to enrich themselves.
Give me one good reason why we should show them any respect. Just one. Our respect is misplaced. Do not honour the con men and put down our real heros.
The power of the Secretary of MCF.
Ref: Here.
Superficially the power of the Secretary of MCF is all encompassing. In relative terms it is almost akin to the powers of a dictator.
It is within his power to stop unjustifiable banning of national players. Or Not. It is within his power to discipline those that spread lies on the internet just by issuing a warning. Or Not. It is within his power to have proper selection. Or Not. It is within his power to have a development program. Or Not. Etc. etc. etc. His powers are almost absolute.
So how did he come to this power? Simple. There are no guiding policies or rules in MCF. And this is taken maximum advantage of. They choose Presidents that have no clue of what is happening by witholding information or giving misinformation. This is fairly easy since there are technicalities involved and the issues can be very easily confused. The Secretary has this power because he can either call for a meeting. Or Not.
Let me give you one recent example. There was a meeting scheduled to discuss the selection for the Olympiad. And that meeting was canceled without explanation. So no meeting, no guiding policies and Jimmy and gang got in the back door. Hey Presto, all the strong players are sidelined. There is no respect for the fact that you applied for leave, that you trained, that you used your savings to come to KL to play for a place.
An aside: They have no respect for us but they demand that we respect them or they will try to hammer us to the wall. And that has worked for many years. You have seen their methods now very transparently displayed on the internet. On the blogs and facebook. They try to play God by telling you who is strong and who is not despite the evidence on the table that tells us they are weak. And so they need the PR campaigns and suspect games to build the illusions. They need the tool to ban you without grounds in case all else fails.
So you can now see that those awesome powers that the Secretary now has is used to keep the truth from us. And those same powers are also used to break the spirit of our players and to intimidate the parents and not for building Malaysian chess.
This is all very self evident. All it needs is a superficial look with an open mind.
But is that all the story? If it is, it is not too difficult to fix, is it? Unfortunately there is more beneath the surface. Let me tell you more from my insights during the close association with Greg when we both worked together to bring selection for the SEA games. After reading that I think we will be in a better position to form some conclusions. Not all is what it seems.
Next: My experience with Greg.
ps: Pay attention to this. The real fight is for the Secretary's post. The President is just there to pay the bills when they overspend all the money that could have been used for development. I have covered this topic before so look back if you are interested. But I will probably repeat it again. The best President for them is one with deep pockets and is too busy to ask any real questions.
Superficially the power of the Secretary of MCF is all encompassing. In relative terms it is almost akin to the powers of a dictator.
It is within his power to stop unjustifiable banning of national players. Or Not. It is within his power to discipline those that spread lies on the internet just by issuing a warning. Or Not. It is within his power to have proper selection. Or Not. It is within his power to have a development program. Or Not. Etc. etc. etc. His powers are almost absolute.
So how did he come to this power? Simple. There are no guiding policies or rules in MCF. And this is taken maximum advantage of. They choose Presidents that have no clue of what is happening by witholding information or giving misinformation. This is fairly easy since there are technicalities involved and the issues can be very easily confused. The Secretary has this power because he can either call for a meeting. Or Not.
Let me give you one recent example. There was a meeting scheduled to discuss the selection for the Olympiad. And that meeting was canceled without explanation. So no meeting, no guiding policies and Jimmy and gang got in the back door. Hey Presto, all the strong players are sidelined. There is no respect for the fact that you applied for leave, that you trained, that you used your savings to come to KL to play for a place.
An aside: They have no respect for us but they demand that we respect them or they will try to hammer us to the wall. And that has worked for many years. You have seen their methods now very transparently displayed on the internet. On the blogs and facebook. They try to play God by telling you who is strong and who is not despite the evidence on the table that tells us they are weak. And so they need the PR campaigns and suspect games to build the illusions. They need the tool to ban you without grounds in case all else fails.
So you can now see that those awesome powers that the Secretary now has is used to keep the truth from us. And those same powers are also used to break the spirit of our players and to intimidate the parents and not for building Malaysian chess.
This is all very self evident. All it needs is a superficial look with an open mind.
But is that all the story? If it is, it is not too difficult to fix, is it? Unfortunately there is more beneath the surface. Let me tell you more from my insights during the close association with Greg when we both worked together to bring selection for the SEA games. After reading that I think we will be in a better position to form some conclusions. Not all is what it seems.
Next: My experience with Greg.
ps: Pay attention to this. The real fight is for the Secretary's post. The President is just there to pay the bills when they overspend all the money that could have been used for development. I have covered this topic before so look back if you are interested. But I will probably repeat it again. The best President for them is one with deep pockets and is too busy to ask any real questions.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
The hottest topic at Datmo rapid.
From the moment I stepped into the Tournament hall at Cititel many parents came up to share with me. The old timers all know something of what is happening so it was just like old times of whisperings around the corridors. All agree that MCF is rotten to the core but many still have different ideas of what can be done to change things. So to an extent we are still divided on the "what to do" and the "how to do it". But much less than before. The key is information. And this blog remains the only place where real information on Malaysian chess is disseminated.
A significant change is that many strong players who have been victims of the back doors also shared information with me. All this is good. We are the overwhelming majority and we have no voice. We are the major investors in time and money. The parents put in big money and the strong players sacrifice their time and effort in training and improving their chess.
And the weaklings spend their time is making deals, PR campaigns and suspect games to get sent to the Olympiad without contest.
This is normal. This has been happening for many many years. So what has caused this escalation in rabid attacks. Allow me to share what I think the major shift is. Among the power players there is now a majority consensus to remove the current President at the next AGM. So if the feedback is accurate it's game over at the next AGM. And that is why Greg has not called for the long overdue AGM and is now risking the suspension of MCF by COS. But even that by itself is of no major concern to the real power players. Presidents have come and gone and they still remain. The Presidents are just piggy banks for these guys so they don't have to do serious work.
I define serious work as development of our players. In Tournaments they are just making more money from us with of course extras from their sponsors. Admittedly they do that well.
An aside: My past experience in the Associations gives me some insights. Actually the Presidents of the Federations are quite powerless. Information is withheld from them. And there is just too much happening. I know from personal experience that even what Dato Tan wants and what gets executed are 2 very different things. I am fairly sure that Tan Sri Ramli is also not getting the full picture. That is why I send them all my posts. Every member of the committee and power player reads my blog.
Now you understand why those guys are working overtime to discredit me.
All they want from the Presidents are an endless source of money so they can continue to have the good life. Let me give you one example. The sponsor who brought in the money at the last Asian Amateur wanted to spend the substantial surplus on sponsoring the player who won the National Junior 2011. My sources tell me that the money was taken out against the wishes of the sponsor on the pretext of back pay to an official.
Yes. The major fight is now for the post of Secretary. The man with the power to make or break Presidents. To make the President look good or to heap all the blame on him. So it was quite an eye opener for me to hear them talk. For some perculiar reason they all seem to think I have a say in this. So they tell me they want this person or that person and who will destroy MCF if they remain in etc etc etc. Crazy.
No my friends. I am not interested in the personalities or seek any post. I want no part in your game of thrones and I have no influence outside of my blog and my writing. What I want is a change of culture. So that we have healthy competition and no more back doors. So that the money in MCF gets used for the right reasons instead of just enriching whoever the current Secretary is along with his cronies.
What I do not want is different names doing the same thing the same way.
I do not have the power to make the needed changes nor do I seek it. All I am hoping is that someone who does have the power will consider the information I provide here to make a difference. None of us wants to be lost for another 30 years or to see our Nation humiliated in the chess arena year after year.
Caveat: We all want change apart from those few who have been kind enough to reveal themselves finally. They used to knife you in the dark. Now they are desperate enough to show their hand. This is a good thing. They are finally making an open stand for status quo. So it can be seen as either extreme courage or sheer stupidity depending on your perspective.
Next: The post of Secretary. My experience with Greg.
A significant change is that many strong players who have been victims of the back doors also shared information with me. All this is good. We are the overwhelming majority and we have no voice. We are the major investors in time and money. The parents put in big money and the strong players sacrifice their time and effort in training and improving their chess.
And the weaklings spend their time is making deals, PR campaigns and suspect games to get sent to the Olympiad without contest.
This is normal. This has been happening for many many years. So what has caused this escalation in rabid attacks. Allow me to share what I think the major shift is. Among the power players there is now a majority consensus to remove the current President at the next AGM. So if the feedback is accurate it's game over at the next AGM. And that is why Greg has not called for the long overdue AGM and is now risking the suspension of MCF by COS. But even that by itself is of no major concern to the real power players. Presidents have come and gone and they still remain. The Presidents are just piggy banks for these guys so they don't have to do serious work.
I define serious work as development of our players. In Tournaments they are just making more money from us with of course extras from their sponsors. Admittedly they do that well.
An aside: My past experience in the Associations gives me some insights. Actually the Presidents of the Federations are quite powerless. Information is withheld from them. And there is just too much happening. I know from personal experience that even what Dato Tan wants and what gets executed are 2 very different things. I am fairly sure that Tan Sri Ramli is also not getting the full picture. That is why I send them all my posts. Every member of the committee and power player reads my blog.
Now you understand why those guys are working overtime to discredit me.
All they want from the Presidents are an endless source of money so they can continue to have the good life. Let me give you one example. The sponsor who brought in the money at the last Asian Amateur wanted to spend the substantial surplus on sponsoring the player who won the National Junior 2011. My sources tell me that the money was taken out against the wishes of the sponsor on the pretext of back pay to an official.
Yes. The major fight is now for the post of Secretary. The man with the power to make or break Presidents. To make the President look good or to heap all the blame on him. So it was quite an eye opener for me to hear them talk. For some perculiar reason they all seem to think I have a say in this. So they tell me they want this person or that person and who will destroy MCF if they remain in etc etc etc. Crazy.
No my friends. I am not interested in the personalities or seek any post. I want no part in your game of thrones and I have no influence outside of my blog and my writing. What I want is a change of culture. So that we have healthy competition and no more back doors. So that the money in MCF gets used for the right reasons instead of just enriching whoever the current Secretary is along with his cronies.
What I do not want is different names doing the same thing the same way.
I do not have the power to make the needed changes nor do I seek it. All I am hoping is that someone who does have the power will consider the information I provide here to make a difference. None of us wants to be lost for another 30 years or to see our Nation humiliated in the chess arena year after year.
Caveat: We all want change apart from those few who have been kind enough to reveal themselves finally. They used to knife you in the dark. Now they are desperate enough to show their hand. This is a good thing. They are finally making an open stand for status quo. So it can be seen as either extreme courage or sheer stupidity depending on your perspective.
Next: The post of Secretary. My experience with Greg.
A post by Jimmy that shows the latest attacks.
Ref: Here.
This is what they want you to think.
The latest tactic even included reposting all the results again on chess results on a different link. The link where I asked my readers to go to see Nicholas's games was suddenly empty of content and I had to go back to chess results again to get the new link. If you think about it, the reformattings and the move of information took some effort. The big question is why would they take all that trouble if they do not feel very badly threatened.
So let cover this on my very next post.
This is what they want you to think.
The latest tactic even included reposting all the results again on chess results on a different link. The link where I asked my readers to go to see Nicholas's games was suddenly empty of content and I had to go back to chess results again to get the new link. If you think about it, the reformattings and the move of information took some effort. The big question is why would they take all that trouble if they do not feel very badly threatened.
So let cover this on my very next post.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Lets not get distracted.
Their basic modus operandi is misdirection. It's enough to just note who the cronies are.
Lets stay focused on the question. Does Nicholas Chan deserve the place at the Olympiad that was swindled by Jimmy? Is he the better player? What have the results on the board shown so far? The board pairings are back. Find out for yourself. Go check in case they remove it again.
Lets stay focused on the question. Does Nicholas Chan deserve the place at the Olympiad that was swindled by Jimmy? Is he the better player? What have the results on the board shown so far? The board pairings are back. Find out for yourself. Go check in case they remove it again.
Gang initiation.
Ref: Here.
If you are not one of us, you are one of them. I once talked about the fact that once a horse is broken, it can be ridden by many. Lee Kuan Yew put it another way sometime back. He said corruption is like prostitution. After the first time, it gets easier and easier.
The fact is that until R4, it was possible to view the results board by board. That means you can see who played with whom from within the team ie Board pairing. That was removed at R5 when the results were shown and with R6 pairing out.
Now it seems that the format has been changed back yet again. Why all these intrigues?
Why is it that these people take no offense when obvious lies are spread, when the entire selection has been hijacked by Jimmy and party but they jump up and down when the truth is written.
In the normal course of events, if I am lying then people will just stop believing in me over time. Simple cause and effect. The need to take action like the one in the link above and the new attacks on facebook by a known crony shows there is something more to this doesn't it?
You are now fully initiated Andrew. Take your pick for the name you want to be known as in the gang. Broken horse.....
ps: Apparently Jimmy didnt play at all and it was a keying in mistake by the arbiter.
pps: Andrew, I guess now that you are a fully fledged gang member, you have to bring in your own initiates to bring you closer to Jimmy's low level. Well done with Yatz. Ref: Here. Bravo.Your full colours are now all showing.
If you are not one of us, you are one of them. I once talked about the fact that once a horse is broken, it can be ridden by many. Lee Kuan Yew put it another way sometime back. He said corruption is like prostitution. After the first time, it gets easier and easier.
The fact is that until R4, it was possible to view the results board by board. That means you can see who played with whom from within the team ie Board pairing. That was removed at R5 when the results were shown and with R6 pairing out.
Now it seems that the format has been changed back yet again. Why all these intrigues?
Why is it that these people take no offense when obvious lies are spread, when the entire selection has been hijacked by Jimmy and party but they jump up and down when the truth is written.
In the normal course of events, if I am lying then people will just stop believing in me over time. Simple cause and effect. The need to take action like the one in the link above and the new attacks on facebook by a known crony shows there is something more to this doesn't it?
You are now fully initiated Andrew. Take your pick for the name you want to be known as in the gang. Broken horse.....
ps: Apparently Jimmy didnt play at all and it was a keying in mistake by the arbiter.
pps: Andrew, I guess now that you are a fully fledged gang member, you have to bring in your own initiates to bring you closer to Jimmy's low level. Well done with Yatz. Ref: Here. Bravo.Your full colours are now all showing.
Astro Team event results.
Ref: Here.
Take a look at the fools again. They claim they are both Malaysian and State Team. Trying for both prizes. Are they really a State Team? Is that fair to the other States? I think the organisers should do something about this. Their non action will reflect badly on the sponsors. And Datmo has a full organising committee of luminaries.
And all these shananigans coming from the fool guy who talks so much about ethics. Doesn't that just make him a bald faced outright liar?
Note: Do check out Nicholas's performance against those that are going to the Olympiad.
ps: Incredible. They have just removed the detailed board results. Are they so afraid of us seeing how Jimmy fared at R5 onwards? Yes he is back after saying he wont be present. So there are 2 fools gone mad now. I hope you did well against the 1600 in R5, Jimmy.
Or maybe they are just afraid to let Nicholas shine for us all to see. How much lower can you guys get?
Take a look at the fools again. They claim they are both Malaysian and State Team. Trying for both prizes. Are they really a State Team? Is that fair to the other States? I think the organisers should do something about this. Their non action will reflect badly on the sponsors. And Datmo has a full organising committee of luminaries.
And all these shananigans coming from the fool guy who talks so much about ethics. Doesn't that just make him a bald faced outright liar?
Note: Do check out Nicholas's performance against those that are going to the Olympiad.
ps: Incredible. They have just removed the detailed board results. Are they so afraid of us seeing how Jimmy fared at R5 onwards? Yes he is back after saying he wont be present. So there are 2 fools gone mad now. I hope you did well against the 1600 in R5, Jimmy.
Or maybe they are just afraid to let Nicholas shine for us all to see. How much lower can you guys get?
Denial is an unhealthy form of hidden aggression.
Think about it. You are trying to fight reality.
Isn't that what Jimmy, Peter Long and their supporters in and out of MCF are really fighting? And you thought it was me right? Well, it isn't. It's actually the truth that frightens them.
Isn't that what Jimmy, Peter Long and their supporters in and out of MCF are really fighting? And you thought it was me right? Well, it isn't. It's actually the truth that frightens them.
This is the legitimate way to build a reputation.
Ref: Here.
Question. After seeing this awesome display of thinking power on the board, are you more inclined to trust them or the other fool gone mad? All those smoke and mirrors do nothing for your chess or your Academy's reputation. If you are good don't hide behind anonymous blogs and comments or writing your own anonymous comments or making snide remarks from the side etc. etc. No need to try and ban stronger players than the ones you can produce. No need to make up cheap excuses. That is just telling the whole world how terribly scared and weak you really are.
Question. After seeing this awesome display of thinking power on the board, are you more inclined to trust them or the other fool gone mad? All those smoke and mirrors do nothing for your chess or your Academy's reputation. If you are good don't hide behind anonymous blogs and comments or writing your own anonymous comments or making snide remarks from the side etc. etc. No need to try and ban stronger players than the ones you can produce. No need to make up cheap excuses. That is just telling the whole world how terribly scared and weak you really are.
Nicholas deserves a chance doesn't he?
Ref: Here.
All the other players acknowledge that he is probably one of the best senior we have now. He is playing first board here. All he lacks is Jimmy's PR machinery, hidden deals and suspect games to boost ratings/position. He is real. Put him in front of the board and I believe he will show you that. So why was he bypassed? How come all those people who scream that they love chess are so silent on this? A real crime against Malaysian chess perpetuated right in front of their eyes and they cannot see. But they imagine all sorts of transgressions when legitimate and reasonable questions are asked.
Yes, Jimmy got one thing right in all this. His hidden "team" are really fools gone mad. Must be a subconscious choice of name.
So do we want to send a real chess player to the Olympiad or do we want to send a "PR expert" who barely plays Malaysian junior level chess?
Ps: You cannot let a fool Captain a reasonable team. He will steer it to the rocks.
All the other players acknowledge that he is probably one of the best senior we have now. He is playing first board here. All he lacks is Jimmy's PR machinery, hidden deals and suspect games to boost ratings/position. He is real. Put him in front of the board and I believe he will show you that. So why was he bypassed? How come all those people who scream that they love chess are so silent on this? A real crime against Malaysian chess perpetuated right in front of their eyes and they cannot see. But they imagine all sorts of transgressions when legitimate and reasonable questions are asked.
Yes, Jimmy got one thing right in all this. His hidden "team" are really fools gone mad. Must be a subconscious choice of name.
So do we want to send a real chess player to the Olympiad or do we want to send a "PR expert" who barely plays Malaysian junior level chess?
Ps: You cannot let a fool Captain a reasonable team. He will steer it to the rocks.
Change of title from plural to singular.
I see they have gone from fools gone mad to to fool gone mad with the exit of the "Captain" of our chess Olympians. Ref: Here. Good luck to the rest of the team. Anyone of you is better than those 2 fools. Next time get a strong team. You are only as good a team as your weakest links. Luckily for you, one of them pulled about from the trashing by our other juniors. But even with only one fool remaining it is still a big liability.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Chess- The bastion of thinking.
The mental sport; the mind sport; the thinking man's sport. The sport that teaches optimum thinking in competition under intense pressure. The sport that teaches strategy and tactics. The sport that teaches goal setting and high achievement.
Isn't that the reason why we all joined this sport?
Then why is it that we don't see any thinking in the decisions made by the leaders of Malaysian Chess?
Where is Malaysian level chess thinking displayed? We see a lot of it on our chess blogs. Emotionally stunted people shouting nonsensical things. The few vocal people who seem to not notice the venom spewing out of toxic blogs but behave like rabid dogs when legitimate and reasonable questions are asked.
How did the lunatics get to take over the asylum? This needs to change or we will disappear off the chess radar just as thinking is vanishing from our chess.
Coming next. The hot topic discussed at Datmo. MCF's coming AGM.
Isn't that the reason why we all joined this sport?
Then why is it that we don't see any thinking in the decisions made by the leaders of Malaysian Chess?
Where is Malaysian level chess thinking displayed? We see a lot of it on our chess blogs. Emotionally stunted people shouting nonsensical things. The few vocal people who seem to not notice the venom spewing out of toxic blogs but behave like rabid dogs when legitimate and reasonable questions are asked.
How did the lunatics get to take over the asylum? This needs to change or we will disappear off the chess radar just as thinking is vanishing from our chess.
Coming next. The hot topic discussed at Datmo. MCF's coming AGM.
Post by Marina.
Ref: Here.
In one decision to take away competition from chess for players going to the Olympiad 2012, we have condemned Malaysian Chess to the wilderness. See what years of back doors have done to Jimmy. Once he was a player who could and dared to compete. Now he is just a shadow, the product of our system. Now he needs to try to look like a gangster and hope he may trick a few players into thinking he is a ferrari. Sad. And then we apply the same formula to Li Tian, number 4, at NC2012 and hope he becomes just like Jimmy.
In one decision to take away competition from chess for players going to the Olympiad 2012, we have condemned Malaysian Chess to the wilderness. See what years of back doors have done to Jimmy. Once he was a player who could and dared to compete. Now he is just a shadow, the product of our system. Now he needs to try to look like a gangster and hope he may trick a few players into thinking he is a ferrari. Sad. And then we apply the same formula to Li Tian, number 4, at NC2012 and hope he becomes just like Jimmy.
We need to set a goal for the Olympiad.
I don't know if you guys still remember what happened at the last Olympiad. A game thrown from handphone ringing, accusations of players going there to sell books and making business deals and refusing to play etc etc.
The big question of course is how did it get that way? Are they not playing for their Country on the sponsors dime? Why such disrespect to the sponsor? Did they not value this opportunity to shine and bring honour to the Nation?
Doesn't it seem like they treated the Olympiad like their entitlement for a free holiday? How does this selfish attitude affect Malaysian Chess as a whole? Is the message we are sending to all our other players here that the Olympiad is the right of certain weak players for their annual holiday and the rest of you can forget about improving for you will just never get the chance to go no matter how good your chess is? It's all signed sealed and delivered by the deal makers.
I think we got like this because we have no goals. The solution is just to set a goal. Set them all a high but realistic and achievable goal to get them to appreciate this opportunity given to them. When they come back there must be a proper postmortem. Those that displayed a bad attitude and bad performance without justifiable reasons is black marked against going again in the future.
Aren't we doing things upside down now? The worse their conduct, the more they are rewarded. You work hard and they bypass you or they ban you. Surely we can all see that this is not the way for Malaysian chess to progress. Isn't that not so so so obvious? So why are we still wasting more time debating this and sending players who cannot even beat our better junior level girls and boys? Lets all wake up and build a better future for Malaysian chess. Tell it to their face, we expect more. Especially when you use the back door.
Set them a goal and make them accountable. They are playing for Malaysia and not their uncle or grand uncle.
The big question of course is how did it get that way? Are they not playing for their Country on the sponsors dime? Why such disrespect to the sponsor? Did they not value this opportunity to shine and bring honour to the Nation?
Doesn't it seem like they treated the Olympiad like their entitlement for a free holiday? How does this selfish attitude affect Malaysian Chess as a whole? Is the message we are sending to all our other players here that the Olympiad is the right of certain weak players for their annual holiday and the rest of you can forget about improving for you will just never get the chance to go no matter how good your chess is? It's all signed sealed and delivered by the deal makers.
I think we got like this because we have no goals. The solution is just to set a goal. Set them all a high but realistic and achievable goal to get them to appreciate this opportunity given to them. When they come back there must be a proper postmortem. Those that displayed a bad attitude and bad performance without justifiable reasons is black marked against going again in the future.
Aren't we doing things upside down now? The worse their conduct, the more they are rewarded. You work hard and they bypass you or they ban you. Surely we can all see that this is not the way for Malaysian chess to progress. Isn't that not so so so obvious? So why are we still wasting more time debating this and sending players who cannot even beat our better junior level girls and boys? Lets all wake up and build a better future for Malaysian chess. Tell it to their face, we expect more. Especially when you use the back door.
Set them a goal and make them accountable. They are playing for Malaysia and not their uncle or grand uncle.
Suggestions to Datmo organisers.
Ref: Here.
Hamid is probably the best organiser we have for International events. And Datmo boasts an impressive organising committee. So if I may, I would like to offer some feedback to them from the ground.
There was some intense discussions going around that a number of the unrated players were actually highly rated players looking for the unrated prize money. From the discussions it seems that other International organisers check the passport to ensure that this practice does not occur. The reasons for doing it are these. The obvious one is to ensure that a rated player does not walk away with the unrated prize money. But there is another reason. It affects the pairing. Different pairing, different tournament, different results.
An aside: Some highly respected tournaments also make sure that the ratified unrated players are entered into the system in strictly alphabetical order. This is another level of protection against possible accusation of fixing in pairing.
The other frequent murmurings around the hall is the fact that the tournament is not rated. I was informed that this was an oversight for this year due to some administrative issues but the players will appreciate it being rated in future Datmo's.
Having said that I want to congratulate the committee for a very enjoyable tournament on the whole. Little continuous improvements will make Datmo a fantastic experience for all chess players for many more years to come. Chess tourism is a great way to promote Malaysia. All my best.
Hamid is probably the best organiser we have for International events. And Datmo boasts an impressive organising committee. So if I may, I would like to offer some feedback to them from the ground.
There was some intense discussions going around that a number of the unrated players were actually highly rated players looking for the unrated prize money. From the discussions it seems that other International organisers check the passport to ensure that this practice does not occur. The reasons for doing it are these. The obvious one is to ensure that a rated player does not walk away with the unrated prize money. But there is another reason. It affects the pairing. Different pairing, different tournament, different results.
An aside: Some highly respected tournaments also make sure that the ratified unrated players are entered into the system in strictly alphabetical order. This is another level of protection against possible accusation of fixing in pairing.
The other frequent murmurings around the hall is the fact that the tournament is not rated. I was informed that this was an oversight for this year due to some administrative issues but the players will appreciate it being rated in future Datmo's.
Having said that I want to congratulate the committee for a very enjoyable tournament on the whole. Little continuous improvements will make Datmo a fantastic experience for all chess players for many more years to come. Chess tourism is a great way to promote Malaysia. All my best.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Jimmy, Don't go to the Olympiad.
Ref: Here. See results here.
Like I said, kup chai. We don't want you at the Olympiad to draw with players of Nabila and Yit San's level. We don't want you to lose to players of Foo Chee Kin's level there. We are supposed to be sending our cream. Get it? The best of the best players in Malaysia.
It's been confirmed. Nicholas Chan was not asked. This I heard directly from him. Somebody else said that he is willing to go if asked. Eng Chiam was not asked. So what is your legitimacy for being there? At the entire Datmo event, I could not find one player, even among many of your previously die hard fans who thought you deserved to go. How much longer do you want to keep burying your head in the sand?
Don't you get it by now? It's not about you. It's about the Malaysian team. Honestly, you are personally not important enough to me for me to write about. The future of Malaysian chess and the damage done to chess by your actions is. See the difference?
Give your place to Nicholas at least. We want players that have a chance to beat a GM to be there. We don't want to hear of your holiday and how great you were in the long distant past.
Greg, make this right. The weakest member of the whole team is Jimmy. Put in Nicholas and the chemistry will change. If somebody else pulls out as a result, put in Eng Chiam or other strong players.Give the team a chance to do better. Show us you can admit a mistake and have the courage to make it right. This is bigger than the both of you. This is about Malaysian chess. Don't embarrass the whole Nation because of your deal.
Side note: Nicholas, if Greg sees sense and does offer you that place, I have a personal request. Please leave your handphone at home.
Like I said, kup chai. We don't want you at the Olympiad to draw with players of Nabila and Yit San's level. We don't want you to lose to players of Foo Chee Kin's level there. We are supposed to be sending our cream. Get it? The best of the best players in Malaysia.
It's been confirmed. Nicholas Chan was not asked. This I heard directly from him. Somebody else said that he is willing to go if asked. Eng Chiam was not asked. So what is your legitimacy for being there? At the entire Datmo event, I could not find one player, even among many of your previously die hard fans who thought you deserved to go. How much longer do you want to keep burying your head in the sand?
Don't you get it by now? It's not about you. It's about the Malaysian team. Honestly, you are personally not important enough to me for me to write about. The future of Malaysian chess and the damage done to chess by your actions is. See the difference?
Give your place to Nicholas at least. We want players that have a chance to beat a GM to be there. We don't want to hear of your holiday and how great you were in the long distant past.
Greg, make this right. The weakest member of the whole team is Jimmy. Put in Nicholas and the chemistry will change. If somebody else pulls out as a result, put in Eng Chiam or other strong players.Give the team a chance to do better. Show us you can admit a mistake and have the courage to make it right. This is bigger than the both of you. This is about Malaysian chess. Don't embarrass the whole Nation because of your deal.
Side note: Nicholas, if Greg sees sense and does offer you that place, I have a personal request. Please leave your handphone at home.
We give them too much face.
I came across that statement of Marina Mahathir's sometime back that gave me much to contemplate on. Generally we Malaysians are adverse to confrontation and conflict. We prefer being polite and courteous. But then we come across a small number of people who are inured to explanations. Their preferred style is vitriolic. They spew venom and lies; they do not care who or what they damage. And unfortunately for us, some of them also control chess in Malaysia.
So you can see the dilemma. These are small minded and incredibly toxic people and they will not respect your contributions or investments. They do not respect your boundaries or your space. They feel entitled long after their due date and have nothing to offer. But they will not go away. Banded together they have inflicted great harm to Malaysian chess over the years.
They are so used to being able to attack you and attack you without respite because we do not tell them back in their face when they have crossed the line again and again. And funnily when you finally do confront them you find that they are really only paper tigers. Then they try reverse psychology and say you are "bullying" them instead. How typical of bullies.
So I prefer this approach today.
Tell no lies about me and I won't tell the truth about you.
Don't try to ban my son without justification and I won't go for you. Fair enough?
An aside. There is a team that was brought to my attention by my friends, playing at Datmo Team event. It's called "Fools Gone Mad." Very honestly I cannot think of a more appropriate name for some of them. First sign of creative thinking. Do check them out. I will.
So you can see the dilemma. These are small minded and incredibly toxic people and they will not respect your contributions or investments. They do not respect your boundaries or your space. They feel entitled long after their due date and have nothing to offer. But they will not go away. Banded together they have inflicted great harm to Malaysian chess over the years.
They are so used to being able to attack you and attack you without respite because we do not tell them back in their face when they have crossed the line again and again. And funnily when you finally do confront them you find that they are really only paper tigers. Then they try reverse psychology and say you are "bullying" them instead. How typical of bullies.
So I prefer this approach today.
Tell no lies about me and I won't tell the truth about you.
Don't try to ban my son without justification and I won't go for you. Fair enough?
An aside. There is a team that was brought to my attention by my friends, playing at Datmo Team event. It's called "Fools Gone Mad." Very honestly I cannot think of a more appropriate name for some of them. First sign of creative thinking. Do check them out. I will.
First thing he said to me.....
Ref: Here.
"I read your blog". And I replied, "just telling things as it really is on the ground Dato".
"I read your blog". And I replied, "just telling things as it really is on the ground Dato".
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Datmo's organising committee.
Here.
Impressive list of members. Looking forward to a good and well organised tournament in healthy competition. Things are looking up. Forward Malaysia. Way to go.
Impressive list of members. Looking forward to a good and well organised tournament in healthy competition. Things are looking up. Forward Malaysia. Way to go.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Old titles and boundaries.
Ref: Here.
You are only as good as your last success. And 1983 was a long long time ago. I tend to trust more those who are still fighting in today's world to improve and so I share a lot with other coaches of successful players. Those who have created teenage IM's and FM's etc.
Let me share one bit of information that I have learnt from them. Today's game is very different. Those days it took months and sometimes years to battle proof an opening but today, with advancement in technology and the internet, that learning process can be shortened to months, even weeks. So technically that is already a vast difference. Think on this during the hols and we can discuss this further after Datmo. I believe this is material and will impact on the Olympiad.
The point is this. You are welcome to your own opinion about how great you are. But let the results show on the board. You have crossed the line when you attack my training, when you attack my players. Boundaries. You do not have a patent on judgement. You cannot force me to accept your views without even at least a convincing argument. You have crossed the line when you try to slip in from the backdoor without doing the work. When you try to sabotage a whole Nation and force them to only use your method when it doesn't even work anymore. Otherwise you ban them etc.
If you believe so strongly in your superiority then show us the proof; the results on the table. We will not bend to intimidation and harassment. That is not the way.
You stick to your method according to your best judgement and I will stick to mine. Then we test our ideas out on the board. That is the only legitimate way. You guys are cheating, plain and simple. You don't dare to play in a strong field and yet you call yourself a ferrari. I say kup chai.
I say your title is now just an antique only good for the museum. But now history will probably remember you differently. Prove me wrong at the Olympiad. And don't try to shift the blame when you return. You are the Captain (read kambing hitam) and you came in through the backdoor. Now show us why you think you deserve that post over better players than you. You now carry the burden of responsibility and accountability to the entire Chess Community.
You are only as good as your last success. And 1983 was a long long time ago. I tend to trust more those who are still fighting in today's world to improve and so I share a lot with other coaches of successful players. Those who have created teenage IM's and FM's etc.
Let me share one bit of information that I have learnt from them. Today's game is very different. Those days it took months and sometimes years to battle proof an opening but today, with advancement in technology and the internet, that learning process can be shortened to months, even weeks. So technically that is already a vast difference. Think on this during the hols and we can discuss this further after Datmo. I believe this is material and will impact on the Olympiad.
The point is this. You are welcome to your own opinion about how great you are. But let the results show on the board. You have crossed the line when you attack my training, when you attack my players. Boundaries. You do not have a patent on judgement. You cannot force me to accept your views without even at least a convincing argument. You have crossed the line when you try to slip in from the backdoor without doing the work. When you try to sabotage a whole Nation and force them to only use your method when it doesn't even work anymore. Otherwise you ban them etc.
If you believe so strongly in your superiority then show us the proof; the results on the table. We will not bend to intimidation and harassment. That is not the way.
You stick to your method according to your best judgement and I will stick to mine. Then we test our ideas out on the board. That is the only legitimate way. You guys are cheating, plain and simple. You don't dare to play in a strong field and yet you call yourself a ferrari. I say kup chai.
I say your title is now just an antique only good for the museum. But now history will probably remember you differently. Prove me wrong at the Olympiad. And don't try to shift the blame when you return. You are the Captain (read kambing hitam) and you came in through the backdoor. Now show us why you think you deserve that post over better players than you. You now carry the burden of responsibility and accountability to the entire Chess Community.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Jimmy's reply.
Here.
As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. As I have said many times before, the final answers will be found on the chess board and not on the blogs. And that is really why we have selection by healthy chess competition. Having said that, avoidance of strong tournaments and selection is a strong indicator among others like the need to ban competitors without justification etc. Judge from actions or non actions. Words can be deceiving.
As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. As I have said many times before, the final answers will be found on the chess board and not on the blogs. And that is really why we have selection by healthy chess competition. Having said that, avoidance of strong tournaments and selection is a strong indicator among others like the need to ban competitors without justification etc. Judge from actions or non actions. Words can be deceiving.
Open message to Jimmy Liew.
While all right thinking members of the chess community are appalled by the way the Olympiad selection has been manipulated to facilitate back door entries and private deals, nevertheless you and your team members now represent our Country. This event was meant to showcase and benchmark Malaysia's achievements in International Chess to date but now it is likely to show how far we have regressed over the years.
But allow me to say, I still wish the team well and that incident is now water under the bridge. Hopefully we will have a new leadership after the coming AGM and this disgraceful state of affairs will finally be behind us.
So I would like to offer some constructive suggestions for now. Face your fears Jimmy. This is basic mental training for all top athletes as I have described in my much earlier postings. You have too many imagined fears. It is too late to do any serious mental work now as that is a long process but you can do this one thing that I think will be the best thing you can do before the Olympiad. Get out of your escapist mindset. Play at the Individual rapid at Datmo. Win or lose there, it doesn't matter. You need to see where you really are in a relatively strong field playing today's chess. You need a realistic appraisal so you can strategise better for the team at the Olympiad.
Face your fears here before you go or it will all come out under pressure there. You cannot run from it. You carry it with you. And facing it here is better than facing it there when you need to perform; when your team needs you for guidance.
As for the Malaysian goal, I think the minimum should be to try to stay at current position at world ranking. If that is not even possible then don't allow it to slip too far. Do this for your Country. While this team may not have the ingredients for spectacular success, you can still make the job easier for the future Captain of the Malaysian Team.
I hope you can at least try your best to do this for the Malaysian Chess community of which you belong in. In a Team event, sometimes the Captain has to sacrifice himself for the good of the team and the Country. All my best.
----------------------------------------------
An aside: This is for when you come back. Have you thought about what has actually been going on? Can you not see that your fears have been used against you. You are the sacrifice while the real player has kept his hands clean. He can now just claim that he misjudged you.
Think about it. You have actually done something for Malaysian chess although that was in the past. The damage that have been inflicted on you was not all your fault. In a very real sense, MCF let you down. We cannot send our players out without adequate support and preparation. You were a victim but now you are used to make other victims among your fellow chess players. This you can stop.
Think about it again. What has that guy done for Malaysian chess? Why are you letting him play you like a puppet. Do think about it but do this only after you return.
Now do your job as Captain of the Malaysian Team. Protect your players. Use them well to achieve the goal. The Malaysian goal. Not yours.
But allow me to say, I still wish the team well and that incident is now water under the bridge. Hopefully we will have a new leadership after the coming AGM and this disgraceful state of affairs will finally be behind us.
So I would like to offer some constructive suggestions for now. Face your fears Jimmy. This is basic mental training for all top athletes as I have described in my much earlier postings. You have too many imagined fears. It is too late to do any serious mental work now as that is a long process but you can do this one thing that I think will be the best thing you can do before the Olympiad. Get out of your escapist mindset. Play at the Individual rapid at Datmo. Win or lose there, it doesn't matter. You need to see where you really are in a relatively strong field playing today's chess. You need a realistic appraisal so you can strategise better for the team at the Olympiad.
Face your fears here before you go or it will all come out under pressure there. You cannot run from it. You carry it with you. And facing it here is better than facing it there when you need to perform; when your team needs you for guidance.
As for the Malaysian goal, I think the minimum should be to try to stay at current position at world ranking. If that is not even possible then don't allow it to slip too far. Do this for your Country. While this team may not have the ingredients for spectacular success, you can still make the job easier for the future Captain of the Malaysian Team.
I hope you can at least try your best to do this for the Malaysian Chess community of which you belong in. In a Team event, sometimes the Captain has to sacrifice himself for the good of the team and the Country. All my best.
----------------------------------------------
An aside: This is for when you come back. Have you thought about what has actually been going on? Can you not see that your fears have been used against you. You are the sacrifice while the real player has kept his hands clean. He can now just claim that he misjudged you.
Think about it. You have actually done something for Malaysian chess although that was in the past. The damage that have been inflicted on you was not all your fault. In a very real sense, MCF let you down. We cannot send our players out without adequate support and preparation. You were a victim but now you are used to make other victims among your fellow chess players. This you can stop.
Think about it again. What has that guy done for Malaysian chess? Why are you letting him play you like a puppet. Do think about it but do this only after you return.
Now do your job as Captain of the Malaysian Team. Protect your players. Use them well to achieve the goal. The Malaysian goal. Not yours.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Allegations Unfounded!
Ref: Here.
This is the main point. We need a responsive MCF before we can get our own GM.
Currently we have a situation where an allegation of unfair and unconstitutional sacking of a State official is bounced around for years and then the official in charge in MCF makes fun of the person making the allegation. Right now match fixing is conducted and orchestrated from within MCF itself. Right now we have no project accounts and the person in MCF appointed to be in charge of finance cannot even get his emails answered from those with the information within MCF. Right now a rogue organiser is banning national players without cause and MCF thinks it is ok and is even trying to reward that organiser with more national tournaments.
Right now MCF is unable to train our national players before they compete overseas and yet they will sabotage a private initiative to do so. Right now our Juniors are attacked and humiliated publicly and we see collusion from within MCF to facilitate this. Right now the person publicly orchestrating this is given a reward of playing in the Olympiad via the backdoor. And not only him. His supporters as well.
So what is the message to chess players, parents, private chess academies and organisers? Could it be that MCF is the private domain of certain trainers to make money from you but without giving you any real value in return? They will make money from the sponsors, from the tournaments and then they will send their own players to play for Malaysia whether they are good or not.
If you spend your money on trainers other than their select group they will find a way to fix you. So you have no way out. That is the racket.
Actually there is a lot of money in chess. Malaysian parents spend huge amounts in developing their players. But those with strong players do not want to use many local trainers simply because they are not very good and cannot raise strong players. So those guys need to get into the Associations to force you to use them.
This is a major problem. None of the parents mind using them if they are good. But not only are they are not good, some of them also do serious damage to our players. And they do not want to change or improve.
And so yearly we see our investments washed down the drain. This needs to change before we can see the reward from the parent's hefty investments. Those guys are too arrogant, too greedy and give no real value.
All they do is to try to frustrate any attempts for improvement. Notice this. None of them says or do anything when abuses happen in broad daylight. They cannot see any of the obvious transgressions and illegitimate activities. But they will all come up in arms and behave like rabid dogs the moment the truth is revealed; the moment an allegation is made.
Until we get the responses like the one in the link above our players will continue to be sabotaged from within and in broad daylight. So get rid of those few people who are blocking and sabotaging this entire Country's attempt to move forward. You know who they are. Your opportunity will come at the next AGM. So do what you can to ensure this outcome or else don't cry over spilled milk after.
This is the main point. We need a responsive MCF before we can get our own GM.
Currently we have a situation where an allegation of unfair and unconstitutional sacking of a State official is bounced around for years and then the official in charge in MCF makes fun of the person making the allegation. Right now match fixing is conducted and orchestrated from within MCF itself. Right now we have no project accounts and the person in MCF appointed to be in charge of finance cannot even get his emails answered from those with the information within MCF. Right now a rogue organiser is banning national players without cause and MCF thinks it is ok and is even trying to reward that organiser with more national tournaments.
Right now MCF is unable to train our national players before they compete overseas and yet they will sabotage a private initiative to do so. Right now our Juniors are attacked and humiliated publicly and we see collusion from within MCF to facilitate this. Right now the person publicly orchestrating this is given a reward of playing in the Olympiad via the backdoor. And not only him. His supporters as well.
So what is the message to chess players, parents, private chess academies and organisers? Could it be that MCF is the private domain of certain trainers to make money from you but without giving you any real value in return? They will make money from the sponsors, from the tournaments and then they will send their own players to play for Malaysia whether they are good or not.
If you spend your money on trainers other than their select group they will find a way to fix you. So you have no way out. That is the racket.
Actually there is a lot of money in chess. Malaysian parents spend huge amounts in developing their players. But those with strong players do not want to use many local trainers simply because they are not very good and cannot raise strong players. So those guys need to get into the Associations to force you to use them.
This is a major problem. None of the parents mind using them if they are good. But not only are they are not good, some of them also do serious damage to our players. And they do not want to change or improve.
And so yearly we see our investments washed down the drain. This needs to change before we can see the reward from the parent's hefty investments. Those guys are too arrogant, too greedy and give no real value.
All they do is to try to frustrate any attempts for improvement. Notice this. None of them says or do anything when abuses happen in broad daylight. They cannot see any of the obvious transgressions and illegitimate activities. But they will all come up in arms and behave like rabid dogs the moment the truth is revealed; the moment an allegation is made.
Until we get the responses like the one in the link above our players will continue to be sabotaged from within and in broad daylight. So get rid of those few people who are blocking and sabotaging this entire Country's attempt to move forward. You know who they are. Your opportunity will come at the next AGM. So do what you can to ensure this outcome or else don't cry over spilled milk after.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Psych evaluation of our Olympiad Team.
Ref: Here.
It's a psychological truism that psychological damage is very easy to inflict, sometimes in the course of one event or days and can take many years to undo. Some never recover.
A good application of situational analysis here is in observing the reactions of people who are totally adapted to and comfortable with lies and venom but behave like rabid dogs the moment the truth is revealed.
A major part of my interaction with Zhuo Ren during the SEA games selection training was in trying to convince him that he had a decent shot at winning or drawing against Mok in a straight fight. I did not succeed in this endeavour and so I was not totally surprised when it was reported back to me that a deal was struck if he wrote that email. Somewhere and somehow his confidence in his own ability had been leached from him during his past training.
We had studied Li Tian's recent "suspect" games and find it hard to see the quality of that strong fighting spirit that I observed in him earlier. Something is wrong there. Chess displays your thinking on the board. It shows how you make decisions. So what is going on?
Note: It now appears that the games for NC2012 will not be coming out anytime soon. This forces the speculation that the games are withheld from the entire chess community to hide the poor decision making of certain MCF officials in selecting Li Tian over the other stronger players.
And so Li Tian will go to the Olympiad not bolstered by the confidence of playing strong chess. And I am not sure if Zhuo Ren has resolved in his own mind what happened at SEA games selection and where the real damage originated from. This will put both of our juniors in a psychologically vulnerable position at the time of going. Where are they going to find the confidence to meet strong players from overseas? Technical is not enough. And this is material. Let me explain why.
Mok has been silent through most of this drama but it is generally accepted that he is subservient to Jimmy. And Jimmy is the Captain. The role of the Captain is to keep the Team on an even keel and focused on the goal. Now I hope I have established that Jimmy is a totally egotistical individual with no empathy for anyone. His primary motive is to hide his weaknesses. Further to that he has almost no emotional control. And that makes for a very dangerous mix and will likely create a toxic environment within the Malaysian camp.
I think we can already begin to see the signs from his writings on his blog. He is now saying that Li Tian is not yet ready. If we look at the board placings we can begin to see the potential sacrificing of players for the purpose of protecting Jimmy's position and self image. So it is likely to be Jimmy's goal there. What has happened to the Malaysian goal?
Further to this we also see that Jimmy's reaction to situations takes only 2 forms. Either vile and venomous reactions when threatened or total escapism, for instance talking about his room, other peoples room or super GM's etc.
He has displayed no ability at solving real problems or finding solutions.
And so we will likely find a lot of finger pointing at the Olympiad. This is not a team. What type of person are we entrusting our Captaincy to? MCF has totally screwed up here.
That leaves possibly only one man fighting for Malaysia. Yee Weng. And I am sure that Jimmy will not take kindly to that given his psychological makeup.
This is a total mess and that is how MCF has been typically making decisions for us all these years. Is it a wonder that we don't have a GM where even Bangladesh already have a few? Where they are already exporting their expertise to Nepal.
Note: This also presents a very high risk for further psychological damage to our players. Especially the juniors. Under the intense pressure of the competition, Jimmy is likely to turn on them instead of protecting them given his history of handling the Zhuo Ren case. Hopefully Yee Weng will have adequate mental defences not to be too affected but I think it will be very difficult to achieve under Jimmy's Captaincy.
All in all I think this outing will be a major disaster if my analysis is correct. And I am very confident that it is.
This situation needs to be changed. Lets wake up and say enough is enough. Lets vote those guys in MCF who made this decision out at the next AGM.
Then we can have a bright future for our very gifted and talented players. Do it for them. Do it for our future. We have wasted too much time already. Chess has already damaged too many people the way we do it. Look around. They are all there for us to see. Don't let them damage any more of our junior players.
It's a psychological truism that psychological damage is very easy to inflict, sometimes in the course of one event or days and can take many years to undo. Some never recover.
A good application of situational analysis here is in observing the reactions of people who are totally adapted to and comfortable with lies and venom but behave like rabid dogs the moment the truth is revealed.
A major part of my interaction with Zhuo Ren during the SEA games selection training was in trying to convince him that he had a decent shot at winning or drawing against Mok in a straight fight. I did not succeed in this endeavour and so I was not totally surprised when it was reported back to me that a deal was struck if he wrote that email. Somewhere and somehow his confidence in his own ability had been leached from him during his past training.
We had studied Li Tian's recent "suspect" games and find it hard to see the quality of that strong fighting spirit that I observed in him earlier. Something is wrong there. Chess displays your thinking on the board. It shows how you make decisions. So what is going on?
Note: It now appears that the games for NC2012 will not be coming out anytime soon. This forces the speculation that the games are withheld from the entire chess community to hide the poor decision making of certain MCF officials in selecting Li Tian over the other stronger players.
And so Li Tian will go to the Olympiad not bolstered by the confidence of playing strong chess. And I am not sure if Zhuo Ren has resolved in his own mind what happened at SEA games selection and where the real damage originated from. This will put both of our juniors in a psychologically vulnerable position at the time of going. Where are they going to find the confidence to meet strong players from overseas? Technical is not enough. And this is material. Let me explain why.
Mok has been silent through most of this drama but it is generally accepted that he is subservient to Jimmy. And Jimmy is the Captain. The role of the Captain is to keep the Team on an even keel and focused on the goal. Now I hope I have established that Jimmy is a totally egotistical individual with no empathy for anyone. His primary motive is to hide his weaknesses. Further to that he has almost no emotional control. And that makes for a very dangerous mix and will likely create a toxic environment within the Malaysian camp.
I think we can already begin to see the signs from his writings on his blog. He is now saying that Li Tian is not yet ready. If we look at the board placings we can begin to see the potential sacrificing of players for the purpose of protecting Jimmy's position and self image. So it is likely to be Jimmy's goal there. What has happened to the Malaysian goal?
Further to this we also see that Jimmy's reaction to situations takes only 2 forms. Either vile and venomous reactions when threatened or total escapism, for instance talking about his room, other peoples room or super GM's etc.
He has displayed no ability at solving real problems or finding solutions.
And so we will likely find a lot of finger pointing at the Olympiad. This is not a team. What type of person are we entrusting our Captaincy to? MCF has totally screwed up here.
That leaves possibly only one man fighting for Malaysia. Yee Weng. And I am sure that Jimmy will not take kindly to that given his psychological makeup.
This is a total mess and that is how MCF has been typically making decisions for us all these years. Is it a wonder that we don't have a GM where even Bangladesh already have a few? Where they are already exporting their expertise to Nepal.
Note: This also presents a very high risk for further psychological damage to our players. Especially the juniors. Under the intense pressure of the competition, Jimmy is likely to turn on them instead of protecting them given his history of handling the Zhuo Ren case. Hopefully Yee Weng will have adequate mental defences not to be too affected but I think it will be very difficult to achieve under Jimmy's Captaincy.
All in all I think this outing will be a major disaster if my analysis is correct. And I am very confident that it is.
This situation needs to be changed. Lets wake up and say enough is enough. Lets vote those guys in MCF who made this decision out at the next AGM.
Then we can have a bright future for our very gifted and talented players. Do it for them. Do it for our future. We have wasted too much time already. Chess has already damaged too many people the way we do it. Look around. They are all there for us to see. Don't let them damage any more of our junior players.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Training game by IM Yee Weng
Ref: Here.
The point I want to make here is the training. Win or lose here, it doesn't matter. The training matters and then you go to the Olympiad to fight for your Country. Not with cheap psycho tricks, gangster looks and mannerisms but CHESS. What will Jimmy bring to the Olympiad? What training has he done? What has he got apart from his bag of cheap tricks? Will those tricks work at the Olympiad? Any kids to psycho there?
Will he be at Datmo individual rapid or is he going to hide in teams and then be able to shift the blame here and there?
Will Jimmy return from the Olympiad as our hero or all the hero we are going to see is an appearance on Astro before the event.
Questions, questions questions. How come MCF didn't consider all these things? Or maybe they did. But the considerations is not about the Country is it? The considerations is not about chess is it? What do you think their considerations were about? There is a logic to it if you just think about it a little.
Way to go Yee Weng!!!
The point I want to make here is the training. Win or lose here, it doesn't matter. The training matters and then you go to the Olympiad to fight for your Country. Not with cheap psycho tricks, gangster looks and mannerisms but CHESS. What will Jimmy bring to the Olympiad? What training has he done? What has he got apart from his bag of cheap tricks? Will those tricks work at the Olympiad? Any kids to psycho there?
Will he be at Datmo individual rapid or is he going to hide in teams and then be able to shift the blame here and there?
Will Jimmy return from the Olympiad as our hero or all the hero we are going to see is an appearance on Astro before the event.
Questions, questions questions. How come MCF didn't consider all these things? Or maybe they did. But the considerations is not about the Country is it? The considerations is not about chess is it? What do you think their considerations were about? There is a logic to it if you just think about it a little.
Way to go Yee Weng!!!
Psych evaluation of Jimmy Liew.
Ref: Here.
It's a psychological truism that those in intense psychological pain is unable to see the pain they inflict on others.
It will be most instructive if we can understand the psychological profile of this individual for many reasons. One is that it is a good case study of the type of psychological damage that can be inflicted on a competitive chess player when we send him out time and time again without proper training and support. The mind is battered again and again with no possible solution.
The other reason is that Jimmy is now the front spokesperson and willing catspaw of an agenda to keep Malaysian chess from progressing. By this study I hope we can learn to recognise their modus operandi and the underlying motives.
So lets examine 2 situations today. One was the training of the Asean Juniors 2010. For most of us we see that as a positive move forward. A training by a GM. A training before we send our kids out to compete thus increasing our chance of success. Initally there was even an offer to train our trainers, to offer the training of using chessbase as used by a GM. And that training was offered for free.
But what did Jimmy perceive? We saw him starting out blog after blog, writing non stop anonymous comments praising himself and casting lies after lies about the training. Even after repeated attempts by FGM to clarify matters the venom continued. So we can safely assume that it was not the truth that Jimmy wanted but something else.
Now if we use situational analysis as described in the link above we will find that the toxic responses is completely inappropriate. In fact it is the very opposite reaction of what anyone who would want to see improvements in the game of our Juniors would perceive.
The other situation is the SEA games training of Sumant and Zhuo Ren at my house last year. Now why would that also elicit so much hostility? If they don't agree with my methods then a quiet word with Zhuo Ren to ask him to tell me that he was no longer interested would have sufficed to solve the issue; if it was Zhuo Ren they were really worried about. In their panic to attack my training did they for one moment consider what they were doing to Zhuo Ren in forcing him to write that very public attack on me and FGM?
And it didn't even stop there. The attack continued on Sumant till he too was finally forced to make a public apology to ghosts.
If we apply situational analysis to this again we can see that training for a selection should be normal. So why is this "normal" event causing that type of reaction?
The only conclusion I can form is that Jimmy is totally petrified of competition by the Juniors. He knows that his reputation is built on cleverly created myths to fool others into thinking he is a ferrari when actually in today's chess world he is only a kancil or maybe even a kup chai.
True he may still be one of the stronger players in Malaysia today. Today we are a nation of kancil chess players. But we are a nation of kancil chess players not because we are not talented and gifted. We are a nation of kancil players because Jimmy and his friends have actively made sure that no strong players can emerge.
Note: Have you noticed that Jimmy avoids playing in a strong International field in Individual events? Why does he play in veteran and team events only? We have a combined event for Datmo this year. So it is one big event. He will not be able to play an isolated field if he goes. Hopefully this event will bring strong players from the region to play for the individual rapid. We will be going. Maybe Jimmy can play in this event if there is a strong field to show us that I have him pegged totally wrong. Where would he land in a strong field playing 11 rounds individual rapid? Not perfect but still an indicator.
But if I am right, then we will be sending someone to the Olympiad who cannot take even the smallest pressure of perceived threats from the training of the Juniors. If he can crack and totally lose it because I was training the juniors then I won't give him much chances in Turkey; 5 Star Hotel or Not.
Next: The probable climate our players will face at the Olympiad. Clue. Fear transmits.
It's a psychological truism that those in intense psychological pain is unable to see the pain they inflict on others.
It will be most instructive if we can understand the psychological profile of this individual for many reasons. One is that it is a good case study of the type of psychological damage that can be inflicted on a competitive chess player when we send him out time and time again without proper training and support. The mind is battered again and again with no possible solution.
The other reason is that Jimmy is now the front spokesperson and willing catspaw of an agenda to keep Malaysian chess from progressing. By this study I hope we can learn to recognise their modus operandi and the underlying motives.
So lets examine 2 situations today. One was the training of the Asean Juniors 2010. For most of us we see that as a positive move forward. A training by a GM. A training before we send our kids out to compete thus increasing our chance of success. Initally there was even an offer to train our trainers, to offer the training of using chessbase as used by a GM. And that training was offered for free.
But what did Jimmy perceive? We saw him starting out blog after blog, writing non stop anonymous comments praising himself and casting lies after lies about the training. Even after repeated attempts by FGM to clarify matters the venom continued. So we can safely assume that it was not the truth that Jimmy wanted but something else.
Now if we use situational analysis as described in the link above we will find that the toxic responses is completely inappropriate. In fact it is the very opposite reaction of what anyone who would want to see improvements in the game of our Juniors would perceive.
The other situation is the SEA games training of Sumant and Zhuo Ren at my house last year. Now why would that also elicit so much hostility? If they don't agree with my methods then a quiet word with Zhuo Ren to ask him to tell me that he was no longer interested would have sufficed to solve the issue; if it was Zhuo Ren they were really worried about. In their panic to attack my training did they for one moment consider what they were doing to Zhuo Ren in forcing him to write that very public attack on me and FGM?
And it didn't even stop there. The attack continued on Sumant till he too was finally forced to make a public apology to ghosts.
If we apply situational analysis to this again we can see that training for a selection should be normal. So why is this "normal" event causing that type of reaction?
The only conclusion I can form is that Jimmy is totally petrified of competition by the Juniors. He knows that his reputation is built on cleverly created myths to fool others into thinking he is a ferrari when actually in today's chess world he is only a kancil or maybe even a kup chai.
True he may still be one of the stronger players in Malaysia today. Today we are a nation of kancil chess players. But we are a nation of kancil chess players not because we are not talented and gifted. We are a nation of kancil players because Jimmy and his friends have actively made sure that no strong players can emerge.
Note: Have you noticed that Jimmy avoids playing in a strong International field in Individual events? Why does he play in veteran and team events only? We have a combined event for Datmo this year. So it is one big event. He will not be able to play an isolated field if he goes. Hopefully this event will bring strong players from the region to play for the individual rapid. We will be going. Maybe Jimmy can play in this event if there is a strong field to show us that I have him pegged totally wrong. Where would he land in a strong field playing 11 rounds individual rapid? Not perfect but still an indicator.
But if I am right, then we will be sending someone to the Olympiad who cannot take even the smallest pressure of perceived threats from the training of the Juniors. If he can crack and totally lose it because I was training the juniors then I won't give him much chances in Turkey; 5 Star Hotel or Not.
Next: The probable climate our players will face at the Olympiad. Clue. Fear transmits.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Rating sports officials.
Ref: Here.
If the decision made in the article above describes badminton officials as junk, I wonder how we can describe MCF's officials decision in the Olympiad selection?
If the decision made in the article above describes badminton officials as junk, I wonder how we can describe MCF's officials decision in the Olympiad selection?
Some basic tools for Psychological Evaluation.
It's a psychological truism that fear transmits.
It takes an inordinate amount of training to be able to withstand a toxic environment. And fear usually finds its expression in anger, anxiety etc.
So a good tool to categorise and measure fear is in situational analysis. That is to observe the situation that elicits the fear responses. The key element being appropriate or inappropriate responses. So an extreme response to a ostensibly non threatening situation is a strong indicator of an underlying issue.
This analysis is of particular importance in the understanding of sports psychology. For this will give a strong indication of the mental performance of the athlete under pressure. For instance, if the athlete breaks down under much less pressure than the environment that he is expected to perform will generate, then this athlete will be unsuitable for that level of competition.
-------------------------------------------
Now since we are about Chess, read this again. Here. We all know that tremendous pressures are generated and exerted in competitive chess. The pressures are difficult even for a psychologically balanced adult to handle let alone a child. Now I hope you are beginning to see also the dangers of chess when taught purely by technical trainers with no understanding of sports psychology.
Lets see what happens. Now pressure is necessary for growth. Overcoming pressure takes you to the next level. Cast your mind back now to a tournament. It is inevitable that the player needs to both win and lose during their progress. And with the loses comes anguish and the search for answers. This is a moment of extreme vulnerability. This is the time when their minds become open and their normal defenses down.
As I said in the article above this is an opportunity to teach. But the converse is also true. When the mind is open this also becomes the opportunity to inject poison. And this is what I mean by the double edge sword of chess. Especially for highly motivated competitors.
Let me give you an example. When Mark first became U12 Champion in MSSPK in his first major tournament and only having started playing tournament chess the year before, he then played at the Perak Close. That was a 2 day event. On the first day Mark was the front runner but he crashed on the second day but still came out as U12 Champ again. The then President, Dr Yee, came up to him and told him that he was mentally weak and then overlooked his prize as U12 Champ.
That evaluation of Dr Yee was pure poison and totally inaccurate. You do not suddenly develop the skill to withstand heavy pressure overnight. It has to be slowly trained. In that Tournament Mark beat at least 2 former Perak Champions and so that was quite an achievement for a young boy new in Tournament. So on balance his accomplishment far outweighed his failure. A negative evaluation once accepted, since it came from an "respected" Official or a "titled" player can lodge itself in the mind and begin a mental tape playing.
Now in Chess, this experience will be repeated over and over again. So at and after every tournament opportunities will arise to either inject the positive lessons as mentioned in link above or to inject poison. And over the years this becomes your mindset.
------------------------------------------
And that is the very real and present danger. You know what I am talking about. And I hope this will become even clearer when I apply all this to the Jimmy's ("Olympiad") Team. After my evaluation I will also try to predict what will happen there according to my psychological profiling. What type of decisions will be made or not made. The type of environment the team will find itself in given the exterior and interior conditions.
At the end of this, I hope you can all see the damage certain individuals have wrought on our Malaysian players over the years. The sending of them untrained and unprepared, the messages they instil in your mind when they reject you after you have won your place in a fair competition, when they try to ban you when you improve, when they attack you till you breakdown and write a poisonous email yourself. What they are doing to the mental health of our players?
And then finally we send them to "compete". Try to read this carefully. It can happen to you as a player or to your child. Take a note of the individuals involved in these negative practises and try to avoid them if possible.
Note: In my 8 years in chess, I find strong circumstantial evidence that this is a deliberate policy by certain individuals to control and break our players to serve their own ends. So be watchful.
It takes an inordinate amount of training to be able to withstand a toxic environment. And fear usually finds its expression in anger, anxiety etc.
So a good tool to categorise and measure fear is in situational analysis. That is to observe the situation that elicits the fear responses. The key element being appropriate or inappropriate responses. So an extreme response to a ostensibly non threatening situation is a strong indicator of an underlying issue.
This analysis is of particular importance in the understanding of sports psychology. For this will give a strong indication of the mental performance of the athlete under pressure. For instance, if the athlete breaks down under much less pressure than the environment that he is expected to perform will generate, then this athlete will be unsuitable for that level of competition.
-------------------------------------------
Now since we are about Chess, read this again. Here. We all know that tremendous pressures are generated and exerted in competitive chess. The pressures are difficult even for a psychologically balanced adult to handle let alone a child. Now I hope you are beginning to see also the dangers of chess when taught purely by technical trainers with no understanding of sports psychology.
Lets see what happens. Now pressure is necessary for growth. Overcoming pressure takes you to the next level. Cast your mind back now to a tournament. It is inevitable that the player needs to both win and lose during their progress. And with the loses comes anguish and the search for answers. This is a moment of extreme vulnerability. This is the time when their minds become open and their normal defenses down.
As I said in the article above this is an opportunity to teach. But the converse is also true. When the mind is open this also becomes the opportunity to inject poison. And this is what I mean by the double edge sword of chess. Especially for highly motivated competitors.
Let me give you an example. When Mark first became U12 Champion in MSSPK in his first major tournament and only having started playing tournament chess the year before, he then played at the Perak Close. That was a 2 day event. On the first day Mark was the front runner but he crashed on the second day but still came out as U12 Champ again. The then President, Dr Yee, came up to him and told him that he was mentally weak and then overlooked his prize as U12 Champ.
That evaluation of Dr Yee was pure poison and totally inaccurate. You do not suddenly develop the skill to withstand heavy pressure overnight. It has to be slowly trained. In that Tournament Mark beat at least 2 former Perak Champions and so that was quite an achievement for a young boy new in Tournament. So on balance his accomplishment far outweighed his failure. A negative evaluation once accepted, since it came from an "respected" Official or a "titled" player can lodge itself in the mind and begin a mental tape playing.
Now in Chess, this experience will be repeated over and over again. So at and after every tournament opportunities will arise to either inject the positive lessons as mentioned in link above or to inject poison. And over the years this becomes your mindset.
------------------------------------------
And that is the very real and present danger. You know what I am talking about. And I hope this will become even clearer when I apply all this to the Jimmy's ("Olympiad") Team. After my evaluation I will also try to predict what will happen there according to my psychological profiling. What type of decisions will be made or not made. The type of environment the team will find itself in given the exterior and interior conditions.
At the end of this, I hope you can all see the damage certain individuals have wrought on our Malaysian players over the years. The sending of them untrained and unprepared, the messages they instil in your mind when they reject you after you have won your place in a fair competition, when they try to ban you when you improve, when they attack you till you breakdown and write a poisonous email yourself. What they are doing to the mental health of our players?
And then finally we send them to "compete". Try to read this carefully. It can happen to you as a player or to your child. Take a note of the individuals involved in these negative practises and try to avoid them if possible.
Note: In my 8 years in chess, I find strong circumstantial evidence that this is a deliberate policy by certain individuals to control and break our players to serve their own ends. So be watchful.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Quiz- How did Sarawak get that bronze?
How and why indeed? Chua Soi Lek got it partially right. Maybe Klang Valley people have better facilities. That was also the question I grappled with when we decided to go to KL to fight for our place from Perak. There has not been a Perakian on the National Squad for over 10 years until Mark finally made it. And the one that did make it 10 years previously had his history mysteriously erased from Perakian history. Even the PICA President Chan was telling me it cannot be done. Perak is too backwater. Too kampung or too Ah Piow.
I think what Chua and Chan could not see was the difference between healthy competition and destructive competition. What they could not see is the power of the human spirit when it is nurtured.
So the simple answer to the quiz is that the Sarawak spirit is not as damaged as the Klang Valley spirit.
With the right spirit you can even run without legs. Is that not shown at the Olympics? Is that why they use the flame as the Olympic symbol?
I was just thinking, all our International competitors should accord the Greg and Jimmy team the red carpet treatment whenever they travel. Between the 2 of them and their cronies they ensure that all Malaysian investments in our players get squandered on the shores overseas. We spend and we spend and we take back almost nothing. We invest and we invest and they arrange to have our players banned or knocked out from back door entries.
And to add insult to injury the overseas players then come to our shores and take away all our top prize money while they churn out one lame excuse after another. Our overseas competitors have no better friends than these 2 guys. They don't really even have to train their players to beat us, Greg and Jimmy are both doing their jobs for them by knocking out our own players. How they must be laughing.
Do you think they are paid for a job well done? What do you think the mysterious Asean appointment was about?
So why do a few people honour these guys on our shores? I cannot think of a worse sort of scum. They destroy us from within; by pretending to be one of us. And some really dim witted people think they are heros. What a twisted reality?
Too strong? Read the next posting of my psychological evaluation of our Olympiad team. Then lets see if the theory pans out at the Olympiad and if it justifies what I have said above and elsewhere.
I think what Chua and Chan could not see was the difference between healthy competition and destructive competition. What they could not see is the power of the human spirit when it is nurtured.
So the simple answer to the quiz is that the Sarawak spirit is not as damaged as the Klang Valley spirit.
With the right spirit you can even run without legs. Is that not shown at the Olympics? Is that why they use the flame as the Olympic symbol?
I was just thinking, all our International competitors should accord the Greg and Jimmy team the red carpet treatment whenever they travel. Between the 2 of them and their cronies they ensure that all Malaysian investments in our players get squandered on the shores overseas. We spend and we spend and we take back almost nothing. We invest and we invest and they arrange to have our players banned or knocked out from back door entries.
And to add insult to injury the overseas players then come to our shores and take away all our top prize money while they churn out one lame excuse after another. Our overseas competitors have no better friends than these 2 guys. They don't really even have to train their players to beat us, Greg and Jimmy are both doing their jobs for them by knocking out our own players. How they must be laughing.
Do you think they are paid for a job well done? What do you think the mysterious Asean appointment was about?
So why do a few people honour these guys on our shores? I cannot think of a worse sort of scum. They destroy us from within; by pretending to be one of us. And some really dim witted people think they are heros. What a twisted reality?
Too strong? Read the next posting of my psychological evaluation of our Olympiad team. Then lets see if the theory pans out at the Olympiad and if it justifies what I have said above and elsewhere.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
World Youth U16 Olympiad.
Look here and see some of the potential future faces of the next Malaysian senior team.
Now remember this. A crown given to you is a crown that can be taken away. "Game of Thrones".
So your place in the senior team should not be one earned by a PR campaign and manufactured numbers or one given as a reward for writing an email. Both of these methods contain poison. Trust me. The poison will work eventually for the crown was not earned. And so they have given you the reward of future self doubt and insecurities. And under pressure it will all come out.
Go and take a look at the MCF criteria for the U16 Olympiad. Here. Now take a note of this too. The parents will be paying for the substantial part of this trip. So all parents of National Juniors are investing for the future of Malaysian Chess. And let me tell you that the amounts we spend is not small.
Now also note that FGM as the organiser and the trainer of our National Junior Team for Asean 2010 also invested in the future of Malaysian Chess.
Now we have all heard the words of abuse hurled at me, calling me a dog etc. Consider this. A dog is a loyal animal that is generally thought of as incapable of feeding itself. Now lets ask if the parents and FGM has taken one cent from any of these people or we have paid them instead. So in actuality we have been and still are feeding them. Isn't the story of the dog biting the hand that feeds it a more accurate representation of the current situation? So in the real story who is the dog?
We have invested and will continue to invest for the future of Malaysian chess. Is it clearer now? All those funny people shouting and making noises have benefited from our money and our effort and not vice versa.
That means we have a right to question when things go wrong. We can ask why are you guys abusing and taking advantage of our investments, of the money we have spent and are continuing to spend.
Now the question I want to ask you today is what has happened to our U18 team? Consider this. All the the boys you see on Peter Long's site above are still learning and are no real challenge to our IM's yet. They will get there eventually but not yet. The U18 team previously were much closer. And I think FGM showed what can be achieved with just a little more tweaking from the experience of our last SEA games selection.
Do you remember what happened to them when they tried to challenge for their place in healthy competition? If we don't change things soon at the next AGM, will the same thing also happen to those boys you now see on Peter's blog; when they become a real threat; once they have learnt enough.
I will talk more about our Olympiad team next. Have a good weekend.
Now remember this. A crown given to you is a crown that can be taken away. "Game of Thrones".
So your place in the senior team should not be one earned by a PR campaign and manufactured numbers or one given as a reward for writing an email. Both of these methods contain poison. Trust me. The poison will work eventually for the crown was not earned. And so they have given you the reward of future self doubt and insecurities. And under pressure it will all come out.
Go and take a look at the MCF criteria for the U16 Olympiad. Here. Now take a note of this too. The parents will be paying for the substantial part of this trip. So all parents of National Juniors are investing for the future of Malaysian Chess. And let me tell you that the amounts we spend is not small.
Now also note that FGM as the organiser and the trainer of our National Junior Team for Asean 2010 also invested in the future of Malaysian Chess.
Now we have all heard the words of abuse hurled at me, calling me a dog etc. Consider this. A dog is a loyal animal that is generally thought of as incapable of feeding itself. Now lets ask if the parents and FGM has taken one cent from any of these people or we have paid them instead. So in actuality we have been and still are feeding them. Isn't the story of the dog biting the hand that feeds it a more accurate representation of the current situation? So in the real story who is the dog?
We have invested and will continue to invest for the future of Malaysian chess. Is it clearer now? All those funny people shouting and making noises have benefited from our money and our effort and not vice versa.
That means we have a right to question when things go wrong. We can ask why are you guys abusing and taking advantage of our investments, of the money we have spent and are continuing to spend.
Now the question I want to ask you today is what has happened to our U18 team? Consider this. All the the boys you see on Peter Long's site above are still learning and are no real challenge to our IM's yet. They will get there eventually but not yet. The U18 team previously were much closer. And I think FGM showed what can be achieved with just a little more tweaking from the experience of our last SEA games selection.
Do you remember what happened to them when they tried to challenge for their place in healthy competition? If we don't change things soon at the next AGM, will the same thing also happen to those boys you now see on Peter's blog; when they become a real threat; once they have learnt enough.
I will talk more about our Olympiad team next. Have a good weekend.
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